Leap Year Day

How are you spending your extra day this year? I'm spending mine in a meeting...aallll...ddaaayyy...loonngggg...

So much for extra time. :-)

Dear Jillian (7 months)

Dear Jillian, 

Happy 7 months to you! You are now closer to 1 than you are to..none..And even though you're still 5 months away from that landmark, I have the majority of your birthday planned out in my mind. I'm just a little excited.  

The other night I was feeding you somewhere around 2am and I looked at you laying across my lap and thought, "Are you REALLY this big?" It's true. You are.

 
Your little personality comes out more and more each day. You're definitely the happiest in the morning. I love going to get you when you wake up because you get so excited to see us- you smile so big and kick your legs and start thrashing around. It's adorable. 

You can balance really well sitting up and even on your hands and knees! You can pull your knees under yourself sometimes, but I like to put you there to help out a little..then you rock back and forth and get so frustrated that you can't actually go anywhere.  

We finally got around to getting you a highchair- I even put it together myself (one day you'll see how big of an accomplishment that is for me because I HATE following instructions to put things together). I think you really like it. You also don't try to flip out of it like you were starting to do when you are in your Bumbo chair...so that's better. 

You LOVE eating solid food. So far you've tried rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, bananas, apples, pears, squash, and sweet potatoes. Just this week I started giving you little dissolving baby cereal puffs. You have a hard time getting them from your clenched fist into your mouth, but when you do you love chomping them with your two little front teeth. Even though you love your food, you HATE the sound the Baby Bullet (blender) makes when I puree it. You truly get scared and start waving your arms and yelling. It's the saddest thing I've ever seen, so usually your Dad has to take you downstairs for that part.


You don't like when anyone takes a toy away from you. You just recently starting doing this pouty face where you close your eyes tight and pout your lips out and make a very whiny noise. It's almost funny. 


I'm probably most proud of your latest accomplishments in sleeping- YAY! You've slept 10 straight hours through the night on several nights lately. Your naps are also starting to get longer, between 1-2.5 hours! Let's keep that up, I think it makes everybody happier. 


You also love playing in the bathtub now, especially with your rubber duck. You also like when I wring out the wash cloth over your hands, it makes you giggle. But you do HATE getting your pajamas on after your bath. 


Today I gave you a metal bowl and a whisk and showed you how to bang it to make noise. Of course you loved it- you love to play with most things that aren't meant to be toys. I should probably just buy you remotes, keyboards, and items with lots of tags and you'll be as happy as a clam.


You babble a LOT more than you used to. You make sounds like "ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da" among lots of over goos and coos. 

Every month I think, "There is NO way you can get ANY cuter." I love that every month I'm wrong, and you do. 


I love you!


Mom

Oh..my...heavens..

I think I gained 5 pounds last night. Of those 5 pounds I think I only regret 1 one of them. We finally celebrated Valentine's Day by going to the Melting Pot in Salt Lake. Hol-E CRAP. SO good. No place like the Melting Pot to make you feel extremely large and glutenous.

We got spinach & artichoke cheese fondue, then a variety of meats to cook in our little pot- sirloin, chicken, shrimp, and tuna- then finished off with milk chocolate fondue swirled with crunchy peanut butter and pureed berries served with fresh fruit, brownies, cheesecake, pound cake, marshmallows, and rice krispie treats. Yeah. You gained 5 pounds too just reading that.

I'd do it again. Soon.

Thanks for babysitting Michaela, that was seriously our first date in MONTHS. :-)

Valentine Goodness

If I see one more piece of chocolate I'm literally going to vomit. This might do my diet some good. I'm literally grossed out by it. I'm thinking this is a good strategy though...gorge on little heart-shaped chocolates the entire day of loveyness and then avoid it for the next 6 months.

I even ate the cheap nasty chocolate this year just because it was there. Geez. Where have my standards gone?

Anyway. It was a fun day.

I made these little goodies for the kiddos. Mostly because I was feeling crafty...only partly because I like them. *wink

Every year I also have a "Valentine box competition." They decorate boxes to hold their Valentine cards from each other. These were a few of my faves...the creative little boogers:

James also sent these lovely things to my place of employment. They came in a box (thanks 1-800-Flowers!) and one of the kids asked, "Are those flowers fake? They came in a box..."

Flowers in boxes MUST be fake. Der. Every 8 year-old knows that. *wink

The rest of the night was super chill. Heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphys, a baby who wasn't interested in an early bedtime, and Zumba. :-) 

Hope your day of love was full of it.

...love that is. 

V-day

"Valentine's Day is on Tuesday! Tuesday is February 14th, which is Valentine's Day! This Tuesday is Valentine's Day!" says the annoying man on the radio. Wait...when is it again?

I'm pretty excited about it. No big plans really (although we are going to the Melting Pot thanks to one of my student's parents who gave me a $50 gift card; that I am definitely excited about). Chalk this holiday up to another "first" for Jillian. Not that she can eat chocolate...or appreciate the pretty scent of flowers. But she would probably appreciate me letting her try to eat the flowers (anything goes in that mouth these days).

I've found a TON of CUTE V-day stuff on pinterest. (Check it out here). Gosh that site is like crack for your eyes. It inspired me a little to make cuter than usual goodies for my class (because the usual is a cheap little card with a sucker stuck through it or something). I'll put the final product up on Tuesday (I left some supplies at school...).

They're inspired by these adorable printables over at Pumpkins and Posies.

Also made these for my young women's group at church (although unfortunately didn't get to printing them out- burned by my procrastination).

May you get lotsa lovin'...and chocolate. And if you get neither, you should at least buy yourself some chocolate. But don't buy yourself some lovin'. Because that's illegal.

Superbowl Sunday

I don't really watch professional football much...but it's still fun to get together for the biggest game of the year- and that we did. Jillian was a little overwhelmed at the clapping and yelling at the TV, but other than that she had a good time. She liked watching Sarah's dogs (first time she'd ever seen one) and she wished she could've eaten all the delicious food I kept tempting her with. 

Speaking of delicious food...I love an excuse to try a new recipe.

Behold:

Bacon Jalapeno Poppers 

(courtesy of blogchef.net)

Ingredients:

6 fresh jalapeno peppers (halved lengthwise and seeded)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Dash of onion powder

Dash of garlic powder
12 slices bacon

2 stalks green onion

1. Blend cream cheese, onion & garlic powder and chives

2. Stuff in jalapeno halves

3. Wrap in bacon, secure with toothpick

4. Bake @ 325 for 45-50 minutes

5. Prepare for your house to take on the aroma of Denny's

These were one of the faves. 

Bite-sized Baked Brie

(courtesy of joythebaker.com)

Ingredients:
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed but still cold

1/2 wedge of brie, cold

1/3 cup cherry jam (or any flavor you fancy!)

1 large egg, beaten

splash of milk

All-butter, store bought puff pastry  usually comes frozen and folded into thirds.  We’re going to use these folded thirds to our advantage.  Cut the puff pastry into thirds along the creases.  Cut each panel into four pieces.  They’ll be 2 1/4-inch tall and 3-inches wide.  One sheet of puff pastry will yield 12 rectangles.  Cut each rectangle in half.  You’ll have 24 little rectangles that will create 12 little rectangle pockets.

Combine beaten egg and splash of milk.  Brush 12 of the small rectangles with egg wash.  If you’d like to make brie bites on sticks, now is the time!  Place a popsicle stick halfway up the puff pastry and press in gently.  Place a small sliver of brie (rind and all) on top of the egg wash (and stick).  Top with about 1/2 teaspoon of cherry jam.  Take another square of puff pastry and press between your fingers to make the rectangle slightly bigger.  Place puff pastry on top of the cheese and jam.  Use a fork to press the edges together.  The egg wash will act as a glue.  Make sure to seal the edges well by crimping with the fork.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place prepared brie bites on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush with egg wash.  Sprinkle with a touch of coarsely ground sea salt.  Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

These were good, if you like brie. This was my first time trying brie, and I'm actually not a fan. They still looked pretty to me though. 

Hope you had fun eating good junk food and yelling at your TV too. ;-)

Weekend in review

Weekends aren't long enough. Especially when I make goals to clean my entire house AND undertake and pretty huge craft project...neither ever gets finished. 

Friday night I went to girl's night with the Wardell/Wiggins girls + Kristen. Good times. They're hilarious. Much craftiness and inappropriate conversation ensued.

I've been wanting super good Mexican food lately (one of the perks of living in Utah..it's only one state above Arizona- which basically IS Mexico). We tried this new place called Milagros. I got "The Happy Enchilada". The name does not tell a lie. James got a large plate of way too much meat. I give it two thumbs up. Jillian also sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time! She loved it. She didn't love not being able to eat our delicious comida.

 

The large craft project was making 6 new pillow covers for my living room. This didn't happen. I made one. Only after much tribulation with my stupid sewing machine that I only partly know how to work (it's only stupid because I'm like the step before novice when it comes to sewing).

(Shopping for craft supplies like a champ!)

I did manage to upcycle the lamps in our bedroom. I spray painted the bottom black and added ruffles to the shade (I'm still looking for a new switch pulley thing though).

(I couldn't really get a decent "after" picture..I didn't feel like unplugging it and taking it back upstairs where there was more light..laziness..)

This weekend gets B+. I'm so for making weekends Sunday and Monday instead of Saturday and Sunday. If we could all think that and make that happen, I'd appreciate it. 

:)

Dear Jillian (6 months)

Dear Jillian,

When the heck did this happen? You are growing much too fast my dear. I'm pretty sure I say that every time I write one of these...but it's true. It's bitter sweet. I look at pictures of your tiny, skinny little body from months ago and miss your first little noises. But each time you get a little bigger and learn to do something new I get so excited for you! It's the coolest thing to see you learn how to do things.

You are rockin' the rice cereal. You can eat it sitting up in your Bumbo chair now without it dribbling out of your mouth. You get quite mad if I'm not right there ready with the next bite for you.

You are starting to like peek-a-boo! You even anticipate us popping up again.

You've learned how to shake a rattle! It seemed to happen all of the sudden. I handed it to you and your little arm starting going crazy shaking it.

You can sit up! Not all the time by yourself, but for a solid 30 seconds to a minute. Even longer if your Boppy is behind you to give you a little more balance.

For some reason you are OBSESSED with the tiniest of details. Like the light switch above your changing table. You also love playing with tags (more than the toy the tag is attached to actually). The other day you also saw your shadow and just stared and stared. It was pretty funny.

I hope you'll be crawling soon-ish. You don't seem in any rush. Although you can push yourself all the way up on your arms, and sometimes you scoot yourself backwards a little, but that's about it.

You have TWO teeth! One is about halfway grown in and the other just cut through. They're both on the bottom. You didn't seem THAT fussy to be teething, so A+ job on that. You did bite me the other day though, so that was no bueno. I suppose I should be a little more careful around those chops.

We're trying to wean you off one of your medicines again. Last time wasn't so successful, but so far you've been getting half of your regular dose and you've done wonderful! Hopefully we'll be able to cut that one out completely over the next week or so.

You are quite the wiggle worm. It's getting fairly challenging to change your diaper, because you usually try to roll over. Once you do start crawling I'm sure you'll want to be all over the place all the time.

You grab faces. And hair. You like to do it the most when you're eating or falling asleep. Those little fingernails don't feel very good when they're digging into skin.

Falling asleep has gotten MUCH easier for you. We attempted to let you "cry it out" a couple of weeks ago, but that was an utter failure. The first night it took you an hour and a half and the second night you barfed 20 minutes into crying, so we decided that wasn't gonna work. Fortunately you're doing much better without that whole process. You just like your binky, a hand to hold, a few songs and you're out. You're also doing better at STAYING asleep, which is much appreciated.

Keep being awesome kid.

Love,
Mom

Heavy stuff.

Ever see someone else's situation and think to yourself, "Wow..I'm glad that's not me."

My mom often says the following: "I think before this life we all knew what our trials would be. We looked in our little "bag" and thought, "Oh..that's going to be hard.." But then we looked in someone else's bag and saw their trials and immediately wanted our own back."

That's definitely true. As I think back on all of Jillian's reflux issues and how hard that was for us to get get figured out (I was an emotional wreck- I thought my baby was broken), I look at what some other people have to experience with their children and think that exact thing...I'll keep my own little bag of trials.

I don't get all gushy/emotional about motherhood much. I'm too tired. But one thing I've never experienced before, and I don't think you are capable until you are a parent, is that I would do anything, absolutely anything, to ensure Jillian's health, happiness, and safety. That's a weird thing- to be so incredibly in love and involved with someone so little and so new that you can say that with such surety. I suppose that feeling only intensifies as they grow up and you realize your power over their well-being gets less and less, and their own independence gets to be more and more.

I've been reading two other blogs recently that have really made me think about this lately. 

Courtney Roth

Tripp is a little boy who has EB. A skin disease that causes him to blister with the slightest amount of friction to his skin.

Kelle Hampton

Nella is a little girl who was born with down syndrome to parents who were unaware of her circumstances until her birth. 

The whole process of a child is fascinating to me. Creating something out of nothing, feeling it grow inside of you, and then watch it develop into this little being with a personality, thoughts, feelings. It's a miracle. Having any child is a miracle. Having a perfectly healthy child? I feel like that's one above miracle. I take that for granted far, far too often.

Even though having a baby is hard. Waking up anywhere from 1-5 times a night is hard. Putting someone else's needs above your own is hard. I'll take it. Because those two women have one above hard, and they do it with such grace and gratitude. 

I don't believe people who say they're "grateful for their trials." I think what they mean to say is they're grateful they only have to endure their own. I'll take my own little bag of trials, and maybe after peeking into someone else's, I'll be a little more grateful for the ones I have to get through.

Affirmation.

With the week that it was, this was highly appreciated. 

Thanks Ava. You rock.