A Few New Recipes...

So I've been MIA enjoying my free time with our family and getting back into the swing of things in Kindergarten. I do have two great recipes to share that are both crock pot goodies!

This was a great bbq chicken recipe. It is SO tender and I used 4 frozen as a rock chicken breasts.

This is a GREAT lasagna recipe. It does have a bit of prep to cook the meat and combine with the sauce, but it was great!

7 Months

(these shots are blurry and you can blame early morning light in our kitchen for that!)

7 months is almost over and with this new month new changes have come up with our sweet Emerson. Here's the lowdown on all the things Emmy's up to:

• She got her first two teeth within a week apart! She has her bottom two teeth in and man are they so cute! They were heck on wheels coming in and we almost all lost our lives in the process, but we made it and boy is she a doll! We think a few more are coming in, but we can't tell if they are the top teeth or bottom canines. Time will tell.
• Her hair is growing so fast and it's CRAZY! It's so spikey and won't stay down at all! Water only works until it dries and then...Poof! back up again!
• She no longer wants to wear headbands or hats. As soon as she discovered she could reach up there and yank them, we were done. The only hat that stays is the one with the chin strap.
• She now puts her arms out like we do for a hug when she wants to be picked up or carried. She did it for me the first time last week at Target and I about lost it getting all emotional at the checkout line. My sweet baby can now show us she needs us!
• She's a rolly polly! I can't change her diaper, get her ready for bath, or set her down and walk away without her rolling from back to front and front to back and so on. No crawling yet, but I'm ok with that!
• She's eating like crazy! She's now down to six ounces every 4 hours, except the bed time bottle is 8 ounces. She eats three meals a day and at dinner she downs about 4 ounces of some veggie (usually carrots or a form of potatoes), a chicken/rice meal or a turkey/rice meal, and a fruit (usually bananas or pears).
• She's sitting up completely on her own...unless she reaches too far to her left or right for a toy and then boom!
• She's fighting naps and now stays awake anywhere from 3-4(yikes) hours at a time. I guess she's more aware of her environment now and doesn't want to nap. To be continued...
• Night time sleep-well I won't jinx it by saying it's great. I'll just say that she's resting and so are we!
• She's super vocal and loves clicking her tongue on her new teeth. Smacking is also a big one. It's super cute.
• She's done it for a while, but she crinkles her nose when she makes eye contact with you and smiles and will do it if you do it first. It cracks us up! She also does it when she's being ornery and she seems to know it works for her!
• Her laugh is the most contagious thing! It's so loud and she can laugh forever! Sometimes she laughs so hard she has to close her eyes and almost chokes on her laughter. Adorable!
• We had a setback on her reflux and had to up her Nexium for her weight. We seem to be back on track and hopefully she'll be more comfortable at night.

She's a fierce and tough cookie, but she brings so much joy to our lives. This girl will not be a wallflower by any means. I can't imagine what she has in store for us in the future. We've enjoyed our time so far and look forward to every day to come! :)

In 7 Months I've Learned...

That our love for her will continue to grow as each minute passes.

That the sounds in our home beat out any other event or social happening any day.

How to change a diaper out of the back of a car. I've learned this skill before our seventh month, but this month in particular has increased my skills in this area.

That my child already has a sense of humor for things I didn't realize she could comprehend were comical.

That having a dog is the best comic relief for a teething baby.

That teething can be a long painful process, but once they pop, man they come quickly together!

That I now see every student, past and future, through the eyes of a mom and that makes me so much more compassionate than I ever was.

That this child was picked by God to touch our family's life and teach us how to live.