This little piggy went to market...

Last weekend was exceptionally great, but I think we managed to match it, if not outdo it, this weekend. Saturday morning, my mom and I took Nannies to our local farmers market and we had a great time. This kid loves crowds and strangers, so the farmer's market was right up her alley. About 10 minutes after we got there, I realized that I had forgotten to bring any bottles for her, and she would need to eat soon. Luckily, we only live about 3 minutes away from the market so I was able to leave her and Grandma there and run back for the food. There's a little cafe right next to the market, so we stopped for coffee and scones (and a bottle). Elliot is such a hit everywhere we go. People love to stop and talk to her, and she loves to show off for them. After making some new friends as we waited in line for our coffee, she proceeded to quietly squeal throughout breakfast in the hopes that someone else would come to see her.

While we were wandering through the downtown Overland Park shops, I found a new favorite. There is an incredible antique store full of amazing refinished pieces. They had an adorable child's roll-top desk that I would have loved to have for Elliot, but we've got quite a while before she'd even be able to use it, so I resisted. The store owner's 18 year old daughter absolutely fell in love with Elliot while we were there. She even got Elliot to try to wave. I can't imagine a situation where we'd actually have to pay a babysitter since we have so much family near us, but if we ever do, I know who I'm calling!

After we got home, Elliot took a quick nap (a VERY quick nap, as she's becoming an insomniac during the daytime. She sleeps great at night though, so I'm not complaining.) and we headed to Antioch Park for a walk around the lake. We're really starting to get into a good routine on the weekends, and we keep figuring out more and more places to go with our little bear. I've taken Elliot to the park before, but it was her dad's first trip there with us. I'm so excited for her to get older and be able to really play there. I spent so much time there as a kid, and I know she will have even more fun than I did, since they've added a lot of great improvements since I was a child.





This morning we took her to yet another farmer's market. I've been wanting to go to the downtown KC farmer's market for a long time now, but for some reason we haven't made it out there until today. Matt and I hadn't been there since we were kids, so it was a new experience for all three of us. After checking it out, I can guarantee you that I will never be buying produce at the grocery store again. The prices are sooooo much better at the market, and the quality of the produce is amazing! The spices are especially well priced. Most are $1 for a 1/2 cup scoop. Matt picked out some jerk seasoning to use on the grill, and I'm going to take inventory of my spice cabinet and make a list of spices to pick up next week (yes, we definitely plan to go weekly now). Besides the seasoning, we got nectarines, asparagus, garlic, strawberries, and cherries. I think Elliot enjoyed being there since she sang what I call her "baby song" (a slow series of delighted squeals) the entire time we were out. She was fascinated by the gelato at the Italian grocery and she also enjoyed the Meditteranian market (as did her dad). In just a little over a month, I'll be able to pick out fruits and veggies to make into baby food for her, and I'm really excited to be able to use all local produce.




Next weekend promises to be great as well. We are headed to Lawrence so Matt can get measured for his tux for a wedding we're going to in a few weeks. This will be Elliot's 2nd trip to Lawrence, but I think she'll enjoy it much more this time. She was a newborn the first time we took her and slept almost the entire time we were there. She's so much more fun now, and I can't wait to take pictures of her on campus! I hope all of you had as great a weekend as we did!

Say cheese!!!

I love having pictures of my baby taken. We had her newborn photos taken when she was 6 days old, and and we did her 3 month photo shoot a little over a month ago. We have an amazing photographer who comes to our house to photograph Elliot, and she does such a great job. You can click here, go to the "Clients" tab, and enter the password "Elliot" to view her newborn photos. I'll post the link to her 3 month photos as soon as the gallery is up. We're having her pictures done every three months until she's at least a year old. That's a lot, but sometimes it still doesn't seem like enough. She's already so different now than she was for her 3 month pictures, and I can't imagine how much she'll have changed by the time she's 6 months old.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found a coupon for a free portrait package at The Picture People. The only catch was that I didn't find out about the offer until Thursday, and it expired on Saturday. I called immediately to try to get an appointment. No luck. I accepted their offer to put me on the waiting list for a cancellation, but was sure nothing would come of it. The next day I got a call at 10 am that they had a cancellation and there was an appointment available for 12:30 that afternoon. Elliot did so great! I was nervous that she'd be fussy. Usually I know well in advance when she's having her picture taken, so I can plan our day around it to make sure she'll be happy, fed, and well rested when it's picture time, but we had almost no notice for this appointment so we just had to wing it. I think it turned out pretty well.





(You'll have to excuse the picture quality. I'm not used to having to scan pictures, and I'm sure there's a way to get it to scan in better quality, but I'm too lazy to try to figure it out.)

Nannies ♥'s the Hoff

Tonight I was standing in the living room, holding the kiddo as her dad was getting her bath ready. Out of nowhere she started squealing with delight, which was strange because she was actually pretty grumpy and tired at the time. I turned around to see that she was staring at the TV, where "America's Got Talent" was playing. That's right everybody. She was squealing at David Hasselhoff.

In related news, as she was partaking in her after bath flirt-fest with the blender, "Take My Breath Away" started playing on a commercial. Appropriate background noise for the moment, don't you think? My kid is so weird. I shall leave you with this image, to be burned into your brain forevermore.

Such a great weekend!

We had such a great time this weekend. For once, it wasn't blazingly hot and humid outside, so we took Elliot to Shawnee Mission park to go hunting...for LARPers. For those of you who have not yet discovered the hilarity of LARPing (live action role playing), it's basically a bunch of adults playing medival dress up. Like a spontaneous rennaisance fair in the middle of suburbia. We heard them while we were hiking through the woods. I don't remember the exact words I heard, but it was something like "Hark! Verily the enemy doth approach!" This alone would have been enough to make my entire weekend, but then we heard music. Recorder music. We saw people LARPing through the woods with recorders. Awesome.

After fulfilling my desire to actually see real people participating in the nerdiest activity known to mankind, we headed to the marina where Elliot ate her bottle and looked at the boats. We had an awesome time, and promised ourselves that we would go there more often.

That night, my parents came over to watch Elliot while we went to Starlight for our second show of the season. We saw "Anything Goes", which is pretty much everything I look for in a musical, but seemed to bore everyone else. I suppose they don't have the same appreciation for jazz hands that I do. Oh well. Next up is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, then Chicago (yay!) and Mamma Mia (triple yay!).

On Sunday we took Elliot to her Grandpa's to go to the beach. Fun, but also slightly disgusting since Matt had to scoop up not one, but two dead bait fish that floated a little too close to the baby. After swimming we went back to Grandpa's for a bottle and nap (for Elliot) and beer and steaks (for mommy).

Notice how she's trying to feel up Grandma Jenny

AAAHHHHH! She's mobile!!!

Watch out! She's on the move! That's right, Elliot has not only learned to roll over, she's learned to do it continuously until she reaches her desired destination. If she starts out next to the couch, she will go all the way until she runs into the tv stand. Then I turn her around and she goes back the other day. The days of me being able to lay her on the floor and leave the room for a few minutes are over. I went to get a glass of water yesterday, and when I got back she was about 6 inches from being in the laundry room!

Although her newfound mobility makes life harder in some respects, a recent acquisition also makes it easier. Elliot's friend Eli (Remember him? The one who made a move in the turtle pool?) is not a fan of his baby swing, so he generously loaned it to Elliot, who is a huge fan! For those of you who don't know me in real life, our house is entirely hardwood on the main level. Our only carpeted room is the living area in the basement. This means that it's difficult for me to put her down when we're upstairs since the floor is hard, and usually covered in dog hair no matter how often I dustmop. Usually she has to sit in her bouncy seat, which she now hates, if I'm not holding her. Enter the swing, the solution to our problem. She will sit happily in it for well over 30 minutes, even longer if you let her watch tv in it (Yes, I know. I'm a bad mommy. But it's only Saved by the Bell.). I put her in it right away after Eli and his mommy dropped it off. She seemed happy, so I sat on the couch to check my e-mail. After about 10 minutes, she was unusually quiet. I looked up to find this:

Thank you, Eli!

C is for cookies!!!!

In my never-ending quest to make more milk for my child, I've started making lactation cookies. A friend asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else could use it.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter 2 cups flour
1 cup sugar 1 t baking soda
1 cup brown sugar 1 t salt
4 T water 3 cups thick cut oats (I use steel cut)
2 T flaxseed meal 1 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs 2 T brewers yeast
1 t vanilla

Mix flaxseed meal and water. Let sit for 3-5 minutes.
Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, flaxseed mixture, and vanilla.
Mix flour, baking soda, salt, and brewers yeast, and add to the butter/sugar mixture.
Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
Drop onto greased baking sheet and bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes.
Eat at least 4 per day for best results.

Notes: I found everything I needed at Whole Foods. Do yourself a favor and just ask someone to help you find everything so you're not wandering around for 30 minutes like I was. The more brewers yeast you use, the better the cookies will work. I've heard some people complain about the taste if they added extra, but I used 3 T instead of 2 for my last batch, and they still tasted fine. I'm going to use 4 T in the next batch. You can substitute anything you want for the chocolate chips (nuts, raisins) or just leave them out entirely.

Poor Mr. CoffeePot

It is always sad when someone you love leaves you for someone else. Mr. CoffeePot is feeling this pain. Nannies has a new favorite friend. It's the blender. To add insult to injury (or in this case, injury to insult) she repeatedly kicked the coffee maker while making flirt eyes and whispering (okay, squealing) sweet nothings to the blender. Perhaps I should move him across the kitchen so he doesn't have to see her flaunting her new relationship under his nose. It seems like the kindest thing to do.