Ellie Update

Ellie is a walking machine… Have I said that yet?  In the past two weeks she has started moving everywhere like it is nobody’s business.  She is even twirling when she dances with Madison.  It is super cute.  It is also really nice that she can walk on her own.  I know some people dread this phase when they no longer just sit where you plop them, but I feel like we both gain some freedom.  She toddles into different rooms, explores her toys, and the other day she crept back downstairs after retrieving her purse to play with.  I am hoping by the time summer comes, she is more sure-footed and can roam the playground by herself! 

Ellie is gaining independence in other areas of life as well.  She has always been an avid eater.  Well, she took it to a new level at the end of March.  She insists on feeding herself everything now.  And when I say everything, I mean she used to let us handle the spoon food – you know, the yogurt, the applesauce, the soup, the cereal, and the cottage cheese type of food.  Not anymore.  Meals have gotten a little messier – and a little easier.  I can now eat my own food and don’t have to worry about feeding her.  In some ways, I appreciate this.  The worst meal so far: tomato soup!  I tried to load it with crackers, so it wasn’t as bad.  The best dual purpose meal: oatmeal.  She gets a facial and a meal all in one!  (Maybe we should all try it sometime!) 

   

She is also just getting over a double ear infection.  I am pretty sure someone in this house has been sick pretty much everyday since at least January.  I am done!  I will have visited the doctor at least once a week for the past four weeks, I think.  Yuck.  Anyone else ready for spring and less sickness?   Yeah, me, too.

Easter Eggs

We painted Easter eggs for the first time this year… well, I had done it before, but it was a first for Madison.  I bought a set of dye that had little paint roller brushes.  I thought this would capture her attention a little better than watching the eggs sit in a bowl. 

   

Strangely, it wasn’t really her favorite thing.  I don’t think she liked the way the dye felt sticky on her fingers.  I was just glad that no one dropped eggs, spilled dye, or otherwise caused a major mess.  I will say I wasn’t extremely happy with the result of that method of dyeing eggs; the dye ran down and bled together when we set them up to dry.  I really wanted to try volcano eggs… maybe in the summer when we can go outside!

In the meantime, Ellie worked really hard on making play-doh creations.  She was impressively content for the entire time!

   

Ellie's Scrapbook Complete

I thought I would share Ellie's First Year scrapbook.  I just finished it.  If you click on the link it takes you to the Shutterfly website.  You can click full screen to see the words better - the birth story is super wordy, but don't be intimidated.  Feel free to not look at all, or just look at pictures.  I just know that I won't see some of you in person to show you the book for quite awhile.  Enjoy!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0ActWzRw2ZuWTww&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Pinterest

I had forgotten that I was posting when I tried new recipes.  So, here is an update.  I think I included all of the pins I have tried, but I will have to be more diligent in the future!

I have tried Crockpot Chicken Fajitas.  You slice all the onions and peppers still and put them in the bottom of the crockpot.  Then, you season the chicken breast/meat and put it on top of the veggies.  After cooking for 4-6 hours, you remove the chicken and shred it.  I kept the chicken separate because then people can decide how much chicken they wanted and how many veggies they wanted.  You could also dice this, but I enjoyed it shredded.  It was a keeper.

 

I made the Restaurant Salsa by the Pioneer Woman.  It appealed to me because 1) I LOVE the salsa at a Mexican restaurant, and 2) it used canned rather than fresh tomatoes, and I do not like needing to peel tomatoes.  It was pretty good.  It may have needed just a touch more salt, but overall, I think it was a winner.  It does make a large batch – 3 small mason jars (12 cups, I think).  My mom suggested freezing it if I thought it would go bad.  Might try that.

 

I found a new favorite side thanks to my friend, Christi.  We went to Cookbook club at the library and talked a bit about food and a bit about life.  I mentioned I had the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook, and although I thought many dishes looked good, I had yet to try many.  (It is a beautiful cookbook full of pictures from her life on the ranch.)  Christi told me to try her Crash Potatoes.  It was a winner – EASY and DELICIOUS!

 

I also made No Bake “Food Storage” Granola Bars (long name!)  I thought they were easy to make and pretty good.  My complaint is that they crumbled easily, so it wasn’t a very good snack to let the kids munch on as they mosey around the house.  If I was any good at tweaking recipes, I would do that to this one.  What I liked about it originally is that it had things that I have on hand – hence the name “Food Storage” granola bars.  The idea was good, but end product was not as sturdy as I had hoped. 

 

 

Oh, and one more thing to mention…. it is not food related.  We bought an iPad when we cashed in some visa card points.  I had looked for things that I thought Madison might enjoy.  I have a puzzle game, a letter activity, a drawing and coloring app, but her FAVORITE thing I found is this website (not an app) where I lady has recorded herself reading books aloud – not animated or done-up.  It just shows the book and you hear her voice.  It does make me jealous that Madison prefers that over me at times, but we compromise, and she gets one on the iPad and one from me (or Jeremy) before bed.  The website is http://justbooksreadaloud.com/  It is awesome!  Enjoy this if you have kids! (A bonus is that, currently, Jeremy has a cold and little voice, so this is a perfect way for him to “read” stories with Madison.)

Saturday

Saturday was a bit surreal for me, and I am just now getting ready to post.  I talked to my mom about 8:30am just about random things.  I got a call back from her at 9:15am.  She had called the squad to come take my dad to the hospital.  He has had a lot of issues, mainily with his back, and none have resulted in a trip in the ambulance.  I figured this was serious.  I tried calling my mom to see if she wanted me to come sit with her, but it went the voice mail.  Not long after the phone rang.  It was my dad!  He said, you called me while I was in the ambulance.  I just wanted you to know I love you.  I let him know I loved him too, and that he had scared me.  Then, he said, Well I better go, they don’t know I am on my phone.  Sneaky, Dad!  I realized, then, that mom never got my message, and I decided to just go up. 

I am so glad I could be there just waiting in the room with them.  Dad had presented stroke like symptoms, which they declared a TIA (or reversible stroke).  There was no damage shown on the CAT scans and all the blood tests and other testing they did came back clear. What a blessing!  It was  a super scary thing. 

In the meantime, Jeremy carried on with the things we had planned for the day.  His parents ended up coming over to hang out, too, which I was glad about.  It meant that he wasn’t alone with the girls, and that he could spend some time with his folks. (I end up seeing them frequently since they watch the girls a lot, but Jeremy usually misses out.)  They had lunch, and then went to the Easter Egg Hunt at the park. 

They said Ellie seemed to know exactly what to do.  When she saw an egg, she just bent down and picked it up.  Such a big girl!

Madison is a seasoned pro.  She knows that finding an egg means finding some candy treats!  She is a candy-a-holic, but I figure she gets it honestly.  Maybe I can just help her reign it in a bit before she is in her 30s and still battling the call of the candy (well, mostly just chocolate for me nowadays!). 

   

They saw some of their cousins there as well – Landen and Cale!

    

They even got to meet the Easter bunny!  This was a first for Madison.  Jeremy said she enjoyed seeing it, but Ellie was a little leery – and who wouldn’t be!  I think in the one picture, both the bunny and Madison realized that her Easter basket had tipped over… at least I think that is what they are pointing at :)

   

My dad came home from the hospital on Monday, and we are praying that he won’t need to return via ambulance for a long, long time… or ever would be even better!

Ellie is a WALKER

….officially.  She has been walking – cruising on furniture, holding fingers, between people, etc.  But Thursday was the first day I would say she was a walker.  She can get up from a seated position

She can move anywhere she wants.  She can even DANCE!  (Although she still has more fun doing this … her high leg lifts … while holding hands.)  She and Madison were on the dance floor together after supper tonight.  And last night they were playing chase down and back the hallway.

   

Here are just a few more pictures I took at supper to entertain myself tonight…  Ellie with her praying hands

Madison smiling for the camera

Ellie’s “O” face

I hope everyone has a great weekend. 

We Got Outside

Okay… we didn’t get outside today.  It was last Friday, and I just never blogged about it.  Madison thinks she must always wear a sundress, so I hounded her to get warmer clothes over and under her dress and socks on before her sandals.  In the end, she was covered, but I think she is a summer girl.  The loved breathing fresh air, and I have to admit, it wasn’t as cold as I imagined it was going to be.  Here are some pictures from the day: