Eleven Months

Pip turned 11 months old last Thursday.

In one month my little baby will be ONE YEAR OLD.

 Seriously people, how did this happen?

This month brought fast crawling, pulling up on everything, standing unassisted and almost walking. Pippa will walk while holding our hands or holding on to the coffee table, but she isn't ready to actually let go and walk on her own.

Piper loves her some music this month. Miss Rita introduced her to Little Einsteins on the Disney Channel and each episode is filled with classical music. Pip loves to dance and shimmy to the music. She also has become of a big fan of her Daddy's  drum sticks and the xylophone on her walker. 

Pip tried black olives this month along with peanut butter and jelly, ham, corn casserole, and vegetable soup. She still loves broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, couscous, peas and peppers. She has also discovered that mandarin oranges squirt juice if your squeeze them. If you are ever feeding her oranges, consider yourself warned :)

Pip met the Easter Bunny this month and treated him with great suspicion. She is still very shy with strangers and does not like to be touched by people she does not know. Once she feels comfortable she becomes her giggly smiley self, but it takes her a bit to warm up to someone new. 

Pippa loves books! She has a few favorites that she demands to read daily and each night we pics one or too more from her bookshelf. Her current book of choice is Yucky Yucky the story of Oscar the Grouch. 

Right now I am in the midst of 1st birthday planning. These past eleven months have been amazing, exhausting, and full of firsts. And while I would love to hold on to this babyhood for a little bit longer and I loving the little person that Miss Pip is becoming.
Hooray for month 11!

The perfect end to a very imperfect day.

Today was harried. Tests to administrate, papers to grade, phone calls to make, parties to plan. I felt rushed all morning and out of sink all afternoon. My to-do list kept growing and at the end of my work day I couldn't cross off a single task. When I arrived home their were more chores to do, more phone calls to return, errands to run, and dinner to make. Just when I  was wishing for a do-over I came across this scene taking place in our guest bathroom. 

A dad and daughter bathtub tea party. 

 My heart melted, my smile returned, and I instantly felt less stressed. 

It really doesn't get any better than this.

What we've been eating.

We are still crock-potting along over here.

Last week we had a few winner when it came to dinner and I thought I would share.

1. Sausage, White beans and Kale Soup

This soup tastes VERY similar to the Olive Garden Sausage and Potato soup that I love. The creator of this soup cut the saturated fat and boosted the protein for a quick meal that is filling, but not fattening. I served this with bread and we ate it for dinner twice and lunch once.  Also, I did not use turkey sausage. Regular sausage was on sale at Publix so we used the mild Italian version. 

2. Crockpot Bourbon Glazed Pulled Pork

Holy Yum! This recipe is good. Take the time to sear the pork on all sides, it is worth it. We ate this for dinner (two nights) over black beans and rice. I also served ours with avocado and fresh pico de gallo. The pico came from Publix.

3. Ham and Cheese Sliders

This recipe has been going around on pinterest for a while now and I had been saving it for company. And then I thought, why wait, you should test out the recipe BEFORE you serve it for company. So we did. And they were amazing! I halved the recipe for Mr. R. and me and we ate these for lunch ALL LAST WEEK. So good. I served these with a simple salad of greens, Granny Smith apple, blue cheese and walnuts. 

Hey Dad, Watch'a Got?

Someone is a little obsessed with the ipad. Whenever Mr. R. has it out she is right next to him peering over his should trying to touch the screen, manipulate the icons, or watch a you tube video of Baby Einstein. And forget about trying to facetime with this little camera hog. I think Piper very much believes this is her show and Mr. R. and I are just the key grips holding the equipment. 

We can only hope and pray for the day that CANCER is just an astrological sign.

"Relay For Life is a life-changing event that helps communities across the globe celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease."

 -Relayforlife.org

I love that we were able to come together as a FAMILY this year and honor my dad. 

 This year we joined a team of my colleagues for two hours of the 18 hour walk. This year we also walked in honor of Leo Spong (Miss Rita's brother), and Irene Jacobson (Danielle's mother-in-law). We proudly pushed Miss Pip around the track in honor of those we lost and those that are still fighting. 

 Mr. R. took over stroller duty for the last hour of the walk and Miss Pip promptly fell asleep.  

She slept through singing, dancing, and even a few greetings from my students. I am not sure what the walk will look like next year with an almost two year old, but I know we will be a part of it. 

Mr. R. does dinner

I told Mr. R. that he was in charge of dinner Friday night.

He said no problem and grabbed the car keys.

Any guesses where we went?

 As usual, a grilled cheese for me and a hotdog for Mr. R. Miss Pip is becoming increasingly interested in what is on my plate and was more than willing to add bits of grilled cheese to her dinner of apples, carrotts, and black beans. 

Embrace the Camera: Easter Pictures

Me & Piper Jayne

Easter was everything I had hoped. We actually got to spend part of the service NOT in the cry room. Piper loved her Easter books and she continues to play with her plastic eggs. After church we had a leisurely breakfast as a family of three and later headed to my Grandparents for Easter dinner.

Linking up with Emily.