Ellie's still here, too!

Many of my pictures of Ellie are on my phone, so I forget to upload them to the 'ole blog - apologies!  Ellie is quickly growing into a long and lean little lady - not much toddler left of her.  (We toured the preschool section of her school yesterday - I teared up at the thought of dropping her off five days a week.)  She is a great big sister and loves to be outside:  running, riding her bike, running, going down the slide, running, swinging, running - you get the idea. :-)

Here is a collection of pictures and videos from the last month-and-a-half or so.  (the videos are from different days, we just only have so many game-day-UK-colored-outfits)  Hope you enjoy them - we're awfully proud of her!

"I'm snuggling with her, Mommy."

 

Caroline's First Meal.

Yesterday Caroline had her 6-month well-check and she tipped the scales at NINETEEN pounds!!  She's still long as well, measuring 27.25 inches long.  That puts her in the 91st and 90th percentiles, respectively.

She napped through dinnertime, but we saved some soft foods in handy stick-shapes for her to eat when she woke up.  On her tray was some roasted sweet potato, avocado cut into spears, and a half a banana broken into sticks.  She wasn't a fan.

We tried again tonight with red bell pepper and banana.  Pretty much the same as last night.  She'll get there eventually, and, for now, it's pretty funny to watch the range of faces she makes!

Bits and things.

Clearly I jumped the gun on the Wendell Berry poem, because, as I type, it is snowing.  Poor Ellie doesn't quite understand.  She wants to wear short sleeves and I tell her it's cold outside, and she rebuts with, "but it's springtime when the flowers come out."  This morning, I was able to physically show her the snow - which she knows means cold - so there was less of a battle in picking her outfit.    I have a ton of great Ellie pictures and videos to post, but I will save those for when I have more time and can get my thoughts together.

This breakfast smoothie has changed my mornings:  http://www.momontimeout.com/2013/10/mocha-breakfast-shake/ I altered it a bit from the original recipe --> no protein powder (just makes me think of morning sickness), and add two cups of spinach.  So in one smoothie I get all sorts of things I know should have but don't LOVE.  I go back and forth with yogurt - I know it's good for me, but the taste is a little off.  Bananas have a weird texture, and while I love spinach, who has time to eat two cups of it with breakfast while getting school bags packed, toddler and baby dressed and fed, etc., etc, etc.  Bonus:  caffeine and cocoa - two of my favorite things.

These make-ahead-and-freeze pizzas:

Individual White Chicken Pizzas  These were featured in Cooking Light a month or two ago, and the first time I made them at regular dinner time and that was a mistake - didn't have time to make ALL 12 individual pizzas while the hoards were gathering for dinner.  (seriously?  have you ever tried to delay food for a 35 month old?  notagoodidea.)  This time I was much wiser.  Ellie and I made these this morning while Caroline took her first nap.  She enjoyed stirring the milk and later separating the curds from the whey (the recipe uses homemade ricotta - so easy!  who knew?!), and of course, loved rolling out the pizza dough, and putting on the toppings.  Now they are in the freezer, ready for a hectic evening when all we have time to do is pop them in the oven and throw together a side salad.

This blush:

 

More babies = more blush.  I used to think my mom wore a lot of blush.  Now I know.  She was just trying to restore her youthful glow in the fastest way she knew how.  I was a dedicated Bobby Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose girl for, I dunno, seven years?  But when it ran out during my pregnancy with Caroline, I was ready to try something new.  I was going to try the best-selling Nars blush with the infamous name, when Julie blogged on Elf cosmetics and their dupes of much more expensive brand names.  (Julie - I told Pete he should write you a thank-you note when I came home from Target with new mascara, blush, and powder for a total of $9) Elf St. Lucia - you are my new favorite, along with the translucent matifying powder. 

My current beauty quandary:  Should I be filling in my eyebrows?  I have pretty non-existent ones for the fact that my hair is so dark.  I really don't need to think about adding anything to my makeup routine since my daily habit is to put on some under-eye concealer and call it a day, but I've been wondering if eyebrow filling-in is something everyone else has been doing all these years and I just don't know about it.  Like eyeliner was for me five years ago.

six months old

It happened.  A half of a year passed in the blink of an eye.  Our littlest redhead isn't so little anymore.  We haven't had her 'official' six-month appointment yet, but on her actual half-birthday Caroline tipped the scales at 18lbs, 7oz (!!)  We are waiting until after her appointment this Wednesday to let her sample 'real food,' but I'm thinking on Wednesday evening we'll offer her sweet potato sticks, avocado wedges, and maybe some banana for her first meal.  If the amount of attention she pays to our food is any indication, Caroline is more than ready to sample different foods.

Sisters for six months - a hint at the silliness ahead.

Mom of two for six months - yes I'm as tired as I look, no I'm not dying my hair - it just keeps getting darker and darker.

Daddy of two for six months.  They pretty much think he's the funniest.

Legs that have gotten chunkier and chunkier.

In her sixth month, Caroline rolled over!! Yay!!  It doesn't happen every day, and she's only done it back-to-front, but it is a skill she has acquired.  She usually won't roll if she has pants on, and very rarely if she is wearing a cloth diaper.  It's been so cold for so long, you can imagine how often we let her hang out without any pantalones.

Caroline also put her feet in her mouth!  She goes for them the second her pants are off, and loves to chew them during a diaper change.  

We tried bathing the girls together.  It was successful, but we probably won't do it again soon. Ellie is a little too enthusiastic in the tub for Caroline.  

It stayed cold long enough that Caroline got to wear her first pair of (hand-me-down) Uggs!  They're the best way to keep feet warm, and are harder to pull off than socks.

I guess that's about it!  Caroline is still super-happy and pleasant most of the time.  She loves to eat and snuggle and take naps.  She has a tooth that's just about to break out of her gums, but it hasn't happened yet so I guess it will go in next month's update.  We love her so, our snuggliest little one.

     The winter world of loss

     And grief is gone.  The

night

     Is past.  Along the whole

     Length of the river, birds

     Are singing in the trees.

     Again hope dreams itself

     Awake.  The year's first

lambs

     Cry in the morning dark.

     And, after all, we have 

     A garden in our minds.

     We living know the worth

     Of all the dead have done

     Or hoped to do.  We know

     That hearts, against their 

doom, 

     Must plight an ancient troth.

     Now come the bride and 

groom, 

     Now come the man and

woman

     Who must begin again

     The work divine and

human

     By which we live on earth.

-Wendell Berry, an untitled 1992 "Sabbath" poem