15 months

One more post for the month...(please forgive the quality of the photos...trying to make the iPhone my only camera, but indoor lighting is quite an issue)

Slightly unhappy, only because I put her down

Much happier

At Anna's 12 month check up last Thursday (yes, you read that right), she weighed 18.6 pounds (2nd percentile), was 30" (39th percentile), and had a head circumference of 16" (0 percentile). The good news is she's on the charts where she has been all her life.




She's talking more and more (2 new words just today!) and signing some too. It's rare that we can't figure out what she wants.

She's quite the ham and keeps us laughing. She loves to wave at people. She'll sit and wave to customers in a restaurant and they've never even seen her!

She has 9 teeth now, including a molar that is coming in and, perhaps, causing her a bit of trouble. She's been clingy at bedtime and had a little fever tonight. :-( But, she's still sleeping well, so I'm grateful for that.

She's eating a little better, sometimes. At lunch, she ate an omelet muffin easily, but wouldn't touch her supper of chicken, corn, broccoli and beans. But, I'll take what I get. If she eats, she eats. If not, she'll eventually be hungry to eat what I give her.

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  Guess who else is 15 months. ;-)

Food blog

Since I talked about food so much here, I thought I'd follow up with a couple more food-related items. Some time ago, I found Muffin Tin Mom and loved the concept. I haven't do it too many times, but Emily does enjoy it when I do. We'd had a rough morning yesterday, so I decided it was time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style. Here's the lunch I came up with.

2 shamrock PB&J sandwiches, shamrock Velveeta, shamrock strawberries, hot dog and green milk to drink

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I've been pinning like crazy. Ok, maybe not as much as some of my friends, but I do pin things that look like fun for Emily (and me!). In the past couple weeks, we've tried a couple of my food ideas.

Last week, we made fruit snacks to take on our trip to Aunt Jenni's. I followed the recipe here. They were good and not too messy and tasted just like Jell-o. (But, they do melt in the warm car!) But, I think I want to try these too.

Today, we tried fruit leather from this recipe. Emily didn't like them and I thought they were only okay. Don't know if I'll try another recipe or not. But, this recipe of dried strawberries looks like something to try.

Mish-mash of thoughts (and some pictures :-) )

To the seven of you who still check this blog for updates (LBE, you know!), I frequently have blog posts written in my head, but by the time I leave the bathroom in the morning, they're gone. :-) All that to say, when I started this blog four years ago, I had no idea I would ever have over 22,000 visits. I started it to keep my family updated on my pregnancy with Emily. So, thank you for visiting!

I've heard that, in your busyness, you will make time for the things you really want to do. Cleaning is not one of them for me. It is definitely a chore. This blog has become a chore to me...one more thing I have to do. And, for now, I'm doing it once a month, on Anna's birthday, because that's what I did for Emily. And I'm all about being equal. (Starting to learn that fairness and equality are not the same thing.) But, it's where I am right now. I don't often just get a chance to sit and enjoy quiet time on the computer. Usually, it's a mad rush to get the finances taken care of or get an email or two sent or a giveaway entered. All that to say, I'm still here and I'll still post at least once a month until December, but I probably won't do much more than that. It's hard to put yourself out there when there's very little interaction on the part of the reader.

What usually goes through my mind is questions. So, I'm putting them out here today. Answer them or don't. At least I've asked. And there's about as good a shot of them being answered here as on Facebook where I usually post them.

How do you know when to cut your daughter's hair for the first time?
How do you really get kids to eat veggies & fruits, not just crackers and goldfish for snacks?
Will feeding my kids always be a struggle?
Will I ever feel like I know what I'm doing? (Ok, I know the answer to this one!)
How do you break into a group of people and start real friendships?
Does anyone have suggestions for good, portable, non-carbohydrate snacks that 15 month olds and 3.5 year olds will eat? (read: no crackers)
(Can you tell food is a big issue right now? For the past month, Anna would eat only crackers or goldfish or bread or some spoon-fed things. The doctor said it's time to start playing chicken...literally. Force her to eat fruits & veggies, meats, cheese before giving her breads. A snack and 2 meals have been awful so far!)

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In other news, the weather has been awesome lately (at least some!) so we've been going to the playground. This week has been especially nice because we can use the one at the elementary school just a few minutes away. One of the perks of spring break! Here are a few shots from the playground (from a couple weeks ago and this morning.

 At Fort Imagination a couple weeks ago...now a favorite picture!

 At home, jumping from stepping stone to stepping stone

My little hams this morning at the playground