To Live is to Learn

I was watching our baby girl in the bath last night, splashing and scooting around and realized, she's 11 months tomorrow! EEk! I know I say this every month but truly this year has gone by so fast! One more month and I'll have a one year old. I'm starting to think after 11 months I'm never going to get used to her growing up. Boy has 10 months been more adventurous then 9. She is so mobile. She still doesn't straight up crawl but that doesn't matter, she crab crawls all over the place, pulls herself up on everything and just when I think she can't do that,she shows me she can. She is able to walk assisted quite steady now. She'll even take up to 4 steps toward somebody when she feels like it. However; at this stage she knows it's faster to crab crawl so that is what she does most of the time. She is such a good natured baby, we are so blessed. This past month, Tim had two weeks of vacation off, in that two week time frame we volunteered at

Hey All, So we have reached the point with Maggie, where hubby and I think we should read some books about discipline and come to conclusions about how we want to raise our kids, specifically.  That being said, anyone who has spent time with me about parenting knows I prefer the gentle way with babies and the grace-based way with older ones. Therefore, the books I want to read are as follows: 1. Spirit-led Parenting 2. Grace-Based Parenting 3. Give Them Grace 4. Loving Our Kids on Purpose 5. Loving the Little Years 6. Shepherding a Child's Heart Those are all the ones I can think of right now. I'll add to this list as I find more. I'm sharing this info with you because I hope to read them then review them. Stay Tuned!

Hey, Look! Can you believe it! Maggie is only 10 months and 1 day and I'm writing her update, it's a miracle! HA! Anyway, baby girl is growing, growing and growing. She's quite quick with her crab crawling. She's getting into everything and I find myself saying "no Maggie" way too much during the day. Here I thought our house was fairly baby proofed, it is when it comes to the outlets but I'd be lying if I said I wish we had an entertainment center that had doors and a way to lock up the DVDs. I do my best to hide cords but boy can she find any and all ones that  I miss. Eating solids is still two steps forward one step back. One day she likes something the next she doesn't. The latest success was peaches tonight. She ate them, yay! We'll see if she still likes them in the morning. I don't know what else to feed her for breakfast except cheerios and fruit. Have you other mommas have other suggestions? She won't eat oatmeal or anything

Okay All, So it's been a very busy month. Obviously, since our girl is nearing 10 months and I'm barely writing this. I do know however; if you read my blog you know I'm terrible at keeping up with it. So for those of you who stick with me thanks. Anyway, onto our baby. So 9 months has been a month of many changes and milestones. First she's a mover now. In the past month she has learned to go from her belly to sitting, from sitting to pulling herself up and she's even taken a few steps before falling down. She is also recently doing a sort of half crab walk half crawl. Needless to say she is fast and can now get into anything and everything her heart desires. Slow down there baby girl!  :)  In the last three days she welcomed tooth number 3. She took her first airplane ride and was a total champ! She's beginning some separation anxiety as when I put her down and walk away she cries. She has starting reaching for people she wants, mainly mommy but occasion

Hi All, Boy does time fly. I meant to write this last week and it just kept getting away from me, so here I am, writing it now. Sorry it's a little tardy.  So our little baby is 8 months. Last Saturday when I was bathing her and realized when she woke in the morning she'd be 8 months I began to cry. This past 8 months has gone by so quick! Time truly does fly the older you get. Anywho, our baby. Let's see, last month she welcomed her first tooth. This month she got her second and is working on a third. This means she has some fussy days and sleeping at night is still very hit or miss. Sometimes I'm so tired I get frustrated being woke in the middle of the night multiple times. But as I sit nursing her I try to cherish every moment. Because it feels like just yesterday she was a helpless little infant and now she's trying to be more independent. I know there will be a day I even miss waking up to her crying in the middle of the night. This past month has be

Hey Everybody, So most of your know that I am a die hard Cardinals fan. Yes, I'm aware my team consistently struggles but I still love them and will always root for them. This is fun in my marriage because hubby is a Chicago Bears fan. So, at church this month the topic is called playbook and while the playbook for church is the Bible the pastor and all the staff are encouraging us to dress in football attire. So fun! Couldn't wait to dress up our girl, well come to find all the Cardinals stuff I had she has outgrown and all she has is a Bears shirt, which I don't mind if she roots for them both (based off of her attire) however, I like my baby girl to look like a girl and the shirt was just way to boyish. Therefore I thought I'll make her some girly sports outfits. Well, while perusing Pinterest I found a tutorial for a circle skirt and the idea came to me, I'll make our little girl a circle skirt with one side Bears and the other side Cardinals and so

Hi Guys, So I love ice cream and call me crazy but I just knew there had to be a way to make it without an ice cream maker. Besides the fact that is it just me but are ice cream cartons shrinking and the price sky rocketing? So anyhow, I was on  this  website for another reason and came across this recipe. After looking in my fridge and realizing I had all the ingredients I thought I'd give it a whirl. Without further ado, homemade ice cream Simple ingredients: vanilla extract, sweetened condensed milk and heavy whipping cream. Add vanilla to condensed milk and stir Blend whipping cream until peaks form Gently fold in whipping cream into milk/vanilla mixture Cover and put in freezer safe bowl Freeze! I did overnight. So, I couldn't believe it worked! It didn't have any freezer burn on it and it's totally soft. It is pretty sweet so if/when I do this again I will decrease the amount of condensed milk. Overall I like it. Hubby doe

Hi Everybody, So our Maggie girl is 7 months and 5 days, hehe. She's getting so big. She's changing more and more each day.  Let's see, where to start. As most of you know, I think, we started her on solid foods last month at 6 months. Well, it's a month later and she still doesn't like solid food. She much prefers food from me. Oddly enough, I think she has a really sensitive gag reflex. Feeding her either makes her gag and vomit or she spits it back out. (Which she is getting really good at I might add.)  Yesterday I actually tried, feeding her with my finger instead of a spoon and not pureeing the food and wouldn't you know she actually ate some of it. Go figure, she's got a mind of her own, little sweetie! Three days before she turned 7 months she finally cut that first tooth! No more mindlessly putting your finger in there to let her gnaw, she'll get ya!  Everybody said when she was born she would lose the red hair she was born with, not s

So last Tuesday, hubby was working very late, so instead of the planned tacos for dinner I decided some waffles sounded good, well wouldn't you know I didn't have any syrup. Well, thank you Pinterest for having pretty every tutorial somebody could need. the ingredients Melt sugar in water Bring to a boil, not rolling boil Remove from heat and add maple extract So, it tastes fine, however, it's pretty watery. So, two things, I want to find a recipe for a thicker consistency and also would like to buy some pure maple extract, maybe Sprouts has some? It worked though and it went well with my waffles. That's all for now.

So, I was on pinterest the other day and found a brownie in a cup. I had never thought of this idea but it was late at night and my sweet tooth was a callin, so I gave it a shot. 1/4 C flour, 1/4 c sugar, 2 T cocoa powder and pink of salt. Add 2 T EVOO and 3 T water Stir to combine Microwave for 1-1:20 min All done! So quite frankly, I'm not  too picky and it was super easy, it took like 3 min to make and it wasn't a whole pan, because knowing me I would eat the whole thing. Yes, I have that little self control around sweets  : /. Overall, I was happy with it and will probably do it again.