Finley's brag post :)

It blows my mind how much my Finley is learning right now!!
She can tell you what a frog, cow, fish, doggy, tiger, and pig say ( she makes there noises soo stinking cute). She shows where everyone's nose and eyes are when shes asked and is beginning to say words now too. she knows please ( her own version, but it's close!), love, mom, dad, and tree. She is also repeating constanents when we say them, for example, I say Finley and draw out the f and she repeats the f noise.
She is still a little climber, and is walking all over now.
The thing that blows my mind the most about her are how good her fine motor skills are. She has been putting her own straw in the straw hole of juice boxes/lids to her cups for weeks. She also will get a tissue and blow her own nose when she needs to! We have a smart baby :)
She loves everything outside! The sand, water, trees, grass, bugs, animals,flowers. Every flower we see she has to go smell, and she tries to pick up all the little ants and Rollie pollies that she sees. Super cute. I love this age so so much!!!

I love her and these sat 13 months have been the best iv ever had!! SE brings s much joy into our lives

10 & 11 months

I am a slacker, but that is ok. Since this blog is basically my journal and mostly for me, I am not sorry. Finleys 10 and 11 month pictures are waiting to be posted.

I still cannot believe how fast time has gone by. My precious little baby is now a crazy, active, getting into EVERYTHING little girl now. We love her more and more each day (if that's possible)! Every time she enters a new phase Ben and I say it's our "favorite stage", its pretty funny. It just keeps getting better and better!

I'm so thankful that we have been entrusted with this amazing gift of being finleys parents. She has helped me grow and learn in so many ways, and although sometimes it is terrifying, hard, and overwhelming I wouldn't trade a single second for anything else.

I love Finley from the moon and back, and then back and forth times infinity.

Spring has finally sprung!

After a long, long winter spring has Finally chosen to show its face around these parts. Ha.. Cedarburg is seriously the prettiest place when it's nice out! This weekend was filled with playing at the park, having bbqs and picnics with friends, ice cream shop runs, and going on a couple runs and a few walks as a family.

I just love our little family of three! I never knew how much happiness a little bundle of joy could add to our little family! She makes everything a million times more exciting!

I am photo bombing from these last two weeks of miss Finley :) it's been way to long since iv updated this blog with actual day to day events, but what can one do? A least I have some kind of picture journal right?

Spicy Thai peanut curry noodles

I made this recipe up last night, and it really turned out yummy! Ben had not one, not two, but THREE big helpings of it.. And that is a big deal because these days this boy doesn't eat very much! I must warn you that it has a kick to it, so if you don't like spicy food maybe only add 1/2 a tbls of red pepper flakes.. But the whole tbls really adds some delish flavor to the dish. If you love Thai food I think you will love this too! Let me know what you think!

Spicy Thai peanut curry noodles

1/2 cup of seasame oil
1 tbls of red pepper flakes
6tbls honey
6 tbls soy sauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
About 6-7 tbls of rice vinegar
1/4 cup red curry paste
Yellow, orange, or red peppers ( I did one or to mini ones of all three colors)
1 box Whole wheat linguini
1/2 cup green onions
Shredded chicken (i used about half of a Rotisserie chicken)
1/4 cup of cilantro for on top
Chopped peanuts for on top

-Mix the sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a pan on the stove over medium heat for about 2 minutes.
- Next, strain out the red pepper flakes, reserving the oil.
-Combine the oil with the honey and soy sauce
- boil the linguini and drain
-add the oil mixture to the linguini
-add peanut butter, curry paste, rice vinegar, green onions, peppers, and chicken.
-I stirred mine on the stove top over medium heat to make sure everything was nice and warm
-serve with cilantro and peanuts on top

Easter, and fin turns 9 months!

Easter was pretty fun this year. We were able to do a play group Easter egg hunt earlier in the week, and then another on the Saturday before Easter. On actual Easter Day we were able to go to church, and after church we had an amazing Easter feast with some friends! It is so nice having our dental "family" here in Wisconsin. Every holiday, including the little ones, we have been able to celebrate with friends.

I honestly don't know how we would get through school without these close friends we have made! It is insane to think how fast this last year has gone. Only three years left and Ben will be dr. Beeson! Woohoo! And who knows where we will be after that! For now we will just focus on school and the next year or so here.

The next day after Easter Finley turned nine months! I say it every time, but really?! Nine months already!!! Last Easter I was 7.5 months pregnant and had these pics taken.. So weird to think that was a year ago now!

Finley is so mobile and does not like to hold still! She is constantly on the go, army crawling everywhere and standing and walking along furniture any chance she gets! She loves to walk around our house, the store, at church with he assistance of Ben or me of ores. Have a feeling she ill be walking on her own VERY soon here.. Eek! I don't mind if she waits a little longer though! She loves paying the tickle game where she lifts her arms and waits to be tickled, then brings them down and laughs so hard then repeats. She waves, claps, loves to eat, climbs onto everything, and smiles and laughs a lot. We love her so much, life wouldn't be much without her in it!

Healthy, no flour, no oil/butter, no added sugar banana muffins!

I made these sweet little muffins the other day and was very excited with the results! Super moist, surprisingly sweet, and pretty dang healthy for a muffin! I liked them, but I'm easy to please when it comes to healthy food. Ben on the other hand, not so much! So when he said he really liked them too I knew this recipe was a keeper! Try it out, because I think you will like it too!

Ingredients:

- 2.5 cups of old fashion oats
-2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of honey
-1/2 cup of plain or vanilla yogurt (I used vanilla)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbls ground flaxseed
- 2tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. grease 12 count muffin tin. Put the oats in either a blender or food processor and pulse for about 12 seconds. Next, add all of the other ingredients and blend until the mixture is smooth. Put them in the muffin tin and if you would like you can add chocolate chips, craisins, peanut butter chips, any kind of nuts, blueberries, or just leave them plain! :) bake for 16-18 minutes. Enjoy!!

8 months old

Finley turned 8 months on the 1st. She is such a happy and content baby, we are so lucky to be her parents! SHe has been on the move now a days and is never in the same spot I originally set her down at. This is by far my favorite stage so far. SE is learning SO much and loves to play and interact with Ben and I.

At 8 months Finley is,

- laughing at everything. She thinks that everything is funny and I love it!
-she scoots and rolls all over the place still, constantly on the move
-is always moving her hands and legs, little wiggle worm
-loves to nuzzle in and cuddle, especially when she is tired
-favorite toys are water bottles, her Tupperware, brush, and clothes. She also loves to play with the wet ones
-she talks ALL day long! Sometimes she does the loudest continuous yayayayaya, so loud Ben and I cannot have a conversation because we can't hear each other! But we laugh because she is just experimenting with her voice.
-she has said dada and mama, but she doesn't know what she is saying yet :)
-she officially knows how to clap
-she can wave (been waving since around 6 ish months, but now she does it more consistently
-gets so excited and makes the funniest noise when Ben gets home from school, or when she hasn't seen me for a little while
- has now tried Gerber sweet potatoe puffs
-can feed herself with her pointer and thumb (which is so cute to watch her do)
-stands all the time,
- is super strong
-sleeping and napping like a champ
-has 6 teeth, 4 maxillary, 2 mandibular
-her hair is getting longer and is turning into a pretty golden blonde color