My mom drove in town from Florida and her arrival was, without a doubt, the bright spot in our week! The boys basically tackled her when she walked through the door and her presence here has allowed me to check some appointments off my list before our baby arrives without worrying about setting up childcare during the day which has been a big blessing. (Also, consider this your friendly reminder to set up an annual skin check!) I also attended a very socially-distanced open house at the boys’ preschool (you may read more about our preschool decision in this post if you’d like) and walked away feeling excited for Chase and Ryder and all the more at-ease with our decision. The boys won’t begin preschool for another two weeks and even then it will be a staggered start but knowing we’ll have a little sense of a routine popping up around here soon feels like a bit of a relief, especially knowing that bringing home a newborn is going to kick our daily chaos into high gear.
Annnd speaking of bringing home a newborn, it looks like that may be happening sooner rather than later. I had my 38-week appointment yesterday afternoon and ended up at the doctor’s office for more than two hours. My doctor is now strongly recommending a 39-week induction next week (!!!) after an ultrasound yesterday and I’m fully on board, as I just want to do what is best for the health of our baby. While we’ve discussed an induction before, the reasons behind this decision shifted yesterday. I am admittedly feeling rather anxious right now and have mixed emotions about everything. I hope to share more on Monday, as I am hoping to see a maternal and fetal medicine doctor today.
In the meantime, I’m sitting at my computer this morning grateful for a way to distract myself with a little blogging in the form of my weekly roundup of Things I’m Loving Friday favorites. Let’s get to it!
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Branch Basics Cleaning Products
This Things I’m Loving Friday feature has been a long time coming… We’re talking at least a year in the making! I’ve officially been using Branch Basics products for more than a year in our house and absolutely LOVE them. I was on the lookout for non-toxic cleaning products that weren’t made with creepy ingredients. I wanted something sustainable and affordable and, preferably, refillable since I hated going through bottle after bottle of cleaning supplies. I also know myself enough to know I’m a little too lazy to whip up my own homemade cleaning solution time and time again and I’m picky about smell and didn’t love that a lot of the homemade solutions had vinegar in the base. I kept seeing Branch Basics products pop up on green cleaning product lists and figured they were worth a shot. Now that I’ve replaced my Branch Basics concentrate and oxygen boost a number of times, it’s safe to say I’ve found an option I love and trust for our family that works well.
Branch Basics makes cleaning simple and their concentrate can basically be used for everything from laundry and all-purpose cleaning spray to foaming hand soap, bathroom cleaner, floor cleaner, window and glass cleaner and more. (It’s even safe enough to dilute and use as a wash for fresh produce. Crazy, right!?) To use the concentrate, you simply pour the amount of concentrate noted on the bottle into the designated bottle and fill the rest with water. It could not be any easier and I love keeping the concentrate on hand so I basically never run out of cleaning products when I need them most. I use the oxygen boost for laundry and apparently it works well as a carpet cleaner (I want to try it in my beloved Bissell Little Green Machine) but I cannot speak to that just yet! More benefits of the concentrate: It’s plant and mineral based, free of harmful preservatives, not tested on animals, human-safe and fragrance-free. (If you like a little scent in your cleaning, adding essential oils is always an option!) It feels good to have a go-to line of cleaning products I trust to use around my family (especially little ones) and I figured it was worth a share here, too, in case any of you have been on the lookout for non-toxic cleaning solutions that work well. If you’d like to give it a try, my affiliate link will give you 10% off all Branch Basics starter kits! I started with the Starter Kit + Oxygen Boost and highly recommend it, as it contains the concentrate, all the spray bottles you’ll need and the oxygen boost I love for laundry!
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Strawberry Chia Seed Pudding
Last weekend, Whitney shared a meal prep recipe for strawberry chia seed pudding on her Instagram and I quickly took a screen shot of it because I’ve been on a huge chia seed pudding kick. Her rendition sounded amazing and while I adjusted her recipe a tiny bit to fit my preferences, I kept the base of the recipe the same. I first filled a mason jar 3/4 full with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and then dumped it into my blender with approximately 3/4 cup fresh strawberries. Once I blended the two together, I poured the strawberry milk back into a mason jar along with 3 tablespoons chia seeds and 2 tablespoons old fashioned oats and shook everything up. After an hour or so in the fridge, I had the most delicious breakfast! I ended up making this pudding two more times this week and am excited to try different renditions with various kinds of fruit. I also think I could easily sneak in some freshly grated zucchini without tasting it for a little veggie boost. Clearly I’m more than a little excited about this one! YUM!
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The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel
Just a friendly reminder that you may find a bunch of my book recommendations in one place in my Peanut Butter Fingers Amazon shop. I try to keep it continually updated so my book recommendations are easy to find in one place!
It’s been a hot second since I read a WWII historical fiction novel which is kind of surprising since books in this genre tend to be novels I gravitate toward reading over and over again. They also remind me of Ryan’s grandmother because she shared my love for historical fiction from this time period. I always miss Bubbee a little more when I finish reading a good WWII historical fiction novel because I know she would’ve read it the second I recommended it and we would’ve enjoyed talking about the twists and turns in this one together. For those of you who enjoy WWII historical fiction like me and Bubbee, add The Winemaker’s Wife to your “must read” list! This book came highly recommended to me by my friend Kaitlyn and blog reader Maureen and did not disappoint!
Set in Champagne, France in 1940, the book follows the lives of two women, Inès, a young woman recently married to the owner of a prominent champagne house, Maison Chauveau, and Céline, the half-Jewish wife of Chaveau’s head winemaker. When Inès married Michel, she never could’ve envisioned what would come: The German occupation and with it a life filled with fear, deceit, secrets and, ultimately, decisions that will impact the lives of those she loves forever.
Fast forward to 2019, Liv is a woman in the midst of recovering from a heart-breaking divorce when Grandma Edith shows up and insists she join her on a trip to Champagne. Their whirlwind travels take Liv to Maison Chauveau and reveal secrets about her grandmother’s past that begin to bring about more questions than answers.
This book was filled with twists and turns, heartbreak and hope and I highly recommend it!
After receiving a few requests on Instagram Stories to bring back sharing more of the boys’ meals, I’ve been trying to do a better job of remembering to snap a picture of their plates before lunch or dinner is inhaled! Inevitably, every time I share pictures of their meals, I receive DMs asking me about their plates. I swear by stainless steel divided plates for the boys and we use them every single day! They’re a great alternative to plastic, easy to clean (and dishwasher safe) and I like the way they have three sections that keep the boys’ food separate.
Our exact plates are still available on Amazon but seem to be low in stock. This two-pack looks very similar, though they may be a bit smaller which might not be a bad thing for those with toddlers. I like our size for Chase but it’s definitely on the larger size for Ryder so this two-pack seems a little more toddler appropriate.
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Friday Flashbacks
Paleo Blender Muffins (We changed things up from our usual whole wheat pumpkin muffins this week and whipped up a batch of these muffins that are still a family favorite around here!)
Chicken Sausage and Spinach Frittata (A great way to pack your breakfast full of protein and veggies!)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you are loving this week?
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I’m so glad you enjoyed The Winemaker’s Wife! It was one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.
If you’re into sustainable and clean cleaning products, check out Blueland! They are concentrated tablets (almost like a giant smartie) that you put into the reusable bottles and add water to. Then it dissolved into a cleaner. All of the refill packaging is not plastic and they have everything from multi surface cleaner to hand soap to laundry tablets.
Have you read The Room on Rue Amélie also by Kristin Harmel? If not, I totally recommend it! WWII historical fiction is my favorite book genre for sure! I will be sure to read The Winemakers Wife soon- thank you for the recommendation.
I haven’t but I was JUST reading reviews on that one last night!! Can’t wait to read more from her!
I started using Blueland for our cleaning/dishes/laundry needs and LOVE it. The packaging is completely plastic free & can be composted or recycled. The bottles are made of acrylic and completely recyclable as well! The cleaning products are great, smell good, and are easy to mix. The powder dish soap is my absolute favorite dish soap. I’ve tried numerous clean dish soaps in the past and this one is by far the best.
I just saw Blueland on Instagram! Does it actually work? It almost seems too good to be true
OMG YES!! I love their products!
Loving your Instagram post, although I haven’t experienced pregnancy loss, I have PCOS, which can make it difficult to become pregnant, I wasn’t sure what my journey would be with our first and people always asked what I was hoping for. Part of me was hoping for a girl but all I really wanted was a healthy baby since many with PCOS cannot conceive or have a higher risk of preeclampsia and miscarriage. After having our son and thinking about having a 2nd, I have the same feelings, just want a healthy baby ❤️
Julie, God bless you mama!! You are SUCH a positive light, and an inspiration for so many, more than you even know I’m sure!
I know every situation is different, but I just wanted to share that I was in a similar position for the births of all 3 of my beautiful babies — my doctors strongly recommended inducing at 39 weeks for all 3 of them, as it was what was best for the health of my baby and me. Just wanted to share that all the inductions were smooth, “easy” (as much as childbirth can be LOL!), and joyful experiences! Remember that you have already had two vaginal deliveries, so your body is going to know and remember what to do; think of the induction as just a kick in the pants to get things moving along, and then your body is like “oh yeah, I got this childbirth thing, let’s do this! ;)”. I empathize completely with how stressful and overwhelming it can be to have medical information change in the very last stages of pregnancy, sending you a virtual hug!! I know and trust all is going to be just fine for you sweet mama, and you will soon be overflowing with indescribable joy as your precious new baby is placed in your arms! You’ve got this.
Ps – I’ve been a reader since long before you had Chase!
I am so excited for you Julie. Your baby will be here SOON!!!!!!!!!!!! Wishing you so much joy and happiness in the coming weeks and beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just read your Instagram post and I felt the same way when I found out I was pregnant with my second girl. Almost immediately people acted like I should be upset or assumed we’d definitely try for a third child to “get that boy”. I thought, I have t even given birth to this wonderful blessing and you’ve already dismissed her for the idea of a boy.
Hope your appointment today (and the birth!) goes smoothly!
Sending you lots of love and prayers for a healthy delivery and baby. I am so excited for you and can’t wait to read the announcement of your new bundle of joy whenever you are ready to share.
Julie – I hope your appointment goes well with the specialist this morning. So happy to hear your mom is now in town to be able to help with the boys so you can go to your appointments easily.
Have a wonderful family weekend!
So excited for y’all!! My 39 week induction baby turned 5 months yesterday! Even in a pandemic, time flies! Prayers for a safe smooth delivery and a wonderful start to your life as a family of 6 (Sadie included😊) !
I am so excited to learn about Branch Basics!!! Just spent an hour on their site learning all about them… so reasonably priced, too! Great recommendation, thank you!
I am so excited for you Julie! I am sending lots of prayers for a safe and healthy delivery for your precious baby, and I cannot wait to hear the news! One thing making me happy on this Friday, is your Instagram post. I can’t even tell you how happy it makes me that you put those words out into the universe. As someone who has two boys, and who is done having children, and as someone who has experienced the devastating loss of a pregnancy, it took me years to get used to people telling me that I needed to have a girl, or asking if I would be trying for a girl. They always made me feel like I was missing out on something. And while I knew deep down, I wasn’t missing out on anything, it used to bother me that people thought that I was. I felt like I constantly had to defend my happiness as a mom of two boys, who would never experience life with a girl. And it’s funny because I kept telling people, well I’m a girl, when they would say that I was missing out on dresses and hair bows. I also have two brothers so I have always been used to being “the girl” in the family. I honestly think there are just as many positives to having two boys as there are two having two girls or having one of each, or more than two children. Every family is different and unique and wonderful in their own way. I’m a huge Bachelor fan and I really like Sean and Catherine Lowe. But I have to tell you, when their third child was born and Catherine made all those comments about how she desperately wanted a girl, and just the reaction on the internet to her getting what she wanted, it was really emotional and tough for me. If she was going to be devastated for the rest of her life that she didn’t have a girl, then I’m glad she got what she wanted. But I so desperately wanted her to say, hey you guys we are going to be so blessed either way…having three boys would be wonderful and having two boys and a girl would be wonderful. so anyway, I’m just so happy with your post today. It just made my heart so happy, and I’m just so excited for you to welcome your baby boy OR girl!! What a very lucky baby he or she will be!
So glad your sweet mom got there to help you out-what a gem😊 It sounds like you are in great hands with your medical care and I know things will be fine! So exciting to think that the baby will be here by this time next week. I’ll be keeping you in my prayers.
Also, intrigued by the chia seed breakfast, yum! Have a wonderful weekend with your family.
I’m excited to see all these positive comments about Blueland – we got our first shipment of Blueland supplies earlier this week and are looking forward to trying them out. But since we haven’t used them yet, I didn’t want to give them a shoutout. Glad others have had good experiences with it! Between Branch Basics and your stainless steel plates, I wondered if you’ve ever heard of Package Free Shop (https://packagefreeshop.com)? Seems like it might be of interest. Their angle is sustainability rather than plastic/chemical-free products, but those are really two sides of the same coin, since obviously reusable products are more sustainable from an environmental standpoint than plastic products. I can only speak to what they say on their website, but they also seem a bit more…ethical…than Amazon, if that’s something up your alley (I personally don’t buy things through Amazon because their business practices make me uncomfortable, but I realize I’m in the very small minority with that. My husband still uses Amazon for basically everything under the sun!). Anyway, thought I’d mention it in case you’re interested in poking around their website.
Oh my gosh! Next week? So exciting! I’m glad your sweet mom is there with you and the boys. Enjoy this weekend with her!
I Loved the story of Marthe Cohn – she just turned 100 and she lives in my neck of the woods. She had a Covid celebration passerby holding signs. She wrote Behind Enemy Lines and the movie Chichinette is her life story as a spy.
I Loved the story of Marthe Cohn – she just turned 100 and she lives in my neck of the woods. She had a Covid celebration. She wrote Behind Enemy Lines and the movie Chichinette is her life story as a spy. There are also documentary-like videos on youtube that tell her story.
One of the Things-I-Keep-Loving 😄 is the book “Havah: The story of Eve” by Tosca Lee. It was the first book I read of Lee’s, but I have since become a huge fan and have read “Iscariot” and “Sheba” and just ordered “Demon: A Memoir” that has great reviews. I went into Havah a little skeptical. Handling Biblical stories can either go way off base or be a little corny, but this was neither and has become one of my favorite books. Written from the perspective of Eve, and incredibly well informed from Christian and Jewish history/tradition, it is so realistic that it made me feel a bit squirmy at points, and yet is so poetic that you find yourself totally caught up. Some of her beautiful metaphors made my jaw drop and her depiction of things like the Fall, and the relationship between Cain and Abel were vivid and moving. It drags just a little bit in the middle, but it is so worth the read. Anytime someone asks me for a book recommendation, I immediately think of that book.
Just saw your latest IG post – good luck on the induction and delivery. You’ll be getting those baby snuggles so soon 💕
I completely share your WWII Historical Fiction Obsession!!! I’ve been taking your book recommendations FOREVER and all three of my chihuahuas have names from my favorite World War II books: Elouise, Charlotte, and Robyne! If THAT’S not a sign that you’ve got great taste in books, I don’t know what is!