Heathly eating...

I just recently did the Daniel fast and learned so much. I wanted to share what I learned because I think it's pretty important!

1-You do not need dairy with every meal. I didn't realize it but I literally had a lot of dairy with every meal (yogurt for breakfast, cream in my coffee, sour cream on my lunch, cheese makes everything better, milk to drink, etc)
2-Why are all meals centered and planned around what the meat is going to be? There are some great meals out there that are based on the veggies! A few of my favorite recipes are below...
3-Healthy food really does taste good!

Here are a few recipes I really enjoyed. Even my husband who didn't do the fast agreed these were delicious!

Taco Soup
1 can of black beans
1 can of sweet white corn
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of garbanzo beans
4 tbsp of cumin or taco seasoning
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 medium onion peeled and diced
1 whole avocado peeled and diced

Sautee onion with the olive oil, once the onions are cooked a little add all the ingredients together (except the avocado). Cook until boils, then cook on low for 20-30 minutes. When ready to eat, put sliced avocado on top.

Breakfast Cookies
3 ripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped(I use raisins)
1/3 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mash the bananas. Stir in oats, dates, applesauce, vanilla, and I like to add cinnamon and fresh nutmeg. Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.Bake for 20 minutes;at 375.

Potato Leek Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups sliced leeks, white and green parts
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 cups vegetable stock
1 ½ pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
Salt and white pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons Italian herbs

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over low heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring often, until
tender, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add the vegetable stock and potatoes. Cover and simmer gently until the vegetables are
tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat. With a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food
processor, puree the soup until smooth.
5. Season, to taste with salt, ground white pepper and Italian herbs.
6. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.
Yield: six to eight servings

10 Months!

Feeding
We have moved completely to table foods. Finn eats what we eat. And wow, this is so much easier! We went to Savannah for vacation and he ate his first kid meal- grilled cheese and fries. He also tried chicken fingers, sweet potato fries, and coconut gelato. Of course he loved everything.

Weight
I'm thinking he's still around 21-22 pounds. Seems like his weight is staying the same these days.

Sleep
Sleep is still going good. He naps twice a day-10:00 and 2:00.  And goes to bed around 7:30. On the weekends, Finn only takes 1 nap so he can spend more time with us. :)

Wake Time
Finn is such a bruiser. He cruises all over the place barely holding on to the furniture. He has started standing up and squatting down to pick up toys and then standing back up. Its so fun watching him. I love seeing him learn!

Clothes
Finn is still wearing 9-12 month clothes. The outfit Finn is in is very special. I was out shopping a few weeks after Gregory and I got married and saw this cute Jordan outfit on clearance. So I bought it not knowing when we would have a child. Here it is 4 years later fitting our first son. So special!!

Fun fact
We took our first real vacation as a family of 3. We went to Savannah for a week and it was so much fun. We decided that is going to be our Walkup family vacation every year. It will be fun to see each year how much Finn has changed. Below are a few pictures from our trip.

Finn and daddy playing in the fountain at the square across from City Market.

Hanging out on River St.

 Daddy loves his son :)

Mommy and son time!

Finn playing on the bed in our hotel room before bedtime.

Daddy is so silly-he rolled you up in Mommy's pillow like a burrito!

While walking around in the historic part of Savannah, Finn feel deep asleep.

9 Months!!

Feeding
This month opened up a WHOLE new world. Finn has moved to eating all table food. He has had lots of spanish food. So far he has loved rice and beans the most. He's also had veggie pizza, meatballs, quesadillas, and chicken poppy seed. There hasn't been anything he didn't like. I love that we have such a good eater. Hope he stays this way!

Weight
At his 9 month check up he was 21 lbs and 7 oz. Love my big boy. Seems like his weight gain is slowing down.

Sleep
Finn is still a great sleeper. Taking two naps (10 and 2) and going to bed at 7:30. This month while we were out of town we only let him nap once during the day and he did great!

Wake Time
As I say almost every month, this month has been the most fun! He is crawling all over the place. And he just loves exploring our house. We have really child proofed downstairs so he can roam free. He has been cruising along the couches and even taken a few steps here and there. So I'm sure he will be walking soon!

Clothes
Finn can pretty much fit in anything between 9-12 months now. He looks adorable in his little shorts and t-shirts. Really looking like a lil' boy these days.

Fun fact
I'm not sure if fun fact is the right title for this. Finn has had quite the month when it comes to growing.  He had 8 teeth pop through. Yes that's right, I said 8! So he now has a total of 10 teeth-that's 4 on the bottom and 6 on the top. I can hardly believe that the sweet gummy smile is going away.

Who does Finn look like???

We get question all the time. So I got some pictures from my mom and Gregory's mom this past week. I thought I'd let you all decide. So...what do you think????

Gregory at 8 months

Rachael at 8 months

Finn at 8 months

My crazy crawler

No words can even describe how much fun we're having with Finn these days. Here's a video to show how fast and crazy he is :)

8 months old!!!

Feeding
We have officially moved towards 3 solid meals a day. Finn gets a bottle at 7 then breakfast after, lunch at 11 and then a bottle after, he has dinner around 5:30, and then he gets a nighttime bottle at 7.  This schedule has made things MUCH easier!

Weight
He was sick a few weeks ago, so we went to the doctor. He was weighed and came back as 20 lbs 2 oz! My goodness he is getting big! No wonder my back hurts from carrying him :)

Sleep
He has moved to 2 naps a day-10 and 2. Lately he has been sleeping around 1 1/2 per nap. He also goes to bed around 7:30-8. And sleeps all night! As always he's a great sleeper!

Wake Time
Things have just gotten very exciting at the Walkup household. Finn has starting to crawl. He can go backwards and side to side. He can also army crawl to get things. This has made entertaining him a little more difficult because he doesn't like being restricted. His new favorite thing to do is roam around on the floor. So adorable!

Clothes
Finn is wearing size 6-9 months now. His PJs are a size bigger. They have always run smaller in size. There's not too much fun with boys clothes. But I have enjoyed dressing him in plaid shorts and a cute tee shirt (as seen in his monthly picture).  He mostly just likes to be comfortable and I'm determined to let him go shoeless for as long as he can!

Fun fact
This past month Finn had 2 teeth pop through on the bottom. I'd love to give you a picture but Finn won't ever let me get a picture. Maybe one day! I have a video below of him playing with a magazine page. Oh the little things. I wish I could be so easily entertained!

Baby food making

Recently, I've had a lot of people asking me how I work full time and make all of Finn's food homemade. There are a few reasons I chose to make his food homemade. 1-It's super easy 2-I know where all his food comes from 3-I can control the consistency and 4-It's saved us hundreds of dollars a month! I have listed some tips below and also some websites I used for reference. Please let me know if you have any questions.

1-I only make his food once a month. It's usually around the middle of each month. I take a look at Super Baby Foods to see what types of food he can have the next month and then I add them to my grocery list. I always do this on Sundays, because I have a fabulous husband who will help while Finn is napping!

2-I buy frozen peas, green beans, peaches, and mango instead of the real thing. The peaches and mango I just ;et defrost enough to where it will puree. And the peas and green beans I have yet to master. I can't seem to get the consistency right for Finn. To be completely honest, last month I just gave him organic gerber because it was on sale at Kroger.

3-I buy bananas, plums, pears, carrots, and chicken at Costco in bulk because of cost. For example, at Costco-bananas are $1.32 for 3 lbs. Which means I can make a month supply of breakfast for $2.63-that's $.08 a serving!!! (by the way, his serving is 3 cubes of bananas and 4 tbsp of oatmeal)

4-I try to do everything at the same time so I'm pretty scheduled. Here's an example of my batch cooking: I put the chicken in the crockpot in the morning. (I cook enough for him and us-I also do some freezer cooking for us-maybe another post on that later if you are interested).  I pull out the mango and peaches so they can be defrosting. Then I put the sweet potatoes, potatoes, pears, butternut squash in the oven at 350. While that's cooking I can steam carrots, broccoli, and asparagus. And while that's steaming I can go ahead and puree avocado. After the avocado, I puree the peaches, then the mangoes. By the time I have that cleaned up the steamed stuff is ready to be pureed. And once that's clean the stuff in the oven has cooled and is ready to be pureed. And I wait to do the chicken at the end of the day, its best to cook for 8 hours. It actually purees really well.

So that's it. Just a few tips on how I do it. If you are interested in more details, like how much I buy or how I freeze things. Please comment or email me, i'd be happy to tell you what works for me!

Last but not least, here are a few sites I have found super helpful!


Wholesome Baby Food (this is one of my favorite sites, thanks to Michelle)
Once a Month Mom (this is also a great resource for freezer cooking)
Homemade Baby Food Recipes (this also has an email list you can subscribe to)
Babywise blog (I used this for sleeping tips too)

And if you readers out there know of any other helpful sites, please post comments!