Will I forget?

When I see Grace sitting on her blanket playing, or up in her high chair eating baby food, or taking up so much more space on my lap than she did a couple months ago, I want to freeze every moment and remember it forever.

Our little girl is growing up so fast. Her own little personality is developing.

I'll tell you what else is developing: major separation anxiety. Though it's obviously anxiety-provoking for Grace to be handed off to anyone except me or John, I think it's as much if not more distressing for me to hear her crying her head off. Aaack. I hope this does not last too long.
After a fun lunch out with John and a good friend, I am in an after-lunch stupor, so I think this will have to be it for now. Might as well grab a nap, short as it may be, while Grace is sleeping...at least for now.

Don't blink or you'll miss it!

Fall is upon us. Actually, I think the first official day of the season is Saturday, but if I don't start thinking "fall" right now, from the very beginning of the season, it'll be Christmas before I know it. I can't count on the weather (which has been really lovely, but will be in the 90s the next few days) to put me in the spirit of autumn.

'Tis the season for baking. Must be, because I'm not usually overly excited when I read baking blogs. This morning, however, as I was perusing My Baking Addiction I found three recipes I feel I need to try: pumpkin granola bars, candy corn oreo truffles, and German chocolate brownies.

And I don't even really love candy corn or alternatively flavored oreos. Or German chocolate, for that matter. But somehow the recipes spoke to me today.

We'll see if those experiments come to pass!

What absolutely must happen is baking up some pumpkin bread. It's John's favorite, and I'm trying to make it more of a priority to make him feel special since I've kind of dropped the ball on our relationship since Grace came into our family. I'm ashamed to admit that, but it's the truth. Being a counselor, I logically know all about the importance of choosing to connect with your mate. I just never imagined how motherhood would zap me of all energy and creativity by  Grace's bedtime.

In case any of you care, this is the pumpkin bread recipe I use (straight from Katie Wilkinson, who I don't know, but contributed this recipe to the cookbook from Bella Vista First United Methodist Church, where my grandparents attended):

Pumpkin Bread I

3 c. granulated sugar                                            2 tsp. salt (scant)
1 c. vegetable oil                                                  1/2 tsp. ground cloves
4 eggs, beaten                                                       1 tsp. cinnamon
1 (1 lb.) can pumpkin                                           1 tsp. allspice
3 1/2 c. flour                                                         1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda                                                 2/3 c. water

"Mix sugar, oil and eggs together; add pumpkin. Add dry ingredients. Add water; stir just until mixed. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 5x9-inch loaf pans. (I use only Pam to grease the pans.) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
"This is an Amish recipe and it's my favorite bread to have with coffee at breakfast."

Thank you, Katie Wilkinson. I love your pumpkin bread with coffee, too!

Easy Dinner

Oh, I just can't get enough of this beautiful girl!

OK. Unless she's taking 45 minutes to eat or only sleeping for 20 minutes at nap times all day. On those days, someone is welcome to come relieve me so I can actually get something done. Or take a nap.

Look!

It's her new favorite position when she's playing on the floor or in her crib (which she sometimes does rather than take a nap!). Crawling will be here before we know it. And right now I'm hoping she waits to crawl until the new battery charger for the camera arrives in the mail. We seem to have lost the original, and the camera is on it's last little bit of battery power.

It's times like these I kind of wish I weren't the only person in the world without a smart phone. My vintage phone just doesn't take good pictures. Then common sense reminds me that a $5 battery charger is a heck of a lot cheaper than a smart phone monthly plan. Plus, I'm sure we have some time before Grace really crawls.

Because I love spending time with Grace (and some days I do a lot of that since she won't take a real nap, or is having a growth spurt and wants to eat all the time, or is just plain fussy and needy), most the time dinners need to be relatively easy and quick to make. Thanks to my friend Stacy, I have a copy of her favorite week of menus from emeals.com. (This is not a paid advertisement. In fact, I've never bought any eMeals plans and probably won't, but I'm sure it's a great deal for a lot of people.) eMeals features super easy recipes, and one of the recipes from the week I have is quickly becoming one of our favorite dinners.

Crustless Spinach Quiche
1 c 2% shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c fat-free half-and-half
1/3 c pesto, drain oil off
10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed/drained
1 1/2 c egg substitute (optional) OR 4-5 eggs or egg whites, whatever combo you'd like
Option: You can also place sliced tomatoes on top of the quiche before you bake it.

Combine all ingredients and pour into a sprayed pie plate. Bake at 375 for 45 to 55 minutes.

Six Months

Sometimes when I look at pictures of Grace from several months ago I get a little teary-eyed.

I can't imagine what it's going to be like in ten or 15 years!

But then, Grace is so beautiful and smiley and happy and fun that I can't be sad for long. She really is a delightful little girl.

Grace still eats veggies once a day and loves them. She's tried carrots, peas and avocados so far. I think this weekend we'll be having squash, so she can try that.

This weekend we were in Arkansas at John's uncle's lake house for a family reunion. Everybody got to meet Grace, and we got to meet her second cousin who is just 7 weeks old. Grace even went swimming in a two-foot deep little baby pool; she had a blast!

Now that she's rolling over, scooting herself around and sitting I know the day is just around the corner when I will not be able to leave her alone in a room for a second.

Here's how our six-month photo shoot ended yesterday:

She is pretty darling if I do say so myself.