EASY CROCK POT POTATO SOUP

The weather here in Montana has been getting cooler. Today's high was 30 degrees. Ok, it's freezing. Anyways, cold weather always makes me crave soup. 

My all time favorite soup is potato soup. Every restaurant I go to I always order it if it's available. Unfortunately, I never made it at home all of these years because the idea of cutting potatoes into small cubes sounds like torture. I'm lazy. Which is why this recipe is amazing!! Potato soup recipe for my fellow lazy people. 

Plus, I love crock pot recipes, so easy! I was very skeptical of this recipe - I thought it was too good to be true. False! It is so delicious I could eat it every day. My husband, Ryan is a soup snob so he would tell me if it sucked but he loved it. Husband approved! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

- 30oz frozen bag of hash browns 

-32oz box of chicken broth 

- 1 10oz can of cream of chicken soup 

- 8oz cream cheese 

- 3oz crumbled bacon or bacon bits 

- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

- pinch of salt and pepper 

Directions: 

Put bag of hash browns, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, half of bacon bits and pinch of salt and pepper. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. An hour before serving, cut up cream cheese into cubes and throw in crock pot. Stir occasionally until melted. Serve and top with shredded cheese and bacon bits. Yum! 

WE ARE ALL A HOT MESS

A mommy friend of mine sent me this image yesterday. We were venting to each other about our day. Some days are just harder than others and yesterday was one of them. 

In summary, Connor decided not to nap at all and he was grumpy because of it. I need naptime. It saves my sanity and gives me a moment to collect myself and have me time. Without this I have a hard time functioning.

Meanwhile, I'm struggling to get through my day and I see several Facebook posts of other moms with their hair done, makeup done and happy babies. Why do they look like that when it's 2pm and I'm still in pjs and haven't brushed my hair yet? It's hard not to compare and feel down about it. I think "i was not made for this". 

The friend I mentioned earlier is one of those moms that I'm always in awe of. Always looking great, hair and make up done. I admit, I get jealous - why can't I be like that? I'm over here trying not to have a mental breakdown! 

When I was venting to her, she sent me that quote. I needed to read that. Social media is always the best case scenario. How do I know that those other moms didn't have a breakdown 5 minutes before posting their happy family picture? I don't. 

I have been trying to make an effort to focus on myself and not to compare my life, baby and family to other's. Everyone has their struggles and bad days. Just because they don't advertise it on social media every day (why would they? I wouldn't!) doesn't mean they don't struggle. 

I'm just going to continue to rock my messy bun and yoga pants on those tough days and focus on getting through my day. Here are some "reality" pictures that I edited out of my social media posts! You never know how many "outtakes" there were to get that perfect Instagram picture! Ha! 

 

MUST-HAVE BABY ITEMS

Ask anyone, I have tried anything and everything once Connor was born. Swaddles, swings, toys, sound machines- literally everything. I should have been a paid product tester! With every new item I bought that was supposed to make life "easier", my mom rolled her eyes and said "we didn't have any of that stuff in my day". It's true, I didn't need all of it. To be honest a lot of the things I bought went to waste. Maybe the next kid will need it (no I'm not pregnant!). 

I am sure many pregnant mommies are or were like me and want to be extra prepared. I am still guilty of this. I thought I would try to be helpful and save some of you money by listing some of my must-have, holy grail products. I would not have survived without these!

Boppy: I was a boppy addict. I used this darn nursing pillow for 6 months until I finally kicked the habit. I brought it with me everywhere I went : airplane, car, other people's houses, etc. But wait! There's more! This is more than just a nursing pillow. It's great for tummy time and back support when the little ones start sitting up. Just get one, you will not regret it.

Miracle blanket: This is basically a swaddle that is a straight jacket. If your little one is anything like Connor, a regular swaddle blanket will not work! He was breaking out of those day 1 in the hospital. I say this is a must have because Connor went from waking every hour to every few hours when he was a newborn and that is a miracle.

Rock n' Play: This is the greatest invention ever! It's a portable bassinet that is slightly inclined. Every baby I know loved the rock n' play. It was perfect for nap time when I was over at friends or family's houses. I know a lot of people swear by using it for nighttime sleep as well during those early months. It is a sad day when they grow out of it. 

White noise: Now this isn't exactly a product per se. However, it is something I cannot live without! I still use it to this day. I got the idea to use white noise for sleeping based on the book/video "Happiest Baby on the Block". This mimics the sound they heard in the womb. There are many machines out there but I just use a white noise app on my iPad. Now that Connor is older I turn it on a "fan" sound and it's a quiet, dull noise that subtly drowns out all the craziness that goes on in the house.  Anything that helps sleep I am all for! 

Jogging stroller: I was all about the travel system I registered for on my baby registry. However, it's not long before they grow out of that infant car seat. Connor is especially tall and grew out of it before 6 months old. For how expensive those systems are, I would rather get a stroller that is more versatile and get an infant car seat adapter. I love my bob jogging stroller. I invested in one when we moved to Montana and I knew I would be going on off road hiking trails. It has proved to be more useful than I imagined. I use it everywhere. 

Baby wearing: I wouldn't have left the house if it wasn't for baby wearing. Connor was not happy in his car seat when he was a newborn. He would be screaming bloody murder everywhere I went. When he was two weeks old I put him in this super soft Sollybaby wrap and he passed out! I was able to run errands and get out of the house. It was the only way I could. I owe my sanity to the Solly Wrap. When he got a little older, I started using the Ergo. It's great because it's so easy to put on. I use it at the airport, hikes and shopping. It's pretty manly looking so it's husband approved! 

Jumper: Somewhere to put baby when I have to pee. Need I say more? Connor became uninterested in the jumper once he started to crawl at 8 months but I still say this is a must-have! Being able to entertain a baby and take a breather at the same time is priceless. Plus, it's so cute to see them jump all around.

Sleep sack: Once Connor started to roll over we had to stop swaddling for safety reasons. Since it's not safe to use blankets in the crib we used a couple types of sleep sacks, in other words; wearable blankets. The first one we used was the Zippadee Zip. It's a great sleep sack for transitioning from a swaddle. It provides resistance in the arm area to help them feel secure and it's also safe to roll in. Once Connor got older we switched to a regular Halo sleepsack. It gets cold in his room at night since its in the 30's now. The fleece sleepsack keeps him warm no matter how much he moves at night, which is a lot! (Below is a picture of Connor in the Zippadee Zip, which we called the "starfish")

These are just a few things I could think of off hand. For those mommies out there, what are your "must-have" products?

APPLE PIE CAKE

There is something about fall that gets me in the mood to bake. Maybe it's the cooler weather, fall scents or Apple season! A few weeks ago Ryan, Connor and I took a 35 minute drive to an apple orchard. We were able go into their factory to see how cider was made. So cool! Anyways, we tasted and bought 3 giant bags of apples (2 gala and 1 Macintosh). - and no we are not sick of them yet! 

I've been searching for a yummy Apple recipe where I could use my Macintosh apples (they are the best baking apples). Thanks to Pinterest, it led me to a delicious Betty Crocker Apple pie cake recipe. Yum! It was super easy to make and it made the whole house smell delightful! Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

Topping

- 1 cup of flour 

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/4 tsp of salt 

- 1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Apple mixture 

- 6 apples thinly sliced (I used Macintosh apples) 

- 3 Tbs packed brown sugar 

- 1 tsp ground cinnamon 

- 2 tsp lemon juice 

Cake (Betty Crocker super moist yellow mix)

-  1 1/3 cup water 

- 3 eggs

- 1/3 cup of oil 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 glass dish. 

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar and salt. Cut in butter and stir until crumbly. Set aside. (This is your topping!) 

In another medium bowl, stir together the Apple mixture ingredients listed above and set aside. 

Next, make your cake mix. Combine eggs, oil and water. Use a mixer and mix for about 2 minutes. Pour into glass dish.

 

Time to layer! Take the apple mixture you set aside and put on top of the cake mix. Then, sprinkle your topping mixture on top of that. Easy!  

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. It actually took 45 minutes for me but I like to be safe and check at 35 minutes then every 5 minutes after that. 

Let cool for 30 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar if you want! I don't know about you, but I love to eat Apple pie with French vanilla ice cream! Hope you enjoy this really easy "fall" recipe. Happy baking!

WHAT THEY DIDN'T TELL ME

When I was pregnant all I did was Google everything, read books, and Google more. Seriously. It would be embarrassing to show everything I "asked" Dr. Google. I was obsessed with knowing what labor and delivery would be like, what post partum would feel like, and how to get my newborn to sleep through the night by 6 weeks! HA! (I literally just laughed out loud at that one). Anyways, after all of my obsessive research (I call it nesting), I was still surprised by a lot - good things and bad! 

CONTRACTIONS: you can have contractions weeks before you go into labor. I'm not talking about those annoying Braxton hicks. I'm talking belly so tight I thought it was going to explode. Not to mention the lightening crotch. Google if you don't know. Every step felt like I was getting electracuted those last couple weeks. I was scared of labor until then...I wanted this baby OUT! 

LABOR: ugh! I should write a separate blog on my birth experience. But let me just tell you, no one told me contractions would feel like a dull knife stabbing me every 3 minutes. However, I would choose the dull knife in place of the CHAINSAW-FOR-AN-HOUR-STRAIGHT pain that I had during transition. Yup. No one told me. 

AMNESIA: see above as to why I don't believe that "amnesia after birth" crap.

POST PARTUM IS GROSS: I obviously knew labor was gross. After is way worse in my opinion. I won't go into too much detail (if you're a dude you may want to stop reading), but it's a murder scene. Tip to new soon-to-be mommies: please please please do not wear or buy anything you want to wear ever again. You're welcome. 

PEE, PEE EVERYWHERE: Not me, I promise. No one told me that during those first few weeks, during every diaper change would be a shower of pee. I tried everything to prevent, block and dodge it. Plus, with a boy it goes everywhere. It rivaled my childhood waterguns for sure. One time it went right up into Connor's face, hair and possibly his mouth but it was semi-dark so I am in denial about that last one. 

POOP OBSESSION: My fellow mommy friends can relate. I am so surprised I don't care about changing poopy diapers. I was so worried about it, really. Ok so this is going to sound weird but I love poop! It's like constant reassurance. "Yup, he is healthy! He is getting enough food!". When Ryan watches Connor , the first thing I ask him when I get home is," did he poop?" "What did it look like?" "What color was it?". I need to know these things or I cannot function. Weird, but I guarantee once you're a mom, you will be the same way! 

THE LOVE: On a more serious note...No one could have prepared me for how much love I would have for this child. One might say "I literally can't even!". You always see these cliché phrases online like, "he is my world" or "my whole life". But it's true. Nothing else matters except for this tiny human! It hard to write this because it is that hard to explain. So I'll leave it at that. 

I could go on and on about everything that I've learned along the way but I thought I would share a few. Please share any "wish you knew" moments of pregnancy or motherhood!

RELATIONSHIP CHANGES

For those who do not know, Ryan and I have been together for 10.5 years. We are high school sweethearts that beat the odds! Proved everyone wrong who said we would never work out simply due to the fact that we were together so young (16 and 15 years old to be exact). We have been through it all. Through many ups and downs, good times and not so good times, we always knew how to bounce back. 

I believe the main reason we have been able to thrive this long is honestly due to us being high school sweethearts! Sounds funny but hear me out. Think back to when you were 15 years old...how you acted with your crush. The butterflies, flirting, hand holding, the saying "I love you" 1000 times a day. Ryan and I were like that in high school. Even got in trouble for PDA at school a couple times. Whoops! You know what has changed? NOTHING. We did not let college, work, or marriage change anything. We are still "dating". Ryan still holds my hand every time in the car, and we still say I love you after every phone call. It's the little things that keep us feeling young, reminding us why we fell in love in the first place. Even through the hardest times in our relationship we relied on this to get us through, and it worked! However, nothing could have prepared us for marriage AND parenthood! 

Read my previous post on what happens when you have a baby. In summary, you are sleep deprived, hormonal, and in mama bear mode. When Connor was born, all I could think about was how exhausted I was. Ryan was SO helpful and supportive during those times. He was putting all of his energy towards me and I was putting my energy towards Connor. Recipe for disaster! Thank goodness I have the greatest husband in the world who was patient and understanding while I was adjusting as a new mother.

Now that it has been 10 months and we have our routine, we are back to "dating" again. I'm not going to lie, it's tough! With our hands full of baby stuff, it's hard to hold hands. With us constantly trying to entertain Connor, our eyes are on him and not each other. I think it's completely normal for relationships to go through an adjustment period! I mean, we went from binge watching our shows on Netflix all day to being 3 weeks behind on our favorite tv shows! 

Both Ryan and I grew up with divorced parents. It still affects us. It was horrible. I think our intense fear of doing the same to Connor pushes us to be better parents and spouses. We expect there to be tough times and we also know there will be great times! 

What I am saying is, marriage is hard work! We are not close to being perfect but my advice to new parents is to take care of your marriage first. Once you're past all of the chaos, get back to your roots. See past the craziness parenthood brings and support, love and date your partner. You have to ride the lovely roller coaster of life/marriage/parenthood together. And boy, it has been a crazy ride! But I wouldn't change it for anything!

NEW PARENT EXPECTATIONS

So I don't want to be a Debbie downer but being a parent is really really really hard. I don't think I understood that until it (Connor) happened to me. When you're pregnant with your first baby you are so overwhelmed with excitement -understandably! You research all of the best "baby essentials", pinning every "what you need to know" article on Pinterest and buying those cute outfits that will eventually have explosive baby poop all over them. Did I say that? Whoops. Those are some fun times! Now I'm not saying once baby arrives there is no more fun. It's just a different kind of fun and it all has to do with your expectations.

A lot of people - friends, family and a surprisingly many strangers would tell me , "get your sleep now!" or " your life is going to change!". What did I do? I laughed it off. How much could my life possible change? I literally work, watch Netflix and eat. I did not realize it would be pretty much impossible to do any of those things once baby was here. That gets me thinking, when was the last time I showered?

I am going to be honest and admit that I had a really hard time adapting to parenthood. It was not all happiness and fun like it portrayed on social media. I cried every day and night. Not only was I recovering, I was tired, frustrated and overwhelmed. I felt unprepared. I had the diapers, wipes, swaddles and everything that those "baby essentials" articles say to have. So why did I feel this way? I was not prepared for my world to be turned upside down. Suddenly my life was not mine anymore. It 100% revolved around this little tiny being, whom I loved so much it hurt. I kept thinking to myself, "why didn't anyone TELL me it was going to be this hard". But they did, and often! Now that I'm sort of sane now, I do not blame myself. I realized that no one can prepare you for this. You jump in with both feet and survive the best way you can. I believe most, if not all mothers go through this in some degree. Let me tell you something, it gets better. 

Those infamous words every "been there done that" parent has said a million times. It gets better. Let's be honest, hearing that does not make you feel any better. Time flies but also drags like no other during those difficult times. But seriously, it does get better. Until you go through other terrible phases (joking, kind of). 

There are so many things that change the moment you become a parent. I knew this when I was pregnant but I didn't really know until December 3, 2014, the day Connor was born. 

SLEEP. Let me tell you, I thought I was sleep deprived when I was pregnant. Oh. My. God. I cannot even begin to describe the sleep deprivation after having a baby. Hallucinations and falling asleep standing up became a reality I never thought would exist! It's definitely the worst during those first few months. Technically it got better but after 10 months, Connor still wakes up at 3am every night. But let me tell you, that's better than 10pm, 12am, 2am, 4am, 6am. As hard as those early weeks were, those are times I will never get back. Feeding my baby and bonding during those quiet night time hours are precious times. My advice to you is to cherish and I mean really cherish those moments. I will never get to hold newborn Connor in the middle of the night while he falls asleep in my arms ever again. During my worst nights I would tell myself, this moment will never happen again. I still tell myself this to get through tough times. 

I swear I didn't write this blog to discourage anyone from having kids. Having Connor in my life is the best thing that ever happened. Seriously, the best. I cannot imagine my life without him. It is a life change that's all. I wanted to help and encourage other mommies or soon-to-be mommies who felt or may feel the same way I did at first. Expect life to be a little jumbled for awhile. Life is a roller coaster, enjoy the ride! And remember, it gets better. 

[picture of Connor's first day home, a moment I'll never have again] 

DIY FALL WREATH

Fall is upon us! Now this fall season is particularly special. It is our first fall in Montana. Changing leaves and cooler weather is a new experience for us. And to think I was excited for the first and only sign of fall in California...wait for it...pumpkin spice lattes! 

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a crafty person. In fact, the idea of doing tedious things with my hands makes my skin crawl. However, a couple years ago my awesome friend Suzanne convinced me to try and wow I really surprised myself! Please do not let this project scare you anti-craft people away! It's really easy. If I can do it you can do it! 

Supplies:

- stick wreath (I bought from Michael's)

- flowers/leaves/berries (all from Michael's)

- door wreath hanger 

- twine 

-hot glue gun

- scissors 

How to do it: 

First, you want to arrange the flowers and other decorations you chose on the wreath before you glue. Cut your flowers,leaves and berries off of the long stems they come with and stick (not glue) them on your wreath. 

Now that you've finalized the way you want your wreath to look, it's time to glue! Use the hot glue gun and start glueing! I prefer to glue while the flowers are still on, focusing on where the stem hits the branches on the wreath. I used stems of berries which I actually did not glue. I simple weaved them in between the branches. Remember, I am anti-craft so any step I can make easier I will take advantage of! And that's IT! You're done. Easy right? If you want to add an extra little touch like I did keep reading...

TWINE ON HANGER

Now this is a little more tedius but stick with me, it's not that bad! Take that twine and wrap around your hanger making sure they don't overlap. I found that the easiest way for me was to wrap 5 times around really fast then scrunch the twine up (Remember, try not to overlap). This is a really cute touch to add to your fall wreath! And the plus side is that you can use this hanger year round, not just fall. And I LOVE that. 

Now it's your turn! I dare you to get out of your comfort zone if you're like me and try this super easy fall craft! It will get you into the fall spirit no matter where you live. 

[took this picture during a family outing]

THE MOVE

Here is an interesting fact about me: I did not like living in Southern California. Yup, I'm weird. I know I am in the minority because of this opinion. However, let me explain: 

I grew up in the wonderful suburb of Los Angeles, Diamond Bar. Although boring and uneventful (says my old high school self), it really is a nice town. I attended one the best schools in the country and played sports my entire childhood. I actually was a pretty good volleyball player too but I digress. 

What I'm saying is that I used to like living in California. The never ending food choices, mountains or beach within an hour, and of course the warm weather all year long. These were all great things until I grew up. I had to do adult things like pay bills, go to work, and the most life-changing event; start a family.

My husband and I lived in Upland, CA. It was 20 minutes from our hometown, Diamond Bar and about 1.5 hours from my husband's work. That drive is brutal but more on that later. Upland is a fairly decent suburb. I say fairly decent because there were really nice areas and then some areas not so much. We lived in a condo. It was perfect for our "first place". However, as the years passed it became a place of resentment. 

Resentment because of how expensive it was to live there and the location was not ideal. We were living paycheck to paycheck while in a not-so-good neighborhood. My husband was driving 85 miles one way to work. The time that the 5 freeway took away from our lives was detrimental. He was never home and when he was it was for a couple hours. He even slept at work every week because of that drive. Our overall quality of life was poor. Then Connor happened. Our son, our whole world. 

We wanted the best for him. Now our "ok" neighborhood was not good enough. The poorly rated schools nearby were not good enough. His dad being home a fraction of the time was not good enough. And then we realized our life was not good enough for him.

It's amazing how much your mindset changes when you have a child. (Cue mama bear!) I want to protect him and give him every opportunity to be the best person he could be. I know, I know. I can't keep him in a bubble forever but we knew we wanted something different for him. 

My husband and I love Montana. My family lives in Missoula and Ryan was lucky enough to go on most of the trips with me to visit. Something was different. We felt lighter. Closer to God. You don't know what "high on life" feels like until you visit Montana. We decided when Connor was just 6 months old that we needed a change. Yes, we knew it would be hard. We knew it would be the most stress we would ever endure, ever. I mean, who just gets up and decides to leave their jobs, friends and family?! Parents who are desperate for a quality place to be a family, that's who. 

Fast forward 4 months: we are here. Our dreams have come true. The stars have freakishly aligned and paved the way for us to finally be in Montana. It's crazy how easy it was. Now I know we have a long way to go. We need to rebuild and that takes time. Our family is looking forward to a life long of happiness and adventure. NOW our life can begin.

Here is a picture of us as a family here in beautiful Missoula, Montana.