Weekend In Franklin

Last Friday was my grandmother's 88th birthday. We all call her Nani. She's amazing! She was born and raised in Germany, was a nurse during WWII, met an american soldier, had 8 children and then moved to the United States! I always love talking to her because she has such strength. I feel like I grow so much, just from spending 5 minutes with her! Sadly, when I visit Franklin, I don't get to see her much because she lives in Nashville! She hadn't even met Thomas yet! So I knew I had to see her for her birthday!

Derek couldn't take off work to go see her so I headed out Friday morning with Thomas and Anna-Kate! It's a 5-6 hour drive there, so I was NOT looking forward to my drive! I tried to time it so that they both would nap along the way. Thomas fell asleep pretty quickly and Anna-Kate fell asleep about 30 minutes into the drive. They both woke up in Marion so we stopped for lunch. I had SUCH a wonderful time eating lunch with them! They were both in really great moods! They ate really well and then we all headed back to the car so I could nurse Thomas. We made a bathroom trip right before we left and then we headed on our way! Anna-Kate fell asleep right as we were getting into Memphis and Thomas slept off and on. They both did so well on the last part of the drive! I got very lucky with two great travelers!

We got into town on Friday around 4:30 and met my sister at my grandparent's house. We just all visited for a while and then went to meet my dad and other sister for dinner. Then we walked around Target a bit. Anna-Kate loves Target! Haha!  When I got back to my grandmother's we were all tired but we stayed up visiting a little more. I think I was dreading sleeping because I was afraid Thomas would do terribly!! Thomas totally surprised me when he crawled up on top of me and fell asleep just a few minutes after laying down! It was so sweet! He slid himself off pretty soon after and slept so great the rest of the night. Anna-Kate slept with my grandmother.

Saturday, I met my sisters at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Anna-Kate and Thomas were still sleeping, so I got to go alone! I didn't hardly know what to do with myself! haha!

My sister and her baby came back to my grandparents house and I got to show her how to make baby food for her son! It was really fun sharing that with her!

Then we all went around town to run some errands and to get my Nani a birthday gift. It was a little crazy, but we managed! Anna-Kate only got like a 30 minute nap, so she was really, really sleepy!

After that I went to pick my older sister up from work and we drove out to my Aunts house for my Nani's birthday party! It was SO nice to see all of my family! I think all the noise and the people scared Thomas a little bit but he warmed up to it. Anna-Kate had fun playing with everyone too!

Sunday we all got up and went to breakfast. My older sister came over afterwards and gave me a sewing lesson while she hemmed some of my pants! I'm so excited to try out a new pattern soon! Plus, I've got some fabric for some pillows for my sofa! My Aunt came over with her 3 children while we were sewing, so it was a good distraction for Anna-Kate. Greer gave Anna-Kate some of her Fancy Nancy things she had outgrown! It was really sweet! Anna-Kate had so much fun playing with Greer!! I was glad she wore herself out! After my sewing lesson, I packed our stuff up and loaded the car.

This was so cute! I'm glad my sister snapped a pic! I was feeding Thomas water out of a straw and then Anna-Kate picked up her straw and started doing the same! She's such a sweet big sister! 

Anna-Kate was asleep before we got out of the neighborhood! She slept until I got to Memphis, which was good because since I was meeting Derek in Lepanto, I only had an hour to go! Thomas woke up because Anna-Kate was loud but he didn't really fuss!

I was so glad to see Derek in Lepanto! So glad that I let Anna-Kate ride back to Searcy with him! Ha! She's great in the car but she's quite the chatter box!

Yesterday, I spent most of the morning trying to get things unpacked but I got distracted with uploading all of my pictures- imagine that! ha! Then I spent the afternoon tidying up the house for my first ever Bunko night!

I had a very small crowd but hopefully next month we'll have more! :)

Today I'm trying to get all my chores and blogging done because Anna-Kate has a half day! I'm picking her and Kristen up at 12:15 and then grabbing Ryne at 12:30. Then we are going to the County Fair! I've been in Searcy 6 years now and have yet to go! I'm really looking forward to Anna-Kate seeing all the animals! Then this evening we have our first parent teacher conference!! I am really excited to hear what Anna-Kate's teachers think of her!  Then, tonight is the premier of Parenthood!! Derek and I love to record shows and watch them together! A lot of our favorites are coming back so we are really excited! Tonight is just the start of the fall premiers!! 

Yogurt Time!

I have started giving Thomas about 2-3 ounces of yogurt mixed with 2-3 ounces of fruit for breakfast. He loves it! Usually he eats it all up, no problems! 

Well, a couple of weeks ago I  woke up so groggy! Thomas was hungry, hungry so I just got a few ounces of yogurt and decided to skip out on the fruit. I noticed that the yogurt was a little thick but I just thought it was because I didn't add the fruit. 

Strange thing was that Thomas kind of looked at me funny while I was feeding him but he just ate it anyway. 

I even got a few cute pictures of him eating his yogurt!

After breakfast I let him play with Anna-Kate while I picked up breakfast. I opened the refrigerator to put something away and I noticed something... 

hmm... that's the yogurt container, but that's not what I fed him from.  

So I looked over at the container I used and realized 

it was 

SOUR CREAM! 

I gasped!

I FED MY BABY SOUR CREAM...

FOR BREAKFAST...

AND HE ATE IT!!! 

Then I laughed at myself until I cried! 

Oh man... my poor children! They have no idea what they're up against!! 

I made sure to get more sleep that night. :)

Show Us Your Life- What You Make

I am so excited to finally take part in the 'show us your life' section of the Kelly's Korner blog!

I make homemade baby food!!

Thomas has enjoyed Avocado, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Green Beans, Carrots, Corn and Eggplant.

Plus Apples, Pears, Bananas, Peaches, and Apricots.

I mixed up some dried cranberries for the green beans.

I also have made kiwi for him but he hasn't tried that yet!

I am in love with making his baby food for so many different reasons.

On a purely superficial level it's because they are usually just such beautiful mixes! It is really a wonderful experience to make- I find myself wrapped up in each fruit or veggie's unique qualities. It's amazing to experience the different tastes and colors in their purest forms. I usually research each fruit and veggie for their nutrition and best ways to cook. It is just so neat to look at this range of food that God has provided for us and realize how many vitamins and minerals we would get if we just ate our fruits and vegetables! I feel like I have taken these things for granted.

Another reason I love making Thomas' baby food is because I know exactly what he is eating. When I was in Franklin I picked up some baby food. I chose only the kind that had the particular veggies or fruit mixed with water. When he was eating the bananas I had to stop and think. Why don't the baby food bananas turn brown like regular bananas? It just kind of freaks me out to know that there is some chemical or process done to keep that from happening. Plus, the colors of baby food I get when I puree are not the same as what come in the baby food containers since they add food dyes to the containers so that they look more appealing! Did you know that a lot of people are actually allergic to red food dyes?! Yikes!

People made fun of me because I was such a stickler against sugar for Anna-Kate. Even though I struggle with my addiction to sweet things. That was my reason though. I did not want to pass my unhealthy habits off to my child. Making her eat more nutritious made Derek and I eat that way as well. I've grown worse with Thomas. This newfound passion of mine has made me the meanie who gave him a peach/ apricot mixture that, as Derek put it, was obviously sugar-free. Derek and I are used to sugar in our everyday diet so of course the apricot came off with a bitter taste. Thomas, didn't think anything of it and ate 5 ounces of the stuff for lunch! I am proud to know that he has not turned down anything so far!

Making baby food is actually fairly simple. It takes a certain amount of planning and preparation but it's worth it to me. I enjoy cooking and I enjoy preparing combinations and foods for Thomas to try.

I am really excited to say that I am teaming up with a friend of mine and we are going to start selling our homemade baby food. We are in the process of getting our blog up and running but I look forward to sharing more details about that soon!!