Adventures in eating a bowl of cereal

Gemma has recently gained a great independence in her eating. It's nice. No, it's lovely. No, it's freeing. Well, maybe all of the above. At any rate, I LOVE it! And so does she!! It really is very handy, albeit a bit messy at times. But really, how else is she going to learn?? And I don't let her go crazy and just throw things around and smear them in her hair or anything, but along the way, well, sometimes she just ends up with more food on her than in her I think. Observe...
The bowl of cereal.

Hey mom!!! Check out my way cool spoon! (And check out that awesome milk dripping off my nose. Wonder how that got there??)
This is how it got there. There's more than one way to skin a cat, right?!
Trying so hard...with BOTH hands!
Very proud of her new accomplishment
Happy breakfast all! And in case you were wondering, those are Kix. Although by the time we got to the end of our little escapade, they were in more of a plasma state, just barely holding their shape. Yummy!

This week

Gosh, it's been several days so thought I'd check in, but just not a whole lot going on. We had a fabulous holiday weekend though. Aaron's Uncle Tommy and Aunt Lorrie (HI GUYS!) were in town for the long weekend and we really enjoyed getting to spend time with them. We had several suppers over at the in-laws', and hosted everyone at our place for an outdoor meal of pulled-pork on Sunday. I got to learn a new sewing project from Aunt Lorrie (pic and directions to come), and I showed her how to make the cloth dipes. All kinds of fun!! Monday morning we went to the zoo and spent two hours. It was great! We got there early enough that it wasn't very crowded, and we got to see sooooo many animals. It was really a fun family time!!

Gemma has been eating very well lately. She has discovered the fork, and will pretty much eat just about anything if it's on a fork. We got her some little Gerber forks at Target and they seem to be working out very nicely for her. She also has a new-found love for strawberries. She had five, yes five, at dinner last night. And they weren't no itty-bitty strawberries either!! She also loves okra, can you believe? We put it in our soup on Fridays (yeah, yeah, I know...pizza on Tuesdays, soup on Fridays...what can I say?? We're pretty predictable around here!), and I decided to give her some several weeks ago just to see what she thought. She's really good at trying new things. Well, that little girl signed "more" just about as soon as it hit her mouth. Last Friday I think she ate 10 pieces of it. Pretty sweet! This momma's pretty thrilled with anything healthy that goes into my wee-one's mouth, that's for certain.

Yesterday was Aaron's birthday. We had a nice low-key celebration just the three of us. I had surprised him by picking up some German sausage, so he grilled that and I fixed mashed potatoes, asparagus, and opened a can of saurkraut to go along. And birthday brownies of course!! It was very tasty! We also got him an edger thing he had been wanting for the yard. It was a happy day.

Like I said though, all-in-all it's been a pretty quiet week. Aaron got a table set up in the basement bedroom, and I got a few storage containers and what-not for my sewing stuff, so now we just need to pick out the machine. I'm so excited!!!!!

Thanks for checking in with us!

Baby doll

I got my old baby doll out yesterday morning for Gemma. I figured she would like her, but I never dreamed her reaction would be so sweet. She LOVES her. I honestly could cry watching her with "baby", she is so sweet and gentle and loving. We went to Target and picked out a little stroller, it is basically a miniature version of Gemma's umbrella stroller (minus the umbrella). And if that stroller had an odometer it probably already would have gone a mile. It's pretty much all she has done the past 24 hours, aside from eating and sleeping and playing outdoors. It is just too sweet. She got a doll highchair for her birthday, and I have my old doll bed from when I was a little girl, and I'm thinking both of these items will need to be pulled out of storage and put together soon. What I'm not sure of is where exactly they will go. Eventually the basement will be our playroom, but Gemma is still just a bit small/young for that. It is really nice having her play in the living room, that way I can work in the kitchen or clean or whatever and she's right there. And up until this point the toy corner was very well concealed. But now we have the table, and the rocker, and the stroller, and we're looking at a bed and a high chair. I also know she'd love a kitchen set...probably for Christmas. Maybe by then we can move the toys downstairs. Until that time... :-D So enough of all that, and on to pictures of Gemma with her "baby".

Pushing the stroller
Covering baby up with her blankie
Pointing to baby's eyes. She loves to point and label eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms, etc. Very cute that she recognizes her own body parts and those on "baby".
Here she is "showing" baby Max.
And this (my favorite of all these pictures) is what she does when you ask her to "give baby love". Oh. So. Sweet. Like I said, it practically brings tears to my eyes watching her. Such a precious little "gem" of a girl she is.

Petting farm at the zoo

We took a trip to the fabulous ZOO on Monday afternoon with my parents. It was Gemma's second time in the petting farm (walking around that is) and her first time to feed the animals. We got there right as all the school kids were packing up to leave, so it was so QUIET!!! Plus, all the animals in the petting farm were either ready for their naps, or super full from other kids feeding them all day (or both) because they were super mellow, which was great for my little Gemma-goo. Grandpa brought a quarter and bought some food, and she took her feeding job VERRRRRY seriously. It was one of the most precious things I've ever seen.
But, as always, the first thing when we come to the zoo is the flamingos. She is fascinated by their color and noise. She tries to imitate the sound, which is pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself.
And then we ran into one of these guys. He let her get really close, which she thought was awesome. I think she looks like she's dancing with him! And, as a friend of mine pointed out, her little capris match his tail-feathers perfectly.
And there are always the geese. Ohhhhhh, geese. Seriously, her fascination with them makes me laugh as we can see dozens of them literally from our backyard. OH well, it makes her happy :-D I didn't, however, take any pictures of them.

So we had just a fabulous time together, and are certainly looking forward to going back again soon. Thank goodness for our membership. And thanks to grandma and "bapa" for making the day extra special for us!

Rocking chair

I have zoo pictures to share too, but those will have to wait, since this came first chronologically. This was my rocker when I was a wee-little girl. Gemma has always loved playing with it at my parents', and now it got to come home with us!!! SOOOOOOO special. As you will remember from this post, Gemma absolutely loves any chair her size. And as you can see by these pictures, she is SO PROUD of her new acquisition. And I am so proud to have this little rocker in our home and to be able to share it with my precious little girl. It was made by my grandma and grandpa Cranmer, so that makes it all the more special.

Checking it out
Positively thrilled!
Getting situated
Look at that happy little girl. And her grin is that big practically every time she sits in it, which is quite often I might add. There are many times I'll be working in the kitchen and peek around the corner and she'll just be sitting there rocking away.
Check back soon for some GREAT zoo pics!!! Here's a teaser, Gemma has discovered the petting farm...

Cutie

Last night Gemma and I were on the deck watering our potted plants. Some of the water dripped into the little pan under one of the plants. Gemma walked over to it, dipped her fingers in, and attempted to make the Sign of the Cross and then loudly proclaimed, "AMEN!" She did this twice. It was sooooooo sweet! I'm sure Jesus was smiling down at her.

Furry and feathered friends

Gemma has a friend. His name is Brown Bear. He lives in our room in the corner and comes out to play when Gemma is around. He is a good pal, and a good sport. His new favorite thing to do is sit on the potty chair. I tell you, that bear has to potty alllllllll the time. He must have one tiny bladder.
Now onto the feathered friend part of this post. And it's actually feathered friendS. We have a few barn swallows who have decided our front porch is a very cozy place to inhabit. They are sweet and they are cute, and Gemma loves to watch them, but I have all of a sudden become less and less a fan of coming and going through our front door. Hmmm... Here is a picture of one of them weathering last night's storm on a planter hook.
And last but not least I thought I'd add the obligatory monthly pic. Look at my sweet sixteen-month old. Where has the time gone?!

What we've been up to

It's been a nice week around here, I'm so glad the weather has warmed up considerably. We have been spending a lot of time at the park of late. Gemma just loves it! Now that she is walking so well we've ditched the stroller (for park trips anyways). It's about a block-and-a-half walk, but she does great! She loves the swing, and there are also these little duck and worm characters that sit on a spring of sorts and go front and back. She loves to look at them, touch them, talk to them, and even occasionally ride them. There are lots of ducks around the lake, and she is certain to point out each one. She has really gotten into imitating sounds lately too, and it's pretty stinkin' cute to see what she comes up with. She's so silly.

Gemma is an incredible helper around the house. She follows me from room to room when we're doing "chores". While doing laundry I will unload the washer and hand things to her and she tosses them in the dryer. And the dishwasher is her FAVORITE! Whenever I even look like I may be opening it, she squeals "hepoo, hepoo" (helper, helper) and makes a beeline for me. She loves to lift the dishes out and hand them to me, even our heavy plates. The other day I was unloading it during her nap and actually felt a bit guilty that I didn't wait for her to help.

She also LOVES to read. She will bring you books until the cows come home, and just plop her little bum down on your lap and sign "more" as soon as you finish. We keep some books in the living room under an end-table for her, and the rest are in a basket in her bedroom. Very often, she will go back to her room and sit on the floor and "read" all by herself. It just makes my heart happy to see. She just sits there on the floor and takes her books from her basket and pages through them one at a time. She will point to different animals and things and say what they are, and sometimes she just babbles. She will keep herself entertained at this for 10-20 minutes sometimes. Like I said, just does my heart good. Most of her books are board books, but she does very well with regular "paper page" books. She is remarkably gentle. My little sweetie!

We have been enjoying our family walks, she still rides in the "honey" (front-carrier) with daddy, simply because it's not practical for her to walk when we take the dog (there's a recipe for disaster), and the honey is much more interesting than the stroller. We have good times, for sure, for sure.

We've been having dinner on the deck, what with the nice weather. It's such a small window in spring...warm but not too warm, and before the bugs hit. We just drag the highchair out there for magoo, and she loves it. She'll often spend an hour just sitting, eating, and taking it all in. (note: she doesn't eat for the entire hour, we're eating well, but not that well!)

Gemma's latest phrase is, "oh, tays (thanks) momma," which she will say to me and anyone else who gives her something or does something for her. It is so sweet. You've just got to hear her little inflection, she's so sincere.

Well, that about sums it up. Just thought I'd give everyone a brief update on "the latest". Thanks for checking in.

Mother's Day

So grateful for my little sweetie.

Gardening and such

We really don't have a good place in our yard for a flowerbed. The front of the house is landscaped, and that's pretty much my hubby's baby, and the back the dog is our chief, errrr, gardener, so there just aren't a whole lot of spots for annuals. Last year I put some in front of our bushes in front of the house, but the bushes have grown so much that as soon as flowers would start to grow and spread they'd get whacked by the mower. SOOOOO, I decided to try my hand at "container gardening". Yeah, just a fancy term for a couple potted plants on our deck. But if it goes well (AKA, I don't kill them within the week), I plan to add more pots and what-not each year on the deck and maybe even in front of the house. The begonias are from my MIL for my bday.
...and this second pot is something I put together today. Gemma and I made a trip to the greenhouse this afternoon, and we had such a fabulous time. That little girl walked the entire way beside me holding my hand...up and down aisles, in and out with our flowers, it was the sweetest thing. She loved it, and I was so proud of my big girl. (She did the same thing at the grocery store this afternoon I might add). So here are the results of this afternoon's little "garden-fest". What do ya think?!
This pot contains a spike (aren't they cool?), geranium, zinnias, verbena and lantana. Yeahhhhhh, I probably got a bit carried away. The pot (which I had already purchased at Lowe's this AM) seemed bigger in my mind. OH well, we'll see how it does. The verbena and lantana are viney type things, so hopefully they'll just spill over the sides. I'm pretty happy with the results.

And this picture just makes me smile. Aren't her new jammies the cutest??!

Sleeping and eating...

...two of the things about which I stress the very most. I'll save you any commentary this time, and just show you some sweet pics (as promised) of Gemma doing a great job at BOTH activities!!

Pizza crust

A bit out of the ordinary, I know, but thought I'd share a recipe. This actually came from my sis, so I can't take full credit, but I think I use it more often than she does, so I guess I claim ownership that way. Anyways, this is about the quickest, easiest (and tastiest to boot) pizza crust recipe for which you could ever ask. In a bowl combine:
2 1/2 cups of flour (we use all whole wheat, you can do half and half, or just use white)
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. yeast
1 tbsp. olive oil
*optional* I often toss in some Italian seasoning and/or garlic, or if you have pesto on hand that makes it really fabulous
1 cup warm water (I use it just from the tap as hot as it will go)

Stir together with a fork. Let it sit for around 5 minutes. Dump onto pizza pan (I always spray it with cooking spray first) and spread around with your hand. You may need a bit more flour to keep it from being too sticky. That's it, no kneeding!!

Once you've spread it, bake it for 5 minutes at 400, remove and let cool. Top with your choice of toppings and bake another 15-20 minutes, also at 400. I often make these up in the morning and leave them in the fridge until the final baking, and this works great, too. Here are a couple of the topping combos we like:

Meat lovers (hamburger, chicken thigh, sausage, pepperoni) with green peppers and red sauce (from a jar)

Chicken, mushroom, and spinach with white sauce (Ragu's Roasted Garlic Parmesan is FAB, and when you use a jar it's soooo much faster)

We typically use about a 3 cup package of Italian Cheese (yeah, we don't skimp on anything around here). Sometimes, especially with the hamburger one, it's good to toss on some cheddar too. Of course I always use a little onion when I saute my meat, and have been known to toss some pretty strange toppings on from time to time. Squid, for instance, which was horrible. Don't even bother trying. It belongs in stir fry (where I actually have quite an affinity for it) not on pizza. Live and learn. These pizzas are kind of a Tuesday tradition at our house. I make them up in advance, and then we bake them and have dinner after Gemma-goo goes to bed and watch reruns of The Office on TBS. Gotta love Tuesdays!!

In recent Gemma news, she has started saying, "tays (thanks) mommy," when I do just about anything for her. It is so incredibly sweet. And this morning I got home from Mass and she was in her high chair finishing up breakfast with daddy. I asked her if she'd like a bit of Pumpkin Bread (THANKS to Aunt Lorrie for sharing this GREAT recipe), and she said and signed "pees" (please). I am just so proud of her.

I *GASP* haven't taken too many pictures lately, so I'll have to get on the ball so I have some to post. Missy-moo is walking up a storm. It's so much fun to have her walking. She just follows me around the house, helping with chores and whatnot - she understands so much!! Yesterday she walked all the way down to the mailbox and back with me, holding my hand. Made me think about last year at this time, the weather was just getting warmer, and I'd carry my wee little baby girl down to the mailbox each afternoon. What a difference a year makes!

Well, I should probably get back to finishing my pizza and clean the kitchen up. Just wanted to take a moment to share my recipe. ENJOY!

My good girl

I just had to brag on what a good little girl my Gemma was at Mass this morning. Overall she really does a great job, but today she was just spectacular. I was so very proud of her and just wanted to share. She has started saying "Amen" when we pray at home now. It comes out more like "ahMEEEEE", but we know what she means. Well, today was the first day I heard her saying Amen ("ahMEEE") at Mass. She was always about 2-3 seconds behind everyone else, but she's catching on. And she's really learning to fold her hands and has started trying to make the Sign of the Cross when she dips her fingers (errrrr, entire hand) in Holy Water. Sooooo sweet! Thanks for checking in, that's all for now.