Letters to London: your first year

My darling baby,

I guess I shouldn't call you that anymore, because you're as "toddler" as they come, but you are and always will be my baby. Today was your first birthday. Your dad & I spent the whole day with you and I hope that's something we can do for years to come. You explored Marbles kids museum for the first time, hugging a stuffed bear, making friends and splashing in the water table. You also ate ice cream and drank chocolate milk with dinner, and loved them both. You were signing "more!" emphatically after each bite and it made me so proud! 

You are a little sponge these days, learning and copying words like "ow!" and "hot" and "up". You entertain everyone, everywhere we go, from the post office to the pediatrician. I love how friendly you are and I hope you are always able to make friends so easily. 

Daddy let you pick out your bow (another word you like to day) and you chose a huge red polka dotted one that made me very happy. You know exactly where your bow goes, and you show us how to put on (and take off) hats, and you can show me where your shoe goes. You are such a smart little girl and I'm impressed each day by how much you know. 

I made you a red felt one and pinned it to your shirt, so everyone would know it was your birthday. People always tell us how adorable you are but i wish they knew that your beauty is only surpassed by how sweet, smart and funny you are. You make me laugh every day!

My mommy always made my birthday a very special day for me so I hope I can do the same for you each year. You deserve to know how special you are every day of the year. You are my shining star, and besides marrying your daddy, being your mom is the best thing I've ever done. I hope you always know how much I love you, my precious girl. The first year of your life has been nothing short of a miracle and I can't wait to watch you grow. 

Happy birthday my sweet girl, 

-your mama

London Claire is twelve months old

She is, I swear. For three more days. I know I'm the worst blogger ever. In my defense, we had a first birthday party, two out of state trips, and a little thing called moving. Plus multiple house guests, ve and doctors appointments, etc. Needless to say it has been a crazy month or so.

But our sweet girl is ONE and her birthday was such a fun day. So before she turns thirteen months (or just "one" as Ben has requested we say now), here's an update on our toddler (!!) in her twelfth month.

Age: twelve months, twenty seven days
Height: 30 1/4 inches
Weight: 21lbs 9oz
Hair: she just got her first haircut by aunt sissy, because the little side curls were getting a bit out of control. She's now rocking an adorable pixie cut!

Favorite outfit: she wore a black halter dress with white chalk drawings of sights from London for her birthday, so adorable. She's wearing a lot of neon pink lately to match the amazing neon pink vans tennis shoes her aunt brenna bought. There's also a gorgeous pink gingham smocked dress that my mom bought her.

Sleep: surprisingly nothing has changed much from her 11 month update! Still on two naps. Lately she's been waking up as late as 7:45 (after nursing in the 5:00am range).

Eating: she's recently taken to grapes and apple chunks, she was even whining for some plastic grapes today while we were looking at a house. She loves chocolate milk (!!) and smoothies. She LOVED her chocolate birthday cake at her party, and the ice cream she had on her real birthday. She tried some tofu tonight and was not a fan, can't say I blame her! She also seems to really like cheeseburgers.

Illness: she had a rough cold / ear infection right around her birthday, but antibiotics and some children's Benadryl (doctors orders!) made her an absolute dream on our flights. Also, we're up to seven teeth!

Development: she has peed in her potty twice, which is pretty awesome I think, considering she has only sat on it a handful of times. She points to her high chair when she wants to eat, signs eat, more, all done pretty well. She knows quite a few body parts, is starting to consistently blow kisses, and knows where her bow and shoes go. Ben has taught her to call herself Lala, and she knows mama and dada. She says Georgia (brenna's dog). Oh, and she's started to say "I love you", what could be sweeter than that?!

Movement: this girl loves to climb! Stairs (up and down), in or on boxes, on her nightstand shelf, pretty much anything. 

Favorite toy: My favorite thing is that she got a baby doll for her birthday which she takes everywhere, and gives hugs and kisses. She thoroughly enjoyed the inflatable pool we bought as her birthday present, and her Spider-Man action figure from Aubrey & Matt. She's starting to really get into books. And of course, her stuffed penguin from Uncle Yang. 

Funniest habit: she calls her baby "daDA" with a very specific inflection, different than what she calls Ben. And she mimics things we say with her intonation "don't drop it" or "I love it!" And other funny phrases. Oh, and she loves shoes!
Firsts: birthday, trip to the pool (she loves it!), trip to Erie, trip to the lake (she did not love it), trip to DC (we visited the American history museum, she was not impressed), front facing car trip (it was just while we were visiting family, we are keeping her rear facing for now)

Best moment of last week: last night as she was nursing before bed (please don't ask me how long I'm planning to continue nursing her, I really don't know), she paused, whispered something very intently to me, to which I replied "I love you too". Then she smiled and went back to nursing. This is one sweet little girl, y'all.

Shrimp & Cucumber Tostadas

Our air conditioning needs a part replaced and, since we've recently sold our house, we can't risk it breaking further so we can't run the a/c in the interim. And, since we're utilizing our home warranty to replace this part, it's taking for-ev-er. Which is awesome, you know, in June. In North Carolina. With a baby. 

But I digress. The point of that opening is that it's too darn hot to cook. And really, to do anything in the house. So when I got home at 5:00 with shrimp in the freezer and an overripe cucumber on the window sill, I found this recipe on Pinterest as the inspiration for a very successful meal:

http://www.cookincanuck.com/2013/04/10-minute-thai-shrimp-cucumber-avocado-salad-recipe/

Ingredients

1 lb thawed medium shrimp, shells & tails removed

1 seedless cucumber, sliced and quartered 

1/4 white onion, chopped

Six corn tostadas

1/8 tsp cilantro

Dressing

1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1.5 tbsp chili sauce

2 tsp honey

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Whisk together vinegar, chili sauce, honey & garlic powder in a small bowl

Refrigerate for 30 minutes (if possible, but who has that kind of time?!)

Meanwhile, boil a medium sauce pan of water

Add shrimp, boiling for about 60 seconds or until pink

Immediately drain and cool in a bowl of ice water to prevent overcooking

Slice shrimp in half

Add to a medium mixing bowl with diced cucumbers & onions

Toss with dressing, top with cilantro 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes (this one is slightly more important, these are better served cold)

Top tostada with a heaping spoonful of mixture, using a slotted spoon to drain

Optional: serve with sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, guacamole, etc. 

London Claire is eleven months old

Ugh. This is a hard one. Maybe that's why I've been putting it off. But I've made it this far with these monthly updates and I owe it to my girl to keep it up for the year. After all she's done for me, it's the least I could do.

Age: eleven months and two weeks
Height: I actually do know where a measuring tape is (I had to buy a new one to be measured for the bridesmaid dress I was months late ordering ... But that's neither here nor there) but I haven't measured her. I'll try to update height and weight in the morning
Weight: see above
Hair: continuing to grow longer and much thicker. We do ponytails now which are adorable! And she knows what a bow is and where it goes - I couldn't be more proud.

Favorite outfit: black and white polka dot spandex short and a white t-shirt, with a polka dot bow and black sandals. It was the outfit she wore on our flight to Nashville, so adorable. I'm also really loving her bubble rompers, and her rash guard swim top with a flower hood. We got to buy some new shoes, too - so fun! Wearing 12mo or 18mo in clothes, size 3 in shoes. She seems to have slimmed down a little in the belly.

Sleep: on a good day, two naps about 1-1.5 hrs each. Bed at 7:30, nursing once in the 5-6am range and up around 7-7:30. I finally gave up trying not to nurse her before bed, it wasn't worth the fight for me. I couldn't handle the tears.

Eating: she discovered chick-fil-a chicken nuggets and its safe to say she is a huge fan. She had one in each hand and was sucking the breading off a third. She still loves all fruits and most vegetables, is starting to drink some almond milk which I feel like is a big deal, but its in very small quantities and sometimes she spits it out. She can feed herself with a loaded spoon and occasionally can spoon some out herself.

Illness: nothing to note, praise The Lord! Four top teeth cut through in less than a month so that's more than enough to handle.
Development: she gives hugs! It's so cute, she wraps both her arms around my neck and pats my back when I get her up from naps. She gave Lucy a hug too, so freaking sweet. She says "dundon" when she's looking at pictures of herself, "behbeh" when she sees pictures of other babies, and I'm pretty sure she's been saying "Ben!" to mimic when I call him ("buh! buh!").
Movement: walking! Hands down my favorite milestone to date. She started a few weeks ago and now walks all over the house. Crawling is becoming more rare by the day. The walking brings along new challenges: she doesn't want to be carried which means she has to have shoes on whenever we are out.

Favorite toy: a stuffed polar bear from my mom, and this super annoying v-tech lady bug thing. She also really loves magnets and is intrigued by sticking them to the fridge - gotta love cheap thrills!

Funniest habit: she tickles people under their neck and makes this funny noise that I guess I do when I tickle her. It is amazing to see how much she is picking up and understanding!
Firsts: steps, trip to Tennessee, time in the ocean, hike, wedding.

Best moment of last week: we went to a splash pad which is basically little fountains that shoot up from the ground for the kids to play with. She loved it, and was letting the way hit her in the face. Really fun!

Hard to believe she'll be one in just over two weeks. This year has flown by in a way I could never have imagined. In addition to London's birth, we traveled overseas, Ben started a new job, I quit mine, we sold our house and (hopefully) will be buying a new one soon. Thanks for sharing on this leg of our journey - we appreciate your continued prayers, support, and I - for one - appreciate your readership! Can't wait to see what London's second year has in store for us.

Ten (more) things you may not know about me

Maybe I'll make this a monthly feature on the blog - is it fun? Interesting? Self-indulgent? Whatever, it's connected me to people who I may not have ever known I had things in common with. Bonding over a shared hatred of sweet potatoes? That's serious stuff, people.

1. I've done a "secret Santa" gift exchange with the same girls for 10+ years. It's morphed into " secret seashell" because we now do it at be beach. We also have an email list serve that was started when we left for college. I couldn't begin to guess how many messages have been sent but I'd guess its in the tens of thousands.
2. My number one choice for pasta sauce is Alfredo. It's one of the only things Ben will not eat. I don't understand how anyone could hate something that's pretty much just cheese and heavy cream?!
3. I have (almost) matching scars on my elbows from surgeries that were four years apart. Ulnar nerve transpositions. I have no funny bone.
4. When I die, I want to be cremated, after medical science has taken anything they have any use for. I'm not yet sure where I want my ashes scattered.
5. My first plane ride was to Disney world with my whole family. Best fifth birthday ever!
6. I started walking at nine months. So, when London turned ten months without even a step, I felt a little bit guilty, like I had let her down as her mother. Don't worry, I realize that is 100% ridiculous and I'm just happy she's taken her first steps before she's two.
7. I had a fake ID in college that Ben referred to as a baseball card because it was SO fake. But I never got caught, even when I bought beer standing in line in front of a cop.
8. My favorite song will always and forever be "imagine" by John Lennon. My least favorite song is "amazing grace". "Celebrate" and "I like big butts" are also up there... Err, down there. As in,  hate them too.
9. I can cook but I cannot bake. I can probably count the number of things I've baked completely from scratch on two hands. I think it's the same reason I was good at biology but horrible at chemistry. I'm not good at exact sciences.
10. I have horrible bunions on both my feet. I know I need surgery, but I'm not, nor have I ever been, in a position to be off my feet for 4-6 weeks. I mean, who has time for that?!

Recipe: crunch wrap supreme

By now you know that I "bare it all" on this blog, so I'm not ashamed to tell you one of my deepest darkest secrets: I love Taco Bell. I mean, not as much now because I think their quality has diminished (how is that even possible?!) but I still crave it now and again. In college, it was my hangover go-to. So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I couldn't resist.

Ingredients

You have a lot of room for interpretation, so pick whichever toppings / ingredients you like

-Ground turkey, cooked and seasoned with a package of taco seasoning and some diced onions if you like

-Large flour tortillas (the burrito size)

-Crunchy tostadas (the flat ones)

-Queso dip

-Sour cream

-Lettuce

-Tomato

-Salsa

-Shredded cheese

-Refried beans

Other possible toppings:

-Black olives

-Jalapeños

-Diced bell peppers

-Avocado

-Cooked rice

-Black beans

-Chopped cooked chicken

Directions

1. Once the taco meat is cooked and all your toppings are diced up, it's really about assembling. 

2. Warm the flour tortillas (I use the microwave for about 15 seconds depending on how many). 

3. In the center of a flour tortilla, spread a heaping spoonful of queso, leaving a 1-2 inch border empty around the outside. Then refried beans, then meat, then tostada, then sour cream, then veggies, then any additional toppings you choose (lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, shredded cheese, etc).

4. Fold tortilla around the tostada in five pieces (forming a pentagon); you may have to use an extra piece of tortilla for the center. Nothing should be exposed!

5. Heat a large frying pan to medium, place tortilla pocket seam-side down in the pan and use a spatula to press firmly into pan. 

6. After 30-60 seconds (tortilla should just start to brown), flip the pocket using a large spatula and ninja quickness. 

7. Heat opposite side until just starting to brown.

Serve with sour cream, salsa, queso, hot sauce ... Whatever you like. These things are awesome because you can customize them for each person. 

Also they're just awesome. 

Recipe inspired by:

 http://busymamabird.blogspot.com/2012/04/yummy-crunchwrap-supremes.html?m=1 

It's raining, it's pouring

Each morning I check the weather on my phone before I get London dressed, as an attempt to be a responsible mother who dresses her child appropriately for the temperature. Today went a little something like this:

Me: London, why does the weather channel think it's thunderstorming here right now?
Ben: Because it is.

It's been pouring down rain for most of the day, which makes today a terrible day for taking pictures of our house. But, it makes it a great day to lounge on the couch for a minute, eating chocolates and pretending I'm living the SAHM life of leisure everyone assumes I am. And it's also a great day to soak in this sweet little home, and the beautiful life Ben & I have built here together.

Aside from the obvious nostalgia that comes with selling your first home, and the home you brought your baby to when she was born, we've had a lot of fond memories at 111 Ferris Wheel. There have been many delicious meals cooked in our beautiful red kitchen, that Ben painted for my 24th birthday. Games of Stanley Cup flip cup when the Penguins won it all on the little country table that we bought at the flea market. Heated games of apples to apples with dear friends in our cozy living room. Countless drunken houseguests passed out on bunk beds in a Steelers Gold bedroom. Lazy Sunday afternoons spent lounging on a couch that was way too big for our living room but way too cozy for a pregnant woman to not buy.

This house has been so good to the four of us and I know it will be good to whomever gets it next. I'm excited for our next chapter but I'm more than a little sad to see this one come to an end. A big thanks to everyone who has helped make our first house a home.