Monthly Archives: December 2021

Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe

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*** For a details story about why I started making these, got the recipe etc, see underneath the actual recipe itself (Please consider reading for some history on it!). My reason for this is because there is nothing I can’t stand more than looking up a recipe online only to have to scroll scroll scroll to the bottom to find it with a bunch of fluff on the top! Thank you!

Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe

– Half a cup of Butter or Margarine
– 2 Cups Peanut Butter (I normally use smooth, however I am sure if you would like an added crunch you could use a crunchy kind. I also use Kraft brand however I am sure it could also be possible to use an all natural however you may need to adjust the Icing Sugar amounts due to the natural peanut butter being “Wetter”.
– 3-5 Cups of Icing Sugar

1. Heat margarine and Butter in a pot on the stove. Stir til completely melted and combines together.
(This can also be done in the microwave however you may need to do intervals of 30 so that it does not burn or the butter does not spatter since it will melt quicker than the peanut butter)
2. Remove from heat
3. Start adding your cups of icing sugar, starting with 2 cups to start, mixing, and then adding a half of a cup at a time. This is to prevent over adding icing sugar. Depending on how liquor your peanut butter is you may need a lot or a little.
**You can tell when the proper amount of icing sugar is there because if you were to use a spatula or fork you can push the mixture down. It should resemble play dough and not stick to a spatula or fork. It also should be smooth enough that you do not see any clumps of icing sugar everything should be mixed together. The mixture will also slowly form a ball and separate from the sides of the bowl you are using.
4. Take a 9 inch by 9 inch tray (Or whatever shape or size you may want) and line it with some type of wax paper, parchment paper, or tin foil to prevent sticking to the sides. Add the mixture.
5. Set in the fridge to cool before cutting in to desired squares.

If you are familiar with my recipe dump of last year (If not you are able to read all the ones I released in the post here) you will find that this recipe seems to be very similar to the base of my peanut butter balls. It is so simple to make and literally takes MAYBE a half an hour of your time because you have to melt everything together. The amount of compliments that I have gotten on this due to the fact they taste so much like peanuts is insane. If you are a family like my own without a peanut allergy and stuck on what to make for a family gathering, I would suggest this because of the little time you need to put into it as well as the least amount of ingredients too! Making it one of the most simple and popular recipes I make for friends and family!

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Welcome to the New Weekly Blog Segment!

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As some of you amazing readers may remember, last year I started a series of blogs for something I called “Weight Loss Wednesdays”. This was a series I wanted to do for 12 weeks to document my weight loss and hopefully help others along in theirs. I also wanted a little spot to hold myself accountable by making sure that I was keeping on track. I ended up stopping this series due to the fact that I had gotten pregnant with my second son (If you are interested in his crazy birth story you can check it out here!). I did not feel that it was a good idea to be putting weight loss so high up as a priority being pregnant. Not to mention, I was also very nauseous and had major food aversion with him too! So the project was ultimately stopped after so many weeks.

Guess what?

WE ARE BRINGING IT BACK!

Starting in 2022, every Thursday I will be writing a specific blog in regards to mental health, weight loss, exercise, and overall health.

When I started the original series I wanted to share my journey with you all, or anyone who would listen. I want to being this back. We will be hopefully trying for a 3rd child after our youngest is a year (Just like we did when our 1st turned a year also!) And so that gives me an entire year to really hammer down and get my stuff under control. I would like to be under 200lbs. Which give or take would be anywhere from 30-40lbs depending on what I will weight on the 1st week. I will still be doing measurements every 2 weeks with weight loss goals and things being set up on the 1st week. This also should be around the time that I become fully healed from having my 1st cesarean section and am able to do things again. I will be talking about mental health and reflection as a mom of 2 boys and a spouse as well too.

A big part of me wanting to share this journey is that so often we talk about weight loss as being about numbers. The scale, calories, cheat days, etc. There is an overall health aspect to this that I would like to also focus on too. Sometimes it can be nice to vent or express some frustrations with life in a way that others for sure are feeling too. I would eventually love to see people relate to me and find some sort of peace reading that they too are not alone also. I know it does sound crazy of course but I think it could be a very big success to others.

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As you can read in this blog here from a while ago, I am a very picky eater. I do not eat conventional meals or even foods. I barely eat meat. I don’t really eat veggies. And fruits are mainly in the form of juices. However this year I hope to slowly change that or at least broaden some of my eating habits. I will include recipes as well to things I regularly eat and I will do my best to include the triumphs and set backs. I don’t want to call them failures because even trying something new is a major mental hurdle that calling it a failure may really set me back in my mindset.

Exercise is another thing that I want to really be active about. Being a mom of two boys now I do not want to be the mom sitting on the sidelines because she gets winded after playing for 40 seconds. I want to be the mom that can out play them with energy too. As I write this it will be nearing the end (hopefully!) Of healing in terms of my last pregnancy and the way it unexpectedly ended (which you can also read it here, I was terrified!). I do have an elliptical so I am all set in terms of starting again. The hardest part for me I think will be finding a time to workout. As well as balancing things. Ideally I would like to work out between 4-5 days per week. 5 being the goal. And 4 being the minimum. Anything over 5 days per week will be awesome!

I will be using my new agenda (read all about the top 3 things I look for in a new agenda here if you want to know why I am able to use it for weight loss too!) To write in the daily part for my calories and exercise. It will be mainly a more relaxed approach with a focus on just how I am feeling over all not just physically. I think it will be a lot easier to just use my agenda for this instead of making a new journal all of the time. That is a pain in the butt. No joke. And a waste of time. I seriously and going to try to optimize my time in 2022 to use it to the full potential. I know if I keep up I can so it for sure!

So there you have it! I will be writing the first post for this weekly health blog on Thursday, January 6th, 2022. Which so happens to be when I have a doctors appointment for a 6 week post pregnancy check up. I will say that it may be up a little bit later as in the afternoon but that is okay as I will update my appointment in there and how I have healed etc. Hopefully everything will be alright and I can say that I drove myself to the appointment too! I am looking forward to this next chapter and bringing everyone along with me!

What are somethings you remind yourself of when you need motivation for becoming a healthier version of yourself?

Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear your experiences!

Millionaire Square Recipe

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*** For a details story about why I started making these, got the recipe etc, see underneath the actual recipe itself (Please consider reading for some history on it!). My reason for this is because there is nothing I can’t stand more than looking up a recipe online only to have to scroll scroll scroll to the bottom to find it with a bunch of fluff on the top! Thank you!

Millionaire Squares

Bottom Layer:
– 2 cups flour
– 1/2 cup white sugar
– Pinch of Salt
– 1 Cup Butter (Or Margarine)

Mix together all 4 ingredients until it crumbles. Put in a 10×15 pan. Flatten to the bottom.
Bake at 325F for 25 minutes.

Middle/Caramel Layer:
– 1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
– 1 Cup Butter (Or Margarine)
– 6 Tbsp Corn Syrup
– 1 Can of Condensed Milk

Heat and boil on low heat for 5 minutes. Pour over the bottoms. Cool in fridge to cold.

Top Layer:
– 300 Grams of Milk Chocolate

Melt and pour over the top.
Let chocolate slightly set and cut into squares before fully cold because if the chocolate becomes cold as you cut squares it will crack.
** If you want to sprinkle course or flaked salt on top of the chocolate that is a welcomed flavor profile also to cut the sweetness of the squares!

This has GOT to be one of my all time favorite recipes. For the longest time my Nanny would make them around the holidays and various times through the year and we had to restrain ourselves from eating an entire tray that was left out! This year moving back home I had asked my Nan to make me a tray of them. We brought her to the store and she made them. However she is obviously getting older and she slipped a recipe into the container so that way I could make them myself anymore. Maybe a not to subtle hint she was done making them for me. After making them myself they are pretty easy however they do take a bit of time. I cannot wait to share with her the squares that I made and hope they live up to her standard! If you are interested in more holiday recipes you are more than welcome to check out last year’s post all about them here too.

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3 Things I look for In a New Agenda for the year

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If you are anything like myself, you love to be organized! Okay, maybe you aren’t like me but I do love to be organized. Even before I had kids and was working there had been times where I was working 2 jobs or balancing school and work where I needed to have some type of an agenda in order to organize my schedule. This also could include appointments for medical reasons, dates, self care things or just whatever else I felt like scheduling! One of the hardest parts though is actually finding an agenda that you want to use that will make things a lot easier and readable. Even with Covid 19 being around I still managed to get a planner. Mind you I didn’t really have a whole lot to play since I never went anywhere but I still had one none the less to put some things in there when I needed to have a place to remember things.

One of the most important things I look for in a planner or agenda is the size. I do not like to have small agendas. The reason for this is simple, I write big! If I have a small pocket size agenda it is extremely hard for me to be organized and eventually sooner than I would like I find myself with a super messy nearly unreadable agenda. If I have a few things to plan in the run of a day I find myself cramming all of the information I need in there. Which by itself is extremely anxiety inducing when I see my pages starting to not look so nice and clean. I like to write things out and even color code or highlight and when the agenda is such a small size it makes it very challenging for me to do that. I am not really a big sticker person however if I was that would also be another reason why I enjoy using a large style agenda more than the smaller ones. Just last year I purchased one online and when it arrived I noticed it was in fact a lot smaller than I hoped it would be and I found myself barely using it and when i did it was slowly becoming messy as I was putting more and more things in the planner per month. in the case of an Agenda, i would strongly suggest size DOES matter!

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The next major thing I tend to look for in terms of an agenda is whether or not it has a spot with a monthly calendar and than it has a spot where I can add a daily section. This is part due to the fact that sometimes I like to use the daily aspect in case of more details. This year I plan specifically on sticking to using the daily part as a way for me to count calories and monitor my exercise. Instead of re-writing every day a new plan in a new notebook I want to just specifically use my agenda for much of my plans. The monthly is a great way for me to keep track of scheduled aspects of my life such as this blog, medical appointments, special events, even to streams and soon shop updates also! There is so many reasons that I love to have the monthly part so I can see just how things are laid out. Which ties back to having a large agenda to be able to put multiple things on one day and having it still look neat and not all cramped up.

Extra Space is some thing that doesn’t men literally a bunch of extra pages. It simply means that there is some space that is free around the pages for notes or a spot that I can jot down a phone number if I am on the phone and I don’t have to search for a piece of paper to scribble something on. I like to sometimes plan on the next month some things without having to use the actual calendar part first so having some space around the monthly sections is a major ask when searching for an agenda. After all. I will be using this foe the entire year!!

My chosen agenda for the new year!

And finally, added bonuses! These don’t make or break a purchase of a new years agenda but they certainly are a much needed surprise when it is seen! Stickers are nice to have. Not that I really use them a lot because I find that it can be distracting and take up a lot of space within the agenda.

I think it really depends on what you are looking for personally when it comes to finding an agenda that you fall in love with. I don’t think finding the perfect one is something you should skimp on either due to the fact that you don’t get a new one every month! You are essentially using this for the entire year, and if you don’t like it, well you may not be inclined to even use it. I know my last one was small and compact because I had ordered it online due to Covid without thinking about checking the measurements and I absolutely hated it. I thought that it was cluttered because I write so big and in the small spaces it looked insanely messy. Another thing is don’t feel like you have to wait last minute. Normally they have a bunch of kinds come September when school starts so if you are like me and hated your last year agenda you can try to find a full year + 3 months so you can start it right away! I am happy that I did because being a stay at home mom I feel like I am accomplishing things even if I am just scheduling these blogs being scheduled or times when I want to write too!

What do you look for in an Agenda?
Do you have little rules and a certain look that you learn towards when picking one out for a fresh start to the year?

Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear your thoughts and if they are as picky as mine too!

Why I disagree with Co-sleeping in the same bed as an Infant

Life, Parenting, , , , , , , , , ,

If you are a new parent and not familiar with what exactly co-sleeping is, I am sure you are not alone. Co-sleeping is when you sleep essentially with your newborn or infant in the same bed or vicinity. Most times this is regarding the same bed as room sharing is referred to as sharing the same room with a baby. Some people have a special side bed or spot they place somewhere on the bed for their baby to sleep while they sleep.

There are various reasons why some parents feel this is the best option. A main reason is if there is breastfeeding happening the child is close by and able to be fed on demand without having to really move or get out of bed. Convenience would be a main reason for this. Another reason is maybe the parents want to be close to their newborn and build their connections even stronger. After all the baby did sleep inside for 9 months so why not keep doing it afterwards. Instead of getting up through the night to get the baby and feed them they are simply there and you are able to just let them feed immediately instead of taking time to go to them, bring them back to bed, grabbing a bottle or breast, and then burping them and going back to sleep.

When we had our 1st son, and when we also will have our second one, we decided to room share. However we used a bassinet for this. We by no means have a huge bed but a bassinet we felt was a great way to be close if the baby needs us and he will still have his own space and be safely placed. It worked for us until about 6 months when my son was spreading his arms out and would touch the sides, then we had no choice but to switch him to a crib as he was just too big for the bassinet. We never got a fancy one either, this is similar to a portable one and is light weight so we were able to bring it downstairs and in the bedroom if we were up for the day and he was sleeping we could still be near him but he was in his own safe space also too.

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I think it goes without saying, and I can almost guarantee that I am not alone in thinking this way either, the biggest reason why I wouldn’t and do not want to do co-sleeping in the same bed is safety. We have a double bed. We have a comforter and blankets even multiple pillows too. For a newborn or infant as small as they are to sleep with us is just not safe in my honest opinion. Especially if you are over tired and fall into a deep sleep. What is preventing a parent to accidentally rolling over on to their little bundle and having some thing unthinkable happen. I am sure if you google the stories you will in fact see tragic accidents of such happening to regular, average every day people. I cannot even imagine this happening in my lifetime either. I just know for me that it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable thinking about having my babies sleeping in the same bed because I cannot imagine actually getting good sleep because the back of my mind would be filled with worry that some thing may happen.

Then you have the other question, as baby grows your bed does not. The longer they sleep with you the harder it may be when or if you decide to do sleep training and having them sleep on their own. This could make things very challenging and difficult. With our first son we started to separate the rooms at about 6 months. Even sleep training at that age was a bit challenging. But I cannot imagine doing this for a year or two and than trying to get your little one to sleep by themselves. I never slept in my parents bed growing up and neither did my partner. We both had our own space and we knew we wanted to do that with ours when we had them also too.

After all this being said, Of course there was a few nights where our 1st son was so little that we were adjusting to being new parents and he had fallen asleep on my chest and I had fallen asleep. This was rare but it did happen. I am a light sleeper and even still I wouldn’t trust myself to regularly have him sleep in our bed. Getting the hang of little to no sleep and feeding takes a toll and when you have him so cuddly on top of you it just seemed to make sense if he had fallen asleep and we were all so tired. It was also never for more than an hour or so either too.

If you are on the fence about whether or not you want to co-sleep, look into all the pros and cons of it. I know for myself and my partner we already knew we did not want to start co-sleeping. We never really talked or discussed this because immediately we were on the same page as one another when it came to this decision. Never were we separated on the issue. And as I had mentioned above, safety was a huge factor for us when we were talking about why we both agreed a bassinet was the safer alternative. This is something that if you and your partner are not on the same page, you kind of have to be, unless you both sleep in separate beds that is. It also may be a good idea to talk about this long before the baby is born in case you do butt heads on this issue and need to really talk about being on the same page.

Are you on team co-sleeping?
Do you believe in the baby having their own space to sleep in?

Let me know what was some deciding factors you had for this decision below in the comments!

Candied Pecans Recipe

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*** For a details story about why I started making these, got the recipe etc, see underneath the actual recipe itself (Please consider reading for some history on it!). My reason for this is because there is nothing I can’t stand more than looking up a recipe online only to have to scroll scroll scroll to the bottom to find it with a bunch of fluff on the top! Thank you!

Candied Pecans

– 3 Tbsp Margarine or Butter
– 1/2 cup of Brown Sugar (Not packed with a tablespoon or two added on top)
– 3 Tbsp water
– 3-5 Tbsp Cinnamon (I always add more because I enjoy cinnamon, add as much as you would like for your taste!)
– Approximately 4 Cups of Pecans

– Add the Margarine, Brown sugar, water and cinnamon in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil
– Once boiling add pecans.
– Stir together constantly to make sure everything is coated.

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Put the mixture and pecans on the sheet spread as thin as possible to not over lap. Let them air dry until cool. Store in air tight container.

This was a recipe that I made for the first time this year and I absolutely loved it. While pregnant with my second child I had bought a bag of pecans that were just sitting around. For some reason I thought about candied pecans and looked across pinterest for a recipe that would be simple and easy to make. This is a modified recipe that I had found, I say modified because they had so little cinnamon I don’t think there would have been any flavor of it if I had used that one. I think cinnamon is such a subjective taste that it really depends on who is eating it or who you are making it for since everyone may like more or less cinnamon in their recipes!

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Why Sending Christmas Cards is becoming a lost art

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Sending Christmas Cards every year was something that I never really understood growing up, which I am sure a lot of people may not have understood either. You knew it was coming because if your family participated in the whole Christmas Card exchanges you would slowly but surely see them invade whatever space you had. For my mom, she put them on the walls however as we got older she would have a little card stand that she would put them on in the center of the table. My grandmother would put them on her walls but around the door frame in the living room as a sort of decoration as the holiday season would go on. Christmas cards is a great way to get in touch with loved ones near and far to update them on the year ahead. Before we had moved away for a number of year sin Quebec we never really were Christmas Card people. Now that I am older though, and even though moved back home, I still enjoy making up cards for my friends and family and putting in a little update about our house to them as well too. Letting them know that we are thinking about them and they are missed over the season.

For many reasons though, through the years I do believe the art of sending Christmas cards is starting to slow die off. One of those reasons being technology. In today’s day and age so many people are able to send an email to a loved one instantly instead of having to wait til it goes through the proper channels it needs to and postal services. Not to mention you run the risk of things also getting lost in the mail which at the holidays is something that is completely possible and does happen regularly. You can send anything via the internet also. Therefore sending gifts can be difficult. For me, I always would send my present to loved ones in a box to each home. Call me old fashioned but I like to wrap them myself instead of just sending it to someone also. With the advances in technology there is nearly no reason to use a postal service regardless of where you are living except maybe for sending important information to a government agency that requires you to sign and physically send papers back.

Price may also be a deciding factor. Maybe you are someone who live away from home or in a totally different country. In order to send a letter it may not seem like a lot of money, however if you are sending physical gifts or larger ticket items the price can be pretty costly. I know for myself sending a parcel from Quebec to Nova Scotia and another to Alberta for a few years would be a hundred or so dollars. That is not including insurance as well because they do say when you insure your parcels they typically take more care of your package because they don’t want to pay for the contents if by chance they do get lost. I know that is something my mom has always told me to do whenever she herself sent parcels and we did the same thing when we all lived away from home and had to send things back and forth home. Does it help, I really cannot say if it does but it seems like a great thing to do though regardless. You never know if your parcel might be the lost one til it is too late. Of course though there is things that people send that are irreplaceable however at least a tag of being insured could help the company better take care and hold some accountability.

If you like this blog, Please consider joining the mailing list as an added feature to receive updates regarding art for sale starting to be launched in January of 2022!

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Another issue people may have is timing. When you send a letter you really do not have a whole lot to worry about maybe if it was going across the world however in the same country letters and things are pretty routinely able to be sent within a week or so. That being said, parcels need a lot more planning in order to be sent. I know one year I had sent one to both places in Canada and surprisingly enough my one going to Nova Scotia (Way closer than Alberta in comparison to Quebec) made it a lot later! There was no real rhyme or reason on the distance and why it took so long but I sent both the same day towards the end of November and was starting to get worried that one would not make it in time for the holidays! Thankfully it did but it was still nerve wracking to say the least.

With all that being said, you may think I am against sending Christmas Cards or parcels. I am far from it. Remember when you were a kid, or even older and how excited you would get when you mailed a card to someone or received one back. There is no better feeling in the world to feel that way. I know growing up nothing was more exciting than checking the mail around holidays or your birthday even if there was no money or anything just to see that someone took the time to find a card, sign it, mail it, and send it to you to show that you were worth a few moments to them. There is something that is just more personal than shooting off an email or even opening one up that I want to keep that tradition going for friends and family. Even if I don’t send any cards or anything for the rest of the year due to life being so hectic the holidays are a great way to take that extra moment of reflection to show people and update them about what is new as well as showing they are worth the time.

Do you continue to send Christmas cards to friends and family over the Holidays?

Are you someone who regularly sends letters or cards through the year too?

Let me know in the comments below if you too are a fan of this tradition even though technology is making it a lost connection building tool.


Tips for Christmas Gift Ideas for your Spouse

Life, ,

Shopping for anyone for the holidays can be challenging to say the least. I know how hard it can be just in shopping for my kids alone, who will be a new born and a 21 month old! You can read how I shopped for both of them this year right here. The same could also go for your spouse. If you are like myself and my partner, I usually make a list of a bunch of things and give it to him to pick from the list. We do try to be moderate however we make sure included in our max price we do add however the stockings too. Unlike him though, I try to get as much stuff done as possible where as he tries to wait the last minute to get everything done! Here are the tips that I can think of that end up making gift giving each year a little bit more easier.

Find a theme and stick to it! When it comes to my partner themes are an easy thing. Right now he is fixated on wanting to do out doors things. You know camping, hiking, fishing etc. Since we still have young children I dont think we will be doing a whole lot of camping right now due to money perhaps and lack of resources. However this is a great opportunity for you or myself to find gifts you can add together to make great gifts! For Fathers Day I had gotten him a multi shovel and something else (I have no idea what) from our son. This is also a great way to find some smaller gadgets to add to his stocking as well as some larger gifts. Just this year I found a good deal on a bigger item so I was able to purchase it for him. Finding a theme for something they love is great. For the first few years we were dating I would get a few new shirts or articles of clothing. He NEVER bought himself clothing so this was something I would get him with funny graphic shirts all of the time. He always laughed and would wear them until obviously there is only so many clothes a person can have.

Think about the staples! These are the basics that you continue to buy every year over and over again. This would be in our case his stocking. I always try to get him some type of shaving cream, hygiene products, some fun candy that I know he likes and little gadgets as well for whatever reason. One year I added a new phone cord since he is horrible with his and they seem to have to be replaced multiple times through the year. I also get him underwear too. Another staple would be something little like a keychain or something that he also may want. I have even gotten gift cards for steam or checked out his wish list and added that to them as well too. Only I told him to check it Christmas day so he would have a new game to play or something as well too.

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What are the things that your spouse loves! This may be one of the hardest things to control since it may not seem so obvious and you may need to really think about it. For me, my partner loves gaming. Now without spilling the beans by chance if he decides to read this I wont be mentioning it but I looked at the games he played and thought if there was anything I thought he would really enjoy though. Maybe your love likes cars, or makeup or something like art. You can for sure figure out more things and build off of that. Maybe they have something that they need to upgrade and have been holding out for whatever reason. That also is possible! Finding something they love and building on that can be really nice, and maybe you get bonus points for actually remembering or knowing what they enjoy doing outside of spending time with you!

And lastly, KEEP NOTES! This seems to be like a no brainer, however I know I never really started doing it til a few years ago and well, it works! When my spouse and I first started to date I would tell him not to buy anything starting in the fall because he is the type of person where if he needs something he would simply buy it. Where as I am the type of person where if I need something I would save my money and justify myself buying it eventually. Whenever we would be out or watching tv or something and he mentioned he wanted to upgrade, buy, save, or splurge on something I would make a note. Either mentally or on my phone. Mentally obviously is a bit more tricky if you forget things however I would start a note on my phone and start saving ideas. This way I never forgot and eventually when they time came to start Christmas Shopping I was able to have some what of ideas and a list ready to go for it. This makes things super simple not to mention I can start a private list on Amazon for example where I can check and see if prices are going up or down and when to buy whichever item.

Christmas shopping for your loved one does not need to be complicated. However if you do some simple steps it can sure make it a lot less of a headache than waiting last minute as well too. Whichever you decide I am sure that you will also find something that they adore and will enjoy! There really is so many options to find out that you can’t go wrong, Unless well you barely know them and are guessing!

Do you have any tips or tricks when it comes to shopping for the one you love?

Do you like to make lists or do you wing it and go last minute as close to the Holidays as possible?

Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear what you think!

Chocolate Fudge Recipe

Food, Life, , , , , , , , , , ,

*** For a details story about why I started making these, got the recipe etc, see underneath the actual recipe itself (Please consider reading for some history on it!). My reason for this is because there is nothing I can’t stand more than looking up a recipe online only to have to scroll scroll scroll to the bottom to find it with a bunch of fluff on the top! Thank you!

Chocolate Fudge
– 1 Cup Margarine
– 2 Cups Brown Sugar
– 1/2 Cup Carnation Evaporated Milk
– 3-4 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
– 1\2 Cup Flour
– 2 Cups Icing Sugar

Bring to a boil, Carnation Evaporated Milk, Margarine, and brown sugar, stirring while boiling.
Remove from heat

Add 1\2 Cup Flour
Mix Well

Add 2 Cups of Icing Sugar
Place in a 8 x 8 greased pan. Cut before cooling.

Freezes well.

This is a recipe that my mom had made. To be honest I figured that it was way simpler than it was with just chocolate and condensed milk. She laughed when I said that and told me the actual recipe here. It really is a nice and smooth fudge. It is not super rich either which is really nice. This is something that my mom would also hide from us growing up because it was so addicting that we would just eat and eat and eat and not stop!

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Christmas Gift Ideas for a Newborn and 21 month old

Parenting, , , , , ,

Trying to figure out what you should buy your children for Christmas is hard when they are getting older. However don’t be fooled that it is equally as hard to do once they are younger also too. I know that I always said I would not try to spoil my kids because I know so many families who went so above and beyond for their children that it was nearly insane. You also know that no matter how many toys that you were to get your children at the end of the day half the time they are on to their older toys and not playing with their new ones for more than a few days after. Here is how I am handling Christmas this year with a new baby and my toddler!

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For my toddler it was not super hard to figure out what to get him for Christmas. Firstly, I am so thankful that I was able to get some of the toys I wanted to give him early because they are seemingly unavailable on Amazon and I know there is some shortages also with wanting to get holiday gifts for people as well too. Which is challenging in their own rights. And when I did find something I had already purchased on Amazon I know I did not pay the price it currently is listed for. Mainly we got our son some Blue’s Clues toys. He loves blue and we thought this was a great way to get him a few new things. We also will be giving him something and having “Santa” give him something. We did not want to go all out on toys or anything because let’s face it, He has so much already and he will not even care about what is under the tree. Not to mention also my parents will be getting him some more toys in the process as well too. He has a lot of clothes however we did buy him some new winter boots though since he has none.

For his stocking we went kind of the same direction. Lately he has been loving the bath tub and I mean LOVING the bath tub. We got a few new books also for him to read as well too. This is so that we can have some new things to play with in there. Also added in there was some little toys and marker sets that are the kind where you can write and only on the special paper does it make marks so it saves a lot of clean up too. We never really got much candy or chocolate or those things because well, he is a toddler and he does not need that all in his stocking. Not yet anyways! And he has some underwear because in the near future he will be also starting the potty training journey and what better way to add those in. We also included a new tooth brush, hair brush since he loves taking mine, and little hygine products as well too.

This one was a bit more challenging however this Christmas we will have a newborn! Or maybe a one month old, depending when he decides to show up in the world because as I write this he is still comfy inside and not wanting to leave! We went simple for him. First of all a baby does not need a whole lot. Plus when we had our first son, we had so much already bought that we did not want to buy just for the sake of buying. For his gifts I did however buy a few new outfits since we mainly are using hand-me-downs from our first I did want him to have a few new outfits though. They were not super expensive and will add a few things to his gifts.

His stocking also is quite light and simple. WE did buy some new crinkle toys and a few teethes. Again we had a lot of this when our son was born that for our second son we didn’t want to just waste money on things we already had. Which of course my parents and family will probably be buying things for him also too. We didn’t want to not do anything though because obviously his holidays are important even if he is so little.

Lastly, a tradition that we started last year with our first and will continue on this year again was we do the “Pajama Box” on Christmas eve. This is where we bought them a new pair of Pajamas and you can include a new book for each of them to read on Christmas Eve. Obviously as they get older you can move up and add more treats and toys or activities and or movies into the mix however with them being so young a new set of pajamas (Yes, I am the mom who got them both matching ones also!) and will be looking for a new book as well too. That way we can read it with our Night Before Christmas book which we gave last year to our son!

Overall we did not want to have to spend a fortune on our children especially with them being so young. They are going to be so pumped with life and all the excitement that they wont even remember half of the things, especially out little fella too! Even with them being so young though we wanted to make it special and a memorable one. Sometimes I think when we get older and have a family we want to give them everything that we never had. Not that I never had great Christmas’s which I did, but we want to give give give to almost out do out parents. This is something we need to stop doing because at the end of the day it is about who you are with and not about what you get.

What are some things your child(ren) asked for the holidays this season?
Are you finding it hard to get everything or some times on the list due to shortages also too?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear from you.