It's been a while...

...since I've posted anything. This has been a BUSY month for us. With visitors at the house for 3 weeks and family get-togethers, its been hard to find time to sit down at the computer long enough to do anything. Here's what's been going on (not really much).

Aaryn is now rolling over both ways all the time. Not only that, but she's scooting too...backwards. Where did my little baby go? I'm not ready for her to be so mobile yet. At the rate she's going, she'll be crawling soon. She's able to get up on her knees, but doesn't know what to do after that to get moving. I love watching her play on her mat and in her play pen.

Both girls have had colds this week. Cadence has been coughing with chest congestion and a runny nose. Aaryn has been a little congested, coughing and sneezing. It really bothers them when they're trying to sleep, so I've been up in the middle of the night with one at least one of them every night. They've both been taking medicine for a few days and seem to be getting better now, so we'll all be able to rest better now.

Well, that's all for now. Aaryn is crying for me, so I better go get her. Until next time...

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin.....

She finally did it! After weeks of trying, Aaryn finally figured out how to roll over (back to tummy). She didn't know what to do with her arms at first, but now she's rolling over like a pro. She's rolled over from tummy to back a couple of times, but I think it was by accident. Check out the video below.

5 Months Old

Aaryn turned 5 months old yesterday! Where has the time gone. It seems like just yesterday when I was hugely pregnant, miserable, and convinced that my baby would NEVER come. Now she's here and she's growing before my eyes. It's bittersweet seeing her grow up. On one hand I'm excited about seeing her accomplish milestones, but on the other I want her to stay my little, sweet, innocent baby forever. Oh well, I guess that's life. Happy 5 months Aaryn!!

Welcome Back, Grandpa!

My father-in-law, who now lives in Oregon, came back to visit with us and to meet his new granddaughter. He'll be here for three weeks, which will give us lots of time to catch up. The last time my husband saw his dad was 2.5 years ago when he went to Oregon for a week and a half with our daughter Cadence, who was only a year old at the time. Of course, she doesn't remember him. He flew in on Saturday and so far seems to be enjoying being with us and the girls. We're doing everything possible to make him feel comfortable during his stay.

It's taken Cadence a little time to warm up to him, but she's coming around. We were telling her all week about his coming and she was getting really excited about it. Right before we left the house to head to the airport to get him, she was standing outside when she saw a plane in the sky. She looked up and started yelling at the plane, "Grandpa, come down! I'm down here!" So cute. She even told us that she was going to give her Grandpa a BIG hug when she saw him. Well, when she saw him, she changed her mind and decided that she wanted her daddy instead. She's a little shy at times, which I guess she gets from me. It's now day 4 and I'm glad to say that she has become a little more comfortable with him. Aaryn loves anybody who will hold her, so no problems there.

As pleased as we were when we found out that he was coming back for a while, we got another surprise that we would've never expected. His wife will be coming to visit during the last week that he's here. This will be the first time we meet her. From everything I've heard about her, she's a wonderful woman, and I can't wait for her to get here.

"Smarty Pants"

I'm always looking for opportunities to brag on my girls, but what parent doesn't. I've always got a recent picture in my wallet and a story to tell. Today I'm going to brag on my 3-year old, Cadence. I call her my "smarty pants" and here's why. She is so smart and mature for her age. It's easy for me to forget that she is only 3 because she knows sooo much and speaks like a much older child.

She just started 3K last month at the daycare/school that she's been attending since she was 8 months old. The school that she goes to is great. They have the best teachers around here. They begin teaching their students very early (potty training, counting, ABC's, vocabulary, etc.). It's great how much those children learn at such a young age. It's a Christian school, so they also teach them bible stories, prayers, scriptures, and of course songs. It is expensive, but it is well worth every penny. I wouldn't settle for anything less for my girls.

Well anyway, in the month that she has been in 3k, she's able to count to 30, mastered her ABC's, able to recognize and write some letters and numbers, and recite Corinthians 13. She knows that there are 7 days in the week (and can recite them), and she knows all 12 months of the year. There's more. She knows "The Pledge of Allegiance"and "The Pledge to the Christian Flag". She knows so much that I'm sure I am forgetting something.

Just the other day, she was talking to her dad and me(and I forget how this came up) about Joseph. She was telling us the story of how Joseph had a coat of colors and how his brothers sold him, put blood on his coat and gave it to their daddy, and how Joseph became a king and forgave his brothers.

I could brag on my Cadence all day, but this will do for now. I love my little "smarty pants"!

Interesting Diapers

Since starting Aaryn on solids, I've noticed some really interesting and colorful diapers here lately. There wasn't a noticeable difference when we were on the avocado, but the squash, well that's another story. My husband and I are just in awe at how the diaper "solids" looks identical to the purees I've been making. It looked as if someone put one of the puree cubes in the diaper to let it thaw there. The green beans diapers are even more interesting and colorful. I don't remember Cadence's diapers really changing after starting solids. I'm assuming that it's because she ate only store bought baby food. It doesn't take very much to excite us these days, as you can see.

Our Champion Eater

My intentions were to wait until Aaryn was closer to 6 months old before introducing solids. Well those intentions went out the window when she started showing interest in my food. I decided very early in my pregnancy that I would attempt to make everything that my baby ate in my own kitchen. I bought a baby cookbook with lots of baby food recipes and researched baby food making extensively. I got some mixed reviews about it. In the end, I decided to give it a try and see if I could make it work for us.

I have two motivations for preparing my baby's food. The first is that it is a healthier choice. It doesn't have all of the additives that commercial baby foods have. The second reason is cost. I am saving us money by taking a little time to prepare her food.

So far, I've prepared butternut squash, green beans, and carrots. When preparing costs, I found that 5 ozs of Gerber squash would cost me $1.12. I bought a 3 lb butternut squash for $5.45, which after cooked and pureed made 38 ozs. What cost me $0.14 per oz and a little over an hour of my time would have cost me $0.22 per oz at the grocery store. That really adds up. I really saved big with the green beans and carrots. A 1 lb bag of frozen green beans and carrots cost $1.38 each. I was able to make 22 ozs of carrots and 20 ozs of green beans from these bags. Like the squash, Gerber green beans and carrots are $1.12 for 5 ozs. These purees took less than 20 minutes to prepare.

Along with the health benefits and cost savings, I get the satisfaction of knowing that I prepared that for her and she likes it.

We started with avocado this past Monday. It requires no special preparation aside from scraping it from the shell and mashing with a fork. We mixed it with a little rice cereal (which she doesn't seem to like plain). She LOVED it. She got the hang of eating from the spoon very quickly. She's always been a champ at eating. She never had any problem nursing and never had a problem switching from breast to bottle.

We did avocado for 3 days before moving on to butternut squash (3 days), and now green beans. She eats about 2 ozs once a day. We are both enjoying it. Her sister also likes to feed her. It makes her feel like a big girl.