banana & carrot muffins.

easton is not much of an eater. he rarely eats dinner. we have a rule in our house that he is only served what we eat. so, if we are having carrot soup and he doesn't want it- he goes to bed without dinner. i believe that if he's hungry enough, he'll eat. i've seen him do it. 

with that said, in the morning he is usually famished. he will eat almost anything i put in front of him. so my greatest goal at breakfast time is packing in as many nutrient dense foods as possible. i feed him oats, fruit, berries, yogurt, etc etc. muffins are a great way of packing in anything and everything healthy and delicious (even veggies!!). here is my go-to recipe for seriously yummy banana muffins. 

Read on for the recipe!

night night time.

we have a pretty well established night time routine here in the frascone household. it has been the same (more or less) since easton was born and we plan on continuing that routine for our soon-to-be baby boy #2.

routines make me feel secure (and i'm a grown-up) so i totally believe in the value of routines for babies, toddlers, and kids. easton has gone to bed at or around the same time since he was born. bedtime usually goes something like this:

*dinner
*light play time
*bath with daddy (yes, sometimes daddy even gets in!)
*jammies (his new thing is picking out his jams every night)
*book and milk with mama
*brush teeth
*lullaby

in the early days of easton's life, tony wanted to have a "thing"that was just his and easton's- so bath time became that "thing."  every night he gives easton a bath. when i say that i have only given e a bath a handful of times...i truly mean it. if tony isn't home- bath time doesn't happen.

a new and cool thing has just started to happen... easton has started to sing along with us as we sing his lullaby. every single night since the day he was born we sing:

 "goodnight sweetheart, well it's time to gooooo...do do do do...goodnight sweetheart, well it's time to goooooo. i really hate to leave you, but i really must say....goodnight sweetheart goodnight."

it seriously melts my little heart to hear him sing along. it's just the sweetest thang.

decorating.

you know what is really hard? moving into a new home and wanting sooooo badly to decorate with new and fabulous things (and quickly) but putting on the brakes and taking it s.l.o.w.

before one box was set down in our new place i had my decor vision pretty well established. two couches in the family room (one comfy and one modern), a fabulous piece of art hanging above the comfy couch, a cowhide ottoman, and one or two accent chairs. the new dining room table (that we still haven't purchased) is a little rustic and a little chic and don't even get me started on the chandelier and dining room chairs i have in my head.

our bedroom is pretty much exactly as i want it- luckily i'm a bit of a minimalist when it comes to bedroom decor. but the downstairs den is lacking the sitting area, office space, and patio furniture that would make everything oh-so "perfect."

here's the thing. i've been slowly purchasing things...one at a time. this month i bought a picture frame for a piece of art that i love (and have owned for 4 months). i have to do thing slowly. i'm not independently wealthy PLUS i have other priorities that need to come first.

being an adult and making grown up financial decisions can be quite depressing sometimes...but worth it.  i take pride in knowing that i have no debt, a savings account, and food on the table. plus my family does lots of fun things. we are lucky. our house is a bit bare for my taste. but that's ok.