Year End Wrap-Up

So 2012 has come and gone and we're already 7 days into the new year.  I cannot wrap my mind around how quickly time really does fly by.  After I went back to work full-time in September, all my spare time to maintain this blog quickly dwindled away.  One of my New Year's Resolutions is to carve out time every week to publish at least one new post.  I started Royal Feather because I loved connecting with new parents and their kids and helping them find amazing and useful products for their children.  This blog helped me connect with my fans on a much bigger level, and I miss that.  Since it's been a few months since my last post, this will be a photo blog of sorts instead.  Just a little recap of how our year ended.

Must Try Recipes

1.  Cheesy Egg & Bacon Pull-Apart Biscuits  2.  Mandarin Orange Oatmeal To-Go  3.  Strawberry Shortcake Muffins  4.  Hash Browns Breakfast Bites  5.  Clean Eating Tilapia  6.  Chicken Piccata  7.  Easy Bean & Cheese Burritos

I'm very grateful for all the meals Nicholas' school provides, but there are times when I'm not too happy with their breakfast options.  So because of that, I'll make batches of Hash Browns Breakfast Bites along with some type of a muffin (ie. items #3) and send him off to school with a healthy breakfast to start his day.  Both of these recipes were taste-tested by our little guy and were pretty good.  The beauty of the Breakfast Bites is their ability to never be boring {you can always vary what you mix into the hash browns; chopped bacon, turkey crumbles, chives, sausage, etc.}  Not only were they tasty but the fact that they're bite sized is a big plus.  Anything that he can grab and eat with his little hands is great since he's Mr. Independent now :)  The new oatmeal flavor was also a big hit with Jacob.  As I've mentioned before, there are days when he has to be at work at 4 or 5am so his lunch break is really a breakfast break.  These flavorful and healthy oatmeal options are pretty popular in our house as well.  

Project Pergola: Complete

After countless hours, (4) boxes of deck screws, (8) 8x8 cedar posts, (8) 2x12 cedar boards, (19) 2x6 cedar planks, (45) 2x2 cedar strips, and 5 gallons of Behr wood stain -  the pergola is finished!!  

 Fall Family Fun

Pumpkin Patch, Corn Maze, Nick all dressed up with his pilgrim hat for Thanksgiving lunch, and Indian Corn teacher gifts for Nick's awesome teachers at his preschool

Nicholas Parties with 

Chuck E Cheese

Last year Nicholas' 1st birthday party was rained out so this year I wasn't taking any chances.  The theme to his 2nd birthday was tailored around his current obsession, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I was so bummed that I didn't get a picture of his awesome cake before we added the candles.  But as you fellow Mommies know, you have to be quick when snapping photos of a toddler! I want to send a huge THANK YOU to the amazingly talented Jessica from Wee Sweet Treats for creating such a magical cake.  Everyone loved it!  And since Nick's birthday was on a Tuesday, I baked some super cute reindeer cupcakes for his class and staff members of his preschool.  They came out great! Super fun and kid-friendly.

 Christmas Time is a Happy Time

Christmas was actually a little challenging for us this year.  The three of us were hit with a pretty bad viral infection that lasted almost 3 days.  As a result, we missed Christmas but did our best to get better ASAP and at least celebrate the weekend after.  Nicholas absolutely loved his train table from Santa - it was a HUGE hit!  Traditionally we spend Christmas day at my Mom's parents' house but since we couldn't make it (nor could some other family members), we had a little re-do on the Saturday after.  We ate tamales, played games, exchanged gifts, and took some pretty memorable pictures.  Nick even popped fireworks for the first time! I love seeing our little guy have so much fun. His little smile always makes my heart so happy.  Here, Nick happily posed with his Great Grandpa.

All in all, 2012 was a pretty great year.  I love looking back through photos and reliving all our wonderful experiences.  As a family we laughed, we cried, we grew stronger together and as individuals, and we learned to reprioritize.  I learned to let go of things and people who won't change and are simply negative influences in our lives.  If you can't be happy for us, then I'm done trying to convince you.  In 2013 I have no plans of making unrealistic resolutions.  All I resolve to do is to be happy, healthy, and wise.  I want to only surround my family with all things positive and sincere - no stress and no drama!  I will continue working on growing Royal Feather and making an even happier home with my best friend - my Jacob.  Cheers to another amazing year!!
Thanks for stopping by!  

Currently...{new regular entry}

Loving:  how much I actually enjoy blogging.  I started this blog because it was important for me that my customers and/or anyone who visited Royal Feather knew that a real Mom was behind the whole thing.  I wanted people to feel that someone genuinely cared about what they were buying.  And I really do!  I love being able to help out anyone with any kind of baby/toddler questions they might have.  But now my blog has allowed me to get my "voice" back.  Any stay-at-home Moms reading this right now probably know what I'm talking about.  Once you're home all day with your children, especially children who are still too young to have an actual conversation with, you feel like you've lost contact with the real world.  No one is around for you to talk about current events with or something you saw on TV or something you read online.  Your new world consists of Disney Junior, flashcards, Play-doh, and sidewalk chalk.  Which don't get me wrong, I don't ever want to give any of that up, but sometimes, you want to be able to connect with other adults.  And for me, this blog has been able to do just that.  So to all my readers out there, THANK YOU!!       Reading:  Does Goodnight Moon count?? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to read any age appropriate books {my age that is, not Nick's}.  I just don't have the time right now.  Any down time I am blessed with, I usually use it to write up my next blog, scour Pinterest for new recipes, or hang out with Jacob if he's home.  He works so much that there are days where we only see him for maybe about 4 hours.  Retail hours suck, real bad.  Fortunately for us, he's the Operations Manager at one of our local Big-Orange-Box-Home-Improvement stores but being a manager means he's a salaried employee....that means saying goodbye to regular 40 hour work weeks.  Work weeks for him are more like 50-60 hours.  But, he loves his job so that's all that counts. 
Watching:  I LOVE almost all the shows USA has been coming out with lately.  For the Summer, I'm hooked on Necessary Roughness, Royal Pains, Suits, and Burn Notice.  And ok, RHONJ and Teen Mom....I won't lie, I cannot miss an episode.  I've been watching those reality shows since they started so I feel like I can't just quit now!  I have to watch it all play out and see what happens to everyone.  Yes, I'm 27 years old and I watch Teen Mom.  
Thinking about:  Nicholas.  Last night was Nicholas' first night without a pacifier.  He's 19 months old and only uses a pacifier to sleep.  He's never really needed it, it was more like his security...something he was used to as being his companion since birth.  And I never tried taking it away sooner because I felt it wasn't hindering him in any way since he wouldn't use it during the day and I simply did not want to hear him crying at night.  It is very difficult for me to walk away from him when he's crying - with real tears streaming down his face.  But as I was washing dishes at the end of the night, the thought crossed my mind to try and get Nicholas to give up the pacifier.  While he was playing in the living room, I got out a pacifier and cut off the end.  When he came shuffling into the kitchen I asked if he was ready for bed.  As he got closer to me I knew he was going to want to grab for a pacifier {he knows where the clean ones are stored so that's where he was inching towards}.  When I gave him the newly snipped pacifier, he didn't even look at it and it went straight into his mouth.  Instantly, he started laughing! He took it out and inspected it and turned it around and would poke his little finger through the hole I cut.  He kept putting the pacifier back into this mouth and laugh.  As he continued this little game, I was telling him that the "mamo" {that's what we call it} was broken, that it just didn't work anymore.  I said that we were going to have to throw it away since it couldn't do it's job anymore.  Lastly I said, "Nicholas, we're going to have to say bye-bye to mamo and throw it away because it's broken, ok?"  He looked at me with his big beautiful eyes and simply took the pacifier out with one hand and said "bye-bye" while waving at it with the other.  He walked up to the trash can and tossed it in.  I literally had to fight back my tears...I'm even tearing up as I'm typing this!! I was so fascinated with how "grown-up" he was about it, he was so confident and independent.  He didn't cry all night and I simply cannot believe that getting rid of the pacifier was just that easy.  Lets see how the rest of the week goes!!     
Anticipating:  the next few months.  September is almost here and with it brings the beginning of Fall and the Holiday season.  Although living in South Texas doesn't allow us the privilege of chilly nights or changing leaf colors, simply being in those months makes me feel great!  It's not as hot during those months and all the holidays kind of snowball into one.  This year Nicholas will be old enough to go Trick-or-Treating {and I probably need to start looking for a costume but I have to deal with the heat issue so it's a bit challenging}, and then it's Thanksgiving, then Nick's 2nd birthday!, then Christmas, then New Years, and then a whole new year begins.  Jacob and I have even been toying with the idea of taking a delayed anniversary cruise at the end of December so that's pretty exciting to think about as well.  He has Inventory at his store at the beginning of December and I have my biggest selling weekend right after that - our Junior League hosts their annual Christmas shopping extravaganza {Dias Festivos} during the first weekend of December and I {Royal Feather} participate in the 4-day event with a 10x10 booth.  I really enjoy this event because it gives me an opportunity to actually talk to and catch up with all my customers in person.  So after all our hard work, going on a little vacation afterwards would be perfect!  
Wishing:  for courage.  For enough courage to face my fears and go and get a CT scan.  My migraines seem to be getting worse sometimes and there are moments where I swear I'm going to die at any minute.  I have prescription migraine medication, but at $120.00 {$500.00 without insurance - outrageous, yes I know} for only 12 pills, there are times when I say to myself "Its not that bad, don't take anything and just save them until it gets really bad."  Of course I decided to read up on migraines and aneurysms the other day and I'm convinced I have the latter.  I had a CT scan done a few years ago and it came out normal but I really do think I should do it again.  But I'm terrified of the results!!  I know, I just need to bite the bullet and do it.      
Making me happy:  our pergola is almost finished!!  If you follow my blog you know it's been a long time coming, LOL!!  Jacob has been working on this huge project all on his own for a couple of months.  When we talk about our plans for the backyard all his feelings of accomplishment wash over his face and he gets this huge grin, it really is cute.  He squeezes in time to work on it when he has a day off or gets out of work early.  He's painted and cut and nailed practically every board on that pergola all on his own.  Sometimes I think he's crazy for not asking for help but when I see that look on his face when he talks about how much he enjoys doing the work and feels like it's "therapeutic", I'm just happy knowing he is.  
So now, what about you?  What are you up to?  Feel free to try your own "Currently" post on your blog and link it up in my Comments for everyone to check out.  I must give credit where credit is due - thank you Danielle for inspiring me to start these regular posts.
Thanks for stopping by!