Memorial Weekend and Bumbo!

This weekend we were lucky enough to make it to the Anderson Family Reunion on Lake Granbury. I always love going to this and seeing family you probably wouldn't see otherwise. This was technically Quinn's second reunion, but she was just a tiny little peanut in my tummy last year! Of course everyone loved her and thought her chubby thighs were the cutest! She also got to meet her cousin Chasleigh for the first time! Chasleigh is 6 months old and loved Quinn! She crinkled her nose with a huge smile every time she saw Quinn! They were both so good all weekend being passed from Aunt to Aunt. We also brought them a pool to splash in, but they were not fans of the super cold water! NEXT YEAR! It was a short, but great weekend! We can't wait for next year!

With Cousin Lyla and Papaw! 

With Mason, Chasleigh, Uncle Jay and Aunt SueLynn

Quinn also had her 4 month appointment (with shots) last week. She did GREAT, cried for a few moments, but was perfectly fine after a few minutes! Her doctor still assured us that her head is shaped perfectly and healthy in every other way too! We

We're still trying the rice cereal out. It's getting better, but she's still not a HUGE fan of it. Her doctor told us to make it a little thicker and that seemed to work better, she just has to get used to that spoon!! 

Quinn can almost sit up on her own now! (YAY!) We bought a Bumbo chair for her last week and it seems to be helping her sit up better on her own. I can't wait until she's able to sit up on her own and really starts to giggle! (and NOT just for Daddy either!) She's continuing to be the greatest blessing of our lives! Loving every moment these days!

BIG GIRL! 

Quick note on my weight loss journey, since I posted last I've lost 5 more pounds! BUT, I'm pretty sure I gained it all back this weekend, no one's on a diet on Memorial Day!! Found this AMAZING recipe that I want to share: Gwyneth Paltrow's Braised Chicken. Not only is she a gorgeous movie star, she's a pretty amazing cook! I've made this recipe three times already and it just keeps getting better! It does however; take a pretty long time to cook, but it's NECESSARY if you want it to taste amazing! It's worth the wait, I promise!! Thanks for stopping by, if you try the recipe let me know how it goes! YUMMY!

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Braised-Chicken-Green-Olives-Lemon-Gwyneth-Paltrow

Greek Yogurt Pancakes!

As promised, here is the recipe for Greek yogurt pancakes that I just discovered via Pinterest. First of all, if you haven't joined Pinterest I highly recommend it! It's AMAZING!! It's basically a HUGE inspiration board  for almost everything! Seriously, check it out.

Anyway, back to this recipe. I'm pretty skeptical about the "healthy" version of anything. 1. Because I love butter. 2. It never seems to taste as good as the original. Especially when it comes to pancakes. I have a very deep and loving relationship with many types of pancakes. So, when I stumbled upon this recipe I probably wouldn't of given it a second thought, but I already had the ingredients PLUS I've decided to begin a healthy lifestyle to get rid of the baby weight for good! And HEY, if I can find a pancake recipe that I could have everyday, then I'm on board!

Ok, first things first DON'T be alarmed at how thick the batter is, it's supposed to be that way!
Second, I substituted whole wheat flour instead of white flour. (YAY ME!)
And thirdly, I added a little vanilla to make them even more yummy!

Enough chit chat, here's the recipe link:

http://www.everydaybelle.com/2011/06/greek-yogurt-pancakes/

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! And don't be afraid to add some blueberries, bananas, or strawberries to the batter! YUM!

4 MONTHS OLD!

Hello again! Our little one is 4 months old! Well, actually she's almost 5 months now! I know I've bragged about her being the most sweetest and laid-back baby all the time, but I just can't help it! She really is!! She sat through my brother's THREE hour graduation ceremony from UTSA (which I'm super proud about!)  like an angel! Everyone we saw had to complement on how cute and well-behaved she was. We took her musical sea horse with us (that's the secret weapon we use when she gets a little cranky from lack of sleep) and she just oohed and ahhed to her sea horse, they were having quite the conversation and were creating quite the scene, but everyone around us just loved it and couldn't stop smiling! She oohs and ahhs to just about everyone/everything she sees these days. We've had many conversations about daddy (when he's not around, or course) already ;).

Q's also got this new thing where she just stares at her hands. It's exactly like it is in the movies (you know, when a person is little high ((and NOT on life)) and they notice their hands for the first time and they say something like "Whoa dude, look at my hand!"). That's what it's like for her, seriously. It's hilarious. She cracks me up.

I took her to the doctor Tuesday, there was a little concern that her head was a little mishapen in the back, but I'm happy to report that she is growing just perfectly! She weighed 14 lbs and 13 oz, and is now 24 inches long! The days seem long, but the months seem to go by SO fast, 5 MONTHS next month, 5!! Then she'll be half a year old after that, I CANNOT believe it! I've already started brain-storming party ideas for her first birthday! (A little crazy, I know!)

I've also found out the trick to getting her to sleep right when we put her down, WITHOUT crying! The very first sign of her getting sleepy (rubbing her eyes, gets slightly fussy) she gets put in her crib. I turn her sea horse on and by the time the sea horse is done, she is out! You would think it would work the opposite way, the longer she stays up, the sooner she'll go to sleep when you put her down, but that's not the case! The fussier I let her get, the longer she cries when she goes down for a nap! Weird, right? I'm guessing it's because she gets over-stimulated and just doesn't know what to do with herself! That was the case on Monday after graduation for sure! We didn't get home until around 6, and she just cried and cried for the longest time, I put her down hoping she would finally calm down and fall asleep, but that just made it worse! Daddy finally had to bundle her up really tight and rock her to sleep! (Good job Daddy!)

Now I'm going to talk about myself for a moment: WEIGHT LOSS AFTER BABY! I've done ok, I guess. I've lost about 34 lbs since birth, which might seem like a lot, but I went a little crazy while pregnant and gained 50 lbs! Like my doctor told me to stop gaining weight (OOPS!). I would like to lose AT LEAST 10 more pounds, preferably 15! But I'm SUPER lazy, like SUPER lazy, especially when it comes to diet and exercising. I would rather just eat one DELICIOUS, fattening meal a day, than diet and exercise. That's healthy, right?? But I've just had to make myself start eating more and more veggies. If you know me, you know that this is a MIRACLE! And, much to my surprise, they aren't THAT bad! Actually kinda taste good!  Who knew?! Now comes the really hard part for me, exercising at least 4 times a week. I've discovered ZUMBA, which is super fun and still a nice sweat building workout! Try it out if you hate exercising! I literally just go to YOUTUBE and type in Zumba workouts and there are plenty for FREE!

This is a really long post and I hope you've stayed tuned this long! I wrote the entire last article to tell you that I'm going to begin to chronicle my weight loss here too. 1. To share super yummy and HEALTHY recipes that I've discovered and 2. Because knowing I actually have to have good results will give me more willpower to stay with it!

I'll leave you with a little note I saw on my sister-in-laws pantry door (who by the way is super awesome with weight loss and WAY more disciplined than I) "NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS BEING SKINNY FEELS." I probably need to write that on every door and cabinet in my kitchen! It's a great reminder! I hear my little zombie baby making zombie noises from her crib now, so she must be awake! (Seriously, she definitely sounds like a zombie sometimes). Thanks for sticking with me! Bless your little heart! Enjoy the pics!

Q really likes the Big Bang Theory...