Future best friends? Maybe one day...

On Friday Eva and I went to visit my sister in-law, Amanda, and her baby, Mallory, for a lunch and play date. I was so excited to go - partly because it's nice to get out of the house and mostly because I love Amanda and Mallory! I guess Eva didn't get the memo about how fun cousin play dates are because she was serious or fussy most of the time. I think it was probably from her shots the day before and also from the back and forth weather, but whatever it was definitely affected her mood. She didn't want to eat or play. So I did what any good mom would do... I took pictures. It's definitely a challenge to get two babies to pose at the same time.

This one captures how Eva felt most of the day. It also shows how unbelievably cute my niece Mallory is! Mallory is all smiles and has learned how to hold on to furniture to toddle her way around, except that she will only walk to the left :) If you look back to their first set of cousins pictures you can see how much they've grown!

I love this photo because it looks the most like they're communicating with each other. I wonder if they were saying, "Oh yeah. I remember you. You have the same Nana as me."

Speaking of Nana, we did have another lunch time visitor. We were happy that Nana decided to stop by Amanda's on her lunch break.

After our play time Eva and I went over to my parents. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my mom, Grandma, and Aunt Sarah. Then we spent the night at my parents' house. Saturday morning we had brunch and another play date with my childhood friend Sarah and her two sweet kids. I wish I had remembered to take more pictures - hopefully next time! I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring Break!

6 Months Old

Dear Eva Kate,

Happy 6 Month Birthday! I cannot believe we have already had you in our lives for half a year and that you are halfway to your first birthday! You are growing and learning so much every day. You can sit up on your own for up to one minute - sometimes less when you reach for something and topple over. You have 2 bottom front teeth. You have started eating oatmeal and avocado and you experiment with your sippy cup. You roll from your tummy to your back all the time. Your little arms suddenly become soooo long when you want to reach for something (especially a grown up something). You put everything in your mouth. You laugh so much when we pretend that we're going to bonk you with a big pillow (random I know, but it's super cute). You love to hold onto your feet. You love to kick your legs at the same time so that they go thud-thud-thud on the floor or in your crib. You try to give us kisses by opening your mouth wide and attacking whatever you want to "kiss." When we go out, you like to people watch. Even when we're having fun at the library you just stare intently at the other babies - then you come home and laugh and tell me all about what you saw. You love it when I sing The Wheels on the Bus and bounce you around on my lap.

You are usually a good sleeper. We've started putting you down around 8:00 or 8:30 PM and you sleep for about 12 hours. I dream feed you around 10 pm and then you often wake up to eat around 6 AM and then back to sleep. Sometimes you wake up once or twice and cry out for your pacifier. You still get swaddled up with your arms out since your room is so much colder than the rest of our home, plus you still look so happy when we wrap you up. You also sleep with a "blankie" that has a pink poodle on the end. Every time we place you in your crib, we give you your binkie and your blankie and you turn your head to the right and cuddle up next to it. I think this has helped you sleep better, especially at naps! You still take 2 long naps and 1 short nap most days.

6 Month Stats:
Weight 15 lbs 4 oz (40th percentile)
Height 24 3/4 inches (20th percentile)

You nurse 5-6 times a day and eat 2 small meals (lunch and dinner). You wear a size 2 diaper. You wear size 3-6 month or 6 month clothes. You get a bath every 2 or 3 days.

I just love you so much and I tell you that all the time! Thank you for teaching me patience and sacrifice. You are the greatest blessing to Daddy and me!

love, Mama

Watch me grow! Click on the row of pictures below to see how Eva has grown up close!

Driving Me Bananas!

As a general rule, I do not go to the grocery store more than once per week. This helps save time and forces me to organize our meals for a whole week. However, when we got home yesterday and unloaded groceries Ryan asked where his bananas where. Hmm, I did not see that on the list. Ryan said that he had asked me to add it to the list and since my mama brain tends to be forgetful I believe him. So out of my deep love for him, I agreed to make a Walmart run today to pick up bananas. Plus I realized that I had a prescription to pick up, but let's just say that it was solely out of my deep love for him.

After Eva's nap we went out to the store. We braved the blustery winds - you know, the kind of wind that makes you hold on tightly to your child so that they don't blow away. I decided to pick up a few other things including a bathing suit that was super cute and on sale but unfortunately didn't fit well when I tried it on at home. As we were walking through the aisles I kept singing to Eva, "Bananas. Bananas. We have to buy Daddy bananas!" to make her laugh. We checked out - chocolate chips, cocoa for baking, butter, cookie mix, frosting, swimsuit. I don't know why the swimsuit didn't fit :) Don't worry, all of those unhealthy ingredients were for deserts I am making to share with other people.

We walk to the car. I put Eva, the groceries, the diaper bag, and her shopping cart seat in the car. Then I realize that I forgot the bananas! Aahhh! What's worse than 2 grocery store trips in one week? 3 grocery store trips. Again, out of love for my husband, I decide to run quickly back into the store. I grab Eva and decide I will just carry her and my wallet. The walk is longer than expected and I am thankful that my Jillian Michaels' workout DVD has made my arm muscles stronger because my tiny little girl is actually quite heavy. We walk over to the banana section and it is completely empty. There are absolutely no bananas.
I guess a troop of monkeys beat us to them. Defeated I decide that since I came all the way back into the store I will buy an avocado for Eva to eat tomorrow for lunch. I check out at the same register as before with my sole avocado and trek back out the car. I come home and tell Ryan, "Don't go bananas, but you will have to eat something else for lunch."

Hey Good Lookin', What cha' got cookin' ?

While I've been busy getting ready to make baby food, I've also been finding some new recipes for Ryan & I to enjoy. When I set up my Pinterest account, Ryan joked that if I was going to spend time looking at fun stuff, I should actually try to do some of it! So I decided to use Pinterest to spice up our family menus. When I was pregnant we got in the habit of eating the same things every other week. How often can you eat the same chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad? Plus we've cut way, way back on our going out to eat budget. I don't know why but I enjoy using these online recipes much more than flipping through my pile of cookbooks. I really like recipes that I can prep ahead of time (during nap time!) and quickly cook when we're hungry. I decided to share some of the great recipes I've used and enjoyed eating. I was going to take photos of what I cooked, but let's get real, these photos from the actual recipes are way better. (All images taken from Pinterest.) I'm also providing the link in case you want your family to enjoy it as well. Happy eating!

1. Zucchini Boats - I made these for our Bible study. I scooped out the inside and combined it with the other ingredients listed so that it added extra nutrients from the zucchini instead of just throwing it away.

2. Veggie Burgers - Made with black beans and quinoa instead of beef. Ryan said they tasted good (even though he loves meat).

3. Pulled Pork Tacos - A good alternative to our usual ground beef tacos.

4. Zuppa Toscana - A copy cat recipe from the Olive Garden menu. I actually added this one to Pinterest :) One recommendation is to use a different pot to saute the sausage than you use to brew the soup. I followed the recipe and used the same one and it made the soup too brown, but still tasted good.

5. Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls - Do they taste better because they are cuter? Probably. We used orange danish rolls instead.

6. Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella - So easy to make and looks beautiful. An alternative to boring chicken.

7. Bacon Cheese Potatoes - This is a crockpot recipe, but I forgot to start it early enough so I cooked them in the oven at 450 for 1 hour and it worked well.

8. Pepperoni Rolls - I like these more than Double Daves' pepperoni rolls. 3 ingredients: crescent rolls, string cheese, pepperoni.

9. Blueberry Pie Pancakes - This was our Saturday morning breakfast this week. The recipe is actually just for one serving so I doubled it. And these aren't nearly as unhealthy as they sound.

If you want to see more of what I plan on cooking up for the Bradley family to eat, follow me on Pinterest!

Time to Eat

Eva got her first "real" food today. Until now she has been exclusively breastfed. I read up a lot about starting solids and had decided to wait until she was 6 months old. She'll be 6 months this coming Thursday and I noticed that she has suddenly been much more hungry the past few days. I thought she was fussy from teething (which I'm sure is still part of it) but yesterday she drank so much more milk that I decided to go ahead and try out some oatmeal this morning. Did she get the oatmeal pictured above complete with fruit and sugar? Of course not. She's just a baby.

She got this: 1 teaspoon of pureed oats, cooked with water, and then mixed with breast milk. Why doesn't Starbucks offer this on their breakfast menu? I'm planning on making most of Eva's baby food so I started with some home made oatmeal. I pulsed 1 cup of oats in super clean coffee grinder and then added boiled water. I made enough for about 16 servings so I put some in the fridge for the next couple of days and froze the rest in ice cube trays for later. It was quick and easy.

She's waiting... after giving her a bottle we got her all set up to eat in her highchair. I don't think she knew what was about to happen (she plays in her highchair all the time) but she looks excited!

They're making me eat this weird stuff with a spoon. This can't be right.

Not sure what to think.... Are they going to make me eat this every day?

All done! I like it!

In reality, she wasn't sure about it most of the time and probably ate less than 1 tablespoons worth. I prepared more than that but it seemed like she was done so we quit while we were ahead. More oatmeal tomorrow!

Park Day with Friends

This afternoon Eva and I met some church friends at the park for a picnic and some play time. We had a fun time playing with Aria, Aundrea, and Isabella. Well, I had a good time. Eva didn't say much. She did smile at Isabella :) As you might imagine, it's a bit challenging to get 3 babies to take a good picture together so I was happy with good enough. Thank you, Isabella, for being the big girl of the gang and holding my little Eva. Wish we could have played longer, but when you're 5 months old, nap time seems to sneak up and ruin the party.

Is there anything so perfect as swinging with your baby on beautiful sunny day? I think not.

Belly Dancing Friends and Toothful Grins

I am so in love with our tiny little human. I'm her mom so of course I think she's precious, but really, is there a cuter baby? We've had a fun couple of days despite being sad about losing Cosby. I am thankful that even when I'm feeling down I have a cuddle bug who loves to play with her mama.
Friday night Ryan, Eva, & I went to meet up with some friends to celebrate my best friend Erica's birthday. We went to a Lebanese restaurant in Addison that was complete with ..... a belly dancer!
Thanks, Auntie Erica, for Eva's first time to watch a belly dancer :) We kept hoping Erica would dance too, but for some reason she refused. But seriously, since it was a cultural thing it was fun and the food was really good, too.

Saturday we had a full day of family and friends. Eva and I went to Dallas and had lunch with my friend Brooke, also known as Aunt BB. Eva had lots of smiles for Aunt BB! Afterwards we took Brooke home and went over to visit my Grandma Dede (Eva's great grandmother). She recently moved into a smaller apartment after my grandfather's death so I wanted to stop by and see it all set up. When we got there my mom and uncle were there helping her get settled in and then my dad came by to see me - and by me, we all know that really means Eva. It's okay, I'm glad she loves to play with her Grandpa!

Today my mom came over to babysit for the afternoon so that Ryan and I could go on a date. We hadn't been out just the two of us in two whole months! So it was a nice break to get to go out. We picked up muffins from Central Market, coffee from Starbucks, and went to see The Vow. I'd recommend it to anybody that likes romantic movies and Rachel McAdams.

Finally, when we got home my mom had put Eva down for a nap. She was talking casually to us and mentioned that she got to feel Eva's tooth. Umm, her what? I didn't believe her at first but she said it was there. After Eva woke up from her nap I washed my hands well and poked my finger around her gums. Sure enough, there is a little tooth there. If you can trick her to open her mouth and move her tongue out of the way you can even see it. How did I not realize that my baby was teething? I have no idea. But we're excited for her. Here's to more smiles!