Pumpkin Carving/Painting Party

Saturday afternoon we headed to my friend Erica's house for a Pumpking Carving & Painting Party. It was a great time! She had her house decked out in Halloween decorations and even had the food halloween themed. The pasta salad was shaped like bats and ghosts, the chips were pumpkins, and the cake pops looked like eyeballs. Of course I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the house. Mike also fried some fish and grilled burgers.

 

Thanks Cora & Aunt Linda for our precious outfit! We were def. best dressed at the party!

How funny is this picture!?!?

After eating and hanging out for a little while, the real fun began! Everyone put their artistic side to work and either carved or painted a pumpkin. We decided to paint it in hopes that it won't rot before Halloween. I painted mine first then we tackled Delainey's pumpkin. We striped her down to her diaper and got to work. We tried doing hand prints first, but of course with my wild child she wouldn't open them and stay still long enough to do it. So then we resorted to the foot which was a little better. It's not the prettiest pumpkin, but it was fun making it!

After painting pumpkins, we changed D into another Halloween outfit that was a little cooler since it was 85 degrees in October.(I'm so ready for it to get cool!) We hung out and watched football for the remainder of the day. Once it got dark, we voted on the best pumpkin. Delainey won, but the prizes were not kid friendly so she took herself out of the running. :) I did not win but it still was a lot of fun. We will definitely be making this an annual tradition for years to come! Thanks Erica for the great party!

D's pumpkin, Erica's pumpkin, My pumpkin (from left to right)

23 Weeks

Here is the video of Delainey laughing from my last post!

Wednesday we had Mom to Mom and some tutoring at San Juan. I am so thankful for my mom & sister who make it possible to tutor at their school! I am starting to tutor 2 kids on Mondays & 2 kids on Wednesdays while they watch D. I also am tutoring my next door neighbor on Tuesdays & Thursdays. It is going to be fantastic having some extra money coming in to help pay for our new health insurance plan. (Which is not to cheap!) After tutoring we went to watch the Bartram Trail vs. Ponte Vedra volleyball game. It was a great game, but we ended up leaving after a little while because Delainey was hungry and tired. It was so loud and yet somehow she seemed to sleep through it!

 She is getting mighty close to getting up on all fours. I bet she is crawling in no time!

Big D hit 23 weeks on Thursday! We went a smocked dresses sale Thursday morning and got a Christmas dress and some bows then went to have my hair highlighted. Thursday evening we went to Marcia's to learn how to make some chocolate mousse pies for our couple's supper club on Friday.

 Delainey's first lesson of learning how to drive! :)

Friday evening we hosted the Couple's supper club at our house. We had a low country boil and just hung out and watched baseball. It took much longer than expected to cook it but it turned out really good. I thought it was a little spicy, but the next day it was perfect! On Saturday we to Erica's for a cookout and pumpkin carving party. That will be on the next post.

Rice Cereal & Cake Pops!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I feel like we have not stopped going all weekend until about an hour ago. I just finished cleaning the house and doing some laundry so I am going to catch up on a few blog posts I've been meaning to do.

Monday & Tuesday were big days in the McLaughlin household. On Monday, Delainey got to try rice cereal for the first time! She did great and seemed to really enjoy it. We have given it to her a few times this week and made it a little thicker each time which seems to work better. I know my pediatrician said wait till she is 6 months old but I was just too excited to hold out and I could tell she was ready. I am thinking we will do rice cereal for the next week or so then try some actual food like sweet potatoes or avocado. Here is a video of her eating it for the first time!

 

Tuesday, we went to gymnastics then ran a few errands and hit up the grocery store. Since D has been sitting up pretty well on her own we decided to try her out in the cart like a big girl. It was so cute; we had a little photoshoot in Publix! I definitely need to bring some toys to keep her occupied and occasioinally she will fall to the sides, but other than that she loved looking around!

 

Tuesday night, I went to a girlfriends house for my second cake pop class. This time we learned how to decorate the cake pops. We were inspired to make Halloween themed pops since it is right around the corner. It actually is much easier than you would think. you just have to get creative with the candies you can use. For example I used tic-tacs for my ghosts arms, and upside down heart candies for the cats ears. I am pretty much a professional now so if anyone needs help I'd be glad to help.

After the cake pop class, I came home to Dave and Delainey playing on the couch. He found out she is ticklish on her lower back of her sides and was torturing the poor girl. She didn't know whether to laugh or scream; it was so funny! I'll post the video clip in the next post!

Football & Corn Maizes

Delainey, David, & I had a very busy weekend. We got up Saturday morning and enjoyed breakfast together and prepared for a big day of football. There were tons of great games on and we didn't want to miss any of them. David mowed the lawn real quick while D & I played dress up :) Of course we ended up with her game day outfit since FSU was playing that night. We added shoes to the outfit and she had no idea what to think about them. It was so funny to watch her try to walk in them while holding her. I'm pretty sure she hated them, but boy were they cute!

Saturday afternoon we headed over to my friend Erica's house to watch the UF vs. LSU and catch up. After the UF game we went to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. Delainey had quite the long day, but did great. We ended up coming home at half time during the FSU game since it was D's bedtime. When we got home we realized what a close game it was so bedtime was pushed back to watch the Seminoles. We paced the house back and forth watching our sorry Seminoles score NO points in the entire second half. Unfortunately FSU  lost in the last 5 seconds of the game to NC State. We were so upset but we are pretty used to this happening :(

Sunday morning we went to church and then had our day planned to go to the Corn Maize/Pumpkin Patch for Delainey's first time. There really wasn't a whole lot to do, but we did have quite the photo shoot with Delainey. The family treked through the Corn maze eventually finding our way. We definitely cheated and cut through some areas that weren't paths, but it was pretty hot so we were done at that point.

Sunday evening we went to David's parents house for dinner and watched the Jags game. They are just horrible so it is not even fun to watch, but dinner was amazing! We have quite the busy week ahead that includes a cake pop class, volleyball game, some tutoring, gym class, mom to mom, and us hosting a couple Supper club at our house on Friday night. Hope everyone has a great week!

22 Weeks

I am so behind on my posts it is ridiculous! David has been hoarding the computer for work and it is so hard to do a blog post on the ipad hence the lack of posts. Thursday was D's 22 week birthday.

We went out to dinner Thursday night and she sat in a high chair for the first time. She is almost able to sit up alone. We had to stuff blankets behind her to help support her, but it worked pretty well.

On Friday we hung out at the house and then went to my mom's to meet some family friends (the Cook's) that were in town. We knew them from way back when we lived in Miami and grew up with their kids. After that Delainey & I went to meet Emily for dinner at Maggiano's. It was delicious as usual. I have another blog post coming about our weekend. Stay tuned.

5 Month Update

Height: about 27 inches
Weight: about 15.8 lbs according to my scale
Head Circumference: about 17 inches
Vision: I think your vision is now fully developed. Now we are working on remembering familiar faces and smiling when you see someone you know. You are also supposed to be able to recognize what things are when you only see part of it.
Movement: You can roll both ways now and you are a wild woman at night in your crib. Dad is trying to teach you to crawl and you are getting mighty close. You push up on your knees and push your legs to move forward but you bury your head in the ground. You can almost sit up by yourself, at least for a few seconds. You also reach for people now.
Eating Habits/New Foods: You are still eating every 3 hours during the day. And once at night about 7-8 hours after you go to bed.  You are getting between 4-6 ounces per feeding. We do an extra 4 ounce bottle at night to help you sleep a little longer. As far as real food goes, I let you lick/taste majority of the things I eat. We did let you have a frozen banana slice in your mesh teether though. You loved it! We will be doing that more while we wait to start implementing baby food into the diet next month.
Sleeping Patterns: You are still doing great with the routine and fall asleep anywhere between 10 & 11 pm. You sleep a good 8 hours till 6ish when I feed you and you go back to bed for another 3 hours. As far as naps go, they are all over the place. Usually about an hour and a half after you eat that happen. They last about 30-45 minutes.
Sounds/Words: Still talking and laughing up a storm. We yell a lot now! You have yelling contests with mommy all the time.. You also started to do a little whine when you are tired or hungry.
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You took out your beginner earrings and are now sporting your real diamonds
-You no longer use your gas drops! Hallelujah!!
-You have some major abs and can do sit-ups when held by your feet
-You have lost  most of your baby hair and are getting very blonde except for 1 patch on the back.
-You are so close to sitting by yourself. You are good for about 5 second stretches
-You had your first sleepover @ Grammy & Pops while we were in Tally.
New Friends I've made: You have made tons of new friends from Mom-to-Mom while you are in the nursery. We also are getting to know some people who do gymnastics with us so that's good. You met Gannon a few days after he was born. He is a big boy @ almost 10 lbs at birth, but so cute. You also met Kate & Mary Liz while on your Atlanta trip. As well as Cora, Aunt Linda, Uncle Chris, and Sam & Gillie.
Places you went/Adventures: September has been a great month for us. We have been loving every minute of our Mom to Mom classes as well as gymnastics. We like to have something to do each day even if it is something small. We attended Camdyn's birthday party. You had your first ever over-night sleep over with Grammy & Pops while your parents went to the FSU v. Wake game. You also attended the HeartWalk and did your first 5K.  And we traveled to Atlanta to stay with Morgan and see Cora & family.
Clothes: You have graduated to 9m for sleepers. They are a little large but the 6m were too small. These are your current sizes: Gymboree-6, Target-3, Carter-3, Old Navy/Gap- 3-6
You are also now in a size 2 diaper! We have switched from pampers to huggies bc the huggies have a higher cut waist and seem to hold the poop in better. :)

D enjoying her banana in her mesh teether

It's October - Birthday Month!!

October is finally here and it is by far one of my favorite months of the year! The weather cools off, there is the FL vs. GA game, & most importantly there is my birthday! :) We have started the birthday month off with a bang. Yesterday we hung out at the house and played with Lilly while catching up on laundry from the weekend. We hit up the Fresh Market for dinner & bought their New England Clam chowder and sourdough bread. We hollowed out the bread and had a soup bread bowl. It was heavenly!! Probably the best clam chowder I have ever tasted besides in Boston (nothing will ever beat that).

 D & Lilly fighting over a toy

Today we headed out to run some errands and Delainey bought me my first birthday present for the month. She bought me some beautiful new riding boots! What a sweet girl I have :) haha

 D playing dress up at the mall. I wish it got cold enough to wear these! So cute!!

When we got home we had a delicious dinner waiting for us in the crock pot. My new goal is to try a new recipe every Tuesday. Today we tried a pot roast recipe my friend Morgan gave me. It was delicious! I forgot to take a picture of it but here is the recipe if anyone wants to try it out.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast
-Brown your meat in a skillet on all sides then place into the crock pot
-Add veggies around meat if desired (I did onions, carrots, mushrooms, fresh green beans)
-Mix all of the following ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the meat & veggies
     1 can of cream of mushroom soup
     1 package of onion soup mix
     1/2 c of water
     1/4 c of sugar
     1/4 c of balsamic vinegar
     2 tsp salt
     1 tsp yellow mustard
     1 tsp worchestire sauce
     2/3 cloves of minced garlic
-Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours and serve over white rice

After dinner, I continued cooking and prepared my mom's famous monkey bread recipe for Mom to Mom tomorrow. It is my groups week to provide breakfast so I figured that would be easy to do ahead of time and just bake tomorrow morning. I can't wait to eat it tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great night & I will be back soon with Delainey's 5 month post!