Pensacola - Day 6

This final trip post will be short and sweet! The morning began with a post-wedding catered brunch with the other out-of-town guests. Isla was begging to go to the "cool" the whole time and since we wanted to wear her out so she'd take a good nap before our late flight, we obliged, said our goodbyes and hit the pool. We had another picnic lunch on our patio (consisting of leftover items from the hotel breakfast buffet). Isla somehow got a hold of a bag of Lay's. I don't know that she actually ate any but I thought it made for a comical picture.

Look at the view from our patio!

Words can't describe how much I love this little girl (or this picture!) Look at those crazy curls!

We were able to do a late check out after Isla napped at 2 PM and then returned to the pool for more water time. We showered off in the little outdoor beach shower before getting dressed in the hotel bathroom and heading off the the airport for our 6:40 PM flight. The trip home was LONG with a brief layover in Houston. All the flights were packed to the brim I think because they were having to re-route a lot of passengers because of all the tornadoes in the midwest. It seemed like there were a LOT of people standing around the airport which made me nervous that our flight would also get canceled. Thankfully, we landed without incident shortly after midnight in Seattle (felt like 2 AM Florida time!) Isla slept for most of the Houston to Seattle leg but I just couldn't get comfy. As much as I'm not looking forward to paying for a 3rd ticket, I am looking forward to having my lap free. Oh wait....we're having a baby, aren't we?

Pensacola - Day 5

I think the key take-home point from our trip is this: WE NEED A SWIMMING POOL! For once in her life, Isla turned into a great napper after spending our mornings at the pool. It was glorious. She slept for at least 1 1/2 hours everyday (a Christmas miracle!) and sometimes even 2 hours (If your kids nap longer than this in a day, I'm tellin' ya, count yourself very blessed!) Anyhow, if you're wondering about that big hole I'm digging in the backyard, well....

So the whole purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of my friend Sarah to her fiance James. Sarah and I met early on during my year in Dallas and was a great support for me when I was far from home. We were thrilled to have her in our wedding and just as thrilled to be invited to attend her destination wedding. I've never been to a wedding on the beach, particularly a beach as beautiful as Pensacola. Que romantico!

I loved that the beach made it feel a little less formal so it wasn't a big deal if Isla let out a couple peeps. Thankfully they handed out bottles of water a) because it was quite warm and b) because they kept Isla entertained through the entire ceremony.

I've never attended a wedding barefoot before!

Seriously, could the setting be any more gorgeous?

The glowing, BEAUTIFUL bride

The reception took place at the naval base in Pensacola. Isla got to not only see but also touch her first Blue Angel.

Oh man how I miss Sarah! It was so good to see her and introduce her to Isla. Sarah is probably one of the most giving people I know. She even offered (as the bride!!) to hold Isla for a song so Graham and I could dance. Isla wasn't shy at all and loved being at "Sarah's Wedding."

My legs were pretty tired so thankfully Graham had another lady he could dance with....the two of them also performed a spontaneous duet out in the lobby that had the guests raving.

Congrats to Sarah and James and thanks so much for letting us be a part!

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple

It's about time "Kelsie's Kitchen" had a little more to do with the kitchen! I always have the greatest intentions of sharing my favorite recipes, my weekly menus and nutrition tips with all of you but then I also dream of getting my food-only blog up and running for this very purpose...Until that happens, I'd better just start posting because I have quite the stockpile of recipes collecting!

I love going out to breakfast. In fact, I think I may actually love it more than going out to dinner but I never want to claim this fact with confidence lest my honey decide to eliminate dinners out completely. I don't know what it is about breakfast but I adore all things carbohydrate, particularly specialty pancakes and, for some reason, going out somehow gives me the green light to indulge in these richer treasures that I normally wouldn't produce in my own kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I think I've mastered a pretty mean whole wheat buttermilk pancake but there is still something about going out that makes that pancake even better. Maybe it's the globs of butter and mountains of whipped cream? Or maybe it's the fact that I didn't have to do any of the work myself? Whatever the case, I would normally prefer breakfast out....until today....

It's been a busy week here in the Crozier household so I wanted to treat my family to a special Saturday breakfast since it was the first Saturday morning we've been home together in all the month of May. Graham had torn out a recipe from my most recent Cooking Light magazine that I thought I'd surprise him with it and give it a try. I'm telling you, it is to die for and french toast usually isn't even my thing.

They came together really quickly and the great thing about the recipe is that it could easily be made dairy-free if needed by eliminating the 1/4 cup milk and replacing it with the same amount of coconut milk. (I've been surrounded by breastfeeding mamas who have had to go dairy and soy free lately and so I thought I'd throw that out there!) Also, I bet the sugar could easily be reduced to 2 Tbsp. Of course, everything is a little better with whipped cream so I made that little addition (which isn't included in the nutrition facts). I whipped 1/2 cup whipping cream with 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla extract until stiff peaks formed. A little dollop will do ya! ENJOY!

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple

1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3 large eggs
1 (12-ounce) French baguette, cut into 15 slices
Cooking spray
10 (1/4-inch-thick) slices peeled pineapple
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 200°. Place a baking sheet in the oven.

Combine coconut milk, sugar, fat-free milk, and eggs in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Working in batches, dip bread in the milk mixture, and let stand for 1 minute on each side.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and coat pan with cooking spray. Add 5 coated bread slices to pan, and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place on warm pan in oven to keep warm. Repeat procedure in batches with cooking spray, remaining slices, and milk mixture.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add pineapple, and grill for 2 minutes on each side or until well marked. Chop pineapple. Place 3 slices of French toast on each of 5 plates, and divide the pineapple among servings. Top with coconut.

Yield: 5 servings

Nutrition info: Calories: 394, Fat: 9.1g, Protein: 11.4g, Carb: 67.8g, Fiber: 3.6g

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple

It's about time "Kelsie's Kitchen" had a little more to do with the kitchen! I always have the greatest intentions of sharing my favorite recipes, my weekly menus and nutrition tips with all of you but then I also dream of getting my food-only blog up and running for this very purpose...Until that happens, I'd better just start posting because I have quite the stockpile of recipes collecting!

I love going out to breakfast. In fact, I think I may actually love it more than going out to dinner but I never want to claim this fact with confidence lest my honey decide to eliminate dinners out completely. I don't know what it is about breakfast but I adore all things carbohydrate, particularly specialty pancakes and, for some reason, going out somehow gives me the green light to indulge in these richer treasures that I normally wouldn't produce in my own kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I think I've mastered a pretty mean whole wheat buttermilk pancake but there is still something about going out that makes that pancake even better. Maybe it's the globs of butter and mountains of whipped cream? Or maybe it's the fact that I didn't have to do any of the work myself? Whatever the case, I would normally prefer breakfast out....until today....

It's been a busy week here in the Crozier household so I wanted to treat my family to a special Saturday breakfast since it was the first Saturday morning we've been home together in all the month of May. Graham had torn out a recipe from my most recent Cooking Light magazine that I thought I'd surprise him with it and give it a try. I'm telling you, it is to die for and french toast usually isn't even my thing.

They came together really quickly and the great thing about the recipe is that it could easily be made dairy-free if needed by eliminating the 1/4 cup milk and replacing it with the same amount of coconut milk. (I've been surrounded by breastfeeding mamas who have had to go dairy and soy free lately and so I thought I'd throw that out there!) Also, I bet the sugar could easily be reduced to 2 Tbsp. Of course, everything is a little better with whipped cream so I made that little addition (which isn't included in the nutrition facts). I whipped 1/2 cup whipping cream with 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla extract until stiff peaks formed. A little dollop will do ya! ENJOY!

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple

Yield: 5 servings

1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3 large eggs
1 (12-ounce) French baguette, cut into 15 slices
Cooking spray
10 (1/4-inch-thick) slices peeled pineapple
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 200°. Place a baking sheet in the oven.

2. Combine coconut milk, sugar, fat-free milk, and eggs in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Working in batches, dip bread in the milk mixture, and let stand for 1 minute on each side.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and coat pan with cooking spray. Add 5 coated bread slices to pan, and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place on warm pan in oven to keep warm. Repeat procedure in batches with cooking spray, remaining slices, and milk mixture.

4. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add pineapple, and grill for 2 minutes on each side or until well marked. Chop pineapple. Place 3 slices of French toast on each of 5 plates, and divide the pineapple among servings. Top with coconut.

Nutrition info: Calories: 394, Fat: 9.1g, Protein: 11.4g, Carb: 67.8g, Fiber: 3.6g

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

21 Months

Isla has started saying her own name this month. She pronounces it "Eye-yah" and uses it frequently to make sure that we are all aware of all the things that belong to her. "Eye-yah's, Eye-yah's" over and over and over. She is also naming the things that belong to mommy and daddy and likes to point out whose is whose such as our toothbrushes, our bathrobes, our usual seats in the car, our car windows etc. It's pretty cute.

Isla has officially learned to kiss! She no longer just touches her lips or cheek to your cheek but actually has the smack figured out! She seems to have an ever-abundant supply of kisses for me lately which I love.

Isla has an unbelievably large vocabulary. She repeats basically everything we say and is definitely picking up on a lot more than we ever realized. People tell me all the time that they can't believe how smart she is and how well she can communicate (*beaming mama moment*). She can now count to 10 almost all by herself (she keeps skipping 7 so we prompt her with that one), she sings "Happy birthday to you" on key and can fill in the blank to most words in Rockabye Baby and the ABCs if you quit singing partway through. The counting thing just blew me away. We've been reading counting books for quite some time now and she never really seemed to care but now I know she really is listening!

She is super independent and likes to do things herself like buckle her straps in the stroller or highchair and feeding herself. She doesn't think she needs a bib anymore and has put up a few good fights because we disagree. She had absolutely no fear in the pool on our trip and it didn't even phase her when she went under a couple times. She seems to be a tough sport and will often just brush off her hands and say "crash" like we taught her when she biffs it on the floor or pavement. Isla LOVES the park and has successfully figured out how to go down the big twisty slides all by herself.

Potty training is so not happening right now. It's like she quit cold turkey and decided she wasn't going to go anymore. She still frequently asks to sit on the potty but hasn't successfully done anything on it for a few weeks now. I'm feeling more or less ok about it as I wasn't expecting it to take off the way it did initially but I'm a little bummed that I will likely have 2 in diapers....oh well.

Isla loves to sit on the counter and watch me cook. Lately she has actually been rather helpful, tearing lettuce, plucking leaves off herbs, breaking tomatoes in half etc. It makes me excited for what is to come--I have a little cooking buddy!

Oh and BIG news this month, Isla started eating salad! Out of no where, she just started going at it. Seriously, this might be my proudest mommy moment (not that I can really take much credit). We call it lettuce "with sauce" and she loves things with sauce so maybe that's what did it. I'm thrilled about this though because we eat SO much salad and I was having a hard time making creative hot vegetables to serve her instead.

Most of you will never believe this but we finally have all 4 front teeth!!! I'm not quite sure when exactly it cut through but I found her upper right front tooth while we were flying home last Sunday (May 22nd). She'd been chomping up a storm on her finger so I can't say I'm too surprised. It still cracks me up that she had all four molars before her upper front teeth....

Isla knows where "the baby" is and will often point to my belly (or boobs if I'm honest) and say "Baby!" I keep telling her that we're going to have a new baby and that the baby is going to sleep in her room. She seems pretty excited about it but I think it will really help her understand once we get the baby's crib in their room.

Isla has started to name some emotions. Yesterday I asked her if she was excited to see her Auntie Lani and cousin Gideon and she very animatedly said "Eyeyah excited! Mommy excited!" She is stringing together more and more words everyday.  

Isla's other hobbies lately include collecting silverware (spoons in particular) and spreading them around the downstairs. She loves going "side" (outside) and tromping through the yard, "watering" my plants with the watering can. She always wants to join me on trips to the trash and mailbox. She is fascinated by things that go (I'm wondering if I need to get her some cars) and still loves to pretend play with her baby. She's totally growing up!

Pensacola - Day 4

The events of this day take little narration. Basically the day went down like this: wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, hit the beach, go to pool, back to room for lunch (consisting of "borrowed" breakfast items from hotel buffet--bagels and cream cheese, fruit), nap for Isla, studying in room for Graham, workout and brief pool time for me, back to beach. Whew, exhausting, huh?

The pool at our hotel had a gradually sloping entrance that was perfect for Isla. It didn't take long before she figured out how to walk/balance in the water and she could get in and out as she pleased. She loved the pool toys: noodles and "boats" (body boards). The hotel even gave her a rubber mama turtle with 2 babies that provided great entertainment.

 I love this series of photos, a good old "photo story" from my 4-H days:

 "Awwwck! Sand! I can't walk on this stuff!" *Whine*

 *Whine, whine* "Carry!"

 "Fine, if you're not gonna carry me, I'll just squat here. That'll teach ya."

"Much better. Now we're talking!"

After playing all day, we returned to our room to get ready for the rehearsal dinner for my dear friend Sarah's wedding. Since this was a destination wedding, all the guests were invited. The dinner was a catered affair, held in the open air covered area beneath the enormous house the groom's family had rented (hard to explain but all the beach houses around here were built on tall stilts, creating an open-air lower story beneath the actual house). The groom's family was from Atlanta so we got to meet lots of guests from the South. Oh I just love southern hospitality! It really made me miss living in Texas. And everyone just LOVED Isla. Insert strong southern drawl here: "Oh we're just tickled pink that ya'll could be here!" "Oh, isn't she just the cutest thang?" We met a lady name Sugar (truly!) and I'm still wiping my brow with relief that I bit my tongue and didn't ask her what her real name was. I totally thought she was kidding when she introduced herself!

The rehearsal dinner felt like a wedding reception, complete with a dinner buffet, toasts and deliciously rich chocolate groom's cake. It was great to see Sarah and to meet her man, James. I think they are perfect for each other. :) Graham told me later that "Sometimes I forget you're a girl." What? He explained that it was really good to see my giddy and joyous reunion with Sarah (apparently there was some shrieking involved). Gosh, I must need to lighten up and throw some feminine giddy glee into our home. But really, it was so good to see Sarah. She has had such an amazing influence on my (and our) lives.

A true day in the life

Man oh man, yesterday was just one of those days where nothing seems to go right. One of those days where I really wished the lemonade I'd been drinking was spiked. Or that I could enjoy a nice glass of wine out on the patio just to chill out. Instead, I brewed a pot of decaf french press and it just had to do. After about the 12th timeout in so many minutes, I'd had it. My toes had been stepped on, dinner forks were strewn precariously about the kitchen floor, I'd been slapped in the face and run away from multiple times, the whining was incessant, the recycling was being eaten from and emptied out onto the kitchen floor, everything I put away seemed to jump back out again, my plants on the patio were being whacked with a spatula, the chicken wouldn't cook through (and then ended up completely burnt) and I was feeling very pregnant, exhausted and moody for no directly identifiable reason.

For a brief moment, I felt like someone needed to fire me, like I just wasn't cut out for this job. I didn't handle the situation calmly. I yelled "NO!!" multiple times. My patience was completely absent. That's the honest truth. When I returned to fetch Isla from one of her many timeouts, she immediately jumped to tell me "sorry" and kept repeating it over and over as she saw the tears in my eyes well up and begin to flow. Then it was MY turn to tell her that I was sorry for being impatient, for acting out of frustration instead of love. I wish I could say that things turned around from that point on and that the Little Miss was perfectly behaved for the rest of the night and that I was the perfect mother responding to her needs. Ha!

Looking back, I'm not even sure what the deal was, why I felt so off. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it is pre-finals weeks here at the Crozier household which means from now until June 8th, I am 100% on-duty, all day, everyday as Graham's minimal "free" time has to go to his studies. I never realized how rough it would be to do it all solo for days upon days in a row. Sometimes I feel like all I do is herd and cook and do laundry and pack lunches and dinners for all parties involved and, though most of the time I am able to do it cheerfully and with a grateful heart (really, I love being at mostly stay-at-home mom!), there are other days when it gets the best of me. I have to keep reminding myself that this is temporary, that one day there will be no grad school, that Graham won't have to go three days and then some without seeing his daughter, that someday we will have free time that is actually free, that I won't always have to arrange for a babysitter to attend my evening meetings and obligations. One day, Graham will be around to free me up for an after dinner walk or run to Starbucks to get away and refresh.

After a night of reflecting, I think I realized that what I'm craving right now are moments away. Completely ALONE, where I don't have to go to work or an appointment or meeting, where I can just do whatever I want. I feel guilty even saying that after a wonderful vacation away with my family. How could I possibly need to get away so soon? As I was telling a friend the other day, vacations definitely take a different tone with little ones and I can see why people take grandparents along so everyone can have a true break. Would I change our trip? Certainly not. We had an absolute blast! But I'm (slowly!) learning the necessity of my own self care to keep me a sane and effective mama. So, anyone up for playing with a sweet, (busy), cute, (active), talkative and hilarious 21 month old between now and June 8th? :)

So there it is. A bit of honest reflection, a true "day in the life" over here. All I can say is that I'm glad today is a new day, that His mercies are new every morning, Today is going to be a good day!