Bacon Butter Potatoes

Ingredients:

1. 2 large potatoes 
2. 1/4 cup butter 
3. uncooked bacon 
4. salt and pepper to taste 
   

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degress or grill on high.  
2. Cut slits in potatoes- creating slots for bacon and butter.
3. Cut uncooked bacon into approx 1 inch pieces.
   
4. Alternate putting bacon and butter into the slots in the potatoes .
   
5. Place each potato in it's own foil and top off with salt and pepper. 
   
6. Wrap each of the potatoes in it's foil. 
7. Place foil packets into oven for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and bacon is fully cooked or place on grill for 30-45 or until your potatoes are fully cooked *be careful when opening foil packet after cooking. 
   

We paired these potatoes with our steak dinner. These potatoes are not for the dieting type.. if you couldn't tell already . :) Enjoy! 

Haidyn Newborn Pictures

Thanks to my husband investing in my camera last Christmas, we were able to take our baby girl's newborn pictures ourselves. We wanted simple pictures to capture her and nothing more. We're very excited to share them with you. :) 

Haidyn One Month!

I can't believe how fast time is flying. Our baby girl is now 1 month!

LENGTH: 21 inches

NICKNAMES: "Bean", "BeanBean", Bayne, "Wheezy"

LIKES: 
-Music... ANY kind. This girl definitely doesn't like the quiet.
-Having her dance. She has her own dance that I made up. "Go Bean!" Dance :)
-Washing her hair. She loves when Daddy washes her hair.
-Being talked to. It doesn't matter what you're talking about she WILL listen.
-Walks with Mommy :)

DISLIKES: 
-Pooping/Farting- poor girl gets embarrassed when she does it.
-Putting on lotion.- It's a struggle for her, but hey who wants dry skin?
-Socks/Mittens! - She will kick her socks off as fast as you put them on her feet.
-Cleaning out her nose. -Daddy doesn't mess around with boogers!

MILESTONES: 
-She recognizes faces now. Her eyes will follow yours.
-She raises her head during burpings as well as during tummy time.
-She can last about 2 minutes during tummy time.
- She put herself on a routine of waking every 2-3 hours during the day to feed/ get changed/nap.
-She sleeps 3-5 hours during the night!
-She can eat up to 4 oz in one sitting.
-She transitioned from sleeping in our room to her room in 3 1/2 weeks!!
-No nipple confusion.

EVENTS:
-First blow out led to first bath.
-Umbilical cord fell off !
-My first Easter!
-Said good bye to Uncle Jon as he went to basic training.
-Celebrated Mother's Day with Mommy

One Month Favorites

These were my favorites for my first month with Haidyn. 

1. Medela Washable Nursing Pads- I'm a huge fan of anything reusable and these were perfect. It soaked up any leaking and when they needed to be cleaned I threw them into the wash. 
2. Bright Stars Vibrating Baby Bouncer Chair- This bouncer was a gift and it is probably one of the best things we've gotten. This bouncer helps us when everyone's hands are full at home and we need to put Haidyn some where. This bouncer entertains her so much. 
3. Cloud B Twilight Turtle - We have this turtle next to Haidyn when she sleeps. She looks at all of the lights from the turtle while she puts herself to sleep. It also helps me at night as it doubles as a nightlight. 
4. Carter's Newborn Onesies- Haidyn is didn't fit a lot of Newborn clothes that we bought her. Everything we bought except for the Carter's Newborn Onesies were so big on her. These are still the only onesies she actually fits into. 
5. Philips Avent Soothie Pacifiers- These are the only pacifiers Haidyn will take. I was extremely set on her not having a pacifier, but as soon as we got in the car from the hospital she got a little car sick and the pacifier was the only thing to help. She also was always seeking the breast even after feedings. These pacifiers help her soothe herself. 
6. Circo Receiving Blankets- These blankets are the only ones that I've found to be long enough to swaddle Haidyn in with exception to the ones we got from the hospital.
7. Medela Tender Care Lanolin- This brand is the only brand Haidyn doesn't mind. I've tried the other brands with her and she doesn't like the taste of it when she is feeding. 
8. Lansinoh TheraPearl 3-in-1 Breast Therapy - This therapy helps me out when my breasts are sore from feeding. You can use this while pumping ( if you have the same brand pump), hot/warm therapy for relieving  mastitis and plugged ducts and cold therapy for engorgement. 
9. iBaby App- I've used this app since day one. It helps me track all of her feedings (breast and bottle), changings and sleep. I've worked in daycare before and there is no way that I was going to go without  keeping track of everything she does during the day. It helps both my husband and I know why she is fussing/crying throughout the day too.

Third Trimester Essentials

I'm completely late on this post, but it's better late than never. :) My last trimester went by fast! Before I knew it our baby girl was already here with us. These few things kept me sane and made me feel normal my last few months of being pregnant. 

1. Re-heatable Rice Bag- I don't know what I would've done without this bag. It was given to me as a gift during Christmas and I haven't been able to live without it. I used this for my back pain. 
2. Water- I wasn't really interested in food during my last few months, but I was always so parched. I wanted more and more liquid. 
3. What to Expect App- This app helped me keep educated on what was happening to me and the baby. It gave me daily tips on what to do to feel normal and what to prepare for. 
4. Pillow- I used a pillow between my legs to help me sleep better at night. Most of you know, I was pretty huge during my last months and it was extremely difficult to fall asleep. My mother-in-law taught me this trick. 
5. Equate Baby Oil- Though I did get stretch marks due to baby girl being big for my size, I still tried to keep moisturized. I found out that I was allergic to every other oil out there to help with stretch marks, so I played it safe with this stuff. 
6. Body Shop Orange Body Butter- I smelled like an orange for the last couple of months. :) I used this lotion for my belly as well. 
7. Old Navy Active Sports Bras- I really hated wearing bras my last trimester. All of my old bras didn't fit my bust before and if they did, they just hurt so bad. These sports bras saved my life! 
8. Be Maternity Be Band- After a while my belly belt irritated my belly and I had to use the band instead. It held my pants up better than the belt did. 
9. Black Flats- These were the only comfortable shoes I could find during my last few weeks. They matched everything and they didn't hurt my already swollen feet. 

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

You can never have too many chicken recipes.. am I right? I loved this recipe from the moment I saw it on Pinterest. I had to recreate it. It's simple and delicious. The original recipe had the chicken breasts cut into small pieces- almost chicken nugget size, but that doesn't fly in our household. You can easily pair this with mash potatoes, but we had this with garlic butter pasta . MMM. 

Ingredients:

1. 3 large chicken breasts 
2. 1 sleeve Garlic Ritz crackers - you could use regular 
3. 1/4 t salt
4. 1/8 t pepper 
5. 1/2 C milk 
6. 1 egg, beaten
7. 3 C cheddar cheese, grated
8. 1 t dried parsley 

Directions:

1. Crush sleeve of ritz crackers. I crushed mine in the sleeve they were already in. There's no need to dirty up more dishes. ;)  
2. Take 3 separate small pans to house milk and egg/ cheese/ cracker crumbs. 
   
3.  Add salt and pepper to cracker crumbs and milk and egg mixture. 
4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk/egg mix, then the cheese and last the cracker crumbs. 
   
   
   
   
           
5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. 
6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. 
   
7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. 
8.  Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. 
   

Enjoy :)