Dear Logan,

You are nine months old! (Well, you were nine months old almost two weeks ago, and here I am… late as always!)

You seem to be growing up so fast these days. You are babbling all the time! We think you know the word bottle, but you say “baba.” When you are finished eating your food at dinner, you start babbling “baba” over and over! You also said “dada” for the first time this month, and then we think you said “mama” recently… but it doesn’t quite sound like an “m”. We also think you’re trying to say “Rose,” but it sounds more like “ose.” I just love your precious voice!

Miss Independent is definitely who you are becoming. You love to feed yourself, and you are such a good eater! You are eating all kinds of food, and we’re adding more things every week. You’re still on the same food schedule as when you were eight months old.

One thing we’ve noticed this month is that you have a bit of a temper! (Your daddy thinks you get that from me.) When we take away a toy (or something you shouldn’t be playing with) and don’t successfully distract you or when we won’t let you do something that you want to do, you flail your arms up and down in frustration and anger. But the anger doesn’t last long because…

You are such a happy baby. Always smiling. I hope that you always stay this happy.

You had RSV this month — the first time you’ve been sick. That runny nose is taking forever to go away! Thankfully, it was a very mild case, and you were back in action in no time.

You wear size 3 Pampers diapers, and you’re in nine-month clothes. But you are such a tiny thing that a few of your six-month clothes still fit and pretty much all of your nine-month clothes are too big. Mainly, they are too long. Why? Because you are short. Your daddy took you to the doctor when we knew something wasn’t quite right (when you were diagnosed with RSV), and since your nine-month well check-up was scheduled for just a few days later, your doctor went ahead and did that check-up then. Poor girl, you got two shots on top of not feeling well! But we got your stats. You are 16.9 lbs. (we’ll round up to 17 lbs.), which is the 27th percentile. And, you are 26 inches tall, which is only the fourth percentile. That’s why your clothes are all so long! Such a petite baby girl!

Your little personality is developing more and more every day, and your daddy and I just love spending time with you and seeing who you are becoming. I can’t believe you’re already nine months old. But then again, I say that every month.

A few other highlights from this month — you are taking a big girl bath now in the big bath tub! We loved your first Christmas and New Year’s. It was such a special time for our family. You are trying so hard to walk. I know it’ll happen so soon!  And you are playing more and more with Rose.

Thank you for all the joy you’ve brought to our lives. I don’t know what my life was like before you! I love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

P.S. We are still taking weekly photos of you so we can see how you grow and change each week! See them all here.

It’s almost another weekend, and I’m just posting our updates from LAST weekend! I don’t think I’ll ever get it all together!

Friday// January 20
We celebrated my grandparents’ birthdays at their house Friday evening. I made the cake — coffee cake pound cake — and it was sooo yummy.

Logan is definitely a Gamecock! That’s her second (or third?) cousin Harrison on the floor behind her.

She loves to grab noses! We laugh because when Ryan is laying down, she’ll grab his nose like it’s a bowling ball. This time, she was attacking my cousin Jason’s nose!

We were there until Logan’s bedtime, so we took her pajamas and changed her when she got sleepy. She fell asleep on my shoulder, and I just loved that time to hold her. She slept on the way home, and when I picked her up from her car seat and took her inside to her crib, she went right back to sleep. Perfect night.

Saturday // January 21
No Bruegger’s tradition today because of the South Beach Diet. Soon, I hope! It’ll be our splurge for the day and our only carbs! We spent the morning cleaning the house, and then we headed to the polls to vote in the Republican primary. We don’t claim to be Republicans or Democrats… we vote for the candidate. And I don’t know that I’ll vote Republican this fall, but we exercised our right to vote in the primary, regardless! Logan actually pressed the button when Ryan voted…

So she got the “I voted” sticker. We put it on her back so she wouldn’t eat it.

I had to go to a baby shower in the afternoon, so we went to Chick-fil-a for a quick lunch first. Logan had already eaten lunch, but she loves to nibble on the shredded cheese from my salad. The nice lady at Chick-fil-a helped us get a high chair, and she even gave Logan a mini book. They have the BEST customer service. Hands down.

While I was at the shower, Ryan and Logan did a lot more cleaning around the house. Saturday night, Ryan and I had a date! One of our favorite teachers at Logan’s school is going to keep her several times over the next few months when the school is closed, so we wanted her to come over one evening first so we could show her where everything is and not have to do that while we’re rushing out the door to work in the morning. We went to dinner at Bonefish Grill and got some frozen yogurt (sugar-free!). Then we made a quick trip to Target to get Logan a push-toy to help her learn to walk. Hot date, right?

Sunday // January 22
And boy did she walk! She loves the toy! After she doesn’t need it to help her walk anymore, it converts to a ride-on toy.  

Logan woke up with a really runny nose (will it ever go away?), so we decided not to go to church. We had lunch at Zoe’s, and it was delicious! Logan had a few Cheerios while we ate…

And practiced some high fives…

After a while, she sat back in her high chair and was shoving the Cheerios in her mouth. Her little buddah belly was sticking out, and she just looked precious.

Logan and Ryan read a Ladybug Girl book while I finished…

That is, until she started throwing the book on the floor (over and over) and waving to it. Silly baby bug.

She also waved to all the people as they entered the restaurant. She’s a greeter everywhere we go!

We took our weekly trip to the grocery store, and then I cooked a TON of food for this week. We were a little late taking Logan’s weekly photo, so here she is after the photo shoot giving Rose a carrot. She’s figuring out how to let go of the carrot when Rose sits, and it’s adorable to see!

And that’s it! A fun, family-filled weekend. I love those kinds of weekends.

This recipe is a Rachael Ray budget recipe that’s also a 15-minute meal. Love that it’s both of those! It’s simple, fresh and delicious, and I love that it’s so fast to put together when we get home from work. You can add 2 oz. of diced ham to the recipe, but I chose to leave it out and make the shrimp the main attraction. Enjoy!

Corny Cajun Shrimp
Serves 4
From Every Day with Rachael Ray, November 2011

1 bag (16 oz.) frozen corn kernels
1/2 large onion, coarsely
2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. creole seasoning
8 oz. frozen peeled cooked shrimp
Salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine the corn, onion, celery, tomatoes, thyme and creole seasoning. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp. Cook, covered, until the shrimp are just heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

photo credit

This cake is so good. I made it last weekend for my grandparents’ birthday party. Even though Ryan and I are doing the South Beach Diet, I failed that night and ate a piece of this cake. It was soooo good, but it actually gave me a headache, sadly. I guess almost two weeks with no sugar or carbs had my body used to eating only healthy things, and then I threw a whole bunch of butter and sugar in there, and whoa. My body no likey. But anyone who hasn’t starved themselves of sugar and butter (and flour too) will love this combination of coffee cake and pound cake. The cake part was so good, I will use this as my go-to pound cake recipe. Mmmmm. So yummy!

Coffee Cake Pound Cake
Serves 12
From Southern Living, January 2012

PECAN STREUSEL
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup chopped pecans

POUND CAKE BATTER
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Prepare Pecan Streusel: Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles small peas. Stir in 3/4 cup pecans.

Prepare Pound Cake Batter: Preheat oven to 350°. Bake 1 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Cool 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir together flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Pour half of batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (12-cup) tube pan. Stir together toasted pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Spoon remaining batter over pecan mixture; sprinkle with Pecan Streusel.

Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

photo credit

Are you ready for some recipes? As I’ve said before, I get way too many magazines in the mail each month. Since Logan was born, the stack gets higher as the months pass when I don’t have time to read them all. Recently, I’ve gone through quite a few, and I’ve pinned them to my Pinterest account so I can keep the recipes until we try them without having stacks of paper in our house. (Ryan is happy about that!)

I also haven’t done a good job lately of posting recipes here that we cook and love. (If we make a recipe and don’t love it, I’ll unpin it — is unpinning a word? — and/or throw away the recipe.) So, coming up, I’m going to post a few recipes that we’ve made, and I want to cook them again. Sadly, another thing I haven’t been good at lately is taking photos of them when we cook them. It’s always such a rush to get food on the table so we can eat with Logan that I forget the photo. I’m pulling photos from the websites where the recipes came from, and I’ll credit those… and then hopefully replace the photo with my own the next time I make the dish.

Now, about this dish… I love breakfast. I could eat it for every meal of the day. This is a delicious breakfast dish we had for dinner a few months ago. Enjoy!

Egg and Hash Brown Tacos
Serves 4
From The Food Network Magazine, October 2011

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups frozen shredded hash browns (about 8 ounces)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup prepared salsa (we used medium heat level)
8 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (original recipe was Monterrey Jack)
8 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed (we used wheat)
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and roughly chopped (I’m not a huge fan of avocado, so we omitted this)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the hash browns and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cumin and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and salsa, reduce the heat to low and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the skillet with the hash browns and cook, stirring, until the eggs are almost set, about 2 minutes. Stir in half of the cheese and cook until the eggs are just set, about 1 more minute. Divide among the tortillas and top with the bean salsa, avocado (if using), cilantro and remaining cheese.

photo credit

I have been quite productive today so far, but my mind is all over the place. Just wanted to share/record my random thoughts today!

1. I ordered a sewing/embroidery machine last night! It’s not the really nice Baby Lock one that I want, but since I am a sewing novice, I thought this might be a way to test out the waters before I invest in a much more expensive one. I chose the Brother SE400 computerized embroidery and sewing machine. One drawback is that the size you can embroider is only 4×4 inches. But again, I want to try this new hobby of embroidering and learning to applique to see if it’s something I really love before I pay more to have a much larger space to work with. I’ve already picked out a few applique designs that I want to download to start making Logan some adorable onesies and shirts! 
2. Going along with the sewing machine, I’m excited to use the fabric that we’ve collected from Logan’s weekly photos to make some fun projects for her and her first birthday party, which is coming up before I know it!
3. I’ve started pinning ideas on Pinterest for her first birthday party, but it’s a little overwhelming to think about! Planning the event is not my problem since it’s what I do all the time, but making sure we select just the right theme and come up with ideas for the party to make it one we won’t forget is what I’m working on.
4. Ryan and I have been on the South Beach Diet for 11 days now, and I’ve lost 5.6 pounds!
5. Fountain Diet Cokes are going to be my downfall.
6. I’ve had a challenge getting in the bed at a reasonable time this week, and then that affects the next morning. Too many projects that I want to get done at home and not enough time in the evenings. I need to prioritize and do one at a time so I see results.
7. Logan turned nine months old on Saturday! I haven’t done her nine-month post yet, but I’ll get there. Want a sneak peak on her stats? She’s 17 lbs. (27th percentile) and 26 inches (4th percentile). Yes, she’s in the 4th percentile in height. No wonder all of her nine-month clothes are so long!
8. My family is celebrating my grandparents’ birthdays tomorrow night, and I am baking the cake. I found a recipe for coffee cake pound cake in this month’s Southern Living, and I really want to try it. Too bad the South Beach Diet won’t let me have a single bite! 
9. Ryan and I have a date Saturday night! I really want sushi, but again, the South Beach Diet…
10. I’m so thankful for Ryan. When I can’t get something done (or run out of time to do it), I can count on him to do it without me asking. {I love you, Ryan!}

I hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday!

Here’s Logan at 37 weeks old on December 29, 2011…

Ryan and I are taking weekly photos of Logan until she turns one, and then we’ll compile them into a photo book so we can document how she changes and grows over her first year. Want to see how Logan changes each week? All of her weekly photos are compiled here.

Here’s Logan at 36 weeks old on December 22, 2011. It’s the week of her first Christmas!

The fabric is not smooth at all, and I left it this way to show how hard it’s getting to take these photos of her each week! Logan does not want to sit still. She’s always on the go, so I have to be quick to get a good shot! I loved this one because it shows her sweet profile. Merry (belated) Christmas!

Ryan and I are taking weekly photos of Logan until she turns one, and then we’ll compile them into a photo book so we can document how she changes and grows over her first year. Want to see how Logan changes each week? All of her weekly photos are compiled here.

Here’s Logan at 35 weeks old on December 15, 2011…

Ryan and I are taking weekly photos of Logan until she turns one, and then we’ll compile them into a photo book so we can document how she changes and grows over her first year. Want to see how Logan changes each week? All of her weekly photos are compiled here.

We had a pretty low-key long weekend, which was just what we needed because Logan was sick for most of last week. Last Monday night, she woke up in the middle of the night coughing, but it sounded more like a barking cough. She went right back to sleep and was fine when she woke up Tuesday morning. When I picked her up from daycare on Tuesday afternoon, her teachers said that she had been coughing for most of the day and just not acting like herself. A child in the room next to hers who comes over to her classroom in the afternoons tested positive for RSV, so that was our concern. Several other kids in Logan’s class had been out with upper respiratory infections and/or earaches (but it seems that none of them were tested for RSV so who knows where Logan got it). So when she wasn’t acting any better on Wednesday morning and the coughing and runny nose continued, Ryan took her to the doctor. A test confirmed that she had RSV, but thankfully it was a pretty mild case. Since her nine-month well check-up was supposed to be yesterday (Monday), our doctor went ahead and did that check-up… and gave her two shots. (More soon on her nine-month stats!)

Ryan stayed home with her during the morning, and I came home for the afternoon so he could go to work. RSV and shots did not make for too fun of an afternoon, but I really enjoyed all the cuddling. We did the same thing on Thursday with Ryan staying home in the morning and me in the afternoon.

By Thursday afternoon, she was back to her normal self… just with a runny nose and only a cough when she woke up from naps. She was crawling all around (and underneath her activity table)…

And was excited for her bath! When we turn our back for a second, the first place she darts is to the tub to look over the edge. I try to keep the door shut so she can’t get in there, but she’s learning how to push doors open… and close them too! She’ll start to close a door and wave at us. Too cute.

And we’re really working on her sippy cup. She’s starting to get the hang of it!

Don’t laugh at how we have her feet pajamas tied behind her back. I guess the people who make the feet pajamas don’t assume that a nine-month old will be wearing some six-month and some nine-month clothes but can pretty much walk. And the slippery fabric doesn’t work well with walking, so after her bath each night, we just tie the legs together behind her back so she can still play. Hey, it works!

Logan went back to school on Friday, but I am glad we had this long weekend for her to get completely better. Her nose is still a little bit runny, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was and her cough is almost gone.

At nine-months old, this is the first time she’s been sick, and we are very thankful for such a healthy baby girl.

Saturday // January 15
After a two-hour visit to the emergency room with my grandad (everything is ok now!), I met Ryan and Logan at Chick-fil-a. He had taken her to Wal-Mart to get one of those corn popper push toys (he got the Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Corn Popper Push Toy) to help with her learning to walk. (She loves it, but Rose is so scared of it!) Then they went to Target to get some size 3 shoes. She’s still in size 2, but some of her thicker socks make them seem a bit small. He was looking at the ages that should correspond with shoes, and size 2 is for 3-6 months. She’s nine months. Our petite baby girl. The size 3s are still a bit big, but we’ll have them for when she’s ready.

So, back to Chick-fil-a. We each ordered grilled chicken salads to stick with our South Beach Diet plan. Logan ate some of our cheese, and she was so good in the high chair. That was the first time we’ve gone out to eat since starting our new healthy eating plan, and I was proud of us for ordering so well!

We’ve been working on giving Logan high fives, so she and Ryan were practicing at Chick-fil-a. Side note– It’s amazing how quickly she picks up on things! I think she notices more from us than we know. Sometime Saturday morning, I was making a grocery list while Ryan and I were playing with her in her room, and she picked up the pen and held it to the paper as if she was writing. The cap was on, so she then tried to pull it apart to open the pen. I guess we need to start really watching what we say and how we act because she’s learning and taking so much in.

She laid her head down. I think she was sleepy and telling us she had been good in her high chair long enough.

We went to Publix Saturday afternoon (avoiding Wal-Mart this time), and a nice lady brought Logan a balloon. As she was handing it to Ryan, the balloon went floating up to the ceiling. Not sure how that happened. Ryan claims the lady let go of it before actually handing it to him. So off she went to get another balloon. This time, we tied it quickly (and loosely) around Logan’s wrist, and she started hitting at it. Hilarious to watch! But then, a few aisles later, off the balloon went up to the ceiling. Again. But, the ribbon was still tied around Logan’s wrist, so the nice lady must not have tied the ribbon to the balloon very well. Ryan pointed out that it wasn’t his fault that the first balloon flew away if she couldn’t tie the balloon to the ribbon. Likely story. Anyway, it kept Logan entertained while it lasted, and we really appreciate that extra customer service at Publix. Another reason I shop there. Our grocery bill was pretty close to what it was at Wal-Mart the previous week, so I think I’m sticking with Publix.

Not too much else to report from Saturday. We played outside, and again, Logan got excited for bath time…

And she loved playing with the corn popper…

Sunday // January 16
We went to the 11:15 a.m. service at church because it was Cradle Roll Sunday. All the babies born in 2011 were honored, and we had about 20 of the 47 babies born last year. They said that a lot of them were sick… obviously RSV is making its rounds. We had to wake Logan up from her nap after only 30 minutes to get her ready and get there, and we didn’t stay for the whole service after the Cradle Roll part because we didn’t want to put her in the nursery since she still has a little runny nose. And, she eats around 11:30 or 12, so that would have been interesting!

A family photo before the service. Not getting a smile out of Logan for this one! And yes, we all match.

I realize all the time what a small world it is. The person who took this photo of us looked familiar. And she said the same thing to me. It turns out that her daughter and Logan were born on the same day at the same hospital, and we had been in the same session of the class we were required to attend before we could go home from the hospital. We both work at the same place (it’s big, so understandably we’ve never run into each other), and we go to the same church (again, big). Such a small world!

During the service, Logan was so good. We lined up down the outside aisles of the church, and Logan was waving at everyone as we walked. We got a certificate when her name was called, and then after briefly sitting down in the pew, we headed out as the congregation sang “Jesus Loves Me.” Another special day at church with Logan.

When we got home from church, we found Logan chewing on Ryan’s tie that he had taken off when we got in the car. Silly girl.

We took a few photos in the front yard of Logan in her dress. It’s a Carter’s dress that I got on sale before she was born, and this is the first time she’s worn it. It fits, but for her, crawling in a dress doesn’t work too well. I wish I had thought about that possibility before I bought so many dresses for her before she was born! And she’s wearing a black cardigan over it since it’s short-sleeves. So precious in her cardigan!

The bows I put in her stay stay for a few hours, but the more she moves around, the quicker they fall out… as is the case here.

After soup and salad for lunch at home, we went over to my grandparents’ house to wish my grandad a happy 85th birthday. I wish I had taken photos of Logan with them, but we played in the yard with her since my grandmother and mom had been getting over bronchitis. She loved these wind chimes.

We bought this precious hat at a local store a couple of months ago, and she wears it almost every morning (when it’s cold) to school. I kept forgetting to take a photo of her in it, but I just think she’s the most precious thing when she wears it.

Logan is such a happy baby. So thankful for that.

Like I mentioned, we’ve been working on giving high fives (and low fives in this case) this weekend, so she was practicing with my mom. And look at how she’s up on one knee. She’s trying hard to push up from the ground and stand up on her own. Several times in the last few days, she has stood on her own (after pulling up on something) for 7 or 8 seconds. Walking. It’s coming…

She crawled off of the blanket we had on the ground… and stopped in an area with just dirt (no grass). Of course. Look at that dirty booty!

Those ears on that jacket make my heart melt too! It’s from Old Navy, and I just love it!

Logan tried chicken for the first time for dinner. She was a little hesitant at first, but we wanted to start trying to get her to eat meat. She’s also less interested in the cheese toast I make her, so I need to get creative with some new foods.

On Sunday evening, I cooked a little for the week, and we relaxed watching The Golden Globes. I love seeing all the dresses.

Monday // January 16
Ryan and I were both off work for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but he had to go into work for most of the morning. It’s my last day off until July 4th, so I wanted to enjoy it! I did shower, but I stayed in my pajamas all day… playing with Logan, cuddling with her when she should be napping in her crib and cooking and prepping most of our food for the week. She would sleep forever in my arms, but she would just cry in her crib. So I took the opportunity to cuddle her. We watched a little Sesame Street for the first time, and she was mesmerized by the television.

After being hesitant with eating chicken on Sunday, Logan went to town on it on Monday. She had it for both lunch and dinner and LOVED it! I mean, if you know our family, she has to love chicken.

Ryan and I watched The Bachelor before heading to bed. How is there so much drama on that show? And why do I keep watching it?