Friday, April 27, 2012

Sophia's Spring Program!


Sophia had her first Spring Preschool Program last week!  She was amazing up on stage!!  For the most part, she got all the motions correct, and always was singing!  Many of the other kids were fascinated by the bubble machine at the back of the set!  Not Sophia, she kept singing her heart out for Jesus!  Her class sang "Give Your Heart to Jesus" to the tune of the Hokey Pokey!  It was just precious!!!

Sophia's teacher and her husband created the set!!  Awesome huh?

Sweet girl!

"You give your hear to Jesus!"

Cute picture box after the program!

Her buddy Isaiah!



Sweet and Spicy TEA Review

Check out my guest blog post over at What Mama Wants!!



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

7 months and FINALLY life is getting a little easier ...

I never thought 7 months would come ... the days and weeks go very slowly, but the months seem to go quickly!  Easter Sunday, Jackson turned 7 months old!  I have really been able to enjoy him much more over the past month!  Some of that *might* be due to the fact he is sleeping better at night!!  Ha!!  Praise the Lord!!

Sitting up ... almost by himself ... still a little wobbly at times!
I forgot how much fun it was making baby food!!  We have been busy trying lots of new foods.  Honestly, I can't seem to keep track of the 4-day wait period between different solids!  Sometimes it is just a day! Oh well, the things that are different with baby #2 compared to the first born!!  No weird rashes yet, ok digestion!

Here is what we have tried ... and the verdict ...

- Avocado (yummy, LOVES it!)

- Sweet Potatoes (who doesn't love these?)

- Pears (YUM!)

- Bananas (He likes them ok, but likes the other fruit better!)

- Organic unsweetened applesauce (yum, yum!)

- Stonyfield Farms Organic Whole Milk PLAIN yogurt (seriously this boy LOVES this stuff!  He could eat it at every meal if I offered it!)

- Organic green beans (major fail ... he won't even eat them when they are mixed with a cube of sweet potatoes!)

- Mango (YUM!!  The more ripe the mango, the sweeter!  If you puree it long enough, you can get an awesome, store quality consistency!)

- Summer Squash (only likes it when it is with 1 cube of sweet potatoes!)

- Steel Cut Oat/Millet/Raisin homemade cereal (grind equal parts oats/millet, add powder to appropriate amount of boiling water, in the mean time, soak 1/2 cup - 2/3 cup organic raisins in very hot water, then puree, mix together!)  YUM!!

- Peas (steamed like normal, then pushed through a mesh strainer to leave the "skins" behind!  He enjoyed them with a splash of breast milk and a bit of applesauce!)

- Prunes (These are a HUGE hit!) - I never knew you could make these until I found a great recipe.  I read that plums were one of the least sprayed fruits, so it wasn't as big of a deal to purchase organic.  I found some Sunset D'Noir (preservative free) dried prunes/plums, steamed them, then pureed them.  I had to add a LOT of water (probably at least a whole cup to improve the consistency.  It was very sticky!  They are sooooo good!!  I even enjoy them!!

- Peaches (steamed organic frozen peaches, took out excessive water, pureed!)

- Next on the list ... zucchini and butternut squash!

Figured out the "dropsy" game rather quickly!
For the past 10-12 days, Jackson has been giving me at least an 8-10 hour stretch off the bat, followed by an early AM feeding (5/6am), then back to bed till 8am!! :)  I can get used to this!!  I feel like a new woman and have so much more patience!! Ha!!  At least the first 5 out of those 10 days, he was waking up around 1 or 2am, I went in to his room, re-positioned him in the crib, then left, he only cried about 10-15 min each time.  Now, he usually doesn't wake up till 5 or 6am!!

My daddy is HILARIOUS!

Sweet BOY!

Love my pop-n-pal Elmo version!
Any fun foods your baby likes that you think I should try making??  I am always up for new recipes and suggestions!!

Thanks also for your prayers!  I know many of you have prayed for direction and wisdom with his sleeping issues!  I covet those prayers!!!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Easter Memories

It seems like the month of April has just flown by!  I can not believe it is already the 17th!!  Whew!!

Sophia and I had a blast coloring eggs!  I used a recipe on from Pinterest for my hard-boiled eggs and I won’t do it any other way in the future!  Thank you Alton Brown!  As you see in the picture, place all the eggs on the racks in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.  Transfer them immediately into a cold water bath.  The eggs were perfect and took absolutely NO effort on my part!  I also learned that 6 eggs was PLENTY for a 3 year old, plus it only cost me $0.80!  I bought the kit last year on clearance for $0.50!  A very cheap, yet fun activity for Sophia and I to do during Jackson’s nap time!






We had a busy Easter weekend this year!  Saturday morning we had a great time at the Easter Egg Hunt at a park near our house!  Sophia was much more into it this year compared to last year!  It is amazing the difference 1 year makes in a little kids life!  We celebrate Resurrection Sunday at church bright and early, came home for Jackson’s nap, then headed down to the g-wood to visit my parents!  We had a WONDERFUL meal, the kids too awesome naps, and we finished with another Easter Egg Hunt in Mimi and Papi’s yard!  Sophia was a little bummed the eggs were empty, but still enjoyed finding them all over the yard.  Next year Hannah is going to give Sophia a run for her money!  I am excited to see how Jackson does next year as well! :)  My cousin Lori and her husband Chuck also joined us and we had a great time reconnecting with them!

Two of my FAVORITE people!!

Hannah and Sophia at Mimi and Papi's!

Cousin Lori!

Time to eat!

This past weekend we were able to celebrate my sister's 29th birthday!  I keep teasing her she has to enjoy this last year in her 20's before the big 3-0!!  We had a WONDERFUL meal thanks to my mom's awesome cooking as well as a Dairy Queen ice cream cake!  Sarah always requests one every year!!

Mimi and her girls!

Papi and Jackson!!