Allie at one year

* seriously cute

* weighs 25 pounds

* walks like a champ

* almost runs
* feeds herself

* is starting to think about jumping

* climbs the stairs--she actually can't get to the gate fast enough if you leave it open accidently or if she hears it open. She gets really mad if Audrey is allowed upstairs and she isn't.

* loves to back up into your lap and read a book, although she won't listen to more than one page

* is getting her teeth now, very fast. at her first birthday she had one on the bottom and one poking through on the top. Now, less than a week later, she's got three and one more poking through. 

* terrible sleeper. goes down by herself for naps during the day, but is rocked at night

* transitioned from formula to whole milk seamlessly. 

* got all her shots (I always cross my fingers and pray)

*loves to carry around helium balloons by their strings.

* enjoys music and singing--loves it when Audrey sings to her

* loves playing the piano with mommy

* when she's really tired, she'll go to the bottom of the stairs, shake the gate and whine until we take her to her crib, or stand at my feet and whine until I pick her up. 

* mischievous 

* loves to pull Audrey's hair
* if I bend down to her level and reach out my arms, she gets a huge smile and starts to run towards me. I love it!

Sarah

Allie's 1st Birthday Party

I still can't believe it. My little Allie turned one on December 16th. Her party was the 18th.   I feel old admitting that time does go faster every year. I  believe that being sleep deprived and having children 24 months apart contributed to that feeling. 

December birthdays are a whole new dimension for me. No one in my immediate family had a December birthday. 

I can't say I dislike them, per sea, but it takes a multi tasking pro and an organizational genius to not feel overwhelmed in December as is. I was just catching my breath from Audrey's party when it was time to send out Allie's invitations.  I'm learning the groove.  A special thanks to my friend Alicia for making the cake, my mother in law for making the tree and owl to match the invitation and my Dad for taking pictures. 

one year ago

 today: ready to party and coordinating so well. 

the cake: chocolate on the top, strawberry on bottom. Buttercream frosting. 

German Chocolate GF cupcakes and GF vanilla cupcakes with buttercream.
the #1's I molded myself from a pan I found online.

we lost Allie's shoes that morning. completely lost. still can't find them.

me and Allie. 

It only took Allie one time to understand what to do with the present, but Audrey thought she still needed help with every one! 

Allie on her new rocking horse. 

helping her get started with her cake

yum!

getting the hang of it

why is the box always more fun!? Playing in the box her pink coupe came in

we forgot to get a family picture during the party so we set up the tripod. not so conducive with a one year old! this is the unedited version.

and now, on to Christmas

Sarah

Holiday Baking

The week of December 9th I baked and baked and baked. Two cookie exchanges and some Christmas candy left our halls decked with chocolate, caramel and gluten free goodness. My late Aunt's fudge recipe was naturally gluten free--hurray, but it seems to have shrunk my pants. They are so tight now I can barely wear them. But that fudge was GOOD!

 I love to bake. In college I'd come home with a magazine I'd picked up because of it's neat snowman cake or intricate sugar cookie stocking with big plans to make what was on the cover. A few days before Christmas I'd make 4-5 different types of cookies and/or candies as Christmas music serenaded me and family members filed in and out, sampling my latest creation. The whole day I'd spend mixing, rolling, decorating.....Then, we'd plate up those cookies and deliver them around town to the less fortunate, and our friends. It was an awesome tradition that I hope to implement here soon.  Today everything I make has to be gluten free, and with kids, my uninterrupted time in the kitchen is non existent. This year, thanks to my momma, I was able to spend a few hours of (almost) uninterrupted time baking GF Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints (recipe below).

Audrey  believes more is more when it comes to  decorating.  She helped me dip and decorate chocolate covered GF pretzels. (we made lots of chex mix this season and we had some leftover pretzels.) Again, not wanting to stifle her creativity I let her sprinkle at her own free will, giving only helpful hints, such as " honey, you can't tell it's a pretzel when you put that much sugar on it" My girl loves to stir and add ingredients but not as much as she loves to fancy up a cupcake, or in this case, pretzels. I think she'd add sprinkles to almost anything.

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

Busted! Sneaking a bite

"What bite?" 

methodically sprinkling the pretzels with sugar and nonpareils

Chocolate-Caramel Thumbprints

1 stick butter, softened 

1/2 c sugar

2 (1oz) semisweet chocolate baking squares, melted

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons

1 1/4 c gluten free flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c chopped pecans

16 caramels

2 1/2 TBSP whipping cream

2/3 c semisweet chocolate chips

2 tsp shortening

Cream butter until creaming. Slowly add sugar. Add egg yolk, melted chocolate and vanilla. Stir flour, soda and salt together. Add to butter mixture. Mix well. Cover and chill for one hour. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in pecans. Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets, press thumb in center. Bake 350 for 12 min or until set. combine caramels and cream in double boiler. cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly until caramels melt and mixture is smooth. Remove cookies from oven, press center of cookie again. quickly spoon 3/4 tsp caramel into each indention. cool. combine chocolate chips and shortening, melt. drizzle over cooled cookies. yield: 2.5 dozen

Sarah

I could use a real grown up party

This December felt like a whirlwind to me. Life with two kids (how do people manage with more than two???)  has my mind on overdrive and planning a December birthday amidst the festivities, I feel like I missed the season before it began. Maybe I need more caroling???

 I have to bargain to hear Christmas music over the soundtrack to Mamma Mia. Audrey doesn't enjoy seasonal songs yet even though I plunk them out with my chords most every day on the piano. (Usually with both girls accompanying me on the bench).  Or maybe I need a Christmas office party? --a  picnic on a blanket in the playroom with nuggets and juicy juice is what my office party consists of these days. Not quite not the same as hor d'oeuvres and cabernet.




Sarah

Happy 1 year Birthday, Allie!

Sarah

A picture says a thousand words

 I could tell you what was going on in this picture, but I'd rather not. I think it's more fun to let you make up your own story. If I explained the logistics, it would take all the fun out of it. A picture truly says a thousand words.

Sarah

First Snow

Just had to share one. More to come. 

Sarah

Little Blurbs

"Have you seen my credit card?" was a question I asked my three year old today. I didn't expect to ask her that for ten more years.

Audrey has my phone and I hear, click click click click click. And I say, "Audrey, stop taking pictures" and she says, "I'm not taking pictures Mommy, I'm making cupcakes. " Well, of course then. They have apps for everything.


If I could get my eleven month old to sleep through the night on a consistent basis, without waking up and vomiting, I may consider having a third child. But Allie is trying hard to hold onto her position as baby of this family. My mother told me recently that there are no absolutes in parenting. There is no guarantee that she will ever sleep through the night. Again, another point for "we're done!"

My three year old is obsessed with music from Mamma Mia. That, and the Hello song from Kindermusik. Every time we get in the car, "Mom, will you turn on number 1 from Kindermusik?" She even knows what track it is, for fear not if Grandma or someone else is driving, they will know which song to play. When she asks to hear a song from Mamma Mia, she'll say the entire song as the title. "Mom, can we listen to, Mamma Mia, here I go again, my my how can I resist you?" I heard her the other day singing the lyrics to another MM song "if I had a little money, it's a rich man's world..." Made me laugh but I said to Jeremy, more Veggie Tales for Christmas, less musicals.


Sarah

Audrey makes PB&J

Audrey's first PB&J sandwich she made by herself. 

One day before her third birthday, Audrey wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The all around staple of any moms kitchen. I was occupied in the kitchen that day and told her she'd have to make it herself. Having never done this, but always up for a challenge she agreed. And what a great idea! She's a very conscientious worker. I give her one slice of bread and the peanut butter. I take the other slice and spread the jelly on for her. This originated because I wanted to keep the jelly gluten free (no double dipping!). She puts the slices together and makes the sandwich. She's always so proud of her accomplishment. "Mom, I did it!" I'll hear her exclaim. Then she takes a huge bite--the kind that leaves jelly all the way to your ears. Audrey is a little type A, so the next time we made it, we had to make it exactly like we did the first time. And she has no qualms about telling me what my role is. "You spread the jelly and I spread the peanut butter, right, mom?" It's really not a question though, it's more of an order. Now, if I could just get her to do the jelly side too. I think it's worth buying two jars of jam.

of  course it's Jiff (all natural) peanut butter! "Choosy Moms choose Jiff!" 

Sarah

homemade matching outfits

Let me first say that I did not make these outfits. I am not nearly talented enough with a sewing machine. I tried my hand at sewing more than ten years ago and after a summer of making one pair of pajamas, I turned in my straight pins and returned to the kitchen. I think it's a wonderful art but I am happy to pay people to do it for me, and blessed to have a several wonderful seamstresses in the family. Audrey's Grandma S. made these for Audrey for her birthday this year. She also made an outfit for Allie.

All lined up on the couch. L to R: New baby, Paige, Bitty, Lee-Middleton, Audrey and Reagan

Grandma even made purses and hats and hair bows!

Allie and Audrey in their outfits with the dolls. You can't really see Allie's. It's a pinafore and a skirt. Audrey's is a dress.

Sarah

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving, Wednesday. Note Audrey's arm. She saw me do it and then did the same right before the flash went off. So cute! 

On Thursday we went to my Grandma's. Lots of people (35) in a not to big house. It's crowded, but it's cozy. After lunch (and about 800 desserts) when the crowd thins it's craft time. This year we made candy advent calendars. Each day of December until Christmas you untie a piece of candy. We simply used adorable scrapbook paper, ribbon, double stick tape and stickers. This won't be a calendar that you pass down for generations, but it was perfect for the two hours we had to create it. 

a few of the finished products

Audrey's advent calendar

Then, on Friday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family. Another big meal (it's no wonder my pants are tight as I type this) and another big day of family. Allie decided to sit in Lilahs (she's 6 months) Bumbo...without help. We found her there a lot that day. So funny!

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving. Now, on to Christmas! 

Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving

Tonight our family sat down to a feast. Our annual, day before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving. Since we were dating and Jeremy had roommates, we've made a turkey and all the fixins the day before Thanksgiving. On the menu this year:

Oven roasted turkey
Mashed potatoes
broccoli with buttered walnuts
cranberry sauce
Pumpkin Pie with Maple whipped cream and sugared pecans

We have found it's better to fix our favorites rather than going all out since we're  celebrating on Thursday and Friday too.  I could have only made cranberry sauce and Audrey would have been happy. She announced she didn't like turkey, or potatoes or broccoli. She ate her cranberry sauce with a spoon and had a side of pumpkin pie.

Our thanksgiving celebration started back in 2003, when Jeremy and I were dating and Jeremy had roommates. I can't remember why we decided to make a turkey on that Wednesday, other than, why not?  Thus, a tradition was born. The meal has gotten more elaborate over the years and  has been tweeked to be gluten free ( no more dinner rolls and stuffing--there is a way, but it's waaayyyy too complicated for my life right now). It started as four adults,  then after we got married it was just Jeremy and I for a few years. This year was our first year with two young kids and it was by far the most chaotic meal to date. A one point we looked at each other half way through the meal and said, "maybe next year we'll eat once they're in bed!"  I started a story at least five times before I said to Jeremy, "nevermind, I'll tell you in four years." Jeremy kept trying to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving, a history buff that he is, and Audrey, full of imagination, kept telling him to stop talking and to listen to her and her stories of the pilgrims. Her stories were creative, and I'm sure not even a little bit true. I think our first or second Thanksgiving, when we sat down on that Wednesday night to watch TV in a quiet house, our Christmas lights glowing on our perfect tree that had decorations all over, not just the top half, like this year, a glass of wine in one hand and the best pumpkin pie I'd ever made in another. I'm glad we have those memories. Life isn't the same as it was then. It's a lot louder. But we are thankful for the noise. Thankful for little hands that always want to help in the kitchen and little feet that run to help unload the dishwasher (and then steal a piece of silverware and giggle with delight when they get more than a few steps away without being caught).  We are very blessed! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sarah

What Audrey is thankful for this year

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, I've really been trying to teach Audrey what being "thankful" really means. We talk about the pilgrims and why they came to America and why we eat turkeys, but I really want her to understand and appreciate her blessings. Last night after her bedtime story, I asked her what she was thankful for. She looked at me blankly. I then asked her what makes her happy. Fully expecting her to say her Bitty Baby or her new Toy Story toys she surprised me when she said, "when Allie smiles." I smiled and clarified that she meant when her little sister smiles, that's what makes her happy. And that, melts my heart.

THEN TODAY, we made a thankful tree. We traced her hands on colored paper and used them as "leaves" on the tree that I free handed and cut out. It's not the prettiest tree but it's pretty cute. On the five leaves she had to tell me what what she was thankful for and why. This is what she said (honest, I didn't coach her at all)

1. Daddy, because he makes money so we can shop
2. Mommy, because you make me orange juice everyday
3. Allie, because I like to play with her
4. My friends
5. Bitty Baby. And Paige. And Reagan. And New Baby (her newest doll, this is not an announcement of any kind), and my Toy Story toys.

Fall Landscaping

I could pretend like I know the names of the plants in the following pictures, but quite honestly, I don't. I like the way they look in the pots (I do know that the red flowers are mums and the purple is kale). And I know that I kept my summer arrangement in the pots and just added the above and the pumpkins. Audrey placed the two little pumpkins on the side of the house. Those were hers that she would play with every time someone would come to the door. They took a beating as they were tossed and rolled and dropped. All the pumpkins lasted way past Halloween. We opted not to carve them again this year. Maybe next year. 

note Audrey's two lone pumpkins

sweet Allie. 

Sarah