Apartment Lust

I'm constantly day dreaming of when we will get to fulfill our dreams and move back to Sweden. I even look at apartments in Stockholm and imagine us living there. Sad? Maybe. But I can't help it! Plus I just love looking at Swedish apartments. It's totally my style. Simple. Modern. Whites and blacks. Everything I want my future Swedish apartment to be. 

Check out these gorgeous pictures from a downtown Stockholm apartment. Ah if we only had 3.2 million and jobs in Sweden!

I mean seriously, can't you imagine sipping your coffee up here every single morning? 

The favorite part of my day.

She has just finished her after nap nurse. She's warm, 'milk wasted' and oh so cuddly. I know in a few minutes she will be squirming to get down a d explore, but for those precious minutes she's all mine. Easily one of the best parts of my day.

Boo at the zoo

This is our 5th year going to boo at the zoo. It's such a great family Halloween activity! About a million  times more entertaining then knocking on random doors at night, and this way we get to see elephants and polar bears (my favorite zoo animals) as well! 

I found some old pictures from past boo at the zoo's. I can't believe how much he has changed!!

First year we went he was a bumblebee

Then he was a spider

Then a pirate

And last year...Harry Potter!! 

This year i couldn't convince him to be anything other than what he wanted to be...Batman!!

And Tindra was a super duper adorable zebra. 

What's up with boys and super heros? There were about 75 thousand spider mans and batmans running around the zoo today. I have no clue why Jasper was so obsessed with being batman. I'm about 98% positive he's never even seen a batman movie. I'm going to thank his fellow kindergarten classmates for this one. Do you try to influence your kids Halloween costume or do you just let them be whatever they want? 

7. 5 days of paleo..

And we have gone through 3 dozen eggs We have lost 10 pounds (6 for Drew 4 for me) I have made 9 new recipes (really liked 7 of them) I have made it through 3 whole days without caffeine! I can't remember the last time that happened. I have craved bread like a billion times. I made it threw a kids birthday party with delicious smelling pizza and cake without even having a bite. I have decided to Try to commit to 30 days paleo instead of the original 7 day plan.

Baby in a pumpkin!

Last weekend we decided to cut one of our pumpkins out for T to sit in. I thought she would think it was funny and we could get a cute pic. WRONG. At least on the her liking it, cute pics we did get!

She freaked OUT. Full on tears, and since they only happen like once a week Maybe, we were slightly shocked. I quickly snapped some pictures and got her out. She was in it for Maybe 1 minute total. 

After we got her out we decided to cut down the edges and see if that made it any better..

Nope! 

Then I thought, maybe it's the leaves she doesn't like? I quickly grabbed a blanket and set her on that..

Much better. 

Paleo tacos

Attempted these the other night. They were just so-so. I'll try to make the batte thinner next time and they might be better. This is jaspers, he loves his sour cream!! Can't believe it's day 7! We are heading to the zoo soon and I'll make sure to pack lots of paleo friendly snacks!

Abusive baby

She scratches my face. Punches my breast while nursing. And her favorite, using her razor blade fingernails to attempt to detach my bottom lip from my face. Last week she sliced my lip open. It felt like a paper cut right in the middle of my lip. Lovely huh? Does anyone use nursing necklaces? Do they actually work? And do you have a favorite place to buy them?

Paleo quiche

I Love a good quiche. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, I'll take it anytime of the day! I've never made a paleo friendly quiche before but I decided to try! I honestly didn't have very high hopes for this since I used about 1/5th the amount of cheese I normally do and hello, no crust? But once again I was pleasantly surprised! Jasper ate seconds and drew was concerned there wouldn't be enough leftovers for him to take to lunch today, so positives all around!! Here's what I threw in!


 6 eggs,
about a cup of coconut milk,
 a handful of shredded sharp cheese,
 salt and pepper, a tiny bit baking soda,
a couple handfuls of spinach,
some chopped garlic,
 a red bell pepper, and that's it!

Mix it all together, grease a pie pan w coconut oil and bake in oven (350 degrees) for 30ish minutes. I threw it in the oven then ran to Jasper's parent teacher conference and left instructions for drew to 'take it out when it looks done.' good instructions huh? Luckily he did just that! I fried up some bacon and served it with some cantaloupe. Healthy And delicious!!

Six months!

How has it been a half of a year with you Tindra? You are such a joy to spend all day every day with. I can't get enough of you! Your dad and big brother are equally obsessed with you. I can barely remember you not being apart of our family!

Teeth. You are STILL working on these suckers! I have a feeling like 5 are going to pop out at once! I can tell they bother you, you even have a little mouth rash from your constant drooling. I'm praying these guys come through any day now.

Food.  You still love to eat! I don't think there has been a single time in your life that I have offered you  milk or food and you don't want it. You like to eat, just like your mamma! Your favorite food you have tried so far is  pumpkin! You devoured 1/3 of a can. It's the only puree you have had that I haven't made for your myself. Maybe that's why you love it so? You still take a bottle of pumped milk in the morning while I'm getting J ready for school, then you nurse 4-5 times with usually 2 more meals a day. I feel like all I do some days is feed you! I think this month we will start with some baby led weaning as well. You love to eat, and I think you are ready for it!

Sleep. You still sleep great at night. You go down for the night between 7 and 7:30 after I sing you your song and up for the day around 7AM. But naps are a different story. You used to be my PERFECT sleeper. You still do great, but sometimes now you are waking up after 20-30 minutes. I think its your teeth bothering you. I watch you on the video monitor rub your eyes, whine for a few minutes and go back to sleep. Usually. Sometimes you let me know you are DONE with your nap by shouting loudly at me. Those days can be a little rougher, but you still are my amazing little sleeper :)

Play. Playtime is FUN with you. You love to switch it up between laying on your mat underneath your hanging toy thing, your door bouncer and your excersaucer. For the most part you would rather be on the floor on your big comfy pat wiggling and rolling around. 

I don't know your exact stats this month since we go for your check up next week, I can't wait to see how you have grown!

You are so incredibly special to me baby girl and I love watching you and your personality grow

Paleo day two..

And I really want some bread. And a lot of cheese. 

Today it seemed like no matter how much I ate, and it was a Lot, I couldn't stay full. Is this a paleo thing or a breastfeeding Darlene thing? Cant say for sure yet.

For breakfast I had a blueberry smoothie again, lunch was last nights leftovers (still DAMN good, seriously) and then when Jasper got home from school I was STARVING so I sliced us up 4 apples with cinnamon (probably my new favorite snack) and ate I think 3 out of the 4. Followed by a banana. Ridiculous.

Dinner was garlic and lemon chicken with potatoes and green beans, one of the regulars around here. Currently I have about a dozen chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge waiting to be devoured. Wait is chocolate 'paleo'. Eh they are getting eaten regardless. So that's day two. 

Other non paleo news, today is our two year wedding anniversary! We are coming up on our 8 year anniversary so it feels weird to say two, but two years ago we said I DO and I believe I love him even more now. We have been through a lot together and it's been a crazy/eventful two years. Can't see what our future has in store!

Paleo..

I've decided to take the plunge into paleo.. For a week! That's as far as I can commit to right now! Day one is done, and so far so good! For breakfast I had a blueberry/cucumber smoothie. For lunch leftovers drew made last night- chicken and potatoes in a cream sauce (some paleo sites say no to dairy others say some is okay and that's the ones I'm going with!) and snacks I had fruit and cashews. Dinner I decided to try and make paleo spaghetti bolognese. The 'pasta' part is spaghetti squash. I was super surprised at how good it was! Seriously delicious! I told jasper it was pasta and he never questioned it and ate his entire plate full. That's success! Also, I gave our dog the rest of drews plate because I gave him way to much and he (the dog) ate it all! He loves pasta but won't touch vegetables so I guess I had him fooled also!! Oh and I also made apple/cinnamon chips. Those were just so so, but jasper liked them! Any one else attempt a paleo diet? Got any recipes to share?

All about him

The him I'm talking about is Jasper. Pretty much since he entered our world it's all been about it. 

Most of our conversation about weekends go something like this

What should we do this weekend?

We could go check out that new park I drove by coming home yesterday, Jasper would love that. Then we could go on a bike ride, Jasper has been wanting to do that. And then maybe play Jasper's new board game!

All about Jasper. 

Ever since T came along the focus has shifted a TINY bit. But barely. Now we do the same things, just scheduled around nap times when possible. 

This weekend, like many others was 100% about Jasper.

Pretty much right after he got home from school we got ready then headed to a birthday party at a local bouncy house for a new friend in his class. (This is his 2nd of three birthday parties in 4 weeks. He's got a busier social schedule than his parents!) We didn't get home till around 7 then it was a board game and bed.

Saturday morning Jasper had his last soccer game of the season and immediately after we headed to a pumpkin patch about 30 minutes away. We were gone from the house 6 hours, longer than normal with Tindra, so she definitely got screwed out of her afternoon nap. But she was a champ anyway!

When we got home we carved pumpkins and had dinner then BED.

Today we ran errands, Drew took the kids while I went to zumba and then naps and Swedish school.

After dinner we played MORE board games and then bed once again.

So literally every minute of the weekend was about Jasper. Lucky kid or what!!

It was a perfect weekend and I wouldn't change a second of it!

Pretty sure it's against some sort of blogging religion to meet up with a fellow blogger and Not blog about it! But whoops, I did! And it's not even the first time!

Last week I got together with the lovely Sarah and her ridiculously adorable daughter Iris for coffee. And then this week we met at the park for a walk. It's kind of crazy meeting someone when you have been reading their blog. But crazy in a good way!! 

I've also had the pleasure of meeting Laura when she moved to Denver with her daughter and hockey player husband from Sweden. Sadly they have since moved back!

And Also I have had a meet up with Joan and the adorable Porter, and I wish they lived closer!!

And obviously I'm a horrible blogger since there exactly zero pictures from any of those coffee dates. 

What about you guys, have you met any other bloggers? And did your significant other think it was Super weird you were meeting up with some you 'met online'? 

Oh heeeey look at me standing up

How we do 'date night' around here

It's no secret that we don't get out much alone here. Our nearest family is 700 miles away. That and I pretty much don't trust anyone with my babies = not many, like ever, date nights out. The last time we went out just the two of us was... Valentines I believe. Yep. That's 8 months if you don't feel like doing the math. We are extremely lucky that our kiddos go to sleep by 7:30 and we have this horrible habit of not going to bed till midnightish, so we get plenty of alone time! Even though we get plenty of alone time, it's easy to just spent the evening watching tv, folding laundry or both of us just doing our own thing, so it's important to schedule some 'home date nights' where we mute the cell phones and concentrate on us! This weekend we did just that. Drew started a fire and dusted off our rook set (a card game) and I headed to the store for our favorite treat. We spent the evening in front of the fire, talking, playing a game and eating a ridiculous amount of 'the ultimate snack.' The ultimate snack is something two college friends and myself made up one night freshman year. Here's what you do- warm up some nacho cheese dip, take a toast ions chip, dip it in cold cream cheese then hot cheese dip and enjoy. Seriously so freaking good. And horrible for you. But who cares. Now grab your significant other, make a fire and have a fabulous evening!