February Photo Challenge...

...the last set of pictures:

February 23: Light
Morning light shining on AR

February 24: Kindness
The girls being kind and playing together.

February 25: Self Portrait
Self timer...me and my Mini Me acting goofy before bath time.

February 26: Artwork
Matt's cousin drew this of Emma and Shadow a couple years ago and we keep it on our fridge.

February 27: Family
Cousins!

February 28: Gratitude
So grateful for this beautiful little girl!

 

And there you have it, friends, my first photo challenge! How'd I do?

9 Month Check-Up...

...last Tuesday, AR had her 9 month check-up. This is our first check-up with the new doctor although we've been there 3 times already...once to meet him, her second flu shot (which the orignal doctor forgot to tell us we needed) and a couple weeks ago when she was sick. There are definitely pros and cons to both the new and the old. With the new, although I despise waiting forever, I appreciate the fact that he spends more than 5 minutes talking to us and I'm able to get all of my questions answered. On to the nuts and bolts of the visit!

Height: 26.5 inches (same as 6 months)

Weight: 17.8 pounds

So when they first weighed her, it was 16 something. I was shocked so I asked her to re-weigh her. I mean we'd been there 2 weeks ago and she'd weighed 18.4 then, granted she wasn't stripped down to her diaper but still. So she re-weighed her twice and 17.8 was the final number. She's in the 25% for both height and weight. She's typically always been in the 50% for the most part.

I wasn't too concerned about her height. I mean, look at Matt and I, we're no tall people but I was really shocked at her weight. In 3 months, she barely gained a little over a pound? And we've started eating WAY more table foods so I thought that would count for something. The nurse assured me, and reassured me, that she's perfectly fine and I shouldn't worry. Ha-she obviously doesn't know me that well!

While I am concerned, I'm not too worried because developmentally, she's right on task. She says mama and dada (even said nana twice the other day!), she does patta cake (or gives high fives), she's crawling, pulling up, cruising (although I don't think walking is in the near future; whenever you hold her hands to walk, she immediately drops to her knees), uses her pincher grasps, is VERYsocial and, not to mention, the sweetest little girl ever! I am worried because all the 12 month clothes I bought her are summer clothes but we have PLENTY of clothes in all sizes so I shouldn't be too concerned with that.

She had one shot this month and this is the first time that it's turned red and got a knot under her skin. I called the nurse and she said to try to massage it out when I changed her diaper but not to be too concerned. If it's still there in a few days then give them a call back.

We got the go ahead to start sharing all table food with her! That's going to make thing so much easier and probably make me eat healthier too. I typically share whatever I'm eating with her and I'm trying to stay away from foods that could create bad habits for her so maybe that'll help me too. There are still some foods that I'll wait for awhile such as eggs. Matt and I are neither skinny people so I'm going to try to stay away from mashed potatoes for awhile. I know, ridiculous, but if I can get her to eat regular potatoes or sweet potatoes without butter/salt then I'm all for that. He said the most important thing to help with childhood obesity is when they are toddlers to limit screen time and keep them active which we already do both. I'm just trying to start some good habits with her at an early age so she doesn't have the weight struggles I have.

Bottom line, I have a happy, healthy 9 month old! Just look at her, who would disagree???

February Photo Challenge...

...this week's pics:
February 16: Animals
The furbabies!

February 17: Memories
Our wedding quilt!

February 18: Something New
The jewelry store that DH and I got our wedding rings is going out of business. I bought this diamond necklace for AR to have something from the store. I plan on giving it to her down the road...confirmation, sweet 16, graduation...we'll see when the time is right.

February 19: Best Friend
Hopefully one day they'll be best friends; looks like it's a good start!

February 20: Daily Routine
Pump milk, make bottles, lay out food for breakfast and lunch, clean bottles, pump...repeat.

February 21: Night-time
All necessary items needed for bedtime each night.

February 22: Clothing
Baby leggings!

Pram in the Snow!!!

...AR got to see the snow for a second time today and for the second time in the history of my building, we closed early. My mom came up yesterday to beat the storm because she's going to Jeff City tomorrow. We went ahead and took AR to the sitter today figuring I'd get off work early and we'd already paid for the day. Matt went to work and called me 3 times telling me to leave early. I was planning on leaving at 1:15. Around noon, Matt called me for the second time and told me he was running home to change socks so he'd go pick up AR and my mom would watch her until I got home.

 

I'm so glad he did! It took me about 40 minutes to get home (normally 15-20) and the roads were HORRIBLE. I'm so glad I didn't have to drive with her in the car. When I got home, Nana was baking some lactation cookies and my sweet baby was napping. I knew she had this little suit that would be perfect to put her in to get some quick pics in the snow. When she woke up, she and I browsed through the closet and found it.

 

Back story: Meg had posted on Twitter about a pram. I had no idea what the hell it was so ensued a long Twitter conversation about it. Jenni emailed me the other day about that she was going to dress Em in a pram. I emailed her back, "What the hell is a pram???" Turns out, AR had one in her closet! So here's AR making the pram look good:

 

Mommy, AR and the pram in the snow: 

"Look, Ma! I can fly!"

Hope everyone was safe out there on the roads!

AR 9 Month Photo Shoot!!!

...these photoshoots are getting harder and harder every month! I didn't have Matt available to help this time so they aren't as good at the 8 month shots.

 

Um...the wicker basket? Yeah, she totally rolled right out of it! No worries, no babies were hurt in the taking of these photos.

Holding on for dear life!

Surprisingly, I got really good bear shots this month.

She's loving the bear these days!

"What's this on my shirt? I don't know but I want it off...NOW!"

I didn't get a really good one in the wicker basket since she rolled out of it so after all the other pics, we tried again. As you can tell, she did NOT want the headband, I even tried giving her a ball to play with but she still wanted NOTHING to do with it.

And when it was done, she crawled in my lap and said, "Hold me, Mommy." And I happily obliged!

Only three more of these photo shoots to do! Bittersweet...my baby is growing up so fast!

Miss AR is 9 Months!!!

...9 months!?! This month brought on lots of firsts for you. You are growing up so fast!

*You took your first plane ride to Florida and were such a good girl!

*You started last month doing this but this month you have perfected waving hi and bye. You even say something along the lines of hi as well. Everyone thinks this is so cute which, of course, it is.

*I swear while we were in FL you started saying ma-ma. It's so precious to hear you say this even if you don't know what it means. Update: definite first word: ma ma!!! I'M SO PROUD!!!

*You've started turning pages on your own.

 

 *Last month, your bottom two teefers popped through but they've really become visible this month.

 

*You got your second cold but this time I took you to the doctor because you'd lost your appetite and were running a low fever. I couldn't send you to the sitter's since you had a fever but luckily, Grandma and Aunt Jessie helped me out by watching you in the morning so I only had to take a half day off work. I took you to see the nurse practioner and she said your chest sounded good and you tested negative for RSV. She didn't really tell me what you had but she gave us some antibiotics. You were back to your normal eating that night and happy self at bedtime.

 

*You love the front window and especially how cold it is. You put your lips on it and move back and forth. It is so hilarious! Every time you do it, I grab the video camera and then you stop and just grin at me. I've cleaned the windows more since you've been born than in my entire life!

*You attended your first birthday party! Your cousin turned 9 years old, geez, I feel old. I still remember the day SHE was born. It was a gymnastics party so you couldn't do much with the big girls but you enjoyed pulling up on the low beam and cruising along it.

*You poohed in the toilet for the first time! Daddy was giving you a bath and when he lifted you out, you had the urge to go so Daddy lifted the toilet lid and bam! Your first pooh in the potty!

*You saw your first snow!

*You crawl up the stairs by yourself now and I might add that you're pretty fast! On the topic of fast, you're a speed demon crawling too. It's like you turn your turbos on! Daddy has started calling you Turbo.

*You said da da for Grandma and your Aunt Jessie. Daddy was so bummed he didn't hear it so even MORE than normal, he's been da da da da ALL the time in hopes you'll say it for him. Your Valentine's gift to him was finally hearing you saying it the night before.

*I'm trying to get away from baby food and let you eat "regular" food. You pretty much eat a little bit of what we have for dinner if it's bland. You love your yogurt dots and I recently started giving you frozen peas which you love too. We'd been doing puffs but I also started giving you Cheerios so once we're done with the puffs we have then we'll just do Cheerios.

*You've had your first two playdates this month. One with Emma at our house and one with Emma, Soph and Dez at Ms. Angie's. You had a blast at both and it's nice for Momma to have some adult time while you have fun too. We will definitely be doing more of these in the near future!

*You love the outside and looking outside. When it's nice out, we'll open the front door and you'll just stand there watching everyone go by. I feel like this picture makes you look like such a big girl, not a baby.

So there you have it, sweet baby. Mommy can't believe how fast this is going by and in just 3 short months, you'll be a one year old...next month you'll be double digits!?! Mommy loves you, sweet AR, more than you'll ever know. OXXO (not the store)

February Photo Challenge...

...this week's pictures:

February 9: Inspiring Person
My inspiration to lose weight and get healthy! I want to be an active mommy that AR's proud of so I hope to get back to running soon and show her that her mommy can rock it on the race course.

February 10: Nature

February 11: Something Old
Old basketball in the treeline

February 12: Hands
Bath time with Daddy

February 13: Written Words
AR's first Valentine from her Daddy. Her gift to her Daddy-he finally heard her say da da!

February 14: Love
I love this girl. I love every minute I spend with her.

February 15: Movement  

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

...Happy Valentine's Day from the G-Fam! While AR and I were in FL, Nana helped us with a Valentine's Day shoot. Don't think I would have been able to get naked baby Valentine's Day photos outside in MO!

 

Our evening will be pretty low key but I got us an awesome gift! I bought a Groupon for ziplining in Grafton. I'm hoping we can make a day of it on a Saturday in April. Hopefully Matt will be as excited as I am about it. How are you celebrating???

Pinterest Blueberry Muffins-yum!!!

...Operation Bye Bye Baby Weight is in half swing! I say half because I'm not to the point of cutting calories and counting every single thing I put in my mouth since I'm still breastfeeding. Once I start that (around her first birthday), then it will be in full swing. In the meantime, I'm trying to exercise (I even ran 12 minutes the other day-hell yeah!), cut out sweets and trying to eat healthier aka no more cheesey sides with dinner instead "yummy" vegetables!

I've turned to Pinterest for some ideas and found some really good ones! Saturday morning, I made these:

The original recipe is here and was actually for Strawberry Shortcake Muffins. I had a bag of frozen blueberries so that's why I switched out the fruit. I also asked Matt to buy the Greek yogurt. He came home with blueberry and honey flavored...not plain. I have to say though that I think the blueberry flavored with the blueberries made it extra yummy. They weren't super sweet but they were VERY filling.  I also just didn't use any liners, just put them in the tin and sprayed the tins cups.

Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cup	Oats (old fashioned kind, not quick cooking)
1 cup	Plain low fat greek yogurt
2	Eggs
1/2 cup	Baking stevia OR 1 cup sweetener of choice that measures like sugar 1
1 1/2 tsp	Baking powder
1/2 tsp	Baking soda
1 1/2 cup	Strawberries, diced, and patted dry + (optional 1/2 cup strawberries, diced to place on top of muffins)
Optional	1 tsp lemon juice
	The paper liners don’t work well when baking with a base that does not include flour (which is the case with this recipe), they always seem to stick to the paper. If you don’t have a silicone muffin tin or liners, I recommend buying the foil cupcake liners at the store, and removing the paper inserts so you are only using the foil part of the liner! That way no sticking will occur! Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners, (or just use a silicone muffin pan). Place all of the ingredients (except the strawberries) in a blender or food processor, and blend until oats are smooth. Pour mixture into a medium sized bowl, and stir in strawberries. Divide remaining 1/2 cup diced strawberries over the top of each muffin. (This step is optional, but it really makes the strawberries burst with color and flavor on top of each muffin!) Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.   

Here are some other Pinterest recipes we've tried lately at our house:

This one has no title but it was chicken, green beans and red potatoes. OMG! This was so easy and so delicious! I figured we'd have leftovers but DH scarfed it all down. Definitely a repeat meal.

Bacon & egg muffins I made these one morning and then took it to work to reheat for dinner, definitely yummy and easy so we'll do it again. A little on the greasy side though.

Whole chicken in a crockpot-so good and EASY! Matt forgot to lay it out the night before so we put it in rock solid frozen and by the time we got home, it was falling off the bone. This was so tender and so much, we ate off it the entire weekend. Couldn't really taste the Coke (maybe because of all the water from when the chicken thawed?) but could definitely taste the lemon.

We're having Easter with my family a couple weekends early at my house and I plan on searching Pinterest for some delicious dishes!

February Photo Challenge...

...this week's pictures:

February 2: Beauty
For some reason, I could NOT think of anything to take for beauty. I kept asking Matt what he thought and last night, he said, "Here's your picture of beauty!"

February 3: Happiness
Happiness is bathtime!

February 4: Music
I hear this music play in my sleep!

February 5: Morning Sky
Our backyard

February 6: Books
Lots of books to choose from but today it's "Valentines for Everyone!"

February 7: Something Funny
Dinner time is usually always a funny occasion!

February 8: Color
Leg rolls and Momma's high heels! #lovemyAR