Snow!

We've been waiting and hoping for snow this winter but it's been so warm that we were beginning to wonder if we'd get any at all! Wonder no more, though, we got a teeny tiny bit last night.

It started to fall in big flakes about 8:30 last night and Logan was already long asleep. She had been asking all day if it was "nowing" yet and I was so sad that it waited until she was in bed to start. I was very tempted to wake her so she could see it fall but Mike reminded me she usually gets up once before 11pm to go to the bathroom and she could see it then. Go figure that last night was the first night in a while she actually DIDN'T wake.

She woke up around 6:40 this morning and noticed the white stuff outside and begged to go out and play a little. I knew if we didn't get out quickly that it'd probably melt since a good bit of it was already gone as it was. So, we bundled up and headed out.

She had to scrape it off of cars and other surfaces to actually get a bit of it in her hands.

This one was not too amused:

As you can see, it was barely a sprinkling of the white stuff but it was enough to have her excited. I SO wish we'd get one good snow fall, I think she's at such a fun age to enjoy something like that...and I'm not pregnant this year so I'd actually be able to play with her!

Here she is trying to show off her "no-ball" it kept breaking apart, though, when she opened her hands.

I'm pretty sure that's probably all we'll get this year. Here's hoping for a good snow fall next winter!

11 months!

Brody is 11 months old! I'm so sad I didn't get to post on the right day but we discovered that the cord that connects the camera to the computer had quit working right before I went to load his 11 month pictures. So, we had to wait for a new one before I could post. Fear not, though! There are a ton of pictures.

At 11 months old, Brody:

- Is 18lbs.

- Wearing size 9-12 month clothes.

- Wearing a size 3-4 diaper.

- Is our little prince charming! He's so sweet and quick to come to our "rescue" when either Logan or I seem to be upset. Logan fondly refers to him as her "little prince" or "little chip" (from Beauty and the Beast).

- Is so, so happy! We get comments all the time about how people never see him cry, he's always smiling or laughing. We know this not to be the case because we've seen homeboy get teeth, and it is no walk in the park, but we're so glad he's so easy going with others.

-Is easy going and quickly seems to warm up to people. He doesn't mind being passed around unless it's close to bedtime and then all he wants is momma.

- Had such a good time with Mimi when she came to visit! He cried and cried when she got out of the car to go back to Miami.

- Loves to spend one on one time with mommy but is always excited when Logan gets home or wakes from her nap.

- He adores his big sister. He constantly follows her around and always seems to find a way to get her to do things with him. They're best buds and it's so fun to watch them interact! He loves her so much that he always reaches for her hand to hold in the car as soon as they're both buckled in. You can definitely tell he's the second child because when I take him out on his own he looks for Logan immediately and is not a happy camper in the car without her.

- He's nicknamed Logan "ya-ya." I think it's because she calls herself "Lo-lo" when she's talking about herself with him. She will not tolerate anyone but him calling her that. Today, on one such solo trip, he kept calling out, "ya-ya? ya-ya?" It was so sweet!

- Is still on a very rigid schedule. We have a hard time going out in the mornings because he's only awake from 7-8:30/9 and then goes down for a couple hour nap. He's consistent! He also naps from 1-3 and then is in bed no later than 7...lately we haven't been able to keep him awake much past 6:30. Thankfully, he usually sleeps a full 12 hours.

- LOVES to put things in his mouth! We started to wean the paci and he only takes it at night and at naps but I've had to start bringing it with us when we go outside to keep him plugged so he doesn't put rocks, dirt, sticks or anything else he finds in there! I also sweep and mop the kitchen 3-4 times a day and have to constantly vacuum and spot check the rugs. It's only by God's grace that we haven't had any major swallowing incidents with him, though, he did swallow his sister's earring this month!

- Got two more teeth this month! We're up to six now! We've felt it, too, because Brody, while normally a great sleeper, is AWFUL when he teethes. I'm normally up every 1/2 hour with him when he's cutting one.

- Is getting more adventurous with standing and moving around. He can walk back and forth on the couch while holding it and uses a push toy to get places, sometimes. He still won't venture from furniture to furniture (even pieces so close he'd only have to turn around). He doesn't seem really interested in walking and I think it's because he crawls at the speed of light!

- Is eating like champ. He eats anything you put in front of him and I haven't found any foods that he refuses yet. His favorites this month were bananas, avocados, rice, broccoli and peas.

- He's still nursing several times a day but we're looking forward to adding some whole milk to his diet next month!

- Is always on the move. You can have him right next to you one second and then you look back and he's on the other side of the apartment. I'm telling you--speed of light.

- LOVES to dance! Even if I'm just humming a song, he's grooving with me. It's SO cute.

-Is relaxed and pretty mild mannered unless you do something to really annoy him. He does have a big temper that flares up very quickly if he's not happy with you.

- Started playing peek-a-boo.

- Can say: more, please, thank you, milk, hungry, all done and night night in sign language.

- Can say: mama, daddy, bye bye, ya-ya (logan), night night and ball.

I'm so sad that this is our last monthly update before the big ONE! How this year has flown is beyond me, I seriously don't feel like it's been an entire year. I miss my little newborn but I absolutely adore the little boy that he's becoming.

Green Monster

Thankfully, both of our children are not picky eaters. We've worked hard to make sure that they try a nice variety of foods and that they eat whatever is put in front of them. That being said, it's always nice to find a fun way to hide veggies (especially green ones) that the kids really enjoy and this gem did just that!

The green color absolutely did not deter them! In fact, I think it added just a little more intrigue to the drink.

Here's the recipe:

(Pre cut banana slices, zip them in a ziplock and freeze them for an hour or two beforehand)

Blend:

1 frozen banana (or more, taste preference)

1 tbs peanut butter

1/2 cup of vanilla greek yogurt

1 cup of milk

Fill the rest of the blender w/ baby spinach--I probably put in 3-4 cups worth.

Blend and enjoy!

I gave Brody a cup of it before remembering it had peanut butter in it! Oops....well, he's just a month shy of a year old, right? Good news, he's not allergic to peanuts, and he loves some spinach!

Tale As Old As Time...

Logan has been begging for a Belle dress for months. I almost took the plunge last summer when the Disney Store had all of their costumes on clearance, but I just wasn't in love with them. So, I did a lot of searching and found and combined a couple of tutorials to come up with my own pattern! We planned to give it to her for her birthday and I documented it all through pictures so I could show them to her one day.

{Phase 1} That's a LOT of fabric.

{Phase 2} Top is complete! I went for a peasant top instead of the traditional, off the shoulder Belle look because I knew she'd like the feeling of that better.

{Phase 3} The pickups. Oh. my. stars. These took so long to complete, and I ripped and re-sewed SO many of them before I finally got them the way that I wanted them!

{Phase 4} Accents. Light yellow chiffon to accent the pickups in the skirts and then sweet satin roses accented with baby pearls. Perfection!

{Phase 5} Accessories. I had some leftover fabric so I made a handbag to match the dress. The strap is braided satin.

{Phase 6} I tried desperately to sew gloves from the satin but it was near impossible to sew around the tiny finger holes. So, we ordered a pair and I tried to dye them. Unfortunately, the little bit of polyester in them prevented the dye from sticking to anything but the thread that held them together! White it is.

{Phase 7} The delivery! I packaged it all up and had her open it last. She was so excited and immediately wanted to put it on! I'm so glad to be able to do things like this for her. It was worth all of the hours, all of the frustration, all of the seams torn open just to see the twinkle in her eyes as she put it on.