9 months!

and today my sweet boy is 9 months old. it is hard to imagine he has been out almost as long as he was in...pregnancy feels a little like a dream (someone kick me to remind me of how much i disliked it).

in the past month kiah has definitely added some new tricks! the biggest being crawling, he can motor (haha...motor) around quite sufficiently when he wants something. if he is tired, or like the past week, sick, he just lays on the ground and whines. that i could do without.

look out everyone! i'm on the move!

we've added two new teeth with two more on the way shortly but i don't think i'll be getting a good picture of that anytime soon. poor kid cut the new ones last week at the height of his cold symptoms which made for a pretty miserable end of the week (although he took amazingly long naps two days in a row which allowed me plenty of time for sewing!).

he still claps his hands and will keep clapping if he receives praise. when he does something he thinks is impressive he looks around to make sure you're watching. i'm pretty sure if he knew the little green light in his room was a camera and that we might be watching he would stare at that when he stands up in his crib the little stinker. he has started to sign "more" at meals when he wants more food, and is pretty close to actually pointing at mommy's nose when asked "where is mommy's nose?". he says "ah-da" when eric comes home from work and although i've heard him say "mama" he doesn't actually say that when he sees me. i've only heard him say it when dada is the one getting him out of bed (on the weekends) and i'm not in the room...almost like he's asking where i'm at :).

his cheesy new grin :)

his favorite games are chase and peek-a-boo, and if you combine the two he is thrilled. he finds other children fascinating, especially the ones that can walk and talk. other babies he tends to bowl over on his way to chewing on their toys.

he still loves his food, and gobbled down both scrambled eggs and chicken pot pie in the past few days. as much as he shoves large amounts of food in his mouth all at once, i think he actually prefers to be fed by spoon or fork because he can eat it faster. my little piggie ;).

eating black beans for the first time!

he is such a sweet sweet boy, very busy and very interested in whatever we happen to be doing. he still likes people and is pretty friendly, and as of yet we've had no instances of separation anxiety out of the house. now that he can move on his own though that issue is starting to resolve itself. he is most happy when both eric and i are at home and free to pay attention to him. i am amazed at how much i love him, and equally amazed to know God loves him more and loves me just as much. he is such a gift!

palm desert maxi

saw this.

splendid maxi skirt, nordstrom

wanted it. but not for $130.

saw this.

diy maxi skirt

also wanted it. but for the very lovely price of $7/yd (thank you pinterest) i could have it!

so i made this!

and it was SO SO SO super easy. i actually made one for my mom first, and added pockets to her skirt. then made another for me, sans pockets. seriously people - so easy. i can't wait to wear it. i'll probably wear it every day in palm springs, it's that comfortable :). and how fitting...the splendid skirt i saw in the nordstrom catalog? it's called the palm desert maxi. so i'm calling mine that too.


the original pattern is from elle apparel and it is everything it promises - easy, comfy, totally worth your time and energy. i did the whole thing on my sewing machine, though it made me long for a serger real bad. that is definitely on my list!

i have two+ yards of fabric left in the same color...maybe we'll do a little giveaway? who wants their own palm desert maxi? leave a comment below by friday 2.17 and we'll pick a winner at random!

sick round 2

ugh. i hate winter.

kiah woke up monday morning hacking like a smoker and it made me a bit concerned. we took a trip to the dr monday afternoon, and he was happy to report it was just a common cold. kiah was pretty happy in the office so the dr wasn't too concerned but said it was good we had come in to rule out a repeat performance of RSV. okay great, just a cold.

okay not great, as the poor kid has gotten worse and worse each day since then! he fortunately is still sleeping at night, which somewhat suprises me. yesterday was not a good day. his nose started running AND his top four teeth are coming in so in addition to him not feeling good his mouth hurts too. you could tell he was miserable but there wasn't a lot i could do for him. he took a horrible nap in the morning because he would wake up everytime he coughed, and then cry because it hurt. the afternoon was better but he spent the hour before, during and after dinner yelling/whining/crying. needless to say i needed a glass of wine by the time he went to bed.

this morning he looked waaay worse than yesterday and wouldn't let me put him down. he threw up mucous (i'm not talking spit up people, he threw it up) not once but twice, fell asleep in the ergo and then took a nice long 90 minute nap. he's currently down and out for the count on nap #2, but nap #1 seemed to have left him in much better spirits so i'm hoping for another helping of that post-nap this afternoon.

i feel terrible for him as there isn't much i can do to make him feel better. one bonus? my normally sweet but NOT snuggly little boy has been snuggling up a storm :). here's hoping we kick this cold to the curb as we leave for palm springs in less than a week!

linnie + denim = super weekend

the rest of our weekend included a short but oh so sweet visit from auntie linnie (woohoo!), church, and a super cool denim party :).

what's a denim party, you ask? it is a party to which you are required to wear any and all things denim. circa 198-something and repeated again somewhere in the late 90's/early 00's. eric and i spent our date night last week trolling thrift stores for some sweet duds...i scored, but eric struck out. friday and saturday were spent prepping then throwing the baby shower that we didn't really have time to go looking again. last minute sewing preparations to the rescue!?!

eric cut up a pair of old jeans and fashioned it into this sort of vest thing. i sewed the shoulders closed and away we went, auntie linnie included! here are the pictures to give you an idea...

mr & mrs denim

even linnie got into the denim!

church on sunday was so so so good; actually church has been amazing the past couple of weeks. we kicked off the real marriage series and Jesus is blowing up marriages all over the place. secrets are being confessed, repentance and forgiveness happening all over the place, men are leading and loving their wives and wives are respectfully submitting and supporting their husbands. seriously some good stuff. and we're not even halfway through!! check it out here - and though i recommend you don't pick and choose what you listen to, if you're going to, i vote for the "friend with benefits" sermon.

i particularly like the shadow in this picture :)

we didn't get to do much with auntie linnie while she was here because her visit was so short, but we did watch the super bowl, play with kiah and she managed to kink up her neck pretty bad while we were running. (she's blaming it on my horrible form which she was trying to imitate.) we stopped by my favorite chiropractor's office on the way to the airport and she got all fixed up :). it was so good to see her again but next time it has to be longer linnie pinnie!!

pretty in pink

pink. lots of it. as in, my house became a pink palace to celebrate the coming of baby girl anniston rose daniels! i do love me some pink so i didn't mind. considering half of the decorations are still up, i obviously don't mind. (hey, it's almost valentine's day).

i had lots of help on this one from jodi, the lovely auntie-to-be, and could-be jessica's twin sister.

am i right? i am right.

i have to say...we did a pretty awesome job decorating. jodi and i could go into business together :)

tissue poms - LOVE THESE!!

hanging name with onesies
(i knew those nails would be used for something other than christmas!)

more poms and flowers in the windows

the table (minus most of the food)

we did a little brunch, appliqued some onesies, played a fun game, watched a lot of babies in the 8-10 month category play on the floor, and spoiled jessica and annie rotten :). kiah wasn't too excited about having to share his toys with so many other babies (at least i think that was his problem...he whined everytime i tried to put him on the floor to play) so i had to ask eric to come get him halfway through the party. kiah was much happier playing with power tools outside with dada. it was gorgeous outside saturday so the pictures are only so-so. crazy lighting conditions in the house. here are the good ones!

mom & grandma to be!

time for presents!

jessica reading a letter from her grandma with advice.
included "put down your cell phone and pay attention to your kid"

jodi made these super cool custom blocks for annie's room!

the boys were obsessed with the tissue poms

olivia modeling the super cute owl hat becca gave annie!

the adorable onesies! everyone did such a great job!

buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake

i've been spending too much time on pinterest. it's a good/bad thing. but there are just too many fun crafts and yummy recipes to try!! up first...a yummy dessert!

i had buttermilk leftover from the coffeecake and needed a snack for community group. myrecipes.com to the rescue! i found this recipe for buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake and knew it would be a winner :).

i didn't have chocolate syrup so i added a 1/2 tsp of almond extract instead; i think the syrup makes this a little moister than it turned out to be, but it was still delicious!!

buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake

1 8oz pkg semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 C chocolate syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 C buttermilk
powdered sugar to garnish

preheat oven to 325. melt chocolate in microwave for 1 min on high, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth. (i melted mine on the stove because i could multitask better that way.)

beat butter at a medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy (5-7 minutes). add eggs, one at a time, and beat until the yellow disappears before adding the next. stir in melted chocolate, syrup, and vanilla until smooth.

combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, & salt and add alternately to the butter mixture with the buttermilk. begin and end with flour mixture. beat at a low speed until just mixed after each addition. pour into greased 10" tube pan or bundt pan.

bake at 325 for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then on wire rack for at least an hour prior to serving. garnish with powdered sugar. scarf. :)

*grease your pans well; a good chunk of my cake stuck to the pan and made for an ugly presentation!

running man

so that little bugger of mine is really moving and does not want to sit still for anything these days! i will post more about that later, including our fun weekend adventures (jessica's baby shower, a denim party, and auntie linnie!) but for now you just have to watch this video. it makes me laugh pretty much every time i see it, so hopefully you'll enjoy it too!

sorry the camera wiggles a bunch. i realized after i started filming the light was terrible.