Chocolate Peanut Butter Larabars {Homemade}

Larabars are a staple in our family- Samantha eats them for snacks all the time and they are great for both Ben & I to grab on the go. They literally have 5 or less ingredients (dates & cashews being the base) and are a great healthy snack with protein & good fats. At whole foods we'd pay roughly $1.19 each... YIKES. My friend Brittaney posted this recipe for homemade Larabars and she has since sent me another one to be made in the Vitamix. I adapted to make a Peanut Butter Cup version of the
Larabar.

{Sorry for the bad iPhone pic...someday I'll dust off the good camera}

1.5 Cups of Cashews

1 Cup of Dates (pitted & packed in the cup)

1 teaspoon organic Vanilla

Pinch of Sea Salt

2 Tbs Organic Chocolate Chips

1Tbs Peanut Butter

1 Tbs Organic Peanut Butter Chips

Throw everything in the Vitamix and I used a lower speed. I used the Auger quite a bit to help break it up. You may need to add some water too if it becomes to thick. I throw  them in a Pyrex pan to let them freeze for a few hours. The I cut them up, wrap in saran wrap and then stick them in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Harvey's Birth Story (Part 1)

April 9th was Harvey's due date. "Oh how nice it will be to have a spring baby!" is what I heard time and time again.

Well, not when you live in Minnesota.

I joked with my doctors during the last few weeks of my pregnancy that it just felt like Groundhog's Day. I'd wake up, I'd still be super pregnant and it'd still be snowing.

My brother's car stuck in my parents driveway April 18th

I'd been getting checked weekly starting at 37 weeks and the first few weeks I wasn't dilated. I didn't think anything of it- birth can change so quickly that it just didn't mean a whole lot to me to be told I wasn't dilated.

I was trying for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) and you cannot be induced with a VBAC for fear that the medication might be too strong so that it rips your previous c-section scar open. So... you either have to go into labor naturally or repeat a c-section. I was determined to go into labor naturally.

My body isn't broken!
I read all the books. Ina May's Guide to childbirth, Hypnobirthing and took a VBAC class.
I was determined.

Then 39 weeks rolled around... nothing.
40 weeks... nothing. So I walked and walked and walked. Did all the tricks in the book- spicy food, sex (sorry if thats too much info), jumping jacks, stair climber.
40+3 days... nothing. At this point I needed to have ultrasounds to check fluid levels every 3 days and they recommended setting up a c-section to just be on the surgery schedule. Hesitantly, I did, April 19th, my new deadline. Harvey looked great on the ultrasound and fluid levels were good, sooooo we kept on keeping on. And then added accupuncture.
41 weeks...nothing. Ugh. It was getting miserable. It was still snowing and I was still pregnant. Everyone that stopped me in a store and asked "When are you due?" I wanted to scream "ONE WEEK AGO!!!". At this point I shut myself off from the world. I was getting texts, emails, calls, FB messages from kind friends genuinely wondering when Harvey was coming. But to me, I was sensitive. It was like a subliminal pressure that I had on myself and my body to "perform". And despite having it be my full time job for the last 2 weeks to have this baby boy- I couldn't do it. I was doing EVERYTHING. I know people were caring, but it was just hard to tell everyone that nothing was happening even though I was giving it my all.

We had a lot of snuggly evenings together watching Nemo & Tangled.

This is when I took Castor Oil. My doctors gave me the go ahead- they were rooting for me to VBAC as well- and they just said give it all you got.
Big mistake. Horrible tummy cramps=horrible contractions and in the bathroom all night. (Sorry, TMI again...) In fact, we went to the hospital. I was having VERY strong contractions according to the monitor, but as those of you know who've had a baby- contractions aren't contractions unless they change your cervix. This didn't happen for me, so we were sent home. Before getting sent home, my doctor came in (the one who I set up a c-section with for the 19th) and gave me the best pep talk of my life. She encouraged me to stop thinking/worrying/trying. If it was going to happen it would. She said to go out on dates, set up fun things to do and quit thinking about it. I needed this. Up until this point, every little pang of a braxton-hicks made me think it was time, but it never ended up that way.

So we took her advice. We went to the children's museum, out for dinner, movies, visited my parents, walked around the lakes and made the most of the time off with each other & with Samantha. I had my last check on Thursday, April 18th and my c-section scheduled for the 19th, which would mark 10 days overdue.

C-Section Day/Harvey's Birthday/41 Weeks + 3 days.

To be Continued

To the mamas

Happy Mother's Day!

I am truly blessed to be mommy to these two little kiddos.

 I feel surrounded by the love of so many women who have selflessly put their kids before themselves. I'm blessed with a wonderful mom, mother in law, grannies & mommy friends who love and support one another in the most incredible role that God gives us; being a mom. 

Love you Mom! Happy Mother's day!

Preggo & mommy friends friends taken a few weeks back. (very glad Harvey is on the outside now..!)

Mama friends- love you all!

We look tired...wonderful Mama Brittaney- So thankful to have you in my life!

Mother in law Julie- Thank you for everything- Love you!

Grannie Annie.

Moms & Grandmas

Anna- mama to my niece & nephew.

My grandma Helen- Miss you grandma. You were always so loving & kind. Wish my kids could've met you here.

MOPS friends

Thank you to all the amazing moms in my life that inspire, encourage & challenge me. Being a mom is the most fulfilling role I've ever experienced and I'm so grateful & beyond blessed to be surrounded by so many beautiful women.
I was greeted this morning with an incredible breakfast prepared by Ben, had a great workout at Lifetime & am headed to church this evening followed by a little dinner. Enjoy your day!

Huge day.

Today marks a HUGE day in the Curtis Family...

Ben is DONE with Dental School.

Praise God! Literally as we speak he is wrapping up his class. He officially graduates next Friday and we go on Thursday to an awards ceremony because we was nominated for one.

He has met some great friends there- one who is also working for the same company as Ben.

So no we end an era of school to move on to the working world.

new car, real graduation present.

trying on his doctorate gown.

Tonight we're celebrating with fish tacos, guacamole & whole fruit margaritas ...

Congrats Dr. Ben Curtis !! We're SO proud of you and love you so much!!

Motivation

I stayed fairly fit this time around in my pregnancy and ate MUCH healthier. The last few weeks were tough and I gained the most weight at that time. Thankfully I kept walking... mostly to help induce labor but I think it helped with my endurance as well. I've been MORE than motivated to get back in shape. I'm dying for a good workout and to feel less flabby. When you're carrying a 10lb baby there isn't much room for flab so I'm feeling much more "soft" now...

Here are my post baby body goals:

1. Eat clean. I'm a food snob and I'm not afraid to admit it. I like GRASS fed beef & and free range organic chicken chicken, raw foods, whole foods, fresh farm eggs, etc.  Our family eats organic 95% of the time- except when we're out at family's houses. Yes its expensive, but yes its worth every penny. I could write a novel on this- but seriously healthy whole foods are all apart of my plan. With that, I plan to eat more "paleo". I did this with Samantha when I was trying to lose the weight- but basically you eat organic meats, fruits, nuts and veggies. I felt great when I did this and truly believe in the health benefits of eating what God intended us to eat. We recently got a Vitamix and we've been making delicious treats in there as well. Since I'm exclusively breastfeeding, I know that I need to eat healthy to keep up with my metabolism and milk supply.

2. WORK HARD. I'm not a fan of fast and trendy diets or fads. I think the key to losing weight & getting in shape is to eat healthy & work out hard. I'm so excited to get back into running, weight lifting & boot camp. It's been months since I had a good sweat and I can't wait to get back at it. I'm signed up for personal training soon and a few months of boot camp...I've also gotten talked into taking more Barre classes and warrior sculpt classes. 

3. Set goals. I registered for a half marathon a the end of August... I'm doing a few other shorter runs this summer. I want to tone up. I want to do the Alpha games again (maybe). I want to weigh a certain weight by summer. I want to wear a bikini and not worry if someone is going to ask me when I'm due. I want to be outside & active as much as possible. I want to set a good example for my kids. 

There ya have it. It just feels good to write it down- like I'm going to hold myself more accountable because I blogged about it. Enjoy your day!

Ready

March 6th, 2013 was my last post and I finally feel like I'm ready to dust off this blog and write again. It was a long long long winter. During my final month of pregnancy, everything dragged on. The back pain, the sinus troubles, the waiting for a house, waiting for a job for Ben, waiting for this precious baby to be born. Meanwhile the snow fell. And fell and fell and fell. In fact, when our baby boy was finally born, it snow stormed the night before and schools were closed. That was April 19th. So lets back up a little...

Ben got wonderful job. He'll work great hours that will allow him to be home with us a lot and still make an excellent salary. We decided I'm going to go back and work very part time to keep benefits for a little longer and that is fine by me. We won't need childcare still and I'll still get to be home with the kids 95% of the time. Ben's job will be about a 25 min commute but his hours make it so he'll never hit real traffic. Praise the Lord for this- we're soo thankful. He doesn't start till July 8th so we get half the summer off together!

Our beautiful son, Harvey John was born April 19th, 2013 at 0957. He weighed 9lbs 15oz and was 22 inches long! He is amazing and we're so thankful for him. I'll share his birth story in a later post. Praising God for this precious boy- we love you so much Harvey.

Harvey's "due date" was April 9th. As a self proclaimed non believer in due dates, I hung on to that date too closely because it represented the start of so much change in our lives... that date meant our baby boy would be here, Ben would almost be done with school and we would be closer to having our own house. The weeks leading up to that date were hard, but not as hard as the 10 days following that date. Samantha and I had a terrible case of cabin fever, and when your 9+ months pregnant and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground you go a little nuts. AND its April.

I had some hard days.

I steered away from activities, bible study, friends, grad school. I was a ball of emotions. I wanted Harvey to come ASAP yet I wanted to savor each second with our baby girl. I wanted a VBAC because I'd been so mentally and physically prepared for it yet I just wanted a healthy baby no matter how he'd come into the world. I wanted to be around people yet I wanted to just snuggle and watch movies with Ben & Sam and just wait for every little ping thinking it was a contraction.

I tried to stay positive, but I became a very negative & impatient person. I know this sounds dramatic and really it was kinda dramatic in my world.

On April 19th, God humbled me by giving us a beautiful & healthy baby boy. He showed me that HIS timing is more important than mine and that I needed to trust Him. He showed me HIS plans that were better than my own. For that I'm grateful for the past 2 months.

Loyal readers, thank you for sticking with me. I promise more to not neglect this blog for another 2 months again. It was a needed mental break from all forms of reality for me.

Snow Day

Snow Days... I feel like every wintery/snowy day in high school or even college I'd wake up just HOPING for a snow day. Minnesotans are tough- and we don't close schools until there is at least a foot of snow on the ground... like today. As a stay at home mom snow days don't mean a whole lot especially when you have a toddler. BUT we did get to stay home instead of go to Kindermusik (which I don't really enjoy but Samantha does). The snow was light & fluffy so we took a little stroll outside before heading out to the mall for some more walking and Jamba Juice.

My snow angel.

I've got to admit, it's beautiful!

She's saying "I'm walkin, I'm walkin"

"I'm runnin, I'm runnin"

Our walk down the street.