I don’t have much to say tonight because I’m not ready to go into all the details but I will say that today I’m extremely grateful that Kevin’s check in with his surgeon yesterday confirmed that his healing is coming along very well. I’m also extremely thankful that the settlement has been agreed upon and we can move forward with our lives. ❤️
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Three’s A Crowd & We Like It
Want to know the one question that can instantly make me cringe? The one question that makes me silently rage and question the question askers logic, and boundaries? The one question that makes me want to walk away from the conversation…
“When are you having baby number two?”
Or really any question in that line of question war fare! If you’re a Mom of one you know the questions I’m referring to!
“Ready to do it all again?”
“Aww you’re not going to make him be an only child are you?”
“Are you going to try for a girl?”
Sometimes they aren’t questions at all. Sometimes they are disguised as (not) clever little quips and remarks!
“Time for a playmate for Jacob”
“You could fit another car seat in there no problem!”
“You aren’t getting any younger!”
“Being an only child isn’t fair”
First off let me say this… if you ask these questions to anyone STOP IT! These questions are exhausting. Having to explain a personal situation or choice is not fun! Having to discuss infertility,loss.personal health issues because someone thinks it’s their right to know your family dynamics is not ok!!
I can’t tell you how many times in the last five years I’ve been asked these questions. In fact the first time I got asked about baby number two was while baby number one was still baking in my uterus!
People are demanding and nosey! Complete strangers seem to worry about my family make up like it somehow affects their wellbeing. This is mind boggling for me. In what world does Jacob being an only child affect anyone but him, Kevin and myself. I guess maybe it could be stretched to say grandparents but both sets of those aren’t suffering in the number department!
Sometimes it takes unexplainable effort to even personally accept that baby number two is never going to happen. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes it takes a full fledged grieving process to even begin to come to terms with being a Mom to only one baby for whatever the reason is. Sometimes you might morn the loss of a chance gone by or a chance taken away one New Year’s Eve night. And you know what, that’s ok! Coming to terms with things in your own time is your business and you know what no one needs when they are trying to mourn, grieve, cope, celebrate, live??? “Karen” from accounting asking when you’re going to get on having baby number two!
Just don’t! Don’t be the person who thinks they are entitled to someone else’s reproductive life story.
Thankful Thursday Week 3/52
My Thankful thoughts tonight are simple. I’m Thankful my little family is all together under the same roof, warm, safe.
The weather the last few days is usually the type of weather that is panic inducing and stressful for me. As a nurse taking a snow day is often met with employer pushback and irritation. I mean I totally understand why, any healthcare role is a vital role but this week because I’m off work it was pleasant and easy. I know that I’m extremely fortunate to be laying in a warm bed with my child snuggled up to one side and my dog snuggled up to the other. While the faint sounds of the tv down the hall sneak in from whatever show my husband is watching as he enjoys some peaceful quiet time to himself.
With the recognition and realization of how lucky we are I’ve also thought a lot about what it would be like to be out there in this weather with no place to go. The only word I can come up with is terrifying. Terrifying and cold.
Over the holidays there was so many opportunities to giveback, to donate, lend a hand. Now that many of us are settled back in to the day to day of mid January it’s easy to overlook those fundraisers or food drives. So tonight I’m asking you to join us and take a few minutes this weekend and take a peek through your closets or storage, find those winter jackets, boots, unneeded blankets and drop them off at your local shelter. This winter is far from over and you never know, you might be saving a life. ❤️
Snow day Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
So it’s really cold and snowy here the last few days! Which is not typical for our location but it does happen maybe once or twice a year! We usually cancel any plans and appointments and just hunker down at home until it passes! Yesterday We made cinnamon rolls & bacon and enjoyed a family weekend brunch on a Wednesday! Snow days aren’t so bad!
Early this morning Jacob and I took to the kitchen to fulfill hubby’s request for chocolate chip cookies! Now anyone who knows me knows for the past 15 years I’ve stuck to (and been famous for) these Chocolate chip cookies. Now last summer Kevin bought me Joanna Gaines cookbook Magnolia Table and I’ve been obsessed with her chocolate chip cookies!
I pretty much follow her recipe exactly except I use a full tablespoon of real vanilla and sprinkle the tops with chunky sea salt when they come out of the oven! I also add chunks of good quality melting chocolate to each cookie prior to baking! Trust me you can’t go wrong with pools of melted chocolate! For the chocolate chips themselves I use a mix of regular size and mini chips! I find it gives the cookie these amazing caverns of chocolate!!
If you want to try these yourselves but don’t have the cook book you can find the recipe Here.
If you do try these please let me know what you think! Or any changes you’ve made! The recipe itself minus the chocolate chips makes an amazing cookie base for your creations! At Christmas time I used this recipe with white chocolate chips, cranberries, and a pinch of cinnamon! So delicious!
Thankful Thursday – Week 2/52
Happy Thursday friends!! How’s everyone holding up through the first full week of 2020? We’re doing ok! It’s a bit of a hurry up and wait week for us as we edge our way towards Friday and a very important meeting! More about that in a week or so.
We are slowly falling back into a schedule now that Christmas is over. We’ve started back to the gym and Jacob’s next set of swimming lessons has started. It’s nice to have a bit of routine back. I mean we still lack serious routine because I’m not back to work but still more then we had in December.
So another Thursday which means Thankful Thursday! This week I’m grateful for the little moments I get to share with Jacob. 
This child is 55 pounds of cuddle monster! He incredibly sensitive and instinctively seems to know when someone needs a bit of love.
Yesterday he and I had a little lunch date at the mall before his swimming lessons and he was so happy to just chat and chat! He always makes me laugh. We also checked out the new City LEGO at Toys R Us and of course he picked out his favourites. 
He is my why. He is my little king. He makes me a better person and because of him I hold it all together even when I think I can’t. ❤️
Uuughhhhhh
Sugar withdrawal and insomnia! I don’t recommend trying this at home kids!!
Epicure Azteca Tortilla Soup
It’s that time of year again! A new Epicure catalogue has launched with lots of new products and meal solutions. I thought it might be fun to review some of the new products and share my thoughts.
If you aren’t familiar with Epicure it is a local to me Canadian company that aims to inspire clean eating through their line of gluten free, sugar/salt/fat conscious line of spices, mixes, and meal solutions.
In the spirit of full disclosure I should mention that I am an independent Epicure consultant! That in no way means I will withhold my honest opinions on these products. This is not a sponsored post in any way and I have purchased these products at my own cost.
So, on to the soup!
I followed the directions on the package using the water option instead of broth. The ingredients and directions are extremely simple. You boil the water and seasoning, add in tomatoes, boil again. Meanwhile rinse the black beans. Add beans and corn and simmer.
To serve top with Greek yogurt, cheese,avocado, lime juice, and tortilla chips if you wish.
Now in all honesty I found the soup incredibly bland after following the directions on the package. Next time I will definitely use broth over water.
After trying it as prepared according to the package directions I went ahead and added in some salt, taco seasoning, red garlic sensel, and a few other things to give it more of the flavour I was expecting/looking for.
I also added two chopped Roma tomatoes because I like chunks or tomatoes in my taco soup.
I don’t mind at all that I had to add salt to this soup. In fact I think that is a good thing given how many packaged mixes and soups are sodium heavy. I’m not one who adds much salt in my cooking but I will when it’s needed. I will admit I wasn’t expecting to have to add so many extra ingredients/spices to this soup to make it more flavourful. On the other hand it’s easier to add ingredients to your liking then to try to cover up a flavour you don’t like in a package mix.
Once the soup was done and topped with the toppings mentioned above and cilantro I very much enjoyed it but again I don’t think I would of enjoyed it very much had I not tweaked it to my liking.
With that being said would I make this again? Absolutely! I would make it using broth and set out knowing what I want to add. I’m also looking forward to trying this with the addition of veggie ground round (or ground beef for the meat eaters). I would also use this mix in other recipes, I’m thinking a taco casserole.
This product is not at all what I was expecting as a quick meal solution/soup mix but it’s a product I will happily use as an ingredient in my own creations.
Thankful Thursday Week 1/52
The first thankful Thursday of 2020! I’ve been thinking all day what I wanted to share tonight as my Thankful Thursday topic.
Practicing gratitude is definitely something I try to do daily and especially when I’m feeling off. Spoiler alert, I’m feeling very off today!
So today I’m thankful for quiet, rainy afternoon runs to Starbucks! I know that may sound frivolous and spoiled but sometimes it’s nice to take a few minutes out of the day to reset and quiet my brain!
What are you thankful for today?
Consoled a cup of coffee but it didn’t want to talk…
2020 …. How did that happen? Wasn’t it just 2010? Didn’t I just start nursing? Get married? Become a mother? How did 10? 20? Years go by so fast?
I’ve got very little advice to offer at this point other then to be weary of people in the darkness who hold flashlights. Not everyone drawing you towards them wants to help you.
All Was Calm… All Was Bright
Good morning friends! Happy Boxing Day 2019! How did we all fare yesterday? Tired? Me too! I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone! This year has disappeared in the blink of an eye. They always told me time would go faster as I aged but they never mentioned warp speed!
So my last post was gut wrenchingly real. That’s what I aim to share here for the next year. I’m not one to sugar coat struggles and as a Mom, wife, nurse, daughter I relate best to people who don’t sugarcoat shit! I hope you’ll follow along with me as I share my life, day to day triumphs and struggles! I bought myself (and you readers) a little Christmas gift in the form of a year paid hosting to get rid of those pesky ads!! I dunno call me crazy but a toe nail fungus medication ad smack dab in the middle of my last post just didn’t work for me! So if you noticed a domain name change that’s why! Don’t worry I’ll still share recipes too!
So on to the good stuff! So at some point in the last week someone said to me “nothing has to be perfect” and I held onto to that as my mantra as I prepped the final Christmas plans! I love hosting and this year was no different! We had 17 for Christmas dinner and a much smaller Christmas Eve appy hour get together. This year I did things differently! I bought everything pre made. Veggie plate, fruit plate, meat and cheese and instead of painstaking arranging them on platters in an Instagram worthy way I just put them out on the table and relaxed with my family instead! Guess what!! No one died because their food wasn’t served on a beautiful Christmas platter! I really gave myself the gift to just let go of my own self imposed expectations and I’m glad I did! Let go of self imposed expectations that only serve to steal your own joy and peacefulness!
Christmas morning was probably one of the most peaceful, relaxing days I’ve had in months because I thought ahead and realized it’s the preparation of stuffing and cranberry sauce to get the turkey going that really stresses me out! Not because it’s hard but because on Christmas morning I’d much rather be spending time with my family! I’d much rather be playing with Jacob and his new toys! So this year that’s what I did! Of course on Christmas Eve morning I spent a couple hours in the kitchen preparing the stuffing and cranberries in advance but it was well worth it! I was already in the kitchen anyways! Last minute baking!
Jacob was so excited with his new toys and new bike!
We spent the morning as a family together and it was perfect. We had fresh baked cinnamon buns with coffee and later we had brunch! My heart was happy!
I also took the day off of social media and my phone! I didn’t document the day with 100 photos! Instead I played LEGO with Jacob and took him on a bike ride! I aimed to be as present as possible. It was nice. I know that my need for things to be “Perfect” is my own issue and I’m definitely going to spend some time reminding myself and teaching myself that things don’t have to be Hallmark movie perfect for Jacob to enjoy them. I know he’s a kid and probably didn’t even notice most of the little details that I stressed over, and that’s ok!!!
So because it’s Thursday I’m going to close with my Thankful Thursday thoughts.
I’m thankful for my husband who loves me unconditionally. He loves me when I’m at my best and at my worst. He even loves me when I get the urge to dye my hair really red on Christmas Eve and my sister in law grants my wishes! See evidence below! He loves me for me and sometimes I think that must be tough.
Life With The McGavins 