This post is sponsored by Blog Meets Brand and Cedar Fair. All opinions are my own. New this summer, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is hosting the Summer Culinary Series, all-you-can-eat buffet meals prepared by Chef Malo featuring a variety of specialty menus. This summer, Dorney Park in Allentown, PA (approximately 90 minutes northwest of …
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I recently took a Caribbean cruise with my family on board Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, and I want to share my experience with you! This post is not sponsored in any way by Royal Caribbean.
Get kids into the kitchen early to expose them to new flavors and healthy eating. This cherry-apple smoothie is so easy, even a preschooler can help! Have you been through either the infant/toddler aisle or the kids' snack aisle at a local grocery store lately? Have you seen those pouches? Some are just fruits, some …
It's been quite a while since I've shared a Munchkin Meals update. Liam isn't really a "munchkin" anymore. He is 3 years and 2 months old now. As of his last well visit with his pediatrician, he is 3 feet 3 inches tall and weighs almost 36 pounds! He's been attending daycare since he was …
Reminiscing as my son turns 3 years old. Three years old. About 40 inches tall! And just over 37 pounds. At birth, he was 19 inches long, and just under 6 pounds. Three favorite snacks: cheese, dried cranberries, yogurt Three favorite meals: mac and cheese; chicken nuggets; quesadillas Three favorite books: Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat; …
Whole wheat apple spice mini muffins are a healthy, tasty treat, and the perfect size for little toddler mouths! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Going back to work, Ice Cream Week, getting back into a fitness routine ... I haven't had much time to bake, so Snack Share Wednesday has either been cut-up …
Today, October 15th, is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Today's post is in memory of my son, Benjamin David, who was due to be born October 26th of this year, but instead, we said goodbye to him on June 2nd. After a rather uneventful, complication-free pregnancy and delivery of my son Liam, it never …
Twenty months. My baby will be two in less than four months. I'm starting to plan his party (Very Hungry Caterpillar-themed). So, what does a typical 20-month-old eat? Well, I have no idea if my 20-month-old is "typical," but here's an average weekday in our home: Between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.: Wake up, …
Time for another Munchkin Meals, hosted by A Healthy Slice of Life! Wow. 19 months. 19 and a half months, actually. He's been "promoted" to the Older Toddlers room at daycare (at daycare, the toddlers are divided into groups of 12 to 18 months and 19 to 24 months). He continues to seemingly subsist on …
When I was pregnant with Liam, I joined a website for pregnant women, mostly for the chat forums. They had a separate board for each month of due dates (January 2011, February 2011, etc.). We shared a bit online, then started a private Facebook group, where we felt more comfortable sharing more private information. We …
Due to our loss, I missed A Healthy Slice of Life's monthly Munchkin Meals link-up. Liam is now 18 months old. We stopped nursing the day after he turned 18 months. It had become too painful for me. I thought Liam would be upset, but he never once got upset, or asked for it. At …
Today was supposed to be a Monday Randoms post. It was supposed to be my 20-week update. I was going to post a poll, asking if you thought it was a boy or a girl. But on Sunday, June 2, we had to say goodbye to our baby, 19 weeks and 1 day into the …
This weeks randoms have been moved to Wednesday. They may or may not move back to Monday (or some other day) next week. Pregnancy I'm 18 weeks along, which according to TheBump.com, puts the baby at the size of a sweet potato! Last Saturday, I felt the baby kick for the first time! I think …
**Taking a semi-break from food talk today. If you’re here for the recipes only, please stop back on Wednesday!** I am 17 weeks pregnant! According to TheBump.com, Pumpkin is the size of an onion. The nausea is mostly gone, and I've been able to eat 3 meals — and several snacks — a day. I still get …
**Taking a semi-break from food talk today. If you're here for the recipes only, please stop back on Wednesday!** I'm now 16 weeks along! According to TheBump.com, our little Pumpkin (our nickname for the baby since he/she is due in late October) is the size of an avocado. I've had a much easier time eating …
Monday again already, huh? Time to give some attention to my poor, neglected blog. I'm currently 15 weeks along in my pregnancy. I'm just starting to get the smallest hint of a bump. Okay, fine. It looks like I indulged in one too many slices of pizza for dinner. Which I may or may not …
It's time for another Munchkin Meals, hosted by A Healthy Slice of Life! There have been lots of changes the The Redhead Baker household lately. I have been working part-time from home since Liam was about 5 months old. I was able to work during his naps and after he went to bed, so Liam …
Time for Munchkin Meals again, hosted by A Healthy Slice of Life. Liam recently turned 15 months, and had a well-baby appointment. He weighed in at 23 pounds 4 ounces, and measured 32 inches tall. The pediatrician is pleased with his development. He "says" 7 words (Mama, Dada, Deh (dog), Nana (banana), Elmo, Keys, Cheese), …
It's the first Thursday of the month, which means it's time for Munchkin Meals, hosted by A Healthy Slice of Life — time to take a look at what Liam (14 ½ months old) eats in a typical day, via Instagram. (Psst! Do you follow me on Instagram?) On a typical weekday, Liam wakes between …
It's pretty much official: I have a toddler. Liam is 13 ½ months old. At his last well-visit, he was 22 lbs 2.2 ounces and 2 feet 6 inches tall. His pediatrician is pleased with his developmental progress: He took his first steps on December 5th. He took two tentative steps, then fell on his …
It's been a while since I've written a Munchkin Meals post. The host, Brittany at A Healthy Slice of Life, decided to make it a once-a-month link-up and I skipped last month, due to the craziness of making a wedding cake, a gingerbread house, Liam's first birthday cake and party favor cake pops all in …
I'm mature enough (some of the time) to admit when I'm wrong. I never imagined myself having children. I was terrified of pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the responsibility of raising a happy, healthy, well-adjusted, productive member of society. When asked for the thirty billionth time when I was having a baby, I told everyone I didn't …
My little peanut isn't exactly a peanut anymore. He turns 1 year old tomorrow (?!?). But I'll save the mushy, sentimental stuff for then. We chose to celebrate his birthday the weekend before, rather than try to cram another thing into a holiday weekend. The theme — sock monkeys — was pretty easy to chose, …
Time for another Munchkin Meals, hosted by A Healthy Slice of Life. I love sharing a typical day of Liam's meals, and getting meal ideas from other moms. I hope some of my readers find these posts helpful as well. Liam will be 11 months old this weekend (!), and plans for his birthday party …
It's Thursday — you know what that means! Munchkin Meals, hosted by A Healthy Slice of Life. A typical day of Liam's (10.5 months old) eats. Breakfast: I try to make each meal balanced (protein, produce, carb), but our pantry is running a bit bare. Today's breakfast is one Trader Joe's frozen …
I get emails on a weekly basis from a couple of parenting websites (can you say "information overload"?). They discuss development (what baby may be doing now, or may do soon), ways to stimulate and play with your baby, and baby-related news (recalls, new research, etc.). When I received an email on Monday titled, "Your …
Today's Munchkin Meals is an unofficial one, as the link-up host, A Healthy Slice of Life, is a bit overwhelmed at the moment. It will be back in two weeks with a picnic theme! I can't wait! As if traveling with a 9-month-old (and all of their necessary gear) wasn't stressful enough, adding a long road …
Today's post will be only semi-cooking related. I just returned from a vacation with my extended family (my mother and father, my mom's younger sister, her husband and their three kids), and wanted to share our experience. On Sunday, August 26th, The Mister, The Baby and I piled into the car for a 350-mile road trip …
I hope you'll indulge my temporary deviation from my usual food-related topics. My Peanut is now 9 months old and I'm feeling a little sentimental. If a "little" milestone like this gets me teary-eyed, what a mess I'll be as he gets older! Nine months can seem short or long, depending on how you look at it. …
My baby turned 9 months old on Tuesday. His 9-month well-baby check-up is later today, so I will update with his stats next week. Before I get to a typical day of Liam's eats, I wanted to share this photo from last weekend. We decided spur-of-the-moment to go out for lunch (which is SO much …
As I mentioned last week, the host of Munchkin Meals, Brittany over at A Healthy Slice of Life, has decided to move the link-up to an every-other-week format, so the next "Munchkin Meals" will appear on August 23rd. Liam is about 8.5 months old. He sits unassisted, gets into a sitting position from lying down, crawls …
Thursday means A Healthy Slice of Life's Munchkin Meals link-up! This week, we are focusing on dinner. We've been trying to offer Liam (8 months old) flavor combinations instead of single-ingredient purees, whether it's two veggies, a fruit and a veggie, or a protein and a veggie. I'm turning more often to baby food cookbooks …
Thursday Munchkin Meals! This week's theme is lunch. Liam will be 8 months on Saturday (!?!). He will now eat just about everything we put in front of him. He's also much more interested in "helping" us spoon-feed him his purees. His idea of "helping" is to grab the spoon right at the tip, where …
Thursday means Munchkin Meals! This post is all about Liam's breakfasts. Liam is now 7 months, 3 weeks old. I am happy to report that last week's experiment worked, and Liam will take purées from me! He still prefers purées to finger food, though I'm gradually making the purées more chunky than thin. Typical breakfast options are: …
Caught! I have photographic evidence that my son likes purées! Last Saturday, I indulged myself in some pampering and got my hair cut. My parents watched BabyL for the hour I was at the salon, and I arrived at their house to see BabyL happily gobbling up his mango and yogurt. He ate nearly the …
I know that as a first-time parent, preparing to introduce BabyL to solid foods was stressful, to say the least. What age? Which food? Purée? Finger food? How much? How often? I'm happy to say that I've calmed down somewhat. After all, as they say, "Food before 1 is just for fun." Meaning, before the …
It's been a month since I posted about my trepidation of introducing Liam to solid food. We started a bit earlier than I had planned. At about 5.5 months, Liam had reverted to nursing every two hours (he had been eating every three hours), took great interest in watching us eat and had started imitating …
Sorry for the lack of food this past week or so. I just got over a particularly sneaky stomach bug (I would feel better, eat some food, then get sick again), just in time for The Mister to start feeling sick himself. So, we haven't been doing much cooking. So for now, let me wonder …
As Baby L. approaches 6 months of age, I'm starting to research "solid"-food feeding. And I'm totally overwhelmed and intimidated. And probably really over-thinking the whole issue. I'm a very methodical, step-by-step person. Give me explicitly-spelled-out instructions (which is why I love baking more than cooking). Tell me, at six months, you need to do …