Dear Vivienne,
I said to Daddy the other day, “I guess we should start thinking about planning a first birthday party soon!” It’s hard to believe that we are only two months out from your big day. What in the world? Slow down, time! How is it already June?!
Spring has sprung, and you seem to be enjoying the outdoors in all of its glory. Grass? You’re content to sit in it for long periods of time, exploring the blades with your fingers and toes. Crumpling helicopters and other bits of pieces of flowers and leaves between your fingers. Occasionally you’ll try to taste them, too. You may not be as big of a fan of sand, though. Grammy tried to put your feet in Hunter’s sandbox over Memorial Day weekend and you didn’t seem to like it too much. I hope we can get you accustomed to it before our trip to the beach this summer! In general, though, the outdoors keeps you entertained. We’ve taken you for some lengthy walks during which you never make a peep—you just look around at everything there is to see.
When you’re not strapped into the stroller, though, you are a mover and a shaker. You have learned how to sit up from a lying down position. You’re crawling on your hands and knees more and more lately, but you are still fastest on your belly and elbows, so the army crawl is still prevalent. You are capable of crawling from one room to the next, and onto another. You’re pulling up on things regularly, usually on to your knees, though. There have been two times (that I know of) when you have pulled up to a stand, but I think you’re still at the point where the position of your feet has to be just so. I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon and we’ll have you pulling up to stand on everything!
You love everything your big sister has. You want to be involved in everything she is doing. If she’s playing on the floor, you are immediately over there, too, trying to take part. You are obsessed with crayons! Sometimes, Nora is frustrated and wants us to take you to another room or distract you with something. Other times, she shares brilliantly. Typical, I think! If she tries to take something away from you, you fight her for it. You’re only 10 months old, but you’re already not willing to take any crap from anyone. I love that about you.
Speaking of your sister, she has taken to calling you Vivi, but she says it “Bizzy.” It’s adorable. And she LOVES to make you laugh. Sometimes, she gets the real belly laughs out of you, and when she does? She’s going to do whatever caused the laughing again… over and over and over until you’re bored with it.
You don’t have much interest in real food. Sometimes, we’ll put it on your tray and you give us looks of disgust, like “What is this rubbish?” and promptly throw it onto the floor without even trying it. Oooookay then. Other times you’ll try one piece and then you ignore the rest. Purees are where it’s at, I guess. You sometimes eat a giant bowl of oatmeal mixed with a jar of baby food, and then STILL pound back a baby food pouch (which you can hold all by yourself). It’s shocking, really, and I’m not sure where exactly you even put it all. And you are now a champion puffs eater, so you’ve got that going for you, too. (Nora also LOVES them, of course, which is ridiculous because they taste like nothing.)
We have entered the “acrobatic nursing” stage. When you’re nursing, you are doing anything and everything you possibly can while still maintaining your latch—contorting your body, twisting, pulling, kicking, stretching. It is not the bonding time that it once was. Instead, it’s simply a means to nutrition, and you are done with it as quickly as possible. When you decide you’re full, you want DOWN. Immediately. Because Heaven forbid you miss anything going on around you.
Except at nighttime. Sometimes. There are nights when you will let me snuggle you at bedtime and I cherish them whenever I can. You’ll rest your little head against my chest or shoulder and I just rock, hugging and kissing you, trying to memorize what it feels like to have the weight of your growing—but still very tiny—body relaxed in my arms. Other nights, you want nothing to do with the snuggles and insist on being put in your crib as quickly as possible because you’re tired, and you want to go to bed.
You’re a fantastic sleeper these days. You sleep tremendously well at night—so exhausted from the activity-filled days—and you’re usually not a bad napper, either. I dig it, so keep it up.
At your 9-month well baby visit, you weighed 17 lbs., 8 oz. (25th percentile). We won’t have another appointment until after your first birthday, which is crazy to me. Still only two teeth. Still no babbling noises beyond your “yelling” that you do—still waiting for the consonant sounds to start. Nora was such a late talker (after her first word, anyway) that I shouldn’t be surprised if you remain quiet for quite some time to come.
You have learned to clap recently, which is so adorable. You “dance” a little bit by wiggling your little body around to music. You are OBSESSED with my car keys… like you will dive at them when you see them, and cry if I dare to take them away from you.
You are happy. Chill, but headstrong. Determined. You’re the little sister, but you definitely hold your own. A spitfire. Curious. Mischievous. Absolutely beautiful.
We’re so fortunate to have you, Vivienne. You’re one of our greatest blessings. Saying that I’m thankful doesn’t even begin to cover it.
I’ll love you forever and ever.
Mommy
You guys! I don’t even remember the last time I posted a recipe on here. Life is busy. We manage to throw dinner together a few times a week, and that’s usually about it. But every once in a while, we do have the opportunity to try something new—and it’s a bonus when it’s a treat like this!
A few weeks ago, we were getting together with my family for dinner at my mom’s. The day was such that I had just enough time before the girls’ afternoon nap to throw together these cookies with Nora. They came together really easily, and they were scrumptious to boot. Fresh out of the oven, they are soft, gooey and delightful. Once cooled, they actually seem almost like a brownie instead of a cookie… which is not a problem in my book.
The mix of dark and semi-sweet chocolate makes for a cookie that is rich and chocolatey without being overly sweet. Make sure you don’t skimp on the coarse salt—and don’t substitute table salt, either. Because when you get a bite that contains one of those coarse salt crystals?! Perfection. (I used sea salt, by the way. But you could use kosher salt as well.)
If you like chocolate (I do) and a big ol’ cookie (I do), this is for you. I had this recipe bookmarked forever—bad move! These are incredibly good, so make them. Make them now. :)
Double Chocolate Cookies
(Source: Annie’s Eats)
Ingredients:– 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
– 1 1/4 cup sugar
– 2 large eggs
– 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
– 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.
3. Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
4. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead briefly by hand to be sure the ingredients are well combined. This dough is THICK—don’t be alarmed, it is supposed to be this way.
5. If you want to make GIANT cookies, similar to that you would find in a cafe, divide the dough into 4-ounce portions (or 12 equal pieces). I wanted slightly smaller cookies so that the recipe would make more, so I made them in 3-ounce portions. For even more reasonably sized cookies (like for a party, when you want to feed more people), consider 2-ounce portions. Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc.
6. Place cookie dough on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart. For the big 4-ounce cookies, bake 16-20 minutes. Adjust baking time slightly for 2- or 3-ounce cookies.
7. Let cookies cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When eating leftover cookies, pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to get that “fresh out of the oven” consistency again… yum!
It’s been just about a month since I first posted about my new-found enthusiasm for essential oils. I’m finding new uses every day for the few oils that I have, so I figure that every once in a while, I’ll post an update here to share with all of you.
Lemon has definitely emerged as my “most utilized” oil thus far. It’s the only oil I’ve actually run out of and have had to replenish. There were about three days between when I ran out and when my new bottle arrived, and I was missing it!
I’ve definitely gotten really used to having it in my water bottle in the mornings, and I also love rubbing a little bit on the insides of my wrists for a fresh citrus smell.
One “hidden gem” use for it that I’ve discovered? A stainless steel polish. I love stainless steel appliances, but our kitchen had black ones when we moved in. We do have a stainless steel toaster and toaster oven, though, and although they are nice… they get dirty and gross so easily! Our toaster was looking particularly bad and I took to it one night with the rough side of a wet sponge, a cloth, and a few drops of lemon oil.
I scrubbed off any stuck-on crumbs or food bits, then wiped as best I could with the soft side of the sponge (it still looked like hell after this step). I then put a few drops of the lemon oil on a dry cloth and started scrubbing. Ooooh… shiny. It worked really well! And smelled delicious, too.
Lavender has proven useful in a few ways the last few weeks. Michael was cleaning our deck one day a few weekends ago and came in with a deep splinter in his finger. I found that Lavender can help. I’m not going to tell you it magically made the splinter come out—it didn’t, but Michael’s splinter was also REALLY deep—but it was soothing to the wound, particularly because I had to split the skin layer by layer (using the needle) to open it up, and then dig in there with sharp tweezers. Ouch! After the splinter was out, Michael washed it out, I put a little more lavender on it, and he covered it up with a Band-Aid. It healed quickly! (Side note: I read that Thieves oil can help a splinter back itself out. doTERRA’s version of Thieves is actually OnGuard—which I didn’t know until a reader pointed it out to me!—so I will be trying that next time we’re dealing with a splinter!)
One REALLY effective use for Lavender is for helping with mosquito bite relief! My mom came over on Sunday after having been eaten alive all over her legs by mosquitoes. She asked if I had anything that could help and I gave her Lavender, which she applied neat (undiluted) to each of her bites. Just a drop to each. She said it worked wonders! It helped alleviate the itching and also helped reduce some of the swelling. Lavender will definitely be coming with us when we go to the Pocono Mountains later this summer. Mosquito bite relief for all!
A new oil for me this month has been Serenity, which is doTERRA’s calming blend. We’ve been diffusing this in our bedroom some nights, and I swear, it has helped me sleep like a rock on the nights we use it. I’m told that if you add a drop of Vetiver on top of Serenity, it’s basically like taking an Ambien. I will have to try that some day, as soon as I get my hands on some Vetiver. I’ll report back. ;)
Additional points of interest:
- Melaleuca and Frankincense: I used these two oils on a canker sore that was forming on the inside of my upper lip. When I get canker sores, I can usually expect them to get bigger, angry, and last about a week. It’s awful. But this one stayed small, was only minimally painful, and was gone within two days.
- Melaleuca: Used a dab on a couple of small pimples, one on my forehead and one on my cheek. It was like I had zapped them with something, because they dried up/faded away in a day or two.
- OnGuard and Breathe: Shortly after I published my last post about essential oils, Nora and Vivienne both came down with a horrible cold. I used OnGuard and Breathe on the bottoms of their feet a few times a day, and I diffused them in Vivienne’s room at night (she seemed to have the worst of the upper respiratory gunk, and so far we only have one diffuser!). It’s definitely not a “cure” (there isn’t one!), but it was not a cold that lingered—it was gone within a few days. They also managed to remain pretty comfortable despite the congestion, continuing to sleep through the night without any issue at all. Oh, also? I rubbed them both on my own feet at night, mostly as a precautionary measure, and did not get sick at all.
I finally have some of doTERRA’s Fractionated Coconut Oil, so I’m going to begin experimenting with dilution and different blends of oils for different things. I also have some Veggie Caps (basically empty capsules) that I’m going to try for protocols that call for ingestion of the oils. I’ll definitely share any success stories (and failures, since I want to be honest about what has worked for us and what hasn’t).
Questions about how you may be able to use essential oils in your own home? Leave a comment or email me, I’m happy to help find a solution for you.
And if you’re interested in checking out some essential oils yourself, check out my doTERRA page. (Oh! Interested in saving 25% off of these retail prices? Shoot me an email at heatherdriveblog@yahoo.com.)
Perfection. It’s the one word to describe our Memorial Day weekend.
I think most of the Northeast had the sunny, warm, gorgeous weather that we had, right from the moment we woke up on Saturday morning to the time we went to bed on Monday night. It made for a wonderful “unofficial start” to the summer season, and we ate up every single moment of it. We literally spent the majority of each day outside, getting as much of the sunshine and fresh air as we could.
The last few years, we’ve spent Memorial Day weekend in the Pocono Mountains with my family, but my brother and sister-in-law asked if we wouldn’t all mind picking a different weekend this year, so that Hunter could spend his 5th birthday at home. So Saturday we spent the afternoon at his backyard birthday party, celebrating the little man and his love of Ninja Turtles. Nora was loving life—sand, sprinkler, cake, candy, cousins to play with. And we were loving it, too.
The party went on for many hours, but people trickled out gradually until it was just our close family and friends. Michael and I reluctantly packed up our girls and head home to do bathtime and tuck them right into bed. Sleep came quickly and easily that night, for sure.
On Sunday, we didn’t have much of an agenda. We all went to Wegmans to grocery shop early in the morning—we were there by 8:30!—and then Michael stayed home with Vivienne while she napped, and Nora and I went and ran a bunch of errands together. We got home, ate lunch, went for a family run (Michael pushed the girls in the twin stroller, woof!), then put the girls down for naps. Michael and I got a few things done around the house, I got some dinner prep done.
My mom came over for dinner. We grilled turkey burgers and made roasted potatoes and veggies, eating out on our deck for the first time this year. We also tried out our new patio umbrella, which we had just picked up at Home Depot prior to dinnertime. It was a perfect evening. Nora was on her game, being so adorably cute and funny, and just plain pleasant to be around. So much so, in fact, that we allowed her to stay up until 9:00 p.m. just hanging out on the deck with us and my mom. She had napped late, so staying up until what was REALLY late for her worked out fine.
Once my mom did leave and we put Nora to bed, Michael and I did some clean up and then stayed out on the deck under the lights (our umbrella has LED lights!) for a little while longer, then went to bed ourselves shortly thereafter.
Monday morning, we woke up to more sunny skies. Michael went to Crossfit and I got ready to take the girls to a local parade. I decked them out in their red, white, and blue outfits—might as well get some extra use out of them aside from 4th of July, right??—and the three of us walked (well, I walked, they rode in the stroller) from our house, about two miles. We met my mom and grandma there, as well as Kara, Hunter, and Sadie.
The parade was pretty short, but Nora and Hunter had fun watching and, of course, fetching all of the candy thrown their way. Michael came and met us at the end of the parade, picking us up with the van. Because although the girls were perfectly behaved on the way to the parade, I didn’t think they would’ve made it for another two miles back home.
While at the parade, we made impromptu plans with Kara to come over to our house and spend the afternoon outside with the kids. We zipped over to Wegmans to pick up some hamburgers, hot dogs, and snacks, then met her back at our house. Then, you guessed it… more time outside. The whole afternoon.
The babies napped upstairs while the big kids played in the pool and sprinkler. We sat in the yard and just talked. Made some lunch. Ate out on the deck again. Got the babies up, played some more. My mom came by for a while before she had to head to the airport to begin a trip for work.
For the most part, our weekend was pretty void of chores. This is the life, I tell you. I could get used to this.
On a quick side note… Vivienne wore the same outfit that Nora wore for 4th of July when she was a baby. I figured out that Vivienne is pretty much the EXACT same age now that Nora was when she wore this outfit. Vivienne is just under 10 months now, on Memorial Day 2014, and Nora was just under 10 months then, on July 4, 2011. For fun, I did a little side-by-side of the two of them in the same outfit. Nora on the left, Viv on the right:
It’s fun to observe their similarities and differences. :)
We had a late lunch, so after everyone had gone home and we were getting ready to wrap up our day, we decided to go have “ice cream for dinner.” Talk about a good way to wrap up an already good weekend, right??
Nora skipped nap again, and after being up so late the night before… girl was EXHAUSTED by this point. We were all a little panicky at how huge her ice cream cone was and as a result, how quickly it was melting, so tensions were a little high the first few minutes we had the cones. Poor thing started having a MELTDOWN about us being mad at her, sobbing “Look at this mess! Mommy, I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry I made this mess!” It was heartbreaking, really. Such a sensitive little girl we have. Once she was reassured that making a mess is okay sometimes, and yeah, we really do still love her anyway (oh.my.gosh), she was able to enjoy the rest of her ice cream.
And on that note, it was time to get this child home, into the bath, and into bed for some sleep.
Beautiful, fun, refreshing, EXHAUSTING days.
Bring it on, summer. We are so ready.
Talk to me about swing sets. Do you have one? Do your kids play on it regularly? Do you like having it? Do you hate it?
We’re getting ready to put down on a deposit on a play set for our backyard. It’s way more than we ever thought we’d be paying for a swing set. But once we started researching them, we found out that there is a lot more to them than you might think.
Like, for instance, that you have to power wash and re-stain wooden play sets every couple of years. Say what, now? We can barely muster up the time and energy to re-stain our deck. (In fact, it needs to be done this year. NEEDS to be done. And the project is so overwhelming and undesirable to us that we’d rather just rip out the deck. I’m serious. We want a patio anyway. But I digress.) So to have to go out there and stain a wooden play set? No thank you.
Also? We have a lot of carpenter ants in our yard. They’ve apparently been feasting on some of our trees back there, and they have made their way into our house, too. The last thing we need is to put some more wood out there for them to munch on.
While we were shopping, we came across “maintenance free” sets. They are still made of wood to be sturdy, but they are vinyl-encased so that the wood is protected from the elements, and you don’t ever have to re-stain anything. Down side? Well, they’re even pricier than their wooden counterparts.
Cha-ching. Cha-ching. Cha-ching.
It’s actually kind of hysterical how expensive (and FANCY!) some of these sets are. Some of the ones we priced out—that seemed to be at least relatively basic—had shock-worthy dollar figures. That one pictured above? That’s not one of our contenders, because if I remember correctly, that particular model runs you more than $4,000. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that there are people out there who might drop $8,000 (or even more) for a playset. WHO KNEW?! At least hearing those figures made the ones we are looking at seem like a bargain. (Okay, not really. But almost.)
Anyway, we’re thinking it’ll be worth it. It’s a “toy” that they can grow with. I remember my brothers and cousins and I playing on our swing set until we were 8-10 years old. But on the eve of the final day on which we can put down a deposit, Michael and I are still talking about it—do we really want to do this? Somehow, this purchase seems more stressful than buying our minivan!
I sure hope these girls of ours will like it and play on it for years to come.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
