Mammyin' Up

The Pioneer Woman
I LOVE this blogger. Her name is Ree, AKA "Pioneer Woman". She's a homeschooling, mother of 4, and wife of a prominent cattle rancher in Oklahoma (does anyone else have to sing that state to spell it, or is it just me?) She's a brilliant writer, an excelent photographer and a darn good cook. Her post today was really great. Check out this post where she correllates breastfeeding her 4 "punks" (her words, not mine) to watching the mama/baby cattle pairs on their ranch.

Too cute.

Baby Food - Part 2

I forgot to take photos during the process of making baby sweet potatoes (a-la Pioneer Woman style ), but here are some cure photos of the end result.

Here is the puree once it was frozen in the ice cube trays. I didn't like how narrow these trays were and they were kinda tricky to get out.


I found these silicone trays at Target in the $1 section. I think they're a good serving size, and a shape that will defrost evenly. Plus they're diamond shape. Every girl likes diamonds!


Once I pried them from the trays, I put the cubes in a ziplock bag in the freezer with the content and date.

How simple!



Nati LOVED her sweet potatoes!

Homemade baby food - Part 1

I bought this hot little red-headed beauty this weekend so I could start making homemade baby food for Nati. I started out with two sweet potatoes. I baked them for about an hour, then scraped them out into the processor. I added water until it got smooth and thin. I left it a bit on the thick side so I can thin it out a bit more just before I feed her.

Then I spooned the mush into icecube trays and froze them. I yielded 32 cubes of food at about 1 ounce each. They keep in the freezer for 3 months.

She tried her first taste of them Saturday and really liked them!

Look Ma No Hands!

5 months old

What a big girl - 5 months now (well, as of yesterday). I just can't believe time is going by so quickly. This past month has really seen some changes in Nati. She's rolling over, she's talking up a storm, she's starting cereal again, she's bending and reaching for things she wants. She's turning into a little person. The changes seem to happen overnight.

As of last night, she tipped the scales at 16.4 lbs, and I haven't measured her yet. She's outgrown her 3-6 months clothes and into 6 months and some 6-9 month! Chunky Little Monkey!

Here's some more photos from the shoot last night. I LOVE the ones with her and AJ.




Here she was talking. I have all kinds of photos of her talking with her mouth all contorted.

Sprinkler

This weekend Mike fashioned up a pretty neat sprinkler for the kids and mounted it ON TOP of their playround set. The kids had a BALL running around and sliding down the wet slide. I caught this photo of AJ standing up on top of the monkey bar section.

Lordy, we're in trouble when she gets to be dating age.

New High Chair

Well, I cracked. I was convinced I would wait until 6 months to start Nati on solids (after I ditched the effort over a month ago). She turns 5 months tomorrow, so I'm hoping it's not too early. We've noticed her watching everything we eat and grabbing for our food - definately interested. We're trying it again for a few days to see how she reacts to it.

She did really well eating, opened her mouth like a little bird and swallowed nicely. She wanted more after I finished the serving I made her, and showed her displeasure at not getting her way. Hhhmmmm... wonder who she got that from?

Anyway. After her first feeding in the bouncy chair, Mike and I realized we needed to go get her a proper high chair. So... here she is!


Looking a bit apprehensive



Cautiously taking a bite



Hey, this stuff is good!



How 'bout I just use the spoon?



Wait, what do you mean there's no more?!