Monkey See, Monkey Do

Little miss HATES me trimming her nails. Unfortunately, hers grow like crazy, so this is usually a bi-weekly occurrence. I have to sit on the floor and try to distract her with books, while I try to trim all her little digits. She wiggles and waggles while I struggle not to clip something other than nail. It hasn't been fun...until lately. The past few times I have trimmed her nails, she then wants to do it to herself and me. She acts like she's doing what I do and tries to give me a book and then clips my nails. I think this has helped her fear of the nail clippers tremendously. She realizes it doesn't hurt and cracks herself up while taking care of Mommy and herself. I'm going to have to watch myself because she is copying everything I do lately. If I sneeze, she sneezes. If I laugh, she laughs. You get the picture. I've always said little ones are sponges and that is oh so the case with Miss Ava.

Oh and on another note, she took her first independent steps last night. She has been "walking" between Steve and I but really not walking more like falling. Last night we were practicing and spaced ourselves farther apart. She took at least 4 steps to get in between us and was so proud of herself. I'm happy that the walking will start soon because she is almost 13 months but on the other hand my world is going to drastically change too. I'm already chasing the little monkey all over the place. I think she's going to be a runner. She is a super fast crawler and that's the way she likes to walk too. Let the chasing begin!!!

Mommy Time

I'll be the first to admit I used to look at moms on What Not to Wear and think, "how did they get that way?" Well, I totally get it. You get so wrapped up in your child(ren) that you stop thinking about yourself. I would rather buy her clothes than me, I fix her a great, healthy lunch and I eat whatever I can find, and so on. I have been telling myself that I need to workout but that's as far as it went. Our gym has a daycare that you can take your child to for up to an hour and a half. I kept saying that Ava wasn't old enough but now that she's one I really don't have an excuse. I dove in head first. For the past few weeks, Ava and I have been going to the gym M-F from 8-9. It's been great. I get to workout and not worry about the wee one, and Ava is getting to play with other kids. That time has worked out great because there aren't too many kids in the daycare. Ava is plenty worn out by the time we get home, so she's usually ready for a nap. It's also great because I have to sign Ava up ahead of time and I would feel awful if I signed her up and didn't show. In other words, it forces me to go because I signed her up. It's a win-win for both of us. Here's a few pics I snapped of her during her nap after the gym today.

Who Wore it Better?

I have a habit of reading fashion and gossip magazines while on beach vacations and since I went on 2 this summer, I read my fair share of trash and fashion. This is my version of the celebrities that wear the same dress and then the magazine poles the readers to see who wore it better.

These are my two celebrities...Ava and Sweet Pea. Tell me, who wore these better?

I'll admit...

I'm totally addicted to Etsy. I love to browse the different categories, see what other people have just bought, or shop by color. I love shopping and shopping from my desk is even better!! Being down to one income (BTW, that is not me complaining), I can't shop the way I used to but I can still look. Here are a few of my Etsy faves at the moment.

Necklush

Moop

TQB Designs

I'm starting to think fall. Aren't these perfect for cool weather?

Great Weekend

We had my favorite kind of weekend, busy but fun. The weekend started with me dropping Ava off at my mom's work so she could have a sleepover with Mamaw and Papa. We then visited our friends in the hospital who just had a beautiful baby girl. We took Pasta House with us and just hung out with them and baby G for a couple hours. It amazes me how fast you forget just how itty bitty a newborn is. Steve's still talking about when is baby 2 coming for us. Although he was talking about that when we brought Ava home from the hospital! When we came home that night we curled up on the couch and watched Stepbrother. Not my first choice but I still find myself laughing even though I tell myself I shouldn't. Steve went to bed and I stayed up and watched Twilight...I know I'm almost 30 and I know the acting is not good but I still love it and can't wait for New Moon in November!

Anywhoo, Saturday we cleaned the basement. With Ava gone we were able to work for hours straight without worrying about the munchkin. Not fun but so needed it!! We took a car full to Good Will and threw away a ton of stuff too. Our basement is so clean I think you could eat off of the floor, I wouldn't, but you could. When Ava got back we just chilled out for night which was nice.

Sunday was early church, lunch, mowed the lawn with the hubby, and made spinach noodles for dinner. I even squeezed a nap in there too while daddy and baby played. Like I said, very busy weekend but we got a lot accomplished and had fun while doing it. The weather was AMAZING here over the weekend too. Now it's back to the week as usual.

The Ultimate Carrot Cake

My husband and I are huge carrot cake fans but we rarely eat it and I never bake it at home. We like it so much the top of our wedding cake was carrot. We ate it the day after our wedding too! When Ava's birthday was coming up, I knew I wanted to make a carrot cake so the recipe hunt was on! I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com and tweaked it a little to my taste. It was a huge success. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it because I didn't think about taking a picture before hand and there was no cake left after the party to take a picture of either. The recipe was easy and super yummy, so I thought I would share even without a tantalizing picture to tempt you.

Ultimate Carrot Cake

4 eggs

½ c. natural applesauce

¾ c. vegetable oil

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

3 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

3 c. grated carrots

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

½ c. butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 c. confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, applesauce, oil, sugars, and 3 tsp. vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in carrots. Fold in nuts and pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely.

4. To make frosting: In medium bowl, combine butter cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla. Beat until mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped nuts. Frost the cooled cake.

If you don't like nuts or pineapple then just leave it out. I hope you find a reason to make this deliciouis cake...Enjoy!!

A Big Day for a Little Lady

The big day came and went, and we were all exhausted the next couple days. My baby turned one. I know that everyone says "enjoy it while they are little" and "they grow up so fast" but you never really absorb all of those words until you have one of your own. Then it becomes all too true, too fast.

We had the big party with both sides of the families and friends, so our small ranch was jammed with people. I wasn't anticipating the 100 degree weather that day. In my mind, people would be in the back yard sipping tea and lemonade while the kids played. The reality was my brother sweat his butt off cooking hot dogs and a few people stepped outside only to realize their skin was already melting off! Despite the heat, the party was fun...just crowded.

Ava was very curious about her presents and wanted to keep looking at it before moving on to the next gift, so I had to move things along a little at times. The poor girl looked scared out of her mind when everyone sang to her and had no clue it was OK to dive into her cake. It was a very big day for our little one. Next year will be much more low key.