Hello, Stranger

I have been such a terrible blogger lately - but I really do have a great excuse! 

This little guy:

 As I have mentioned before, Max is exploring EVERYthing!

In a given day, I may find him here

or here

or here

or here

or even here.

It's hard to keep up!

So please forgive me if I'm not posting regularly - this kiddo is giving me a run for my money. ;)

Eight Months

Wasn't I just posting about Max's seventh month?

The time is just flying by!

Our little man is full of wiggles, as you can see - 

which made taking this month's picture was quite the challenge!

 

 

(Can you find the surprise in this picture? ;D)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This does not bode well for future photo sessions. ;)

We went to the pediatrician yesterday to check Max's ears (he does indeed have another ear infection), and they weighed him in at 19 pounds, 12 ounces. They didn't measure him but my guess is that he's close to 29 inches long now. (Way too wiggly to measure. ;D)

He sleeps about 11 1/2 hours a night and takes 2, sometimes 3, good naps during the day.

We are in the process of dropping nap #3 (meaning some days he takes it and some days he doesn't),
although I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my dinner prep time!

Max is still doing well with nursing and solids - no major changes there.  

This past month he has added (pureed) blueberries, yellow squash, peaches, zucchini, 
broccoli, potato, and chicken to his dining repertoire. He has also discovered his love for Cheerios!

The big news of the month is that little man is now crawling EVERYwhere and pulling up on EVERYthing! He has even taken a few steps while pushing his toy basket across the floor - yikes!

Little man seems fearless - even when it comes to the floor furnaces!

He loves to explore the house and discover all kinds of new treasures 
(pulling magazines off the rack, knocking over the recycle bin, crawling under the dining table).
A tumble here or head bonk there doesn't even phase him any more.

Max has recently developed this funny little habit of putting his hand in his mouth and moving it back and forth while making sounds. He does this constantly - when we're in the car, at the store, playing at home, during meals. It is pretty funny!

Little man has also added many sounds to his babbling - the first being "da da" (which made Clay so proud!). Max loves to jabber and does so constantly. We love to hear his sweet little voice. :)

Max now has three teeth, and is seriously working on #4 and 5.

This month Max threw up for the first time. :(

It was an isolated incident, but scared this mama nonetheless!

It is absolutely amazing to watch our little man discover things about the world around him.

He is growing up so fast - Clay and I hope we can keep up!

Happy Valentine's Day

From the bottom of our hearts!

Hope you're enjoying today with the ones you love. ;)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

How To Tie A Scarf The Turkish Way

With this brief little snap of colder weather, I have been capitalizing on the opportunity
to showcase my scarf collection. Plus it's a good way to disguise spit-up on your shoulder. ;)

Several people have asked me how I tie my scarf, which is usually the Turkish way.
I call it the Turkish way because I learned this style from a sales lady in a pashmina shop
in Kusadasi, Turkey on our vacation two summers ago. She kept tying on scarf after scarf
using this beautiful technique. (And yes, I did buy one. ;))

Because we all need a little scarf flair, I thought I would show you
how to tie your scarf using these easy steps...

Step One: Fold your scarf in half - ish and place it around your neck.

Step Two: Loosely pull one end of the scarf under and through the looped end.

Step Four: Loosely pull the other end of the scarf over and through the looped end.

Step Five. Adjust the scarf so there are no holes.

(And then adjust your shirt. ;D)

Step Six: Smile because you look so fabulous in your scarf tied the Turkish way! :)

 

Photo A Day and Other Fun

Seven: (Belly) button

Eight: Sun(glasses)

(It was really cloudy that day.)

Nine: Front door

Ten: Self-portrait

Eleven: Makes me happy

A hot cup of tea and a new magazine to read :)


 So I've decided that in an effort to reclaim my blog from daily picture-taking (especially since I'm planning to do this all year), you can just view my Photo A Day challenge pics through my Instagram account on this website (or if you have the app on your phone, you can follow mrsrich!).
I may even figure out how to add a fancy button on the sidebar. :)

In other news, Clay has started a new job with Quicksilver Resources as the Financial Reporting Manager. (His first day was almost a month ago, but I never got around to posting about it.) His office is located in downtown Fort Worth, so he gets to ride the scooter to work most days - when the weather is nice. It's also nice that he works so close to home that he can join Max and I for lunch some days. :)

Little man is really moving these days and exploring EVERYTHING!
He loves to make laps around our little house, and I often find him in interesting new places.

 (the bathroom?)

(under the kitchen table?)

His new favorite thing is to pull up on just about anything he can get his hands on - even the wall (which is pretty funny to watch). Despite my best efforts, my little adventurer still sees his share of tumbles - and quite a few resulting bruises and scratches:

I have a feeling this will only get worse as he gets older!

Little man has FINALLY sprouted tooth #3! We have been saying for what seems like the last three months that his top teeth would be popping through any day - and now the third tooth has finally made its presence known. I have a feeling #4 is not too far behind...

So I have finally stopped tracking Max's every move on BabyTimer for my iPhone -
which is a huge step for this helicopter mama! I guess it was mostly out of habit that I kept tracking his naps and meals...but if I'm honest with myself, it was more likely a result of my OCD tendencies. So we're celebrating the small victories in our household today with a farewell to BabyTimer!

I got my TOMS ballet flats in the mail yesterday. (Happy dance!)

I had been anxiously awaiting their debut - and saving up some birthday/ Christmas money for the occasion. :) Can't wait to wear them soon!

 In the words of Al Roker, that's what's happening in our neck of the woods. ;)

Happy World Nutella Day (three days late)!

It was the summer of 2004 that I began my love affair with Nutella.

image via

(This is usually how Nutella jars look in our house.)

I was studying abroad in Florence, Italy, and the hotel where we were staying (called Hotel California, oddly enough, but that's another story) put out little packets of Nutella with their continental breakfast. So given a choice each morning, I opted for Nutella and toast. I seriously think I subsisted on Nutella, cappuccino, and gelato that summer. And maybe some pasta. Oh, to have that metabolism again!

Ever since then Nutella has been my little indulgence, a sweet reminder of my days spent in Italia. And I always LOVE trying new recipes that involve this chocolaty goodness - don't you?

Although World Nutella Day was technically on Sunday, February 5th, I thought I would join in the celebration (albeit tardily) and share my favorite Nutella recipe:

Giada's Chocolate Pizza!

(Recipe from the Food Network)

image via

Ingredients:

1 pound (homemade or purchased) pizza dough

2 teaspoons butter, melted

1/4 cup Nutella

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips

2 tablespoons white chocolate chips

2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Position the oven rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper and roll out the dough to a 9-inch-diameter round. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Using your fingers, make indentations all over the dough. Brush the dough with butter, then bake until the crust is crisp and pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately spread the chocolate-hazelnut spread over the pizza then sprinkle all the chocolate chips over. Bake just until the chocolate begins to melt, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the pizza. Cut into wedges and serve. 

Buon appetito!

Photo A Day: 4, 5 and 6

Four: A Stranger

...and my husband enjoying his Tickle Me Pink cupcake 

at The Cupcakery downtown :)

Five: 10pm

(It was supposed to be 10am, but I was in Bible class then and felt weird snapping a photo. 

So I did 10pm instead - me checking emails on the iPad before bed!)

Six: Dinner

California chicken with mixed veggies - yum!

Photo A Day: February 2 and 3

Two: Words

 Wonderful words from Jesus Calling - words I always need to hear!

Three: Hands

Little hands sent out with some Valentine greetings :)

Photo A Day: February 1

One: My view

Of a sweet little sleeping baby boy on the video monitor :)