Happy Thanksgiving Week, everyone!!
I know I did a post last week on Lucy’s first birthday last week, but I realized I didn’t do my usual monthly update. So I thought I’d share that today, as well as some other fun odds and ends!!
Baby news:
I’m sad to say that this is probably my last MONTHLY update (a 14 or 17 month update would be kind of weird, wouldn’t it?) but I’ll still share milestones from time to time.
As much as I love sharing updates with you, they are also for myself — I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to her first couple of months and read things I’d completely forgotten about. It’s really nice to have the posts and photos to look back on.
I honestly CANNOT believe it has been a year. HOWWW??
But it’s also been stinking HARD. So many days where I’d just sit and wonder HOW it was that I didn’t REALIZE it would be so hard. Days where I’d fantasize about what I’d do with a free afternoon (long hot shower, good book, and a nap. EVERY TIME)
Being short on time has really forced me to inspect my life and my priorities. When Jon David was a baby, I was much younger, didn’t have a job, and I didn’t have another kid to take care of. This go around has thrown me for a loop — juggling work and a house and another kid on top of a baby is challenging, and I cannot TELL you how much I admire moms that manage huge households. But I’ve also had to learn to give myself some grace — this is temporary, and even though it doesn’t feel like it in the midst of chaos, I will miss it.
There were so many times this year that I thought about quitting this blog. Seriously, honestly, crying like a big crybaby just wanted to quit. I was so short on time and energy, and was not able to devote the creativity and JOY to it that I was used to. As a result, my site traffic and my connection with my readers took a hit, and it really brought me down. It’s hard to watch your peers grow and flourish while you feel like you are drowning in dirty diapers. But I am SO glad that I listened to my husband and kept at it — I am finally at a place where Lucy is on a great schedule, napping and going to bed like clockwork, and I feel refreshed and SO full of fun ideas and recipes I want to share. I’m really, really excited about that!!
Lucy is doing great — pulling up and cruising, but not walking or standing independently just yet. I expect we will see tentative steps around Christmas, which will be exciting!! It’s becoming more and more apparent that she is a cautious girl — when she’s standing up, she is SO careful about sitting back down…she eases herself with such precision, it’s hilarious. She’s also got a really FUN personality. Always trying to catch someone’s eye and make them laugh. Sometimes it drives me crazy because she attracts SO many strangers to us while we are shopping, but I’m also proud that she brings a smile to so many faces.
I am also proud to say that we are officially a BOTTLE FREE HOUSEHOLD!! Hooray!! Lucy would never take to pacifiers either, so we now are nipple free in these parts.
I mean…rubber nipple free.
This is awkward. You know what I mean.
Incidentally — getting rid of bottles is what FINALLY got her to sleep through the night!! I guess the middle of the night feedings were more about comfort than hunger, so she’s now normally sleeping 10 – 11 hours straight.
She’s full time on sippy cups or toddler straw cups. I had a ton of difficulty getting her to drink milk, so she drinks mostly almond milk or water with her meals right now, which is fine. I’m not a huge milk fan either.
(by not a huge fan I mean that I loathe it with passion — juice should NOT come out of animals. It just shouldn’t)
No one year check up yet, but she seems to be right on track weight wise, if those thigh rolls of hers are any indication. Related: At what age do thigh rolls STOP being cute, and why?? Not fair, just saying.
Other news:
I’m SUPER DUPER excited to be offering a weekly and monthly newsletter. You can sign up HERE to have it delivered to your email every Friday and once at the end of the month. The newsletter will include a wrap up of the week’s post, as well as blurbs and content I write specifically for the newsletter. I’m also planning on sharing newsletter-exclusive tips and ideas from time to time. If you try one of my recipes, I’d LOVE for you to email me a photo of the finished product — I’m hoping to share one every month in the newsletter as well. I really want this to be a fun, easy and convenient way for you to catch up on my posts from the week.
There is still time to enter to win the Silhouette Cameo valued at $299!! (enter to win HERE) Be sure to check back on Thanksgiving — I’ll be announcing the winner AND sharing an exclusive Black Friday coupon code for Silhouette bundles. The discounts are a secret for now, but I can tell you that if you’ve had your eye on one, this will be THE TIME to get it!!
Last But Not Least:
If you’re in charge of dessert at the big Thanksgiving and don’t want to bring what everyone else is bringing, here are a few outside the box but completely AMAZING desserts I dug out of the archives:
Millionaire Pie – this is one of those pies where no one can tell exactly WHAT kind of pie it is, all they know is that it’s AMAZING. Seriously — so buttery and rich!! You can’t mess it up.
Not So Humble Pie – Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Pretzels. I ain’t mad.
Lemon Meringue Pie Bars — Because sometimes you want pie without the drama of dealing with forks. Fork Drama — it’s a thing.
Homemade Brownies with Funfetti Frosting – They make kids smile!! Don’t you want kids to smile on Thanksgiving? Don’t you have a heart?!?
Apple Pie Cupcakes – I mean…who doesn’t want a cupcake? Weirdos, that’s who. Are you a weirdo? I didn’t think so.
Have a fabulous Monday!!!
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