10 Months

The boys turned 10 months old on the 18th, so I'm a little behind on this post. I cannot believe how mobile they are now! They're cruising around everywhere. I think Carter is going to start walking very soon and Evan will probably be a few weeks behind, I can't believe it.

They both are pulling up great, standing, squatting, cruising, etc. Carter likes to walk with his toy post office push walker. Evan likes playing on it and can walk behind it, but usually gets distracted by all the fun stuff to play with one it.

They are into EVERYTHING!! I have to watch them like hawks. They love going through the cabinets that we left open for them in the kitchen and playing with the plastic bowls, but they also love the drawer in the stove which we haven't figured out how to baby proof yet. They love going anywhere they know they're not supposed to be and they are fast! We leave the door to the laundry room closed during the day, if we go in there for something, they know it and will come flying down the hall from whatever part of the house they're in. It's so funny to hear them coming.

They are interacting more than ever. They love to play with whatever the other one has. Most of the time, they're very relaxed about it and just go with the flow, but sometimes they can get pretty upset at the other one for taking their toy. They always want the other one's pacifier. If they both have one in their mouth, they will go up to each other and switch.

They took their first overnight trip to TN and met a lot of the extended family for the first time. They loved it! They did pretty good considering we had no idea what we were doing since we had never traveled with babies before. Driving at night is the way to do it.

They're eating pretty much everything, we give them bites of almost anything we're eating. They are great eaters, Carter is a little pickier than Evan, but there's very few things he doesn't like. We can go out to eat with them at a sit down restaurant pretty easy now. We still need to start transitioning from the bottle to the sippy cup, but we have some time. My goal is to have them on sippy cups by their 1st birthday. Evan drinks great out of a sippy cup, Carter prefers his bottle. They love Gerber puffs & yogurt melts. They also seem much more likely to like a food if they get to feed it to themselves.

They are wearing 12 month clothes, although the pants/shorts are a little big around the waist on Evan. They're both in size 4 diaper.

They are sleeping better (for the most part) than they ever have. They each wake up about once at night and just for their pacifier. They are still on 3 naps a day, but their first one is slowly turning into a 2 hour nap, and their last one is usually really short, so we think they'll be taking 2 naps a day shortly, but I think I said that last month too. :)

Carter seems to becoming less shy around people, he especially loves older kids. Evan likes anybody. Evan LOVES animals. He loves petting the goats at Yoders and loved my aunt's cat when we visited. Carter seems to like animals, but likes to stay back and approach them when he's ready. Evan has no fear. He's like that with everything, Carter is more cautious and thinks about things. I'm so curious to see if that's how they'll be when their older.

Like every month, I feel like this post is all over the place. It's so hard to put into words how much they've changed and what all they're up to. I want to remember everything, but it's hard to write down everything that they're doing.

Pictures this month were something else! These boys are so energetic and the last thing they wanted to do was take pictures. I thought about trying on another day, but it probably wouldn't have helped since this is how they are now. Plus, I think it's fun to look back and see how they were-even if they weren't posing perfectly for the camera--that's what these posts are for.

Evan took off immediately.

We finally get him to sit still for 2 seconds, but he doesn't want to look at the camera, he's facsinated with his sticker.

Mamaw trying to help pose him.

Haha!

And he's off. He just wanted to crawl back and forth on the couch. We have that area of the room blocked off, so it was something new and exciting.

So happy with himself that he escaped.

I think this is the best pose we got.

Carter lasted a little longer before taking off. Not much longer, though.

He's starting to slouch down to get ready to crawl off.

He sees Evan and it's all over.

So happy!

Last Week Recap

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mom and sister, Caroline, came up for a week after our weekend in TN. They left yesterday morning and I already miss them. :( I really enjoyed their visit and I know the boys did, too. The boys schedule was completely off all last week, I guess from our trip. I also don't think they liked me trying to get them to take their naps, I think they thought they were exempt from napping since Mamaw and Aunt Caroline were here. Evan's also decided that getting up at 4:00-4:30am is a good idea. So, needless to say, we've been pretty exhausted, but I'm so glad that I had some company last week or I might have lost my mind. The boys are getting back into their routine, Evan still got up early yesterday and today, but they're back to taking their naps, so I'm happy. Greg has a 4 day weekend coming up next weekend, so hopefully that doesn't throw them off their routine again since we try and do things on Greg's days off that sometime mess with the boys nap schedule.

It rained some while my mom and Caroline were here, but when it wasn't raining the weather was really nice. We took advantage of the nice weather and tried to let the boys get some fresh air as much as we could. We took the boys to Yoder's Country Market and had lunch and let the boys pet the goats. Evan loves animals, he gets so excited and has no fear. Carter was perfectly content letting Aunt Caroline hold him while he looked at the goats from a safe distance. They also had ducks, chickens, etc. that the boys enjoyed looking at.

The boys spent a lot of  time on our deck, too. I was able to water our vegetables and flowers while my mom and Caroline watched them. They loved it out there.

We put the boys on a blanket in the yard under the deck where it was shaded. I was afraid the boys might be a little shy around Aunt Caroline since they hadn't seen her since Christmas, but that was not the case. They loved her! Evan was on her the entire time they were outside, it was really cute.

So happy!!

He loves touching people's teeth! I don't think she did. :)

This is how Carter likes to touch the grass, on his terms. He'll even crawl in it and everything if he can do it himself, but if we try and stand him in the grass--he does NOT like it.

Evan hugging Aunt Caroline. So sweet!!

We really enjoyed their visit and can't wait until they come back.

Island Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

My friend gave me this recipe and said it was one of her favorite recipes. I have been hesistant to try fruit salsa and I haven't made many main dishes that require fruit. I didn't know how we'd like it, but I thought this was the perfect time to try something new. I'm so glad we did. Greg & I both loved it. I used the optional jalepeno it called for and left in a lot of the seeds to give it a kick. I couldn't believe how much Greg liked it. We'll be making this a lot this summer. It's healthy and tastes so fresh. Enjoy!

Island Chicken with Pineapple Salsa


Ingredients
16 ounces boneless, skinless chicken

Marinade:
1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened crushed pineapple, juice only, (reserve fruit for salsa)
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 T honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t red pepper flakes (I added a little more)
Salsa:
Pineapple from strained can
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
1/4 c red onion, diced fine
1 lime, juiced
1 T cilantro, chopped
1 T jalapeno pepper, diced fine (optional)

Directions

Open pineapple and strain to separate juice from fruit. Place juice in a baking dish. Add soy sauce, honey, garlic and red pepper to the dish and stir. Slice chicken breasts into 4 4-ounce strips. If thick, pound out to flatten with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place chicken in the marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Prepare salsa by combining all ingredients. Preheat grill to medium heat or turn on broiler and place rack in the middle of the oven, about 6" away from the heat source. Grill or broil chicken for 4-5 minutes per side or until the meat is no longer pink. Serve with fruit salsa.

Makes 4 servings, 3 ounces cooked meat and 1/2 cup of salsa

Number of Servings: 4

**I wasn't sure how to pick out a mango since it was my first time buying one. If you aren't sure how to tell if something is ripe--ask!! There's almost always an employee in the produce section stocking and they've always been so nice and helpful anytime I've had a question. This doesn't just apply to vegetables, if you have a question about anything, ask one of the employees. I've asked the guy at the meat counter several questions from how to pick something out, to what something was, and if he thinks it'd work in my recipe and he never steers me wrong**

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday.

I'm so excited to announce that we are going to be aunt & uncle to a little niece later this year. We found out yesterday that Greg's brother and sister-in-law are having a GIRL!! I'm so happy for them and excited to have a niece, so this week's WILW will be all the girl stuff that I'm excited for. :)

I love ruffles, especially on the butts of pants, it's so cute! (found these at Kohls)

I love summer clothes, the dresses, the matching bloomers, etc. I found all these at Kohls.

I love baby girl nurseries. They can be so elegant and beautiful. I love pink, I love white or black cribs, I love all the girly decoration you can add like monograms, fluffy rugs, etc. I found all these at Babies R Us.

I love the green and pink combo.

so elegant

I love monogramed bloomers (I love anything monogramed, actually) like these from Anything Baby Boutique on Etsy.

I love pillowcase dresses. I'd have another baby if I knew it would be a girl, just so I could dress her up in these.

I especially love personalized ones, like this one from Silly Lilly Kids on Etsy.

I love big head bands and bows on baby girls. The bigger the better. Look at this little cutie in a big bow and pillowcase dress from SooShabbyChic on Etsy.

Or this one from Banner Boutique

I love bikinis for baby girls. I'm more conservative when it comes to older girls, but little babies, especially chunky monkeys with cute little rolls in a bikini are SO precious.

I love little college sports cheerleading outfits. They're perfect to put a little baby in when you're having a bbq and watching a football game. Obviously, it's even better when it's a UGA cheerleading outfit. :)

I could go on and on about things I love about little baby girls and if I got into all the toys and things they can do when they get olders (Barbie's, pedicures, etc) this post would never end.

I'm so excited and can't wait for her to arrive. We already have the perfect little nephew and our little niece will make the perfect addition to the family.