A Hungry Caterpillar - Max's First Birthday

Max is ONE!

I cannot believe our Max is a year old. The past six (almost 7 months) have been a blur. We hosted a sweet little birthday for our Max. Here are some pictures. 

I saw the balloon and cake idea on Pinterest and it turned out really cute. 

The cake shaped like a caterpillar. 

We bought Max the small hard cover of The Hungry Caterpillar. 

The kids were able to take goodie bags of candy or decorate their cupcakes.

I really wanted to make the icing for the cupcakes from scratch (which I did), but we were not successful at getting the natural vegetable dyes to turn the green and red we needed (the colors turned out more like 'poopie' green and 'barbie' pink, yeah not cool.) So I ended having to buy the colored icing to put on the caterpillar and left the ones I made without dye. Max throughly enjoyed eating this sugary deliciousness and I was happy he didn't eat the awful fake colors found in colored icing. Oh, and if you are wondering....he definitely touched the fire :)

He was extremely gentle with his cupcake.

He enjoyed it very much.

Considering I started planning for this birthday party one week before the date, I think it turned out really great. Thank you for all our friends who came out and celebrated our sweet boy. 

Our Max

It has been 4 months since I last blogged about Max and our adventures as parents. It hasn't been easy, but it has been the most rewarding experience of our lives. Max brings so much joy to our lives each and every day; I wish the same could be said about how he makes us feel at night {a girl can dream} :). 

In the past 4 months Max has learned so many new things. He says dada, dede, ba, baba, and a few other babbling sounds. He started clapping in September, crawling backward in October, crawling forward in November and holding himself up in December. He loves to wave, give high-five, blow kisses, click his tongue, touch his hair when you ask him where his hair is, play peek-a-boo, and making the Indian call (tapping his mouth with his little hand) which he learned to do between Thanksgiving and his birthday last week. His motor skills are developing well. He is picking up his food by pinching it and can feed himself, his grip is strong and he just recently started pointing at things. Max loves to eat! He especially loves potatoes, sweet or not, avocado, chicken, hummus, cheerios, Annie's cheddar mix, and bananas, but he really eats just about anything. Anthony and I eagerly waited for Max to get some teeth, partly because he was in so much pain and continues to be, but mainly because we miss our sleep. He got his first tooth (bottom) in early November and shortly after he got his second tooth. 

Teething is awful! Max had just started sleeping throughout the night when all of a sudden he started teething. He gained teeth and we lost sleep. It is miserable at times. No living person should ever see the dreadful numbers we have seen on our alarm clock. Of course it was more difficult at first; I have learned to become a zombie at night. There are mornings when I wake up in my bed with Max in my arms and wonder how it all happened. Max has not been a good sleeper. He is one and still wakes up in the middle of the night. I have gotten great cuddle time, but sometimes I need my SLEEP! (Can you tell we miss our sleep?) And I know some of you are thinking "what about Anthony?" Hummm...yeah what about Anthony? haha. I am kidding, Anthony is such a huge help. He gets up and gets bottles ready, but the bottom line is he is not Mama. Max has major 'mamitis,' it's a Spanish word meaning 'I want my mom and I want her now!!" The boy loves his mama...can you blame him? ;) Don't take me wrong, Max loves his Papa, but Papa apparently doesn't cuddle like Mama. 

Our favorite things about Max are his smile and eyes. Max's smile is special, it speaks to you, it says "I love you" and "I am thankful for you." We have had people of all ages tell us how wonderful his smile is to see and how they want to smile because of his smile. His eyes and the way he looks at people is tender and understanding. It is the strangest thing, but his eyes show compassion and love. It's almost as if he understands the love, pain, joy, sorrow people are feeling. Our Max is such a special boy. 

Since having Max (6 and 1/2 months) we have learned so many new things about ourselves. Parenting truly makes you more selfless. I feel it is the closest I have ever come to understanding Christ love for me. Parenting is hard, it is beautiful, but hard! You have to give your self LOTS of grace. 

One of the very first times he rode on the BOB

Look How much he has grown in just a few months!

His two little teeth

Getting ready to go one his very first ride.

Mini Lasagna cupcakes...perfect for a party :)

I love cooking, yes, I truly  do. But what I love more than cooking is finding an versatile recipe. I found a recipe about a year and a half on Pinterest called Wonton Mini Taco Lasagna (or something like that.) The concept itself was genius- wontons instead of noodle (which I didn't have to cook before using) and the whole mini thing worked too, but the taco idea wasn't making my mouth water. So I did what any woman married to an Italian man would do...I made it Italian. I have made this recipe so many times and I change it up often. Mostly, I use the same filling I use for my stuffed shells, but as long as you are using cheese and marinara I don't think it matters. Here it is:

1 container of Ricotta (I use the part skim, but you use the one to your liking)

1 8oz bag of Four Cheese blend 

1 table spoon of oregano (more if your heart so desires)

1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

3 cups of chicken, shredded (I use rotessirie chicken from Costco)

1 bottle of marinara sauce 

1 package of wonton wrappers (found in the produce are at Publix)

Cupcake pan

Grated parmesan to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix ricotta, four cheese blend, oregano, shredded chicken. Set to side.

2. Spray or butter the cupcake pan and place two wontons wrappers to make a basket in each cupcake hole.

3. Once you have set all the wontons in each setting start filling. One table spoon of the ricotta mixture and as much marinara as you desire (I typically don't put very much marinara). Repeat the process by setting two more wonton wrappers on top of the first layer with more ricotta mixture and marinara. Sprinkle with grated parmesan.

 4. Set oven to 350. Cook for 20-25 minutes and enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

At the Carbon household we are cookie monsters; we could eat chocolate chip cookies every night after dinner. It is hard to justify eating cookies after I have sweated my butt off running for an hour, but I always crave them, especially after a run! So I've been on the search for healthy cookie recipes to minimize the crave, but don't maximize our waist. Some have been disgusting (seriously, one tasted like card board) and others have really hit the spot, but this recipe is the best of them all. It tasted like a chocolate chip brownie cookie! Yum, I hope you all enjoy.

1 1/2 cup almond flour
3 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 cup of shredded coconut (unsweetened)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp of softened butter (you can use coconut oil)

3 tbsp of greek yogurt
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (enjoy life chips are my fav.)

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl.

2. In a smaller bowl mix all the softened butter, greek yogurt, honey and vanilla.

3. Pour the wet ingredients in the medium bowl and mix together until well blended.

4. Make into desired size cookie balls. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet or on parchment paper.

5. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (more if need be.)

6. Enjoy :)

Cookie Dough you can eat raw with out an egg concern.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Jambalaya

Life as a parent is joyful and crazy exhausting. I have never seen the clock flash the obscene numbers it has in the past few weeks. Being this had been the case for many weeks (Max, in the past week, has been sleeping between 9-11 hours straight) and my sleep was very limited I decided to seek different recipes on the web and magazines. I had a few requirements for my recipes, you know the usual: easy to make, not too time consuming, flavorful, filling (Anthony can eat for 4) and semi-healthy. It was challenging, but I managed to get my hands on a few (really great) recipes. This recipe, by far, is Anthony's favorite and I cannot blame him. I made some changes from the original recipe to make it healthier and easier. 

1 Rotisserie chicken (pick one up on the way home)
1lb andouille chicken sausage, about 7 links (much healthier than regular smoked sausage)
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 (10 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles (do not drain)
1 cup of water
1 (14-1/2 oz) can of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning
2 cups of uncooked rice (I have also made it with quinoa)

1. Since I decided to use the rotisserie chicken I had to pull the chicken off the bone and shred it into bite size pieces. Set aside.

2. Cut the sausage into 1/4 inch slices. Cook for 5 minutes in a dutch oven on medium heat. Add the chopped green peppers and onions. Cook until the peppers and onions are tender.

3. Stir in the next five ingredients; bring to boil, stir occasionally. Once boiling, add the rice and chicken. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes or until rice is tender.

 I love this recipe. You can add a little bit of cilantro to add flavor or as simple garnish.

Enjoy,

Kay C.

Savannah's Six Pence Pub

It is late at night and I cannot seem to close my eyes! Instead I was laying in bed thinking of this getting away with Anthony and Max to a cute little city like Savannah. The last, and only, time I went to Savannah, I fell in love with it's sweet southern charm, but can you blame me? A must see and a must dine in Savannah is this cute little Irish Pub located in the heart of the city: Six Pence Pub. You may recognize the name, as it was the setting of the movie "Something to Talk About" with Julia Robert and Dennis Quaid. If I remember correctly this is where Julia finds Dennis cheating on her with another woman: I never said it was romantic. Kind of sad, but trust me the food was not! I am craving a delicious sandwich and a hard cider..oh and the potato salad is worthy of its million calories! Great, now I am hungry. Off to find a snack!

Refreshing :)

My handsome hubs.

Yes, that's me!

The best sandwich ever! Reuben, of course.

Now this is a good potato salad.

Holy delicious chocolate-peanut-butter cupcake (all those words together caused a party in my mouth.) From Goose Feathers Cafe and Bakery!

Life as parents :)

I must admit, I feel bad about not updating on Max for a month and a 1/2, but truth is we have been enjoying family time. Anthony and I have been on cloud nine, but can you blame us? Look at his sweet face. Every feature is perfect. His round almond shaped eyes which glisten with a hint of green when the sunshine finds them. And those eye lashes, lashes grown women pay top dollar so they can bat their eyes to handsome men. His lips are little mounds, which makes for the sweetest pouty face...don't trip on your lip honey :). His nose is as cute as a button, but my favorite, which I will miss the most, is his sweet toothless smile.

In the past month and a half, Max has learned SO much. When you say "yay Max" he claps away (this boy thrives from words of affirmation.) He shakes his head every time we say no; it is cute, but a bit frustrating when I say "no" to something and he thinks it is funny and shakes his head. We have to get creative when we are trying to say no. For example, instead of saying no we have to say stop, don't, enough and any other way to convey a "no." I think it is a good thing, it leads me to think creatively and stay away from the negative "no." Max has just recently (3 days ago) started rolling over from belly to back and is now trying to roll from back to belly, but usually gets stuck laying on his side. We are teaching him to wave and play peek-a-boo. I just love this sweet picture below.

Parenthood is great. In the past week, we have been able to sleep through the night. He goes to sleep at 8:30 p.m. and wakes up at 7:30 a.m. we are praying it continues. But he has been teething, a girl can dream, but fear this sleeping through the night will soon cease and we will be waking up often through the night. This past Friday was our very first time going on a date since May (thank you Bloom's). And on Saturday Max went to his first birthday party (happy birthday sweet Maddie) and at night we went to The Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant here in Orlando. It was a great time with great friends. Max tried injera and he loved it even the spice, but then he rubbed his mouth and got some of the spice in his eyes and he was not a happy camper. 

Max first birthday party :) 

First time sitting in a high chair. His face is priceless.

Beef fir fir and Chicken Doro wat.

Shital, Anthony and Jude getting ready to eat delicious Ethiopian food.

Auntie Kimberly with Max.

The sweet birthday girl, Grace, loving on Max.

First time meeting Ms. Amanda.

I will do my best to keep everyone in the loop more often than every month and a half. We love you all and thanks for reading! :)