Chocolate Veggie Muffins!

Today I finally made a recipe I found on Pinterest. I have been trying to find ways to get Brayden to eat more vegetables. He has his few favorites like green beans and carrots but everything else is a "no-go" for him. I whipped up these Chocolate Veggie Muffins while Brayden was napping in hopes that he wouldn't notice that they were full of broccoli and zucchini. 

Clearly, the muffins were a success! He didn't make any funny faces or refuse to eat the muffin at all. I was one happy momma!

So here is the recipe for all those mommas desperately trying to get their picky toddler to eat more veggies!

Chocolate Veggie Muffins

-2 eggs

-1/2 cup vegetable oil

-3/4 cup of brown sugar

-1 cup broccoli(the original recipe said finely grated but I just chopped the heck out of it)

-1/2 cup zucchini (same as the broccoli)

-1 cup self-rising flour

-3 TBSP cocoa powder

-1 tsp baking powder

-3 TBSP milk

Mix the first three ingredients in a bowl until combined and then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and then pour into a well greased muffin pan (I used a regular size muffin pan because I don't have a mini muffin pan but I would prefer the mini muffins). Place the muffin pan in a 325 oven for 15 minutes. Obviously, let cool before feeding them to your toddler!

Brayden was snacking on the missing muffin!

Here is the link to the original recipe. I did not create this recipe and I do not take any credit for it! Chocolate Mini Muffins by Mummy Musings & Mayhem!

Wordless Wednesday

I feel bad that I haven't been keep up with these easy posts each week. Once I got pregnant, the blog was definitely put on the back-burner. I was just so tired. Now I really don't have an excuse and I don't want to let the blog fall away even before #2 is born. I know it will take a huge hit once I have #2....newborn mommy haze doesn't leave much time for blogging I imagine. Anyways, my #1 will be my only one for only a few more months so we are taking in all the Brayden time we can get! I can't ever get enough!

Leaning on me to watch Tangled...with some nice bed head!

Short story about the Elmo picture: I heard Brayden waking up from his nap so I headed into his room. This is how I found Elmo. Brayden decided to share his pacis with Elmo and it could NOT have been any dang cuter! And then it got cuter...Brayden would say "aww sleepy Elmo" and then put the paci in Elmo's mouth! I swear I could have died at that very moment! So adorable. My sweet baby boy.

Linking up with Jenni from the Blog and Three in Three!

Family St. Patty's Day!

We had a great St. Patty's Day this year and it was mostly because my husband was actually off work and got to celebrate with us! He has missed out on so many celebrations because of work so we were all very excited that he was able to join in on the festivities this year. 

Brayden got to play with some vintage toys that have been in my aunt's attic for 18 years!

Of course he much prefers to be outside!

Running is his favorite!

Running with Grandpa!

Writing letters with spa water!

The bushes were obviously comical...who knows!?

And a very happy 84th birthday to my grandpa!!

It was seriously the best St. Patty's Day yet and I can't wait to eat my corned beef and cabbage tonight! (My aunt hates it so we didn't eat it yesterday. Clearly I can't go a year without eating it so I am making it for dinner tonight..delish!)

Bumpdate: 15 Weeks!

We have made it to the 15 week mark and not too much has changed again this week. I am still feeling pretty good and I am very anxious to go to the doc on Thursday. I will be just as far along as when the doc saw that Brayden was a boy so it is POSSIBLE that the doc will be able to tell me what we are having. Obviously, I don't want to get my hopes up because I know it could be another few weeks until we find out. As for now, we are just crossing our fingers for healthy...like always!

It looks smaller than last week but that is NOT the case.

All my stats are the same so far so I won't bore you with the list BUT I have been craving a chicken salad sandwich from my aunt's bakery...Paradise Bakery in Mission Viejo. I am looking forward to the 30th because we will all be going to a baseball game together and she is bringing lunch! I will finally get my sandwich! Other than that new craving, I have been wanting fruit as usual. I seem to get full very quickly but then I am hungry again in about an hour or so. Small, frequent meals is how we are supposed to eat right?!!? My husband rolls his eyes every time I say I am hungry...or cold...because it is ALL THE TIME!

20 Months!

I am officially freaking out! It really hit me the other day that Brayden is now only 4 months away from being TWO! I don't know how this happened and I would appreciate it if time would just slow the heck down. I know I say this every month but Brayden is so amazing and so much fun. He is beyond happy and smiles constantly. We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing little boy!

Likes:
-chalk
-the park
-being outside
-baths
-Elmo
-Vinko
-drawing
-eating
-sleeping
-his blankies (he would carry them everywhere if I would let him!)
-playing with coins (he calls them "monies")
-singing
-destroying perfectly made beds

Dislikes:
-broccoli
-most other veggies (except green beans...he loves those)

Okay so that "dislikes" list is extremely short but either my brain has gone into pregnancy mode or he is really just that happy! I am hoping for the latter.

Have I mentioned how smart Brayden is? He knows all his letters and is now saying "please" and "thank you" with very little prompting. He can name practically any animal we draw or point out and is putting at least 3 words together for small sentences. He kind of freaks me out sometimes!

Anyways...just my monthly bragging rights about my awesome little boy! And he is cute to boot!

How can a day be bad when he wakes up like this!?

Hanging out with the boys!

A demonstration of how to destroy a beautiful bed!

Lately Happenings

We have been busy around here as usual and trying to make as much as possible of the next 6 months before the new baby arrives! I still can't believe that in 6 months we will have TWO kids...crazy! Even more crazy than that? Brayden is going to be two years old in just 4 months. Time is just flying by way too fast! For example, Brayden always walks to the park on his own and usually sprints ahead of me.

Back to the topic at hand...we have been visiting the park on almost  daily basis. Brayden absolutely LOVES the park and it's so convenient that we have one just two buildings down the street. The park is small which is great for us. Brayden's new obsession is chalk and he insists on dumping out the whole box right when we get there!

Oh and we always have to stop and say hi to the pig that lives next to the park!

"Look Mommy!!"

Running laps around the park!

Oh and his pants turned into a lovely rainbow after laying all over the chalk!

Even while going down the slide, he must have his shovel in hand.

And just because these are cute...Brayden gets pretty excited when he gets a bagel for breakfast.

Seriously...I don't think he could be any cuter. I know I will love baby #2 just as much as I love Brayden but sometimes I don't know if my heart will be able to take it! It might just burst with love because honestly, Brayden is amazing and I know #2 will be just as amazing in it's own special way. We are so incredibly blessed!

Bumpdate: 13 Weeks

My little baby bump. I still pretty much just look fat at this point unless you know I am pregnant. I have been wearing mostly loose-fitting clothes but that doesn't help. I do like that I can still wear all my regular jeans and I should be able to wear them for a while. I can button the pair in the picture but it isn't very comfortable. 

Here are my stats for this week: (not much has changed)

-Due Date is still September 11 for now.

-Weight gain: I can't weigh on the scale we have at home so as of right now, I am going to stick with -2. I will find out my new weight when I see the doc later this month.

-Overall Feeling: I have some energy back which is amazing. Trying to play with a toddler all day with ZERO energy isn't an easy task. I still get pretty tired during Brayden's nap so I usually forgo the cleaning and just lay on the couch. Bummer...I know!

-Gender: We will find out between 18-20 weeks. We really can't wait to find out the gender. Hubs thinks he doesn't even make girls and is convinced we are having a boy! Part of me would like to have a little girl because I have such a great relationship with my mom. We are such great friends now and I would love to have that with my daughter. At the same time, I absolutely LOVE having a boy and I would love to have another one and it would be great for Brayden to have a brother. I know they would be best friends later in life and that can't be a better feeling as a parent. Obviously, I will be thrilled no matter what we are having but the anticipation is KILLING me. And I still have about 5 weeks to go...yikes!

-Clothing: Still wearing all my regular clothes with the help of the BeBand to hold my pants up.

-Cravings: Fruit, fruit, fruit! Oh and then a few Girl Scout cookies too.

This was a good week for me as far as energy goes! I was able to get Brayden out of the house every day and go do something fun like draw with chalk at the park. Although it can be challenging to keep up with him right now, I am very thankful he keeps me going because I would probably gain WAY to much weight if I didn't have him to chase after!

And he makes the cutest little frog I ever did see!!