Baby Items - Congrats!

Since we decided to have only one baby we aren't storing things for the next little one. It amazes me how much stuff one person can accumulate for one little baby! We were giving it away to anyone who would take it. However, most people have their own things already. We have a little mountain of things piling up! I know I could take it all to the Goodwill but honestly I would rather just give it to someone. I am not sure why but it bothers me to think of how much we paid for all of it and to know they would turn around and charge someone for it. One person already paid enough for it! No reason to charge again!

Now we have somewhere to move that mountain! My little sister is having her third baby, due in March! My guess it will be a little girl because our family tends to only make little girls. But we make the cutest ones... On the off chance that it comes out a boy, he won't mind sitting in a pink chair for a couple months!

Congrats to my little sister.... and don't buy a single thing besides diapers because you have a whole mountain of stuff coming your way.

Chicken Parmesan - BLW

My baby girl has been been dabbling in the foods but she hasn't really got enthusiastic about anything. Sometimes she will simply mush it in her hands and never put anything in her mouth (bananas), occasionally she will leisurely suck on it and just get some juice from it (cucumbers, apples, pears, and avocados), and sometimes she will simply touch it long enough to toss it on the ground (chicken and eggs). I just figured she wasn't really into eating yet. I figured I would to continue to offer foods and eventually she would get excited about eating.

However, I think she just wanted something a little more exciting. This week we are testing to see if my little bug will let me eat food again. Last night we made chicken parmesan. My husband and I sat down to eat and my baby girl was eying my plate. I got a little plate out and put some sauced noodles on her plate. She attacked it like a mad woman! Now everything I have read on baby led weaning (BLW) says to offer them plain noodles first then try it with sauce. Well I had already saturated my noodles in sauce so I plucked some plain ones from the husbands plate. She was totally uninterested in them. She just wanted to suck the sauce of them.

A girl after my own heart, she loves red sauce!



I was amazed at how she dove right in and continued to pick up each noodle and suck the sauce right off. She was covered in sauce when she was done, of course, but it was just too cute!

Grocery Shopping

I love grocery shopping. I know that some people loath it but I have always enjoyed grocery shopping. It has always been relaxing to me. Whether I was going when the store was empty or going when it was packed full of last minute shoppers. I don't know what it is but I have always loved it. There is a system to my method of grocery shopping. I always make a list and I have a certain path in the grocery store that I take.

When I was pregnant, I pondered how grocery shopping would be with a baby. At first I said that my husband would watch the baby while I shopped, it would be my relaxing outing. Then my baby girl arrived and I quickly realized that just wasn't going to happen. I don't want to leave my baby girl and she doesn't want to be away from her food source for that long. She ate about every half hour when she was first born and now eats about every two hours.

Grocery shopping was either done by the husband who was sent to the store with a list. (He didn't ever stick to the list.) Or, we would go together and rush through the store trying to throw what we needed into the cart before she broke down. Often the baby and I would end up in the car nursing and waiting for Daddy to finish up the shopping.

Later, just the girls could go out and she would sit in the stroller while I shopped. Pushing the stroller ahead of me and pulling the cart behind me. She would stay content for longer looking around at all the sights but usually wasn't keen on stopping at more the`n one store.

All that has changed now that she can sit up on her own! Today we made our very first grocery shopping trip using the cart. I brought along my handy dandy cart cover and she sat in there like a big girl. She loved it and grocery shopping was so much easier! Next time I just need to bring more toys along and secure them to the cart cover! I know people say things will just get tougher the more mobile she is but so far things are getting easier!

Tags!

I always cut tags off toys and stuff because I think it looks tacky. I typically cut tags out of shirts and stuff as well because they tend to itch. Sometimes this works against me when I go to buy something and don't remember what size I wear. I go to look at the tag and it isn't there!

However, babies, well my baby, loves tags. She can sniff out a tag from a mile away. Today we went to Borders, everything is massively on sale since they are closing, and we found this little gem.



It is a book with a bunch of tags on it. The person who thought of this must have had a baby that loved tags as much as mine! There was one other book there with tags and I think I might have go back this weekend and see if it is still there. She is loving it!

Quick Changes

It amazes me how fast babies change. It is sometimes instantly. One minute they just can't get their back to hold them up straight and the next minute they are sitting up all by themselves. My baby girl can now sit up all on her own. Occasionally she will take a dive to the side but she is also learning how to catch herself with her hand. Just yesterday she was still a little bobble head that couldn't quiet keep herself up and now she is a pro! She has also figured out how to get to the sitting position from the crawling stance. Sometimes she gets her arm out to far and can't get that last push up that she needs but I have no doubt that she will soon have it mastered.



She also has one tooth that has come through. The other one to match it is still under the skin but I have a feeling it will be showing up soon as she has been extra cranky lately!

Where I left It...

The great thing about purses and keys is they tend to stay where you last put them. A baby is the same way, they just lay there, and when you come back they are still in the same place. That is until they start to move around, roll, twist, walk, and crawl. I remember the first time I realized that I couldn't just lay my baby girl down and walk away. I was folding laundry on the pool table and she was laying the middle (as I always did). I walked into the bathroom right around the corner to put a new hand towel up. When I came back in she had rolled over on her tummy and was very close to the edge.

First my heart stopped and then I vowed to never leave her unattended on a raised surface again. From that day on she was only on the pool table, on the bed, or other surfaces when I was right next to her. However, when she was on the floor I didn't really think much about it because she could roll over but she couldn't get far since she didn't have the base for crawling nor could she roll back on to her back. That was then...

Today I realized no matter where I put her I shouldn't expect her to be in the same location. She can't crawl yet put she can roll all directions and push herself all over the place. Today I was in another room and I could hear her getting frustrated because she was trying to sit up then she got really quiet. I didn't think anything of it but instead figured that she just accomplished what she wanted to. I made my way into the room a couple minutes later and found her contently munching on the corner of my camera. She had made her way all the way across the room with no effort at all!

Now, I understand when parents say, it is quiet, they must be up to something!

Avocados - BLW

If you ask my husband what the two foods (or things for that matter) that he won't eat his answer will always be avocados and liver. I am the same but my list is much longer. I have never liked avocados. I tried them in guacamole form when I was younger and put it right up there with tarter sauce. Disgusting stuff it was. The next time I tried them it was on a sandwich and I was about nineteen. I didn't know someone was trying to poison me by putting avocados on there, I just bite it and tried not to throw up. I opened up my sandwich and saw the disgusting green thing sitting there. I haven't tried them since.

Well with this baby led weaning I am really trying to give my daughter a plethora of different foods, including those that I wouldn't normally eat. So we picked up an avocado this week. They really are very nutritious - even if they taste just horrible.

My baby girl loved them. She liked licking it off her fingers but she also enjoyed painting with it.





Disclaimer: Avocado stains. Badly. Feed your child in nothing but a diaper!



The funny part about this. I was cutting up that disgusting thing to give her some and thought you really should try this again, you never know. Knowing I would still hate them! But guess what, I don't mind them, I actually like them! Maybe this BLW adventure will benefit both of us. The husband still didn't seem fond of them though.

That Feeling...

Any woman who has ever taken a pregnancy test knows that feeling. It is either that feeling of total fear and anxiety hoping and praying that you don't see two lines. You just aren't ready or you weren't planning on having another. When you look down at that screen you either feel total relief or you feel total anxiety. It all comes down to one little tiny line.



Or...

You pee on that little stick and you are hoping and praying for two little lines. Maybe you have been trying for a month, maybe two years, or maybe it was unplanned. Either way you wait anxiously praying that you will see that second line. I remember vividly standing in my work restroom, praying I didn't have to wait the whole wait time to see the results. When I finally looked down and saw those two little lines that made a plus sign I was beyond happy. I started to cry. I sat in the bathroom for probably twenty minutes composing myself and letting it sink in. The next thing I did was take a break and run to the pharmacy. I bought another pack of test just to make sure. I didn't get much work done that day. I was on cloud nine.

Lately, I have been seeing on a number of blogs that people are expecting their second little one. Part of me feels sad inside knowing that I will not feel that feeling again. That wonderful, happy, and unexplainable feeling that you feel when you see those two little lines. I feel pretty confident that I only want one child but I really enjoyed that feeling. Anyone who has wanted a baby and finally sees those two little lines knows exactly what feeling I am talking about.

Sesame Pecan Chicken Strips

I have a subscription for the Food Network Magazine. I haven't cooked anything from it besides my failed attempt at fruit leather. I had my husband flip through it and pick out a recipe for me to make. His Mom is over for a little while and I don't want to subject company to salads every night like I do him. I changed it up a little and here is my version. They loved, loved, it. I served it with fried rice. This subscription might turn out to be a wonderful thing.

Sesame Pecan Chicken

Dipping Sauce

1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard
1/3 Cup Apricot Preserves
1/2 t Fresh Thyme

Chicken

2 Chicken Breast Cut in Strips
2 Large Egg Whites
1 Cup of Panko Crumbs
3/4 Cups Pecans (Process in Food Processor to Crumb)
1/4 Cups Sesame Seeds
1 t Smoked Paprika
2 Cups of Canola Oil

Sauce: Mix all three ingredients together and set aside.

Chicken:

Mix egg whites until frothy.

Mix Panko, pecans, sesame seeds, and paprika.

Dip chicken in egg and roll in crumb mixture. Pressing to makes sure crumbs adhere.

Cook chicken for three to four minutes on each side.

Houston we have a problem....

She has figured it out...



Ladies and gentlemen she has figured out how to take her diaper off. I am unsure of how to proceed now. They don't talk about this in the parenting books.

Licking the Mixer

One of the best parts about making cookies, brownies, frosting, and cakes is being able to lick the bowl or the mixer. It is pretty hard to cook without doing that. Now my husband he takes this pretty seriously. It isn't like a treat it is a must! His Mom is the same way. One time I asked my husband if he wanted to lick the mixer and he said no so I threw it in the bowl of water in the sink. He stood and said something along the lines of what are you doing! When I reminded him that he said no he informed me that he was just joking and that I should have known that!

So the other day when I was making my ice cream I asked him if he wanted to lick the mixer, of course he did. What I didn't know was that he was going to attack like he hadn't eaten in four years.







He doesn't mess around! Next time he might check if I have my camera near me before he dives in like that.

Hey Bug...

Hey bug what have you been eating?

Nothing Mom just chewing on my spoon, why do you ask?



I was just wondering bug, so you haven't eaten anything?

No, Mom, just my spoon, and my frozen ring. It helps with my teething Mom.



I am sure it does bug. Well are you hungry, would you like some carrots or cucumbers to munch on?

No thanks Mom, I am pretty full.

6 Months!

My baby girl will be turning six months soon!

She is now able to roll all ways, spin around, and she has the base for crawling but currently just pushes herself backwards. She is still working on sitting on her own, she is getting much stronger and can almost do it! She is babbling more and she continues to grow. She has grown a couple inches taller in the past couple months and she is now in size 24 months clothing! We are going to start foods soon (we have tried a couple). Time is flying!



She really is liking the cucumbers!



Thank you Food Network Magazine for the free grocery bag (my baby fits in it perfectly)!

Like Father Like Daughter

My husband has this annoying habit of chewing on writing utensils. I have been know to chew on the end of pen as well, on occasion, but there isn't a safe writing utensil if he is around. The one that kills the germ freak in me is when he takes the pencil on the table at karaoke. Seriously, a pencil in a bar, that millions of drunk people have touched? Seriously, have you seen bar bathrooms, they don't all wash their hands! You are going to stick that in your mouth!!

My little cutie has picked up her father's habit:





She was enjoying that pen way too much. I think it is time to stage an intervention.

Dear Kirkland:

Kirkland, we love your brand of diapers. They are cost effective (if you can honestly put the phrase cost effective with the word diapers) and they are high quality. Not to mention my little bug is not allergic to them like she is some other brands. We have used your diapers from the smallest size and quickly worked our way up through the sizes. Yesterday, we made a final step to size six diapers. For most this wouldn't big a big deal because most likely their toddler will soon be leaving the exciting world of diapers. However, my baby girl is only six months old. So we are hoping that either her thighs slim down as she learns to crawl/walk, and as she grows taller or that you decide to make a size seven diaper.

Do you see this. I did a little CSI size comparison for you:



Do you see the size of that thigh. That big beautiful thigh. It is perfect but it isn't small. We don't have any issue with the waist size of the diaper it is fitting those little leg holes around those beautiful thighs.

So please Kirkland, consider making a size seven diaper. Maybe you could put a bear on it. You haven't used the bear yet.

Thank you kindly for considering our request.

Taste Like Chicken

You know how some foods you can eat all on their own and some foods are used to make dishes. For example I know people who will grab a tomato and eat it like it is an apple but I also know people that will only eat a tomato if it is in spaghetti sauce, ketchup, pizza sauce, or something of that nature. Or take an onion, most people are not going to just bite into an onion but they will toss it in every dish imaginable to add some flavor. Or you could even go so far as to look at peanut butter, a lot of people won't just lick it off the spoon but they will gobble up a peanut butter cookie or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I am starting to realize that I don't really like the taste of chicken. It isn't a really pleasant taste all on its own, free of spices and sauces. My baby girl likes for me to eat nothing but chicken but she doesn't care for spices or sauces. Chicken cooked in olive oil, period! I have been off real chicken for awhile because it was getting really old. I have been sticking to sliced, already cooked chicken. Really who wants to go through all the trouble of cooking real chicken breast when the only thing that adds flavor to it is olive oil? Where is the fun in that? All that safe handling of raw meat and I can't even top it with some cheese and marinara sauce!

Anyways, back to the story, a couple days ago I decided to cook up some real chicken breast and use my vegan bread and make a crust on it. What I realized with every single bite is that I don't care for the taste of chicken. I like the taste of chicken when it is fried with a buttermilk crust. I like the taste of chicken with it is in chicken Parmesan. I like the taste of chicken when it is surround my cheese and beans and enchilada sauce. I like the taste of chicken when it is smothered in BBQ sauce. I like the taste of chicken when ... well you get the idea.

I already knew I felt this way about some other meats. I love steak. A great steak is hard to pass up but I don't really care for the taste of steak all on its own. I like the flavor of steak when it is dripping with A-1, or soaked in sauteed mushrooms and floating in a pool of butter. However, I never realized I felt this way about chicken as well. However, I can honestly say before my picky eater came along I had never just cooked up a plan chicken breast and consumed it. After I am done breastfeeding I probably won't ever again! Bring on the sauce, the butter, and all that goodness that makes chicken taste wonderful!

Over Protective

I knew that I was going to be an over protective as a parent. Just my personality. One of my pet peeves is when strangers put their grubby little paws on my baby doll. Strangers come up and run their fingers through her hair. They run their fingers along her soft little cheeks. They take their grubby little paws and grab her little grubby paws. I have no clue where their grubby little paws have been. I don't know what they touched last. I don't know when the last time they washed their hands. After they they hold those little grubby baby paws she puts them in her mouth. Babies put their hands in their mouths!

However, I realize this is just human nature. I have yet to snip at a person for doing this. I just give an internal little grumble and move on.

Today was the first time someone did something that unnerved me enough to make my heart start. I will start by saying I know the person had the best of intentions, I know the person was simply trying to be nice, and I understand nothing bad was going to happen.

The only time a person has ever taken my baby from me was when she was about two weeks old. I took her into the doctor. I was tired, I was frustrated, I was sad, and so many other emotions. She wasn't sleeping, she was screaming all day, and we had yet to figure out why she was sick. My doctor took her and told me to just in the room for minute and rest and come out when I was ready. I didn't get nervous. I trust my doctor and the people that work for him. More importantly he makes way too much money off my baby to let anything happen to her. She is probably the sole source of his daughters college fund.

Today I went to lunch with a good buddy of mine. It was an Asian place and immediately when I walked in the Asian's ladies started to touch and play and chatter in their native language with her. She was loving it. I think part of it was the higher pitch in their voices. My friend and I were visiting and catching up when out came our food. Our server looked totally baffled and said something along the lines of you can't eat while you hold a baby and plucked my baby girl off of my friends lap. My heart stopped, I didn't want to be rude but I also didn't want my baby out of my sight. I let her walk around with her and play with her, always making sure I could see her. I quickly inhaled most of my food. Luckily my baby girl pulled out that sad panda lip, so I plucked her up and thanked the lady.

Parenting sure comes with a lot of new lessons to learn.

Blueberry Bushes

Last year I planted a ton of things. Fruit trees, blueberry bushes, and a ton of tomatoes and other vegetables. The new trees didn't fruit nor did the trees we had already in the ground because of the crazy weather. The vegetables did great though. I was looking forward to doing it again this year but that didn't happen with my little bug in tow!

Nothing did well this year either except the one thing that I didn't expect to! I didn't think our blueberry bushes would fruit for a couple years and at that I thought it would just be a couple here and there. However, they did great. We do have a few peaches though that are still working on getting ripe! I am hoping they stay good and turn out super good!



Hopefully next year I will get more accomplished!

Carrots - BLW

We haven't dived completely into food yet but I have given her a couple things while I am cooking just to see what she would do. Carrots were our first attempt because I knew she wouldn't be able to get much from them (I am still nervous about food making her sick.).





She really enjoys playing with the carrots. They weren't cooked though so they were still hard and crunchy. She sucks on them and munches on them. Next we tried apples. She honestly didn't care a less for them. Wouldn't even touch them to throw them down on the floor. After her six month check up we are going to start offering her more food of different varieties but right now I am keeping it pretty boring. She really doesn't seem to be too interested in food unless we are eating it, of course. That is were the effort will come in. I will have to start cooking my food so that she can eat what I am eating or eat what Daddy is eating (since he eats a wider variety).

Other Uses

You know when you purchase something and they don't always list the other uses of the items. Maybe they leave them out because they aren't approved or safe. My baby girl found another use for her mobile. It is one of her favorite games.







What she does is sit on the edge of her crib, watches the mobile go around, around, and around. She tries to catch the animals and pulls on them until they pop free and then she simply grabs the mobile and chomps on the little flowers that the animals where attached to it. What the pictures don't convey is the sound that the mobile makes as it is trying to turn but she is preventing it from turning. Too funny but she thinks it is the best game ever! I am sure there was some warning on the box about making sure the mobile isn't within their reach! But it is supervised play!

Rolling, Flipping, and Crawling

A couple days ago Ellie finally figured it out. She can now roll from her tummy to her back. Previously she could get her hip turned under but she would then stop herself with her arm or she would get the arm and then the leg would stop her. However, she finally got both together and has learned the art of rolling. She is now a rolling fool! I have a video of it but I haven't figured out how to take snippets of a video and post them, working on it though.

She is still working on crawling but she has the base down. She just ends up scooting backwards though. Even though she doesn't have crawling down yet though she can make some ground.





She is really getting strong. On a side note that little brown bunny seems to be on her favorite list. Her Grandma got it for her, it smells like chocolate, even after being washed. Normally when she scoots backwards she leaves her toy behind but not this bunny. She scouts, grabs and pulls it forward, scouts, and repeats. It is pretty cute.

Little Rascals

I think part of the fun of having a baby with hair is messing with it during bath time. However, I am sure by the time she is old enough to look at pictures and actually understand what is in them she isn't going to understand what inspired this little spike. My guess is the movie Little Rascals won't be popular during her lifetime. However, you never really know, I consider it a classic!

Facebook

Sometimes it amazes me how important certain things can become to people. Whether it is the latest clothing or technological gadget fads can sweep through and make even the most frugal of people run to the stores. I myself have been a victim of fads. I remember wanting a particular expensive pair of jeans when I was younger just because of the brand name. I recall these game we played in grade school that required these little token things, pogs, maybe they were called. I just had to have some of them or my life would not continue! However, most fads sweep through, leaving just as quick as they came.

It amazes me the things that hold their ground. Facebook is one of those things. It has taken on this larger than life form of its own. I remember when I first got on Facebook I didn't give it a whole lot of attention. Next I became hooked, checking in always, updating my status, and playing mafia wars. However, that quickly passed and now it is more of a check in once and awhile to see what people are up to. I rarely ever post a status update and don't comment much on others status updates.

This morning though when I checked my email I realized just how important Facebook was becoming to people. An email from a legal site asking me "Who gets your Facebook page when you die?" Are you serious people? Really! I was completely dumbfounded. I made my will to ensure custody of my minor child and my assets. However, never once when I thought about my assets did I consider my Facebook page among them. Normally, I would see something like that and laugh but honestly I think I am still just so disturbed that I have yet to be able to laugh about it.

When the day comes that I feel I need to write in my will who has control over my Facebook page... I give my friends and family permission to plan an intervention that involves removing my phone, my laptop, and anything else that people think connects them to the real world.

I sit here thinking about the commercial of the young girl urging her parents to join Facebook because older people are increasingly becoming anti social. In the background it shows her parents out on a mountain biking adventure with their friends. The young women sits, alone, in her apartment commenting that her parents only have like thirty friends on Facebook and she has over six hundred. She states.. now that is living.

What is the world coming to. On my death bed I am sure the very last thing I will be thinking about is my Facebook page!