October/November To Do List

So I haven't done one of these in awhile (at least not on here...believe me I am the queen of scattered hand written to-do lists all over the house, in my purse, on spreadsheets on the computer etc....). I don't know if I want to call this a to-do list or a goal list....we will go with more of a goal list as sometimes funding can get in the way of actually being able to accomplish all my to-do's!

So in no particular order...

• FINISH my week in the life album.....OMG soooo behind on this....it is inches from being done so it is a shame I cannot call it complete yet!
• Get up to date with my Project life monthly album (lots of journaling needs to be done and last couple months of pics need to be printed and put in yet)
• Get our carpet put in living room (happening tomorrow evening thanks to my dad YAY!)
• Get a door for back entry to block off basement (hoping will save us on heat and also keep Lainey from getting to the stairs!)
• Christmas shopping! (I have lists believe me so now need to start knocking some items off of them for the kiddos)
• Plan out Christmas cards and project for Gabby's class party (yay cricut!)
• Pumpkin Patch visit (next weekend for sure! YIPPEE!)
• 8 scrap layouts (at least 4 (or more!) for each girl would be great)
• Get all signed up for masters program (eeekkk this scaressss me yet excites me)

I am sure there are many more things that will end up on this list but these are top ones in my mind at this very moment!

Asparagus and chicken casserole

These posts are going to be a bit less about individual foods since we are starting to give Lainey a mix of whatever we have for dinner. I am not 100% sure if I will go too much further with the BLW/BLS posts since they will all kinda be the same from here on out. I may just do progress ones so you can see how she has progressed with being able to feed herself though and how she does it and how her pincer grip starts to develop more etc.....So without further ado I give you asparagus and chicken and stuffing casserole!

Lainey loved sucking the juice out of the asparagus and although she gave us quite a few "yuck" looks she still kept picking it back up and trying it more and more! Something I feel you wouldn't really get with purees as you would prob give up if they turned away more than a few times! BLW leaves it up to the child though so that THEY can explore and truly try it as much as THEY want to!

Now the casserole was def not too BLW friendly in the respect it was squishy and not too easy to grasp onto etc....but Lainey managed just fine after a bit of practice and was getting handfuls into her mouth!

I took a video but for some reason blogger is rejecting it so I will need to try and load it elsewhere and link up.

PROS: Lainey is learning to eat whatever we have!!!
CONS: sure it is messy at times but it is sooo low stress it more than makes up for the mess (plus if you have a dog the only mess is on the baby haha)

Education re-visited

Lord help me.....so for those that really know me I am a wee bit ADD when it comes to education and my future....I have changed my mind soooo many times on what I want to do and what school I would apply to etc...the thing is if I want to move up in my career I HAVE to have a masters degree. I have asked myself many times if this is what I wanted (ya know to move up in what I am doing already) and I keep coming back to yes I do!

I am in a pretty good spot right now as I assist state counselors and this school year I am pretty much running my own caseload which I love. Problem is of course I am not hired by the state nor getting the compensation that I would be getting all because of no masters degree.

I have no desire to apply to a school that makes me take a GRE or write a 5 page or more paper about myself etc...I just want to get in and do the work and get the degree!

Well just a few days ago my supervisor mentioned Phoenix to me....I instantly balked a bit as I have heard they are kinda not a "real college" or are looked at poorly etc...my supervisor said that definitely not and that I could be hired by the state if I got my masters through basically any school as long as it was accredited.

So here I go again this Thursday to go discuss starting a masters program in counseling. The good thing is I will only have to take class one night a week from 6 to 10 pm. The bad thing is it is about an hour drive each way so that one night I won't be home until 11 maybe later in the winter especially. But it is 3 years of my life that I know will fly by and hopefully hopefully HOPEFULLY at the end of it I can be hired in by the state or better yet get a federal position in counseling! So I need to just give myself a huge kick in the rear and DO THIS.

So I put it out there......let's hope I can commit and start this program starting January 2011.

Scrappy Sunday

Ok so I am majorly jet lagged, but I did manage to be a tiny bit crafty on Sunday this weekend (we just got home from England on Thursday evening and I was crazy enough to work Friday!). I had a baby shower to attend for my cousins wife and I decided to whip up a quick card and also embellish a giftbag to match (what a great way to make something recycled special!). Here is what I made....

Create a Critter bird cut at 3" on the card and sentiment cut at 2.5" on the bag I did the bird I believe at 6" and sentiment was 3 or 4"

Pottery Heaven Winner

Random numnber generator chose number 58 (if anyone can teach me how to easily cut n' paste the random generator onto my page that would be great!).

Number 58 is Nicole from Colie's Kitchen! So Nicole I will email you and please email me your mailing addy so I can send off your lovely hand made ring holder from Pottery Heaven!

Congrats! Thanks again to Pottery Heaven for hosting this giveaway!

Cauliflower and Chicken!

I wish I would have had more pictures of this eating adventure for Lainey but we were at a Sunday roast at a pub and I just wasn't really thinking of taking pictures. I wasn't even planning on feeding her anything but what we have learned is as soon as you let them start tasting and experimenting and being part of the family dining experience it is hard to NOT let them join in! So mommy licked the gravy off a hunk of cauliflower and much to Nana's disgust handed over a hunk of it to a bib less Lainey! Lainey put it straight into her mouth and was munching away (she does have her bottom two teeth now pretty much fully in) I also handed her a strip of my roasted chicken which she happily sucked and nibbled away on!

Cauliflower

Pros: easy to prep, can serve steamed or roasted etc....just 3 florets provides you with 67% of your daily vitamin C! Also high in folate

Cons: it stinks LOL! Otherwise no real cons I can think of 

Chicken

Pros: readily available anywhere you may dine, not too messy,low in fat but high in protein,vitamins B6 and B12, high in iron (what I learned from the BLW book is that the baby doesn't need to eat the meat to gain the goodness from it, as long as they suck on the piece of meat they are getting the benefits!)

Cons: none I can think of

September wins and thank yous!

I had a great month for winning on goodies on various blogs and I just wanted to take a moment to do a post and thank all the blogs I won off of for putting on such great giveaways! Of course thank you to all the wonderful sponsors as well!!!

In no particular order many super duper THANKS to:

Monkey Toes  - $50 gift certificate to Olee Kids for a cute wall decal

The ABCD Diaries- case of Lindsay olives

Happy Hour Mom- $120 gift certificate to Voda Swimwear

Paisley Passions- Memory Works Ele.Men.ta.ry Scrapbook set

Lolidots- Max and Ruby dvd

Colie's Kitchen- Souper James Set (salsa, soup,dip,jam)

Mom it Forward- $50 Threadless kids clothing gift certificate

Stash Mama- $30 My Precious Kid gift certificate

My Baby's Green- Messy Bib and Lunch bug by Mimi the Sardine

Sweeps 4 Bloggers- Ringley natural baby teething toy

THANK YOU all sooooo much!!! If I keep on a roll like this I will get bulk of Christmas shopping done for my girls :)