Scout had a great birthday party on Saturday (Which was on her actual birthday - How cool is that?) Just by some stroke of luck, the whole thing was timed perfectly with her nap schedule, so she woke up nice and refreshed just before it was time to get her dressed for the party. My mom made her a sweet dress out of Hello Kitty print fabric and a pinafore with machine-embroidery. It turned out so cute!



Here's me with my one-year-old!!



Scout seemed to have fun running around with all the "big kids" on the gym mats at my friend's gymnastics studio where we had the party. She chowed down on some Chick-Fi1-A nuggets (We got 2 large nugget trays and had a coupon for buy-one-get-one-free. Woot!) and some fruit salad and pasta salad, and then tore into her cake.

I made a smash cake especially for her out of somewhat healthy ingredients. She gagged on the first taste of icing, which was hilarious because I had just been bragging to the surrounding guests about how I made this delicious healthy cake from scratch for her. She seemed a little reluctant to dig in at first, but then decided it was tasty enough and got a couple of good fistfuls. My favorite was when she turned and looked at the video camera in the midst of the messiness and said, "Hiiiiiieeeeee!" with a giant grin on her face (I need to get hot on uploading that video so you guys can see it) She also liked to lean in and just suck the icing off the corner of the cake.









I didn't think she'd be all that interested in unwrapping gifts, but she really surprised me. She actually seemed excited about it and enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper and tossing tissue paper out of gift bags. She also had fun tossing the once neatly-folded clothes over her shoulder as she grabbed them out of the boxes. (Man-o-man, did she get a TON of clothes!!!! I won't need to buy her any clothes for Summer now!)



I had invited about 30 adults and 12 babies/toddlers to the party, but only about half showed up. Maybe not even half. I'm not sure what the head-count was. (I think more people did show up after I took this pic, though) It was super nice outside that day, so I bet a lot of families were taking advantage of the nice weather and doing things like cooking out and working in the garden. Can't blame them for that. If I would've known it was going to be such a gorgeous day, I would've planned an outdoor party. But we've been having copious amounts of rain around here lately, so I wasn't sure that'd be smart.



All the kiddos that did come seemed to have a blast romping around on the padded floor, trampoline, and big soft ramps and cylinders. It was a great place for a party and we were blessed to get to use the facility for free. My friend who made the gorgeous Hello Kitty cake, insisted on making the cake for FREE! DH does computer work for her and her husband sometimes and she just wanted to bless us back. What a wonderful gift!!






In fact, we really didn't have to pay for much of anything!! My parents and grandma paid for all of the decorations, the table/chair rental, and most of the food. I think the only thing we may have paid for was one nugget tray! We are seriously spoiled. DH's dad said to me, "Good thing she won't remember any of this, because this is one heck of a party! It would be tough to top this with future parties!" He's right. From now on, I'd like to do smaller "family" parties at home (at least until she gets old enough to care)....but I'm sort of glad we went all out for her first birthday. It was really special.

Labels: birthdays, firsts, pics of scout, special occasions

We're going to pick up the ingredients for Scout's smash cake today while we're out and about. Ever since I started planning Scout's party in my head, I have been giving much consideration to that fun and messy tradition of letting baby tear into her very own cake while friends and family gawk and giggle. I couldn't wrap my head around letting her dive into a sugary cake frosted with grocery store buttercream icing (which mainly consists of partially hydrogenated oils and other nasty things....not to mention the mass amounts of artificial colorings), and just had to come up with an alternative. I wanted a cake that would be a sweet and tasty treat....still indulgent, without being a total shock to her system. Scout doesn't get much in the way of refined sugar in her daily diet and I can't in good conscience let her devour something that will probably end up giving her a tummy ache. I mean, it would be different if I thought she would just play in it like many babies do, but we have a GOOD eater on our hands. She pretty much shovels anything we put in front of her into her mouth frantically like we've never fed her before.

Here is the recipe I plan on using for her very own cake:

Baby's First Birthday Cake (Carrot Cake)
(Makes 1 double-layer 9-inch square cake adapted from "What to Expect")

~ 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
~ 2 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate (you may use slightly less)
~ 1 1/2 cups raisins
~ Vegetable Spray/Shortening
~ 2 cups whole-wheat flour
~ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
~ 2 whole eggs
~ 4 egg whites
~ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
~ 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
~ 1/2 cup wheat germ
~ 2 Tbsp low sodium baking powder
~ 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 9 inch square cake pans with waxed paper and spray the paper with vegetable spray/shortening.

1. Combine the carrots with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the juice concentrate in a medium size saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender, 15 to 20 mins. Puree in a blender of food processor until smooth.
3. Add the raisins and process until finely chopped. Let mixture cool.
4. Combine the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups juice concentrate, the oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat just until well mixed. Fold in the carrot puree and applesauce. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
5. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 mins. Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. When cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to make the frosting yet, but I know it will involve cream cheese, yogurt, fruit purees, and a small amount of sugar. We recently went to our friends' son's first birthday party and those are the ingredients that were used to make the frosting on his cake (which was delicious, by the way). We're going to have a separate fancily decorated "normal" cake for the guests that will match the party decorations. I may make a few cupcakes with the "healthy" cake batter just in case there are some other parents there that don't want their toddlers eating tons of sugar. You know, other cake Nazis like me.

Labels: birthdays, firsts, food, special occasions

I know it's a little early to be planning Scout's 1st birthday, (or maybe not - it's just 2 months away!) but I've already picked a theme for the party:



My mom has offered to buy all of the decorations, which is so awesome!! I know Scout will have no recollection of the party, but I want to make the event extra special because I have family coming in from out of town. Besides, I think it's great for friends and family to gather around and celebrate this little person who just completed her very first year of life on this planet! Most importantly, I just like Hello Kitty and want an excuse to plan and decorate :)

DH is not big into parties and holidays. I'm not sure if his family made a big deal out of birthdays or not, but mine did and it's a tradition that I want to hold onto. Some of my fondest memories are from the big birthday parties my parents had for my sister and I. It was always a big deal. We would have pinatas and sometimes clowns and tons of food. All of our friends from school were invited, as well as our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It always made me feel so special. I think that it's great for kids to have their own special day like that.

Labels: birthdays, firsts, parties, special occasions

My baby gal turned 9 months old today! It's hard to believe that she's been outside my belly for as long as she was inside. She has become quite the little character. She is crawling at the speed of light and is very good at pulling herself up to stand and cruise while holding onto the furniture. We're *pretty sure* she is waving bye-bye now. She's done it quite a few times and it is usually accompanied with "ba-ba", but I'm still not sure if I should count this as her first real word. She also says mama and dada, but never in the correct context. Pointing is something she enjoys doing as well. This morning, it seemed like she was pointing at things just so I would describe them to her. She would point at the dog, pictures on the wall, the microwave...and then promptly look at me so I could tell her what they are.

Her appetite for solid foods is insatiable. That happened overnight! Up until the last couple weeks, she has been content to skip solids some days and live on breastmilk alone. Now, she is eating 2 big meals of solid food a day and she's not happy unless she gets it. After she has nursed in the morning, she has some fruit and oatmeal. She nurses throughout the day and then at dinnertime, she has some organic chicken & wild rice baby food and some sort of fruit or vegetable. I usually put about half a teaspoon of probiotic powder in her food a day. It seems to keep her bowels nice and healthy - I've noticed less gas and tummy aches since we started doing that. She also snacks frequently on organic puffed brown rice. She loves that stuff!

It makes me a little sad that she is not satisfied with my breastmilk alone anymore, but it also evokes a sense of pride and gladness when I watch how happy she is as she is shovelling bite after bite of food in her mouth. She has never let me spoon-feed her. I have to hand her the spoon and she puts it in her own mouth. She looks like such a big girl when she's feeding herself and she's so good at it! After she spoons the food in, she hands (or throws) the spoon back to me and looks at me as if to say, "Okay, mom... reload!" She eats little bite-size pieces of food sometimes as well and her pincer grasp is great. Such a big girl!

She has 2 bottom teeth and one top front tooth just poked through last weekend. The one right beside it is just under the surface. That explains the rough nights she was having there for a while.

Scout has never really been all that fond of baths, but for the last few nights I have bathed her as part of a bedtime routine. She seems to enjoy it and it does wonders for relaxing her and helping her wind down. She doesn't like to have her hair washed, so my plan is to keep bathing her every night, but only use soap and wash her hair once a week or as needed. I just wet a washcloth and wiped her hair down instead of dumping water on her head, which seems to get it plenty clean and allowed her to actually enjoy the bath and relax. I put olive oil in the water and then rubbed her down with lotion before getting her dressed, so her skin will not dry out. I know that I thrived on consistency and routine as a child, so I'd like to start putting a little bit of structure into Scout's daily life.

She recently started doing this thing where she shakes her head as if she's saying "no", but I'm sure she doesn't know its meaning yet. If we shake our head at her, she usually mimicks us. It's so cute!

She hates diaper changes and having her clothes changed. I have to work hard at keeping her entertained and occupied long enough for me to get a diaper on her. Just the other day, she had a super messy poopy diaper and I didn't know it and she stuck her hands in it as soon as I unfastened her diaper! Ick! She was flailing all around and screaming and when it was all said and done, she had gotten poo on her hands, feet, thigh, and onesie. It was awful. I needed about 8 arms at that moment.

She's showing her attachment to DH a bit more lately. She's constantly making a bee-line for his office and when she gets there, she looks up at his computer chair for him. It's so adorable. When I'm holding her in his presence, she just about leaps out of my arms reaching for him too. It's no wonder. He is much more fun to play with than mommy!

Car rides are getting a bit better. She still fusses some, but she will normally go to sleep after just a little bout of crying. I'm very excited about this because for so long, I have found myself avoiding the 25-30 minute ride into "town" just so I don't have to put her (or myself) through that. Her happiness in the car still depends largely on how we time our outings, though. Tonight, we went to our friends' house, out to eat, and then shopping. She screamed for 20 minutes straight on the way home. Poor thing. It was all just too much for her.

I guess that's all I can think of for now. Scout is such a joy to be around. She has her cranky moments, but for the most part she is a happy little girl.

Labels: baby sleep, being sappy, birthdays, firsts, food, scout talking

It's my birthday today. I'm 27. Woot! DH got me a cake and we went ahead and ate it last night instead of waiting 'til today. Organic carrot cake from our local health food store.....it's so yummy. He also picked up some blackberry icecream and some vanilla goat milk icecream to try. It was really good. I had cake for breakfast this morning. But we are out of milk. So sad.

Scout is big enoug to ride upright in the Ergo carrier now. I think she digs it. She likes facing forward in the sling, but I think she gets tired of having her legs folded up inside when I carry her that way. With the Ergo, they dangle down and she can stretch them out...but she can't face forward. (well she kinda can if she rides on my back....which I haven't tried yet)




Hee hee hee...like how I scrambled my name? (most of you know it anyway:)

My sis sent me this birthday "card". Cracks me up!

Labels: babywearing, birthdays

Oh yeah, I threw my husband a surprise party yesterday for his birthday. Well, it was sort of a surprise....he came home early and saw the decorations, so I ended up telling him that I invited some people to come over later. He was still surprised, though :) My friend made the Pac-Man cake and it turned out really well. DH had a Pac-Man cake for his 5th birthday and was feeling nostalgic about it. He had asked his mom for a pic of it so we could take it to a bakery and have it re-made. Well, his mom never found the picture, but I found a pic on the internet that matched his description of the cake. He loved it!


DH and his pal having fun with b-day hats....

Our dog begging a guest for mozarella sticks and taquitos.....



Like how I blacked out DH's name? Sneaky, I know.

Labels: birthdays, dh