lightning quick

The theme for this post, as you may have guessed by the title is "lightning quick."  I chose it for a few reasons:

1) Lily has seriously become about that fast with her crawling.  I'm still thinking-- for whatever reasons-- that when she takes off for another room or the stairs I have a few extra seconds to be lazy and meander over to get her or check on her.  No no.  no no no.  This is not the case anymore.  Actually, it hasn't been for a month or so, but I'm a slow learner.

2) This weekend went so fast!  I feel like this every weekend, but Jesse and I made a sprint up to visit all the parentals Friday/Saturday and made it back Saturday evening to WV.  Lily and I dropped Jesse off at his parents so he could help can some green beans (YUM) on Friday.  From there, the little one and I drove to Findlay and survived a solo road trip for the three hours between Zanesville and Findlay. We are awesome.  I needed to pick some stuff up at my parents and get them to fill out some paper work, and while Jesse was heading to Zville, why not make the rest of the trip?

      a.  While we were in Findlay-- for the less than 18 hours we were there-- Lily and I made a surprise visit to Mama and Poppy.  It was really good to see them and see how they were settling into their new place!  Even though it can be a daunting task and quite the pain, unpacking in a new place is my favorite part of moving.  I love figuring out where I want to put what.  Ok, mostly the kitchen.  If I could snap my fingers to unpack the rest, that would be ideal.

3) Lily has been weaning herself off of nursing.  I wasn't really noticing this too much until this past week when I was getting ready to put her to bed and she just wasn't interested in nursing so I just stuck her in her crib.  She looked at me, picked up her pacifier, rolled over and that was that.  My little girl is growing up too fast.  I'm not sure how serious she was about doing this on a regular basis, but she took a few steps today.  And yes, I was tempted to push her down so she would stop.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this, it's going too quickly, and I hear it doesn't slow down.  She is also 10 months old.  Ugh.  Too.  Fast.  

4) This one doesn't really pertain to speed of something, but rather the energy of two somethings: the two ridiculous dogs I have tearing around my house.  We're dog-sitting "Small Dog" (who isn't so small anymore, and now goes by "Rocky" or "Rockford") this week while Julia is off galavanting somewhere, and it has pretty much been constant action.  I'm optimistic that they will get used to each other in a few days and I'll be able to set Lily down on the floor again without fear of her being trampled by two furry balls of energy.

That's it for now..and for the super observant, yes I changed my blog a bit.  Like or dislike?

xoxo

oh hi

I've been kind of bored with my blog lately-- I feel like nothing exciting is going on and I have nothing of interest to write about.  So, to hopefully kick myself out of my blogging funk and spice it up a bit so y'all aren't super bored, I'm going to be trying some different things out, maybe making some changes.

And to my faithful email followers, you will continue to get updates :)

If anyone has any ideas, feel free to shout 'em out.  I'm brainstorming a few things here and there, so bear with me.

For a quick update: Lily is trying to cut her top teeth, and if they don't break through soon, I'm going in after them.  She has been a bit of a challenge this past week with a crazy sleep schedule-- or lack there of-- and serious grumpiness.  Jesse and I made an offer on a house and are trying to wade through all the ridiculous garbage that is required with that, so if you think of us, please send a prayer in our direction.  And last but not least, I have poison ivy.  Yuck.  Nothing like I had last year when I was incredibly pregnant (the head-to-foot coverage), but it still is annoying.

That's it for now, I need to get cleaning and stuff while Lily naps!  I'll be back soon, maybe with something new to report.

xoxo

Garage Sale Saturdays!

Friend Jen and I braved the heat today to do a bit of garage sale-ing.  Actually, it was a gorgeous day for such activities and we found some steals!

2 purses, one of which is Coach!

18 ties for $7.  Really, can you beat that?  

the guy that sold me most of the ties had them in this basket he gave me.  so, free is good!

a stack of clothes for The Lily.  probably 20 pieces, $3.25.  score.  

I also bought Lily a kiddie pool!  Yes, I plan on getting equal use out of it.  Jesse was anti-pool because they're 'big and bulky' blah blah blah (excuses!), but he made the mistake of saying an inflatable one wouldn't be as bad.  I took that to mean that he was giving me permission to buy an inflatable kiddie pool, and so the hunt was on.  Apparently, this isn't what he meant, but $5 later, it's too late!

Also, Jesse keeps reminding me that I haven't posted a very specific picture to show off.

What is going on here, you might wonder.  This would be Jesse celebrating the 4th of July, shooting off a flint-lock pistol that my grandfather made.  Ok, "shooting" isn't the right term, as there was no musket ball in it.  But there was gun powder and it went boom, and it was great.

a picture of the gun when it isn't covered in smoke

Other than all that fun..Lily has been really grumpy lately.  I believe she is getting her top two teeth in, or at least that's what I'm hoping.  If she's going to be so fussy, she needs to have something to show for it in the end!  She's still pretty happy for the most part, but when she's grumpy..watch out!  Last night was kind of rough: it seemed like I just couldn't do anything to make her happy, which is just a hard situation to be in.  Slowly but surely, we'll get through this teething business!

  

on the move

I was kindly informed recently that I haven't been updating everyone frequently enough.  In my defense..I have nothing exciting to report.  Not that this has ever stopped me before, I just don't want to bore y'all and sound redundant on the mundane events of Team Hildebrand.  But, as requested, a little post.  Who knows, I may come up with something creative anyway!

Lily has been cruising everywhere.  Taking her stand up toys and pushing them all over the place, grabbing onto anything and everything..except Zeke, though she's tried!  He just isn't game.  Everyone is telling me to enjoy these little moments and I keep trying to remind myself how much I will miss the small, cuddly baby days, and I know this is true: but this next stage has been soooooo much fun!  Jesse and I are both having a blast with her figuring things out, playing peek-a-boo, watching her learn one thing after another..and Jesse's personal favorite, watching her face absolutely light up and do her excited flail when he gets home from work.  I need to try and get a video of this, for those of you who've never seen it..she shows that she's excited with her full body: bobbing, throwing her hands in the air, rocking back and forth, and that smile she has that looks like it'll crack her face in half.  ...kind of like when a dog sees his people after awhile away, I guess: full body excitement.  I think we should all do this.  She is finally not nearly as clingy to me and been much more independent, which has been much more relaxing for me and more enjoyable for everyone.  I know I'll miss Lily needing just me in a few years, but right now, this is so much more fun.

this is how Lily crawls on something that has a rough texture.   it absolutely cracks me up.

being a big girl

pretty sure this is the 'later Momma, dog and I are going for a walk' kind of picture.

Yesterday, we went to great state park we'd never even heard of called Valley Falls with our favorite Partin family and Julia.  I didn't get too many pictures, but I did get a few.  And Jen, yes, we NEED to go back.  I could just feel several geo caches that need to be found!

Logan shared his plum with Fiona

so Jesse shared his with Lily

and since we didn't have any cups..we improvised for our Coke.

Fiona thoroughly enjoyed herself

And then there was family dinner.  

Lily was in a great mood

And..I guess that's it!  Oh, and because a few people have asked about it, I'm adding the recipe I use for homemade baby wipes in the recipe tab.

xoxo

finger paint

For the past few weeks, I have been tossing the idea of finger paint for Lily around in my head.  Whenever she gets the chance, she smears her food all over the high chair tray, so I thought, "why not?"  Yesterday, while she was avoiding her nap, I decided we should go for it.  And since I didn't want to go all the way to the store to buy finger paint, I made due with what we had!  Of course, as soon as I got it made and I was ready to play, she fell asleep and took an awesome nap, so the mess had to wait until today.  

2T sugar, 1/3c cornstarch, 2c cold water: mix over low heat, stirring the mixture until smooth, almost a clear gel ~5 minutes. 

when mixture is cool, add 1/4c clear dishwashing soap.

scoop equal amounts of gel into separate containers and add food coloring.  for more vibrant colors, use food coloring paste 

voila!

And so, today..armed with newsprint and a rag for wiping hands..

She really didn't get into the paper part as I thought she would, but she was ok with smearing it all over herself.  And dumping the paint out.  She only tried to get it to her mouth once, and that was over quickly once she tasted it.  Fortunately, the worst thing in it is dish soap..

I am also adding a new tab to the top of my blog with various recipes that Jesse and I have made.  I only have a couple up there so far, but once I find the recipes for what we've made, I will add them as well. 

xoxo