The Easiest Ice Cream Shakes

I honestly cannot believe I haven't thought about making these earlier.  We always make home made ice cream and have some in the freezer, but if we want shakes we always go out to get them.  But why?  It's like the easiest thing ever to make.  This will take you about three minutes and will satisfy those sweet cravings like no other.  Who says you only need shakes in the middle of a snow storm.  Put your feet up next to the fireplace and enjoy your ten minute break before the little one sneaks up on you.

Ingredients:
1 Pint of your favorite ice cream - mix and match if you like more than one flavor!
1/4 C milk
Splash of vanilla extract

Directions:
Easiest thing ever; Blend all the ingredients in the blender. Top with desired toppings. Get an extra thick smoothie straw or eat it with a spoon.  Enjoy!
Just a quick tip though, if you use glass glasses put them in the freezer for a couple of minutes first to keep the shakes colder for longer. 

Favorite Things - In the Kitchen

We've been chugging at life around here.  It's been nice and busy.  Jeff's been out of town a ton and Noah and I have been having fun cooking and making pretend pancakes after work and school... that is until our oven broke.  What a bummer that is.  I didn't even realize how much I used the oven until I actually needed it.  And for the best mom of the year award, I sort of  forgot all about it and broke Noah's heart after watching an episode of Mikey.  It was O'Toodles' birthday and Minny Mouse made him a strawberry cake with fresh strawberries on top.  Of course I thought how awesome would it be if we also made a version of that.  I looked up a recipe for vanilla cupcakes that I was going to top with strawberries Jeff had just picked up, I was so excited, told Noah all about it... and bam, I remembered we don't even have a working oven!  What a bummer.  They're coming to fix it next week, and what a long week it's going to be. Until then I've been trying to figure out other recipes to make on the stove top; something new we haven't tried yet.

For breakfast I've been obsessed with waffles lately and need to figure out how to switch it up a little.  We make normal buttermilk waffles out of a box which is super fast and convenient but after looking at Pinterest I feel like we're missing out on some cool combinations.  I've always loved churros; I look for them everywhere I go and these churro waffles are no different.  I can't imagine they're the healthiest but put some fruit on top and your all set, right...?  Or even better, how about some Nutella stuffed waffles?  I'm drooling already.  If there is something Noah will eat every single time, it's waffles and you can never get bored of waffles with all these options.

For dinner, some awesome stove-top options I've found are this cheesy enchilada rice skillet.  What kid doesn't like cheese and rice?  and really, it looks super easy as you can put it all in one pan.  I'm thinking thought to make it a nice full meal it needs a little chicken, so I'll be adding that in when I make it this week.  A couple more of my favorite recipes are the Avocado, White Bean Tacos for a nice meatless option, and Teriyaki Meatballs & Rice.  A favorite at our house.

Finally, I'll leave you guys with a couple new Noah pictures, because no post is complete without that.  Noah's favorite thing to do in the kitchen, other that pull up his stool and help mommy cook, of course, has been taking selfies, turning on some music "weally loud", and watching old videos on the phone.  This kid is getting way too old too fast.  Jeff told me last night if I'm finally starting to get sad about Noah growing up then maybe we're ready for another baby... Ya right, I'll never be ready for another one.  Why can't we just fast forward to toddler life?

32 Months

I really meant to do a two and a half year update for Noah but somehow time flew by.  Great mom over here. =)  A little late but I'll document some pictures from the last couple of months. The biggest milestone these last couple of months has been potty training. Overall it went great without too much trouble.  Noah as usual has been a pretty easy and stress free kid.  Cross our fingers he's forever like that.

• Stats: Size 6 Diapers | 3T-4T clothing
• Size: 37 lbs | 39in tall
• Random Notes: Although he's still in diapers at night and naps we're officially potty trained during the days with very rare accidents. I didn't really care that much changing diapers but looking back now it is rather nice that he can go all by himself.  It took about a week during Christmas and he got it pretty quick.  We we're pretty sure he was ready when we started which I'm sure helped. Next step is to move Noah to a twin bed and out of the crib so we can work on potty training at night.  I'm so nervous and honestly just want to put it off though because I do not want to start waking up again in the middle of the night. Ugh.  Other than that, obviously I feel like he's growing up so fast and becoming such a little kid.  It's awesome to see him act like such a grown up.  We love him so much.
• Mom Check-In: Well, the Fall passed quickly for us and here we are in Winter.  It seems like it's really dragging.  I can't wait for it to start getting more sunny outside and a little warmer so we can get out, but that's feels like forever away.  I'm been sick a ton, which is no fun, and Jeff and I have been working way too much. (Minus our fun trip to Mexico which was a welcomed get-away)  So we're making it through but I'm ready to skip a few months.  Winter just stinks.
• Looking Forward To: Although I'm nervous as hell to get Noah out of his crib I'm super excited to re-decorate his whole room and start fresh.  I'm been on Pinterest non-stop at work looking for new ideas.  When I asked Noah was color sheets he wanted he said red, so I'm going to let him have some input but I'll be choosing most things on my own.... I mean, it'll probably the last time I get to pick out a room for him anyway.