confessions of a PT Stay At Home Mom.

I wont lie, when I was brain storming up this blog post, Usher- Confessions popped up in my head. ohh Usher. And in case you were wondering or wanted a sweet mental picture.. I did dance.You're  welcome. 

I have been thinking recently about why I blog.. I mean, do I have a purpose? I never do any give aways or guest post's..am I a lame blogger? who says there has to be rules? 

For me, I blog when I need to talk about things or really keep some memories. I also take a lot of picures. true story.  Im sorry to all of my Instagram followers - NWebb820-  If i blow up your news feed. ha! I personaly like to just blog about life.. and I feel like when I'm 100% myself on here, that I end up writing better.  I dont really care about the  proper punctuation or making sure everything is perfect.. because its my  own blog, damnit. Ill do what  I want. lol. (Im rather sassy today) I like to write how I would talk to a group of friends. Im a rather goofy person.. I honestly ramble a lot. Like now. 

so we are all aware that I stay at home part time with the J Man. I have thought about  working full time again. You know, that 9-5 type shizz nizz.. But the thought of dropping J off at a daycare in the morning and only seeing him for a few hours at night.. nah.  I like spending the days with my chunky.. And its hard enough that I only have a few days to really spend time with the hubbs.  ( Who works so damn hard for our family. I appreciate you Boo Boo!) 

soooooooo....

What do I do all day?- Well, Some days, I clean the house up. Ok, I try to keep this house clean..Ive got a wild child whom likes to crawl in and around everything, running wild through the house while stuffing his toys and bottles in to different things. I chase after J while he figures out how to put balls and stuffed animals in the toilet or shower.. Some days I run errands or simply just spend the day playing with J and creating memories.. 

I Wont Lie- Some days, I seriously dont even care. I stay in my pajamas all day ( yes, I put a bra on) and just be a lazy bum. I dont always take a daily shower.. ( I do always put on Deoderant)  Ill ignore the mess on the kitchen table or the pile of dishes that are in the sink. Maybe ill sit on my ass and watch Reba marathons all day long, while J is entertaining himself with the dogs and bringing all of his toys out. ( dont worry, I dont abandon my child) the days I want to feel the laziest are the daays that I have to go in to work later.

What about my Job?- Yes, I work 3 days a week.. its just enough for me , I don't feel overwhelmed with work while still being able to contribute with bills or any "fun" money to have. Its nice to have the human  interaction.. Dont get me wrong, talking to a 12 month old all day is great times.. But Im a woman, with people needs. ha! and chocolate needs... what? And I kind of sorta like my co-workers. weird, right? ha! 

Somedays, Im Grumpy-  It's true.. I have anxiety. and some days I will wake up and just have a rough time. It could trigger from a dream or just come on all of a sudden. I still have spats from my PPD and its not always fun day  with me. I was diagnosed and offered medicine shortly after I had J, but I have never taken anything.. I simply cant. I know that I will "shake it off" and it has gotten easier to recognize when its going to happen and  how to calm myself.. even when it happens so suddenly.  Some days im just like "Everyone prob thinks im such a bitch, I shouldnt  look so mad.."and then realize Im really making things awkward and just remove myself from a conversation. Its seriously wild how having a baby can change literately EVERYTHING. 

things just got serious.  shake it off. 

Today I am having my first give-away.

leave a comment to be entered. 

The Winner will recieve kind words and a virtual HIGH FIVE.

I know, I know.. Best give away ever.

Thanks for letting me be weird.

Happy Tuesday!

-Nicole 

CrockPot BBQ Chicken and roasted veggies

Adam and I only get to eat dinner together about.. 3 times a week. So on those days, sometimes I like to get a little crazy in the kitchen, Figure out what we have to make dinner with and go from there! 

-Please note, this is not my personal recipe. I found this in the 365 slow cooker suppers cook book! Created by Stephanie O'Dea- you can find more of her creations at crockpot365.blogspot.com ! 

I posted the picture above on my Instagram : NWebb820 :  and a few people commented and texted me for the recipe. 

BBQ Chicken Thighs ( you can use breasts as well) 

4 skinless Chicken thighs - frozen is alright 

1 Onion sliced thin

1 cup of Ketchup 

2 tbs Soy sauce. - I used a lime soy sauce- 

2 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce 

1/2 tsp Ground black pepper 

1 cup baby carrots 

2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced thin. ( we didn't have any on hand..so I skipped these and stuck to carrots) 

Using a 4 qt slow cooker. Place your chicken into the slow cooker bowl, add your onion on too of the chicken. In a small bowl mix your ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.  Pour your mixture over your chicken and onion evenly. Add carrots and red bell peppers. 

Cover, cook on low for 6-7hrs (we did 7)

Serve over rice or quinoa! 

Since my husband doesn't like quinoa , I made Adam his own rice and quinoa for Joseph and myself. 

We paired it with roasted cauliflower and broccoli (Joseph goes nuts for these)  you can find the roasting recipe on my sisters blog, use the search bar on the top left! 

Www.TheFoodette.com 

Let her know I sent ya! 

Hope y'all enjoy! I'm enjoying Stephanie O'Dea's cook book for sure! Make sure to check out her site! 

Crockpot365.blogspot.com

-Nicole

5.3lbs Down!

How is everyone doing on their New Years goals? 

I'm happy to say, I have been doing really well. I'm eating better and tracking all of my meals, snacks and water intake with my : My Fitness Pal: App!  - Feel free to Add me -- NWebb11

So far at about 3 weeks in, I've lost 5.3lbs!

Of course I had my cheat day (Fridays) and I still logged my calories.. Surprisingly, I didn't really end up cheating. Every now and then I will want a sweet treat, But I've learned to stick to apples or crispy green grapes! Yum! 

The Beginning- I noticed that my weight was just going up and down, up and down.

Honestly, seeing that made me a little frustrated. I kept telling myself not to give up.. my body  is adjusting and even on the morning when I weigh my self and I dont see very much of a difference, I simply keep my head in the game and the scale makes up for it the next day! Everyones body is different and of course everyone needs their own method. 

The lone dieter - Making dinner for my Husband, Joseph and myself.. it actually hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. While my husband is one picky guy, he's getting better at trying new things! Joseph normally gets a little serving of whatever it is that I'm eating or Adams eating. I honestly thought that dinner or meals with them would be my weak point. 

Dealing with work temptaions- Where I work, sweets and goodies are seriously at arms reach.. closer. delicious high calorie snacks and drinks  that ive been indulging on for a good few years now. (One of the biggest reasons I have gained weight) Ive done a great job of avoiding temptaion at work, and making sure I take a salad or healthy dinner item, it hasnt  been too hard. While Im at work I focus on drinking water or hot tea ( Tazo Refresh is my all time favorite!) to keep myself feeling "full". 

Night Time snack attack- I have been trying to serve dinner up earlier than when we normaly eat (it could be as late as 8:30/9pm) with our work schedules or activites sometimes its a little hard. My body has gotten used to eating later in the evening. So when we do eat at around 6/7pm I'll get a little hungry. My favorite snack to turn to is a little biit of Almond butter and som Green graapes or ill share an apple with Joseph or my husband. I know, I know.. those are sugary items.. sorry yall, i tend to get a bit of a sweet tooth. Always better than Ice Cream! lol 

we are getting a new treadmill Saturday, our poor Golds Gym one we bought used off of Craigs list finally died and soon we will have the bowflex set up as well as the rest of our home gym items! Impretty  excited! Now.. to figure out a way to work out with Joseph (Since his naps are about 30 mins) so far, all weight lost has just been fro changing my diet. I Cant wait to see what happens when I  start my work outs! 

Thanks for all of  the support yall! 

-Nicole

Welcome to the neighborhood

We were greeted yesterday by a neighbor of ours, and a plate full of cookies. We introduced ourselves and thanked her for the cookies as another neighbor walked up to our door. 

I though, awesome! Our neighbors are around our age and have kids! But the second neighbor was not bringing happy news.. Or a plate full of cookies (my healthy eating goal thanked her for it) 

She instead brought news of a break in.  

Whoa.. What? We almost share a driveway with her. 

Sometime after 11am , yes that's right 11AM..a couple of people kicked down her back door and made three trips in and out of her home with valuables, items that can be replaced filled with pictures and videos of her children that can't be replaced. 

My heart sank for her, but I also started thinking about our safety and security. 

It's a scary thing to think about, and well I guess you just never know and have to take precaution as much as possible. I'm thankful that in our house.. Someone is always home. As well as our dogs. 

If everyone could keep my neighbor in your thoughts and prayers it would be appreciated! 

So tell me, has anything like this happened to you? 

Things to be thankful for/ 2014 Goals

 *My keyboard is acting up, please excuse some extra letters if I don't catch them *

Its a new year, were in a new home and well.. there is a lot to be thankful about, a lot to smile about. 

we have our health of course, a roof over our heads, food in our fridge and heat in our home during this crazy winter season. All of these truly make me smile. I take advatage of them every single day.

Our son had his 1 year well visit yesterday. 1 year yall! can you believe it? Because Im still having a hard time. I love this stage of his life though, hes growing, learning,curious about everything and staring to really talk!! 

So I woke up this morning, sat down with my morning coffee and greek yogurt and thought, I should make a list of goals for 2014. Instead, I wrote thank you cards from Christmas/ J's birthday.  Now, It still eats at me, what are some goals? Well, Ive already started my goal of eating cleaner and better. I would love to become more involved with my blog and keeping memories of projects around the house. Another goal is learning to cope and relax when my anxiety gets bad, stop being so hard on myself and learn to let go & let God take over. I want to get Joseph more involved with the Library here and take advantage of the free kids groups around town. I would also love to meet up with some of the other Nebrask Bloggers! 

As we move forward with the year, Im sure I will come up with more goals for myself.

I would love to hear any goals you have for yourself or your family! I'm always about supporting each other in meeting our goals! 

~ Nicole 

We've been busy!

My husband and I finally signed for our new ( to us) 1923 home! Only a few days pushed back, we finally got our first home! 

Moving out of our rental and into our new home in 3 days was rough work. Especially with the events leading up to our move. 

I would like to thank everyone who helped out with the move and watching Joseph, as well as everyone who have their thoughts, prayers and well wishes as we laid Adams grandmother to rest that week. 

I will happily say that next time, I don't think we will be buying a home right before Christmas!  We were contacted by HGTV House Hunters to film our journey. Sadly, we could not film due to the timing and Holidays. 

We moved Friday-Sunday and Sunday night at midnight we packed up and headed to Texas for Christmas! 

It was sooo wonderful getting to see my family and some friends! We had so much fun and could not thank everyone enough! 

Joseph and my BIL taking a stroll. J loves his Uncle Jeff! 

 

Photo Credit- Jeff

Photo Credit- Susan @TheFoodette 

My Momma! (Grammy) 

Joseph was real quick to master those stairs! Both up and down. 

Now he is opening doors at our new house! Ahh 

My Momma, sisters and myself all had a girl night at a painting place in Austin! It was so much fun and now I want to paint everything! ( ok, not everything..) 

And then on December 31st, our little man Turned 1! (My husband shares his bday as well!) I managed to cry after J smashed his cake up, I did better than I thought I would though.. I figured I would have been crying a lot more haha! 

J was just sitting there looking so cute, so of course I snapped a few pics! 

My sister ( The Foodette) did a great Job baking the cakes and getting the food together! 

Yup, that's a huge smash cake! Lol don't worry he didn't eat it all.. Poor guy was already so tired from playing! 

J loved the extream fun bouncy house place. Adam helped him figure out the toddler section. Once J got a hang of it he went wild! 

For my Husbands birthday celebration, we all went to Top Golf! Adam was in heaven! We had two cozy ports on the very top floor! Everyone had a great time! 

We all headed back home to ring in the new year, except we were all in bed before midnight. Haha! 

We're back home now, unpacking and deep cleaning everything. Adam had already fixed the plumbing for our shower in the basement, ripped up the old caulk in our bathroom upstairs and deep cleaned the shower and bathroom.  I've been busy unpacking and organizing the kitchen, dusting like crazy (I'm not sure the previous owners ever dusted) and of course deep cleaning! Our house is starting to feel like a HOME and I can't wait to start painting! There is still so much to do and so many years to do it all :-P 

With the wild winds and winter weather we are staying put inside and relaxing a bit between unpacking. 

 

Our start to 2014 has been great so far! I'm working on eating better/ cleaner, so far everything is going great! If you have Instagram feel free to follow me 

( NWebb820) any support is always welcome! 

Can't wait to share more house pictures and future projects! 

Happy New Year, y'all! 

-Nicole