Maple Sugar Weekend

On Sunday, we really got into our maple syrup enjoyment in honor of Maple Sugar Weekend. We started the morning with waffles and some NH maple syrup.

Didn't get a picture of the waffles, but they were good!

Then in the early afternoon, we head over to the Grass Family sugar shack to enjoy some sugar on snow, donuts with maple syrup and maple popcorn.  Got to see some great friends and enjoy some good sugar.

Then for dinner, I made Maple Roasted Fall Vegetables with Chicken-Apple Sausage. My friend Carrie found the recipe and shared it with me. It originated from Aggie's Kitchen blog that she found on Pinterest. Here is link if you want to check out the recipe (super yummy and super easy) http://aggieskitchen.com/2012/11/29/maple-roasted-fall-vegetables-with-chicken-apple-sausage/

We made sure to brush our teeth well before heading to bed Sunday night.

Eight Months!

It's Spring (supposedly)! Thursday, Clara turned 8 months.  Lots of amazing things continuing to happen. Clara is working on sitting by herself, also she is getting a lot more mobile and active,  This was the first month I had to fight with her about not holding the month sticker and as you can see I lost.

Sleeping: We still have most nights where Clara is getting up once. We have started to get a few more nights where she is sleeping through the night, Also we are starting to get into a routine for nap time. We usually get a good hour to hour and a half nap in the morning. I use the time when Clara is napping to work. I am working for the Girl Scouts from home doing data entry.

Eating: We are continuing to try new foods while still mainly doing formula and breast feeding. We also have used the little mesh feeder thing and have tried banana and avocado.

Some new items that we have tried this month include:

Green Beans - not a huge fan of green vegetables
Garden Vegetable - still green, so not a huge fan
Sweet potato and Corn - are two favorites combined - definitely a hit
Yogurt - well received
Also tried a sippy cup, while she likes holding it and chewing on the straw, not much success yet!

Weight: Clara weighed in at 14 pounds. Not an official measurement. We go back to the doctor at the end of April, so it will be good to see how see is doing.

Clothes: We are officially in six months clothing now.  Also finding that we are needing 6-9 months or 9 months for pajamas, as she is quite long.  While she looks cute in her outfits, she is most happy when she is naked!  I love giving her raspberries on her tummy!

Firsts: First time dying eggs, first trip to the Mt, Washington Hotel, first tooth coming in, first swim

Likes: Eating and trying new foods - she is always grabbing at plates and cups, any toys with buttons that make sounds or plays music, reading books, chatting to herself.

Road Trip!

Two weeks ago, Clara and I took a road trip to Pennsylvania with my parents and my younger sister and her family.We left on Wednesday, had a 7 hour car ride along with two hours of sitting on a highway in New Jersey due to an accident. Clara did excellent in the car.

On Thursday, Jennifer, Jothan, Grace, Parker, Clara and I headed to the Crayola Experience in Easton, PA. We spent many hours there having a great time.  There were so many activities to participate in and Grace was the perfect age to really enjoy them all.  That night, Clara and I went out to dinner with several of my college roommates and friends. It was so nice to see them again, 10 years has been too long.

On Friday, we went to Lititz, PA to Julius Sturgis pretzels and learned how to make pretzels.  After that we headed to The Green Dragon, which is an Amish Farmers Market for lunch. In the afternoon, we went to do some outlet shopping and then went out to dinner.

It was a great trip, fun and action packed. Saturday we headed home.

Seven Months

A little late getting this posted, but it has been a crazy week.  More on that later!  It is amazing to see the changes a month has brought. Clara is definitely starting to get more independent and her little personality is coming out more and more. She loves nothing more than kicking her socks off and then pretending she doesn't know how it fell off her foot.

Sleeping: We have been having great success with the sleep sack.  She has room to wiggle her legs around but still feels secure enough to just fall right asleep.  We are still getting up once a night.  We don't really have a consistent nap schedule yet. Napping goes well, but we need to try to get a schedule in place.  Something to work on in March!

Eating: We have continued on in the adventure of trying different foods.  We still are mainly nursing and doing formula, but here is what we have tried:

Sweet Potato - a favorite
Sweet Corn Casserole - also a popular choice
Sweet Carrots - liked
Peas - eaten but not overwhelming liked
Chicken and Apples - not a favorite
Squash - hit or miss ... to be determined
Peaches and rice cereal - not liked at all

Weight: Clara is now 13 pounds and 5 ounces.  Doing very well with the eating!

Clothes: Everyday we are retiring a 3 month outfit and moving towards 6 months.  It is so exciting to pull out new clothes and see all the cute outfits we have for the next size.  We are currently working on finding a cute dress for Easter.

Firsts: first road trip to PA (She did excellent in the car), first Valentines, rolling over from belly to back, first Partylite party, first dinner party, first crafting afternoon with the girls!

Likes: the exersaucer, Polar, her musical dog, discovering her hands and feet, raspberries on her belly, her cousin Grace and her Nana and PopPop, and being naked.