Wordless Wednesday

 

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Birthday Party Planning Extravaganza

Ok, so the title might be a little dramatic, but I've been having a blast planning Lillian's first birthday party.  This girl LOVES fish.  All things that swim, really.  I decided to have a gold fish themed party because we're getting her goldfish for her birthday, and it helps narrow down the decorations rather than have an explosion of random fish every where! 

So the idea is simple.  Blue and orange.  Well, powder blue and tangerine if we're being honest. We're going to have blue table cloths with orange plates and napkins, blue streamers imitating wavy water along the beams of the shelter we're renting (next to the tot playground) and blue round balloons surrounding orange goldfish shaped balloons.

I might have even bought a bubble machine today...

We'll have fish-bowl-like-jello

(Thank you Martha Stewart for your always fabulous creative and tasty ideas)

.....fruit, veggies, and yogurt parfaits (instead of cake and ice cream) and a variety of Gold Fish Crackers, of course.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do for the main course.  I was thinking maybe fish shaped turkey sandwiches, but we might go easy and make some DIY sandwich trays.

I was planning on making all of the invitations by hand, until an e-friend offered her cricut services!  That will save so much time since all of the pieces will be pre-cut and I'll just have to place them all together and print out the wording on the invitations.  I'm thinking they will say something along the lines of "You are O-Fish-ially invited to Lillian's 1st Birthday Party!"

They'll look something similar to orange one below.

Don't forget to sign up for the 30 Day Blog Challenge! 

 

 

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30 Day Blog Challenge

If you're like me, every day you have those moments when you think, "I should write a blog post about {fill in the blank}." And then the thought passes and you fail to blog about it. 

Or you are keeping a blog about your child's life so that one day they can look back at it through your eyes and catch a glimpse of what their early years were like. 

Or maybe you need a kick in the pants to lose weight, and the accountability of blogging about it every day could be just what you need.

Maybe you are a new blogger and just need to jump in and get started with a challenge that will bring you into the blogging world full force. 

Whatever the reason is that you have a blog, this challenge was created to bring you to a new level of commitment.

Here's how it works:

*The 30 day blog challenge is not about blogging every day for 30 days.  Realistically that's just setting you up for failure.  Life happens, and not every day can we sit down and pour our minds out on a keyboard. 

For six weeks straight, aim to write a new blog post five times a week.  That could mean one blog post every weekday Monday through Friday, or just five random days throughout the week that work best for you. 

Add your name to the linky below and follow along with other bloggers that are taking the challenge.

Post the 30 Day Blog Challenge badge at the end of your blog posts and in your side bar so more people can learn about the challenge and follow along. 

If you are having a hard time thinking of topics to blog about, there are many other blogs out there that have weekly check-ins that may interest you.  Monday Weight Loss, Craft Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Photography Friday, or create your own check-in specific to what you want to blog about.

The linky below will be open from August 9 - September 17 and you can join any time.

I've decided to keep the linky below open til the end of the year so you can keep joining the blog challenge!

Don't forget to visit the other bloggers taking part in the challenge!

Enjoy




<center><a href="http://fallingforbaby.blogspot.com/2010/08/30-day-blog-challenge.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k61/sarahkoons/dreamstime_104715581-1-1.jpg" /></a></center>







 

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Teething Hell

If you're friends with me on facebook, you might have noticed my status today said "My child is a napping disaster. Apparently there is something evil about teething because I'm pretty sure we're going to have to perform an exorcism to get her to sleep."

And that about sums up my day.

Well, there was no exorcism, but luckily with some motrin, and some homemade organic blueberry yogurt popsicles (thanks for the idea Mama Dub over at Life in the Dub Lane) Lillian made it through the day even without naps and a physical therapy session with her new ankle foot orthotics. I'm pretty sure Lillian's crying nearly brought the PT to tears because it's the first time she's actually cried for her rather than fussed, and it nearly broke both our hearts.

I tried to take a picture of her two new shiny TOP teeth but I got this instead...yes, she's licking the camera

And why am I not surprised her top teeth came in first?  She really likes to be different.

Other than this teething hell, many new developments have been happening with Lillian.  She is  ::THISCLOSE:: to crawling.  She crawls backwards (still) and can go from laying down to sitting up.  She can go from sitting up to laying down.  She can turn in circles, roll, and back up wherever she is... but no forward crawling.  It's coming.

She plays music on her drums and expects us to dance to it. If we don't dance she doesn't laugh, and well... that's just not fun.  We like to amuse her so we dance. When the music stops we say "UH OH" and she laughs hysterically then plays the drums to make us dance again.  We are officially her puppets.

She's pretty much mastered the straw cup.  She's also managed to take 100% of her feedings by mouth most days.  The days she doesn't is probably our fault (and by "our" I mean Phil's) by not being patient enough to try again later. (Ok, I'll give him some credit, he is just trying to get to work on time and let me sleep in.)

She's on the move so much it's nearly impossible to change her diaper.  It probably looks about the same as lassowing a calf.  I'll admit I don't know much about calfs, but I do have a pretty adorable cowgirl :).

I'm sure there's more that I'm leaving out.  We're getting her 2nd Early Intervention evaluation sometime in the next month or so, and they will rate her development on a chart.  Not that those stupid charts mean a whole lot, but it does put her progress into perspective.

Next month is also a big month for us because not only is it Lillian's 1st BIRTHDAY (which will be celebrated with a Goldfish themed party!!! - details to come soon) but we are also going to Washington D.C. to attend the Annual Foundation for Prader Willi Research Conference.  I'm beyond excited to meet so many other great proactive families and their amazing kids.  Beyond excited.  I've met a handful of families with children that have PWS, but they were all older and had not received the same type of early intervention Lillian has received. I'm looking forward to meeting some more children close to her age that have been treated from early diagnoses.

Oh and, remember that garden I blogged about?  I found out the vegetables will keep growing even if you neglect to pick them in time.

You could even end up with squash and zucchini the size of a 10 month old baby

So to end this blog with more random ramblings, this song has been stuck in my head for two weeks.  The funny thing is, only in the middle of the night have I been able to remember the words.  At 3am when Lillian moves her pinky and I hear the monitor and wake up, or my bladder tells me to wake up first... I can't get this song out of my head. 

Finally today I remembered enough words to google it.  And here you have it.

Matt Redman - You Never Let GO lyrics | LyricsMode.com


"Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let go

In every high and every low

Oh no, You never let go

Lord, You never let go of me"

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Mommy Favorites

Now that I'm about 10 months in to this mommy thing, I've definitely started to favor some products.  I always love to see what everyone else is enjoying so here's a list of some of mine. (Click on the linkys for more info, and no, I'm not getting compensated for this!)

Kiwi Magazine - I might not be the most eco-friendly "green" momma around, but we do cloth diaper, feed Lillian organic foods, and TRY to keep things as natural as possible.  I love this magazine because the articles relate to the things I'm curious about and they also have some really yummy recipes listed.

Yobaby yogurt - Ok, so maybe this is one of Lillian's favorites, but that makes it my favorite too :).  She absolutely loves this yogurt.  I typically buy the plain kind and then either give it to her plain or mix in some pureed fruits and/or vegetables.  She seriously loves this stuff. I even get the mmmmmm yummm noises from her when she eats it!  Plus it's loaded with protein, low on sugar, and it's generally healthy.

Little Tikes 5-in-1 adjustable gym- This thing is awesome.  I wish I would have gotten it sooner, because you can use it all the way from infant to 36 months.  Lillian pushes the buttons and then claps to herself when they make the noise.  She can even sit on the little bench and "finger paint" (with veggie purees) on the easel. It gets two mommy thumbs up! (click through all the pics on the link to see what all you can use the toy for)

Naps - OK so that's not a product, but it makes my list of favorite things.  Lillian's currently napping in her crib while I watch her on the monitor and catch up on blogging while doing the laundry and eating lunch... ahhhh, multi-tasking at it's finest.

Happy Baby baby food - We can't always have homemade baby food on hand.  We do a lot of running around and sometimes I just need to throw a few Happy Baby puree packets into the bag and go.  I also LOOOOVE their yogurt melts.  For a baby that's learning to chew they are fantabulous. They melt faster than puffs, they're organic, healthy, and really tasty.  I've been known to eat a few. (They also have organic puffs, we use the green puffs that are made with spinach and kale.  Lillian enjoys chewing on those too)

Clip on battery operated fans - It's currently 90+ degrees outside and so humid you could drink the air with a straw. It's been like that all summer long. My child doesn't over heat because we have about 5 of these things.  We clip them to her stroller, car seat, picnic table, swings, anywhere we're outside.  Because of PWS she has a hard time regulating her body temperature, and these have really saved us from being cooped up inside all summer. (I got mine at CVS for $5 each)

Boogie Wipes - Oh do I love Boogie Wipes.  We use them to wipe the gunk out of her eyes, the crusty milk off her face, avocado off her hands, and just about anything else.  These wipes are made with a natural saline solution with vitamin E and aloe added in so they are soft on their skin and don't irritate the eyes. They tend to be pretty expensive, but I've found them at Sam's Club for $4.99 a 4 pack (almost the same price as 1 pack at the grocery store).  Lillian really likes them too.  My kid is strange in the fact that she LIKES to have her face wiped off...

Rubbermaid Juice Box - We don't give Lillian juice, but since she hasn't mastered the sippy cup, this thing has really been great.  She already knows how to suck on the straw, and all it takes is a tiny squeeze to push the water or formula up the straw and into her mouth if she needs some help getting it started.  She prefers it to her bottle.  The down side is it can be a little messy at times, but what isn't messy with a 10 month old baby?!

Kashi GOLEAN Crunchy! Bars - According to the package these bars are designed for optimized glycemic response with slow release carbs, and protein and fiber to keep you satisfied.  I like them because they're so tasty.  Feeding Lillian takes SO much time, and when we're on the go I would rather eat one of these to keep myself satisfied than become hangry (hungry+angry). I also buy these at Sam's club in a giant variety pack.

Lillian's waking up now and it's time for us to get out of the house and enjoy some sunshine.  You might have noticed my blog looks a lot different now.  It's a HUGE pain in the butt for me to change/fix, so if anyone wants to practice their skills on making a blog header... let me know ;-).  You can practice on mine!

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