i have an addiction...

...and that is buying clothes for my little peanut.  i went SLIGHTLY out of control today.  i bought her THREE new swimsuits.  and she got her easter dress.  and a few other things.  wanna see?

one of her three new swimsuits.  this one was from the children's place.

this is her easter dress, also from the children's place.  she also got the matching sunhat.  i love this.

these super cute sunglasses were 2 for $5.

here are swimsuits #2 and #3.  they obviously came from old navy.

she also got a really cute polo dress from old navy, but i couldn't find it on the website.

i have an addiction.

bath time!

mia got a little messy last night whilst nomming on some carrots, so she for sure needed a bath!

she loves bathtime.

please disregard the nasty caulk around the tub.  no matter how many times i clean it, it still turns black. 

we'll be out of our apartment soon.  i CANNOT wait.

i think i may be crazy

so, a few weeks ago my good friend karen starting this thing called "couch-to-5K".  i was intrigued, so i did some research about it on-the-line.

i am NOT a runner, but as i was reading about this, i was thinking,"is this thing as do-able as it seems?"

well, yesterday i completed week one, day one, and so far, i think it may be.  it was rough, i'm not gonna lie.  i'm thinking i'm going to have to do week one at least twice, but i may actually be able to do this. 

so for now, i'm gonna keep on keepin' on, but i could definitely use some encouragement.

yeah, she's definitely my daughter.

so, today we ventured out to our local library for storytime with my creepy internet friend meg and her little girl, katie.  don't worry, she isn't creepy.  but she is an internet friend.  songs were sang, books were read, and toys were played with.  knee-slapping fun was had by all.

we decided on lunch at IHOP (mmmm....breakfast for lunch).  since i decided to partake in the goodness that is all-you-can-eat pancakes, i figured why not share some with my 8-month old? 

she nommed on some pancakes. 

that's my girl.

disclaimer:  i gave her plain pancakes.  no butter.  no syrup.

i haz teefs!

forgive the quality...taken with my blackberry.

nope, not a fluke.

she's a solids eating champ.  my kid rocks.

maybe i should blog more often...

yeah, so remember last post when i mentioned that mia hadn't been eating her solids so well?

tonight, i ate my words.

she chowed down on bananas.

i have my fingers crossed that it wasn't a fluke.

holy moly...

where have all the blog posts gone (sung to the tune of paula cole's "where have all the cowboys gone?")?  i am such a slacker.  holidays are over, so i'm no longer working crazy hours (yay, retail).  well...

mia is growing.

and getting older.

it's freaking me out.

she is still the coolest, most chill baby on the planet.  still sleeping through the night, despite teething (hello two bottom, middle toofers!) 

she's up to 16 pounds, 15 ounces.  at least that was the count a few weeks ago at her check-up.  she's around the 75th percentile in both height and weight.  as for her head...

90th.  my daughter has a giant melon.  she gets it from her mama.

we started solids well before thanksgiving, but with both of us working retail, we sort of got off track.  we've started back up within the past two weeks, and it isn't going as well.  she refuses to open her mouth to take the spoon.  i don't know what the deal is.  she'll get it in time, i suppose.  it's just frustrating.  how can she not gobble up 'naners and peaches?  anybody have any suggestions? 

mia will soon be making her second trip to the beach in under a year.  this time, we'll be vacationing with her daddy/my hubby and my cousin and her family.  we're all very excited. 

here are a few pictures to catch everyone up:

her first halloween.  dressed as nemo, and obviously tuckered out from too much candy-grabbing.

meeting santa.  note the hand up by his beard.  she pulled it.  thank god it was real.  i was just waiting for my kid to be the one to traumatize all the other kids in line by pulling his beard off. 

on christmas day.  mia on the left, bff ava on the right.  kickass elmo in the middle.

i promise not to stay away so long next time.  please forgive me.

 

i wanna win!

so...this isn't a mia post.  this is a post for me to win a new Dyson vacuum!  the author of Baby Rabies is giving one away.  plus, she's really funny, so you should totally follow her blog.

crock-pot black bean chili with cilantro and lime

we were having friends over last night, so i decided i wanted to cook.  now, i'm not a cook all the time kind of girl, so i wanted something easy.  i turned to my trusty crock-pot.  i found this recipie, and thought "i LOVE cilantro and lime!"  so, i found my recipie.  i did change up a few small things though...

crock-pot black bean chili with cilantro and lime

2 onions, chopped
extra virgin olive oil, for browning onions and meat
1 lb ground beef (i used ground sirloin)
1 quart beef stock
3 cans (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) refried beans (i used a mexican style)
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 packet chili seasoning (i got mine from the hispanic aisle of my grocery store)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (i bought 4 limes, but only needed 3)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

heat some olive oil in a large skillet and sautee the onions until they are soft and transluscent.  add them to your pre-heated (on low) crock-pot.  if needed, add more olive oil to the skillet and begin to brown the meat.  once browned, add to the onions in the crock-pot.

while cooking the onions and meat, put the beef stock in a pot and simmer to reduce to 2 cups.  that will be half of the original pint.  put beans into a colander and rinse until no foam appears.

once the beef stock has reduced, whisk in the refried beans until thoroughly mixed.  add stock/refried bean mixture, rinsed black beans, diced tomatoes, and chili seasoning to the crock-pot. 

cook 6-8 hours on low.  about 15 minutes before serving, add in chopped cilantro and lime juice.

mine served 4, with 3 of us having seconds, with some left over to go in the fridge.  i topped mine with shredded mild cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla strips.

NOTE:  cooking time can depend on your particular crock-pot.  i was only able to cook mine for about 5-6 hours because i got a late start.  once i put the crock-pot on warm and let it sit for a little while, it thickened up quite a bit, and when i just warmed up a bowl, it was thicker as well.  moral of the story, make sure to cook it the full amount of time. 

ANOTHER NOTE:  this was a chili with beef, but i think the recipie can be modified to make a chicken tortilla type soup, simply by substituting the beef/beef stock for shredded chicken and chicken stock.  i will be trying it this way next time.

ribbon wreath

this isn't baby related, but i just had to share my ribbon wreath.

it was SUPER  easy to do.  it only took a few hours on a saturday night.

you can find the directions here!

p.s. 4 month pictures and update to come soon!

beyond words...

...just look.

even though we lost...

mia was ready for gameday!

give me a minute...

i'll fix it!

eta: working?

we have a roller!

date night.

we had a date night monday night!  grandma bev kept the babe, and the hubs and i went to see a movie.  we saw the time traveler's wife, and it was SO good!  i've had the book for a while, but haven't quite gotten around to reading it.  i usually like the book better than the movie, so i'm sort of glad i saw the movie first. 

i highly recommend it!  hubs even liked it!

new family member!

i almost forgot!  we welcomed a new member to the family yesterday!

meet ava!  she was born at 3:39 pm.  she is the daughter of my cousin/sister/best friend, deserey.  des wanted to give birth med-free, and by george, she did it!  i was present for the entire labor and delivery, and i now have a newfound respect for any woman who gives birth naturally.  it was the most intense thing i've ever experienced in my life!  i'm so very proud of her.

her auntie loves her so very much!

day at grandma's.

today we ventured to grandma bev's.  mia had a great time.

she hung out with great-grandma glenna for a while.  i actually caught a smile!

and grandma has a new toy for her to play with at her house!  she's not quite big enough for it yet...we had to stuff blankets in front of her, so she wouldn't lean all the way forward.  and her feet don't quite touch the ground yet.  she had a good time, though.

first night without baby.

i finally did it. i had a night without mia, and i missed her terribly. she stayed with my parents last night since i had to have an early morning procedure done at my GYN office. it was nice, but i missed her the whole time. i couldn't wait to pick her up today! chris and i were able to go to applebee's for happy hour, and i only had one blue moon before i thought i would pass out from exhaustion!

she did very well. according to mom, she went down for the night around 10 pm (!) and got up around 10 am. hopefully this is a trend and she stops staying up until 1 or 2 am. she's asleep right now, and i'm hoping she stays that way!



oh, and for the record, colposcopies suck.

3 months

i can't believe it's been 3 months already! time goes by SO fast these days.

sitting on the couch like a big girl!

whadda you lookin' at, mommy?

photo shoots sure do wear a girl out!


i've been back to work for a few weeks now. it's really nice to be getting out of the house by myself, but i sure do miss my mia moo when i'm gone!


sunday mia and i will be joined by the fabulous sara streit for a photo session. i can't wait to see what she comes up with! i'll be sure to share the pictures with all of you.