And She's Off

Grace started to crawl forward like a star this weekend. It was so funny because I was taking a shower at Matt's parents' house on Friday morning and I heard everyone cheering. All that cheering turned out to be because Grace started crawling. She motored right to a phone she wanted and hasn't stopped since. She even crawled up onto Matt and nose-dived right over him today. Here is a video from her first day crawling.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with both of our families. The events of the weekend went as follows....eat, watch football, sleep, and repeat several times:) I am only posting 2 pictures that make me very thankful even though we have 2 million things to be thankful for.

I'm very thankful that we got to spend time with my Grandpa after his health scare in June. He loves hanging with Grace.

I'm thankful for Grace's cousins. Josh is the sweetest little boy and just loves spending time with Grace and she and Jenna will have many adventures together I am sure.

Apple-Apricot Pork Chops

We just concluded Crock Pot November in our house. For the last month we have been taking Grace to swimming lessons on Monday and Wednesday from 5:30-6:00. So by the time we get home, get her fed and into bed there really isn't much time to think about cooking. I recognized this might be an issue before the month started and have been making meals in the Crock Pot on those days. We have had meatloaf, chicken Parmesan, Ruebens, and taco soup to name a few. But tonight for our last one I think I made the winner...Apple-Apricot Pork Chops. I found the recipe online and of course since I don't really follow recipes completely I modified it a bit for 2 people and for my convenience and that is what I posted below.

This recipe was super easy and delicious. The thing that made is soooo easy was my new food processor (Christmas present from Matt. But since I knew what I was getting the surprise was that I got it one month early!!!). To chop all of the food I just fed it through the giant feeding tube on my processor while using the slicing blade and it literally took less than 5 minutes to get all the chopping done. So the prep for this meal was fast! If you hand chopped it would take a little extra time but it was delicious so it would be worth it.


Ingredients

• 3 - 4 pork filets or chops (I did 3 thick cut tonight but wish I had done another for more even leftovers)
  
• 1/2 chopped apple
• 1 large handful chopped dried apricot
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dry sherry or dry white wine, or more apple juice (I used cooking sherry)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water

Preparation

Combine all ingredients (except cornstarch mixture); cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours on HIGH. About 20 to 30 minutes before serving, pour liquid into a separate container to skim off excess fat. Stir in cornstarch mixture and return broth to slow cooker. Continue cooking on low until sauce is smooth and thickened.

Morning Playlist

Several weeks ago Matt created a morning playlist for our family to listen to while we are getting ready for the day. I love it and have also been adding to it. Let me know if you have any more suggestions for good morning/great day songs...

1. Good Morning by Phil Joel
2. It's a Great Day to Be Alive by Travis Tritt
3. Oh What a Beautiful Morning from the Oklahoma! Soundtrack
4. Beautiful Day by U2
5. Good Morning from the Singin' In the Rain Soundtrack
6. Good Morning Beautiful by Steve Holy
7. Good Morning Baltimore from the Hairspray Soundtrack
8. A Beautiful Morning by The Rascals
9. I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin

College Basketball

No, this is not Matt posting. :) I just wanted to put a couple picture up of Grace's first 2 college basketball games. We have been able to attend games for both Matt and my Alma mater. Even though the basketball program for Matt's school is much bigger I think I enjoyed my school's better. It brought back memories of going to games while I was in college. It was also fun because Grace got to go to that game with my parents who also went to school there and have season tickets. So I think it was fun for them too!

Grace with Mommy and Daddy at Daddy's Alma mater. Grace's 1st college basketball game ever.


With Grandpa H. at Mommy's Alma mater (also Grandma and Grandpa H.'s Alma mater).

7 Months Old

Here is our 7 month report for Grace.

Eating: Grace is a great eater. She has settled well into nursing 4 times a day and I love it. We have also added a breakfast with her first feeding and a dinner with her last one. I don't think we will add lunch until after Christmas. She eats baby cereal for both meals and fruits and veggies. She has tried sweet potatoes, peas, butternut squash, acorn squash, pears, and apples so far. She makes funny faces about the fruit but still eats it. I'm really enjoying making her food and think I will continue to do it since this stage is so short.

Sleeping: No change since last month. Grace has settled into a nice 9 am and 1 pm nap schedule with bedtime around 7. She sleeps about 3-4 hours between the 2 naps and 11-12 hours at night.

Rolling/Sitting/Crawling: I'm starting to wonder if Grace is ever going to crawl forward. She can get all the way across the room by rolling, crawling backwards, scooting, but just not the traditional forward crawl. She sees something she wants and gets it even if it is the most inefficient way to get there. We definitely have had to do some baby proofing. As soon as she got herself to a doorstop and disassembled it I knew it was time to pick things up. I love this stage though because it is fun to watch her learn and explore.

Sickies: Grace has not been sick since she was born but she got her first cold last night. She is still happy and just has a runny nose. The hardest part is she has a tough time sleeping. She was up for about an hour last night but other than that she did great. She also took a really short nap this morning. I know she needs her sleep to help recover so I wish her stuffy nose and breathing wasn't preventing her from sleeping well.


7 Month Old Friends: We had a great day at church yesterday, resting and cooking in the afternoon and then home group. Grace, Livi, and Ava were all in the nursery together at church and then hung out a home group potluck. They were all born within a few weeks of each other and I love watching them play together. I realized yesterday that for one week every month they are the same age and today was the start of that week this month. They are all 7 months old right now and it was so cute to watch them play yesterday.

Grace's New Hair Do

Lately Grace has been pulling her bows out of her hair and trying to eat them. This has been a little disturbing to me since they are small and she does it in the car seat when I am not watching her. But she needs something to hold her bangs back. They go down past the tip of her nose and bug her if they aren't pulled back. I refuse to cut her bangs. She has a beautiful cowlick right in front the she inherited from me and it was miserable having bangs with the cowlick. So, here is the solution....



I think I'm going to try tiny half-pigtails next.