Cast Iron Skillets...they sooo help breakfast!

Well my child is an early riser so certain mornings a week I try to make something I haven't tried before...this morning it was homemade hashbrowns (or potato cakes as some may call them!).  So B and I shredded a potato, added some butter soy oil and let 'fry!  I will say for the first try they were ok....everyone enjoyed them plus we made eggs in a skillet that had cooked the sausage so overall it was a VERY successful morning!
I'm also happy to report that my child will now drink milk!  (This has been an ongoing issue for over a year!)  She is still stuck on water and ice tea (and who really thinks that's a bad thing??) But she needed some milk in her diet too...so as long as Mommy makes her chocolate milk (sugar free chocolate syrup even!)  She will drink it!  Yeah!!

Dinner and Time...

One thing I've learned from working with students of all types and ages is that all kids want is time...and on that note I have ideas for anyone who's wanting to spend more time with their kids.  I happen to own a pasta maker and as difficult as it may sound, it's really not...in fact my 2 year old often helps me with making pasta...well maybe help isn't the right word...she likes to supervise and randomly do parts of it "myself".  So tonight we made fettucini noodles (and if you use infused olive oil the flavors are AMAZING!)  It was simple and a way to spend time together.  She loves the noodles especially when she is able to help.
With dinner we made baked apples stuffed with cinnamon and marshmallows.  We finished off with sugar-free chocolate pudding (something else she helped with!) which were in the little filo cups of pastry.  She LOVED em!
Now I'm not saying this always works but when she's able to help make dinner she seems to eat better!  Of course she refused to eat the baked apples but everything else she LOVED!
And the greatest part of the night was when she asked for The Lion King and cuddled up on the couch...of course the cuddling only lasted 30 seconds but when she was ready for bed, she crashed...but she still loves The Lion King and it's something we can share...that and food, what else can a Mom ask for?!

Trying again...

Well I started this blog when I moved to Alaska and once my daughter was born I got REALLY behind...so now I'm trying again...this time from Michigan!  My daughter is now 2 and is enjoying being close to family, which is good because it's been quite a shock to us all not heading back to Alaska this year!

Yet the life of a single mom is always changing, from food we make to trying to date.  You would think in the lower 48 things would be easier...but they're not, if anything it's gotten more complicated.  But on the bright side I'll start adding some of our new recipes here too as well as places to have Playdates in the Grand Rapids area as we are always on the lookout for places to go and people to meet!

The food continues....

Brennan was introduced to Green Beans today and the survey says...YEAH!  She did sooo much better with the Green Beans than with Carrots or Infant Cereal!  Now the trick is to get her to eat it on a regular basis (also without her "helping" so much!)

Brennan continues to work on her crawling...today she actually moved forward one step!  I'm actually wondering if she may start dancing on her own before she starts crawling!  We shall see we shall see!  At this point I think she should just sleep through the night (aka longer than 4 hours at a time...)

As for me I am going back to school...I start classes on Monday so we'll see how it works.  I think I'll be good as long as she keeps sleeping and I get my study time!

Summer has begun!

 Wow!  So since we left Barrow on May 10th life has been busy!  Brennan and I stopped to visit Aunt Danielle in Anchorage, then headed to Whittier to see Nana Diane (and meet Brennan's newest boyfriend!)  From there we flew to Seattle so Brennan could be introduced to Aunt Kara and Uncle Ryan and the fabulous city of Seattle and finally on May 17th we landed in Michigan!  Brennan did a great job with meeting new people and traveling in general.  Of course since we got to Michigan she has decided to put herself to sleep (as in NO more Mommy helping!) and has started to eat solid foods.  Yesterday we tried carrots for the first time...and she actually did pretty well!  (Thank you to Aunt Ham!)  

Moving moving and....talking!

Brennan is on the move!  This weekend alone she's rolled over from back to front and started to scoot along the floor!  The flights could be VERY interesting at this rate! She's just amazing though and she talks NON STOP (I know surprise not really sure where she gets that from huh?!  LOL)

Getting big...

So I realize I've been quite the slacker on keeping the blog updated....even though I constantly have new pictures of Brennan...someday I'll catch up!  Brennan is currently rolling over but prefers to be on her side. She LOVES her jumper and her saucer (thank you Fred and Ryan) and is in need of constant attention...which she gets!  She has friends over every day while I'm at work (Juls is watching some others and loves it!)  But most of all when she wakes up and I'm home she's all smiles!  She's constantly talking and looking about and hates to be in the same position too long...gotta luv it!

I only have 5 weeks left of work for the year and then it's on to summer!  It could be a very interesting one as we're traveling to Anchorage, Seattle, Richmond, Spokane, and Holland.  I'm just hoping she flies as well on this next trip as she did when we came to Alaska after Christmas....