Eating Puffs and Making Music

Lucy loves to eat. :) We've recently discovered the wonderful world of puffs! These are little pieces of puffed grain that dissolve almost instantly in your mouth. I like this because she can eat them all day long and I don't have to worry about her choking. I also love how these puffs have helped her learn how to feed herself! Her little fingers are so cute pinching the pieces and bringing them to her mouth. I love it. :) 

I certainly love these little puffs too--not for the taste though (they're a little bland). But they are nice when I need to get some work done. I stick Lucy in her highchair where I can see her and give her a pile of puffs to keep her busy.

I love puffs!

Lucy also loves music. She enjoys playing with the puffs container. It makes a great shaker! She hums along too. :) My little singer. She often makes sing-song noises while playing. I hope she turns out to be musical! She loves to play the piano. Those keys are so much fun to bang on! Hopefully we'll start making more beautiful music in a few years. She's also content to sit and listen to me play. Amazing since she's constantly on the move! Oh, how I love her.

Shake shake shake!!

Playing piano with Daddy

Little Mozart in the making. :)

See Mommy, I can play like you!

Sweet Summertime

Summertime is almost over and it went by all to fast. I will admit that I am ready for fall--my absolute favorite season. I'm ready to go to the pumpkin patch, decorate with bittersweet, feel crisp cool air, smell my favorite Harvest Yankee candle, cook any and all things pumpkin, go to the cider mill, watch the leaves change, etc.!
But since (at least according to the unending 90+ degree weather) it's still summer for a little longer, we're going to squeeze as much out of it as we can!

This weekend we took Lucy blackberry picking. This is one of our favorite summer activities and we've been trying to plan a trip for months!
This weekend we amazingly had no where to be and nothing to do--so we woke up early, grabbed some latte's at Starbucks and headed to the Berry Patch!

The Berry Patch is known for it's blueberries but I have a hubby who prefers blackberries. So we go blackberry picking. Next summer I hope to do both!  :) 

Lucy and Carey getting ready to head out and find blackberries!

We dressed Lucy in probably the cutest outfit of all time. Sometimes she is just so cute I can barely stand it. :)

Before heading out to find blackberries, we stopped in the store for a fresh homemade blueberry muffin--YUM!

Lucy was a little sleepy on our berry picking trip. Nap time got thrown off a little so smiles were few and far between. That's okay. I got some cute pictures anyway! 

We had a lot of fun searching the rows of blackberry brambles for the perfect berries!

Lucy was a great help.

Hmm.....I think I see a good one over there.

 See how I can't resist her? Look at that face. :) 

Anyway, we could almost taste the blackberry cobbler as we finished collecting our berries. :)

Dad, it looks like we have enough!

We let Lucy hold a blackberry. I mean, she had to know what we were making such a fuss about.
She was under close watch because she wanted to squeeze it....
and we didn't want blackberry juice all over her cute new outfit!
Plus, blackberries aren't quite an 8 month old approved food.

We had a fun time as a family and can't wait for next summer when Lucy can walk around and help us pick!

This year she did help out holding the bucket.

Goodbye sweet days of Summer!

Mmmm.....

So what's for dinner tonight? If you're like me, you're always looking for new recipes to try. Sometimes I feel like I get into this "rut" and cook the same things week after week. Boring. I often blame this on my tight grocery budget--but I think I'm just making excuses. :) :::Daydreaming::: "How I wish I could go to Whole Foods and get gourmet ingredients for every meal! I would be a master chef!" ::::: And then I come back to reality. I'm the typical wife and mom. My job is to help my husband by making yummy budget-friendly meals. SO, when I find a good one, I'm going to share it with you---because I hope you'll share yours with me! :) We're in this together, right? Please tell me I'm not the only one. 

Last night I discovered a great recipe that helped me use up the stuff left over in my fridge. If you're like me, there's always random unused ingredients from other meals during the week. I usually have a little shredded cheese, half a pepper, tomato, some mushrooms, and maybe half an onion. Go ahead, laugh. But I don't use the whole veggie if I don't need it! I hate seeing these good veggies wasted so I usually make something like Jambalaya to use them up. But, since I'm trying to add variety to meals, I decided to try something different this time. Bruschetta! It sounds so gourmet, right? Actually, it's super easy! And I used up all the ingredients in my fridge. The only item I had to buy was the Italian Bread.....

ringing in at a whopping $.99. 

Here's the recipe (also can be found at www.campbellskitchen.com) I tweaked it a little by using the leftover shredded Italian cheese I had and by adding mushrooms and tomato. I highly recommend adding tomato. It gave it a fresh taste. Super yummy! I also made up my own recipe for one half by using olive oil, tomato and fresh basil. This would also be great with some Balsamic. Yum! 

*Thanks to my friend Laura for the fresh tomatoes and basil from her garden!

MUSHROOM MOZZARELLA BRUSCHETTA

1 loaf (about 1 pound) Italian bread  (16-inches long), cut in half lengthwise

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup  (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese  (about 4 ounces)

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 small red pepper, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

2 green onions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

• Heat the oven to 400°F.
• Place the bread on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until it's lightly toasted.
• Stir the soup, garlic powder and Italian seasoning in a medium bowl.
• Spread the soup mixture over the bread to within 1/4-inch of the edges. 
• Top with mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, pepper and onions.
• Bake for 5 minutes or until it's hot and bubbling. Cut each half into 12 slices.

I broiled mine for about 2 min. to get the top a little crispy. I think this made it much better! :)


The finished product. Voila! Doesn't it look yummy? 

The best part---only spending $.99 on dinner. 

Living Dangerously

As you all probably know from pictures and my last post, Lucy is now mobile. Crawling is tons of fun and getting into everything is even better. :) 

Lucy loves to climb up onto the shelf on our coffee table and take off all of my books.

She gets so much joy out of throwing them all on the floor. Once they have all been removed from the shelf, she chooses one and begins to "read" it. She'll turn the pages and talk to herself. Someone has obviously been observing. 

Today, Lucy's adventures took a turn for the worse. I had been taking pictures of her crawling underneath the chair in our living room. She was determined to get Carey's flip-flop on the other side. (This child has an obsession with flip-flops and would love to chew on them all day long. Gross. Of course I don't let her. But she'll book it across the room if she eyes a shoe.....so I have to keep close watch.)

The reason I was taking pictures was because she was doing things the hard way. Why go around the chair when you could climb over rockers? This way must be more fun.

After I was done taking pictures I set the camera on top of the chair. 

BUT, the strap was hanging down. 

 Lucy crawled out from under the chair, looked up at that camera strap and it was just too tempting. The camera came falling off onto her face. :( She screamed and cried harder than I've ever heard her. Poor baby. It left a little mark. It didn't break the skin (thankfully). 

But she definitely has a "battle wound."

After the crying stopped she still wanted the camera. :) 

And I will try harder to keep dangerous items out of reach.

A minor set-back but no worries---she's back to living dangerously.

Growing up so fast!

Well, let me start by saying that in the 3 weeks or so since my last post it seems like Lucy has grown up right before my eyes! It's hard to believe my little 6 pound peanut is already 8 months--crawling and talking! Where has the time gone? That tiny little baby now takes up my whole lap when I snuggle her! Sweet Lucy, your babyhood is going by too fast!

 

 Lucy just turned 8 months old on the 7th! And with the new month came lots of milestones for our girlie!

 We now have a crawler---and a tired mommy. :) 

I have to keep close watch these days since Lucy can get anywhere and everywhere she wants.

To her, little fuzzies and such make for exciting finds.

I, on the other hand, see them as choking hazards.  

Crawling is our new favorite past time and I think it's here to stay! 

Even if we get stuck sometimes. :)

 

 Lucy has also started talking. Yes, talking. 

I am going to have quite the chatterbox. I can already picture long car rides with a toddler in the backseat asking every question she can think of. What am I in for!

Lucy has spent the last few months babbling constantly. 

Now she's starting to make real words!

Of course, she says "da da" and "ma ma." She associates these words with us now. 

She recognizes her name too....but she can't say "Lucy" yet. :)

She has also started to say "hi." She was talking to Carey on the phone the other day and kept saying, "hi dad, hi dad." She actually said "dad"--it was too cute!

Another milestone this month.....Lucy's 1st tooth!!

I am so proud of her for not fussing over it. She was a little sad and crabby about 3 days before it cut through. I had a feeling it was her teeth....and sure enough! Her tooth is not through far enough to capture in a picture. But I'll post one as soon as you can see that pearly white! It sure is a sharp little thing. Poor baby. She's a trooper! One down, lots more to go. :( 

She's been busy with her tongue ever since it came through. 

What is this new thing in my mouth!

I made her a tutu last week for pictures she had taken. Here are some of the pics from her photo shoot with mommy. :) This is going to make for lots of great dress up play times!

I love my sweet princess and can't imagine life without her! 

Stay tuned for more memories and milestones!