Last week we celebrated your 8 month birthday. The time is flying by and it’s all bittersweet. I love watching you grow up and learn new things, but at the same time I want to keep you a baby forever. Holding you, reading and playing with you, giving you kisses, and rocking you to sleep are the greatest joys of my life.  Knowing that this phase is a fleeting moment in time has forced me to live in the moment and cherish every single minute.

You are learning and doing new things every day. The leaps and bounds you make amaze me. Your crawl is more of a military crawl but you are so desperately trying to crawl with your knees. You are also trying to stand which is a bit scary.  You have discovered your voice and will make random screams and grunts throughout the day. Everyone also swears they hear you say their name, but we all agree you are trying to say  Nemo (family dog’s name). Speaking of Nemo, your kisses are the best because you learned them from him. You either kiss with your mouth open or lick with your tongue. We are trying to tell you the dogs lick and people kiss, but it’s not sticking. The dog is also your favorite thing in the whole world. You love this dog so much. If you are ever crying all I have to do is call the dog and everything is miraculously right.

You have also become more opinionated. We have this ritual in the mornings where I bring you into my bed and say good morning a hundred times while bombarding you with kisses. At first you had no idea what I was doing, then you found it amusing, then you loved it, and now you shoo me away after one kiss.  One kiss is enough you are saying. Now we have morning playtime in bed or rather you try to climb all over us and we try to keep you from jumping off the bed.

You also have a new thing you do now where you make a squeal and jump in my lap the second you get excited. I love this excitement. I love that you feel safe in mommies arms.  I’m sure you have figured it out by now that I am head over heals for you! We are all truely blessed and lucky to have you in our lives.

Love,

Mom

This post is part of a blog circle I am participating in.  Please give some of the other ladies some love starting here: http://taranicholephotography.com/2013/03/letters-to-our-sons-daughters-ryan/

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If you’ve never heard of Tabouli, it’s a Middle Eastern parsley salad made with a handful of easy to find ingredients. There are many variations on this recipe and this is just how I make mine. This is a recipe that’s easy to customize to your own taste.

This is seriously easy to make and keeps well. I make a bunch at the beginning of the week and we eat it during the week.

Recipe

4 bunches of parsely, chopped  ( I use my mini food processor for this)

2 medium size tomatoes, diced

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 sprigs of mint, chopped

1 cup bulgar

Dressing

¼ cup olive oil

2 lemons, squeezed

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Follow the directions to make the bulgar. I added half a cup of boiling water to the cup of bulgar and let it sit for half an hour.
2. Prepare all the ingredients for the salad and place in a large bowl.
3. Add the bulgar to the salad.
4. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and add to the salad.

Enjoy!

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I think the trip was a little premature.  He looked at the lovely people and the christmas balls on the trees. He played with his blanket and he slept. The animals were far and camouflaged with their surrounding so they weren’t really capturing his attention. At the aquarium, the fish are big and in your face. The only animals he looked at and followed were the swinging monkeys.  Even though D didn’t really see the animals, it was still a nice family day and I will probably try it again when he is a year.

I had to include some pictures of these truly majestic animals. How beautiful and humbling.  In case you are wondering we went to the Lowery Park Zoo in Tampa. Hope you are enjoying this holiday season!

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Getting my christmas candles out!

Picked up some beautiful coasters at Anthropologie.

Love

Love a beautifully wrapped gift. Present for my son from his godmother.

My 2 year old meyer lemon tree is full of lemons! Must make lemon recipes!

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Last year at our annual girls’ cookie exchange, a friend made these coconut cakeballs. Not only were they pretty, reminiscent of snowballs, but they were delicious.  So I made it a point to ask for the recipe and add it to my holiday Christmas cookie list for this year. This is pretty much a cakeball but dipped in white chocolate and rolled in coconut flakes. These balls are a whole lot of coconut and deliciousness!

If you are looking for a easy cookie recipe these are super easy. Plus, they’re a little more forgiving than regular cakeballs because they get rolled in coconut which hides all the imperfections you get with a chocolate glaze. They’re also perfect for the holiday season because they look like snowballs!

 Recipe

1 box of white cake mix

16 oz of cream cheese or vanilla frosting

1 package chocolate bark or Candy Melts

1 package shredded sweetened coconut

Directions

1. Bake the cake as directed. Let it cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, crumble up cake and mix it with the cream cheese frosting.
3. Roll cake mix into balls and place on a baking sheet with wax paper. Put in the fridge to cool. You can speed this step up by placing in freezer.  You can to make sure the cake balls are firm before taking them out.
4. Melt the chocolate (I just melt them in the microwave, but you can do it in a double broiler if you want). I suggest you melt small quantities at a time. While chocolate is melting put the shredded coconut on a plate.
5. Dip balls into melted chocolate. Make sure to fully coat. Immediately roll the balls in the coconut.
6. Place in fridge to cool.

Ingredients

Cake

Cake and cream cheese frosting rolled into balls

White Chocolate going into the microwave

Cakeballs dipped in white chocolate and immediately rolled in coconut

Once cooled in the fridge, ready to serve!

 

Enjoy!

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It’s is very important to me that I pass on the love of books to my baby.  I want him to know the power of a good book.  Also, as a teacher I know the importance of those early literacy experiences, so we read about a handful of books a day.  And by reading I mean, I read and hope he listens and looks at the page.

At four months, baby D has no idea what a book is or what I’m saying, but yet there are books that he likes more than others.  Some books keep his attention longer than others;  I know when he is bored with a book when he starts making noises at the top of his lungs and starts rolling from side to side, looking at everything but the book.  Another sign that he likes a book is that he will concentrate very hard on a picture and then attempt to grab something off of the page. Other times something will get his attention and he squeals in excitement.  At this age these are the barometers of a good book for us.

Of all the books I have out, the ones that capture his attention the most are the interactive ones-you know touch and feel and/or lift a flap.  These are the types of books that get the most rotation right now.  I’m not sure the longevity of his interest in these books but right now at four months old we are loving the following:

1. Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book

2. Pat the Bunny

3. Peek-a-Who?

4. Where is Baby’s Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book

5. Animal Kisses: A Touch and Feel Book

6. Raindrops: A Shower of Colors

7. Peekaboo Playtime
( you can find these really cheap at a marshalls or tj maxx if you have one near you)

8. Tickle, Tickle, Peter!

9. Peekaboo Kisses

10. Hippos go Berserk

I will update this book at six months and a year just to see how our interests progress!

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Halloween was always an event in our house. Nemo has dressed up in a different costume every year, and together we hand out candy.  This year with a new baby and limited time only one baby got dressed up and yes my friend it wasn’t Nemo.  Well did I hear about it from friends and family who were use to getting an annual email with pictures of Nemo in his costume. Yes, I was made to feel guilty. So I made it a point to make up for it with the Christmas cards.

I had holiday pictures of the baby already taken so I just needed a couple of Nemo. In need of diy inspiration, I went to Pinterest aka the holy land for inspiration and found this great idea for using wrapping paper as a backdrop (I think it’s from younghouselove).

Now if I was a good person, I would have gone out and bought some nice wrapping paper, but seriously did I mention I have a four month old at home? Anyways, I used what I had and I think it turned out  cute.  Most importantly, now Nemo has a place on the back of our family holiday card!

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I love cookbooks. I am one of those people who read and devour every page in a cookbook and many times never cook one recipe from the book and yet will love the book dearly. I did, however, finally have to put my foot down and stop buying so many for no other reason than I’m running out of room in my house. I am proud to say I haven’t bought one cookbook in over a year. I mean it didn’t really take much effort as nothing really caught my attention. Then all of a sudden this month all these wonderful cookbooks came out which I can’t rave enough about.

Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller- I have all of Thomas Keller’s cookbooks and although I don’t cook from them very often everything I have has turned out perfect, so I knew this book wouldn’t be any different. I was particularly excited about this book, though, because I love the Bouchon bakery. Whenever I am in New York I make it a point to stop by Columbus circle and have a coffee and macaroon.  The cookbook is true to the bakery, so you won’t find recipes for fancy cakes and pasteries only what they actually make and serve at the bakery which is a lot of everyday accessible goods like muffins, cookies, and breads.  This is probably the most accessible cookbook from Thomas Keller so far. A beautifully laid out book with accessible recipes from a meticulous chef; what more could you want from a cookbook?

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Pearlman- I have followed Deb at Smitten Kitchen for years and was very excited about her book. True to her blog, the recipes are well written and beautifully photographed. I love that her recipes don’t require any fancy ingredients and are easy to follow. My heart also sings every time I pick up a cookbook which has a picture for every recipe and this is one of those books. All the recipes look wonderful and I have half the book earmarked.

Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi -This is so much more than a cookbook. It’s almost poetic, a history lesson, and a political statement.  The authors were both born in Jerusmalem in the same year but grew up in different parts of the city-one in the Jewish section and the other in the Arab section. Their paths crossed in London many years later and the rest as they say is history.  The book tells the history behind these Middle Eastern dishes, there are wonderful stories, beautiful photojournalistic style pictures, and all the recipes will work with the western palette. I love picking up this book and flipping through it cover to cover. It’s a true treasure.

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust by Ina Garten- Ina doesn’t need much of an introduction or review. Her recipes work and they are all great. I wondered to myself if Ina could possibly have any more new recipes but there are a ton of new and great looking recipes and I really look forward to trying many of them; especially her dinner dishes.

I look forward to posting a recipe from each of these cookbooks soon.

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The idea behind pregnancy announcements is to make a cute announcement for family and friends via email, text, Facebook or whatever social media the person is using. I know some people do actual paper announcements but I’ve never received one and I’ve had a lot of pregnant friends. I’ve only seen them on Facebook to be honest.

I felt like a beached whale my entire pregnancy and refused to post any pregnancy pictures of myself on Facebook.  Yes my friends not one single pregnant picture of me is on the web. We did however still want to announce our pregnancy in a cute manner to our family who all live out of state. The best solution for me was to have the cutest member of the family to do the honor.  I bought my little dog a shirt from Etsy that said “I’m going to be a big brother”. When it was time to tell our family we got on the phone with them and told them to open their email and there it was the announcement.

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The only thing I’ve changed about the nursery is adding a personalized art work with his name above the rocker.  While my son doesn’t sleep in his nursery yet, we love to spend time in there reading and playing.  The funny thing is, between the toys, burp rags, and clothes that need to be put away, the room doesn’t look like this today.

This I added above the chair once we had a name!

Crib and dresser-  Baby Essentials Lifetime Crib

Glider- Babyletto Kyoto Glider, Ecru Suede

Book display- Land of Nod

Mattress- Naturepedic No Compromise Organic Cotton Classic 252 Crib Mattress

Changing pad and chaning pad cover- Naturepedic Organic Cotton Contoured Changing Pad

Boat shelf, sail boat on wall, lamp, boat basket, and rocking horse- Pottery Barn Kids

Bedding- Row Your Boat Pottery Barn Kids

Sail Boat Prints- Etsy

Personalized sail boat art- Layla Grace

Stuffed Animals- Jellycat Bashful Beige Bunny Medium, Jellycat Bashful Monkey 12″, Jellycat Bashful Giraffe Medium, Jellycat Bashful Lamb Medium, Vintage Elephant 13″ by Jellycat

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