eleven months

This little lady turned 11 months on us {about a month ago}. Maybe I'm in denial. Maybe I've been busy. Maybe its both. But I seriously put off posting her 11 month stats. Wheredidmybabygo?

Favorite Words: "Bewa" (Bella the cat),  Papa, Mooo, and Puppy

Favorite Food: Yogurt and avocado

Favorite Activity: Running! You are a busy little bee and we can't slow you down! You also love to read books.

Favorite Animal: (other than Bewa) is a Cow. Moooo! You love every animal and giggle with excitement when you see an animal.

Teeth: Six teeth!

We've already seen so much of your personality begin to blossom. You've thrown tempertantrums, love to give snuggles, and love to talk. We call you tiny tornado, because you leave a path of destruction in your wake. I can't believe my sweet little dumpling is almost turning ONE.  

Favorites:

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

And this is how entertaining it is to try and take cute month-by-month pictures of a busy 11 month old.

Feta Veggie Breakfast Scramble

I feel like scramble is the most appropriate word to describe breakfast time. 

Who has hours to cook up a delicious breakfast? {And if they do, is it still considered breakfast?}

I digress.

With a semi-toddler who is happy to try new things, I am staying on my toes trying to make sure I whip together healthy, balanced meals she and I can eat.

Enter the feta veggie breakfast scramble.

You can use any veggies you have leftover in the fridge for this scramble. I used zucchini, red pepper, tomatoes, and onion. I like to use more veggies than eggs so the veggies are bursting out of the scramble, and you get some in every bite. {Don't be shy with your veggies! }

It's quick, easy, and perfect for little baby fingers to pick up and feed themselves. And, if you've never tried feta cheese with your eggs, {like in this Quiche} you MUST. It's life-changing, really.

Feta Veggie Breakfast Scramble
2 eggs
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons feta cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat until silky and coats the pan. Add zucchini, onion, red pepper, and garlic and sautee 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add tomatoes and sautee for 1 minute. Add feta cheese and toss around in the pan until it melts slightly. Crack eggs into pan (careful not to add shell!), and break the egg, scrambling it around with the veggies. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring throughout until the egg is completely cooked. Serve and enjoy!

10 months and favorites

Ok ok I'm back.

Life has been crazy lately! We a) put our house on the market and b) I started a new job. Which so far has left zero time for blogging.

But I didn't forget about you! Pinky promise.

In the meantime, someone in this house turned 10 months old. Can you believe it?? Just 2 months until this little pickle turns a year old.

This baby girl is WALKING. Yep. Mercy. 

A walking 10 month old means I'm getting plenty of exercise myself chasing her around, keeping her from touching the electrical outlets, the fireplace, and every other non-child friendly thing in our home. She is loving the freedom and her new view, and is a very curious little tornado now (who leaves a path of destruction in her wake.) 

We are loving every minute chasing this toddling dumpling around. 

Her favorite word is Papa, favorite food is blueberries, (she gets giddy when I pull the carton of blueberries out) and she has 4 teeth!

We have also been working on baby sign, and on a good day, she signs "water", "all done", "food" and "milk". {Sometimes she throws in a made up sign to confuse us.}

I'll probably say this forever, but this is my favorite age!

1. Safety1st child locks: Since we are selling our house, these non-permanent locks are perfect for keeping little hands out of dangerous cabinets. Now if mom and dad could just figure out how to use them...

2. Neat Solutions Biodegradable Table Topper Disposable Stick on Placemat: These are awesome for throwing in the diaper bag and taking along when we go out to eat. They stick onto the table and you can throw baby's food on the placemat without worrying about the germs the last people at your table left behind.

3. Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Magnetic Cookie Puzzle:   My in-laws got this as a hand-me-down gift from some friends, and Lucy quickly claimed it as her own. It's a great little shape sorter, sings songs about cookies, and the little cookies are magnets and stick to each other so baby can carry them around the house.

4. Arbonne ABC Baby Wash: Pure, Safe and Beneficial is Arbonne's motto, and they stick to it. This baby wash is free of animal bi-product which I do not want to be slathering all over baby skin. It makes Lucy's hair silky and leaves her skin super soft.

5. Vtech MyFirst Laptop: Lucy likes to watch us typing away at the computer and tries to mimic us by smashing her hands down on the keyboard over and over again. {Probably not so good for our MacBook.} I found this Laptop at a consignment shop for $7, and its the perfect toy to give her when she is in the "smashing keys" mood, because it actually sings songs and makes noises when she smashes them. Score!

What does your 10 month old love to play with? Do you hunt consignment shops for baby toys?

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th from our family to yours! We hope it's filled with fireworks and lots of yummy food. God Bless!

Guac Trio

I have a really fun idea for you for the 4th of July.

Take your favorite Guacamole recipe (such as this one) and make a guacamole tasting trio for your Independence Day celebration!

How To:
Before salting your Guac, separate your Guac into 3rds.
1) Leave one Guac au natural.
2) To the second, add crispy bacon, diced into small chunks. (You will not need to salt this one).
3) To the third, add grilled sweet corn.

Then, salt your corn Guac and plain Guac to your liking.

The bacon gives your Guacamole a nice, salty and crunchy surprise. (I mean, who doesn't love bacon??) The corn gives the Guacamole a nice sweet crunch.

Your friends may be torn about which one is their favorite, but they won't be disappointed.

buffalo chicken nachos

I have a husband who is obsessed with buffalo chicken. And I do believe the word obsessed is an understatement.

As an example, he has eaten it 3 times this week.

He has been begging me to make buffalo chicken for 5 years. I haven't. Because I didn't want to fail at something he loved so much.

And then this thing called wife guilt happened. {It's a lot like mom guilt.} So I scoured Pinterest and decided I was up for the challenge.

And then, the ideas just started coming to me, and I vowed to make some sort of Buffalo chicken once a week for the rest of his life. I'll take a giant slab of wife guilt if I ever fail him on Buffalo Chicken again.

These buffalo chicken nachos are crunchy and flavorful, topped with black beans, cheddar cheese, and drizzled with avocado ranch sauce. They just might turn you into a buffalo chicken fanatic too.

Buffalo Chicken Nachos
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp dill
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 bag of tortilla chips (we use whole wheat or flax)
1/4 cup buffalo sauce, plus more for drizzle
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 very ripe avocado
1/4 cup ranch
1 can black beans

Marinate chicken breasts in 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, dill and garlic powder for at least one hour. Grill at 450 for 10-12 minutes until chicken is cooked all the way through. Slice Chicken into small slivers.

Cook the beans over low heat with liquid from the can for 10-12 minutes while chicken is grilling. Drain beans.

On a jelly roll pan, spread out bag of chips. Top with chicken, black beans, cheddar cheese. Broil on HI for 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted.

While the cheese is melting, in a food processor, puree avocado and ranch together until creamy and smooth.

Take nachos out of the oven to serve, drizzle with extra buffalo sauce and avocado ranch sauce.

***

What are your weeknight staples?

9 months and favorites

9 months in...

And 9 months out! 

What an incredible 9 months it has been! When you are pregnant, you think nothing could top the feeling, until the day you meet your sweet baby. 

At 9 months, you are amazing us every day! You are attempting to baby sign (and making up your own signs along the way), you are working on your two top teeth (teething is the pits,) you stand and balance on your own and are thinking about being an early walker (slowwww down!) 

You understand what "no" means, but you don't like to hear it, and you say "uh-oh", mama, dada and baba all day long. It is music to our ears!

Pink Bow

You also love to stick your tounge out and blow raspberries in response to all of our questions. Quite the little clown already!

Our favorites this month: 

1. Silicone Bib: A must for babies eating finger food. Lucy loves to peek down into her bib pocket and pick up food that didn't make it in her mouth.

2.Sassy Sensation High Chair Toy: For entertaining your little one while you are cooking, trying to open their jars of baby food, microwaving food, etc. (Gets crazy dirty but goes in the dishwasher great!)

3. Leapfrog Animal Fridge Toy: My sister gave me this toy and Lucy is in love. She dances to Farmer Ted's songs, tries to take the animals out, and me and my husband like to make weird animal combos to hear the "That's Silly" song. Fun for all ages.

4. Nosefrida: This thing looks absolutely gross and crazy. It's basically like siphoning the snot out of your little one's nose. But it is simply amazing. And really easy to clean. I'm afriad to see what the middle of my nasal aspirator we have been using looks like. With the NoseFrida, you can make sure you get every lick of snot out of the tube when cleaning it. I wish we had introduced this to Lucy early on because she hates having her nose touched or sucked out with any apparatus, but she does think I look funny with the hose in my mouth.

What are your 9 month favs?