daddy's little home improvement.

a few months before ellie arrived, we got a little care package from daddy's work.

now daddy's little girl is big enough for her shirt!


daddy immediately demanded prints. he also demanded prints of the sunglasses pictures. he also wants mommy + baby pictures for the wallet. he also wants to put all our ellie videos on a dvd, just in case the computer dies.


uh, somebody's in love.
it's okay, she's in love, too.

this never gets old.

new flava faves.

in this new, unexplored chocolate-and-caffeine-free world, i have some new favorite treats.

i thought i would share my new found yummmmmms.



red vines.
uh, red vines + mr. pibb = crazy delicious.
also, it is perfect with a movie and popcorn.




white fudge almond divinity ice cream.
by blue bunny. the fudge stripe is fantastic.





diet root beer.
well, not barqs.
i'm almost jealous of you people in utah who have caffeine-free everything.





reece's pieces.
almost m&ms. almost.





caramel anything.


if you have any other suggestions, let me know.
stay tuned for some serious concoctions.



i got all these pictures from google images.

fighting sleep.

our little bean fights sleep. literally.

she's really great at waking up. most of the time she wakes up smiling, unless she isn't ready to be awake yet. when it comes to falling asleep . . . it's a literal fist fight. she has to have something to hold with both hands or she will punch and grab at the air, knocking her pacifier out of her mouth, which keeps her from falling asleep. sometimes i let her hold my fingers, other times we put toys in her way.


sometimes it takes a whole army to help her sleep.
i have a feeling that i'll be saying goodnight to a bed full of toys before long.

regularly scheduled family.

in this picture i see at least four chins (between the two of us).

despite the lingering stuffy noses, we had a pretty good father's day weekend. we just took it easy and had some movie marathons. oh, and way too many good things to eat.

i forgot to mention that the husband has a new job! well, a new job at the same place. here's the good news: instead of swing shifts (anywhere from 5 am to midnight), he's working monday through friday from 6 am to 3 pm. i know! this is the first time since before we were married that there has been any sort of a regular schedule for us. i'm so excited for dinner every night, having daddy home when we go to bed and, most exciting of all, weekends off!

oh, we are becoming so normal. hello routines!


daddy will also be home for this time of day:


lately, my favorite part of the evening happens when i get ellie out of the bathtub. i wrap her up in her little towel and she pulls it tight around herself and smiles so big. then she tries to eat the towel and herself. cute.

early father's day gifts.

a couple of weeks ago, we got these cheap little toys (under $100 for both) for an early father's day gift. they've already been a lot of fun. daddy is learning lots of songs for us to sing and we're just messing around with the mandolin. i have a lot to learn and some callouses to build.

we are so excited for our first real father's day. last year, on father's day, we found out our little ellie was on her way. i don't think i've ever seen a daddy more excited about his baby than our daddy. he works hard and makes us smile. he's the best. we love him!


we also love our grampas so much. there's nothing like a granddaddy with his little girl.
happy father's day to all the daddies!

the summertime cold.

we've been sick. ellie started with a little cough and then i got a full-blown cold. it's my first time being sick as a mom and her first time being sick ever. so far i'm pretty sure i've had the worse end of this deal. she's fine for the most part, just a cough here and there. seeing as i'm nursing, i haven't wanted to take a whole lot of medication (i tried a little and it made her really drowsy) and i'm suffering. also, no caffeine means no excedrin means no break from this sinus headache. on top of that, she decided it would be fun to not take naps and scream all afternoon unless she was being walked around the house. we have really loved that game.

anyway, we've been enlisted daddy and it has been okay. ellie has discovered that she likes toys and it helps keep her happy. now we just need to find the magic fairy that cleans up our messes and brings me giant caffeine-free diet cokes and red vines on demand. cheesecake and ice cream would be nice, too.

ohhhhh,

i wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot.

i wear my flannel undies in the winter when it's not.

and sometimes in the springtime, and sometimes in the fall

i jump right in between the sheets with nothing on at all,

WOOOOH!

glory, glory hallelujah!

glory, glory what's it to ya?

breezy breezes blowin' through ya

when you jump right in between the sheets with nothing on at all!

laughs!

she laughed for the first time last night at grammy's! i mean, a real belly giggle!

after a lot of hard work, i got her to do it again today.
we giggled and giggled for almost half an hour.

there's nothing, nothing better.

the view out the bedroom window.

the other morning ellie woke up early (did i mention she is into mornings, now?). i went to the window to crack the blinds and let a little morning sun into the room.

when got a peek at what was outside my window, i couldn't help but pull the blinds all the way up so that the world could come bursting in. these pictures don't come close to capturing it, but the sun was glowing through the magnolia tree and the backyards behind it were sparkling in a beautiful morning fog. it was pretty amazing.

i can't think of a better way to start the day than a bright morning and a smiling baby.

butterscotch heaven.

if you didn't know already, i'm off chocolate for who knows how long. i've been desperately trying to embrace the change and find alternatives (can anyone say cheesecake?). i'm experimenting with all sorts of ideas and the only downside is that husband really doesn't like anything without chocolate. well, unless it is apple pie. he says he's all-american and i can't argue with that one.

anyway, i continue to make his favorites and therefore i have to make something equally good for myself or the chocolate will haunt me throughout the day.

i tried a recipe yesterday and tweaked it for my chocolateless pleasure. i ended up with butterscotch heaven. the hardest part of the recipe is waiting to cut them and eat them! they are super, super rich and really gooey this way. they would be yummy with some vanilla ice cream.

disappearing marshmallow blondies

1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup pecan halves

heat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.

in a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. as soon as the they butter and chips are melted remove from heat and transfer the contents of the pan to a mixing bowl. be sure not to over heat the butter and butterscotch chips or they will separate and appear curdled.
cool the mixture to room temperature. using an electric mixer, beat the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and eggs into the butter and butterscotch mixture (you can add all the ingredients at once).
when blended (the batter will be relatively thick) mix in the rest of the butterscotch chips, the pecan halves and marshmallows. spread the batter evenly into the prepared ban.
bake for 25 minutes. the center will feel a little soft, but will firm while cooling. let cool 2 -3 hours before cutting.

(the blondies may need an additional 2 to 3 minutes depending on your oven. i found that they probably could use more time, but they were just extra gooey without it.)


again, click here for the original recipe. expect more ventures into this strange world without chocolate.

not quite crawling.

but what do you even call this?

inchworm practice? a creeping tantrum? the one-man wheelbarrow?

whatever it is, she sure hates it.



somehow, she very slowly and very angrily makes her way across the floor (if i don't let her start screaming and give up, that is). she also can roll over, but she chooses not to do it most of the time. such attitude.

nemesis.

judge has a new enemy. well, it is actually an old enemy that has gotten much, much bolder.

she was out in the middle of the yard late in the afternoon. luckily, the baby had just fallen asleep when judge went nuts about the intruder. yeah, real fun.

i used to let him out to chase them, but no longer. they don't run! in fact, last time i think judge almost got himself in a big fight. husband heard a story just the other day of a coworker's great big boxer being reduced to a shivering lump after being chased around the yard by one of these fearless deer.


i can still let him out to chase squirrels and fireflies, i guess.

can't help myself.

i just had to pass this video along. i love it.

click here!

it takes a minute to load, though.
i promise it isn't one of those movies that tries to get you to stare at the screen and then it scares you.
even if you've seen this before, just watch it. come onnnn.


and have a really good day!

pooped.

i was cleaning out the fridge today and i couldn't get ellie to stop squirming and whining in the other room. i plopped her in her bumbo and sat her right next to me as i cleaned. she continued whining, but slowly her limbs started to relax. finally she stopped her little protests and started staring off into space, as if her little brain was on vacation.

i went into the other room for one second and when i came back i almost fell over laughing - silent laughter, of course. i wasn't about to wake my tired girl.


oh, and so far the caffeine experiment isn't going so well. she is still ornery and now i just have constant headache. next item to cut: chocolate. boo, boo, boo.

quality entertainment.

just watchin' tv.

wait! before you turn me in to child services for melting her infant brain,
let me tell you what she was watching.

no, not little einstein.

it was billy madison.
she is in love with adam sandler.
guess it's in her blood.
also, she liked the sounds of the kids screaming and laughing.
(though i could just invite some kids to come run crazy around the house.)

hey, it kept her quiet for a little while.



okay okay, now you can turn me in.