Working Hard

Yesterday was Miss Elsa's four month appointment and I'm blown away by how much she's grown during her short life.

Here are her stats from her appointment:

Weight - 13 lbs, 8.4 oz (35 percentile)
Height - 24.5 inches (50 percentile)
Head - 42 cm (85 percentile)

As I was cuddling on the couch with her yesterday (she was fussy from her shots), I was reflecting on how much she's already grown. It's hard to believe that the little miss has already grown 4.5 inches and 6 pounds. It made me think about how hard her little body is working around the clock to develop into a fully functioning, rambunctious toddler.

This reflection made me realize that babies have a perfectly good excuse to be fussy from time-to-time, and if Miss Elsa wants to work those lungs, then more power to her.

So, in tribute to her hard work, here are some pictures I've caught of the precious babe vocalizing her need for some time off.

Tasty Thursday Recipe Hop

A fellow blogger has started a "Tasty Thursday Recipe Hop" and I've decided to join in on the fun!

Bloggers, if you'd like to get in on the fun, click on the image to the left to get started.

Without further ado, here is my recipe for the week — Tasty Thursday Turkey Chili

Serves 6

Ingredients:
-1 package ground turkey (or other desired groundmeat)
-1/4 red onion, diced
-1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
-3 cans of kidney beans (15.25 oz each)
-cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and cayenne pepper to taste (I typically add approximately 1 tbsp of each and then add additional cayenne pepper until desired heat is achieved)
-5 diced serrano chilies (optional for extra spice)

Optional toppings:
-shredded cheddar
-sour cream or plain yogurt
-uncooked diced onions
-crushed tortilla chips

Instructions:
-Saute diced onion on medium heat
-Add ground meat to pan and brown until cooked through
-In crock pot or stock pot, combine crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, turkey and onion, mix well
-If spicy chili is desired, add serrano chilies
-Add seasonings to taste
-Cover and cook on low heat for a minimum of one hour; the longer it cooks, the more the flavors will combine and the heat will intensify
-Serve in bowls with optional toppings

Dress-up Day!

I've been reorganizing Miss Elsa's clothes and when I realized she's big enough for this poofy, pink skirt, I just had to do a photo shoot!

Enjoy!

 Miss Elsa didn't mind at first. But after way too many pictures (Mommy went a little crazy and took about 100 pics!), she had to tell Mommy that it was time to quit!

Next up on the agenda, nap time with Daddy. Ahh.... this is the life!

I'm a mommy!

Ok, perhaps I have a slow reaction period, but just this week it dawned on me that I'm a mommy.

You'd think I would have realized this after seven hours of labor, or perhaps the countless diapers, or the hours I've logged feeding Miss Elsa Marie, or even celebrating my first Mother's Day. But it wasn't until I stood at the doorway of the nursery yesterday while watching Elsa nap that reality hit me. This precious baby girl was my Daughter and I will forever be her Mommy.

Perhaps I'm a tad bit emotional because this week marked the one year anniversary of the BFP (big fat positive pregnancy test), but that realization made me misty eyed. What an amazing blessing God has bestowed upon me! I'm so honored to be entrusted in the growth and development of this special baby girl.

Mood Swings

Somehow I was under the naive impression that mood swings wouldn't start until the preteen years. I was living in blissful ignorance that I had plenty of time to devise a plan to circumvent those unpleasant outbursts.

I was wrong.

The last several days have felt like one of those Sour Patch Kids commercials. One moment Elsa is crying, screaming and swatting me away. The next, she's calm, smiling and babbling away.

The only consistent calming technique I have found involves me kissing her bare belly repeatedly while she's tugging on my hair. While I love kissing her sweet little belly and she has yet to tug my hair hard enough for it to hurt, I can only do this for so long before I get light headed. And once the kissing stops, she starts crying again until she's exhausted herself.

I'm hoping this 3.5 month temper tantrum frenzy means she's getting her mood swings out of her system now, before she has hurtful words to throw around with her moody outbursts. Probably not, but a mother can hope, right?

I Scream, You Scream... But seriously, I REALLY scream for Ice Cream!

I have always thought of myself as a "Foodie". I spend quite a bit of my day thinking about or eating food and it's become unhealthy.

So, last week, after downing way too much ice cream and feeling sick for an entire day, I decided to put myself on a sugar fast. No sweets (dessert, candy, cookies, soda, diet soda, even sweetened yogurt) for 60 days.

My goal is to be less emotionally connected to food. And with sweets being my biggest weakness, I'm hoping this will help. My secondary goal, of course, is to start loosing more of the "baby fat". I'm not going on a "diet" and won't be counting calories but by cutting out the sweets, I've found that I've already started eating more fruits and veggies and making smarter choices during the day.

The first week was pretty easy. I had already emptied the house of my sweets (Carl still has his cupboard with candy and cookies) so there are pretty few temptations here during the day. I even ate my pancakes plain on Saturday morning.Yesterday, however, I was presented with the opportunity to chow down on some of my favorites. We spent Easter with Carl's family and there were pies, cupcakes, candies, punch and soda readily available to me. I fought the temptation and stayed on course but last night my dreams were full of delicious, creamy ice cream.

I know that the temporary absence of sweets will be well worth the sacrifice. Ever since sweet little Elsa has arrived, I have found that I can and will do anything to ensure that she grows up in a healthy environment. But... oh, lovely, tasty ice cream, how I miss you!

Pen pal!

Elsa Marie has been matched with her first pen pal!

I'm a member of a January 2011 Mom group online, and we thought it would be fun for our babies to have pen pals that they can write to as they grow up.

With the prevalence of e-mail, social media and text messaging, letter writing is becoming a dead art form. I loved writing and receiving  letters as a little girl and I'm excited for my daughter to have the same experience.

Elsa's pen pal is a baby boy from Connecticut. I'm so excited for her to have a friend to write to as she grows up! We're planning out our first letter and can't wait to hear back from him (Ok, in all fairness, I'm planning the letter and can't wait to hear back from his mommy...).

I'd love to hear some ideas on what to include in her first letter. Any ideas???