It's a Dog's Life

So about being a little MIA the past couple of days, we have had a busy couple of days so finding the time to get a  quick post in was proving unsuccessful.  Wednesday night I had my agility class, Thursday we went to the fair and Friday and Saturday I went to go see my parents and get my haircut.   I will hopefully get to writing about each of those but lets just focus on the one I meant to post on Thursday.



So last Wednesday night was my first time away from James is about 4 or 5 weeks.  I wasn't out hitting up the town or having a crazy girls night.  I was spending time, doing an activity, that both Truman and I really love to do.  For just under 3 years, almost every week (probably) Truman and I would make the trip to Beech Grove, which is about a 30 minute drive to the other side of indy, to our Agility Class.  We started attending dog agility back around September in 2012 and it was always something that I thought Truman would enjoy.  Being a herding breed, I figured that he would like the working part of it and I knew he was smart enough to do it.

(Here is the first course that we ran that day)

The first year and half we made our way through the stage of class starting with Pre-Agility then beginner.  But for the past year and half we have been in the same group and I totally understand what one of my teachers said when she said it's becomes a social club and it's hard to get people to move up.  I don't really have an real urge to compete, we have done one competition in the past and Truman did very well in it but soon after that, I was very much pregnant and it's not the easiest to take James to agility class.

(You know how they say the camera adds 10 lbs but I think this picture took 10 lbs off.  He's looking good, losing that baby weight.)

I feel like Truman and I have been extremely lucky to find this group that we fell into it.  We have both been able to find a really close friend.  Janice and I used to carpool for close to two years, switching off weeks that we would drive.  We used to live fairly close to each other and with the drive being over 30 minutes it only made sense to drive together and we were lucky enough that both Truman and Callie were cool with being in the backseat together.  We used to make fun of them because they would be totally relaxed and calm riding together, each having their own side but as soon as we got to class, they would have a little argument usually about treats.  Both of them love their treats and haven't really mastered the art of sharing.

(Here is Janice and Callie running the second course.  She doesn't know I took this) 

Janice I feel is probably the closest friend I have made in a long time because Wes, of course.  I think what was helped is that we have a lot in common and not just friends because we had a couple of classes together.  We actually went to two different colleges and only met because of the first dog agility class we took, oh pre-agility.

(Truman has this thing where he likes to sit in the chairs at class. We think it's so he can see over the fence.)

I know i'm very lucky to have found this group of ladies that I do agility with but it didn't really accuse to me until I shared the news that I was pregnant and they were so happy for me and continue to be so and give me 'good' advice and the reassurance that it's all gonna be okay.  What is really nice is there is a pediatrician  in my group and a couple of nurses so they help calm my crazy mom fears.  I feel like I have a friendship with each one of them and we relate on different topics.  Last class, we talked about cooking, baking, retirement and grocery shopping.  It was more one of the tamer nights, in the past the topics have ranged from the mentioned up to how good looking the Blackhawks and rugby players are.

I like to think the feelings that I have about the people in my classes are felt both ways but that could just be because I like to bake and bring them food.  Last class was these chocolate chip pudding cookies (recipe will be posted in a few days).  When I was pregnant with James, it was hard to find the energy to bake so the amount of treats I would be greatly dropped off so much so that the teacher asked if the baby had killed my liking to bake.  I took the hint (even though she was just joking) and bought some cookies next time,  I'm pretty sure they were from a package but it's the thought right.

(Truman after class,  he's super tired after not going for 3 weeks) 

Like I said I feel very lucky to not only have found a hobby that Truman and I both enjoy but also to be able to share it with such a great group of women too.

Surviving the first 3 months

I've learned a lot in the past 12 weeks.  I've learned that you can get used to being woke up in the middle of the night but that doesn't make it suck any less.  I've learned that sometimes you break down and do whatever you can to put the baby to sleep, even if it goes against everything you said you wouldn't do such as rock him to sleep.  I've learned that it's capable to love someone so small and so new so quickly and can't even think back to a time that he wasn't around.  Like I said I've learned a lot in the past couple of months and with that, I've learned what products that I couldn't have handled these first couple of months without. 

1.  Ubbi diaper pail 

When I was doing my research on what people recommended to have and not to worry about for your nursery, there were mixed reviews about diaper pails.  Some people thought they were overrated, complaining about how they didn't really hold in the smell and how you had to buy special expensive bags for it to work and when it was full, you had this heavy sausage looking trash bag to take out.  And someone acted like they were a God send, saying that they wouldn't have made it without it.  The idea of having the whole nursery smell like poop wasn't very appealing to me so when I came across the Ubbi and how it was made out of stainless steal and not plastic to prevent the smell from attaching itself to the pail peaked my interest.  When I found out that you could use your own trash bags in it and didn't have to buy those expensive bags, I like it even more.  Since you could use your own bags,  it easily converts to a pail that you can use with cloth diapers, which was something I was always interested in (side note: and started just yesterday).  The cost is a little higher than the other pails but I think it's totally worth the price and is a good investment and haven't had any problems yet. 

2.  Halo Swaddle 

This was another thing that I did some research on before James made his appearance.  I had heard a lot of good things about swaddling and has a calming affects it has on the baby.  Not knowing which type I would like or James would prefer, I bought about 3 different types and the halo was not actually one of the types I bought.  It wasn't until James was born that Wes and I really started to like the Halo Swaddle.  So much so that we had his parents run out and buy one while we were still in the hospital. I tried out the other ones that I had but nothing seemed to be as easy or work as well as the Halo did.  I like how it's really soft and the velco part can fit anywhere and not just on two little tabs like the others had.  It has been able to grow with him except for when he got too long for the newborn one and we had to upgrade to the small size. 

3.  MULIG Laundry bag with stand from IKEA

This item was purchased on a whim when I was at IKEA with my parents and Wes getting the standard nursery items,  storage unit and dresser. I think it's written somewhere where you can't start your nursery without these items.  Any who, back to the laundry bag,  I saw it as we were leaving and knowing that I didn't have anything like that already for the nursery, I went ahead and grabbed it,  it was $15 so why not give it a try. I think that should be IKEA's motto.  I love this product for two reasons,  first I like that it comes with two bags,  I can take one to the laundry and put dirty clothes in the other.  Anyone who has dealt with a newborn know that it's rear to go over 2 hours without something getting spit up on, pooped or peed on so the two bags work out wonderful.  The second thing that I really love is the handles that come on the bag,  it allows me to carry the laundry in one hand and James in the other.  It's super easy to carry and move from the nursery, to the laundry room, to the living room for folding and back to the nursery.  

4. Kiinde 

The Kiinde brand is a favorite of mine.  I think I first came a crossed it when I was going through all the free stuff you get when you registry for you baby at the big box stores.  What  grabbed my attention was the fact that you could attach a bottle nipple right to the bag and not need to transfer it to a bottle.  I thought this would be really convenient for the baseball games.  Then I found out that you can attach the breastmilk bag straight to the pump and not have to deal with cleaning an extra bottle that would collect the milk thats expressed.  It seems like this brand is all about convenience and cutting out unneeded steps.  To be truthful what really won me over on this brand is when I contacted them about how my warmer wasn't working anymore.  It still warmed the milk but it took about 30 minutes to thaw out frozen milk.  I contacted them late Wednesday night and reported my problem through email.  I got a response Thursday on what I could do to maybe fix it, I followed the email but it still wouldn't work correctly.  I replied to the email with my findings and by Saturday afternoon I had a brand new warmer on my doorsteps. I didn't have to send the old one back, I didn't have to go through a ton of questions to make sure that it really was broken and not just me doing something wrong.  It was nice to experience this kind of customer service.  Even though the bottle and nipple part didn't work out for James,  the flow was either way too slow or too fast,  I will continue to buy their bags and rave about their products. 

5. Jamba Juice At-Home Smoothie

This one isn't really directly related to James and baby products but more for me.  Anyone who has breastfeed their baby knows about the ongoing struggle to make sure you are taking in enough heathly calories to keep your supply up but also battle against the wish to just be able to fit back into your old jeans.  I found these smoothies in the freezer section and after my first one I was hooked.  I don't really have to the time to wash, cut up and measure out fruit for smoothies but with these all I have to do is pour the bag into the mixer, add apple juice and mix it up.  They are pretty low in calories, low enough that I don't feel bad when I don't divided it up into two different serving.  I feel like it helps me get in some nutrients that I might be missing out on without having to eat tons of fruits.  




6.  My Brest Friend

This was another research heavy item.  I don't believe that it's near as popular as the other known breastfeeding support pillow, The Boppy, but I like this one so much better.  It's surface is flat and I can tighten up the strap so it fits right up against me and gives me tons of support to be able to hold up James while he eats without having to readjust all the time like I did when I used the boppy.  It also provide nice support after he eats and is just sitting and resting against me. Another nice little feature is the pocket in the front, I like to keep his nail files, nail trimmers and some chapstick for myself,  things that are nice to have within reach when I'm nursing him. I would recommend getting an extra cover because just trust me you will need it. 




7. Baby Einstein - Caterpillar's Day at the Park Bouncer

This was a purchase I made once James got a month old or so.  I was watching a TV show and saw that the character had one of these and how she moved it all around the house, in the kitchen, to the living room, upstairs.  While we already have a swing, it needs to be plugged in and isn't easy to move, so I thought a bouncer would be nice to have on hand.  Did a little research but nothing really stood out,  I actually think the Baby Einstein bouncer I looked at online wasn't this one at all but this is the one that they had at the store so we picked up it and it's been great ever since.  James loved it even before I put the batteries in.  I feel like it's almost two toys in one, when I have the music on and the bar up, it keeps him pretty entertained but it's a lot for his system so he gets pretty over stimulated easily.  However when I take the bar away and put it on vibrate it gives the bouncer another life and I can get another 10 minutes or so of smiley James out of it. 






















8. Apple TV, Netflix and Hulu

I am taking full advantage of the nursing not being complete and having to set up shop in the guest room with the TV in it and a product similar to Apple TV but doesn't work as well so I would recommend the Apple TV.  I don't think you realize how much and how long you will spend nursing in the first couple of months and if I had to look at my phone the whole time, my eyes would be in so much pain and it's hard to read a book with just one hand.  I've made it through quite a few TV series and movies while nursing James.

So here is my list of most of the items that I use almost everyday and would make my life very hard without them.  



What is/was your go to item when you were surviving the first couple of months with a newborn? Did they change with each baby or stayed the same? 

Thanks for stopping by and see you guys soon.

The time I toasted my tortillas too long

So I was thinking about what to write about for, what I guess you could say, would be my first official blog post and I thought why not start with a simple recipe - Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas.  

Normally I don't cook or cook something that requires a lot of steps when Wes is at work.  For one, the meal is always too much food for just me to eat and two, it's just so much easier to just heat something up.  But since we are nearing the end of baseball season and the Indians are in town, we are spending almost every night Wes isn't at the station at the ballpark. So when I was planning out the meal for the week in my head I forgot about the baseball park and went ahead and bought fresh veggies for fajitas and worried that they will go bad before Wednesday (the first night that Wes isn't working and we don't have tickets) so I went ahead and made it tonight.  On the good side,  there will be enough leftovers for lunch for awhile. 

Throughout the day I thought about this post and what recipes that I would like to put on here and the thought came to me.  Since James has been born, 12 weeks on Monday, we have only had dinner out a handful of times which I found very strange.  Having James and being his primary caregiver, waking up multi times during the night and being on a repetitive schedule of about 2 to 3 hrs,  I've never cook so many dinner at home.  Before James,  I cooked at home a lot but like I mentioned above, when Wes is at work,  I won't cook dinner, I would just grab something but now,  it's just so much easier to heat something up or cook something than to put a baby, who hates the carseat, in the car just for a burger.  The meals that I do find myself cooking aren't near as fancy as they used to be or ever had as many sides, most of the time, but I think after years of cooking you realize that you don't really need all those.  

So now onto the main event,  my semi-homemade Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas.  And what I mean by semi-homemade and thats how I like to refer to my cooking as,  you take a recipe and use a shortcut from the store, such as fajitas seasoning, or take a box mix and make it your own by adding something special to the recipe. 

This recipes is super easy.  I prepared most of it while James was taking his afternoon nap (after I pulled myself from the couch) and cooked it after he went to sleep.  

I used:

3 medium to large frozen chicken breasts, cut into strips 

2 red bell peppers, cut into strips

2 green bell peppers, cut into strips

1 large white onion, cut into strips

1 packet of fajita seasoning

8 to 10 fajita flour shells (the small ones)

sour cream (optional)

The first thing I did was thaw out the chicken breasts.  I like to use the frozen kind from Sam's.  Recently I've been buying the big 10 pound bag.  I'm a big fan of the frozen chicken from Sam's.  Not only do I feel like the chicken breasts are better,  the "fresh" kind from the stores just scare me, they are usually really big and sometimes still frozen in the center.  And you can't beat the price on the chicken either,  I think I got the whole bag for about $20.  I know a 4 pound bag will cost me $11 at my local grocery store.

While the chicken was thawing, I cut up the peppers and onions.  I just cut off the sides of the peppers and cut them that way so I don't really have to deal with the white stuff inside.  I cut them into stripes and put them in a Tupperware container for later and the same with the onion.

After putting James down to sleep for the first time (yes, it was a multipultl put down night)  I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  I bought the chicken out of the fridge, along with the peppers and onions, and cut it into strips.  I like to half the chicken strips so they are more of a bite size pieces and not long 5 inch strips.  I also feel like by doing this it helps them cook longer.  

After cutting the chicken up, I placed it, with the peppers and onion, into a large bowl and mixed it with the fajita seasoning.  

                        Before seasoning                     After seasoning

I put the mixture into a 8 x 11 cake pan that was lined with foil and coated with cooking spray.

Then, I placed the pan into the oven for about 30 minutes until the chicken was cooked through and the peppers were soft.   I stirred the mixture a couple of times to make sure everything was coated well and cooking evenly.  

While the fajitas were cooking,  I placed two tortillas ( I know I said 8 to 10 up there but I am only cooking them for myself) in foil then in the oven.  I put them in too early and one got a little extra toasty, so preheat with caution.  

A couple of minutes before I pulled the fajitas out,  I opened a can of corn and cooked it in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Like I said, this recipes is semi-homemade and very easy. 

Here are the fajitas fully cooked.  They look and smell so good!

I used the foil that I wrapped the tortillas up as a placemat to make the fajitas.  I like to add the sour cream first to the tortillas so I can get it spread nice and even on the tortillas. I do the same thing with tacos too. 

Here is the finished project with the corn on the side.  

I've made this recipe using the stovetop and cooking the chicken, peppers and onion in a skillet but I like doing it this way because it allows me to do something else while the food is cooking.  Sometimes, it's clean up the kitchen so I don't have to do it later, other times it's just hanging out with Wes.  Tonight it was giving Truman a bath.  He most of got into something in the yard and he smelled pretty bad.  I've noticed that since James has come into our lives,  Truman has missed out on a couple of things.  So long are his quiet afternoon naps and regular trips to agility but I don't think me postponing his baths are something that really upsets him too much.  

What favorite recipes do you have that you can cook them two different ways?  Are you more of a simple cook, a main item and one side, or do you like to put a full meal together, a main item with many sides? 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Full Recipe

 3 medium to large frozen chicken breasts, cut into strips 

2 red bell peppers, cut into strips

2 green bell peppers, cut into strips

1 large white onion, cut into strips

1 packet of fajita seasoning

8 to 10 fajita flour shells (the small ones)

sour cream (optional)

Place chicken, peppers, onions and seasoning into a bowl together and mix throughly.  Place in a foiled and lightly sprayed baking dish.  Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and peppers are soft.  Serve on warmed tortillas.   

Well, Hello There

Hi,

I'm Megan and thanks for checking out my blog. 

 I thought I would start this first blog post with a little history of how I got here and what I hope will come out of this blog.  

I'm a twenty-six year old new mom to a beautiful baby boy named James and we live in Carmel, IN with my husband Wes.    Even though James is my first child, he is the third love my life.  


My first love of my life is a short hairy guy that goes by the name of Truman.  He is an almost five years old Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  It just seems crazy to me that he is almost five and how fast those years have gone by.  I bought Truman my senior year in College after a bad break up.  He was the first thing I ever really bought for myself and I can't imagine my life without him.  

The second love of my life is Wes (I had Truman about four months before meeting Wes).  Some day I still can't believe how we met by accident at the Indians baseball game and how lucky I feel every day that we did.  I can't begin to imagine where I would be without him and I'm so incredibly grateful for everything he has done for me and has given me over the years. 

Speaking of incredibly things that Wes has given to me, the two biggest gifts are things that he has just recently given me.  My beautiful son and the chance to be able to stay home with him and raise him.  I know I did all the hardest parts of being James into the world, the whole creating in my womb, carrying him for 41 weeks and the contraction and delivery parts but (as Wes likes to remained me) James wouldn't be here without him too.  

The second gift, being a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom),  is a gift that I wasn't sure that I wanted.  I think everyone toys with the thought of how great it would be to be able to stay home and not go to work and still be able to pay your bills and not live on the side of road but up until I was about 6 months pregnant I wasn't sure if this was the path for me.  The childcare situation up here is pretty pricey and like many families I realized that I would be working just to able to avoid to put him in daycare.  I would be working 40 hour days at a job that I didn't really like to be able to only see my son 2 hours a night and on weekends.  So after a lot of thought and the final okay from Wes, I became at SAHM.  While I couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity it's not exactly how I would have thought it would be.  Everyone says that it's tough but it's one of those thing that you don't know how tough until you are in, way in it. 

I will spend some more time with my feeling about becoming a SAHM later in future blogposts but now I want to get into what I hope this blog becomes.  

This isn't my first blog I've put together.  I think this may be the third with real content on it. 




 The first one was a blog of my travels with I was studying abroad in Australia,  I thought it would be a good way to be able to keep all of the family up to date with what was going on without having to send out 100 emails.  Okay, I'm being a little dramatic there, it probably would have only been 10 emails at the most, truthfully maybe 3.  My parents would have kept everyone else informed. 

The second was a blog that I started a less than a year and half ago.  The beginning of 2014 I joined weight watchers and lost a total of 35 lbs when I was at the lowest weight and the blog was a weight loss/ fitness blog.  I wrote about the types of workouts I was doing, what I thought about on runs, on how I became a runner and what I ate.  I blogged for a couple of months, until I found out I was pregnant.  And as many of you know (the fictional readers in my mind) once you find out you are pregnant and you really begin to feel it, you start to not do the optional not so enjoyable things anymore like waking up at 5 am to either go running or put in a DVD workout and the idea of sleeping all the time and eating ice cream sounds so much better than sweating it out.  So the blog slowly died. 

Since I'm not longer touring Australia or in a super high workout kick, I thought starting a new blog would be good. I've had this blog name for awhile but it wasn't until James came that it really started to feel like a House of Henry and for me to having something to really write about.  With this blog,  I hope to write about the things that I love; my family, my life, cooking and baking, and reading.  And in all honestly, my goal is to be able to post atleast 3 times a week but since my main job is to take care of a 2 month old,  I'm not sure if thats going to happen every week but thats the goal.  


If you had the time or if you do write a blog, what would you blog be about? And do you think it would change over time? 


Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!!