8 months, Thanksgiving, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

How quickly things change.  I last posted that Greer clapped her hands, though they don't usually make a sound.  Well, about a day later that all changed.  She's even learned to clap when you sing pat-a-cake, thanks to Grams.  She has also pulled up to standing in her crib.  Such a big girl.

We had a great Thanksgiving, got our tree, and got the house all decorated for Christmas!  It was so fun to have my mom and sister here and to host Thanksgiving, and we were so glad our good friends joined us for dinner.  We had TEN side dishes for six adults, a 3-year old and a baby.  Haha!  Matt smoked the turkey and it was delicious... as was everything.  I wasn't expecting to be stressed out, but we really did good pacing the day in the kitchen and timing everything perfectly at the end.  It was really a stress free day.  And, thanks to sweet Charlotte, we had some awesome handprint turkey placecards.  They were the perfect addition to the table.  :)

Bundled up for the cold day!!

#nom

early Christmas present from Grams... she LOVES it

Aunt Brandi with her nieces and nephew

Greer's first Christmas tree!

Crawling, eating and talking... oh my!

The post title pretty much sums it up.  Greer is a crawler (army crawling but she gets around), eater and talker.  It's amazing how quickly they change and learn new things.  Of course, when I say talking, it's all gibberish, but she sure has a lot to say.  She sits up like a champ and plays with her toys.  She climbs up me and Matt but has not yet pulled up in her crib (I am sure any day now).  Her coordination has gotten pretty good, and she's even able to pick up smaller items (especially small pieces of food) and handle them well.  She claps her hands... they don't usually make a clapping sound, but she's quite pleased with herself nonetheless.  She can drink from a sippy cup on her own and has even started to hold her own bottle.  She's showing some major momma favoritism and separation anxiety right now.  She's cried a few times when I've walked out the door at Mr. Craig's (though I can look in the window after I've left and see that she gets over it mighty quickly), and she frequently cries when I walk out of sight at home.  She sometimes cries when Matt leaves the room too.  Her feelings are hurt very easily these days, which result in massive crocodile tears.  She's still a funny girl and laughs and smiles a lot, despite the increase in tears.  It's so funny to see her little personality developing.  Although she has the separation anxiety, I do think she is going to be little miss independent (I can't imagine where she'd get this trait).  She is such a wiggle worm and rarely sits still, so on our flight home from Tampa when she finally fell asleep in my arms, I melted into a puddle of mush and could barely stop kissing her head (well, I can barely stop kissing her head or cheeks or lips or whatever is most available to smother with love anytime I'm around her).  She has now been to St. Pete and Tampa, and we also took another trip to Blue Ridge.  She is really pretty easy and goes with the flow.  We've enjoyed many meals out, including lunch at our favorite place (JCT Kitchen), and she's been great through them all.  Probably because she likes to eat.  She is definitely our child.  She has eaten so many foods now... she can basically eat anything soft enough to mash with her gums.  I haven't given her any dairy (other than formula) or grains, but she's had quite the assortment of veggies, fruits, and proteins.  She loves them all.  She really doesn't have a daytime schedule anymore (Mr. Craig has trouble with the schedule, I think), so that's been a little tough for me.  But, she generally naps well at home (in fact, she's just waking up from an almost 3 hour nap after taking a 20-30 minute nap this morning), just totally of schedule!  :)  She is on vacation from school this week, so I am working from home and have a "mother's helper" here to play with Greer.  But, I'm taking tomorrow off and Grams and Aunt Brandi will be here tomorrow night for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We are having our friends over for dinner, so it should be a fun day.  I can't believe she will be 8 months on Thursday!  Time is surely flying by, and we are loving every minute.

Enjoying some grass fed burger at Ormsby's

Yum, big sweet potato wedge

Where's Greer?

Airport play time

Finally meeting Gram!

Unimpressed by the crocodile... gators are way better (except this year in football, but we won't go there) - Florida Aquarium

Photobombed by a ray.

Pool time at the Yacht Club with daddy, Uncle Jason and Arden.

Bliss.

meow.

big girl!

Mercier Orchard - Blue Ridge, GA

Mercier Orchard - Blue Ridge, GA

How we felt about the FL/GA game.  Also, how we've felt most of the season. ;)

Loves JCT just like momma and daddy!

I swear I'm getting her a roll of paper for Christmas... endless entertainment!

This face makes me laugh... as does this outfit. 

uh oh

 

What's up, doc?

Look Alikes

In case there was any question who Greer looks like...

Greer - 7 months old

Matt - 8 months old
 

Pardon the chili face (she loves food), but it was the only picture I could find where she was making almost the same face as Matt is in his picture (which is a face we see often these days).  Thankfully, she didn't get his ears (and he grew into them).  ;)

I have lots of catching up to do and pictures to post, but no time now.  Maybe next week!

Paleo(ish) Banana Bread

We had three very ripe bananas in our produce basket, so of course, it was time to make some banana bread.  I adapted several recipes to come up with this one, and I like the way it turned out!

5/8 c coconut flour, sifted (I think you could get away with 3/4 c but I didn't want it to be too dense or dry)
1/8 c flax meal, sifted (pretty sure 1/4 c would work here too but again, see above)
1/2 tsp good quality cinnamon (we love Penzey's!)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c organic extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1/4 c organic pastured butter, melted (could do 1/2 c coconut oil but I like butter)
4 organic free range large eggs, beaten
1/4 c organic maple syrup (Grade A or B)
3/4 tsp good quality vanilla extract (we love Penzey's!)
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed (I used 3)
optional: cocoa nibs (or Enjoy Life chocolate chips), pecans, walnuts, raisins, cranberries, etc. (I used walnuts and chocolate chips, because I had them on hand)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a loaf pan with butter or coconut oil.  In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients.  In a small bowl, mix wet ingredients.  Once mixed, add mashed bananas.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until incorporated.  Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (I find the baking time varies on paleo(ish) goodies... I baked mine closer to 60 mins). 

Tip - keep paleo(ish) breads like this in the fridge.  I think due to the amount of eggs, they get soggy if they sit on the counter.  The fridge seems to help that.  I warm the bread before serving, and I bet it would be amazing if you "toasted" it in a pan w/ a little butter over the stove.

P.S.  Of course, you don't have to use organic, but you know me.  ;)

Half a Year

Oh my precious Greer.  You are 6 (plus) months old.  I can hardly believe it.  My love for you grows to new heights daily, even as I don't think it's possible to love you any more.  Your daddy must think I'm crazy, because I constantly kiss you and squeeze you and just want to smother you with love and hugs and tell you how cute and sweet you are and how much you are loved.  I can't get enough.  I may be addicted to you.  You are developing such a personality, and I love it.  I think you're going to be one part sweet, two parts jokester, and three parts precocious.  You love to laugh, especially when we pick you up from Mr. Craig's at the end of the day or you see the doggies.  Apparently, we are all hilarious.

I had my first breakdown the other day when I dropped you off.  I blame the hormones partly (hello fertility, nice to have you back I guess), but I think the reality of being a working mom has finally sunk in.  The craziness that is our life plus the sheer fact that I just want to spend my days with you right now makes it hard for this momma to leave her favorite girl.  I know you are in good hands, and unless we move, it's just not in the cards budget for me to be home with you.  Plus, I do enjoy working (generally).  But, it is hard.  It is hard to get out the door each morning; it is hard to leave you; it is hard to cram a full work week into four days (and I am usually unsuccessful at it); it is hard to have almost no time to relax at the end of the day because we are getting everything ready for the next crazy day (and literally no time if like last night I went from taking care of you and home chores straight back to my computer to finish up some work then to bed); it is hard to make time to care for the doggies like they deserve.  But, sometimes life is hard.  This is just a season, and oh sweet girl, don't ever forget how spoiled we are and how good we have it.  These, my dear, are what I like to refer to as first world problems.  I so look forward to Friday every week for a whole new reason... I get to spend it with you!

At six months old, you are eating food (as in whole foods in addition to very limited purees... not always swallowing the food, but you pick it up and put it in your mouth and mush it around... your daddy and I are quite proud), drinking water from a sippy, sitting up, scooting in circles on your belly, really wanting to figure out how to crawl especially after seeing your boyfriend Whitaker do it all weekend, laughing up a storm, sticking out your tongue, babbling all kinds of good stuff (g sounds, v sounds, th sounds, d sounds - you've put d and g together like doggie and babble dadada, vavavavava, gagagaga, gooogooogooo, geegeegeegee, etc.), you love your buzzy bee and turtle toys, you go to town in your jumperoo, love to practice standing, experiencing some pretty major stranger danger, and all of a sudden don't like your baths.  You've eaten chicken, egg yolk (a little), avocado (don't seem to love that... we can't be related), squash, zucchini, carrots, cucumber, sweet potatoes, apple, peeled grapes, and banana.  I think banana is your favorite, so you don't get it every day.  Sorry mom is a meanie.  You also loved squash, zucchini, and sweet potato.  I made butternut squash soup last night, so you'll be having some of that tonight.  You do pretty good eating the whole foods, but you will actually swallow most of the purees, so I expect that you will get in a good meal in tonight!

Your six month appointment was last Friday, and you weighed 15 lbs 8 oz (25th-50th percentile), measured 26" long (50th percentile) and your head was 16.5" in circumference (25th percentile). 

We took you to the Braves playoff game Friday night, and you weren't so sure about it.  After spending lots of time watching from the concourse and walking around, I gave you a bottle and then we went back to our seats and you decided it wasn't so bad afterall and had a lot of fun staying up past bedtime.  You were the Braves goodluck charm, because it was the only game they won in the series!

You bring so much joy to our lives.  So incredibly grateful that God saw it fit for us to be your parents!!!