Friday, July 27, 2012

Dear Charlotte


You are cracking me up these days. You laugh at so many things. Your smile is completely infectious, and it's amazing what I will do to earn one.

You have backwards-scooted yourself partially under the couch and a shelving unit. Next time you do this, I'm taking a picture before I rescue you.

You don't really seem to get the concept of eating, but it's fun to feed you avocado regardless. This weekend we're going to try carrots, I think.
Love,
mama

ps. please excuse the blurry photo. You just won't hold still!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Look what I can do!

I can finish projects!

A brief aside: "Look what I can do" always makes me think of MADTv's Stewart. Am I the only one?

I have been using my breastpump box to store bottles, nursing pads, pretty much anything related to breastfeeding. It's ugly, though.

So I covered it with some scrapbook paper. Much better!
Next up: covering the Pampers Sensitive wipes box. And finding a box for the gRefills. And then, covering that, too!

I have talked about covering this box pretty much since the day I started using it. I even pinned something on Pinterest to spur me into action, but that didn't work. Half an hour in Joann's, where I found a sweet pad of scrapbook paper, did the trick.

5 months!

I'm only two weeks late on these...

To recap, months one through four:

And here she is at month five:

Her hair is still growing vertically:

She is so close to sitting up on her own now:

Charlotte likes:
scooting around on the floor
jumping in her jumperoo and exersaucer
being tossed in the air
avocado! (more details to follow)

Charlotte dislikes:
holding still
naptime
teething
all this hot weather we've been having

She is so fun these days; she's really starting to take notice of everything around her. She's exploring with her hands and mouth, and is growing like a weed. Love her to bits!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Monday, July 23, 2012

Unjust August

Back in June, Alex and I took part in Keight's June Va-Voom challenge. It was fun, but we came nowhere near winning - not terribly surprising, but somewhat demotivating. In July, we decided to try our own version; thus was born Oh My July. And now, I bring you Unjust August.

An aside: I'm going to need help coming up with rhymes for all the -ber months that are coming next!

Keight's challenges are focused on exercise. I found June Va-Voom was great for proving to me that you can work in work-outs throughout your day, to good effect. Honestly, it doesn't take that long to do a 30-second plank, or 5 push-ups. She's put up the August VA-VOOM challenge, and spots are open until July 31.

Unjust August takes that exercise challenge and adds in a splash of healthy living. In addition to lunges, cardio, and planks, we've got: % weight lost, fruit/veg servings, and water consumption.

So tell me, who wants in?! It's set up as a Google Doc, and I'd be happy to include you. All you'd have to do is enter your values into your assigned worksheet. The leaderboard/competition page shows who's on top, as well as a breakdown of points by category.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Dear Charlotte

Dear Charlotte,

I can't wait to give you your first solid food this weekend - avocado, here we come. I hope you're as much of a guacamole lover as the rest of the family.

You're scooting backwards with ease these days, and rolling over and over and over when backwards isn't cutting it. I can't even imagine what's going to happen when you go forward.

You are itty bitty and already you're helping me. Thank you.

Love,
mama


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Whirlwinds

We experienced two different types of whirlwinds the weekend we went to vist my family - a literal one, in the form of a massive thunderstorm that knocked out power to over a million people in the Greater DC area, and a figurative one, in the form of a jam-packed trip home.

We had SO MUCH FUN. Warning: lots of pictures ahead.
We flew out of Albany on Friday. Charlotte handled it like a champ. She got a lot of compliments, too.

Saturday was family day - we hung out with my mom's side for lunch, then went to visit my dad's mom.
 This picture tickles me. Thank heaven she hasn't got any teeth yet!

 I have no words. It kills me that she is so clearly a dog lover.

Cousins and a beaming great-grandmother.

We visited with my little brother, and even went out for a baby-free nightcap.

On Sunday we had some family friends over for coffee cake and fruit. We were back at the airport by 1:45 Sunday afternoon, and back home by dinner. I think. It's been a while!

It's what's for breakfast

A few weeks ago, upon realizing that Matt was eating hot oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast four days a week (gag), I offered to make him some overnight oats. He seemed to like them, so I thought I'd give them a try.

Yuck.

I guess I just don't really care for oatmeal? I don't know exactly what I disliked, but they were narsty.

But I was a little jealous of his healthy breakfast. Plus, let's be honest - for the past year I've been almost exclusively eating Cheerios for breakfast, and I was ready for a change. So I got to looking around the internet, as one does, and found this recipe for breakfast cookies. I liked it because it didn't have eggs, flour, much sugar, and looked as though it could be eaten in the car. That last one was hugely important to me, because 3 days out of 5, I forget to eat breakfast in my rush to get out the door.

After talking about making them for the past week, I finally broke down and actually did it last night.
Verdict: tas-tee!

I modified the original recipe a fair amount, because I only had one banana. I combined the following in a large bowl:
1 mashed banana
~2/3 c unsweetened applesauce (mine was homemade and chunky)
2 c old fashioned oats
A generous handful of chopped walnuts
A slightly more-than-generous handful of Ghiradelli mini chocolate chips
An obscene amount of cinnamon (I shook that shaker til the batter was covered!)
~1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Then I scooped out 9 cookies onto a cookie sheet, and baked at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Next time, I'll probably reduce the applesauce to about 1/2 cup, and add a dash of salt.

I'm working from home today, so I didn't need a transportable breakfast, but I enjoyed my 2 cookies regardless!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Shut the front door



Our babysitter sent this over to me today - thanks Katie for sharing!

Could I be any prouder? Our little over-achiever isn't even five months old yet. Guess that's the latent Washingtonian coming out.

Wallflower

Working is not awesome, but it's a necessary evil, and it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Seeing this every morning certainly makes it a little better!


Every time I see it, I laugh.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Monday pick-me-up

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind taking a nap on the couch right about now...

Friday, July 6, 2012

Dear Charlotte

Dear Charlotte,

I'm so, so sorry that you got your first diaper rash this week. Your poor, cute little tush looks so uncomfortable!

You were a great little traveler this past weekend, and for that I thank you. You and your father left a sea of smiling faces in your wake as you strolled around the airport.

You are looking particularly big these days. Could you slow it down a little?
See? You don't even fit on the monitor screen anymore.

Love,
mama