- when life gives you lemons -

A little lesson from Ellie...
when life gives you lemons, make a sour face, and then move on!

- quick recipe of the week -

Another week is upon us! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Today, I am pleased to introduce you to Courtney from The Mommy Matters.

(Image credit Courtney)

Courtney is a military wife and a SAHM turned business owner and entrepreneur. She is a self declared Photoshop addict (I love that!), Starbucks junkie, and lit loving tech geek. She could spend all day browsing Pinterest for beautiful photos and typography. You can find her ranting and raving about marriage, motherhood, and the emotions of being a WAHM at her blog. I absolutely love how real and honest Courtney is in her blog posts! It's definitely on my list of daily reads! You have to go check it out and get to know her. You can also view her latest design work at her professional site Amplified Designs.

Courtney grew up in the south, and she knows and loves BBQ! This recipe is a delicious home cooked BBQ chicken meal made super easy! This recipe literally takes five minutes to prepare! Best of all, you can start it in the morning, leave it cooking all day, and have it ready when you get home from work! Simple, easy, and delicious!

Quick and Easy Crockpot Chicken
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Italian dressing
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Put your frozen chicken breasts into the crock pot. In a separate bowl, mix the Italian dressing, BBQ sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper. Pour on top of your chicken. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours. When it's done, take a fork and pull your chicken apart. Serve on a bun.

(Image Credit yummly.com)

Printable Recipe

Thank you Courtney!

- a little toddler update -

Here's a little update on toddler-hood around our house these days...

- We are very lucky...Ellie really is a pretty good toddler. She's learning tons of new things everyday, and she is quite the gabber (until of course, we get around other people, and then she won't say a word, and she makes us look like liars..ha ha).  It's pretty darn cute to hear her talking up a storm with that cute little voice! 

- She sleeps in the strangest positions that make us laugh!

Sleeping, with her legs crossed up on the side of her crib! And of course, the only picture we could get was through the monitor since we have the lightest sleeper in the world!

- Speaking of sleeping, she's been wonderful sleeping at night. She still sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. most days, and sometimes when we are very lucky, she'll last till 8:30 (that's the best when it happens on a weekend. Mommy and Daddy get to sleep in too). Naps around here are a different story. I know she is not ready to drop her one and only nap yet. She's not even 2! But there have been more and more days that she will refuse to nap. She'll roll around in her crib, talking to herself and her stuffed animals. Sometimes she'll bust out a song or two. Eventually, she'll pop up and start jumping in her crib, and soon after that she'll start calling out for us. We usually leave her in there for awhile in hopes that she will tire herself out. Sigh...take a nap child!

 Who needs naps Momma? It's much more fun to play outside!

- And speaking of naps...Ellie has never been able to nap outside of her crib. Every once in awhile, she will fall asleep in the car, but that is rare. Napping in the stroller is absolutely out of the question. She just won't do it. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we got her into this routine of napping at home. Honestly, after 5 months of constant crying, when she finally started napping well, we didn't want to mess with it, so we would plan our lives around her nap time and always make sure she was in her crib for naps. Now, of course, we've created such a routine monster, that when we try to stray from her normal routine, she just won't nap. The good news is, she doesn't really have terrible meltdowns when she doesn't nap, especially if we are out and about. So, there is this part of me that wants to start planning all day activities on the weekends and stop living around her nap time. Maybe if we start doing that more and more, she will eventually figure out that if she's tired, and in her stroller, she should just close her eyes and sleep! But then there is the part of me that knows she still really needs her nap, and if we are forcing her out of the house and skipping her naps, that really can't be good for her health and well being...

-  The potty training has begun! We've had the potty in the house for a little over a month now. She knows what it is, and is excited to use it. So far, only peeing, and only when we actually take her to the potty. She hasn't started letting us know ahead of time that she has to go. But, I still consider this progress. We aren't in any huge rush, and we are just hoping she will really catch on and start proactively telling us when she has to go. For now, she knows that she gets to wash her hands after she uses the potty (these are the little things she gets excited about), and she also gets a little treat. So that is enough to at least keep her interested in the potty!

 

No, we don't let her use the potty fully dressed like this so that she pees all over her dress! This was one of the first days we brought it in the house, and she was just realizing that she could sit on it. That was only step one!

 

- Oh, the joys of toddler-hood. I can't tell you how many times I hear "I do it myself" in one day. She says it to me ANY time I am doing anything that remotely involves her, even if she has no idea what I am doing. Little Miss Independent!

- And onto the subject of disciplining...like I said, Ellie is a pretty good toddler, especially when we are out in public (thank you God!). But, oh boy, she does know how to throw those tantrums and she does get easily frustrated just like every other toddler out there. I'm struggling with how to discipline her right now. I know we need to start disciplining her more. She definitely knows right from wrong, and she knows when she is misbehaving. But I don't really think she is ready for time outs or anything similar to that yet. There is no way we could get her to stay in a chair for any given amount of time, especially if she is upset. I struggle with this, because I know children need boundaries and discipline. I do not want a spoiled bratty kid as she grows up. But there are so many times that bribing her or giving in is just so much easier! I definitely need to get more disciplined about the disciplining around our house! Any suggestions on disciplining at this age?

It's so hard for me to discipline this cute little face!

- how transparent are you -

I read the most amazing post the other day written by the lovely Arielle Elise. It struck a chord with me and I realized this was a topic I have thought about many times before, even long before I had started my own blog, back when I was just a mere blog stalker. Her post was about being real and honest while blogging, being transparent, and choosing to share the good as well as the bad on your blog. It's harder than it sounds.

You see, here's the thing about blogging...when you create a blog, it's your blog. Your creation. You can do whatever you want with it. That's the beauty of blogging. So if you, as a blogger, choose to only share your happy moments and your triumphs with the world, that is your prerogative. But if you don't choose to share some of your "harder" moments in life on your blog, why not? Are you just trying to "portray" a perfect life to others, or are you truly just utilizing your blog as a way to capture and remember those happy memories and share them with family and friends, and it's not any more complicated than that. And as Arielle mentions in her post, does this set others up for discontentment in their own life? And if so, is this even your problem, or theirs?

I can tell you personally that I have read some wonderful blogs written by the most beautiful and talented women. I have read about their outstanding marriages, watched their ridiculously cute children grow up, and seen some of the most awesome talent showcased on these blogs. And, admittedly, I have walked away from these blogs feeling inspired. But, I have also walked away feeling a little more insecure and inadequate about my own life and my own talents. I could never figure out how these women did it...their lives seemed so perfect. How is their photography so flawless, when I feel like mine is so sloppy all the time? How can they look so cute in all those outfits, when I more often than not reach for sweats, and have fallen into the bad habit of simply tying my hair up almost every day? I don't think for a minute that any of these woman had ever intended on making me, or anyone else feel that way. But it was just so hard for me not to compare myself, and wonder what in the world I was doing wrong.

It wasn't until I started writing my own blog that I realized how all of these other women "did it"... how they always had such a perfect and beautiful life...the answer, they didn't. That's the simple truth. But their blogs showcased their lives so flawlessly that it's easy to understand why one would think they lived a perfect life. And that's okay, if that's the direction they choose for their blog. After all, it is their blog. To be honest, that's kind of the direction my blog has taken so far. But here's the truth...I don't have a perfect life. And I am sorry if I have portrayed that and in any way made any of my readers feel inadequate.

That was truly not my intention.

Believe me, I am in no way perfect. I am really hard on myself. I don't have tons of self confidence. It's hard for me to see my own talents, and feel proud about those talents.

I don't have an absolutely perfect marriage. Who does? I have an amazing husband that I love with all my heart, but we've had, and still have, our ups and downs. We have our trials. We've actually been through a big trial this past year that has caused a large financial and emotional strain on both of us. It's been hard.

I have fallen off the workout bandwagon and I simply can.not.get.back.on. Because I can't do it all. I am not the perfect mother and the perfect housewife that can work full time, squeeze in a workout everyday, and have a gourmet meal on the table. I try, but more often than not, I fall very short.

My intention is not to turn my blog into an absolutely depressing memoir that harps on all of my imperfections. But I am also not going to purposefully portray my life as perfect. I do want to capture and remember the happy moments of my life. That's one main reason why I blog. But life has it's ups and downs, and how will I ever truly cherish the ups, without chronicling some of the downs as well?

I challenge you to do the same...make an effort to create a little more transparency when you blog. Share some of your disappointments with us. The blogging world is an awesome community, and you might be surprised how therapeutic it can actually be to read the encouraging words that your readers will post for you.

- quick recipe of the week -

Summer is slowly packing her bags...she hasn't quite left yet, but she's starting to prepare...why does summer always fly by so quickly?

Today I am so excited to feature this sweet blogging mommy! Amy from Amy Day to Day is a favorite blogger of mine!

Amy is a wife of five years and a mom to a beautiful 20-month-old girl. With those two roles, life can be a little busy, but she's a firm believer that we all need some thing, some time, or some space that is just for us. That's how her blog was born and she's having so much fun with it! Amy writes about her personal style, being a mom, and her every day life.

(Image credit Amy)

One thing that Amy loves to do is cook and this summer, she's found some amazing recipes via Pinterest. One of these is for Coconut Pancakes. She guarantees that your whole family will love them!

Coconut Pancakes
1 1/4 c. flour
2 tb sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c. shredded, sweetened coconut
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. buttermilk
3/4 c. coconut milk
1 tb butter

Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then stir wet ingredients into dry. Stir until well-combined. Add the 1 tb melted butter to batter last. Heat pan or griddle to medium heat. Use a 1/3 c. measuring cup to spoon batter onto griddle. Flip when the top of the pancake is bubbling.

If you're going to make these pancakes, you MUST make this syrup to go along with them!

Buttermilk Syrup
1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter on low heat. Add sugar and stir well. Pour in buttermilk and sprinkle the soda evenly so it won't clump. Stir until hot, but don't boil. Take off the burner and add vanilla.

(Image credit Amy)

(Image credit Amy)

Printable Recipe

Thanks for sharing your yummy breakfast recipe Amy!

Make sure you go check out her blog! You'll love it!

- you asked...I answered -

I have been compiling a list of questions that my readers have been asking me over the last couple of months, and I've finally got around to posting them along with my answers. If you've ever wanted to get to know me even better, head on over to this page (or just click on my "you asked..." tab).

Happy Friday!

Have a sublime weekend!

- my little musican -

Maybe the next Jewel in the making? I hope so...because then she can support her mommy and daddy when she becomes a famous musician! ha ha ha!

There is nothing sweeter than watching her and Daddy play their guitars together. Well, Daddy plays his guitar, and Ellie fumbles a little bit with hers...but she's got plenty of time to learn!