forgive me

We've been celebrating birthdays, grilling and enjoying time as a family. I've got recipes to share, and this little lady turned one month old yesterday. I'll be back on Monday with more!

hairblooms

So that adorable white headband with the felt flowers pictured in my previous post? I'm in love with it. It actually fits Ryann's head without me having to tie a knot in it, and it doesn't leave a dent in her scalp.

The good news? You can grab a beautiful flower headband of your own from the Hairblooms etsy shop. The bad news? She is closing her shop May 1st. So you would have to act quickly. But I highly recommend ordering one or two, or ok three. The quality is great and the shipping was incredibly fast.

happy friday

This little lady just wanted to say hi!

just thought I'd share...

...a few things I have learned about my daughter.


1. She enjoys sucking on her index finger. I try to encourage the binky, because I know I can take that away later on, but sometimes she just wants that finger!

2. She LOVES to sleep with her arms by her face or above her head. Ever since we came home from the hospital swaddling her was a waste. She would either bust out, or if she was in a swaddle she couldn't get out of, she would freak out because she wanted her arms.

3. She has a distinctive poo face. (She'll thank me later in life for posting this on the web. Right?) Sometimes she will grunt and make noises, and whoever is around will ask uh oh, is she pooping? Unless you get this face, she isn't. I promise.

a beautiful family room

So awhile back I mentioned how I wanted to add a touch of spring to my fireplace mantel. Um yeah, still hasn't happened. But that is beside the point. In reality I want to brighten up my entire family room for the spring and summer. And thanks to Caitlin of Caitlin Creer Interiors I now have some inspiration. This week she posted photos of this fun and beautiful family room.








I NEED those pillows on the couch. NEED. Specifically the green lattice? pillow, the yellow rose pillow, and the pillow with blue, yellow and green wavy lines. They are a great summer alternative to what I have in my family room now. I also love the yellow flower pot, but with my cats, and live plants just aren't realistic. Ask Chris how many times they have knocked over vases of flowers...

So does anyone have any more suggestions of how to spruce up my family room? And now, those pretty flowers are no longer on the coffee table. Actually if I posted a picture of my family room now, oh boy. It is a total mess complete with a pack and play, play mat, and oh yes, my big desk top computer and giant printer on top of the bar.

tarragon chicken pasta

Yesterday I mentioned that I actually cooked dinner, so I figured I should pass along the recipe. It pretty much follows the recipe trend in my house... chicken, pasta, mushrooms broccoli. Just add sauce :o).


Ingredients:
1-1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
all purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon, or 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 cup half and half (I used milk)
salt and pepper to taste
broccoli
your favorite pasta noodles

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add broccoli to boiling water for last four minutes of cooking time.
2. Dredge chicken pieces in flour. Brown in 3 tablespoons of butter, then remove chicken from pan, set aside and keep warm.
3. Saute mushrooms and garlic in remaining butter. Sprinkle with two tablespoons flour and blend well.
4. Gradually add chicken broth, then add the tarragon. Cook until thickened.
5. Slowly add half and half, then season with salt and pepper. Return chicken to pan and heat through. Sauce should be only slightly thick.
6. Arrange over bed of noodles and sprinkle with fresh tarragon (optional).

Enjoy!

3 weeks already?

Our little baby girl is three weeks old today. I seriously can't believe it. Some days I feel like we just brought her home, and others I feel like Ryann has been here forever. But it is true what everyone says, they grow so fast.


It is crazy how much Ryann has changed in the last three weeks. She is still a newborn who just sleeps most of the day, but she is so much more alert than she was. We usually have two to three 90 minute awake periods a day. Otherwise she is only up for 30 minutes for a diaper change, a feeding, and if we can get it in before she passes out again, a burp. Most of the time she is great and will sleep pretty much anywhere. Somedays though, she just really wants to be held, and at this point I have a hard time not giving in.


Feedings can be quite the event with Ry. A lot of times it is a struggle to keep her awake long enough to finish a bottle. She is still only getting at most 2.5 ounces every 2-3 hours. I would try and increase her feeding amounts, but sometimes she will only each 1.5 ounces. Hopefully her tummy will get a little bigger soon :o). We have also turned to gripe water to help her with gas issues. When she is eating she gets really worked up (as if I may never give her another bottle or something) so she sucks down a ton of air. It is kind of hillarious though, when I try to burp her in the middle of a bottle she'll start picking her head up off my shoulder and making her 'hungry bird' face. She is basically head banging on my shoulder, and I swear cussing me out because she wants to finish the bottle. We will have to try and get that one on video.

Ryann still only fits in the Carter's newborn clothing. She also has a couple of outfits from BabyGap and Gymboree that are for babies up to 7 pounds, but those ones are a little short in the limbs, and WAY to small in the feet. Ryann definitely has her daddy's big feet. Even though I don't want her to grow too fast, I can't wait until she fits into all of the adorable 0-3 month clothing that is in her closet. She has so many cute dresses!! In due time I suppose. She is also still in newborn diapers... the first five days or so we had her in preemies.


Our little girl ROCKS at tummy time. It seems that lots of babies hate it, but Ry will stay there for 15 minutes at a time pushing away with her little legs and trying to pick her head up and turn it from side to side. She also loves to lay on her playmat or a blanket and stare at her snail toy. It lights up and plays music when you hit it, something that she often accidentally does on her own. Maybe she is making the connection that she can do it...

oops, lost the binky :o)

Here is the TMI section of this post. Last week I got to experience my first diaper blowout. Ry was lounging in my lap just hanging out, and she started making her poo face (and yes I have pictures of said poo face. Maybe I'll post one sometime soon... ha ha). I thought she would, you know, gracefully go about her business when all the sudden splat... poo comes out the side of her diaper and is now all over her onesie, and all over my shirt. It was oh so lovely. I ended up changing her/cleaning her up on my bathroom counter, because I wanted to find a surface I could just wipe down and disinfect. It was quite the experience. Hopefully that doesn't happen on a regular basis.

Something I never knew about baby girls? They too can spray their pee quite the distance. Or at least my little Ry can. One night I was changing her diaper and she started peeing, not the end of the world except for somehow she managed to spray the wall. I just stared in disbelief as it dripped down behind the dresser. Seriously? That is ridiculous.


Overall I think I'm starting to get the hang of this mom thing. Today I managed to take care of my daughter, go grocery shopping with my mom (and Ryann of course), do a couple loads of laundry, make dinner, work on printing invitations and blog. Today has been a very accomplished day! We shall see if I can keep it up...