To Everything There is a Season

The first song title post in a long time!!

As I sat looking at the baby clothes I was packing away today, I couldn't help but wonder:  will I pull these out again some day?  Or will I pass them on to someone else with a baby girl without ever using them again? 

Either way, they will never again be worn by my Lynnaea.

And I know this is the way of life.  But a part of me is still sad and feels the bittersweetness of the moment.

My little girl is a baby no longer.  She is a toddler.

I am grateful.  Grateful she is healthy and growing.  Grateful she is mine.

At the same time, though, I cannot believe nearly a year has passed.  That she has gotten so big.  Imperceptibly, when looked at day by day.  Yet over 11 months...  She is practically walking!  And so tall (almost 29 inches). 

But, there is a time for everything.  And today, it was time to pack away almost all of her baby clothes.  Because her season of infancy is over.  And while it may break my heart in a way that I cannot describe, I rejoice as well that I am a part of this precious baby's life.  I am awed by her every single day.  Amazed at the love I feel for her.  And how I cannot imagine life without her now, even though I spent 32 years of my life without her.

What a beautiful thing to be a mother.  What a blessing.  Even when it's bittersweet.

Lynnaea's first Easter.  We put some raisins, cheerios, and yogurt melts into eggs; along with pictures of the Savior.  She found them -- with a little help ;).

Her Easter dress.  She's ready for church.

In her new big-girl car seat!! On our way to Monday Meals at Lea's!  She loves this car seat because she can look out the windows.  She almost never falls asleep in the car anymore.

The newest member of 3M chowing down on some deliciousness!  She enjoyed the linguine and rolls along with us.  We'll wait a little longer on the ricotta meatballs and the warm winter lemon cake, though ;).

This is how she sleeps now.  I love it. 

 

My toddler today.  It's getting close to nap-time.  But I figured an up-to-date picture was in order ;).  I love this baby.  So very much.

11 Months

Dear Lynnaea,

How is it possible we are now only one month away from your first birthday?  The time has gone so fast.  It actually astonishes me how quickly each day passes.  And those days keep adding up to weeks, months, and soon... a year.

It doesn't seem right, you know.  I marvel -- and exclaim to Daddy often, "Can you believe this is the same baby we brought home from the hospital!?!"  Because as you stand before us while we're sitting on the couch... It's hard for me to believe you are the same baby.  Even though I know you are :).  You came home so tiny -- so dependent on us -- so unable to do anything but sleep, cry, eat, and fill your diapers.  But all of that has changed.

Yes, you still need us.  But you have grown and developed so much!  We stand in amazement daily at your abilities, your growth.  And here's what you've done lately:

You stand on your own indefinitely.  You're great at balancing yourself and staying standing while clapping, holding objects, and squatting down to pick objects up (sometimes you steady yourself during this, though). 

You've recently started sticking your tongue out and running it across your upper lip while saying "lalalala."  You think it's funny when you do it, too.

You pretty much eat what Daddy and I eat.  Not with all the same spices, of course.  But other than the rice cereal we still have, you aren't eating any "baby food" anymore.  You started enjoying chicken breast this month (you enjoy it a lot), and you've decided you like potatoes after all!  (I think before, you just didn't care for the texture).  You've had them boiled, mashed, and roasted -- as well as in the form of gnocchi!  You still love pasta and celery and carrots when I pull them out of soups for you.  And you've been getting some ritz crackers.  You're well on your way to being an official member of Marvelous Monday Meals.  At this past Meal, you enjoyed the linguine (with some marinara sauce still on it) and pieces of homemade bread.  We left out the meatballs, but don't worry:  you'll be along for that soon.  We've also tried to avoid giving you desserts as well.  Just to keep you from being over-sugared too soon.

You laugh at so much, sweet girl.  It's like music to my ears. 

Oh and you know when you're into something you're not supposed to be!  (Not necessarily a time-out item, but something Mommy has told you is yucky.)  I don't know why, but you have an obsession with feet, socks, and shoes.  And Mommy tends to leave her shoes in the hallway after coming in the door...  I know when you've crawled down the hallway and gotten quiet, you're probably chewing on shoes.  So I head that way and as I round the corner, I spot you throwing the shoe down and crawling with great haste toward the door (though why you go that direction, I don't know).  It makes me laugh.  You don't get in trouble, but I always pick you up and tell you -- again -- that it's yucky.  And we both laugh a little on the way back to the living room. 

Oh... you discovered toilets have water in them this month too.  Yuck!  We now keep the toilet lid down (or at least we try to remember to).

And my favorite:  you know how to give hugs.  It started last week.  After your morning bottle, I sat you facing me and said, "Can Mommy have a hug?"  And you looked at me -- and laid your head on my shoulder and let me wrap my arms around you and snuggle you.  Oh sweet baby...  How I almost melted!  I tested it a couple more times just to make sure.  Yep... you know how to give hugs!  And you understand the word!

Makes me wonder what other words you understand.

Yes, Lynnaea, it's been a full month.  You grow and learn and amaze me on a daily basis.  I am continually humbled that Heavenly Father sent you to me.  That He blessed me with your wonderful presence.  That He blessed me to be your mommy.  I am so grateful to Him for that.  And so grateful to you, too.  You make life so happy.  So very happy.

I love you always.

Love Always,

Mommy

Enjoying Spring

Last week we had a totally beautiful week weather-wise.  So Jeremy and I took advantage of it -- and so did Lynnaea!  Also, for some weird reason, I was feeling in a funk on Saturday.  So we just decided we needed to get out and enjoy the day and do something different.  Oh, I just remembered why I was in a funk...  So I'd walked over to a park where our Ward was having an Easter Egg hunt for a Ward Activity.  Lynnaea couldn't care less about hunting for eggs at this point, but she likes to get out and do new things.  And she loves to be around other kids.  And I figured it was a good time to give her something to do.  So we went.  On the way there, I saw this house for sale.  Right down the street from us.  We've been looking to buy a house in the area for quite some time now, but nothing ever pans out.  It's incredibly frustrating.  But I saw this and thought, "Hey!  This looks perfect -- sort of.  Not enough property, but this is doable...  and it must be recently listed, because I haven't seen it on the MLS sight I check daily."  So on the way home, Lynnaea and I looked around it.  It's empty.  It was lived in not long ago by an elderly couple... I saw them one day while I was out with Lynnaea.  Anyway, it's practically perfect (aside from the lack of property size we want, but probably will be hard-pressed to find within walking distance of Jeremy's job).  So I get all excited.  I get home to look up the price.  And when I finally find it...  Yeah.  Listed 4 days previous and already pending sale.  Oh, and by the way...  The price was a total wowzers.  Like in-my-dreams impossible.  In the good way that got me all excited.  Another door shut.  And while, honestly, I appreciate when Heavenly Father shuts doors we aren't meant to go through...  It's frustrating when I don't know where a door will open and when.  I'm sort of impatient like that...  Sigh.  So, that was that. 

Anyway...

So we went to a park and enjoyed some Jimmy John's (still no sprouts up in our neck of the woods... they said they had to wait for a Corporate visit or something.  Total bummer, but oh well).

So, without further ado...  Here are the pictures.  Plus a bonus one of my sweet girl's newest trick.

This was before we headed over to the park for the egg hunt.  She looks way excited, no?  Like the duck barrette? 

Not one of her more flattering pictures... It was chillier than I had anticipated.  And she still wasn't sure about the grass.  This was at the egg hunt.

This is what she does best:  chew on paper.  This was in the afternoon at the other park we drove to.

Definitely one of my favorite pictures ever.  I love her little butterfly bum. 

She and Jeremy did a whole lot of walking around.  And adventuring. 

Then she'd toddle on back to Mommy.  And give me a grin. 

She is the sweetest baby, seriously. 

She didn't like walking on this log.  She tolerated it long enough for a picture. 

We got a guy to snap a family shot for us.  Not the greatest picture ever, but it'll do. 

She put her little toes in the water with Jeremy's help.  And then touched the green algae.  And grabbed some and tried to eat it.  And that was the end of that adventure.  Mommy came to the rescue with a wipe. 

She got a beautiful new dress made by her Aunt Michele!  She wore it to church on Sunday and even managed to keep her little hair flair in!  Can you tell she has pretty much outgrown her car seat?  We went and bought a new one today... 

Her new trick!   Not the clapping...  She's been doing that for about 3 months.  But the standing long enough to clap...  Now that's new.  She's doing it more and more.  And longer and longer. 

I hate when my pictures load sideways.  But you get the gist.  She was standing holding my phone and pointing.  Big girl.  It's only a matter of time until she gets brave enough to take a step or two.  Where did my baby go?

True to Nilla Form... It's a Picture Dump!

Because I seem to have time for little else as I go down my list, crossing stuff off :).

Sue from the funeral home made Lynnaea a little bunny Easter basket.  So cute!

This cheesey girl is pretty much eating regular food now.  Little bits of chicken breast, potatoes, carrots, peas, macaroni...  Pretty much most of the stuff we eat....  Just without all the awesome flavors.  Although I think she likes it best when I pull stuff out of our home-made soups.  Because they then get the delicious broth flavor!  She can definitely put away some macaroni and veggies from that!

Conference weekend...  Lots of fun at our house!  Her new favorite thing is to hold Daddy's hands and walk.  She gets so excited!

 

Yesterday was a nicer day -- warmer too -- but I didn't leave the house yesterday.  So we went to the park today!  We found one with a baby swing!  Honestly, she wasn't too sure of it.  This was the only partial smile I got.  I'm sure she'll come to love it though ;).

 

Then we sat in the grass so she could feel what that feels like.  She wasn't too sure about that either!  She pretty much sat there like this the whole time...not touching it with her hands. 

 

Then I stood her up on it and held her.  Love the facial expression!  It was getting windy by this point. 

So we left and went to Baby Story Time.  The end. :)

Blog Resurrection

So I've been contemplating my blogs.  I have several of them now.

1.  This blog.
2.  The gratitude blog.
3.  The party food blog.
4.  The book-talking blog.

I've pretty much quit using numbers 3 and 4.  But I've decided to resurrect them.  I don't really know why...  I guess to keep similar things grouped together.  And for funsies. 

So from here on back, all the binder recipes will be posted in the party food blog.  Maybe not exactly party food.  But food nonetheless.  I'm probably going to rename it to Nilla the Foodie.  Accurate and true!  Plus I'll post any food theme parties.  I'll even do so retroactively.  So be looking forward to The Office party, the back to school party, Halloween parties, etc.  Because it's FUN!!!

And the goal for the book-talking blog is also to help me remember some of what the book is about that I read.  I may start rating them and offering my opinion.  Thereby making it not really a book-talk.  But that's okay. 

So that's the exciting news.  Yay! 

And just so I don't keep my dad waiting for his grandpa pictures...  Here's a couple of recent ones from the happenings in our household :).

My cousin always does shadow pictures with her family and they always look awesome.  So I figured munchkin and I would give it a try.

I watched Emily for Christina a couple of days last week.  Lynnaea loved having her cousin here.  I think she laughed at everything Emily did!  It was awesome.

Emily likes to be a big helper.  And Lynnaea is completely willing to let other people hold her bottle for her.  Haha...

Binder Recipe #6

 

Cookies-and-Cream Pudding Parfait

 

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup chopped chocolate sandwich cookies (about 8 cookies)

 

In a medium pan, warm milk and sugar over medium heat (do not boil), stirring until sugar dissolves.  In a small bowl, whisk together cream, egg and cornstarch.  Slowly whisk cream mixture into warm milk, whisking constantly.

 

Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat back of a spoon, 4 to 6 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and butter.  Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic directly onto surface of pudding.  Refrigerate until cold, 1 1/2 hours; pudding will thicken as it cools.

 

Divide half of pudding among 4 parfait glasses.  Sprinkle with half of cookies.  Repeat, layering with remaining pudding and cookies.

 

Recipe from allyou.com

Personal Notes:  I only had fat free milk on hand, so I used that (but still had the heavy cream).  I also used some regular oreos and some cookie dough oreos, just to change it up.  Perhaps because of the fat free milk, it took a little longer than 6 minutes before the pudding could coat the spoon -- probably 8 to 10 minutes.

Verdict:  Discard.  It wasn't what I was expecting.  I enjoyed making a home-made pudding, but wasn't as impressed with the results.  I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about it exactly, but I know I don't want to make it again.

10 Months

Dear Lynnaea,

Another month gone.  Where do they all go?  People who have known you since birth ask me how old you are and when I tell them, they gape.  They can't believe it either. 

Daddy says your a toddler now. 

I still say you're a baby.  But the truth is you'll always be my baby.  Always.

Oh beautiful girl, my love for you grows and grows.  I simply didn't know I was capable of loving so very much.  Of course, with this love comes the potential for worry beyond my experience too.  Your crazy mommy has always been a worrier by nature.  In the last couple of days, we had a bout of something yucky.  We don't know if it's something you ate or if you picked up a flu-type thing.  But it messed up your digestion for a few days, and after 3 days of it, I was starting to worry.  And it occurred to me how those two go hand-in-hand:  the love and the worry.  I'm happy to report all is well in your tummy's world again.  This makes me happy for you and for me!  Because, just for your {future} information (since I'm sure you don't care right now), we didn't enjoy all the leaked-through diapers... ;).

Here's another funny story for you:  a couple weekends ago, I was helping throw a baby shower.  So I decided it'd be better for you to stay with Daddy instead of going with me.  Daddy said he might take you down to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I told him to send me a text if he did so that I knew not to expect you and him to be home when I came home.  And then I added, 'But mostly my baby.'  Daddy just gave me a look.  Hahaha. 

But the thing is this:  you've become such a huge part of my life.  And sure, I know there will be days ahead when you push away more and where almost your every waking moment is spent in my presence.  But for now, that's our normal.  Even when I'm trying to take a shower or go potty.  And so, after a while of not being with you...  Well, I just start to miss you incredibly!  And let's just say you must feel the same about me -- in even less time.  Because when Daddy is home and I go to take a shower, I close the bathroom door and your melt down.  And even when you're in the bathroom with me, you don't handle it well that you can't get into the shower with me.  It's a heart-breaking cry, but you get over it.

Anyway, you're just my little go-everywhere buddy.  Many people call you my mini-me (apparently you favor me more than Daddy).  And you're such an agreeable happy baby.

And what have you been up to this past month?  A lot.  Including putting teeth marks on most of the DVD cases ;).

You are walking around in your walker...  Well, not exactly in it, but with it.  You didn't care for sitting in the seat and being "trapped" (though that's nice for Mommy when she wants to keep you contained!).  You love to push it and walk with it, though.  Even from the side!  You have stood on your own for about 5 seconds, but you haven't realized that you can do it, so I don't really count it.  You have learned how to hand things to me and Daddy and to ask for them back by holding out your hand.  And you are starting to form sounds that will soon be words!  Your favorite right now is yayayaya.  But you also do dadada and just today started with bababa.  You walk along the couch, the pews at church, and the bed.  You figured out how to drink out of a straw!

You're curious about everything.  And though you are happy and eventually smile at most people who smile at you, you take a few minutes to assess the situation and give new people a once-over before committing to a smile.  You are a mellow baby, and though you certainly do cry from time to time (see aforementioned melt-downs when you can't reach Mommy), most people never witness your crying and have asked me if you ever cry or fuss.  And now, most of the time when you're tired and ready for naps or bed-time, you lay on the floor and grab the closest blanket or burp rag, snuggle it and suck your thumb.  And we know...  it's bedy-bye time for the baby!

Yes, Lynnaea, you are a joy.  Every day is a new adventure. And I'm so glad I get to be a part of all of it...  Even the yucky poop and vomit days.   I love you precious girl.  Always.

Love,

Mommy