Life these days

Oh. My. Word.

It's March 19th, 2011. I sometimes can't believe how fast time goes. I love my life. I find myself telling my man on a pretty regular basis how happy I am and how much I love my life.

Greta Elise will be 18 months on the first of April. I'll officially have a 1 1/2 year old. That's nuts to me. She is absolutely wonderful. Loves to laugh. Dances constantly. Is a very confident walker. She's currently starting to climb objects like our ottoman and the couches but she's very cautious. She knows how to climb the stairs but needs lots of encouragement coming down, which can be difficult on mornings when I'm making my way down with both girls by myself. She has this hilarious hair style because I refuse to cut her hair yet. She is gaining weight quite quickly too- I'm pretty sure she weighs around 24 lbs now and is probably 32 or more inches, we'll find out next month at our dr. appt.

Audrey Louise is a tank. Well, at least in my humble opinion. She weighs somewhere around 14 1/2 lbs, which Greta didn't weigh until she was 6 months old. She is a little over 3 months old now and so much fun. She laughs! It's the best sound ever! She can hold toys in her hands now and insists on jamming them into her mouth. I bet she's teething. She eats like a champ! There is absolutely no pain while we nurse anymore either, praise God! Greta is still her favorite person to look at. It's so fun to see their connection already. In the morning when G wakes up, usually early and before A, she says "Shhh, Shhh, Shhh" and points to A's cradle. She's understanding that A is not going anywhere and I think she actually likes her!

My man and I have been doing some home improvement projects lately too, thanks to Uncle Sam for our tax return and to BCBS for paying us back for our home-birth! Another thank you God! The kitchen was our first project. We added new counter-tops, a new faucet courtesy of my parents, and a new dishwasher, courtesy of his parents. We also painted the kitchen a fun new color and are really liking all the new improvements. In fact, I think I like them so much, that I'm cooking way more than usual and baking up a storm. Next up is a total bath room redo!

I've recently tried a few new recipes and been so happy.

• I made baked mac-n-cheese on my own the other night and loved it.

• Turns out that brown rice and lentils, with some garlic, onion and chopped green pepper, is actually quite delicious. We've had it twice now!

• I inherited a bread machine from my lovely mother-in-law and couldn't be happier. I made a spicy cheese bread the other day that was delicious!

• I've been making ice-cream a lot recently, it's helping to fight off the winter blues! We've recently tried coconut and my latest attempt was a thin mint ice-cream using real thin mint pieces. Yum.

• Yesterday for breakfast I made raspberry white chocolate chip scones that were to die for.

• The other day I didn't know what to make for dinner so I just started throwing things into my crock pot. Whatever came out was awesome. Chicken, cut up carrots, onion, garlic, celery, chicken stock, cream of chicken soup and for the last hour, white rice.
  

• I make these bran muffins that my man loves- Greta has been having them for afternoon snacks recently and she loves them too- it's the only way she'll eat raisins!

So, that's it for now as I've got one baby who wants to eat, one who needs her snack and a man who desperately needs a haircut! Hope to get another opportunity to write again soon.