Apr 29, 2014

the cauliflower bandwagon

Remember that month when Ryan and I went super clean and healthy with eating? Yah, it only lasted a month but to our defense it was extremely intense. It was CLEAN to the EXTREME. You can read about it HERE.
Anyhoo, some of the recipes were surprisingly delicious...others, not so much. But this one? Delicious, incredibly easy, super healthy, AND!!! DRUMROLL PLEASE............... Lincoln approved!!! 
I know what you're thinking. I'm part psychic (not psycho). 
You're thinking, this is SOOO last year. I've seen this on Pinterest forever. Well, you're right. But I finally made it last October and have made it several times since then and just want to say "make it already!"
You can find several variations, but HERE is the recipe I used.

And to make it even easier, just throw the cauliflower in a steamer to soften instead of boiling in water and broth. And to make it even easier, I may be guilty of using garlic powder instead of sauteing them. 

Apr 22, 2014

the one from Easter

Lincoln is going through a funk right now. I think the genes he got from his mom are taking over with a vengeance because all he wants to eat is bread. I promise I had a bunch of food on his tray before I took this picture. Anything that isn't bread gets a quick swipe onto the floor. He's slowly breaking out of his bread funk and actually ate some tomatoes and carrots yesterday. It's quite unfortunate he is being so picky during this Easter dinner. He missed out on some of Gma Tina's ribs and sweet potatoes. :)
And guess what was part of Lincoln's Easter basket but not necessarily IN it. 
Papa and Nana Z built his first fort!
I really need to take more pictures to show off their awesome work. His fort came equipped with a little bow & arrow and basket hanging from the entrance....thank goodness for awesome grandparents who go above and beyond to compensate for the parents who didn't even by their own child an Easter basket. :) That's just in their job description of being a grandparent right?
Happy Easter!

Apr 15, 2014

our prince turns 1

And here we are, almost a month later...

I've finally found some time to sit and write a post on Lincoln's birthday.....and not just the cliche, "Where does the time go?" and "He's growing up too fast" remarks. I've ran those lines into the ground this past month and even as I'm typing it, I'm thinking, "Seriously, this year has gone by too fast. Please slow down." 

We have a little tradition around here when it comes to birthdays. Ryan was the one who started this tradition actually. Naturally, I didn't love the idea since it started on his birthday, but once I had mine, I was completely on board. The tradition is terribly abused, but hey, it's only once a year. 
Our birthday tradition is as follows: Your birthday celebration isn't just one day, it's the entire week of your birthday!
See why this tradition can get terribly abused? We try and milk it for all we can get by saying
 "......but it's my birthday week!!"

Well, Lincoln had his birthday week alright... and then some. His birthday fell on a Thursday and his birthday party was planned for Saturday. But family got sick and we reschedule his party for the following week, which meant this boy had 9 days of wearing his birthday crown. 

And here we go, pictures over the span of his "birthday week +2 days"

Actual birthday morning.
I was completely stoked to go in there the morning of, video camera in hand, singing happy birthday and cheerfully starting his birthday week celebration. He knew it was a special day alright. He hammed it up for the camera when usually, on any other day, he would have been fussy having to wait any longer than necessary for his breakfast.
Some may think this is bed head, when in fact it's not. That's his hair 24/7. And it's become one of his characteristics I love most about him. 
He suited up for the day in his outfit and crown....
Showing off his teeth....
& smiling for all of mommy's pictures......
......except for this one. 
Maybe because our lunch date with daddy was over. Yes, I'm sure that's what it was. He has a keen sense of when it's time to get back in the car seat and he really dislikes being in his car seat. Almost as much as his dislikes when all the food is gone. Lincoln is weighing just over 23lbs at his one year appointment. 85% for weight, and 95% for height. He's a big boy.
So about that birthday party we were going to have- Well, Papa Z was recovering from being sick, Great Gma had just caught bronchitis, and Uncle Zach was throwing up all night from some food poisoning. Considering we only invited 6 people over and 3 of them were sick, we had to ixnay the par-tay till the following weekend. That just meant more time wearing his crown he loved.  
And the conclusion of his Birthday Week +2 days, we had his party.
We have realized there is a form of true happiness that can only come through being a parent
and we are blessed to be parents of Lincoln. We've rocked with him, sang to him, changed his diaper, fed him, changed his diaper again, stacked blocks with him, re-stacked them after he knocked them down again, read to him, taped pages in the book he tore while we were reading to him, cleaned out the fridge trying to feed his erratic picky appetite, changed his diaper again, bathed him, took him on stroller rides, bike rides, hikes, trips, dressed him, drove him to the doctors, comforted him after shots, hugged him, kissed him, chased after him, gave him piggy-back rides, clapped for him when he rolled over, cheered for him when he started crawling, clapped AND cheered when he started standing, and went full-blown crazy when he started walking.
We do this, happily, because of what Lincoln has given us: he's given us the gift of being HIS parents and all the happiness that comes with it. We love you Lincoln!
At the end of the party, I wanted to get a picture of everyone with Lincoln. Lincoln was everything but cooperative. I can't blame him. He partied hard and it was time for his nap. So even though he wasn't smiling on the outside for these pictures, I'm sure he wanted to on the inside. :)

Apr 5, 2014

one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. MOAB!

I'm completely behind on here. March was a busy one... and a special one too might I add. Our little prince turned the big 1, bu I'll have to save pictures and my ramblings of how freaking awesome my son is and how ridiculously happy our lives have been since he joined this Shideler clan in a later post. I have a gazillion pictures to go through first; yes, a gazillion.
First things first. Beginning of March we drove 7 1/2 hours up to Moab, Utah for another half marathon my sister-in-law and I were running. She's pretty much the best girl ever. We're convinced we were best friends in heaven. She ran the Canyonlands Half last year and when I found out she ran in one of my favorite places in the world, I had to convince her to do it again this year with me! It really didn't take much convincing even though she had a baby 3 months prior!!!!! She's pretty hard core.

Our weekend was short so we tried to pack in as much as we could considering we had a 5 year old, 3 year old, almost 1 year old, 3 month old, and 2 mommy's who just ran a half marathon and were a tiny bit sore on our hikes.
We rented a house to stay in, which was BEAUTIFUL. A big porch with amazing views of the red mountains...sigh.....I love this place. Moab has a special place in my heart because Ryan and I had spent a week there for our 3 year anniversary. Since then, Moab has nuzzled its way into a corner of my heart and found a permanent home there. We have a picture we took for our 3 Year anniversary last time we were at Delicate Arch and I wanted us to replicate it again this trip almost 3 years later. Lincoln looks thrilled huh?
Pictures of our 3 year Moab SMOOCH and  Moab Trip 2011.
Not only did she run her half marathon, Alicia also hiked up to the Delicate Arch carrying her precious 3 month old, Sydney. Hard core I tell ya. Hard core.
Okay I love this picture of Lincoln..... but what's so crazy to see is him wearing shoes. Seriously, this may be one of the first times he wore shoes this long. And by "this long" I mean a few hours. He usually rips them off.... who am I kidding? More like we just never put them on him.
  Shideler boys-- they're a special breed alright.