Shay's New Favorite Snack Recipe - No Bake Energy Bites

Jeff likes to always have Quaker Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars on hand so you can imagine that it didn't take long for Shay to convert to mooch mode as soon as she heard the wrapper being opened.  I decided I wanted to try to find a recipe for homemade granola bars of sorts that would incorporate healthy, non-processed ingredients so I turned to my latest go-to, Pinterest!  What I found was the perfect recipe courtesy of Smashed Peas and Carrots, No Bake Energy Bites.  These were an instant hit and are now a staple in our house.  Nutritious recipe for my toddler and easy to make?  Yes, please!

1 cup whole grain oats
1/2 cup organic peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/3 cup local honey (I've read that local honey helps build natural allergy immunities)
1 cup toasted coconut flakes, cooled
1/2 cup ground flaxseed (yay for omega-3's!)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (okay so one not-so-healthy ingredient, you could probably substitute organic raisins)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl until fully incorporated.  Chill in refrigerator for 1/2 hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to a week.

(Note: I just spread it into one even layer in a rectangular plastic container and cut pieces as needed instead of rolling into balls).  You could also cut into bar shapes.)

Things No One Tells You Before Becoming a Parent - Vaseline

Back in the day of setting up our baby gift registries, when we had no clue as to what we actually needed, we saw a big 'ol tub of Vaseline labeled for babies.  I'm sure it's just regular Vaseline, but the pink & blue baby label drew in these naive parents-to-be.  It just seemed at the time that it was something we should add to the registry.  It was in the baby section after all!

Fast forward two years and said big 'ol tub of Vaseline has hardly ever been used.  Until 3 days ago when Shay decided to take the lid off and scoop out gobs of it, smearing it all over her arms, legs, clothes, hair, our guest bedroom comforter and her daddy as he tried to grab her.  Bath #1 resulted in getting the goo off of her skin but did absolutely nothing for her hair.  Strike one.  A friend of mine Googled the How To's of how to get Vaseline out of hair.  We tried one of the suggestions of rubbing with baby oil (supposedly to get the Vaseline out) followed by a shampoo (supposedly to get the baby oil out).  Strike two.  We put Shay to bed and she looked like a grease monkey the next morning.  The third attempt involved Dawn dish soap followed by shampoo.  Success!  In fact, quite amazing success (thank you Google, Kristen & Jennifer)!

Moral of the story...don't keep Vaseline within a toddler's reach.  If this fails (which it or something like it will inevitably do), keep a bottle of Dawn handy.

Things No One Tells You Before Becoming a Parent - Toddlers Can Rupture Eardrums

I'm compiling a list of things that no one prepares you for when becoming a parent, the most recent being that loud, shrill screams from your baby can have the power to perforate an eardrum.  That's right folks, Shay literally shrieked a hole right into her Daddy's ear.  My sweet little Seraphina has turned into a banshee!

Goodnight Moon!

We're on our second hard copy of the book Goodnight Moon. The first one got worn out from so much use and ultimately met its demise in a toilet bowl (thanks to a precocious toddler who will remain nameless)!  The current copy has definitely seen better days.  Thanks to Grandma Pam for both copies.  Since Grandma should not be an eternal source of Goodnight Moon books, we found an alternative...YouTube to the rescue!  This animation brings the book to life and we all love it.  It's part of Shay's bedtime routine to watch this along with a few other favorite videos linked below.  Enjoy!

Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Gorilla

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Shay's absolute favorite video. Ever!)



Shay's Favorite Snack Recipe - Nut Butter Balls

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time and just haven't gotten around to it.  I like to try to make new things in an effort to expand Shay's food list and she absolutely loves these nut butter balls.  The recipe is courtesy of one of my favorite baby books The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet.  This book is filled with a lot of great recipe ideas for babies and toddlers.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsalted or lightly salted cashews
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 T. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pulse cashews in a food processor until they are fine crumbles, but not smooth cashew butter.  Add the remaining ingredients and process until combined.  Form into small, bite sized balls.  Store tightly covered in refrigerator.

Sorry, I don't have enough blogging foresight to take a photo.  You'll just have to make them yourselves and let me know if your little one likes them as much as Shay does!

Bad Blogger

Hi, my name is Jamie and I'm a bad blogger. 

It's been awhile since I've last posted anything on here.  I'm actually still debating the direction I want to go with this blog since I'm obviously really slow at updating what's been going on in the life of the Burton family. 

I've been getting a lot of questions from friends about all things baby.  While I'm very far from any sort of child rearing expert, I'm learning a lot...on a daily basis it seems!  So when I get the time and the motivation to start typing out some more thoughts, I'll probably start sharing more about some of the baby products, blogs, advice, etc. that I'm discovering works (or doesn't).  The recommendations from friends and advice I've discovered from other parenting resources has been so helpful so I'd like to pay it forward.

Stay tuned...

Springtime Fun

Nashville is beautiful this time of year with new leaves unfolding on nearly every tree and flowers in full bloom everywhere.  Perfect time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors before the sweltering humidity rears its ugly head.  What better way to kick off spring than a photo shoot of Shay at Centennial Park.  Once again, our creative, talented and generous friend Erin got behind the viewfinder of her camera and shot a bunch of great photos of Shay, her gift for Shay's 1st birthday.  Below are just a few of our favorite shots:

Flower child 

Love this one! 

Love that she's starting to look like a little girl in this one...

...and still looks like a baby in this one

On April 9th, Erin, our friend Liesl and I threw a bridal brunch shower for our friend Kristen who is getting married at the end of May.  We enjoyed beautiful weather out on the patio at local Nashville eatery Mad Donna's where we noshed on tasty food, sipped sweet mimosas and watched Kristen open her pile of gifts.  A perfect lazy Saturday morning. 

The bride to be

 Pretty flowers Erin brought

 Something must've been funny

Also this past weekend, my Aunt Paige & Uncle Bob rolled into Nashville in their motor home so we got to spend time with them on Saturday and Sunday and they met their grand-niece for the first time.  Shay, having gotten over her stranger anxiety a couple of months ago, welcomed them with all the vigor a 1 year old who has never before met her relatives can.  Which basically meant that she did not cry and instead offered up some waves and blew kisses.  She grabbed her Great Uncle Bob's cheek, fascinated for a brief moment in time with his facial hair, something she's never seen up close before (unless you count when her Daddy doesn't shave for a few days).

On Sunday, we drove to the campsite where Paige & Bob stayed in their motor home.  It was fun to check out their mobile digs and Shay enjoyed the playground and an impromptu dip in the lake, her first time in non-bathtub water.  She had a blast splashing around in the shallow water on the sandy beach and then trekked out into the lake itself seemingly oblivious to the coldness of the water.  She even fell backward and went completely under but came up unfazed.  As her mom, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she's so fearless when it comes to water.  Maybe there's something to the ol' astrological sign thing...she is a pisces!  After our daughter was thoroughly soaked, we brought her back up to the motor home, got her changed into a clean, dry outfit and enjoyed a great dinner outdoors.

 Checking out the inside of the motor home

 Jeff & Bob hanging outside "Big Gray Box"

 A happy Shay Bug

 Yep, she has all the makings of a gymnast...loved hanging on the bar

 Great Uncle Bob & Shay at Old Hickory Lake

Splish Splash! 

 She kept the boys on their toes

 Beach baby