Mom Life in the PNW

The NFC Goes Through Us!

The NFC Goes Through Us!
My husband was able to score us Seahawks Playoff tickets somehow on December 31st at exactly 10 am. Every time I searched on my computer, it came up with 0 results so he tried it on his PC and miraculously we got seats. Not very good seats I might add, but I could care less since we’re in the playoffs! It’s going to be good either way. Then this last Saturday we got the news we would be playing my husbands other favorite team (His dad is from Louisiana). Now don’t me wrong, Seahawks will always trump the saints in this house, so no worries there fellow 12s.

We’re heading up to Seattle tonight to stay with friends since they have a house up there. Thank goodness for that or we’d be forking up a fortune for a hotel I’d imagine. 
I can’t wait to be with my fellow 12s in the city of Seattle who are the craziest, best fans in the world!

We got this.

Holiday Cake Balls with Nestlé.

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Since my mom is usually the baker of goods during the Holidays, I figured I would try something of my own in the hopes I wouldn’t fail miserably.

I took a basic cake ball recipe and incorporated a couple of Nestlé candies, which ended up making the taste buds have a weird party in my mouth. Still not sure if I like it, but the kids sure do!

Ingredients

  1. Cake, any kind, any flavor. I ended up using a box cake so I wouldn’t have to deal with a super messy kitchen.
  2. Frosting, again, any kind any flavor. (only use 1/3 can or a couple of tbsp depending on the moistness of your cake.)
  3. 1 lb Nestlé Crunch Bar
  4. 1 box of holiday colored nerds.

Instructions

  • Bake cake according to directions.
  • When done, let cool then crumble the cake into fine crumbs.
  • Melt the crunch bar a little at a time in a boiler pot or in the microwave (I found the microwave to be faster.) Only do 30 seconds at a time to avoid burning the chocolate.
  • Add in frosting a little bit at a time until cake is moist and can hold a ball shape, yet still slightly crumbly.
  • Use your hands to mix the frosting into the cake crumbs.
  • Mix the melted crunch bar into the frosted cake crumbs.
  • Use a mini ice cream scoop and scoop out a ball of cake mixture or just do it with your hands if you don’t have one.
  • Roll the mixture into a tight ball and place on a plate.
  • Repeat until all the cake mixture has been rolled into balls.
  • Take some nerds and sprinkle them over the cake ball.
  • Freeze for about 20 minutes.

Some things I learned when making cake balls:

1. Most recipes tell you to use an entire thing of frosting. I followed this mistake and ended up with a goopy mess afterwards. So, please go EASY on the Frosting. You only need about a third of a can if that, all depends on the moistness of the cake.
2. Use your hands when mixing. It’ll look like you aren’t putting enough frosting in if you use your blending tools. You will know whether you’re using too much frosting when you use your hands when you go to make a ball.
3. Have a mini ice cream scoop? Use that to scoop out the dough in even portions. I didn’t have one of these when I did it.

I was originally going to melt the chocolate crunch bar and use it to dip the cake ball in once it had been done freezing, but my recipe was way too moist from too much frosting so that may work for you if you don’t make the same mistake as I.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Moms Who Have Trouble Breastfeeding: Try BARE Bottle.

My daughter was born back in October. Everything was going great until we went back to the hospital 4 days later and found out she had lost 11.5% of her birth weight. That meant she was not getting enough breast milk from me while breastfeeding. I had a feeling she wasn’t because she would cry after she was done feeding like she was hungry still. The pediatrician advised me that Aislin needed to supplement with formula. I was devastated because I thought my dreams of breastfeeding were over.

 Over the next couple of months I worked with a lactation specialist and the pediatrician who tried to get my supply up. I tried all kinds of herbs, teas, eating foods high in fat, pumping, and even prescriptions without much of an increase. I was getting 1 oz out of both breasts after pumping for 45 min. Even though they both cheered me along, I knew I was one of the mothers out there that had a low milk supply and couldn’t feed my daughter exclusively with just my milk. 

By the time she was 2.5 months, she had weaned herself and my supply was drastically disappearing. I could barely get anything with a pump, which led me to search for a bottle I could use where she wouldn’t get confused between my breast and a bottle, and I came across the BARE® air-free baby bottle. The concept looked great because it was air-free and mimics a normal breast. The breast isn’t filled with air, so why should a bottle be? Because it is air-free, it slows down bacteria growth and oxidation. The nipple is short and realistic and even retracted up and down like the breast does naturally. I think part of the reason she weaned besides my low supply, was because she was getting a bottle too, and she didn’t have to work as hard at getting the milk out. My hopes were to get her to latch back onto the breast. As excited as I was when I got this bottle, Aislin seemed be accustomed to the bottle she was feeding with and I couldn’t get her to latch onto this bottle either. The nipple was short, and required a breast-like latch and she was having an issue with getting a good enough latch. I think for some babies that have been breastfeeding longer, it would work. I really don’t have anything negative to say about it. It’s a sturdy bottle, easy to clean and attractive. I think it would help in our situation if the nipple was a little bigger. But, I am still on the hunt for something suitable while I try to conquer my breastfeeding issues.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free from BARE®. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

I’m Going to Mexico in March!

I’m Going to Mexico in March!
It is finally official!! We’re going to Mexico; Mazatlan to be exact at the beginning of March.

All it took was my husbands old roommate having a timeshare for my husband to jump on it, which is awesome, cause it’s only $200 for an entire week! Flight on the other hand is going to be over 1k for 2 of us round trip, but whatever, we need this vacation since we never really had an appropriate honey moon and I can’t wait to be sitting on a nice, warm beach with blue waters and a margarita or 3 in hand!

Now, to get my passport stuff done in the next week. EEK.

From Celebrating Holidays to Not Celebrating.

From Celebrating Holidays to Not Celebrating.

Another holiday season has come and gone…

You may be wondering how I can go from celebrating to not celebrating? It’s called marrying someone who’s family are Jehovah Witnesses. They believe that most holidays fall into one of three categories and all three are wrong. These 3 categories are false religious holidays, political holidays, and holidays that honor anyone or any human/organization other than God. They don’t even do birthdays, which to me is something that I will always do regardless.  Christmas on the other hand is no big deal to me since it’s a bunch of commercialized crap where parents compete every year on getting the hottest electronics and toys for their minions. Plus, it saves me tons of money. You know how many nieces and nephews I have now? 5!!  I’m expecting a million more since I have 5 siblings and 2 don’t even have kids yet.

It was a little difficult for me to just stop completely after I met my husband, so I continued to celebrate even though he wanted no part in it. I loved helping with decorations and setting up the fresh Christmas tree in the house when growing up. I think that’s what I miss most about it. Getting gifts are nice, but its more about giving than receiving, plus, who wants a hideous Christmas sweater and some dry fruit cake? Although, that seems to be the new “cool” thing to get now, so people can post pictures of themselves on Facebook in their hideous ensemble.

You may be wondering if we get offended if someone wishes us a Merry Christmas, like the door greeters at shopping malls or “acquaintances” who don’t actually know about my husband’s religious beliefs?

– The answer is no, especially me, I will usually say you too back, but my husband won’t really say anything but smile. It is kind of awkward but what can ya do?

And what is there to do on Christmas when you don’t celebrate?

– We usually go see a movie since there’s usually a hot blockbuster out around this time of year. Then we go home and see A Christmas Story on TV being played back to back; makes thee husband cringe.

I will always have my memories though, even if I don’t get to make them with my future children.