Crafty Hazel...

Hazel is continuously asking if we could do a craft. I have wanted to do them with her, but to be honest I am not the most crafty person in the world. Her crafting ability is very basic, as long as she gets to glue stuff to other stuff, she is very content. After she had been asking to do a craft over, and over again one day...I decided that I would not deprive her any longer. After all we have a box with all the supplies to do crafts, crayons, glue, construction paper, glitter, poofy multi-colored balls, etc...I quickly cut out shapes in different colors from construction paper (my star was pretty pathetic), grabbed a a black piece of construction paper, glue, and we were off. We went over each shape and color, then she would get to glue it to the black construction paper. It's funny because apparently green is Hazel's favorite color because every shape was "green". Her favorite shapes thus far are for sure the star, and the circle, we are working on the rest. Hazel had such a great time, I was so happy to see her thoroughly enjoying herself.I hope you enjoy the pics of crafty Hazey!!!!!!

Yummmm!!!

She looks at us with longing eyes, her mouth open...she wants a bite of basically whatever we are eating. Lately it seems that pureed veggies it not doing it for our little Jade. I have been introducing solids to her little by little. Instead of pureed vegetables I've been cubing them and placing them on her tray, which she loves because she has been dying to feed herself for awhile now. I have documented Jade's introduction to new and interesting food so I hope you all enjoy!

This is actually the first time I introduced "real" food to Jade. I had noticed I did not have any baby food cubes in the freezer and decided to let her eat what we were eating for dinner. Roasted chicken, potatoes, and carrots. I mashed it up, hence the unattractive appearance in the cup, but she really loved it...it was a success....

I introduced pasta to Jade, and mashed up broccoli and carrots, which she loved....

I gave her a little tiny quesadilla. I put tomatoes in it, I wanted to introduce it to her and she really liked the cheese too...



Snack time....Jade loves to participate in snack time with her sister Hazel (a toddler must)...so I gave her a slice of apple, a couple of crackers, and some cubes of cheese...


I have also introduced egg yolk to her, which she loves to eat & mash between her fingers...


She loves to chew on drumsticks....


Edamame....the perfect finger food...she loves it.....

It has been extremely fun introducing Jade to new food. We find that we are less nervous about it than with Hazel. We still are pretty strict on the sugar and NO juice for the first year but I have been giving her a little bit of fruit, mostly apple slivers for her to chew on, as well as cubed pear, sliced bananas, and prunes. We are loving this stage of Jade's development, and are happy that she eats well....and loves food like the rest of us!! This week's menu includes, cubed yams, mushrooms, squash, more pasta, and couscous.....and we are giving her bits of table food here and there!!!

Love



Mon

5 dolla...make you holla...

Dance partners for Hazey & Jade....

It was getting a bit lonely in Philly...chilly...and yes very, very lonely. Just when the rain had washed all hopes of seeing a loving, familiar face...Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Terrie showed up bringing us much needed sunshine and love. Ironically each time they have visited, it has rained, and yes it did rain on Saturday but Sunday was beautiful. They are always great company and we truly look forward to their visits. Grandpa Bruce is so thoughtful and generous, always ensuring our car runs well, and our home is safe & warm for us. Grandma Terrie is so sweet and loving to our children, she is patient as Hazel begs for her jewelry and follows her everywhere. They danced with Hazel & Jade for hours to the Beach Boys greatest hits, and gifted us with some much needed alone time on our coffee-date. We thank you both so much for this weekend and for blessing us as you always do. We love you!

View from our front door...

Jadey

Jade Anise is now 10 months old! I cannot even believe how fast the months have gone by. It may be because we have been acquainting ourselves with our new environment, I have Hazel to distract...nonetheless....every moment of her life has been precious to me. Like I've said in previous posts, she is very attached to me, almost to the point of exhaustion on my part. Jade is apparently cutting 4 teeth simultaneously so it has been rough for the littlest Montgomery. She loves to clap, loves music, and following her sister everywhere. Here are some pics of Jade and her latest accomplishments...enjoy!!!

Time for a gate...

Working it out....

My workout mat is probably my most prized possession these days...I couldn't live without it. It cost me $5, and I love it so much!!!!!! My little Hazel loves to get involved when I carve out 40 or so (30 these days) to work out. She has her own little 1lb weights that she uses. Mind you, her attention span is tiny so she works out for about 30 seconds or so, then moves on. It is also pretty funny how when we are watching TV and she sees someone on a treadmill or running, she says, "He work out momma"... I snapped this cute shot of Hazel "working out", she even set up her own little mat by grabbing a receiving blanket. By the way, Hazel loves to work out with her shoes on the wrong feet, and without pants.

Goodfellas....

No, not the movie, although it is Monica's favorite and an excellent film, but the name of our, I repeat, our pizza place. We are fond of making our own pies, but from time to time, we venture out into the urban sprawl to try the vast waves of pizzadom. Well, Goodfellas is off the chain....

Super friendly, tasty crispy thin dough, and great toppings. For our first visit, we got two minis -

Monica got buffalo chicken pizza, uh yummers.... and Joe went with prosciutto, roasted red pepper and provolone, yowza baby!!! Yeah be jealous.... hehehhee!!!

French Creek State Park

Hello friends, here we are once again.... The southeast of Pennsylvania has a plethora of great parks. French Creek is no exception. It is actually two parks in one - French Creek and Hopewell Furnace. In one of our many day excursions, I suggested we get out and take a drive. Hopewell sounded really cool because they also have apple picking available, alot of historical varieties. Well, we ended up getting there right when they closed but it was okay cuz it was kinda chilly. It was right next to French Creek, which is a definite weekend getaway vacation. Okay, you've seen the movie Great Outdoors right? Well, this is the place... okay, maybe not, but it definitely looks like it. They have 3 different kinds of cool cabins as well as a couple of regular campgrounds. It has a nice size lake and tons of trails to hike. The first kind of camping cabin is called a cottage, which basically consists of a mini log cabin with bunkbeds and a heater and electricity. Outside is a fire ring and picnic table. Pretty cool... The second option is a nifty thing called a yurt. Totally mongorian!!! But it is a round solid wall tent with beds, heater, and a fridge, as well as an outdoor deck. NICE!! The final option and definitely the coolest is the real log cabin with beds, bathroom, kitchen, all the works... Uh, awesome!? ANd the best part is they are only 50 bucks a night!!! so cool. Of course, we had to hit the playground for Hazey....

When we get a more intensive look and stay we will post an update....

necessary things...

Certain things are just necessary!!! Oh, like showering for example. I decided that I would like to take a necessary shower and so I decided to wrangle up my two little ones, put up a gate, and contain them in their room. After all, they have toys, books, and each other to keep them busy. Hazel immediately got to work...I was almost certain that the contents of both the dresser & closet would emptied upon my arrival from my shower, I didn't care...it was worth it. My little Jade happens to me my most die-hard fan, she waited by the gate the entire 20 minutes or so....eagerly awaiting my return...towards the end she became a bit disgruntle as her patience wore thin. Joe likes to call Jade my stalker! She will stare me down from across the room, with that odd sucky face or cry if she hears my voice from another room. What can I say, she loves her momma!!!

White Clay Creek Preserve

We had mutually expressed the desire to go on a hike. Joe & I threw around several options...wishing we had the time and the weather was nice! Joe was able to leave his weekend job a couple hours early, a few Saturdays ago, and called me and said, "OK so let's go hiking, you pick, be ready when I get home" (It was a lovely 65 degrees). I looked at both of my children, still in their pjs, we had anticipated a day indoors...I needed to get this show on the road...FAST!!! So I quickly googled "hiking in Philadelphia" and tons of places to hike appeared...I came across the White Clay Creek Preserve which stretches from Philadelphia into Delaware, it looked pretty, it was only an hour away, I prayed that it wasn't a dud....this was one of my only shots to plan something...Joe is usually the planner in our family. It was stunningly beautiful!!!!!!!! I scored!!!! We did a 2 mile hike and we can now say that we walked from Pennsylvania to Delaware! It was beautiful and always nice to spend time with my wonderful little family!!!