Hello baby girl; can you believe that you recently turned 6 months? That’s the halfway mark and it seems you are growing at lightning speed. It’s hard to believe, but my newborn is no longer. You are becoming one adorable little person. Even the littlest things you do make me smile and bring such joy to my life. Having a girl makes me happy is an understatement.
At 1 month you basically loved eating, and sleeping (you get that from me!) but I couldn’t help to dress you up every chance I got. At your 1 month appointment, the doctor couldn’t help but notice you almost doubled in size. Clearly you were a milk lover and you had enough rolls to prove it.
At 2 months you started to smile and made my heart melt even more! I never thought anyone could be more smiley and happy than your brother, but there you went and prove me wrong. One thing you dislike with a passion is when we wet your hair. Oh bath time is definitely not your favorite moment (it still isn’t at 4 months!).
By month 3 we could officially call you little miss chatterbox. You even decided 3am was the perfect moment to strike up a conversation (with yourself). You are such a happy baby, I still can’t get over it. You LOVE looking at yourself in the mirror and standing up (even if it’s for 2 seconds), but what you love the most are your hands. If you could, you would put both hands in your mouth at the same time.
Your brother Mavrick, what can I say… the love you have for him even at 4 months is indescribable. Every time he’s in the same room as you, you look at him with such awe which automatically makes you smile. You love it when he holds you or kisses your face. It’s the sweetest thing ever and I can’t wait until you are a little older so that you can play together.
Prior to your 4 month birthday, bathtime was your least favorite thing. Well now you love it! You splash around, chatter and don’t even cry. You even took a bath with your big brother for the first time and it was so fun to watch. You are mastering holding objects, and though you don’t realize it yet, you have an amazing pitch!
A big milestone was getting your ears pierced. I always knew you’d get them pierced early on and grandma offered to bring you. She got you your first pair of emerald earrings (your birthstone) and I couldn’t be happier. You barely cried and look even more adorable now!
At your 5 month birthday I decided to start giving you solids, but after having tummy aches and gas I decided to wait 2 weeks to start up again. I don’t know what changed in those two weeks, but now you eat like a champ. Your favorite is anything fruit, more specifically bananas and pears. As for vegetables, green beans are your favorite and peas not so much (but that’s okay your brother wasn’t a fan either).
You love sitting in the highchair and your favorite game is trying to grab on to the water bottle… oh boy do you love drinking water. You still are exclusively breastfed even though grandma attempted to give you formula while I was at a wedding, but you didn’t want any.
This picture represents how you are every second of every day — a happy, smiley, baby. It’s contagious. You are becoming a little madame – wanting to sit up by yourself but you get too excited about what’s happening around you that you fall over. Then you roll on your stomach and you get frustrated. You still haven’t mastered the tummy to back roll… soon I hope.
You still have your fingers in your mouth the majority of the time and though you haven’t started teething yet, it’s coming… I can see it. Your favorite body part is your feet. Who needs toys when you have feet for entertainment. At your 6 month check up, you weighed in at 18 lbs and 27.5″ which puts you in the 85 percentile for weight and 90 percentile for length. You are definitely bigger than your brother at the same age.
As for sleep… it’s still on and off but you’ve been in your crib since you hit the 5 month mark. Some days you will sleep through the night, other times you will wake up 2-4 times a night, but I realized it wasn’t because you were hungry but because you needed to burp or had cramps or simply wanted your pacifier. Hopefully soon you will sleep through the night, but I can’t say I’m complaining since you are an amazing baby.
Both you and your brother melt my heart everyday. I’m so lucky to have both of you. You are my life and the reason I make it through even the toughest times. Mama loves you!
This year I experimented with my salad. I think I’ve put fruits in every single one I’ve made. Pears, Raspberries, Apples, Grapes, Oranges …. And the list goes on.#weverb12 #day4 #experiment
It’s moments like these I cherish and want to keep forever. I wish my father-in-law wasn’t diagnosed with terminal cancer so he could stay a little longer. #weverb12 #day3 #stay
The holidays are right around the corner and I get excited about baking goods for my loved ones. Every year I try and make something new, and this year believe it or not, I attempted to make a Quebec classic, Sucre à la crème. It’s basically a butter fudge and my grandmother would make so perfectly, melt in your mouth yummy. I decided to give it a try.
I have to admit I was a little worried I would fail at this recipe. Even though these ingredients (there are several ways to make this fudge) are pretty basic, trust me when I say NOT MANY can say they’ve made good sucre à la crème. Some make it to hard and it brittles, others too soft you feel all you are eating is butter…. but I am happy to report that I label this recipe a success. Not only is it yummy … it’s just the right consistency. Some like to add more icing sugar to make it harder, while others reduce the quantity of icing sugar to have a softer fudge. I decided to put only 2 cups of icing sugar and I am happy I did.
Ingredients :
- 1 pound salted butter
- 1 kg (approx 7 cups) of brown sugar
- 6 cups of icing sugar
- 1 can of carnation evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 lbs of crushed peanuts (optional)
Directions :
In a saucepan, melt the brown sugar, butter and carnation milk together. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer on medium for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla and let stand 5 minutes. With an electrical mixer add the icing sugar gradually to the mixture. Beat for 8 minutes. Add nuts (optional).
Pour into a nonstick rectangular (13×9 inch) pan and refrigerate for 4 hours. When it’s time to cut your butter fudge, take a sharp knife and soak in boiling water a few seconds and then cut your sucre à la crème. This allows you to make beautiful pieces! Enjoy!
Do you bake goods for the holidays?
Two years ago, I participated in ReVerb10 and posted daily about a prompt and reflected on the past year. Last year, I skipped it because it was quite time consuming and with a running toddler in the house and pregnant at the same time, I couldn’t commit to it. This year, WeVerb12 can also be done via Instagram (which I LOVE!). I find pictures can sometimes be more powerful then words, but who am I kidding… it’s definitely less time consuming.
You can follow my WeVerb12 moments via instagram, or check out everyone who is participating in images via this feed. I will though on occasions post some of the images in my daily prompt. How are you reflecting on 2012 and plan for 2013?
At the beginning of the year, when I was talking about my finances and saving every penny I had to dump debt, I discussed how shopping online using Ebates definitely brings a whole new spin to saving money. If you are an avid online shopper like myself, deal seeker and all… then getting cash back for purchases you were intending on making is a pretty sweet deal.
If you are a fellow Canadian, then I can’t help but share my excitement… Ebates (US) recently launched it’s Canadian version and a brand new website! and it has made me one happy online shopper! Does that mean you can’t use the US site, No… but when you can actually get paid in Canadian dollars which is fantastic then why wouldn’t you!
How does it work? well it’s pretty easy, instead of going to the site itself to purchase what you wanted to get, you go through the Ebates portal which allows you to get cash back on your order. Cash back amounts vary from store to store, but if you sign up to the newsletter and you like their facebook page, they will keep you posted on double, triple or even 10x the cash back for a limited time offer.
I love sharing the savings with my fellow Canadians so just when you thought cash back was a sweet deal… wait until you hear about the refer-a-friend program. Ebates wants to share the ‘savings’ with the rest of Canada so they give you 5$ everytime a friend/family member signs up using your unique referral link and makes their first purchase of 25$ or more.
Obviously I shop using Ebates every chance I get. Why wouldn’t you? I just love it and I’m so happy my US friends introduced me to the site last year. Now with the new Canadian version I am one happy shopper. The site is so pretty and easy to navigate. You can find all the deals, daily double cash back, your referrals and pending cash back. One thing I can’t wait to have on the Canadian version, is all the list of emails that used your referal link. I love sending a quick “thank you and happy savings” message, but at the moment it isn’t available on the Canadian site (but will be – so a Ebates representative told me via their facebook page)
Have I made lots of money using this service… not a ton… but I’ve made over 40$ and only shopped a few times. I definitely forsee lots more money coming my way in the next year. So if you don’t know about the site, or do but haven’t opened up a Canadian account, then I invite you to do so. (please note by doing so you are using my referral link)
Who said pumpkins needed to stay orange? There are so many ways to reinvent them and designer extraordinaire Genevieve Ghaleb did just that for the efashionista baking in high heels event which took place tonight. How fabulous do these pumpkins look. Talk about an amazing centerpiece or outdoor decor your neighbors will surely notice.
Don’t get overwhelmed with the term designer, because you too can create these pretty pumpkins yourself. All you need is the following & a little imagination.
- Pumpkins of various sizes
- Hot Glue Gun
- Glitter – Lots of glitter
- Paint
- Fake Flowers
- Beading of choice (this case pearls)
- Rhinestones
This color palette was a pretty classic one, but one I love. Whites, Golds, Bronze, Copper… you can’t go wrong with that. But the possibilities are endless. Maybe opt for a monochromatic scheme, or even an neon filled one. It really depends on how you feel at the moment. Have fun… that’s all that counts (and make your kids/friends participate too!)
Thank you Genevieve Ghaleb for sharing your awesome creation! Happy Fall / Halloween everyone!
