1 year old

It's hard to believe that I have a ONE year old! 

The year has of course just gone by so quickly. It seems like such a long time ago A was a crying newborn who just seemed to eat and sleep all the time. It amazes me how much and how fast babies grow and develop.

Just 2 weeks before A's 1st birthday he started walking. It was such an amazing thing to see him do! The only bad part of A walking (besides him getting into even more stuff) is that he falls often now. So, every other day it seems like there is a new bump, bruise, or scratch somewhere. I felt horrible the first time he stubbed his toe!! He screamed in pain, and unfortunately, I could feel his pain. Now he is very careful when walking near a table and especially near the gate.  He is so adventurous yet also cautious! At his birthday party he managed to fall off a step onto a box, face first. He had a box cut on his cheek. That next day he was crawling after a ball (with his head down) and went head first into the dresser knob. Took 45 seconds before it swelled up and turned purple!! I was so ready to go the ER!!

Speaking of birthday party!! We had A's first birthday party a couple of weeks ago at his Grandma's house! My mom flew into town and we had mostly family and some friends come over to celebrate! The weather wasn't typical for August and it was actually on the cool side. I had planned on setting up kiddie pools and sprinklers but it was cool enough for long pants!! So instead we stayed inside and played, some of the older kids went out back to play at the canal.

The week of his birthday we had visitors pretty much every evening. Mostly, the people who couldn't come to the birthday party, made it to our house that week to wish A a happy birthday!! At one point we had 4 little ones running around playing with each other! Such a wonderful thing to watch your little boy play with his friends. Although Alex was the youngest and just stayed to the side while the older kids played!

On A's actual birthday I took the morning off to take J to a routine doctor appointment. After the procedure, J wanted to grab some lunch. We decided to go home and get Alex and J's Mom. On the way home, J called his Dad who was meeting for lunch with some cousins. We all ended up at Famous Dave's for lunch. So, even though it wasn't pre-planned, I decided to call it Alex's birthday lunch!

Also that week I set A up for "school." He will be starting day care this September and of course I think it will be harder for me than him. He will have to go through lots of transitions and changes, but socially, I think A will just love being around other children! He is such a social baby who loves to learn!

A had his 1 year appointment. Poor guy had so many shots he was just miserable the next day. He was wiped out and just cranky the next 24 hours. The doctor was very impressed with his social skills and vocabulary for being 1 years old. A is growing just fine and we also got the go ahead to start milk! So excited to give up the formula $$$ each month, although I think I will supplement with one bottle of formula a day. Although I hope to be done with the bottle soon!! I'm sure day care will help break the use of the bottle!

Of course we have been staying busy with Kindermusik and family time. A still spends the majority of his late afternoons/evenings outside which has been amazing since the weather has cooled down. He no longer wants me to push him in his swing, he wants to push it himself. He no longer wants to hold my hand, he can walk himself. He no longer wants me to help him pick up the ball, he can do it himself. Hummm, I see a pattern... My little boy is entering the world of independence. At least he still wants to cuddle with me at night before bed!!  

We are still experimenting with food. He is pretty much on all table food which is nice, yet he is now refusing veggies. Typically if I dip anything in hummus it will be eaten! Although he has caught on to me dipping his green beans in hummus. Next attempt will be baking veggies into a muffin or something!  

Well, I have said ENOUGH! Hopefully I will get on here more often and make updates!

This time last year...

It amazes me that this time last year I was 10 days away from having my baby. At this point I was miserable and almost on doctor ordered bed rest. I developed pre-eclampsia late in pregnancy and was pretty much out of commission for the last week of pregnancy. 

We are getting things ready for A's birthday party. Really, all we have to do is get the food but, who knows how many trips to the store that will take.

My Mom got into town last night and Alex recognized who she was! I had just but him into his crib for bed when she pulled into the driveway. Since he only sees his MiMi every once in awhile I got him back up (he wasn't asleep) so that he could say hello!! It was late for my baby, but he enjoyed the extra time with her. He hugged and kissed her then immediately tried to rip her reading glasses off her face!! Yikes!

It will be an awesome, yet busy, week preparing and celebrating A's birthday!! 

Balsamic Chicken

Finally I have something that I can just put together without constantly looking at a recipe!!

Simple... 

Grab however many chicken breasts you want (boneless/skinless)...

Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle some Italian seasonings and oregano on both sides of chicken. Pour some balsamic vinager over the chicken... Drizzle some olive oil over the chicken. Put some minced garlic over the chicken (as much as you want - we used a lot but we like garlic). Marinate. I marinated for over 8 hours. We threw the chicken on the grill and it was soooo good!!! 


We used food processor to cut potatoes, green & red peppers, onions. We mixed it up, used salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, and drizzled olive oil on top. Threw that on the grill wrapped in foil...