Iphone ISpy

In photos from my IPhone...strawberry picking, farmers market finds. family outings and furry pup. shirt on sale, steal of a deal, smiley baby, sleeping baby. Happy sunbather.

Theses glimpses of everyday life taken in a jiff on a cell phone rarely make it to print, but are nonetheless priceless!

Inspired

by a cookbook...

and a local farmer's market

to shop on the edge-of the grocery store that is!

On the menu next week are lots of homeade dinners full of fresh fruits and veggies. I'm newly motivated to give this whole healthy cooking thing another spin, and open my tastebuds to new and differant foods. Familiar story? Sure, we've had our share healthy eating kicks in this house-but this time, I'd really like a few things to stick! Because

1. I want Evan to grow up eating good, healthy foods and snacks-and a good variety at that.
2. We're responisble to be good stewards of the bodies God gave us!
3. As much as I love Vanilla coke, it does not love my waistline.

So this week I'm making tomato basil and chunky vegetable soups, a slammin' southwestern salad(free of my favorite taco bell seasoning), wraps on wheat, and roasted veggies with grilled chicken on cous cous. Zucchini, yellow squash, and snap beans here we come! And, will power allowing, I'm going to try really hard to snack on fruits instead of fries. Evan's new favorite snack is grape tomatoes, so I'll have to follow his example!

Thirteen Months

Time for an Evan update! At 13 months old, Evan is a walkin', backyardagains watchin', pillow pet packin',  diaper demolishing, toddeling machine. He takes two naps a day, and sleeps sweetly through the night with a smooth 7:30pm bedtime.

He has 7 teeth and a grizzly's appetite. Blueberries are his new favorite fruit, with bananas taking a close second. He eats most table foods now, and still gets his fair share of baby foods. Because dairy is not a part of his diet currently, he has grown to l.o.v.e his vanilla almond milk and it's starting to show-in his neck rolls that is. :-)

He is a charmer and loves to interact with and watch other kiddos, most notably those in pink. In this mama's opinion, he has the most adorable scrunchy smile in the world, and throws in a good nose wrinkle if you get him going real good! He's super ticklish, but overall just an all around happy, joyful kiddo. And though sensitive at heart,  I do see his skin growing thicker with every new bump and fall that comes with this newfound mobility. Just this past week we got our first skinned knee AND first bruise on the forehead-a true right of passage for any not so baby boy.

Our little man has become Mr. Independent these days, and has made this mama so proud by happily staying in the church and gym childcare's without a fuss! I was beginning to think he'd be my little kangaroo baby forever, but I am so glad to finally see him more comfortable without me at arms reach. He's still quite attached to mommy of course, but I can breath so much easier knowing I can leave him in our nursery or with a friend without pulling on my heart strings too badly!

 Last but not least, he has a lot more to say these days(but don't put him on the spot because he's a bashful boy!). He mostly babbles, but has audibly said "dada," "mamama," "ball," "dog," "Piper(sounds like Pi pu)" and my personal favorite, "moo."  Moreover, I can see he's connecting words to their meanings and is really starting to understand some of what we say. For example, if I ask him to put the keys back in mommy's bag, he'll take them over to my purse and gently drop them in. Or, if we ask him to bring us something, like a toy, he happily obliges and almost always picks the correct item. All with a BIG grin on his face. It's so fun as a parent to have a front row seat to this learning process.

Case in point...The other morning I was getting ready to take my boys on our routine morning walk-just after I took Evan down from his highchair I told him that it was time to "go outside and take Piper for a walk." I left for a brief moment to find some shoes and this is what I found when I came back... smarty pants!

 

That's 13 months for you-hopefully the next time I get around to a post like this it will be sooner than age two haha! We've got a busy summer ahead of us and I can't wait to see what new adventures await us at 14, 15 and 16 months. Oh my!

Summer is here

and it is HOT! Needless to say, the only time we're spending in the sun will be accompanied by water, freezer pops, and lots of SPF. Lord grant me the patience not to complain about the heat too much this summer-it never fails to burn my biscuits! In case you didn't know, that's southern for it get's on my nerves, frustrates me to no end, etc. Oh Fall, come soon! In the meantime, we'll try our best to enjoy this sunny North Carolina summer, scorchers and all. On the bright side...

Evan loves his baby pool!

Well, sometimes...

 

Albeit, Mommy may take the blame for this one as the timing was not ideal. Hungry, tired baby + forced water fun = Mr. Crankypants. At least Piper enjoyed it!

 

I have to admit I'm a teency bit jealous of his baby pool. Were it not in our front yard for the world to see, I'd throw on my bathing suit and jump in in a heart beat. Plus, have you ever seen a blow up pool so stylin'? ;-)

Below-this was Evan's first time in a "big" pool! While he was a little unsure at first, I'd say he did pretty well overall. With a little practice I think we'll have a water baby on our hands by summer's end.

 

 And finally, I couldn't leave out this picture of the cutest shark around. Move over aprons, hooded towels are my new favorite collectible!

Blanket buddies

Evan and his blankey are best buds. Our new "can't leave the house without it" object has become his soft, green crib blanket. Slowly but surely he has developed a large and loving attachment for it, and it is all kinds of adorable. :-)

Since we brought him home from the hospital, he as always slept with this soft, sage, polka doted pottery barn blanket. Mommy scored bigtime when the PB Kids store closed at Triangle Town Center, and only wish now that I had bought two!

 He sleeps with, snuggles and totes his blanket around the house. It always brings a smile to his face and brings comfort when needed.

It reminds me of Linus from Charlie Brown, and is downright puppy dog, thumb sucking, ice cream, ooooing ahhhing cute!

 

Happiness is a warm blanket Charlie Brown.