January was a really great month for our family! Birthdays, lost teeth, progress on our new home, and lots of delicious food! Check it out...Moments 01.2019 JoyFoodSunshine!

I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass."

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of all the shenanigans that went down in crazy town (i.e. our life in a nutshell).  So here it is for January 2019!

Recipe love:

Here are a few must-share recipes from the month of January from my favorite spots around the web!

Maple Glazed Salmon from Oh Sweet Basil {Easy, healthy & delicious}!

Toasted Coconut Snack Bars from Feasting on Fruit {Needing all the healthy snacks right now}!

Chicken Chow Main from Cooking Classy {Skip the takeout}!

Candied Orange Olive Oil Cake by The Kitchen McCabe {Gorgeous}

Green Chile Enchilada Soup from House of Yumm {Cozy for these cold days}!

New Recipe Videos

Here are the videos we produced for you in January! More to come in February!

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Thai Slow Cooker Ground Turkey

Chocolate Hummus

A few of my favorite things...

Here are a few products I have used over and over again in January!

Oxo Cake Tester

I remember receiving this cake tester as a gift thinking I'd never use it....but oh my word I couldn't have been more wrong! I use it every time I bake a cake, banana bread, brownies, etc. etc. In fact, I use it so much that I couldn't find it for a week so I ordered a new one (just to find the old one a few days later lol! Best $6 I ever spent! 😉

Pizza Stone

I resisted posting this Pizza Stone as a favorite for months. The reason? Ritch swore it made the best pizza and I didn't want to admit just how right he was. But after owning and using this pizza stone since November, I can honestly say it does make all the difference when it comes to making homemade pizza. No more floppy soggy crust problems or pre-baking necessary. I love it so much I will very likely order this larger, rectangular stone very soon since we almost always make two pizzas at one time!

Order on Amazon: Rectangular Pizza Stone // Circular Pizza Stone

AmeriColor Gel Food Coloring

I have been using Wilton gel food colors for over a decade now, and I have to say that I have always been unimpressed with them. All of mine were past their prime, so I decided to try something new. Not only is this AmeriColor gel food coloring SO much prettier and richer in hue than the ones I had been using, but they are SO EASY. Just squirt and stir. They literally changed my life (LOL)! I used them to decorate Bethany's birthday cake this month (more on that below)!

This meme & JOMO

I heard the word JOMO then made this meme, because it is my life to a T.

Life with my tribe

January was a great month for our family! Here are a few highlights! Let's start with a gorgeous picture of the mountains! I love where I live and tell the kids every day how blessed they are to get to see mountains every day!

Bethany's Birthday

Someone tell me how the sweet girl who made me a momma turned EIGHT years old this month?! Like how is it possible that she is already 8?!

This year my “little girl” transformed before my eyes. She became her own person with unique thoughts, ideas, desires, hopes, dreams and fears. She feels deeply and loves ferociously. I am so grateful and humbled that I get to be her mom, and I pray every day that I can love her well and in all things, guide her mind and heart toward Christ.

We spent the day doing exactly what she wanted (with a little trip to urgent care for Mara who dislocated her elbow thrown in there LOL)! Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast, playing at the Aquarium, lunch at Village Baker, hamburgers for dinner and a movie at night. Plus lots of lego building and fun with mommy and daddy!

And in true Bethany fashion, she requested a cake that perfectly captures the essence of the past year of her life. 🦄This girl is my rainbow, sparkle, unicorn, neon, glitter loving little lady.

She loves all things bright, beautiful and magical...and that's just the kind of kid she is. She is the best big sister, always willing to help and is so smart I have a hard time keeping up with her! Here's to a great year being 8!

How I made the unicorn cake: 

• Used a batch of this Homemade Vanilla Frosting (the only recipe I use to decorate cakes)!
• Bought the horn on Amazon here: Sweet Tooth Fairy Face Kit  It actually came with ears and all sorts of different faces that I can use over and over again, which I love. I made a 6" cake (because it was just or family celebrating), and the ears in this kit were too big for it. However if you make a standard 9" round cake the ears would work well!
• Divided the frosting into four containers. I left one white for the base of the cake, and then used three colors of the AmeriColor Gel Food Coloring (the squeeze bottles have changed my life): Electric Pink, turquoise, and  Regal Purple to dye each other portion a color.
• Then I carefully placed the three colors in lines into a large decorators bag fitted with the Wilton 1M tip and made roses for the hair!

Mara Crib Transition

Since this new baby could be born any day now {oh Lord PLEASE let her be born soon LOL}, I reluctantly agreed it was time to transition Mara out of the crib and into a bed.

In so many ways she is still my baby, and I am not ready to let that season of life with her go just yet. Ritch built this little toddler bed for Naomi before Mara was born, and it's perfect. Mara did so great and we had zero issues with the transition.

For whatever reason our kids have never climbed out of their cribs/beds. We do take bedtime seriously and put in a considerable effort to make sure they understand the rules about sleep (e.g. do it). I just tell Mara every nap time and night time that I will come get her when it's time to wake up. I watch her on the monitor and when I see her moving I get her!

Mara 21 Months

Mara had a little bit of a rough January. She dislocated her elbow, which is a very common occurrence for little ones her age (it happened to Naomi), but it still was not fun. Then towards the end of the month she got croup again and then an ear infection!

If you remember last May Mara got Parainfluenza 3 and croup and ended up being life flighted from the ER near our home to a children's hospital downtown SLC where she had a stay in the PICU. It was the scariest event in our years of parenting to date, and little things often trigger the memories of seeing my sweet baby so sick and I get super emotional. So this time around I didn't wait to take her into the doctor.

Now, I am not the type of mom who calls the doctor or even really likes to give my kids medicine. Mara's trip to the ER was the first time I had ever taken a kid to the ER in 7 years. And I usually wait colds out and let them run their course. But this time I didn't want to take any chances (I was also 38 weeks pregnant so that meant that the emotions were running super high). I brought her to the pediatrician who gave us some steroids to help open her airway and keep us out of the hospital.

I'm grateful that she recovered without having to go back in, but it stirred up so many past emotions...fear, helplessness, etc. but mostly gratitude that she came out OK and that she got through it again this time!

Gabe lost his first tooth!!

My sweet boy lost his first tooth this month! Honestly I am 100% shocked that he didn't lose one of his top front two teeth first, because he knocked them loose when we was 2 ½ and I've been a crazy person about trying to keep them in ever since!

He's not our toughest kid and he has a pretty great overbite, so we didn't even notice this tooth was loose until Christmas Eve. And by that point it was really loose. However, I think because his teeth never touch (aww) it just kind of hung on for weeks. Finally one day it was so ridiculous - we're talking laying horizontally in his mouth - that Ritch pulled it.

To say that Gabe wasn't a huge fan of having his tooth pulled would be an understatement. But I'll leave it at that. Once it came out he admitted that it felt SO much better, and was glad!

Waiting on Baby Girl!

I gave a pretty extensive update at 37 weeks here. This time around I am torn between being super uncomfortable and ready to give birth like yesterday, and wanting more time in the calm before the newborn storm (however beautiful and wonderful of a storm it is), with our family of 6.

I love our slow Saturday mornings, easy bedtimes and all the fun we get to have that is low key and simple. And adding a newborn just changes things for a little while. I always thought she would come early (because all my other ones have), but I am OK with a little more time to just be together before her arrival.

Building our HOUSE!

We have walls people! This month they laid the foundation and started framing! I feel like once the framing begins the process becomes SO much more fun and real!

Since we're waiting to welcome our sweet girl into the world, I don't really have the headspace to think much about the new house. But after she gets here and we get into our new normal, it'll be fun knowing we have something else to look forward to this year!

Recipes I'm Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in January!

Homemade Pretzel Bread

Best Cinnamon Rolls EVER

Black bean brownies

IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING FROM JOYFOODSUNSHINE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS! DON’T FORGET TO RATE THIS RECIPE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! ALSO, FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK ,YOUTUBE AND TWITTER FOR MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION AND A GLIMPSE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIFE!