Healthy Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Balls - *NO BAKE!*

Ok- If you're like me and you have a CONSTANT sweet tooth, then you need these as much as I do!

ZERO SUGAR!

ZERO FLOUR!

SUPER FAST & EASY!!

HEALTHY & SUPER DELICIOUS!!!!!!

I made these in about 20 minutes- start to finish. They're no bake- which makes them even easier! In fact I even made them while Gavin was awake- he sat in his chair on the kitchen counter and watched me make them! (I can't wait until he's old enough to "help" me! And by help me, I mean make an even bigger mess than I already do by myself...)

So, as I always seem to do, I came up with my own recipe! It was all stuff I already had right in the pantry! I was looking at making a similar recipe- but didn't have all of the ingredients, and didn't feel like bundling Gavin up to go to the store (it's about 10 degrees out today, so no thank you...ps...I need spring & summer!!! Like, NOW.). So, using what I had on hand, I came up with these yummy little treats!!

What You Need:

3 Cups organic thick rolled oats

3/4 Cup xylitol

4 Tablespoons pure organic coco powder

1/2 Cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 Cup organic almond butter

1/4 Cup honey

1 Stick organic unsalted butter

2 Teaspoons natural pure vanilla extract

What To Do:

1. Blend oats, xylitol, and coco powder in a mixing bowl.

2. In a separate mixing bowl melt butter. Once melted, stir in coconut milk, almond butter, honey and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

3. Using a spatula mix together your bowl of oats and your bowl of butter/almond butter..etc.

Stir until it's mixed up real good.

4. Now the messy part. Using your hands, roll into 1 inch balls. I laid wax paper over a cookie sheet, and put them on there. Once I had them all made, I put the cookie sheet in the fridge to chill.

I got 28 cookie balls out of it.

Enjoy!

Distressed Planter Box

The finished product... well minus the plants.
I'm still deciding if I'm going to use it as an actual PLANTER, or put
a few mason jars in it and use them as vases for flowers.
(I can already picture it overflowing with deliciously smelling lilacs and hydrangeas!!)
 

This project took a grand total of about 20 minutes- including the drying times (that's why I LOVE using acrylic paints- super fast drying!)!

What You Need: 

Unfinished crate (I got mine from Michaels for about $5.00)

2 Acrylic paint colors- distressing color & top coat color

Paint brush

Sand paper

What To Do:

1. Using your distressing color (I used a dark brown) paint a thin coat all over the crate. This coat of paint does not need to be perfect! You'll be covering it with your top coat color. Let dry.

Before.

After.

2. Using your top coat color, paint a thin-to-medium layer over your distressed color. Again, this layer doesn't need to be perfect either. I left mine thin enough that the dark color showed through quite a bit. This way, I had less sanding/distressing to do!

3. Sand & distress to your liking. :)

Like I said, I painted my top coat color thin enough that all I really sanded were the corners and the edges for some extra distressing.

Simple as that! A nice indoor OR outdoor planter!

I think I'm going to add some little handles on the sides also- just for some extra character.

:)

DIY Name Sign

So over the weekend Aaron was gone working, so it was just me & Gavin man holding down the fort.

I had time on my hands, and decided to take a trip to Michaels.

The photo above is the end result.

I've been seeing so many of these cute name signs, and decided to finally make one for us! 

:)

Here's how I made it!

Supplies You Need: 

(I got everything from Michaels)

Unfinished Wood Sign

Acrylic paint colors- distressed color, top layer color, and your font colors

Sand paper

Paint brushes

Stencils & dabber

Burlap flower & hot glue gun

How I Did It:

1. I lightly sanded down the wood sign. I rounded off the corners so they weren't so sharp and clean cut. I wanted to give it a distressed look, so I didn't want perfect edges. I roughed it up a bit.

(As you can tell my table cover is an old diaper box... I'm so fancy) 

2. I used a dark brown acrylic paint and did just one coat. This is the color that will show through when you distress. As you can see, I didn't cover it completely, you'll be painting over it with your top coat anyway, so it doesn't need to be perfectly covered.  Let dry.

3. Next I did my top coat. I did one quick layer- and I made sure to do it thin enough in some areas that the dark color showed through, this way I would have less sanding/distressing to do when I was done. Let dry.

4. This is when I forgot to keep taking pictures- I was trying to hurry and finish it before Gavin woke up from his nap...oops! BUT, next was the stenciling.  I used my gray color and stenciled "Arfstrom" and "2013" in the same color. Then I used the same color I used for my distressing color (the dark brown), for the "est.". I wasn't too careful about not letting the paint run or smear at all from stenciling- since I was going for the distressed look I knew having imperfect letters was only fitting :) 

5. Once the stenciling was dry, I used my paint brush and the top coat color (the cream) and "dry brushed" it all over- on top of the stenciling. 

For dry brushing- I put a TINY bit of paint on my brush, then wiped my brush off on a dry paper towel. You'd think this wipes off all of the paint- it really doesn't! You want your paint brush to look like it doesn't have any wet paint on it (don't worry- you'll be surprised how much is actually still on there). Then I took the brush and wiped (with the wood grain) all over the top of the sign. The tiny amount of paint left in your paint brush will leave your letters looking perfectly distressed. I dry brushed over it a few times until it was as distressed as I wanted it to look.

6. Last but not least- I roughed it up again. I used sand paper and sanded all of the sides of the sign, as well as the corners (I sanded those more than anything) and then went over some areas on the front/top of the sign. Basically I just sanded until I was happy with how distressed it looked.

7. I guess I lied, last but not least was the burlap flower. I bought this already made from Michaels. I used my hot glue gun and (used quite a bit of glue) and stuck it on there. :) 

Simple as that!  

My Diaper Bag Must Haves!

Here's what you can ALWAYS find in my diaper bag:

1. Diapers.

I always have way more diapers than I need in my bag. Better safe than sorry right?

2. Wipes. 

I keep a large pack of wipes in my diaper bag. I never take these wipes out (I did one time, and of course I forgot to put them back in before I left...learned my lesson).

3. Diaper Rash Cream.

4. Extra Burp Cloth.

5. Extra Outfit.

Another better safe than sorry.

6. Nuks.

I have way too many nuks, and Gavin doesn't even use them. But for some reason they stay in my diaper bag- I guess in case maybe I'll need them ? ? 

7. Baby Nail Clippers.

The ones we bought came in a pack of 2, so why not toss the extra one in the diaper bag right?

8. Bulb Suction Sucker Thing.

What the heck is that thing called anyway? We got it from the hospital- and since then, it's just stayed in the diaper bag.

9. Changing Pad.

A nice comfy pad for diaper changes on the go- you never know where you'll have to change that diaper.

 Now the fun stuff- stuff for Mom :)

Chapstick

Lipstick (a couple of those)

Honest Company Hand Sanitizer

Nursing pads (better safe than sorry with those too)

...Oh, and a pen.

My *Baby Product* MUST HAVES!

I pretty much love all things Honest Company. 
No harsh chemicals- ever.
This is pretty much going to be one big ad for their numerous baby products!
But I can't rave about them enough! I LOVE every single one of these products on this list!

Honest Company Shampoo & Body Wash. 
Gavin gets a bath every night and we've used this soap on him since he had his very first bath.
It's hypoallergenic, tear-free, color-safe, vegan, biodegradable, pH balanced, and naturally non-toxic.

Honest Company Face & Body Lotion.
After every one of Gavin's baths we use this lotion on him. It's hypoallergenic, vegan, plant based, biodegradable, pH balanced, and naturally non-toxic.

Honest Company Wipes.
These wipes are awesome because there are NO parabens, chlorine, phenols, or risky chemicals, so you can use the wipes not only on your baby's bottom, but on their hands, pacifiers, toys, etc.! The wipes are also biodegradable, hypoallergenic, chlorine-free, medical grade cloth, and Oeko-Tex sustainably harvested.

Honest Company Healing Balm. 
If you do not have this stuff, just go get it, like right now!! It's magical, I swear. When Gavin was maybe 1 month old, he had a couple little scales of "cradle cap" on his head. We used a tiny bit of this healing balm, and within a couple days it was totally gone! It also works wonders for any dry skin that he gets- literally within the day I see improvement. It works wonders! They also say to use it for diaper rash. I use it as a diaper rash preventative- the beeswax in it creates a barrier against urine. It's also hypoallergenic, certified organic, vegetarian, biodegradable, pH balanced, and naturally non toxic.

Honest Company Diaper Rash Cream.
We use this on Gavin every night before bed. He's never had diaper rash, but we use it every night on him just because it's obviously when he's in the same diaper for the longest amount of time. It's all natural, hypoallergenic, plant & mineral based, non-toxic, clinically tested, and made with certified organic ingredients.

Honest Company Baby DHA.
This is a supplement they just came out with. We just ordered it for Gavin and can't wait to start giving it to him! DHA helps support brain and eye development, which is especially critical in your baby's first two years of life.

* I told you this would be one big Honest Company ad. 
:)
In all honesty (no pun intended), we could not be more happy with our Honest Company products. When you educate yourself on the harmful chemicals, toxins, and unnecessary additives that are in most other baby products, it's such a relief to know you can use these Honest Company products with none of that harmful junk in them! 

Getting My Body Back After Baby

40 Weeks Pregnant

5 1/2 Months Post-Partum

During pregnancy I felt like I pretty much loaned my body out to this little human growing inside of me.
(because you pretty much do...)

No wonder most of us moms are anxious to get our body's back!

I gained exactly 40lbs during my pregnancy with Gavin.

At my six week post-partum appointment, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

In those first 6 weeks, here's what I did:

 I ate extremely healthy- very low, to no sugar.

I drank a lot of water, 90-100oz every day.

I breastfed (& pumped a lot).

(and no, I did NOT workout in those first six weeks- I was not at all ready for that yet!)

During my pregnancy I ate extremely healthy! I never had fast food ONCE, never had a soda(I'm not really a soda drinker anyway...), I ate almost all organic, I juiced a lot(check out my favorite juice here.), ate tons of protein, veggies and fruits. Those nine months were by far the healthiest nine months of my life.
(I wasn't a crazy health freak though- I still had Orange Leaf ice cream on occasion, Oreo cookies here & there...I definitely gave in to my sweet tooth cravings, but it was rare!)

A healthy diet is, as everyone knows, key in losing weight! I was anxious to lose the baby weight, but I was NOT in any hurry to start working out! So in the beginning I just focused on my diet.

My diet those first 6 weeks consisted mostly of:

Oatmeal for breakfast(organic, thick rolled oats) with cinnamon
Scrambled eggs with broccoli
Cranberry Cream Cheese Chicken
Eggplant Parmesan
Grilled chicken breasts
Venison steaks
Venison burgers (no buns)
Egg sandwiches (with organic sourdough bread)
Chicken/Steak shish kabobs w/ peppers & zucchini
Sweet Potato Fries
*With our dinners we always have lots of (organic) veggies- broccoli/green beans/zucchini/sweet potato...etc. and sometimes we'll do a side of some sort of quinoa*

*I really did my best to stay away from as much sugar as possible. No sweets and I tried to stay away from bread, rice, potatoes (sweet potatoes are ok & GOOD for you!) as much as possible.

Working Out

I wasn't ready (and frankly, didn't want to) workout yet in those first 6 weeks, but I made sure to get out as often as possible and take Gavin for walks outside.

I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I still had a lot of toning up to do!
(anyone who's had a baby knows that your poor stretched out belly doesn't necessarily tighten right back up to it's pre-pregnancy self all on it's own! ...if only!!!)

So, at 3 months post-partum, I gave in. I knew I had to get back into working out (ughh!), so I decided to do "mini" workouts at home. I kept them short, and really focused on my core.
I would run on the treadmill (only for 5 minutes..I hate running...yuck) and then followed that with squats, and ab exercises (at least 200 crunches, planking...etc.).

I did my own workouts for about a week- and then decided to get my gym membership back!
SO glad I did!

Once I had my gym membership back, I started taking weekly Body Pump Express classes (my sister-in-law is the instructor..which is the only reason I decided to try it!) and oh my gosh, I LOVE it!
I go to the class twice a week and they're only 45 minutes long!
(For more info on this class check out the "Body Pump" link above)
I love this class because you can literally SEE progress- not just with how your body changes, but in the amount of weight you use (you choose how much weight you want to use for each track). I've never been a "class" person.. but if this class is available to you- TRY IT!!!
I highly recommend it!

On days that I don't do Body Pump, I do my own "mini" workout at home.
Example:
10 minutes running on treadmill
100+ squats
100+ crunches
30+ rotator presses
30+ bicep curls
100+ leg extensions (one of my favorite ab exercises)

All in all, my own little workouts take about 20-30 minutes!
Gavin LOVES watching me workout too :)

Losing baby weight or toning up is different for every mama out there! 

Your diet, your metabolism, your workout routine, breastfeeding- it all has a factor in it.

Take your time, go at your own pace!

In terms of WEIGHT LOSS, I can definitely say my diet and breastfeeding did most of the work (breastfeeding/milk production alone burns 300-500 calories/day...some sources even say closer to 1,000 calories/day!!). 

For TONING my body, once I stuck to a good workout routine, and started my Body Pump class I saw results almost right away! It was just a matter of doing it, and being disciplined enough to stick with it. 

Stick with a healthy diet and a good workout routine, and you're guaranteed results! 

Here's 6 months post-baby.
Working on finding those abs again!
...pregnancy hid them quite well on me...