Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Evelyn Anne: one year stats

A little late with this post, but at long last,
here we have a post to celebrate Evelyn's first 365 days on the planet!

First, let's remember where we started:
Born: ~6:30am, Feb. 8th 2010 in Portland, Oregon (8 days overdue!)
Weight: 8lbs, 11oz (85%)
Height: 21.5 inches (90%)

Here's one of the first pics:

1 year check up on Feb. 21, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee
Weight: 19lbs, 9oz (22%)
Height: 28.5 inches (22%)

Here's a pic taken exactly at 1 year and about 6 hours:

Other fun facts about Ev:
-Screamed for the first 10 weeks straight... and only slept when being bounced on the pilates ball. (What doesn't kill you... right?)
-Consistently slept ALL night -every night- in her own crib, starting at 5 months... and we've never looked back!
-Took her first plane ride at exactly 4 months (to the day!)
-Has spent time in Oregon, California, Montana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington DC
-Started crawling everywhere by 8 months
-Was standing consistently on her own by 10.5 months and took her first steps at 11.5 months
-"Walked" 14 steps in a row at 1 year, 12 days
-Took her first ride in the jogging stroller at 8 weeks and currently runs more with daddy than with mommy, but has definitely logged a few hundred miles since then. (We wish we had been keeping an exact tally)
-Pretty much eats anything, but favorite foods are: whole milk, carrots, sweet potatoes and cheerios
-Has "read" a story before bedtime every night since she was 5 months old.
-Knows some sign language but hasn't really shared with us any of "her" words for things (read: she babbles all day long but no "real" words yet from what we can tell. That's not to say she isn't an expert at communicating what she wants!)

Evelyn Anne Powell, you are an absolute joy and the best little girl we could've ever hoped for!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Mama bakes too.

So, Brendon is really the baker in the house but occasionally I get the bug to bake something.
Today, I felt like a sweet snack and opted for finally doing something with those frozen, overripe bananas I've had in the freezer for, well, longer than one should.
But of course -and this is where Brendon and I sometimes differ on baking philosophies- I refuse to waste all of my calories burned all week, so I wanted a lowfat banana bread that didn't compromise on flavor. (What can I say? I love tasting something sweet and knowing it's not going to stick around until next week.)

I found an already lowfat recipe (not low enough for me!) to modify from allrecipes.com and I really ended up liking it.

Here's the original:
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup water
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-Mix everything. Bake at 350 for about 50 mins. Makes 1 loaf banana bread, which I cut into 12 slices

Here's the info per slice:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 59 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories
162
Calories from Fat
42
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
4.7g
7%
Saturated Fat
0.9g
4%
Cholesterol
31mg
10%
Sodium
256mg
11%
Total Carbohydrates
27.4g
9%
Dietary Fiber
0.8g
3%
Sugars
12.7g
Protein
2.9g
Vitamin A 4%Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 1%Iron 5%
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet



Here's my version:
1/6 cup white sugar
1/6 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
2 egg whites
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup water
0.83 cups all-purpose flour
0.83 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


-Mix everything. Bake at 350 for about 50 mins. Makes 1 loaf banana bread, which I cut into 12 slices
Here's the info per slice:


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 51 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories
96
Calories from Fat
2
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
0.3g
0%
Trans Fat
0.0g
Cholesterol
0mg
0%
Sodium
213mg
9%
Total Carbohydrates
21.0g
7%
Dietary Fiber
1.5g
6%
Sugars
7.4g
Protein
2.9g
Vitamin A 0%Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 2%Iron 4%
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet


All in all, I made some of the basic substitutions (applesauce for butter, egg whites for eggs, subbed in 1/2 white whole wheat flour), but I also used only half of the sugar it calls for and added some vanilla and cinnamon. I also subbed skim milk for the water. It's about 60 calories less and 4.4(!)g of fat less per slice and is higher in fiber and has less sodium and carbs. And can we get 3 cheers for NO cholesterol?!? Also, I like that the protein per slice stays the same, even without the butter and entire egg.

Here's a pic:

All in all, it turned out really well and tasted great. FYI, if you have a sweet tooth, it might be a little low on the sweetness for you, so if you make it, you may want to use the full portion of sugar.
Bon appetit!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Ev turns one! (And we can't believe it we made it a whole year.)

Well, she did on the 8th of February and we had a party in Nashville to celebrate.
Here's the video montage of the party! Thanks to those who came and celebrated with us!


PS- 1 year stats to come after our Dr's appt on Monday!