Things I'm Loving this Summer!

I've had a lot of posts about our life and Dean but I thought I'd share some things that are making this summer wonderful :) Below you will find my favorite grocery store treats, recipes, places to go and more!

A. Icecream
-I didn't really crave icecream in pregnancy, but POST pregnancy I can't get enough!
First I was loving Ben and Jerry's. They have a new line, called "Core" and I RECCOMEND IT!
My favorite flavor (well the only one I've tried)

Salted Caramel

1. Hazed and confused-Nutella and icecream YUM

2. Salted Caramel icecream (which I am currently eating in the office alone, and was caught by my husband.... he says I look shameful eating icecream in the middle of the day and blogging about it... I'm ok with it!


3. Carmelized Banana Gelato

B. Trails and Parks

Lebanon

If I'm eating all that icecream I got to burn it off some how! Mark and I have been discovering tons of trails and parks around the Twin Cities area! Favorites include:
a. Lebanon Hills Park (Eagan, MN)-5 minute away regional park with amazing lakes and nice wooded trails

b. Patrick Eagan Park-2 minute walk from our house!
c. Spring Lake Regional Park (Hastings, MN)
d. Minnehaha Creek Trail (South Minneapolis)
e. Lake Nakomis (Minneapolis, MN)
f. Afton State Park (Afton, MN)
-Before the summer is up we hope to explore Nerdstrand Big Woods State Park, a 10 min drive from my parents place in Northfield; Jay Cooke State Park, up North near Duluth, and Interstate State Park, North of the cities.
-We sure are spoiled with all of the trails we have available! I remember living in Kansas City we had 1 park we loved, and there really were no others. And it was a 1.5 mile loop!

Far away view of the spring lake bluffs

C. Ymca
I'm back to going to the Y :) Technically I can bring Dean with me but 1. I like my free hour away and 2. I think he's still too young to be in the daycare. I miss my zumba but I'm trying to take easy by just doing a yoga/pilates/tai chi blend called Body Flow. I'm actually training to teach Body Flow next month! So excited.


D. Pancakes and Luna Bars
I can't get enough of either! Mark laughs at me every morning when I say I'm going to make breakfast because he knows EXACTLY what it's going to be! I found a recipe on Pinterest that is my current favorite because of the amount of protein and the "low calorie" nature of it.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes-I've actually been using just Plain Yogurt from Trader Joes
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook recipe for Edna Mae’s sour cream pancakes)
Makes 12 4-inch pancakes
Indgredients:

• 8 oz. Greek yogurt (I used 6 oz. plain,  2 oz. strawberry)
• 7 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Place Greek yogurt in a medium bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir together very gently. Stop short of the mixture being totally combined. You want the pancakes to have some interesting texture.
Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Add vanilla to eggs and stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into the Greek yogurt-flour mixture. Stir together gently. Don’t worry about the mixture being totally combined; a little white and yellow swirling is fine.
Pour the batter onto a griddle sprayed with cooking spray, ¼ cup at a time. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then flip the pancakes. Cook for another 45 seconds and remove to plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. Top pancakes with syrup, fruit, or desired toppings.

E. Baby Things I swear By
So not many of my friends have had babies yet, but I want to make sure I remember what baby things I LOVED so that when they do have babies they can know what is good :)
1. Ergo Baby! LOVE IT! More than we wanted to spend on a carrier, but Dean refuses to be put down, so this makes it possible for Mark and I to do things around the house and STAY comfortable. (He is playing Nintendo WI with it as we speak!) The added waist belt and padded straps make it more comfortable than any other carrier for long periods of time (Not the best for a quick grocery trip though)

2. Snugapuppy Swing: When nothing else will put Dean to sleep, this Fischer Price swing does the trick! And he love the cricket sound... so weird!

3. Aden and Anais Blankets: I don't tend to be one who buys certain names of products, but I LOVE these blankets. They are meant for swaddling, but we use them as a light cover up in the warmer summer weather! He LOVES them.

4. Boppy Pillow-I can't imagine breastfeeding without it. And it's nice for just holding him too!

 5. Graco Trekko Classic Connect Stroller-A cheaper version of a fancy trail stroller, that works with the trails we've been on (rocky and roots) and fits with our carseat. Doesn't have great storage but we bought a water holder clip on thing that adds storage space!

As far as important things like diapers and wipes go, we haven't really found any we love. Mark is partial to Huggies whereas I like the Seventh Generation (Because it doesn't have the dyes and other chemicals). Bottles Dean seems to have no preference and he can't seem to keep a Paci in his mouth, Even though we try! Beds we do like our Pack n' play, but I'm not as tied to that as I am my other favorite things. I'm sure as he grows we will continue to find more favorites and certain things he won't love as much as he once did.

Now on to one of my favorite summer things THE CABIN! Look for updates from the giant Aronson Cabin adventure coming soon!

3 weeks old

Today is Mark and I's 2 year anniversary. The sad thing is I didn't realize it until 2 days ago... Mark said to someone else that it was and I realized amidst all of this craziness of baby, life keeps moving on! I can't believe it was 2 years ago today that it was the HOTTEST day NC had seen and we became husband and wife celebrating with all of our friends and family. Today as I sit here and reflect on that day, it's crazy how different things are: first it's 65 degrees :), 2nd Mark is holding our sweet baby boy, 3rd we are sitting in our own house that we have now owned a year. It's crazy how quickly time flies!

Lately our lives have revolved around a tiny little 9.5 pound boy. I feel as though my schedule is dictated by feedings (I fed him one hour ago, so I have 1 hour to do something... Oh wait, he has to be held, ALL THE TIME) poopy diapers (Oh gosh Mark he just peed on himself! Get the tub ready!) sleeping (he finally fell asleep! Make sure you keep rocking him or he'll wake up) and staring at him (he is the cutest baby we have ever seen).

First Bath

Marcella wants baby

Although a newborn is obviously lots of work, I don't feel as though I'm "in a fog" like a lot of people say. Maybe we've gotten lucky? I mean we both are home from work which can help us share the responsibilities of a newborn. He is sleeping, ok, usually in 2/3 hour stretches (last night he had a 4 hour stretch!) And he generally doesn't cry unless he's hungry or wants to be held. He's been growing well, feeding great and has encouraged lots of people to come and visit us which has been nice :) And I've been healing. It's definitely been slower than I expected (a 1/2 mile walk is the best I still have yet to do and I still can't sit down on hard surfaces) but I've been listening to my body which will hopefully make things easier in the long run.

Julie LOVES Dean

Oldest Aronson Cousin and Youngest

Proud Grandparents

Bunking Cousins

With Grandma

Mark jokingly says he feels like he's on house arrest, but in reality I've been amazed at how much we have done with the little one. Our house is actually staying relatively neat (thanks to our anal ways), I made so much food and stored in freezer that I STILL have yet to cook (aside from a carrot cake I made to celebrate Paul's 26th birthday), we've made almost daily visits to home depot as we repair flood damage to the walls of our family room, Mark put together our new grill (YAY for a grill that works!) and I've gotten out of the house probably every other day (yesterday Dean and I went to the Eagan Art Festival!).

First Grocery Trip

3 Weeks old Grocery Shopping

He likes to escape from this one

Trusty Carriers help us get around

Overall the summer is definitely more relaxed than normal but at the same time we are staying sane by doing things we would otherwise want to do. Our one wish is that we could go to the cabin sooner than the end of July (which is our plan with his entire side of the family) so HOPEFULLY Dean will show us he wants to go too by continuing to sleep well at night? We will see. Regardless we couldn't be happier with our little boy. He's a lot of work, but like all parents say TOTALLY worth it. Now for an obnoxious amount of pictures :) ENJOY!