Friday, July 30, 2010

Our Little Shark

 

This afternoon we all went to Splash Island, a smaller outdoor water park. Knowing how much Liam loves swimming I was so excited to get him to the water park where I knew they has a  lot of stuff for him to do. There was a large pool that was 3 and 6 inches deep and he has a blast crawling around in the water.

 

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Alex’s family is visiting us for a few days so we have a fun filled schedule of events coming up. Yesterday we went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art but we didn’t actually go to the museum, we went on the 100 acre grounds that surround it.

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Looking at the fish.

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Someone was wiped out by the end.IMG_2518

Monday, July 26, 2010

Our Weekend

The Brickyard race was this weekend so I made Liam a Kyle (Rowdy) Busch shirt for the occasion.   IMG_2396 - Copy

Someone was excited about going up to take a bath!

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On Sunday I made my first etsy sale! Yay!!!!!

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We also got a new refrigerator on Sunday after a total “everything happens for a reason” chain of events. Normally every Sunday we are at softball all day. Well this Sunday, since the race was in town, softball was cancelled. Around noon i went into the kitchen and thought i smelled a pool, only to keep walking and realize it was electrical burning. After a few minutes we realized it was the refrigerator, pulled it away from the wall and the smoke came pour out. Yikes! Thank goodness softball had been canceled or who knows what would have happened! So we ran to Sears and picked up this bad boy, a Kenmore Elite and we love it. NOTE the magnetic stuffed cat at the bottom that Liam loves to play with.

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…and Liam (and Nigel)

 

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Liam and I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby this morning and we saw rows and rows of this…

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

For all my Pennsylvania Peeps!

We were rolling watching the yesterday, too funny, and oh so true. Love and miss you PA!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Crafting Lately

I am finally starting to list items on my etsy site, Aspire To Be. As you will see below I am having a hard time getting the pictures right but we are getting there.

Alex’s boss and family are moving to Chicago in the coming weeks. As a goodbye present I made their children a few things.

For their three year old little girl I made this adorable crayon roll.

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The Dad is a huge Green Bay fan so i made their (almost) one year old a Packers Jon Jon. IMG_2288

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...and of course Liam got a little something new but needed…a baby belt! Back in December i purchased a bunch of 12 month size shorts for him . So here we are, it is summer, and Liam does not need a size 12 month in shorts but he is going to wear then darn it…so i made him a camo belt and it is both adorable and functional. The whole front is velcro so it makes for a fast fasten after diaper changes…because looping through a D-ring with a squirmy kiddo is not fun plus it is softer on his belly than metal would be when crawling around and napping.

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The etsy site is still in the works…I am having a huge problem getting good product pictures. The lighting in our house is not the best and the pictures outside I took don’t thrill me. Any advice on taking good pictures with no good source of natural light inside?

I ran outside the other day to snap a few shots and when i came in toting the camera someone wanted their picture taken (shocking i know, right?).

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Your going to love me or hate me….

I made this ice cream yesterday and I had to share it with everyone because it is absolutely amazing, I am enjoying some as i type. Oh goodness, if you love cookie dough you should run to the store now to buy the ingredients to make this….i give you Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
from Annies Eats

Ingredients:
For the cookie dough:
5 tbsp. salted butter, melted (or unsalted butter plus ¼ tsp. salt)
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

For the ice cream:
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
4 large egg yolks
Pinch of coarse salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups whole milk
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

Directions:
To make the cookie dough, stir together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth.  Mix in the flour, then the vanilla and chocolate chips.  Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

To make the ice cream, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Continue heating, stirring often, until the butter is a deep golden brown color, being careful not to burn it.  Whisk in the heavy cream and heat until simmering.  Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and the egg yolks until pale and fluffy.  Once the cream mixture is warm, add a small amount to the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Slowly whisk in the rest of the cream.  Mix in the salt.  Return the egg-cream mixture to the saucepan and heat until just slightly thickened, and the temperature reads 170-175˚ F on an instant-read thermometer.  Immediately remove the mixture from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract and the whole milk.  Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Chop the disk of cookie dough into small chunks.  As soon as the mixture is done churning, transfer to a bowl or airtight container and stir in the chocolate chips and the chunks of cookie dough.  Store in the freezer until firm.

 

Since the cookie dough is eggless…someone got to lick the beater for the first time.

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Friday, July 23, 2010

Youtube worthy baby dance…

The title really says it all. Liam celebrated turning 9 months old yesterday with a little dance. Don’t mind me hysterically laughing but it was one of the funniest things i had ever seen.

Happy Friday!

I’d also like to wish my sister a very Happy Birthday!!!!

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Happy 9 Month Birthday Liam

Dear Liam,

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    Today you are 9 months old. This month you learned to master the new things you first learned to do last month. I feel as thought your personality really started to shine through this month. You love, absolutely love, being out and about…i am not quite sure how your Dad and I ended up with a social butterfly (maybe it is some of Aunt Kerri in you) but you love being around people and always make friends with those waiting in line behind us, those in an elevator with us, and every cashier. If one was to look up with “hammin’ it up” means in the dictionary (well more like urban dictionary for that phrase) your picture would be right there, you are the epitome of a ham and love attention.

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I am pretty certain that with the amount of energy and complete lack of fear you have you are destine to be the next Travis Pastrana. You are a wild and crazy kid, that is for sure. You were standing in your pack and play yesterday holding onto the top and placing on foot flat against the side while jumping off the other trying to stand on the side. Then proceeded to not cruise along the side but run…then took a spiraling fall, got up, stood up, went on your tippy toes to peak over at me and hysterically laugh. You have no fear to dive head first off the couch. I will hold your legs as you put your hands on the floor and then “wheel barrel walk” until i put your legs down and your off.  

*You love to climb on toys to be taller*

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We are convinced that if you do not turn out to be the next X Games dare devil you will be a dentist because you love teeth. You can spend a long time touching, looking and inspecting our teeth. When we fake bite your fingers  you laugh so hard and stick your hand unsurely back in until we do it again and you start laughing.

You love your toys and love to play. Your favorite toys this month were your little people train, anything that spins (wheels, balls, etc..you LOVE to spin things), your little fisher price train, and the cube coffee table to stand and play at. You still love your jumper and will stay in there and watch a whole Sid the Science Kid (your favorite show this month). I read a few days ago that children are not suppose to be able to jump off the ground with both feet until they were two years old…your Dad laughed out loud when i told him that…i guess we have a jumping protegee on our hands. You new favorite jumping game is to put your hands on the arm of the couch and jump. One of your favorite things to do is empty your toy boxes. Your favorite songs this month are “She’ll Be Comin’ ‘round the Mountain” and “Someone's in the kitchen with Liam”.

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You pretty much stand the majority of the day. You have gotten so good at pulling yourself up and cruising along the fence and furniture. You can even pull up on flat surfaces now. FINALLY, within the last week or so you have learned to get down from the standing position. When you are not standing you are crawling to your next destination and although you can sit yourself up you never do, if you want to be stationary and play you will kneel.

You don’t have much interest at all in holding onto our hands to walk, you know crawling is a whole lot faster but you will walk to us if we hold your hand while you are standing and have you walk towards us. You even know how to step up, as in, if you are walking to me you will step up onto my lap one foot at a time. When you are standing and playing you can often see a look come across your face that you want to let go and walk to your next destination. You have let go a few times but lose your balance and grab back on fast. Many times you don’t hold on to what you are standing at but will lean against it with your stomach or side for support.

You started showing signs of separation anxiety from me this month which truth be told makes me feel pretty good. Most days while i am cooking dinner you will disregard Daddy and toys and standing holding onto your gate and cry and cry and cry. If i come over and pick you up you are the happiest guy. We also snuggle until you fall asleep for naps and bedtime. Our snuggle time is my favorite part of the day because to see you relaxed and content is a rarity since you are constantly on the go.

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This month we experimented with letting you cry it out at night to help with you sleeping troubles and it worked amazingly well. It only took a few nights and since then you have been sleeping so much better and are so much happier after getting a good nights sleep. You typically go to bed around 8:30 and wake up between 6:30 and 7. You take two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, some days it will be three cat naps instead of two longer ones.

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You love to eat but more so love to snack. I am so happy to say that you will try anything and for the most part like everything. You are a graham cracker, yogurt melt and veggie stick addict! Those are by far your favorite things to eat and you have become very good at feeding yourself your snacks. You typically have four 6 ounce bottles and one or two 4 ounce bottles a day and four jars of stage two baby food a day. For the last week i have been having your hold you bottles all by yourself and you are doing really well.

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You love to give your stuffed animals hugs. You tackle them and then nuzzle your head in. You head butt in order to give big open mouth kisses. This month you have really started to love blankets and your mini blankie. You hold on so tight and curl up with your blanket to go to sleep. Your mini blankie we take with us whenever we are out to help you nap.

You still have just the two bottom teeth. You are wearing 9 or 12 month clothes and 12 month jammies…no more footie jammies for you, you have official graduated to shorts and tee shirt PJs. We moved you up to a size 4 diaper after a few too many leaks. Since you now fit into a size 4 we were able to get some overnight diapers to help you go 12 hours, they have been wonderful.

You weight 21 pounds and are 29 inches long . You passed your well baby exam with flying colors!

Love you,

Mama

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PS. Next month you should totally learn to say “mama'”…just sayin’

Look at how you’ve grown…

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