Recipe: the easiest dip on the planet

I fucking hate this iPad. Or maybe I hate blogger.

One of the two just deleted my entire post ... so, sorry this is not witty but its easy so that counts for something.

Ingredients

• 1 block (8oz) cream cheese (fat free doesn't melt as well, just an FYI)
• 1 can chili (vegetarian is fine if you're into that)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Melt cream cheese in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently
2. Once melted, add chili and stir frequently until fully mixed and heated
3. If desired, transfer to an oven-safe bowl and top with shredded cheese
4. Broil on high until cheese is bubbly
5. Serve warm with tortilla chips or fritos 

http://pinterest.com/pin/89860955035150496

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/01/chili-cream-cheese-dip-or-ghetto-dip.html

London Claire is ten months old

For what it's worth, I started this post when London hit ten months. That was almost three weeks ago. Fail. Do you know what's harder than being a SAHM to an infant who's into everything? Being a SAHM who's selling her house, whilst having an infant who's into everything and a very high-strung dog. I know, excuses excuses.

By grammatical standards, I think this is the month I have to start using numbers and not spelling it out, but I'm going with "ten" for consistency's sake. Our little angel is ten months old, which thankful seems easier to swallow than nine months, except for the fact that her first birthday is only two months away so I need to get planning STAT.

Age: today, ten months and almost three weeks
Height: I have no idea where our measuring tape is. Or anything else, for that matter
Weight: 20lbs 8oz
Hair: lighter, longer, thicker and doesn't seem to have as much red. She has one wiry white hair in the back of her head which is so funny
Favorite outfit: too many! All her summertime dresses and rompers are so cute!! I love her polka dot halter dress, pink tutu dress from aunt sissy, the bandana dress. She is wearing 18mo in some things and that blows my mind.
Sleep: on a good day, she's sleeping 7:30-6:30, nursing, and going back to sleep until 8am. Taking 2-3 naps depending on the day and our schedule.
Eating: loves blackberries almost as much as strawberries. Jalapeño chips and spicy bean dip?! She still really likes mandarin oranges, and enjoys pears, frozen peas (like her mama!) and black beans (she'll eat half a can!). Refuses a bottle but does great with water in a sippy including a straw sippy cup.
Illness: she had a rough time with a combination of pollen allergies and teething, but seems to be back to normal, with four teeth broken through in total (bottom middle two, left top eye tooth and top right front). She did have quite a fall last week and ended up with a huge goose egg on her noggin, but was fine (minus a faint bruise) the next day. Mama, of course, was not fine.
Development: She gives kisses, waves goodbye (and sometimes hello). Claps in certain songs (if you're happy and you know it, etc). Imitates and says a LOT of words when she feels like it, including "oof oof" as a response for "what does a dog say".
Movement: Stands for several seconds and stood from sitting by herself for the first time - and now does it regularly. She's taken as many as two / three steps but not if she realizes she's doing it. Pulling up on everything, walking while only holding one of our fingers, and trying to climb (stairs, high chair, anything dangerous).
Favorite toy: she loves the walking toys loaned to us by friends, the plastic clapper from her aunt Kiki, and she still freaks out over the giraffe! She also loves the giant lion stuffed animal my dad got her. Her absolute favorite, though, is Spider-Man. My sister got her a Spider-Man bubble machine and she couldnt care less about the bubbles but carries that plastic Spider-Man like its her child.
Funniest habit: she'll normally only give Ben a kiss if I kiss him first.
Firsts: she got to meet farm animals! Bunnies, chicks, turkeys, horses, cows. So cute!
Best moment of the last week: she has learned to pick up her bows and put them to her head. So proud!!

London Claire is Nine Months Old

I know I'm really late on this. And I know I have been slacking in the blogosphere lately. You're probably like "she's a SAHM, what else could she possibly be doing?" and if you are asking that, you've obviously never been a SAHM. Especially not one without a computer. Yeah, I'm writing this on our (read: ben's) iPad and it's not easy. Also not easy? Getting anything done with a nine month old. But here I am, so let me catch you up on my best girl after our first full month together.

Standing in her crib.
Wearing booties that belonged to mama.
You know, the usual. 

Age: nine months, twelve days (fail)
Height: 28.5in
Weight: 19lb 14oz
Hair: it's finally getting long enough to put it in pony tails and even pig tails! We got the best bows as a gift from our next door neighbor and she doesn't mess with them at all. Headbands are a struggle sometimes but for the most part she leaves her hair accessories alone, because she has no choice.
Favorite outfit: her Easter dress, of course! I've had it for months and she and I were both so excited about it. Today's outfit was also adorable, a little denim romper from old navy that my mom "Gorgeous" got her for Easter.

Refusing to sit in the shopping cart

Sleep: praise The Lord, it's a freakin miracle y'all - this child takes three naps a day. Sometimes they're a fight, but after a month of being really strict, I feel like web finally made progress and our days are so much better for it. She was hardly napping in daycare, so I made it my number one goal to get her an trained once I was staying home with her and It. Was. Hard! Much harder than slee training, but now she wakes up at 7am, nurses and then goes down for a nap around 8/8:30, sleeps for an hour/hour and a half. Then she's up until around 12:30, sleeps for 30min to an hour, and back down again around 3 or so. Then down for the night at 7:30! So blessed all our hard work is paying off. Sleep / nap training blog to come!

Eating: we haven't found anything she won't eat, other than boiled egg yolks (she's her daddy's girl!). Favorite foods include strawberries and scrambled eggs. She eats breakfast after her morning nap around 10, lunch around noon and dinner around 5. Still exclusively breastfed, ah thank you! She's doing great with a variety of sippy cups and thusly doesn't want anything to do with bottles.

Illness: we have had struggles with constipation and are currently battling a nasty case of diarrhea and accompanying diaper rash. It's heartbreaking. My normally very happy, easy going baby has been having periods of 15+ minutes of inconsolable crying the past few days. I think it's a reaction to mandarin oranges, which she's had before but I've heard citrus can cause some nasty trash.
Development: the pediatrician says she is right on track based on her nine month appt. her exact words were "she's perfect" (duh!). She has great fine motor skills and seems to be hitting all her development milestone according to the doctor. She waves goodbye and hello, and screams at the top of her lungs, sometimes because she's mad But mostly because she likes the sound of her own voice. Very chatty and loves picking up things and figuring them out. She crawls up me and kisses my face in the morning, which melts my heart every time. she has started copying me by referring to things as "dada" and "na dada" (not dada). And she got her second tooth, which she's been using to bite me with when she nurses.
Movement: she has been pulling up on everything and cruises all along the furniture, sometimes with one hand, but never stands by herself for more than a second or two. I'd say we're still a ways off from walking, but she wants to walk and loves to get down and walk with our fingers. She is crawling fast now and that means I can't turn away from her for a second, which means I'm completely exhausted by the end of the day. But in the best way possible - I love seeing her explore new things. She's also started climbing up stairs - scary!

Favorite toy: she has become obsessed with my keys. It's hard to keep her entertained with actual toys now that she's into everything and wants to play  with cords, outlets, the dog's water bowl, etc. we did get a new soft carrier, the ergo, which she and I both love!
Funniest habit: she points at things / people. She was doing it at church at the ushers, such a flirt. She points at her daddy and he points back like E.T. It's adorable.
Firsts: visit to the aquarium, haircut, Easter

Best moment of last week: Easter, of course. She went to the nursery at church for the first time a few weeks ago but I couldn't send her for Easter service so she sat with us, entertaining (most of) our neighbors. She looked adorable and was so excited to see all her Easter baskets - three of them! - yesterday morning and then again today.

Our little family at church on Easter