Growing - I'm guessing Z will be around 25 pounds at her one year well check, so she is probably hovering somewhere between 24 and 25 pounds currently. Although she has slimmed out through her torso, her thighs still have beautiful rolls and she is really, really tall. Eating - Z is down to three milk feedings a day. I planned to drop her late afternoon feeding when she turned eleven months, but after a few disinterested/biting incidents we decided to make the transition a few weeks early. Now when she wakes up from her afternoon nap she drinks a sippy cup of water and eats a cracker. She still nurses morning, night, and around noon each day. Z loves all fruits, roasted broccoli, yogurt, and little baked snap pea crackers. She likes lots of starchy, crunchy, and sugary foods too, but I try to limit those. Sleeping - Surprisingly, when we dropped Z's late afternoon feeding she started sleeping even better. It is very common for her to sleep one and a half to two hours morning and afternoon, and by 7:30 at night she starts showing signs that she's ready for bed. I nurse her quickly at 8 o'clock and she often cuts herself off and whimpers to be put in her crib. She falls asleep quickly and usually doesn't wake up until 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning. Who knew less milk would equal more sleep? I think her 5pm feeding used to energize her for the night and she could easily stay up until nine or later if we needed her to if we were out and about, but now she is DONE for the day by 8pm. Wearing - I've packed up all of Z's 18 month clothes except for a few shorts to finish off the summer. She is in all 24 month sizes and Micah's mom and I went shopping for her fall wardrobe a few weeks ago and bought everything in 2T! Doing - Throwing her food on the floor when she's done eating then signing "all done" only after I coax her. Lots of independent play. Trying to chew on cords and shoes {and learning about the word "no"}. Swim lessons. Saying "mama." And finally crawling! Loving - Reading books on her own or with an adult, especially when the pages have textures or flip-up {this one is her current fave}, taking her flash cards out the box and looking at each one, playing music on her xylophone, pointing at everything under the sun, dancing, playing catch. Loathing - Having to wait more than three seconds to nurse after waking up in the morning, being left at childcare {15 seconds of separation anxiety and then she's instantly fine when we disappear}, bumping her head into furniture when crawling. Daddy's girl - Micah decided that it was his responsibility as a dad to teach Z to crawl. We enjoyed her delayed crawling but it got awkward when she couldn't move up into the next class at church. She was getting too old for the nursery with the babies but it was unsafe to put her in with the crawlers and walkers when she was a vulnerable, immobile lump of baby. Finally last weekend Micah put her through some intense training. He would place her in the crawling position and hold her stomach up for her and move her body forward before eventually letting go. It was kind of like training wheels for crawling. By the end of the first day she could crawl two or three feet forward on her own, and by the next day she could crawl slowly across the whole room. Bravo dad! Milestones - So many! Z can now move from lying down to sitting on her own, and she is now usually sitting up in her crib when we go in after a nap. She can also throw a ball with pretty decent accuracy and likes to play catch. She got her first molar in the past week or so and was surprisingly calm throughout the process. I didn't even know she was teething until the molar completely popped through the gums! Two other big milestones are crawling, of course, and knowingly saying "mama." She has said it 3 or 4 times now when she was upset, but the other day she said it when she was in a good mood. I was leaving the house for work and Z was sitting in the front room playing with grandma. I walked past the entry on my way out and Z waved right at me and said "mama" with a smile on her face. So sweet. Most of the milestones have been good, but now that Z is mobile we have moved into the injury stage as well. She had her first bloody lip incident last week. The Monday after Micah's crawl-training weekend, she was reaching for a ball and collapsed, hitting her chin on the floor and biting her bottom lip. She was perfectly fine but there was a little bit of blood which was so sad. I tried to snuggle her while she cried, but she wouldn't have it so I asked her if she wanted to go to the gym and play, and she instantly perked up and started waving bye-bye. She's pretty stoic I guess, although her lip continued to look bruised for the next day or two. +I shared some of Zianne's favorite toys with affiliate links. Enjoy! ... Read more
In the Kitchen: Banana Muffins
This weekend I discovered why it's far better to make banana muffins instead of banana bread. Here are the facts: You don't have to use a mixer. Apparently, muffins are fluffier when the dry ingredients barely mix in with the wet, so I just mashed my bananas with a fork and stirred the rest of the ingredients together. I love my Kitchen Aid, but don't like hauling it out of the cabinet or cleaning it and with muffins you don't have to deal with it. {This factor makes the recipe very kid-friendly.} Muffins only take 25 minutes to bake as opposed to the hour it takes for banana bread. They bake more evenly too. Sometimes it's hard to get banana bread done on the inside while not getting too dry on top. Muffins are easier to keep fresh. You can put them in a plastic bag or container. I never really know how to keep a whole loaf of bread fresh. I usually wrap it in foil or plastic and it still dries out a bit. It also gets crumbs all over the counter. Ugh. You aren't committed to eating ALL the muffins like you are committed to eating a whole loaf of bread once you cut into it. You can eat as many muffins as you want for the first day or two and then pop the rest in the freezer for easy breakfasts or snacks later on. I think it's pretty obvious that banana muffins win the battle. I might never make banana bread again... What you need: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 bananas, mashed 3/4 cup white sugar (sometime I do 1/2 white sugar, 1/4 brown sugar) 1 egg 1/3 cup butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla 2 TBSP sour cream {optional} 1/4 tsp. cinnamon {optional} What you do: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Coat muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. 3. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Add any optional ingredients {sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon} to the wet mixture. Fold in flour mixture, and stir until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans. They should approximately half full before baking. 4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Muffins are done when they spring back when lightly tapped. Recipe makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins. Notes: This recipe is super flexible. I happened to have sour cream in my fridge, so I added about two tablespoons to increase moisture. I also added a little bit of cinnamon after reading comments online. I highly recommend these additions, but if you don't have the optional ingredients on hand the recipe will still taste great! ... Read more
Flowers Fade Friday: Overlaid With Gold
I took a few days out of my regular Bible study plan to complete a packet on idolatry we were given in our community group. I was under no obligation to complete it, but the pages sat folded up in my Bible, and I'm pretty sure the Spirit was whispering "Go there. Study that packet." Studying the packet has meant honestly questioning and analyzing my idols. The packet talks about our desires for comfort, approval, power, and control, and then asks questions such as "What are you most proud of?" "What do you turn to when things go wrong?" and "What do you spend the most time thinking about each day?" I answered these questions as honestly as I could by listing out all the fleshly impulses and thoughts that stream through my mind each day. And you know what? My idols are beautiful. Seriously. My idols are gorgeous. They are attractive to me and they probably look really good to onlookers as well. Here are a few of them... I love control, self-discipline, and meeting really high standards. When things go wrong, I micromanage and check things off a to-do list until everything feels right again. This is an ugly part of my heart, but it looks really good on the outside. It looks like always having a clean house, always being caught up on laundry, working out four days a week, and making a lot of home-cooked dinners. It looks really freaking pretty. And so I wondered, "What do you do when your idols look really good? Both to you and others?" But then I realized, all idols look pretty. The Bible tells us that idols are covered in gold. They are crafted carefully by human hands to be breathtaking and captivating. Isaiah 40:19 says, "A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains." Idols are always gorgeous, so they camouflage the evil within. In theory, I can think of "ugly" idols. I think of an eating disorder and the desire for control that leads to starvation and emaciated bodies. I think of binge eating and purging and it's not attractive. But do you know what IS attractive? Slender bodies and seeing a number you like on the scale. Eating healthy. Having the discipline to eat in moderation and saying no to sweets. Eating disorders are ugly, but they are covered in hundreds of beautiful jewels called "good health" and "discipline" to hide the ugliness beneath the surface. Another ugly idol is the pornography industry. It makes me sick, especially that it's a gateway to the trafficking industry. It's such an evil, entrapping business. But you know what? It also looks beautiful to many. For those who dabble in it as consumers it looks like sexual desire fulfilled, relief and relaxation at no expense to others. For the women in the industry it looks like fame, beauty, and approval. For the producers, it means money and the comforts and security that come along with a big paycheck. The pornography business is one of the ugliest out there but it's covered by a million glittering jewels. And my idols are covered with jewels and sparkling as well. In order to have a clean house, I run around all day fretting over chores and inwardly sigh when people come over and make a mess. I rearrange my whole schedule around going to the gym and will forsake social time and relationships to the treadmill. I keep everything in order around my home and then erupt in anger if Micah misses a dinner I prepared, leaves his clothes out, or asks me to be flexible about my schedule. The truth of the matter is my beautiful idols are really, very ugly. And my idols only point to deeper issues in my heart. Having a clean house and a well-used gym membership are not the real problems. The real problem is that whenever I face difficulty, uncertainty, loss, or disappointment I turn to my to-do list instead of to the Lord. When I run into a problem, I try to spray it away with Windex instead of bringing it to God. When I am upset, I turn to a quick-fix of exercise-induced endorphins instead of crying out to my Savior. I have a God who loves me utterly and who gives unending comfort, yet I turn to my to-do list in moments of anxiety and let the beautiful gods of discipline, chores, and routines rule my heart and my life. Change my heart, God. May I find my comfort in You and not a checklist. May I cling to You, rely on You, and be consumed with the knowledge that Your love and care will sustain me always. ... Read more
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