Happy Birthday!

Well it's official - my baby is ONE!  Harper has reinforced my believe that God does, truly, have a plan.  If we wouldn't have had that miscarriage in October 2012, then Harper would never have been here, and that thought alone is devastating to me.  She came into our lives when we needed/wanted her the most and she has been a blessing.  While she gave us a run for our money her first 3 months (weeks 2-11, but whose counting?!) she has more than made up for it!  It's like she wakes up every day and says "Mommy, I know my colic was rough on you, I'm going to be extra sweet, silly + awesome today!"  I love her more than I ever thought I could (loving a second baby as much as Avery was a thought that I just didn't see was possible while pregnant) and she has brought so much joy to our family.  And not only has it been amazing watching her learn + grow, it has been so much fun watching Avery transition into her role as a big sister.  To say that I am a proud mom to these two beautiful girls is a major understatement.  While we have our good moments and our bad moments (and trust me, we have plenty of bad ones!), my heart has never been so full of love and I thank my lucky stars every night for the lives Nick + I have made.  So to kick off the first birthday post - let me highlight what our "Miss November" has been up to!

 Age - ONE year old!
Height - {will update after next week's dr. appt}
Weight - {will update after next week's dr appt}
Eyes - Blue
Teeth - 8!
Sizes - sz. 4 diapers, sz. 12 month clothes, sz. 4 shoes
Sleeps - 7:30pm - 7:30am, naps 10:30am-12:30pm, 2:30pm-4:30pm)
Eats - I am officially done breastfeeding and have been transitioning Harper to almond milk.  We are amazed at every meal at how much this girl can eat - it's unreal!  I wish I had her metabolism!  She will eat just about anything, but her favorites include: cereal, puffs/crackers/snacks, bananas, applesauce/fruit pouches, chicken and turkey.  
Words - Mama / Dada / A
"Tricks" - We have a walker on our hands + you can tell she is so proud of herself!  She also loves to dance, throw balls (throw anything really - remotes, cell phone, toys, you name it, she throws it!), wave + just started clapping
Favorites - her caterpillar pacifier, Zoey the zebra, eating, toys (all toys!), Avery, playing peek-a-boo + this little piggy, music + dancing, splashing in the bathtub
Least Favorites - When mommy puts her down/leaves the room, getting her faced wiped, when there is no more food, 5:30-6:30pm in general :)

Halloween Cuisine

I know, there is officially not one person left on this planet (or at least at this house!) that is still thinking about Halloween, but I wanted to get this up so I could pin these treats for next year!  If you don't follow me on Instagram (jjohn84 + glambanners) !!!  I had some fun with "Halloween Cuisine" last month.  Everything was kid friendly and nothing was hard to make! 

 "Poison Apple" Juice

 Mummy Sauce (who knew white streamers + googly eyes could go a long way!)

 Jack-o-Dilla (use a sharp knife to cut some creepy eyes + a mouth before you melt cheese.  I microwaved this one instead of using my quesadilla maker!

 Pancakes - i made some with black + orange sprinkles and also took a stab at the cookie cutter method!

 Spook-getti -- I added some purple food coloring to my boiling water (food color grosses me out so I didn't use enough to get a really dark noodle), meat sauce + green olives for the eyeballs.  Spooky, right?!

 Boo-Nanas. 1.  cut banana in half   2.  Add popsicle stick   3.   Freeze nanas     4.  Dip frozen bananas in melted white chocolate.  Mini chocolate chips work for eyes.  5. Eat right away or refreeze until you are ready!

Didn't think you could make a chicken sandwich festive?  Sure you can!  Just use a sharp knife to cut out your shape (pumpkins if you are using American Cheese or ghosts if you are using swiss/white cheese).  Pop in oven just for a minute or so until the cheese starts to melt.

Voila!  See, it doesn't take any more effort or time to make Halloween Cuisine for your kiddos!  A Halloween themed dinner every night the week of Halloween was very well received in our house this year, so we will be back at it again next year - stay tuned for Halloween Cuisine part 2 next October! :) 

Best of Halloween

I know most of you reading this blog already have your Christmas trees up, but I couldn't close my Halloween chapter without sharing a few of my favorite pictures!  Sorry for the delay - I had photos on 3 different camera/devices so I finally got them all uploaded tonight!  Avery officially is in love with Halloween.  I can't even count how many times Hocus Pocus was on in our house and the girl is still singing Halloween songs at bedtime!  I am so happy that she is falling in love with the holiday and while Harper didn't exactly understand what was going on this year, I foresee plenty of amazing Halloweens in our future!  This year we had a Halloween playdate at our house with all of Avery's friends, a Halloween party/parade at Pre-School and of course an Illinois Halloween couldn't be complete without trick or treating in your snow pants!