Copy Cat

Can you tell she is copying Matthew blowing?



Ok...I am making a fool of myself by sharing this, but it was too funny not to share. She is trying to laugh like me...and I was honestly laughing NOT faking it. She was laughing her head off before the video, but its even funnier to see her trying to cackle like me.

High Chair Manners

Addison has been making huge strides in her high chair manners! She is so neat and tidy and well behaved during meal times. If you are not familiar with high chair manners, hop on over to the Little Tummy Yummies blog and check out a great high chair manner summary! Why teach high chair manners? Because this is our first opportunity to begin teaching self control. Self control at the table will translate to self control other places.

Addison keeps her hands either placed in front of her on the tray or close to it. Sometimes she moves her hands around but rarely bangs the tray or grabs the bowl/spoon from Mommy or Daddy. This was not always the case and occasionally we have to remind her "where do our hands go?". From the beginning we tried to teach her not to spit out food or blow it everywhere, so this has never been an issue which means---CLEAN UP IS EASY. Screaming (not out of anger but just for fun) has been a huge challenge for us since she is a motor mouth, but we are making slow progress. When she spills something or blows her food it IS cute, but I try everything I can to contain my laughter; I must remember the big picture!

Things to work on.....KICKING FEET. When she is very excited she kicks her feet wildy. We also need to work on arching her back; this is a hard one to correct!

Here is a picture of Addison with a prune beard; this is about as messy as she ever gets. Most of this mess is my fault too!!! Sometimes we do not even use a bib!

Blurry...it was on my cell phone :)

Bow Holder

Allow me to introduce you to Addison's new bow holder......

It actually isn't as lime green as it looks (I took these pictures with my cell phone). This green matches the green I used to paint the letters spelling her name on the wall.




Thank you to Tonya for giving me some guidance on how to make this!

Pumpkin Pie

I made homemade pumpkin pie for the first time several weeks ago. And when I say homemade, I mean---Pumpkin filling at all. It was fairly simple except for one step: getting all the water out of the pumpkin. That step was only challenging because I did not have the proper equipment (cheese cloth). I used the pumpkin pie recipe (and pie filling) and whipped cream recipe from JoyofBaking.com.

Matthew gave it a 4.25 out of 5 stars; not too shabby!

Pumpkin Filling:
3 large eggs
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree*
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-9 inch frozen crust

Whipped Cream:
1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

1) Make pumpkin puree

• Use the smaller pumpkin varieties like Sugar Pie, Baby Bear or Cheese Pumpkin (approximately 5-7 lbs., 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 kg.). I used a Sugar Pie pumpkin
• Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise, remove all the seeds and stringy fibers
• Place cut-side down on a greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees F approximately 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours (depending on size) or until easily pierced with a knife.
• Scoop out the pulp and puree in a food processor until smooth.
  
• Extract all the liquid, so strain the pumpkin through a cheesecloth lined strainer and then cool the puree before using. ***I did not have a cheesecloth so I used a coffee filter for every 1/2 cup of puree I extracted liquid from**** This took about 15-20 minutes to do.
  

2) Make the pie filling

• In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
  
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell (I used a frozen crust) and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills.
• Bake the pie for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned (the center will still look wet; A knife inserted about 1 inch from side of pan will come out almost clean.)
• Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature with maple whipped cream. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator

3) Make Whipped Cream

• Place mixing bowl and wire whisk in freezer before making whipped cream (I used a kitchen aid mixer and it was SUPER easy)
  
• In mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and beat until the mixture until stiff peaks form.

4) Serve pie at room temperature and make whipped cream just before serving


Easy, easy!!!! Try making your own pumpkin filling!!! It was fun!

Pumpkin I used

After removing seeds and fibers.This takes a while too. Pumpkin fibers are much more difficult than squash fibers, ARG!

After cooking pumpkin, pretty color huh?

Done!

Time to eat!

Baby Dedication

On October 30, 2010 Addison Joy Grant was dedicated at Calvary Road Baptist Church. If you are unfamiliar with a baby dedication, it is not a baptism. During the time of dedication, Matthew and I committed to raise Addison in a Christ centered home and the church committed encourage her in her faith as well. We pray she gives her heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ at a young age!!!!

Pastor Dave praying over the two families dedicating their babies.

Pastor Dave praying over the two families dedicating their babies.

6 month-ish Photos by Arianne Teeple

Arianne Teeple took Addison's 6 month-ish photos and Grant family photos on October 24 in D.C. She did an amazing job not only capturing the city we live in but also our personalities. We enjoyed every moment of the photo shoot, especially as she and I reminisced of our high school years (we went to the same high school, small world).

Arianne, Thank for capturing our family so perfectly, all the smiles, the laughs, the squished up noses and yes...even the mouths wide open cause thats who we are :)

I hope everyone enjoys this small sample of photos as much as we did:

This one looks so posed, but it wasnt---none of them were!

This is one of our favorite faces she makes!

Steps of the Capitol

THE most wonderful husband and father, not to brag :)

Washington Monument benches

Washington Monument

Capitol

The Mall

All tuckered out at the end

Capitol

We have this much fun all the time, really!

The Grant Gang at the original Smithsonian

The Grant Gang at the original Smithsonian; Addison admiring her Daddy

Addison Joy is 7 Months

Happy 7 months old to our "blessing", Addison Joy!

Many of you may not have even noticed I am a bit late on this post, however the first few days of month 7 has proved a little challenging. We suspect teething or more elimination issues (yet again). Addison is still the sweetest baby even when something is wrong, so we count ourselves blessed and we are incredibly grateful. Her worst days are probably some babies best days!

Here are some highlights:

Weight: I have no idea, but based on her weight at the 6 month check up I guess she is rapidly approaching 20 pounds if she is not already there.
Height: No clue!
Clothing Size: Some 6-9 months but mostly 12 months, WHAT!?!? Although she has a big baby belly, she is still has a very narrow build overall yet long so that makes finding clothes that fit interesting. Luckily, I have a good friend that let me borrow ALL her 6-12 month clothes so we are set with clothes for a while---I love me some hand me downs!!!!
Talking: She is developing so much in this area everyday. She can say "dada", "mahmah" "ba" "boo" "ga" "goo" "spppp" "ah-goo" "ah" "wah"...and maybe a few others I just don't remember. She talks CONSTANTLY!
Breastfeeding: We are still breast feeding 4-5 times daily. Everyday I have to recommit myself to it, but I know it is worth it.
Food (finger foods): She can pick up banana and Gerber Puffs (see video) and put them in her mouth. I was totally not expecting her to catch on that quickly!
Crawling: She can scoot around a bit and crawl backwards, but prefers to roll or spin to her destination vs. crawling. I still maintain she will never truly crawl. I read that larger babies have trouble crawling and walking because there is so much weight to pull around vs a smaller baby of the same age.
Foods: Addison has enjoyed the following foods so far---peas, carrots, oatmeal, rice (rarely give that to her since it ALWAYS stops her up), green beans, butternut quash, pumpkin, acorn squash, apples, pears, bananas, Gerber puffs, prunes--and I think that is it. She likes peas and pears the best!
Independent Play: On most days Addison has blanket time or play pen time for at least 15 minutes a day. This is a time when she plays completely on her own and Mommy is not within site. Some days she does better than others, but most of the time she plays quietly with her 2-3 toys. When she hears the timer go off, she grins and looks around the room just waiting for me to come get her. The timer is her indication that independent play is over. On days that she doesnt feel well, we usually do not even try independent play, I feel like it is an important element, but not crucial enough to let her cry through it when she is feeling down.
Random: She got a flu shot this month---and did not even FLINCH when they gave it to her; she can pull her bib and socks off without a thought; she likes to peek around corners for people; she enjoys looking at people out of the corner of her eye; she chews on EVERTHING still; she can pull to stand when it is only a short distance.

That is all I can think of for now because I am so tired today!

Coming up next...

Thanksgiving: We are headed to Mississippi for Thanksgiving and I cant wait!! I am hoping Addison will be able to meet most of my extended family! Every Thanksgiving the Gambrell family gathers together and I look forward to it EVERY year, I have the best aunts, uncles and cousins imaginable and I love them all so much! We get to experience flying again, so say some prayers!!!! I will be there for 3 weeks while Matthew will spend the first week in MS and the other two at training for work. I am so grateful my parents are kind enough to let me stay with them while Matthew is in training. ALSO, Addison and I are planning a trip to Louisiana while we are in MS so we can meet up with my pen pal and her PRECIOUS daughter!! I could not be more excited!

Car seat: Since our big girl is very close to outgrowing her infant car seat, we are on the hunt for her next car seat. I would like one that will work for her until she is out of car seats but is still affordable; all recommendations welcome!

Video and a few pictures....

BREAKING NEWS: Gerber Puffs

BREAKING NEWS...Addison can now do FINGER FOODS!!! We are due for the 7 month birthday blog today, but it will have to wait to make room for this breaking news.....

(please excuse my commentary)

We have only given her the puffs two other times and all of a sudden, she figured it out and now she is a PRO. I love it but cannot believe it! She is too grown up, I honestly did not expect her to figure it out this fast!