Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Amelia had a play date with her cousins this week. She always has the best time with them. They had CFA for lunch and then played for a few hours.





By the time our company had to leave - Amelia was worn out! I needed to do something in the kitchen so I sat her in her highchair with a little snack. I looked over and she was sound asleep. She has never fallen asleep in her highchair. Ever. She took a 15-minute cat nap and was ready to go again.



Amanda came over to keep Amelia for a few hours yesterday. She's coming again today. Having a babysitter twice a week has changed my life. I'm serious. I'm so grateful to Alex for letting me have this time to take care of myself and to run my errands. Yesterday I was able to go to the chiropractor, to the post office, to Hobby Lobby, to get an oatmeal cookie & iced tea (this was the most important of the errands), to Hallmark, to the grocery store, and then headed back home.



I've pretty much bought everything for Amelia's Easter basket. I've been picking up things for a while and I only have one more thing to buy. I found several cute things in the dollar bin at Target! I always loved waking up to an Easter basket full of candy! My Mom bought one HUGE basket - filled it with each of our favorite candies - and would have it on the dining room table on Easter morning. Amelia doesn't really get candy in her basket but she'll get some other fun things.



We went out to eat last night. Alex took us to Outback Steakhouse. After we finished dinner - a couple (about the age of our parents) stopped and asked how old Amelia was and then told us that she was very well-behaved. We've never had issues with taking her out to eat but this is the first time strangers have stopped to comment on her behavior. It's always nice when someone older tells you that you're doing a good job. Whenever my Momma brags on me as a mother - it means the world to me. I think we (new/younger parents) need encouragement like that. Parenting is hard and it's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to tell someone what they're doing wrong and more than likely (in my opinion) we already see where we can improve. I don't know of anyone who thinks they're a perfect parent or that their children are perfect. It's normal for me to feel like I don't know what I'm doing on a regular basis! So if your kids are grown and your on the other side of the sleepless nights/fits in the restaurants/etc...encourage a (new/younger) parent this week. I think that would be nice.



We ended the evening with a trip to Walmart. Alex bought Amelia a ball pit for her birthday and it popped this week. He wanted to replace it since she plays in it every day. He chose one - brought it home - blew it up in her room - and then we realized it took up half her bedroom! I think we're going to have to make it an outside toy. If we can get it through the bedroom door. :) She loves it.



Speaking of outside toys. Our backyard is completely empty. Nothing. Nada. Amelia asks to go outside now that she's older and I have nothing for her to do out there. So what are some of your favorite backyard toys for this age? She'll be 17 months old this month.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!



Love to all,

Up early on a Saturday...

I have been up since 6am. On a Saturday! Saturday is usually the day that Alex gets up with Amelia and I get to "sleep in." I put that in quotations because the older I get, the harder it has become to sleep late. I'm doing good if I can sleep until 10am anymore. When I was younger, I could sleep until noon - easy! :) It's not as if Amelia doesn't sleep late anyway...she sleeps until 9am every morning. I guess it's just nice having one day that I know I can sleep really late - if my body needs it/allows it.

My wonderful in-laws came over yesterday morning. They watched Amelia so I could go to the doctor. I had a sinus infection and needed some relief. He gave me a steroid shot which always has me feeling better within about 6 hours. That shot could be the reason I'm up this early on a Saturday though. :) When I arrived home yesterday, my M-I-L had made chicken-n-dumplings, mac-n-cheese, and green beans cooked up w/bacon. The house smelled so good. My first thought was "I don't have to cook tonight!!" I have been doing really well with cooking every night. I made a meal plan and went to the store and have made myself stick with it. I've enjoyed it and love the thought that I've saved our family A LOT of money, just from eating at home vs. eating out. And the meals have been yummy!

Anyway, back to my wonderful M-I-L. After they left, I put Amelia down for her nap and went to rest in my bed. I found these chocolates on my pillow from my M-I-L. How sweet is that? They're delicious too.



She and my F-I-L really blessed me yesterday. She actually thanked me for letting them come and help. That touched my heart and God immediately said, "see...it's okay to ask for help, Jill." I don't ask for help often. I feel like I should be able to handle one child. After all, my Mom and M-I-L had 6. All within 2 years apart! Alex reminds me a lot that having a child in your mid-30's vs. 20's makes a huge difference. I wish I had been ready to have kids when I was younger...I did have so much more energy back then! I have always required a lot of sleep, but I could run and do all day long and be just fine. I used to babysit my nephews all of the time and would run errands with them like it was nothing! I want to have that same energy with my own child(ren). By no means do I think 34 (35 is fast approaching) is old, but it's not 24. I'm going to do better about asking for help when I need it. I'm not Wonder Woman and that's okay.

I gave Amelia a special treat yesterday. She hasn't had real juice in a long time. I give her water and that's what she calls juice. I decided to fill her cup with half juice/half water and let me tell ya...the girl carried that cup around until it was GONE! She loved it. I know it's silly, but I love to see her enjoy simple things like that.



Speaking of simple things. Alex went out to the garage last night and made Amelia a "house" to play in. She loved it. I almost bought her a little tent for Christmas, but I had already finished shopping for her so I didn't buy it. She loves hiding and getting under blankets and such. Who knew that a cardboard box could bring such enjoyment?? We ask where her house is and she goes to her cardboard box.



I wanted to post this video of Amelia. We've been working on different family members names. There are times when she will repeat whatever we say - and then times where she just stares at us like, "I don't know what you're talking about." I videoed her saying a few names and wanted to share with the Grandparents & family!



Happy Saturday!!

Love to all,

Tea Party...

Amelia and I stayed home today. If I schedule a lunch date or run errands one day, we stay home the next. So today we played, napped, and played some more. We had a fun day!

Amelia received so many toys for her birthday. Seriously. I have told family not to buy her any toys for Christmas. She had very few toys before her birthday, but that is not the case now. Our friends, Vickie & Chris bought her this little tea set. We've had tea parties all afternoon!



She would just watch me "pour" the tea into our cups and then pretend to drink it. She would hold her cup in all different ways at first. :)



But the longer she watched me - she got the hang of it. Now I just have to teach her to hold her pinky finger out while sipping her tea! ;)



Alex has been gone for a week on business. 8 days/7 nights to be exact. We have missed him SO MUCH!!



He arrived home this evening and you should have seen the look on Amelia's face when he walked through the door. I started crying! It was the biggest smile I've ever seen and she crawled at warp speed to get to him.



It made my heart so happy to see her so excited to see her Daddy. We get by when he's not here, but life isn't near as sweet when he's away. He makes us feel so special and takes care of us like no one else.



I hope you had a wonderful Wednesday. We sure did!

Love to all,

Rainy Day...

When Alex got home from work last night, I hadn't even started on dinner. Lucky for me, last night's dinner only took 30 minutes from start to finish. To make these chicken strips, you just crush up some sour cream & onion potato chips (or whatever flavor you prefer). Dip your chicken tenderloins in butter and then coat them in the potato chips. Place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I usually flip them half way through, so they are nice and golden brown on each side.



It was dark and rainy this morning. I woke up at 9am and realized that I hadn't heard a peep out of Amelia. I always pick up the monitor and turn it off and on to make sure it's still working. It was. Her room stays so dark on days like this...guess it just makes her want to sleep late, which is fine by me! I stayed up late making 3 lemon ice box pies for a catering job. Alex and I are most always in bed by 10pm. He has to get up early every morning and I'm up not long after him with Amelia. Though it's tempting to stay up late, I feel so much better the next day with a couple of extra hours of sleep. So early bedtime it is! :)

Joy came over a little after 9am this morning and made me aware that our English Mastiff was roaming the neighborhood. There is a hole in our fence (that he created) and he found a way to fit his extra large body through that hole. So I put on my rain coat & rain boots and found him in our neighbor's yard. Becca, if you find any "presents" in your yard from Dies, just let me know. I'll send Alex over to pick them up. (LOL)



After I was back from taking care of Diesel, Amelia woke up. I fed her and then she sat in her high chair, watching me and her Aunt Joy in the kitchen. She sat there for the longest time and then decided she wanted a snack. We were putting the lemons on the lemon ice box pies and I decided to let her have a piece to chew on. I know this is terrible for your teeth, but she only has two at the moment, so I'm not that worried. :) We found out a couple of weeks ago that the child loves lemons. She doesn't even make a face when eating them. She will squeeze them in her fist to get more juice out and then continue to chew on the rind. She gets this from her Granny. She too is a lover of lemons.



Joy brought over some of her homemade cinnamon rolls for me to try. I think she saw the picture of my Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that I fed Alex over the weekend. She felt sorry for us. I tried one after she left and I have to say...SO MUCH BETTER than the doughboy's!



I was asked how to make frito chili pies from my last post. I cheat and use chili magic.



I've used this for years. You just add a pound of hamburger meat, a can of diced tomatoes and you're done! I actually add a half packet of chili mix to make it spicier and a half can of crushed tomatoes as well. There are spices in the chili magic though, so you don't have to add anything else to it. Just layer your chili on top of your fritos, top with a little grated cheese & sour cream and enjoy!



I'm going to look for Amelia some new toys this weekend. I don't buy her new toys very often, but I feel like she's getting too big for what she has. If you're 10 month old has/had some favorites, feel free to let me know. One of my blog friends recommended the Leap Frog toys, so I'm going to look at those. Also, thank you for the snack recommendations. I'm going to pick up some of the things you mentioned this weekend!

Love to all,

Toyland...

It has been a very uneventful day. Exactly the way I prefer Mondays. We're always exhausted from the weekends.

This is a random post about toys.

Uncle Andrew gave Amelia her first glow worm. She wasn't too sure about it at first...



She wasn't sure if she could trust the thing with the glowing face...



Then she warmed up and they held hands...



Within minutes they were giving each other loves...



And now they are best friends and spend lots of time together.



We bought baby girl a bumbo and she is doing really well...



She likes it.



She REALLY likes it.



Someone is teething. The slobber is out of control and we've bought every teething "ring" out there. She really likes this fish. Side note: Amelia rolled over last week from her back to her stomach! YAY!! :)



I really want Amelia to play the piano. We've already started piano lessons and she is doing very well.





And I have a question for you guys. Amelia tried one of these exersaucer thingies at play group and seemed to enjoy it. Did you buy one of these for your kiddo? I'm shocked at how much baby toys are...these run about $80 and go up from there. Just curious if you bought one and if your baby used it much. I'm thinking of getting her one of these and a johnny jump up that goes in the doorway. Thoughts?



And here's a little peek at Amelia's Easter pictures. My Uncle took some of her and I think they turned out so cute. I look at her and honestly can't believe she's mine. And I know I'm totally biased, but I think she is just a living doll. Every parent should think that about their baby. :) Thank you for the pics, Uncle Kevin...I LOVE them.



Have a great week, y'all!

Love to all,