Growth in just six months!

I am honestly having a hard time with this "six month" milestone. Wasn't it just yesterday that they placed this 5 lb 2 oz tiny human being in my arms and congratulated me as a "new mommy?" 

 

No. It was SIX months ago. 24 weeks ago. Half a year ago. {TEAR!}

She's a big girl now.


Here's a brief look at how much she's grown:

Almost sitting up by herself.

 

Still a Daddy's girl!

 

Mommy just THOUGHT her arms were sore carrying around a 5 pound baby. Big girls weigh even MORE!

Oh sweet cousin love. -but they are big kids now.. so don't make them lay down to take a picture!

Remember when the bath INSERT swallowed her up? I'm getting ready to buy the baby bath seat because she is no longer content laying there. She wants to sit UP :)

 

Look at that tiny head from 6 months ago.

Amazing how much Mommy & Daddy's hearts have grown in just six months!

Don't tell anyone, but we are having a little "mini-birthday" celebration Friday night.

Over the top? Spoiled much? OF COURSE! That is Khloe's world.
: )

Every house has it's tree

It seems that every house we live in has it's own Tree story. When we lived in Jackson we managed to STEAL four Bradford Pear trees originally priced at $99.98, $121.84, $119.94 and $229.94, paying $24 (yep, twenty four dollars) for all four trees. They were priced wrong and also rang up at 30 % off. We loved those trees. The only way I can ever convince John David to drive past that house in Jackson is to see how much they have grown. 

 Last night, I put dinner in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. We packed Khloe in her stroller and went on our daily walk, but this time around our neighborhood. About half way through the walk, I spotted this sign. 

John David laughs at me at how well I can spot freebies and goodwills.

 

I got so excited that I made John David call right away. Ever since we moved to "Tropical Mobile," I have wanted a few sago palms in our yard. The small ones range from 50-100 a PIECE. We walked down to inspect the plant to see if it was anything we wanted and I nearly died. It was HUGE. It was gorgeous. "Babe!! We have to have that!!"

The owner was a little old lady whose husband had just passed away a couple months ago. The plant was really close to her side walk and she was just not able to keep it cut back and cared for. She wanted to have it cut up but her neighbor put a sign up saying it was free so she wouldn't have to pay to have it taken down.

John David went and dug it up. Yep, still in his surgery scrubs.

 It was starting to get late, but it was going to be a little too chilly to leave it unplanted, so we picked the PERFECT place for it, and Jd began digging.

 

........ and.... there is a reason why they say "CALL before you dig." Yep. He cut the water line. Dead in the middle.

Luckily, from that DANG Jackson house, we had a ton of leftover pipes and supplies {in the storage shed. ha ha ha I KNOW}

So. We all know I'm truly blonde at heart. The picture below is right after I admitted to John David that I had a confession. When he first broke the water line and it began squirting everywhere, the very first thought I had was "Omg.. what kind of root did he hit that is squirting juice up." It was only a BRIEF thought until I quickly realized it was WATER, duh. John David told me not to tell anyone else that I thought of that. He laughed. For awhile. {we needed SOMETHING to laugh about. glad I could do it. HA}

Have I mentioned that I love my husband? Because I really do.

In the end, my sweet husband had to dig not two, but three holes. 

{for the record, I am also adding to my list of reasons I love John David: he really is the strongest guy I know. he picked that almost 6 foot tall, 4 foot wide tree up and CARRIED it to the truck- by himself , he is without a doubt a "Mr. Fix-it", and not one time last night did he lose his temper. he amazes me}

We ended up not getting in bed until 1:30 AM, and my sweet husband got up at 5.

It really is going to look good once it's all cleaned up. Plus, it had new growth growing on the bottom, we pulled those off and are going to plant in a pot until they get bigger and then plant the smaller ones around it.

I really think that if my husband loved me less it would keep him from getting into these silly situations. But he loves me... and I'm 98% sure he would do it again for me. {I said 98 percent, 2 percent of me wonders..}

Our next house, we will hire people to do this kind of stuff.

Until then, we will add this story to our list of Homeowner Horrors. 

I love you husband.

Organized Ribbon Heaven!

Remember the blanket rack turned ribbon holder I showed you guys a few months ago?

Yah. That lasted for about a minute until all four racks were smashed together and completely overwhelming. I have been racking my brain for weeks on a new solution.

I needed a system that was super organized, mobile, and capable of adding as I go.

Let me just start by saying this was NOT a quickie. The hubby was sick AND on-call, so it didn't make it feel so time consuming, but looking back I spent pretty much my whole weekend working on this.

I bought 5 matte boards at Hobby Lobby marked down to 1.00 each. {I originally bought three and halfway through the project realized I was definitely going to need more.}

Using a razor blade I cut it into 150 4x6" boards. 

 

I took all the ribbons off their spools and began wrapping them around these 4x6" boards. I started by taping one end of the ribbon to the board and after the opposite end was completely wrapped I stuck a straight pin through it to keep it from coming loose.

Clearly, the ribbons must be color coordinated.

The drawers were then placed in the three drawer storage container that I had out in my storage shed {I know, I know.. How MUCH junk do I have out there!?!}

HOLY ORGANIZED RIBBON HEAVEN! This makes me happy! :) 

Total Cost: $5!

Homemade Baby Food: Week 2

I have a new book, Super Baby Food, coming in any day now. I've heard this is the "bible" of making your own baby food, so I'm pretty excited to get it and read through. 

My favorite website for recipes that I have found is Wholesome Baby Food. It has a little bit of everything you need to know about feeding your baby. It has been a really great resource for me.

We are taking things slow and only introducing new foods every 4-7 days. Khloe has been LOVING those carrots, and after 7 days I knew she was ready for something new.

 

Sweet Potatoes!

These were super easy.

Wash & poke holes.

Wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30-60 minutes or until soft. Baking sweet potatoes is the very best way to cook them. Baking  brings out their natural sweetness and good flavor while retaining the most nutrients.

I'm not a big sweet potato fan, but they smelt so yummy after cooking for an hour.

Remove skins by cutting in half lengthwise and scoop out the "meat".

Use your preferred liquid source to thin as you puree.

Three sweet potatoes made two ice trays = 32 ounces of baby food.

Khloe LOVES them! :)

Drab 2 Fab: Bow Holder

This is the frame from an old mirror that was hung in our guest bathroom when bought our house. I knew immediately that mirror would be replaced with a much more modern one. It's been sitting in my storage shed for a year. I have tried about 3 different types of bow holders and keep running out of room.

I removed the glass and spray painted the frame a turquoise blue (which I already had.)

I found this ribbon on sale at Hobby Lobby for $2 and I didn't even use the whole roll.

I used the existing screw holes that held the mirror in place and screwed the ribbons directly into the frame. That's it. You're done.

How ADORABLE!?!

Obviously, this is NOT all her bows. I left space on each ribbon just for the picture. :)

Total Cost: $2.00

Adventures in Homemade Baby Food

PROS: It's fresh, more nutritional, more varied, freezes well, AND it's cheaper. 

CONS: Time consuming, doesn't travel well, requires extra freezer space. 

I was very excited when it came time for Khloe to start on solids. For the past couple months, I have spent countless hours reading/researching the benefits of homemade VS store bought. I've been super excited to see if I could do it. 

   

We started out with bananas, butternut squash, pears, carrots & avocados. 

Khloe played {in her adorable new high chair} while mommy worked.

CARROTS

Step 1: Peel carrots & cut into small chunks.  {LOVE my new monogrammed cutting board that my baby sister bought me!}

Step 2: Steam for about 6 1/2 minutes. I didn't have a real steamer, so I placed my colander into a pan with water just barely touching the bottom of the colander and then put a lid on top slightly open on one side so the steam could escape.

Step 3: Puree. There again, I didn't have a food processor, but the blender works just fine. Mine even has a "puree and/or liquefy setting. I use both} Add small amounts distilled water (you can also use boiled tap water, but buying distilled by the gallon is super cheap and I think much more convenient. We always have at least 5 gallons in our pantry! :)

Step 4: Store in ice cube trays and freeze. Butternut Squash on the left / Carrots on the right. *Each cube equals one ounce. I bought one bag of carrots for 87 cents and it made 10 cubes- not all pictured.

Step 5: Once they are frozen, crack the tray and store in ziploc bags for easy access.

I bought  pears and avocados and then realized they don't freeze very well in cubes. It's better to cut in half and wrap in plastic wrap until you are ready to use. I'm waiting to introduce her to fruits until she has had more vegetables. If you give fruits too soon they often desire the sweet taste in foods.

Step 6: 1 ounce of pureed carrots + 1.5 tablespoons of Rice cereal + 1.5 ounces of formula + distilled water. Microwave on medium for 10 seconds. 

 

Homemade Baby Food YUM-O! 

And she liked! SUCCESS!

Is it bad of me that I am kind of excited about her turning all orangy from those carrots? HA!

*Just so you don't think I'm JUDGING you for using store bought, I am positive there will be many occasions when I use store bought. I have a few containers already. I am not 100% sure that I would be going through all this if I worked everyday. Since I stay at home with my Khloe, I figure why not give it a shot?! :)