Happy Memorial Day!

We are very thankful for all of the men and women who are selflessly serving or have served our great country. Thank you for protecting our freedom. God bless America...and God bless this sweet little thing...

Fun in the tub...

Mrs. Scruggs she will be!

Today we celebrated our sweet Caroline with a "he popped the question and she said yes" themed bridal shower at Lucy's house in Dallas. We are so excited for Caroline and John Mark's big day in July!!

The cute invite designed by Sweet Peach Paper...

How adorable is this sign that Lucy made?!
We served popcorn (kettle corn and white cheddar), cake pops, fruit salad with lemon poppy seed dip, pineapple poppy seed chicken salad sandwiches, cinnamon rice krispie treats and ring pops!

It was my first time to make cake pops and I was pretty happy with how they turned out. They are actually quite easy...just a little time consuming...but delicious!

Present time!! Caroline got some great things for her new home!

Watching Carol open her gifts...
College friends...LOVE these girls!
Caroline with her mom, grandmother and cousins...

College roomies...

The hostesses with our beautiful bride to be!!! We were so excited that Helen made it all the way from New York! It's a rare occurrence when all 5 of us are together now that Caroline lives in St. Louis and Helen lives in New York.

John Mark stopped by at the end of the party to say hello!

I love this picture...Hel was very excited to finally meet John Mark!

We love you Caroline....what a joy {and honor} it will be to stand by your side as you marry the love of your life on July 16th!! Can't wait!!! XOXO!

7 Months...

Happy 7 Months Lucy Kate!!

There were no big changes to Lucy's sleep schedule this past month. Bedtime is around 7:30/8pm and she wakes up at 7:30am. She is still napping twice a day...from 9:30am - 11:30am and 1:30pm - 3:30pm.

She is still eating 4 times per day...at 7:30am, 11:30am, 3:30pm and 7:00pm. She is eating solids 3 times a day now. At 7:30am she takes an 8oz bottle and some fruit. At lunch she takes a 6-8oz bottle, oatmeal, veggies and fruit. She takes 6-8oz at 3:30pm. And dinner consists of a 6-8oz bottle, oatmeal, veggies and fruit. We have tried a wide variety of baby foods and she pretty much likes them all except peas...they make her gag. It's hilarious! She still prefers oatmeal over rice cereal. We introduced Mum-Mums a couple of weeks ago and she loves them! I give her one every night while Josh and I are eating dinner....it keeps her entertained while we attempt to eat before we feed her at 7pm. She is not quite ready for table food...puffs make her gag and she choked on a cracker the other day which completely freaked me out. I had to put my finger down her throat to get it out. So, no more table food for now.

I am officially done with breastfeeding as of a couple of days ago. Lucy started showing signs of disinterest right before she turned 6 months old, so I started to slowly wean by dropping a feeding every week or so....it took about 4 weeks. So, now she is 100% on formula and she is completely fine with it. And so am I! I was ready....and Lucy was too, so I felt comfortable in my decision to begin weaning. My initial goal was to nurse for 3 months, so making it to 6 months (almost 7) was a big accomplishment for me. Being a part-time working mom can make breastfeeding difficult. I'm glad I did it, but happy to be done.

Lucy has significantly improved with her tummy time over the past month. It is still not her favorite activity, but she is doing much better....like she can handle 10+ minutes at a time now. I'm not ready for her to crawl just yet, but hopefully she will some day soon!

She got her 2nd tooth (bottom left) this month! There are no signs of any top teeth coming in, but she is still a drool machine. She has handled teething really well so far....not overly fussy and no swollen gums or anything like that. I hope this continues with all of her teeth!

Lucy started sleeping on her side a few weeks ago. Until then, she slept only on her back. Now she switches from her back to her side when she naps and at night. When she's on her side, she'll curl up into a little ball...just like I sleep! It cracked us up the first time we saw her doing this on the monitor!

She got sick for the first time this month with a respiratory infection. We went to the doctor twice for it and she still has a little remnant of a cough, although it is much better than it was a couple of weeks ago. We had a few rough nights, but she's a tough cookie and handled it pretty well....mom and dad, on the other hand, have been dragging a bit lately!

Her hair has really started growing in over the past month. It can't hold a bow yet, but at least she's not bald anymore!

Lucy is wearing size 9-12 month clothes, size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night.

She moved into her big girl car seat this month....and she's a big fan. We went with the Britax Boulevard and so far we really like it!

Lucy has really started to notice Kaci and Chloe. She loves to pet them (more like grab) and watch them run around the house or outside....they are the first thing she looks for in the morning when she wakes up...well, after she smiles at herself in the mirror! There is a large mirror that hangs behind her crib and every morning when I get her out of bed she'll look at herself (and then at me) and smile. Such a great way to start the day!

Lucy, your dad and I love to the moon and back, sweet girl. Our words will never be able to fully describe our unconditional love for you....and the complete joy we feel when you are around. You light up the room with your infectious smile and fun personality. You are a jewel. Truly a treasure to us. Happy 7 months...it has been the best 7 months of our lives!

Um, mom...who is this dog interrupting my photo shoot?!

Outfit change...
She wasn't cracking a smile, so I tried the rattle...

But, she really only wanted to chew on it...

All I got out of her was this little fake smile...half smile, half growl. :)

I do not like peas...

Our Best Bites Cookbook...

I've been a follower of Our Best Bites for a couple of years now. I love their recipes...they are extremely delicious, crowd pleasers, and practical for the want-a-be-cook like me. I was so excited to receive their new cookbook as a hostess gift a couple of weeks ago (thanks Liz)! Every single recipe sounds and looks incredible....even if it takes me 5 years, I'm determined to cook my way through this book! One thing I love about the book is that they included beautiful pictures of each recipe, so you know what your end product should look like! I love that!

I had some left over sour cream that was about to expire, so I decided to begin my cooking quest on page 42 with the Sour Cream Pound Cake. Josh and I really like pound cake and this one did not disappoint! I wish I had some whip cream to put on top of it, but it was still tasty without it. Great for breakfast too! This recipe is not on their blog, so here you go...

Sour Cream Pound Cake
{From The Our Best Bites Cookbook}

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
*to quickly bring the eggs to room temperature, place them in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about one minute. Continue beating and add eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and sour cream. Slowly add the flour mixture while beating, and beat just until combined.

3. Pour the batter into a greased 8-inch or 9-inch loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

Enjoy!

*Next time, I think I will double the recipe and bake it in a bundt pan.
**I wish I had time to blog about all of the recipes I make from this cookbook (you know, kind-of like Julie Powell from Julie & Julia)...but that will NEVER happen. I don't have that kind-of time anymore! :) Sorry folks. But, when I come across a really good one, I'll be sure to share it!

Hi Mom!!!

I really can't describe in words....

How absolutely delicious this ice cream is...

{1/2 cup = 180 calories}

How incredibly yummy this cinnamon sugar kettle corn is...

{2 1/2 cups = 130 calories}

And how amazingly ridiculous these cookies are...

{I don't even want to know how many calories are in one of these babies!}

I've been on a diet for the past 2 months...and I've finally reached my goal! Can you tell I'm ready to EAT??!! All in moderation, right? Treat yourself!

Mother's Day...

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day today! Being a mom is absolutely the best and I'm truly blessed that God entrusted me to be Lucy's mom. What a gift. The celebrating started yesterday when Julie (my wonderful mother-in-law) treated me to a pedicure...we had so much fun getting pampered and catching up. I worked a wedding last night, so we missed church at The Door. We were planning on going to Irving Bible Church this morning, but Lucy's cough is still lingering (she was up a few times last night because of it) and I was nervous about taking her to the nursery. So, we had a lazy morning...Josh let me sleep in while he watched Lucy and then went to lunch at Le Madeleine...their spinach salad with chicken sounded so good! Josh and Lucy gave me a gift certificate to this new place in Addison called Felax....yep, they specialize in foot massages. I CANNOT wait to go!!!! 40 minutes of heaven, I'm sure!

Lucy and I after lunch...

After lunch we came home to work on Lucy's first craft project...Mother's Day cards for Jewelz, G and Aunt Jill!!

After Lucy's afternoon nap, we went over to Josh's parents to wish G a Happy Mother's Day!! She loved her homemade card and framed picture of Lucy in the bluebonnets!

Julie and Lucy made me this adorable plate for my first Mother's Day...I LOVE IT!!

Someone has TWO pearly whites now!!

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool at Jimmy and Jill's. It was Lucy's first time to go swimming and she loved it! She stayed in the water for well over an hour!!
Sweet girl had pruny feet...
So she took a little break on the side of the pool and chewed on this cow for about 10 minutes!
My brother is amazing at the grill. He made us a fantastic dinner for Mother's Day. We had 3 types of shrimp, sausage, grilled vegetables, his famous thin cut french fries and cake balls for dessert! Delicious!!!
Kalie takes great care of Lucy....and Lucy LOVES her Kalie!!
Happy Mother's Day!!!