45 weeks, Halloween

I'll start with today's picture, then back up a bit to tell you a little about what we've been up to. At 45 weeks, Anna is very close to walking. Yikes! She took a step or two today (unassisted), but you might argue that she was falling forward and caught herself with her foot. (Wait, isn't that what walking really is?) Anyway, it won't be long. She still only has 2 teeth, but uses those to gnaw Cheerios, bananas and (cooked) carrots.

Last Thursday was the Costume Parade at Emily's preschool. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was kind of like a Trunk or Treat in the atrium of the church. What fun! Emily's class was one of the last ones to go so we had to wait a while to see our little frog. As you can see from the pictures, she was a bit stoic. She hardly looked at us and never smiled!

at home before school

Anna was the pre-show!

I think she was just overwhelmed with it all!

Saturday, we headed to the ACU football game. The girls dressed in their matching purple shirts (probably for the only time, since Anna's is a 6 month and she wears 9 months!). They enjoyed hanging out with Grandpa & Pearlie.

Then, Saturday night we headed out to a Trunk or Treat. This one had games (Emily wanted nothing to do with them) and trunks (much more her style!), a candy apple tree where you could make a caramel apple and decorate it with sprinkles (see picture), stew & cornbread and a photo setup where they took our picture and should be emailing it to us. The picture was really cute and I'll post it when I get it.

Tonight was the Trunk or Treat at Highland. Unfortunately, my camera stayed home. My dad got a couple pictures and I got a couple videos, but they're really not all that exciting. Emily was much braver this year and actually walked up to the cars to get candy! One more night of trick or treating tomorrow night (at Granddaddy's place) then we'll settle in and enjoy the candy for the next few months!

44 weeks & a Weekend Visit

I'm late in posting because we took a weekend trip.

 Friday night, we headed to Austin to visit our good friends, Kevin, Kellie & Jake. We arrived in time for spaghetti and garlic bread. Yummy! (Kellie went out of her way to make sure I had stuff to eat this weekend too!) We got the kids ready for bed and visited a little before heading to bed.

Saturday morning, we got up and headed to a local garden center to look at their pumpkin display, petting zoo, bounce houses and, of course, candy. Emily enjoyed looking at the animals but wanted nothing to do with actually touching them. No biggie. Just means we didn't have to use hand sanitizer! Jake was fired up about the bounce houses. Guess who wasn't! Emily said she wanted to watch "him" in there. So, we stood off to the side and watched. After a little while of that, we went and picked out pumpkins to take home. Emily & Jake picked theirs out immediately. Easiest decision Emily's made in a long time!

   

We went to Cheddar's for lunch. It was beyond time for lunch and the kids (all three of them) let us know! We finally got some food in everyone (even me, though it was made a bit more difficult by the fact that Cheddar's doesn't have an allergen menu).

We headed home for naps and everyone crashed for a while! Then, it was time to play baseball in the front yard. Everyone had a great time and we got to see just how well Jake (at almost 3) can hit the ball!

The boys cooked fajitas for supper, then we carved the pumpkins. Having not done that since probably middle school and certainly never by myself, I let Phillip follow Kevin's lead on this. (I did take mental notes so we can do it next year though). The kids really enjoyed watching and helping when they could. They turned out great. (Yes, they actually got carved. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after this picture, so I'll have to get the rest from Kellie. I'll post the family picture we got with the pumpkins later.)

Sunday was church (where we saw one of our employees!) then lunch at Pei Wei (yea for Honey Seared Chicken being dairy-free!). The drive home was a bit longer than the drive down there. I think everyone was just ready to be home and was cranky because of it. But, we made it home and got settled and ready to hit the busy week ahead of us (amazingly, one of the busiest weeks we've had in a while!).

Winner

It all starts with "Giveaway Winner" in the subject of the email. I love the giddy feeling I get when I see that. This time, it was an amber necklace from Mom's Milk Boutique. I had read about Baltic amber and the healing properties it has (see here), but I was skeptical and not willing to spend $20 on a necklace for Anna. (Yes, necklace FOR Anna!)

The necklace is beautiful and looks great on Anna. I've gotten many compliments on it already. So far, I haven't been able to tell much difference in Anna, but I think she's starting to get a few teeth in, so we'll see if she's calmer. Just thought I'd share!

10 months

At 10 months, Anna is cruising and walking holding on to fingers (sometimes). She loves fruits, but doesn't particularly like veggies (though she will eat them). She devours Cheerios and just lights up when she see them (though I don't think she saw this one!)

She now weighs 16.5 pounds (5th percentile) and is 27.5" long (25th percentile). Long and lean!

42 & 43 weeks

I was informed this weekend that I didn't post a picture last week. I took it. Really, I did! See? Oh wait, I took it but you didn't see it!

Okay, enough of that. You've already heard that! In the last two weeks, Anna has tried blueberries & a mixed cereal containing oats, amaranth & quinoa. She absolutely loves blueberries, just like Emily did. I just wish they weren't so messy!






Last Thursday was the second time we've opened for Artwalk. After we decided we'd be doing this regularly, I knew Anna needed to have a Bogie's shirt like the rest of us. So, I bought a pink onesie and some iron-on transfer paper and made her one. Cute, huh?

Anna has figured out how to climb up the stairs from the playroom to the dining room without stopping on the edge to be proud of herself. Unfortunately, that means she'll climb on anything else too. This afternoon, she climbed on our footstool and on to the couch. Guess the footstool needs to go away!

For some time now, she's loved dancing to Emily's Sit n Spin. Here's a little of what I get to see each day!







As I was cleaning up my pictures this afternoon, I came across some pictures from a birthday party we went to a month ago. Apparently, I had taken a series of pictures of both girls, just for fun. Here are the results.

Best Granola Bars Ever!

I've mentioned before that I like granola bars, but can't buy any of the ones I like in the stores because of Anna's problems with dairy and peanuts. I had found a good recipe that worked okay a few times, but the more I changed it, the more problems I had with it.

Not too long ago, I found this recipe at Simple Organized Living and wanted to try it but was missing a few key ingredients. Well, I finally got them all yesterday and, having been out of granola bars for a week (grr!), decided it was time to try it. Oh, my goodness!! They are amazing!! I couldn't quite spread them out to fill the 9x13, so I may have to adjust the amounts, as I'd like to make a full pan each time. Other than that, it's definitely a keeper as is. One of the best things is that they are no-bake so they take much less time to prepare.

Chewy Granola Bars
1/2 C honey or corn syrup (I used about 1/8 C honey and the rest corn syrup because I don't always like the bitterness of honey, but it would be fine with more honey)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C peanut butter (I used creamy SunButter)
2 C quick oats
2 C crispy rice cereal
1/4 C ground flax seed
1-2 T wheat germ (optional--I used 1 T)
1 C mix-ins (I used dark chocolate chips, but you could use dried fruits, nuts, seeds, etc.)

Lin a 9x13 pan with wax paper or grease it well.

Mix the oats, cereal, flax seed, wheat germ and mix-ins in a large bowl. (I used a 5qt bowl and it was about the right size.) In a small saucepan, mix honey or corn syrup and brown sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until sugar is completely dissolved, stirring constantly. (I wasn't sure exactly when to stop cooking it. The sugar appeared to dissolve very quickly, but I kept cooking it just to heat it all up because of the next step.) Remove from heat and quickly stir in peanut butter. Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients. Mix well. (I ended up using my hands to mix it all.)

Press mixture into prepared pan. (You can either use your hands or cover the mixture with wax paper and press down with a measuring cup.) Let cool and "firm up"--kind of like Rice Krispy Bars. Cut into bars and store in an air-tight container. (I lifted the wax paper and bars onto a cutting board and used a pastry cutter/scraper to cut them into 1.5"x4.5" bars. You can store them in the freezer in an air-tight container as well.)

40 & 41 weeks

Apparently last week was busy. So busy, that I forgot to post the picture! I did take one, though!














Two weeks ago, Anna had a case of hives. I suspect it was from a couple of animal crackers I gave her that had been processed in a plant with peanuts. Unfortunately, to be sure, I'll have to give them to her again and possibly give her hives again. The upside is that they didn't really seem to bother her.

Friday, Anna, my mom & I took Emily to meet Aunt Jenni for the weekend. Emily had a great time yesterday (at least what I can tell from the pictures!) and I can't wait to hear all about it today when we go to get her. Here is one of my favorite pictures Jenni took from yesterday (with Emily's new friend Owl).