Happy Halloween!

Megan is still a bit too young for real trick-or-treating but we did our own version today.  I took Megan to visit her grandparents and Daddy at work in her ladybug costume.  Megan showed everyone her tricks and having her visit was quite a treat. 

 Despite the wind it was a gorgeous day and I even got a few more pictures of her outside. 

Our Little Lady!

Megan is an Asian Beetle for Halloween this year.  Oops, I mean Lady Bug!  Isn't she cute in her little costume?  What a love bug!

We took a few more at the park yesterday and you can view them here.

Too Cute Tuesday

I heard a shriek from Megan last night as I was making dinner only to find that she had found her way underneath the kitchen table.  She is quite the explorer!  But not a whole lot of room to move around in under there.

This one is just because Daddy and Megan got their picture posted last week!  The high chair tray is all messy because Megan's learning to eat finger food.  We had lots of practice with the puffs at church on Sunday (good way to pass time during the sermon) and she did surprisingly well with her bananas and potatoes last night. 

Not Me Monday

I did not dig through the entire garbage can looking for the post of my food processor on Thursday night.  I had the food processor out to make homemade fried potatoes on Monday and the put away everything that didn't get dirty.  When I was washing all the dirty parts I did not see the post so I thought I had thrown it away by accident with the potato peels.  It was not in the garbage.  I did not find it on Friday still in the base of the food processor.  I dug through all that for nothing... ewww!

I did not get 70 sample sized boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch which were extras from a General Mills sampling offer.  I have a very happy husband!

My AM did not volunteer to get laid-off this week at work.  Luckily we have someone to fill her spot but my plate will definitely get a lot fuller over the next couple weeks.  I do have some extra bandwidth at the moment, I just hope I can handle her stuff.

Another work Not Me... We did not finally get a new water system at work.  It looks just like our old cooler minus the bottle.  It's hooked up to the water line and even gives me hot water for my morning oatmeal.

I did not get a chance to finally go clothes shopping for me this weekend.  My mom and came with me and John and Dawn traded off watching Megan.  I got some pieces for work, about a dozen in total between sweaters and jeans.  It felt good since I haven't done that in, oh, 18+ months!
John did not cut his finger on his kohlrabi at lunch today.  It was cleaned, cut and the smoothest part you could ever get yet he managed to even draw blood.  Now that takes skill.

John did not teach Megan how to "pull his finger".  Seriously.  I kid you not.


Have a good one, everyone!  Stay warm as the weather catches up to the season.

Pea Puree and Other Shooters

Remember a few posts back when I said the baby food peas were disgusting and I wanted to make my own?  Well, I did and it was easy, fun, rewarding and addicting.  In fact, I even got a little carried away and made a whole assortment of baby food for Megan over the last few weeks.  Here's what's in our freezer right now:

• Green Beans - my mom steamed and pureed these out of fresh green beans from her garden
• Peas - cooked some frozen peas and pureed
• Apples - simmered some Cortland and Honeycrisp together until tender and pureed.  Won't do this combo of apples together again since the Cortland cooked much faster than the Honeycrisp.
• Pears - steamed fresh pears from the summer crop and pureed
• Butternut Squash - cut the squash in half lengthwise and baked in the oven cut-size down in a baking dish with water.  Then scooped out the "meat" and pureed
• Sweet Potato - soaked in water for 5 minutes, baked until tender then scooped out the "meat" and pureed
• Carrots - sliced into sticks, wrapped loosely in foil and baked until soft and pureed
• Butternut Squash/Apple/Brown Rice - added some applesauce and cooked brown rice to leftover squash and pureed
• Apple/Carrot/Potato - simmered the three together until tender and pureed.  Not my favorite combo so we added some extra apple to the mix along with a pinch of nutmeg.

Everything was frozen in ice cube trays for easy portions.  There are so many fun recipes out there but I don't know if we'll get around to making them before Megan gets sick of this baby food.  I will still probably continue to buy some of the flavors that I'm unable to make myself, primarily fruits.  Overall, I'm glad that I can do this for her and it is nice to know what's going into my baby's food and into her tummy!  Money-wise I'm probably not ahead much especially considering the time and effort.  She is a big eater.  In fact, when she's hungry at dinnertime I will give her 2+ Tbsp rice or oatmeal along with 3-4 ice cube sections of any combination of the above.  No wonder she's able to fill up that diaper of hers!

Too Cute Tuesday: Daddy & Megan!

This is a recent picture of Megan and her bestest buddy... Daddy!  We don't do daycare and are fortunate to have enough family, along with ourselves, to watch Megan throughout the week.  John actually spends the most waking hours with Megan, usually Tuesday, half of Wednesday, and Thursday.   Throughout the weeks Megan has become quite the Daddy's girl.  John has mentioned to me on several occasions that most days he cannot wait to get off work so he can go pick up or race home to see Megan.  John does such a good job with her and I am so glad that Megan has the bonding time with her Daddy that most little girls don't have. 

We did have to laugh last night because both John and I were taking turns playing peek-a-boo with Megan while she was eating her dinner.  She would only laugh when her Daddy would do it.  For me she would only sit and stare!  I guess Daddy just has the special touch!  I often catch them both staring at each other making funny faces or speaking back and forth in baby language.  Daddy also knows all the little tickle spots.

There is such a special bond between Megan and Daddy that I hope lasts a lifetime!  Love you both!

Not Me Monday

This week's Not Me Monday is short and sweet.  Here goes...

John has been trying out the new Blockbuster Express DVD rental box since I got a free rental code. Somehow there was a mixup with reserving online and picking up at the kiosk because we got charged for several late night fees. After several calls to the Blockbuster folks John did not wind up with 6 free rental codes to use by the end of next month! Now to find the time to actually watch a real movie together.

John did not join the Biggest Loser program going on at the Chaska Home Depot.  I think the program goes until January and whoever loses the most weight gets a monetary reward.  Right now he is in it just to feel better and not to win.  We haven't done anything different as far as excersizing quite yet but John has cut out caffeine from his diet along with bringing lunches from home when going to work.

Megan has not been getting up every night for the last week.  I guess I take her usual wonderful sleeping for granted.  Each night it has gotten progressively earlier and it's been harder and harder to get her to go back down.  Saturday night she woke up at 1:30 and last night 1:00 where she was up for an hour and a half.  I've been trying not to feed her when she wakes but that has proved to be the only way she'll go back down.  I've joked that tonight I won't have to go to bed at all!

Have a great week everyone!

Megan at Seven Months

Megan turned seven months last Thursday night.  Our baby girl is changing daily.  I can't believe how fast she's progressing.  We are so proud of her and are having so much fun... minus the teething!  I'd like to share some of the recent things Megan's doing and how she's changed.

Megan has really been babbling a lot.  She is quite the talker.  Using just a little imagination, it sounds like she is saying real words.  Our favorite thing is when she says, "Hi, Dada!"

Megan mastered the art of crawling and is on to pulling-up and standing-up.  She can pull up on and stand against almost everything.  She is perfecting both getting up to standing position and getting back down to the floor.  With as much repetition as she's giving this task, she'll be a pro soon.  It's cute when she grabs something from the ottoman with both hands and stands on her own for a couple brief seconds before plopping onto her bottom.  Those diapers do make a nice cushy landing!  Megan seems to be quite the daredevil (and a lot like John when he was little, so I'm told).  She just needs her hips and lower body to get a little more muscle and set into place and I have a feeling she'll be cruisng aroun furniture in no time.  She already likes to pull up against her piano and use it as a walker.  She will actually go across the area rug that way.

We are in teething season again.  Megan's number five came last Wednesday which was her next upper-left tooth.  Her nose is still running and she is very whiny so I know at least one more is on its way.  Don't ask me which one since she won't let us anywhere near her mouth.  In fact, I finally saw her three top teeth for the first time tonight.  Since we can't get in her mouth, forget about Orajel.  Kristin, thanks for mentioning those teething tablets.  They have been a lifesaver.  Without them I probably wouldn't have gotten any sleep this weekend!  Since Megan's first five teeth seemed to come in with minor symptoms I'm led to believe that more than one are coming, just don't know which ones.  I can't imagine what this must feel like for her.  They have to come in sooner or later so let's just get it over with, right?

I said before that she is standing an also enjoys standing in the crib.  Her new favorite is standing in the crib and shaking the railing.  John and I discovered last weekend that she is using the railing as a teether.  I think it looks like a beaver attacked her crib.  We just got a plastic cover for the rail so hopefully that will help both her teeth and the crib!

Megan has moved on from just touching her bottom teeth with her tongue to actually licking her chin.  She thinks it's pretty cool to stick her tongue out as far as it goes.  John says she has my tongue since his doesn't quite reach down that far.

Megan's appetite is still hearty.  However, we discovered that she now prefers the formula over mama-juice.  I was more worried about her having a bad reaction to the formula and not liking the taste.  I never thought she would stop liking the breastmilk altogether.  I have a lot in the freezer still so maybe I'll have to try mixing that with her cereal or something.  We're also finding that the iron in the formula is making her a little constipated so we're giving her prune juice every day to prevent her from getting too plugged up. 

That is about everything so far.  Definitely no dull days around here or for those of you who help watch Megan throughout the week.

There's Always More Rice

I wanted to pass on a familiar analogy that our MOPS speaker told on Tuesday night.  I have heard this many times and in many different variations.  However, she threw an unexpected twist at the end which really hit home for me since I, like most women, continually struggle to manage priorities.

The speaker stood in the front with some baby red potatoes, a pitcher of white rice and an empty quart jar.  The jar represents our life.  The potatoes represent the important things in our lives such as family, God, and job, etc...  The rice represents the little things such as bills, housework, and what's for dinner, etc.... 

If you pour all of the rice into the jar first, you soon realize that there is no room for potatoes or no time/energy in our lives for any important things.  But if you put the potatoes in the jar first, the rice fills all the crevices and you can fit more in the jar.  Our speaker confessed that for a long time she thought this analogy meant that there was time for everything.  That there was time in our lives for the important and non-important things and that she should be trying to do everything all the time.  Then, out of nowhere, she pulled out another pitcher of rice and said, "Guess what... there's always more rice!"

I admit this has been me, too, to an extent.  I'm sure John will agree with me.  He has been telling me the same thing for some time and it was refreshing to hear it from another source.  As soon as I became pregnant, and especially since we had Megan, I've been trying to do it all - potatoes and rice.  It had been nothing but disappointing when I wasn't able to get all my housework done every day and I knew my relationship with my husband, daughter and family had been pushed aside.  We talked Tuesday night about how it might just be a matter of standards.  As hard as it might be, I need to make a conscious effort to put my family and God first and do all of the rest as best as I can, serving God in everything I do.

Not Me Monday... or Tuesday: Red Wing Weekend

Has everyone been enjoying the beautiful fall colors lately?  The weather has been just gorgeous.  John and I definitely picked the right weekend to get away!

John and I did not get away from the house (together and without Megan) for the first time in 7 months!  What a wonderful weekend!  However, we did not get teary-eyed when watching Life as We Know It during our weekend away.

Megan spent her first two nights away from home.  One with Grandma & Grandpa Lewis where she had a sleepover with Alexa.  The next night she had a sleepover with Auntie Rachel at Grandma and Grandpa Gennrich's.  Megan did not keep Rachel up all night.  Megan didn't sleep well.  She was either missing home, overtired or maybe getting more teeth.  We were expecting a big reaction from her but she was so tired she didn't really even care.  It did not take us an hour to get her to bed on Sunday night.

John did not get 3 meals out of his BOSS sandwich from Rainbow.  He had 2 meals while on the road and still had enough for work on Monday!

John did not get 3 new pair of Red Wing shoes during our trip.  It was a buy 2, get one free sale.  Hopefully they will be nicer for work and keep his back from hurting.

I did not drive over one of Megan's jingle bunnies from her carseat.  It must have fallen off of her carseat when I dropped her off on Monday morning.  It still jingles a little but the tire definitely did a number on it.


Hope everyone has a great week!  Megan turns 7 months on Thursday.  How the time flies!

A Weekend Without: A Weekend Together

Megan at Grandparents for two nights * First time away from our baby girl overnight * Beautiful fall weather * Record high temps * 80+ degrees *  Picnic lunch * Overnight trip to Red Wing *Big Oversized Sub Sandwich * HUGE garge sale * Sunburn in October* Nichols Inn * Wine tasting * Free bottle of wine * Pottery Museum * Antique Shops * Tickle Yer Fancy * Fine Abdullah Chocolates * Chamber Bucks * Fiesta Mexicana * Shrimp Fajitas * Beef Burrito * Fried Ice Cream * Cinema 8 * Life as We Know It * Missing Megan * Rock Hard Mattress * Sleeping In * Continental Breakfast with Belgian Waffles* Smart Car Convoy * Art Festival * World's Largest Boot * Red Wing Shoe Museum * New Shoes for John * Fresh Homemade Honey * Picnic lunch on Mississippi * Heading Home

Too Cute Tuesday: Cousins!

At only 6 1/2 and 11 months, Megan and Alexa don't know what to think of each other quite yet. But I'm so glad they have each other and I know it won't be too long until they are best friends!

 

 

Crawling! & Other Discoveries

A whole new world has just been opened up for Megan now that she's crawling.  She's been officially crawling for about a week and a half now.  She continues to get better and better every day.  I think Megan has the cutest little crawl.  At first she would crawl forward with right hand, left hand and then a little bunny hop to advance her bottom.  As she keeps getting better, the bunny hop is about every 4-6 motions.

Last week Grandma Lewis didn't know why we were calling Megan a crawler since she only pivoted on her bottom the entire day.  John put Megan and a remote control at opposite ends of their living room and she took off! 
When I dropped Megan off at my parents' last week, I wanted Megan to show off her talents.  Grandpa Gennrich said she would crawl for him when the moon was just right.  I told him that if there is a remote control on the floor, the moon would be just right.  We settled for the telephone and she was off!

   

Like I said above, a whole new world has opened up to Megan and she has ventured off of her magic living room carpet into many other areas of the house.  Here are a couple other things she has learned and is doing:

• She learned that she does not like baby food peas (and neither does mommy).  Maybe I will try making my own for her.
• She learned how to pull herself up.  She also likes to stand with her piano or ottoman and will use both as a walker.
• She discovered her bottom front teeth with her tongue.
• She is learning how to blow.  John was feeding her one day and wondered why she wasn't drinking.  He pulled the bottle out of her mouth and milk went spraying.  She had been applying back-pressure to the nipple.  She also is enjoying blowing onto her mirror, against the top of our ottoman, when the suckey is in her mouth and just starting to blow when giving us kisses!
• And maybe Megan's most important discovery to date:  The springy doorstop behind her bedroom door! 

6 1/2 Month Outdoor Pics

I mentioned in an earlier post that we would be doing professional photos this weekend.  Since we have a nice camera and the weather was supposed to be nice we did our own "professional" photos on location at Grandma and Grandpa Lewis's place.  Cousin Alexa was there too and we were also able to get some cute pictures of her and Megan together.  I'm only posting some of my favorite Megan-only pictures but I'm sure more photos will show up in future blog posts.  There are tons of new pictures up on my Picasa page if you don't want to wait or don't want to miss a smile!

 

 

Drooling Pianos

Kristin, Patrick and Alexa came over on Friday night for a tasty cookout of kabobs and potato pouches. 

If you've been reading any of my recent posts or looking at pics you would know that Megan loves her little piano and her cousin Alexa has the same one!  So, naturally we thought it would be fun to have the much-anticipated Lewis/Nowicki version of Dueling Pianos, called Drooling Pianos!  Well, our place quickly turned into quite the Shout House as soon as our guests arrived.  Even the Paparazzi snuck in during the girls' performance.  Both girls had a blast and slept great that night!