Eight Months Old!

I just can’t believe I am writing this post.  This first year is going so fast, and we are really enjoying every minute of it.  Aubrey continues to amaze us every day and we have been so blessed to have such a great kid.  Here are a few snapshots from Aubrey's first Christmas.

Aubrey got some wonderful gifts, including a rocking horse that was handcrafted by her Papaw. 

It is a beautiful family heirloom, and we look forward to being able to enjoy it for years to come.  It was great to see all of the family together including all of the new additions that we have gotten this year.  Next year should be really fun when they are all mobile!

Speaking of mobility, she is still army crawling, but getting on her knees more and more.  She is big on exploring, and we often have to move her back to her play mat when she gets out of sight and into things.  

Another big change this month is sitting on from crawling and pulling up on anything and everything, the dog food was her first temptation, now she just does it to do it.  We have since lowered the crib mattress to avoid that temptation for now.

Our eight month pictures went a little bit better than last month, although she is definitely harder to keep in one place these days!  She loves her new boots that were made by my friend Amanda!

Seven Months Old!

I’m a little more timely on this post!  Now that we are getting into a routine and adjusting to our new normal, I am able to have a little time where I’m not running around like crazy.  It has been a weekend of runny noses and sneezing at this house, and I hope all of that is over soon. 

Now, onto the important things, such as my little baby being seven months old already!  She becomes more and more of a little personality every day, she is so bubbly and friendly, although she still has a touch of separation anxiety, she really has been doing well with people other than Mama and Daddy.   

Trying some green beans

She definitely loves her grandparents, and this past weekend, she had her first over-night stay at Nana and Papaw’s (my parents) house, while Joey and I went to a cooking class.  She did great, and Papaw was already spoiling her by letting her stay up late.  I have to admit, it was nice being able to get a full night sleep and even sleep in a little.  It was much needed!    

Another big development this month has been increased mobility.  She had been doing a slow, hesitant belly scootch for the last week, but that has now developed into a full on, no fear army crawl, and boy is she fast.  Now baby proofing is definitely on the agenda, as Joey and I just haven’t thought about it.  I guess we are in denial that our little baby is growing up so fast.

Helping with the Christmas Wrapping

Due to her new skills, taking her pictures this month was a bit of a chore, I thought I would share the good and the bad, so you could see exactly what we were dealing with.  Hopefully I can get some better pictures Christmas morning!

Taggie Blanket Tutorial

I have gotten a crafty bug since I had Aubrey, and one thing that I have tackled is making a tag blanket in order to give Aubrey a way to satisfy her new obsession with tags.  Since I know a lot of other mamas out there with babies around the same age, I thought I would share how I made this fun little toy.  The best part is this little project only cost $5 to make!  I made this blanket for a gift exchange at Aubrey's daycare.

To start, you need thread, pins, two types of fabric (I used just some extra fabric I had around the house and some minky fabric I got at the craft store), and a roll of ribbon.   

Cut the ribbon into 5 inch strips, I made 18 strips for this blanket, but you may need more or less depending on the size of the blanket that you want to make.

After all of your strips are cut, place the "good" sides of the fabric toward each other.  Fold your ribbon strips in half and pin them in between the two pieces of fabric.  Repeat until you pin the desired number of tags.

Once you have you pinning complete, sew the two pieces of fabric together, about 1/2 and inch to an inch from the edges.  Sew three edges completely, and leave a 5 inch space in the middle of the fourth edge.  This way, you can turn the blanket inside out and all of the tags will be sticking out.

To finish out the blanket and close up the hole, sew a seam around the edges of the blanket,  half an inch from the edges.  

Then your blanket will be complete!  I just kind of winged it when creating this, so please add suggestions of ways to make the blanket easier to make.

Happy Sewing!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We are in the midst of the holiday season, and it has been so much fun this year seeing Christmas through Aubrey’s eyes, and getting to share our traditions with her.  We have gotten the house all decorated and I have already gotten to start baking for several of the Christmas parties that we are attending.  Thanks to Pinterest, I have been trying several new recipes and all have been pretty tasty. 

Here’s a look at how our household is getting into the Christmas spirit!

The tree in the living room, our "fancy" tree.

 Our new stockings

 The tree in the basement, the "family" tree.

 UT Christmas trees, made for me by a dear friend

Here is another great idea that I found on Pinterest.  We pinned ribbon onto our cabinets, and I spray painted clothes pins gold to attach the Christmas cards onto the ribbon.  It was so easy and such a great way to display our cards from family and friends.


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Six Months Old!

I’m a little late in my posting, as you can see.  Going back to work has really cut into my blogging time, but more on that later.   Aubrey turned 6 months old a couple of weeks ago, on my 28^th birthday to be exact, so we decided to have the whole family over for a little party.  Aubrey got some new outfits and got to model the bunny slippers that Daddy got her when he was out of town. 

In a flurry of last week, I only managed to get one good picture of Aubrey in her 6 month onesie, so here is that…

As far as development goes, Aubrey is doing great.  She is able to get down and get into crawling position, but the more she tries to move forward, the more she scoots back, so we often have to rescue her from corners when she backs herself in a little too far.  She has also started saying bye and da, which is cute.  She also really enjoys bath time now and is even sitting up in her big girl tub!

When she had her six month doctor visit, she weighed in at 13 pounds, 13 ounces (10^th percentile) and is now 26 ¼ inches tall (75^th percentile).  She seems to be growing up ok, but not as much out as she used to be.  We have now added breakfast, and she seems lately to want to be eating all the time, so I’m thinking she’s going to start catching up here soon.  The doctor asked if she had been pulling up, and as soon as I said no and the doctor left the room, the little stinker started pulling up!  She was a champ with her shots, which was good, and I did ok as well. 

This month also marks my original goal of 6 months of breastfeeding!  Yay!  It has been a very rewarding six months, and since it’s going so well, I’m going to extend my goal to a year.  Pumping at work has not been as bad as expected, so we are going to just keep going as long as possible.  The biggest help in reaching this goal was the support of Joey and our families, and I am so grateful that they are there for me and understand how important breastfeeding has become to me and Aubrey. 

Hopefully, I will have time over the next couple of days to get in a couple of more entries, as so much has been going on!  Stay tuned!

Happy Halloween!

Fall is one of my favorite times of year, and this Fall so far has not disappointed with the beautiful foliage and great weather.  Last week was Halloween, and of course we got Aubrey started early with some Halloween traditions.  First up, pumpkin decorating – Joey was the only one in our family that carved a pumpkin this year.  I chose to decorate my pumpkin and Aubrey’s pumpkin with puff paint, thanks to an idea that I found on Pinterest.  I just drew out a little monogram and then added some flair to mine.  For Aubrey’s, we traced her hands and made a spider.  It was so cute!

We also went trick or treating on Halloween night.  We didn’t really go in the neighborhood because many of our neighbors had already seen Aubrey’s costume at a block party a couple of weeks before, and I felt that taking her around again would just be an obviously play for candy by me and Joey.  While I like candy, I will just go and buy my own, thank you.  We did hit my grandmothers, and of course the grandparent’s houses.  Aubrey got some books and toys, and ended up staying up a lot later than we expected her too.  I think she had quite a bit of fun.  Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Recipe Share - Pizza, Pizza!

As I was making dinner tonight, it struck me that I should share the recipe with all of you, as well as a variation that I have found works with even the most picky of our friends.  You can be all fancy and make your own crusts, but I usually buy the Pillsbury thin crust, especially when I have a coupon for it.  For the cooked chicken, we usually grill ours, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, or you could go the easiest route and buy a roasted chicken from the grocery store.     Here they are!

BBQ Chicken Pizza:

1 pizza crust

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese

2 pieces of cooked chicken, cut into pieces

1/2 pound of bacon, chopped -  see below for how I cook mine

1/3 cup red onion, sliced thin

Prebake crust for 5 minutes according to package directions or crust recipe.  After baking, brush crust with BBQ sauce.  Top with cheese.  Add chicken, bacon and red onion.  Continue baking according to package or recipe directions.  Mine looked like this:

Pesto Chicken Pizza

1 pizza crust

1/2 jar of pesto sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese

2 pieces of cooked chicken, cut into pieces

Prebake crust for 5 minutes according to package directions or crust recipe.  After baking, brush crust with pesto sauce.  Top with cheese.  Add chicken.  Continue baking according to package or recipe directions.

Cooking Bacon – I used to fry bacon, which lead to a huge mess and left a smell in the house all day.  I ended up finding this method, and I haven’t fried bacon since!  Just take a cookie sheet and cover with foil, place bacon on foil and place into a cold oven.  Turn oven to 400 and bake 15 minutes or until bacon reaches desired crispiness.