Happy Monday!
Today has been a struggle, and it’s not even noon yet. I don’t know if it’s been the four days of rain or my pregnancy, but I’m just feeling all over the place with emotions. It’s like a mixture of being restless, tired, and anxious. I’m ready for the next 17 weeks to fly by and for the baby to get here! I think a lot of my emotions stem from this waiting game. It feels like that excitement you get as a kid a few days leading up to Christmas morning, but this lead-up lasts a whole lot longer!
This was one of the strangest holidays yet. It was the first time in my 30 years on this earth not to spend the holidays with my parents. They were both feeling a little sick on Christmas Eve, and with everyone catching covid, we didn’t want to risk it. Christmas felt so different this year, but we spent most of our vacation watching movies, going on walks, and having no responsibilities before that all changes soon! I still fit in some baking, dinner with friends, and garden planning for the summer (enough things to try to pull together a recap post!)
One of my good neighbors (and friend) headed to lunch at Napa on Christmas Eve. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and it was so lovely to catch up. The food was delicious! I had their filet with brussel sprouts and potatoes. We decided to celebrate Christmas the right way, so we ordered a cranberry creme Brulee cheesecake and a chocolate hazelnut cake.
The Christmas Eve sky was breathtaking. I sat on the porch watching the sun go down, and with it being 70-degrees, it did not feel like Christmas.
I spent the rest of the evening baking! I made my homemade granola for Christmas Day brunch, my gingerbread bars, and Kyle’s mom’s recipe for pizzelles. He always had them at Christmas growing up, so I decided to bring that tradition into our home. It’s like my mom’s peanut brittle! You can’t have Christmas without it. She sent me a pizzelle maker and her recipe last year for Christmas, and I was so excited to test it out this year.
We were up bright and early on Christmas morning. After getting the dogs walked and having a few sips of coffee, we opened a few presents from Kyles’s mom. She got us the cutest things for the baby, but one of the best gifts was this nativity scene. It was the same nativity scene from when Kyle was a little boy, and I feel so special that we get to put it up in our house every Christmas! It’s gorgeous.
Our good neighbors invited us over for Christmas morning brunch, so I made a banana bread recipe from the NYC cooking app and put together a fruit and yogurt parfait board.
The breakfast was so good! I was stuffed until that evening. I had about four servings of the sausage casserole 😋 Happy first Christmas Tux! I had all the groceries to make Christmas lasagna, but we decided to plant ourselves on the couch and have our favorite frozen pizza while watching a movie! We are obsessed with the thin crust Freschetta! It’s so good. We had it at least three times over the holiday break. Last week, I spent so much time making notes, purchasing seeds, and mapping out my garden plans. I am so ready to get out in the garden this summer! I know people are messaging me about not doing things like that with a newborn, but I can’t entirely agree. Maybe I’m naive since I don’t have kids yet, but I’m looking forward to strapping them onto me while I water, deadhead, and plant. Now that Kyle works from home half the week, he’ll be able to take over a lot of the time, so I can have a moment to spend out in the garden. I hope my kids enjoy it as much as I do one day, and I know my mom always had me out with her helping. It’ll be fun to see how it all goes, and of course, I’ll blog about it.
And the garden projects have already begun inside! I purchased a raspberry shortcake bush online and planted it in this cute pot (which will eventually be home to my clementines.)
I’m still on my avocado toast kick and yogurt parfaits each morning. When I wake up around 6, I have a bowl of Siggis with honey, blueberries, raspberries, and KIND brand peanut butter granola. I’m going on three weeks straight now with this breakfast! Around 10 am, I’m hungry again, so I’ll make wholegrain bread with avocado and everything but the bagel seasoning. It’s so good, which is funny because the thought of these foods made me gag early on in my pregnancy. I remember when I could only tolerate a sausage McGriddle and hash browns.
Each afternoon, I made a cup of hot honey & lemon water. I’m obsessed with this drink and usually have it multiple times a day. It’s one cup of water, two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and one teaspoon of honey. It warms me up and takes away my coffee cravings.
I also wanted to share my new Keurig! I love the sage green color, and it looks so cute on our countertop. Kyle uses the Keurig every day, but I use it for hot water at the moment. Since getting pregnant, I’m still not a fan of hot coffee, but I’m sure that’ll change one day. I drink almond milk with Califia cold brew when I need a little caffeine.I turn 31 this month! I feel like this year flew by. Kyle and I were planning on doing a babymoon in January for my golden birthday and celebrating the baby, but I feel like traveling this year is a risk with everyone getting so sick. We decided to put the money towards a backyard project instead. We are going to build a Kitchen Garden in the backyard! We have it all mapped out and are just waiting for the weather to cooperate to get started. I have learned so much from the Gardenary book. We are going to use her guide for building and growing. I hope to produce so many fresh fruits and vegetables this year to incorporate into some recipes.
Lazy nights call for doggy snuggles and my chocolate chip oatmeal blender bars! I think Leo is finally sensing the baby. He loves to come and gently lay his head on my belly and is not rowdy around me in the backyard anymore.
This past week, one of my favorite salad combos has been the Eat Smart Sweet Kale chopped salad kit. I’m having the same for dinner tonight! I love adding goat cheese, croutons, avocado, and hardboiled eggs! 😋
Kyle and I put away the Christmas decor on New Year’s Eve and cleaned the garage. I love a fresh start to the new year!
We dropped all of our gifts off for the parents on their doorstep later that day, and we did a dinner & FaceTime with them since we hadn’t seen them in weeks! We opened up our gifts, ate pizza, and washed it down with sparkling grape juice.
Tux had a super rough night on New Year, and even though it’s been a few days, he’s still having a rough time. A firework from a neighbor went off in our backyard, and he was terrified. We gave him calming medication, turned on the sound machine, and slept by him that night because the fireworks were going off all evening. He finally stopped shaking once the medicine kicked in, but I’m nervous about this upcoming 4th of July! Poor guy 😢
I baked our favorite boxed brownies on New Years Day! The Blue Diamond mix is unreal! 😋 I found it at my local grocery store in the baking section.
Kyle and I got dressed up for a little New Years’ date night. We headed to Napa (yes, twice in one week!) & yes, I ordered the same thing! We started our meal with the celery and potatoes bisque, the filet with potatoes and vegetables, and everything was delicious! I’ve been trying to have steak once a week for iron. If someone doesn’t cook the meat for me, I usually eat vegetarian all day. The go-to! But this time, a side of almond butter and banana toast to go with it. I headed to Sprouts on Sunday morning to grab a few grocery items. Of course, I always come back with things I don’t need. If you have Sprouts by you, look for the pineberries! They look like white strawberries, but they taste like pineapples. I am going to grow them this year! I want to incorporate some exotic plants into the mix.
Sushi for lunch! I miss the spicy tuna rolls so bad, but the spicy California spring wraps at Sprouts hit the spot.
This morning’s breakfast! This is what my parfaits look like at 6 am every day. I am obsessed. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and new year!
Questions for you!
- What was the best part of your holidays this year?
- Do you still make time for the things you love after becoming a parent?
- What should I grow in my garden this year?
Lissy says
I’m growing luffa for the first time this year. I watched it on tic tok and now I’m obsessed. You can eat them, but I’m planning on drying mine for the shower and dishes
Taralynn says
I saw that on TikTok too! I didn’t even know it was a plant 😮 I may have to add that to my list!
Rosie says
Hi Taralynn,
I love your idea of the vegetable garden in boxes, I might try that this year too! I love gardening when I make time for it.
Sorry to hear about your parents, I hope they are feeling better. It sounds like you tried to make the holidays special anyway with lots of baking and relaxing! The nicest part of my holidays was the time spent with family, going for walks and playing games together.
Hope you are keeping well and that the rest of your pregnancy is safe and flies by 🙂
Taralynn says
Hi, Rosie!
Yes, it’s so therapeutic and a great way to escape the tech world for a while!
Yes, they’re feeling much better now 😊 Sounds like you had a great holiday!!
xo
Dan says
Keep doing the things you enjoy (gardening) even with a newborn. A new baby is adding to your life, include them in your activities. Or that time can be their one on one time with dad ❤️
Taralynn says
I plan to do that, Dan! ♥️ thank you!
Quinn says
Hi Taralynn!
It sounds super corny, but the best part of the holidays, for me, is watching my kids faces light up on Christmas morning each year. Their happiness is the best thing in the world.
As for doing the things I love even after having children, I absolutely do. My youngest just turned two-years-old on December 19th, but I take her out into the garden with me in the Spring each year. When she was itty bitty, she was strapped to me in a Moby wrap. Nowadays, she’s running wild through the backyard while I tend to my plants. My husband is quite gracious and gives me moments of quiet to myself to read. Really, though, since I’ve always been indoorsy and a bit of a bookworm, my life never really changed after having children.
I don’t know what you plan to grow in your garden this year, but I think homegrown tomatoes are just amazing. My garden produced so many this season. The secret, I think, to having so many come in was the banana water that I kept on hand and pored over them from time to time. Tomato plants really do love potassium. I went to the local nursery and brought home plants for the big garden. They were all labeled when I picked them up at the nursery, so imagine my surprise when all of them, even the ones labeled as cucumber plants, turned out to be spaghetti squash plants. As sproutlings, all of the plants looked quite similar. I ended up with SO MUCH spaghetti squash.
Happy New Year!
Taralynn says
Hi, Quinn!
That is NOT corny at all. I cannot wait for those days! Soak it all in.
Thank you for sharing that with me! It’s exactly what I envision for my life after having kids. Like you, I love being a homebody.
I love your tip about banana water! I have never heard of the for plants, but it makes so much sense. I’ll give that a try because I definitely plan to grow some tomatoes! I love making homemade pasta sauce with them. Oh gosh! At least spaghetti squash is delicious 😂
Thanks for stopping by to read! xo
Zoe says
What was the best part of your holidays this year?
It’s definitely the kids’ anticipation.
Do you still make time for the things you love after becoming a parent?
Of course! I wasn’t very good at when the kids were babies and toddlers, but I SHOULD have been. Mom guilt is a real thing over here. But I’m much better at it now, and I’m getting better at the patience required to let kids help with things.
What should I grow in my garden this year?
The things you use the most! I’m not very good at gardening, largely because I have really bad allergies for about 1-2 months in the Spring and can’t stand to be outside, but I plan to grow potatoes and onions this year, along with a few other things.
Fun fact — I just had my golden birthday last week!
Taralynn says
Hi, Zoe!
I bet that is the best feeling ever! I remember being SO EXCITED for Christmas morning!
I can definitely understand that. I’m sure that is a type of patience that takes time to learn!
Ahhh! Happy Golden Birthday!!!
Zoe says
Thank you! It was a good one! 🙂
Sue says
What calming medication do you use? And a sound machine…must try!
Taralynn says
We use the zesty paws calming chews!
Miriam says
SO EXCITED to see all the things you plant this year!!!
I am loving all the sweet baby bump photos. I love that you are planning on bringing your sweet baby along to do the things you love with you. I think that is such a healthy take on motherhood.
Taralynn says
Thank you, Miriam!!
Carey says
So excited for you and your growing family 🙂
Just dropping in for some info on poor Tux and the fireworks. Three of my dogs absolutely cannot handle the noise. We tried everything: Thundershirts, noise machines, even Xanax. We eventually resorted to leaving town for July 4th and heading to the woods. We find a more isolated cabin – one in a National Forest is ideal because fireworks aren’t allowed. It’s become a fun tradition, to be in the woods over the holiday weekend. I know you’ll have a new baby this year, but maybe something to consider in the future.
Happy New Year!