Fifteen Months Old!

Yesterday my baby girl turned 15 months old! I can't believe it!

As of now, she has 4 more teeth coming in-so she'll be up to 16 now! The ones coming in now are her eye teeth (canines)-supposedly the worst ones pain-wise. She was up a few times overnight last week, but nothing crazy which is good. She's acting pretty normal during the day so I'm hoping they're not causing too much pain. I know one definitely came through-the others are hard to see! She doesn't let me look around too much and I don't dare put my finger in there or she'll bite it good!

She's eating well still. She went on a little food strike for about a week or so but now is back to eating like her old self which is good. The girl is obsessed with pasta lately-she loves it and seriously could live on that and fruit! She is all done nursing now and is strictly on whole milk these days. I missed it the first few days, but now that it's been almost a month, it's hard to remember what it was like to nurse her everyday! Strange, I know!

She's still sleeping well-11-12 hours overnight and 1 nap in the early afternoon. Can't complain about that! Our new bedtime routine is PJ's, sleep sack, stories then singing songs with either Gabe or I. No more bottle or sippy cup of milk before bed anymore! After songs, into the crib she goes with her favorite bear and she falls asleep.

She says a few new words now: "boo boo", "bow", "mole". She also nods her head yes and shakes it no! Her newest signs are "gentle" and "mommy".

She really loves eyes for some reason-she points to eyes on anything that has them! It's pretty funny! She loves tails on animals too and if you have your hair in a ponytail, she'll notice it! She is starting to climb on things-she can just get up on our one couch now and of course loves the stairs (what kid doesn't?!).

She is really showing her personality these days-she gets frustrated very easily and as a result will hit herself in the head or throw something. I call her my little bully-she has started hitting-us and other kids....something that needs to get nipped in the bud really soon! I have no idea where she picked that up from! She really loves listening to music! She knows where all of the speakers are and points to them so we'll turn on the music and she'll dance her heart out! It's so cute!

Here are her pics for this month-we did them right before bed so she's in her PJs:

Giving the giraffe a hug:

Waving:

These are my favorites from the bunch:

Nice shot of her teeth:

Pointing to the fish in her book:

I asked "Avery, where are your teeth?"

First Weekend in Fall

Fall is officially here and we had quite a busy weekend!

Yesterday morning, Gabe went and got his haircut so I got Avery ready and fed her breakfast. She finished off with some puffs and we decided to have some fun with them at the end! She got a kick out of putting them on my nose and her nose: I asked her where her teeth are:

When Gabe got home, we both got showered and then hit the road to Buffalo. We got there around noon and it was non-stop people coming over! My Aunt had foot surgery almost 2 weeks ago so she had some visitors and I swear we maybe had an hour all day that no one was over! Who came by? My Mom's friend Joanne, my Aunt's friends Sue, Bernie, and Kathy, cousin Gail, Megan and Noah, cousins Rachel and Taylor, my friend Renee. It was like a revolving door there!

I tried to take some pics of Avery and Noah but didn't get any real good ones....this is them hugging-and they turned the wrong way!

Gabe was tickling Avery and Noah was checking things out:

Avery climbing the stairs....I love her little devilish grin!

After dinner, we drove home and got Avery to bed since she didn't nap at all at my Mom's house!

Today when we got up, we went apple picking at Green Acre Farms. It was pretty slow when we got there and it was a wonderful day for it! We started out picking some empires and cortlands....Avery was obsessed with the gross ones on the ground!

She would put them in the bag then want to take them back out!

An airplane is going by!

Running along:
I decided to try out an apple while we were picking and gave Avery a bite. She's really only had applesauce before, so a raw apple, core and all, was a new thing for her! And of course since it's fruit, she LOVED it!

Then we made our way over to the macouns. Unfortunately, it was near the end of picking for them so most of the ones left were way up high. Avery got a kick out of Gabe lifting her up high to reach them, but she had no clue how to grab them and pull them down!

And before we finished up, the family photo:

We were going to pick pumpkins while there, but the pumpkin patch was pretty thorny so we passed on that. They also had raspberries you could pick, but we didn't do those either. We got to the farm around 10:30 and by the time we picked apples, it was around 11:45 which is Avery's lunch time and close to nap time. Since we were a good 25-30min from home, we decided to look around the store real quick then head out to get her lunch and to bed. Of course we found some apple cider and "fried cakes" (aka doughnuts)...and Avery tried (and loved!) them both:

When we got home, Avery ate lunch then took her nap. I ran out grocery shopping then came home and started a monster batch of applesauce (which is SO good!). When Avery got up, we gave her a bath and when she came downstairs I gave her her baby sized apple she found. After carrying it around a few minutes, she figured out how to bite through the skin which totally shocked me! My little baby looked so big eating an apple like a big girl! Of course I had to grab my camera:

She's so stinkin' cute! Oh, and if anyone has any advice how to get apple juice out of clothing, let me know-that stuff stained the heck out of her outfit today! Yikes!

Happy Fall everyone!

New 'Do

I was due for a haircut and in another hair rut. Every now and then I just have no idea what I want done with my hair. It's hard for me to look at pictures of hairstyles because it's hard to know what will look good on you and what will work with your hair type.

I've been going to one guy for about a year now and while I like the cuts/color he has done, he's not the type to say "this is what you should do". The last time I went I told him I didn't know and was hoping he'd give me a suggestion, but he didn't. Instead he was like "I'll just trim it up until you decide if you want to cut it or grow it out."

So like I said I was due to at least get a trim and when I went for my pedicure a few weeks ago, I found something I was interested in...a hair model program. I decided to call and see if they were taking new hair models at all. Apparently they have 2 programs-one for coloring and one for cutting. And lucky me they were taking models for the cutting program!!

So yesterday was the day...my appt was at 10 in the morning. I met my stylist and she asked if I had any limitations for the cut. My only thing was that I did NOT want bangs. Long bangs that I could tuck or put up were fine, but no blunt bangs-I didn't want to go through growing those out again. As far as length, I didn't care. I told her I needed it simple and easy to style-blow dry and go. With having Avery, I don't have the time (or the desire) to spend forever doing my hair.

She went over her ideas for the cut with me then had her supervisor come over and she ran the plan past her...she approved and agreed that her idea would suit me well. So the cutting began and throughout the cut, her supervisor would stop over and see how things were going and give her some tips.

I found out that this is part of their training to work there. The girl who cut my hair had been doing hair for 8yrs and got hired at Scott Miller 2yrs ago!! Here she is 2yrs later still training! To me, that's insane, but she said their group got held up by the group before them and it typically doesn't take that long to get on the floor and see your own clients.

Anyways, I ended up loving the cut she gave me! I just hope it looks as good when I do it myself (doubtful).

(the pic doesn't do it justice!)

My next dilemma will be-what happens when I want my next haircut? The girl who did it today isn't seeing her own clients yet and to go there and go to someone else wouldn't be right either. And the guy I've been going to will totally know I "cheated" on him....(sigh)

Banana Bread

I thought for some reason that I posted this recipe already, but when I went and checked, I hadn't! I just made some banana bread last week which made me think of it. Of course at the time I thought I already posted it so I didn't take a picture. This is a super easy recipe and turns out very good! I have no idea where the recipe originated-my Mom has had this for as long as I can remember.

Banana Bread
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 ripe bananas, mashed

1. In mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until creamy.

2. Add eggs and mix well.

3. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and bananas and mix well.

4. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for one hour.

Notes: This last time I baked mine for about 55min and it was just a touch overdone. Just keep an eye on it to make sure it's not overdone. I also sprinkled the top of mine with cinnamon sugar for a little extra something. You can also add some stir-in ideas: chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Last Weekend in Summer

It's hard to believe this was the last weekend in summer. I'm sad to see it go. I do like fall though, but I also don't like it because I know that winter is right around the corner. YUCK!

Yesterday morning Gabe went for a run. When he came home, I went to the gym. While I was there, Gabe and Avery went to the public market to enjoy the nice day outside. After the gym, I came home and did some much needed cleaning and organizing so that was nice. After Avery's nap we decided to take her to the playground for a little bit since it was so nice outside. She had a lot of fun going down the slides and going on the swings:

I got a nice family photo of us:

When we got home, Gabe's parents came over to babysit so Gabe and I could go out for dinner. We went to Pier 45 again and sat outside. It was very nice.

Today we were pretty busy as well. This morning, Gabe's family (parents, sister and kids, aunts, uncles and a few cousins) all met at Wegman's for coffee and to plan our upcoming clambake. We figured out the menu and who is bringing what. When we got home, Avery had lunch and napped. I went out grocery shopping. When she woke up, we played outside a little bit while Gabe mowed the lawn. Then we went to Panera for dinner and to Lugia's for some ice cream! Only a few good days left to do that this season!!

It was a very nice last weekend of summer!

My Baby Girl

I feel like I haven't put up many pictures of Avery lately so here are a few random ones from this week!

Gabe and Avery were outside the other morning and I took this from inside the house. I have no idea what she's doing-maybe blowing kisses? I thought it was a cute pic! Gabe and I were cracking up over this outfit she had on the other day. For some reason, it made her butt and belly look huge! And this silly face doesn't help either!

And some videos for your entertainment (with the same silly outfit).... don't mind the music blaring in the background-it's her current fave :)

A little dance:


And some nodding and howling:

Pasta and Peas

My Aunt is an awesome, awesome cook. She's one of those people who can take anything and whip it together with some spices and makes it into an amazing dish. I'm totally not like that-I have to have a recipe to follow for the most part. I wish I was more like her because maybe then I'd enjoy cooking as much as she does! It's hard to get recipes from her too because most of the time she doesn't use one...she can taste something and know what's missing from it. It's a gift I tell ya! I did manage to get this recipe of hers though and I finally made it last night.


Pasta and Peas
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper
2 oz tomato sauce
1 cube vegetable boullion
1 can of peas, undrained
water
1/2 tsp sugar
cooked pasta (I used roughly 4oz of ditalini)


1. In a large skillet, pour in enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Add garlic, basil and pepper and saute a few minutes.

2. Add tomato sauce and cook for 2 mins.

3. Add peas, bouillion, and 1 can of water (fill the pea can with water). Cook 5mins.

4. Add sugar and pasta. Cook 5 mins.


Notes: My recipe said to use 1 tsp of pepper and I did and holy cow it was very peppery. I cut it down to 1/4 tsp thinking it would be enough. The dish should have a little bit of a spice to it, but 1 tsp was way too much. If you feel it needs more, by all means add more! And as far as the pasta goes-any shape will do, but I like the smaller sized pasta for this dish. When it comes time to add it, you want the end result to be pretty soupy. I made a half of a 16oz box and slowly added the pasta and mixed it up. The pasta will absorb some of the broth so keep that in mind as well!



This turned out very yummy! Even though it was a tad peppery, we all enjoyed it-Avery couldn't stop eating it!