letters to ollie: 5 months old

My dear Oliver,

You're 5 months old already!
Where oh where is the time going??
You're at such a fun age right now.
You love playing with me and dad.
In fact, every night when dad comes home, you and he wrestle and jump around on the bed.

You have become so stinkin' curious my dear.
You want to see and experience everything around you.  ALL the time.
In fact, nursing and napping have become a second and third priority after exploration.
You love looking at pictures on the walls,
reading books with me and dad,
and singing silly songs.
Right now, your two favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

You've gotten to the stage where you aren't content just lying around.
Instead, you like to be sitting.  Or standing.
You still need some assistance with sitting, but you're getting closer and closer to being able to sit up all on your own.
You also love playing in your exersaucer.

You still have that infectious smile of yours.
And while you much prefer being with me and dad (which I absolutely love by the way),
you're not shy about flashing that cute smile of yours at almost anyone.

You don't have a doctor's appointment again, til about a week after you hit 6 months,
but you're about 22 lbs and 28+ inches long.
We love that you're such a big baby.

Oh my sweet baby,
I wish I could take this phase of your life and wrap it all up and keep it forever.
I know you have to grow up,
but I don't ever want to forget all the little things that you do.
Like the sweet smiles you give me when you wake up from your naps.
And the adorable babbling you're constantly doing.
The way you like to snuggle in when you first fall asleep.
The way you get so excited when you learn a new trick.

Your two favorite tricks lately are spitting and rolling by the way.
You've figured out how to blow raspberries and now you're constantly spitting on me and dad.
You seem to think it's hilarious.
Don't worry though, we think it's pretty funny too.

And the first time you rolled, you scared yourself to death,
because you got caught in the slates of your crib.
You still don't roll all that often, but you're definitely getting more mobile.

I have yet to figure out how you move around so much in that crib of yours.
Whenever you wake up in the middle of the night (and you do so often by the way),
and I come to get you, you've managed to scoot yourself completely around, or all the way to the corner of the crib.

Oh little Ollie,
as crazy as you make us, your dad and I can't imagine our lives without you.
You've brought so much happiness into our little family.
Now if only you'd sleep a bit more things would be perfect.
Don't worry, I'm just kidding.
I know you'll sleep one day.
Hopefully.

Love you forever my sweet baby,
Momma

letters to ollie: 4 months old

My dear Oliver,

You're 4 months old already and getting bigger every day.

I think you've lost that "newborn look" finally.

I can't believe how old you look already.

Where has the time gone?

You just had your 4-month check up last week.

You now weigh 21 lbs and are 27.5 inches long.
According to the pediatrician, you're the biggest 4 month old baby she's ever seen.
Yep, be proud my little man.  Be proud of those rolls.

Some of your favorite things these days include
playing with your toys.
Mr. Monkey is one of your favorite right now.
Mr. Monkey goes everywhere with you.

You love love LOVE putting any and everything in your mouth.

Including my face.

You still haven't rolled over yet, but it seems like you're getting closer and closer everyday.
You absolutely love sitting up now.
For the most part you need some assistance, but you're getting better at balancing yourself.

You've finally started realizing that you have feet.
It's so cute to watch you stare at them and try to grab them.

You also love reading books now.
You love all the pictures.
You especially love when I make a fool of myself and sing silly songs to you all day.
You're current favorites are pat-a-cake, wheels on the bus, and Tiny Tim the turtle.

You've been laughing a lot more lately.
I absolutely love listening to your laugh.
I think you might be starting to get ticklish,
because you often laugh the most when I blow on your stomach.

You still love bouncing.
Nothing makes you more happy than being bounced around.
We hold you and swing you and toss you around
and you smile and giggle and laugh and laugh.
Oh how we love your laugh.

You still love being carried around.
In fact, you would be quite content never being put down.
Unfortunately mom and dad's backs can't handle carrying you 24/7.
But I we still strap you to us whenever we go out.
And you love riding around with us.

You're really getting cute kiddo.
Lately when we try and put you to bed, you'll fall asleep and we'll think you'll be out for the night...
But then, surprise!
Those peepers of yours pop open and you get this really big grin on your face,
like nothing in the world would make you happier than to play with us.
And how can we get annoyed when you get that sweet gummy smile and those big big eyes?

I will say that you're going through some crazy phase right now though.
The last two weeks you've been screaming and getting really cranky for no recognizable reason.
I sure hope it ends soon, because you're wearing me and your dad down.
We are two tired parents my dear.

But we're also very lucky and blessed to have you.
It's crazy how much our lives have changed since you came.
And as stressful and tiresome as parenting can be, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Keep on learning and growing sweet baby.
Love you always,
Momma

PS-We love when you talk to us.  Even though you mostly talk with your hand shoved in your mouth. :)

baked salmon with avocado remoulade and corn salsa

Hubby and I have really been working hard to eat healthy lately.

Eating healthy is not always easy, but it is SOOO worth it. 

We both feel so much better and our bodies work so much better when we give them proper nutrition.

Being a relatively new mom though, I need easy meals to prepare.

But really, healthy meals don't have to be complicated.

And that's what I especially love about this meal.

The other night I realized I had two avocados that needed to be used ASAP.

They were perfectly ripe and ready to be eaten.  

So, I decided to make a healthy remoulade with them.

Ingredients:

Remoulade

2 ripe avocados

3 tbsp lime juice

3 tbsp light olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Salsa

1/2 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup of corn (fresh or frozen)

1 medium or large tomato

lime juice 

chile powder 

Salmon

2 salmon fillets (I used frozen fillets)

seasoning salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Method:

To make your remoulade, blend avocados, lime juice, and olive oil in a food processor or blender until smooth.  When finished, add salt and pepper and stir to combine.

To make salsa, combine black beans, corn, and tomato in a small bowl.  Add as much lime juice and chile powder as you like.  I would recommend only using a bit of lime juice, as it's already pretty strong in the remoulade.  If you like a "kick," feel free to add lots of chile powder or some cayenne pepper.

To make salmon, coat both sides of your defrosted (or fresh) salmon with olive oil.  Sprinkle both sides with ground pepper and seasoning salt (I used Lawry's).  Cover in foil and bake on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

This meal was DELICIOUS and super filling! Hubby went out of his way to tell me this was definitely a repeat meal.  And he doesn't usually love salmon too much.  This meal had plenty of flavor and enough variety, that he really enjoyed it though.  And the best part, it was such a quick and easy meal to prepare!

What are some of your favorite easy and healthy dinner meals?

a look back at 2012

2012 was a great year for us.  

In fact, exactly one year ago, this happened:

We became involved in this company.

I graduated with my Psychology degree.

We roamed around our lovely island.

And sadly, we said goodbye to our lovely island.

We ventured to New Orleans.

We made and ate delicious food.

We moved ourselves to Nashville and roamed around our new city.

Hubby started his first semester of grad school at Vandy.

We waited for our little bub's arrival.

And we waited a little longer.

And finally, he arrived and we were in love.

And a little bit sleep deprived. 

Actually, we were very sleep deprived.

We traveled to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.

And Virginia Beach for Christmas.

Where hubby went surfing in the freezing Atlantic.
Guess it was a good thing he traded his board in Hawaii for a wetsuit.

We watched our little bub grow bigger and bigger.

We're not too sure what 2013 will bring,
but we're excited for a new adventure.