Mood Swing

One minute she's:

and the next she's: 

Isn't it a little early for mood swings?

Legoland

Heidi and Ali 

I have no idea what they're looking at here but this picture is hilarious!

So excited! Liza was given some free tickets to Legoland and she took me with her to check it out. It is so cool! I had pretty low expectations coming in but I was very happily surprised. For those of you who have never been, its similar to Disneyland except its geared towards a younger crowd (IMO ages 2-10). I loved that they had several attractions and even rides that were specifically for younger children/toddlers. So many times this age group gets left out at amusement parks, but not so here! Heidi got to go on her first ride! I cannot wait to take her back and let her run around with all the other toddlers.

Another thing I loved was the "model mom" club. Basically a giant nursing room /changing room/pumping station/private restroom area just for moms of little ones. There was a microwave, bottle warmer, and even free tampons in there! The only thing they were missing were Boppys! They also had this "Nanny Caddy" vending machine filled with every necessity that you could possibly forget to put in your diaper bag - nursing covers, diaper rash cream, sunblock, tylenol, pacifiers, etc. What a great idea for us mommies!

The park is huge. I couldn't believe how long it took us just to walk through the place! And I still didn't get to see everything! Overall I was very impressed. We are definitely going to get passes. So grateful we have an amusement park close to our home and that we wont have to drive an hour every time we're in the mood to take her somewhere fun!

Fun at Jordan's House

Heidi loves to play with Jordan in her crib!

She sits and watches Jordan jump up and down, laughing hysterically

and then when Jordan takes a break, she stands up and tries to bounce a little herself!

The only thing Heidi enjoys more, it seems, is looking at herself in the mirror. I can't really blame her. If I was that cute I'd have a hard time pulling myself away from the mirror too!

After spending time together in Jordan's room the girls like to head downstairs to the living room, where the bouncy house awaits. At two years old, Jordan loves the bouncy house. As soon as she gets in she is bouncing, flipping, and giggling with delight. Heidi is still getting used to it, but I think once she does Jordan's house will be her favorite place to visit. I know it would be mine at her age! 

Papa

My father holding his granddaughter.

See the family resemblance?

365 Days of Heidi

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. I haven't been a very good blogger, I know. But I'm back!

 So lets get on with it. 

Heidi is officially a year old. I never thought I was going to be one of those moms who became an emotional wreck every time their child hit a milestone, but apparently I am. Heidi's first birthday was somewhat of a somber day for me. Its sad to me that she will soon no longer be a baby; that this time in both of our lives when everything is new will be so short lived. Of course my mother's response to this was "Don't be sad! You're too young to be feeling this way! Just have another baby and you'll be too busy to care." While I do agree that another baby would be a distraction, I'm pretty sure she had ulterior motives in her advice (sneaky!). I'm happy with our little family of three. Maybe we will have another one someday but for now I don't want to be distracted. I want to enjoy every fleeting moment of this little girl's life. I just know that she wont be a child forever. There will be a day when we have to say goodbye and let her leave to start a life of her own.

Raising a child is a highly underrated privilege, isn't it?

Walking!

She's walking!!


Until she falls and decides its just easier to crawl.


So weird how she starts to walk and talk all in the same day! I mean, she's been saying Mama and Dada for ages but all of the sudden she's trying to repeat everything I say.


Such a smart little girl!

Heidi Talking

Heidi has started talking!

Her vocab currently consists of: Mommy, Daddy, Heidi, Apple, Doggy, Yucky, Bye Bye, Uh oh, and Baby.

Her favorite word seems to be apple as she says it about 200 times a day now.

She barks when she sees a dog and likes to make kissing sounds when we kiss her.

Last week I saw her pick up her doll and kiss it with a big "MmmBaaaa"!


She'll be a year old in a month!

Have You Ever Been So Upset...

Have you ever been so upset by reality tv that you felt compelled to get out your shotgun and shoot the television? Me neither. Read about a guy who did right here.

Thanks for making me laugh hysterically old man.

I really needed something to laugh about today. 

I'm super sore from working out and I'm totally a baby when it comes to that kind of thing.

Dateline

I have come to the conclusion that I shouldn't watch Dateline anymore. I rarely watch it, but when I do it makes me totally paranoid! After listening to Ann Curry meticulously go over the details of a murder suspect's day, I begin to think about how my own days are laid out. What unaccounted for time do I have in my day that someone could suggest I used to commit a horrendous act? I start to think of my life as a scene of a crime and wonder how each little detail around the house could be used to incriminate me. I type out texts to my hubby and then erase and rewrite them more politely because I think "how would this look to a jury if he somehow died and I became a murder suspect?" What searches of mine has Google saved that could be used to somehow prove my guilt? 

Last night I watched Dateline right before going to bed. As I got up to turn the TV off and join my husband upstairs in bed I could hear Ann Curry in my head...

"She walked around the house, checking to see if all the doors were locked. She thought she heard something so she went over to the front window and peeked out. After finding nothing, she went upstairs. When she got to the top of the stairs she tried to open the door to her bedroom but it was locked. Why would her door be locked? *Dramatic Sound Effect* She tried to force the door open with no luck. She began to knock loudly hoping to get an answer from her husband. Finally she heard him get up from the bed and open the door. Why had he locked the door? To come: every woman's worst nightmare... "

Martha Stewart and Colbert

Can't embed this video on my blog but click here to see a hilarious

video of Colbert teaching Martha his favorite appetizers. Watch till the end!

District Convention Scheming

This video cracks me up! This is just a few days before I met Austin at the District Convention. 

 I didn't wear my bathing suit to the assembly. That was a joke.

Miss MacKenzie

My Father the Zookeeper

These are pictures of my dad when he worked as a zookeeper at Lion Country Safari.

Apparently he was pretty close with all the bears.

Scrub a Dub!

Heidi 10.5 Months

Heidi 10.5 months

Puff ♥.

Remedial Cooking Tips

So I've been trying to learn to cook more. Its a slow process, but I've been taking classes and reading cooking magazines. I'm definitely getting bettter and better, so I thought I would share some of the interesting things I have learned along the way. 

Cheese

Never buy pre-grated cheese - they coat grated cheese with chemicals so that the cheese particles don't stick together. These chemicals can also stop your cheese from melting and mixing into your food smoothly.

Butter

Salt was only ever added to butter as a preservative, not for taste. Before they started shipping butter across the country it was salt free. So if you are ever perplexed as to what butter to buy - go unsalted!


Never microwave butter to soften it for baking. You can speed the process significantly by cutting butter into tablespoon-sized portions and letting it stand at room temperature. Properly softened butter should yield slightly to gentle pressure, but you dont want to be able to sink your finger way down into it. Too-soft butter means your cookie dough will be more like batter, and it will spread too much as it bakes and lose shape.

 Baking Soda

When using baking soda always buy a fresh box. It spoils quickly and if its gone bad your cookies wont rise!

Garlic

Never buy the diced garlic in the super market. They soak it in citric acid and it no longer tastes like garlic. An alternative is to throw a bunch of garlic cloves into a food processor and then freeze the mashed garlic into ice cubes.


When a recipe calls for you to saute garlic be extremely careful. Garlic burns very easily and it is best to cook just until fragrant and move to the next step.

Measuring

Don't overpack your dry ingredients into measuring cups. The proper way to measure flour is to lightly spoon it into measuring cups and then level with a knife.

Stovetop Cooking

If you are cooking your meat in a pan over the stove try not to turn it too often. Breaded chicken or steak will not develop a nice crust unless you allow it to cook, undisturbed, for the specified time (ie 3 minutes on each side).


Make sure your pan is hot before you throw your food in. If your pan isnt hot your food will stick to the pan. Also a hot pan is essential for sauteing veggies or creating a crust on meat, fish, and poulty.


If your oil smokes it has burned. Its best to pour it out, wash the pan, and start over.

Juicy Meat

Give your meat time to rest after cooking. Plan your meals so that the meat you roast, grill, sear, or saute has time to rest at room temperature after its pulled from the heat. Small cuts like steak or chicken breasts can rest for five minutes. Whole birds or rib roasts will requre 20 to 30 minutes. Meat sweats when you cook it and it needs time to reabsorb those juices. If you don't let the meat rest the juices will run all over your cutting board, leaving the meat dry.

 

 

Chocolate

 

Whenever you are making a recipe that calls for melting chocolate resist the temptation to buy chocolate chips. Just like pre-grated cheese, Chocolate chips are also coated with chemicals to prevent them from sticking together.

 

 

Thats it for now. Hope you've enjoyed my cooking tips!

Ran Over

Daddy to the rescue.

Crying Cow Girl

Heidi on Amazon

Click here and scroll to the last two photos.

9 Months Old Video

Cuddly Kittens

When Heidi isn't using this chair the kitties put it to good use.

Nakey Baby Love _ +

These pictures are even cuter at full size... click on them to see!

Hats

I'm a little obsessed with hats right now.

Heidi is a little obsessed with mini kitchen utensils.


In fact, the last picture was taken just after I took away her favorite spoon.

On a side note, can you believe all of these were taken with my Iphone?