Videos From this Week

I have been a lot better at taking videos of Gavin lately. He is learning and changing so much that I want to remember each of his learning stages. Some of the videos are probably a little boring, and some are just of our everyday moments. 

1. Gavin loves to jump off of the couch and line pillows on the ground to jump on to. 

2. Gavin opening his new monster trucks

3. Playing at the park

4.Gavin finally decided to try out the big boy slide at the playground at our complex. 

5. When we were at dinner last week, Gavin thought a lime was a frog or some little animal, he was scared of it but loved try to fling it across the table and thought it was really funny. The video quality isn't very good though. 

6. Gavin has been really into monster trucks and hot air balloons lately. He has a book that has both in it, and he always shows you where they are. 

Yummy Healthy Baked Almond and Vanilla Donuts

I came across this recipe on pinterest yesterday and knew that I had to try it. I'm all for finding healthy recipes that taste really yummy. These did not disappoint. Instead of using the vanilla bean paste, I substituted it for a hint of almond paste for flavor. In the glaze I used vanilla extract. The donuts were light, moist, and had the perfect amount of sweetness to them. Coming in at just over 100 calories per donut, you can eat these donuts without feeling guilty. 

We don't own a donut pan, so I just used a muffin tin and put a tin foil ball in the middle so it left a little hole in the middle. I might be buying a donut pan after trying this yummy recipe though!

Vanilla Bean Donuts

Skinny Vanilla Bean Donuts
 TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 8 • Size: 1 Donut • Calories: 118.6 • Fat: 1.2 g • Carb: 23.5 g • Fiber: 2 g • Protein: 3.4 g • Sugar: 11.1 g • Sodium: 89.8 mg

Ingredients:Donuts:
1 C. Whole Wheat White Flour
1/4 C. Sugar/Sweetener/Honey (I used half sugar and half sweetener.)
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 Large Egg
1/4 C. Plain Fat Free Greek Yogurt
2 Tbsp. Fat Free Milk
1 1/2 Tbsp. Light Butter, Softened
1 Tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste

Vanilla Bean Glaze:
1/2 C. Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp. Fat Free Milk
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and lightly spray a donut pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the first four dry ingredients (flour, sugar/sweetener, baking powder, and cinnamon) into a marge bowl until well blended. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining wet ingredients until smooth and creamy. 

Add the wet ingredients in with the dry and combine just until everything is fully incorporated. 

Spoon or pipe the dough into the prepared donut pan, dividing evenly among the sections.

Place the pan into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the donuts are cooked through. 

The donuts will not turn golden brown, but should 'spring back' to the touch when done. 

In the mean time, whisk the ingredients for the glaze together in a small bowl and set aside.

Once done, remove the donuts from the oven and allow to cool.

Dip the donuts face-down into the glaze and set on a wire rack until set. Maybe 5 minutes or so.

28 Weeks

Today I am 28 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by. I am really excited and anxious for Lily to be born, but at the same time I am enjoying these last few months with Gavin with just the two of us. Life has been pretty crazy the last few months with moving and getting settled into our new place. It is nice to have some relaxing time before she comes. We are down to 82 days until her due date, so it will be here before we know it. I have been feeling pretty good lately. Sleeping is getting harder, I can't remember the last time I had a full restful night of sleep, but surprisingly my energy levels have been holding up pretty well. I have had a few headaches this week, which I haven't had in a while, but other than that I can't complain too much. I am blessed with pretty easy pregnancies, and I am very grateful for that. This week Lily is weighing in at about 3 lbs. We have a doctors appointment on Monday. I will have to take the glucose test but we also get to take a tour of the hospital. I should be having another ultrasound done within the next 2 weeks or so. That will be fun since we haven't seen her for almost 8 weeks now.




6 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks, 24 weeks, and 28 weeks pregnant

28 weeks

Here is when I was 28 weeks pregnant with Gavin. I think I am measuring a little bigger this time? I have actually gained a little less weight this time around though.

Savannah, Georgia

Ahhhhh Savannah, Georgia. You stole my heart. We visited Savannah with my family when they were visiting. It is less than a 2 hour drive from Jacksonville. Savannah is one of the most quaint charming towns I have ever been to. There's so much history and the town has so much charm and personality. Last Friday night we picked up Jayden from work around 4:30, since his work is on the way to Savannah. We then made the drive up to Savannah. We drove into quite the storm that was heading through Savannah. It was crazy! When we arrived, the streets were flooded with at least a foot of water. It was kind of chaotic trying to find our hotel in the rain. Once we got to our hotel, we brought up our bags and hung out for a few minutes. Then we headed out to go to dinner. We ate at a restaurant called the Pink House. It was a Southern restaurant and we had a really nice dinner. After dinner we went back to the hotel and then to bed for the night. The next morning we woke up and checked out of the hotel and we decided to go on a trolley tour of the city. The trolley had a history narration and gave a really good overview of the city. After the trolley tour we took a riverboat ride on the Savannah river. It was a lot of fun! After the riverboat ride another crazy storm rolled in. We barely made it into a store when the rain came down like I've never seen before. We had to catch a trolley to get back to the car, so we made a mad dash across the street when a bolt of lightning struck right by us. It was so loud and everything went white. It was almost like a bomb went off! The thunder was instant and it made us all jump. Definitely the closest I've ever seen lightning. Once we caught the trolley it was back to the car. Then we made the drive back to Jacksonville. It was a great way to end my family's trip, they left early the next morning.

The hotel we stayed at was right on the Savannah river. This was the view from my parents and Drew's room

About to go on the riverboat tour

Our hotel room

There was some weird art though. haha. 

the restaurant we ate dinner at

the front of the hotel

on the trolley ride

A fun place we ate lunch at called "gleatohhhh"

We can't wait to go back and visit! We loved Savannah!

Videos of Gavin

I have been trying to take more videos of Gavin lately. Here are a few from our youtube channel that I posted.

1. Jayden trying to trick Gavin into tickling his armpit.
2. Gavin pretending to call "papa" with a bowl as a phone. Then he turns it into a hat. haha
3. Gavin's first time bowling
4. Gavin saying the names of pooh bear characters
5. Gavin thinks that all potty words are hilarious, especially poop
6. Gavin swimming. He loves wearing his puddle jumpers so he can swim around where he wants.

Beach Day

We had a lot of fun during my family's visit to Jacksonville. It was there first time in Jacksonville, so we did a lot of fun things (I already posted about the zoo and St. Augustine) while they were here. We were able to fit in two beach days down at Jacksonville Beach. Gavin had a lot of fun playing with Grandma, Papa, and Drew in the water and sand. It was nice for me to be able to relax a bit on the beach and let them chase him around!

Gavin and Papa Mike

Gavin and Uncle Drew

We forgot to bring Gavin's sand toys to the beach, so he had fun playing with our leftover drink cups and holder from lunch. haha. They actually kept him entertained for a long time

Gavin showing all of his shells that he collected with Papa on the beach

Home Tour: Sneak Peek

A lot of people have been asking me to post some photos from our new place here in Jacksonville. We have worked our butts off to get our place in order. Unpacking was a huge task itself, but we decided to throw in a few diy projects, and to switch out some of our old stuff for a new style. We love the way our home turned out and it is so great to have it done. We were able to rent a 1500 sqft 3 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment. It is considered an apartment, but feels more like a town home. It is on the first floor, so we have a huge lanai off of our dining room. It is big enough for a table, chairs, and lots of play room for Gavin. We love having a little area outside to ourselves. We also have a garage, which is really nice for extra storage. We were able to turn one of our bedrooms into a guest room, so we have a place for family and friends to stay when they visit. Our home also has a laundry room with an awesome washer and dryer. 

Here are a couple "sneak peek" photos. I don't want to post all of our place on here, since this blog is public. However, I have created a private flickr album where I have uploaded the whole tour of our place. If you would like to view the photos, you can leave a comment below with your email address, or email me. I will email you the link so you can securely view the photos. Thanks for looking!

Lovely St. Augustine

We visited St. Augustine when we first moved here, and we loved it. Since my family is here visiting this week, we decided it would be fun to visit St. Augustine and show them around. Jayden had to work, so he wasn't able to go. We started off our day by walking around the downtown area and looking for a place to eat lunch. We ate at a Greek restaurant called "Athena". The food was delicious and you could tell it was very authentic. We then walked around some more and made our way over to the Ponce de Leon Hotel, or now Flaglers College. I fell in love with this place last time we were in St. Augustine so I took my family back to see it. When we were there last time, the fountain was under construction, so it was fun to see it finished. Then we went to a park nearby and rode the merry go round and let Gavin play at the park for a bit.

The fountain at Flaglers College

Gavin's diaper wasn't on all the way (it somehow came undone on one side) so he peed through his pants first thing in the morning. I didn't have an extra pair of pants, so he went around in a shirt and diaper all day! Haha

Gavin and Papa Mike at Flaglers College

Gavin LOVES frogs. The fountain had frogs all around it, which he went up and kissed each one. 

This is the Rotunda inside the girls dorms. Can you imagine this being in your dorm? Crazy!

Gavin eating frozen keylime pie on a stick

Gavin and Grandma Tiffany

Riding the Merry go Round with Uncle Drew

Our delicious Greek lunch