7-8 month schedule

Since I missed posting Luke's 7 month schedule, I'm going to do months 7 and 8 together.  They are pretty much the same, with a few differences I've put in parenthesis.  I know these schedules will come in handy with Baby #2 someday!

7:30 a.m.: Wake up and Nurse

8:30 a.m.: Breakfast (usually cereal with bananas; moved to finger foods in the middle of month 8)

9:30-11:15 a.m.: Nap

11:15 a.m.: Nurse

12:30 p.m.: Lunch (usually 1 vegetable, 1 fruit, and yogurt; moved to eating what Mom eats in the middle of month 8)

1:30-3:00 p.m.: Nap

3:00 p.m.: Bottle (8-9 ounces)

5:30 p.m.: Dinner (usually 2 vegetables, 1 fruit; moved to eating what Mom and Dad eat in the middle of month 8)

7:15 p.m.: Bedtime routine (bath, pjs, story)

7:30 p.m.: Bottle (8-9 ounces) and Bed

Here are some random phone pics!

he loves toast!

he was trying to get abel to come back 

air vents are one of his favorite things

the awesomeness of finger food

Baby Play: Sound Treasure Box

Luke has been growing, moving, and changing like crazy.  I'm sure all you Mommys, Daddys, and caregivers out there understand this when I say...he does something new everyday.  

This sound treasure box was inspired by a xylophone that was given to us by my friend, Paige, who acquired it from one of her friends.  I love hand-me-downs!  

So, I started with the xylophone, but what else could I use?  I didn't go out and buy anything, I just scoured the house and Luke's room for some toys and everyday items that make some kind of sound.  It wasn't as hard as I thought and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.  

Luke was pretty into this sound treasure box.  Many of the items are toys he has played with before, but they haven't been out for him to play with in awhile.  It's funny how toys put away for awhile can seem 'new'.  I love that.  

His favorite items were the cardboard square with tissue paper and one of the rattles.  He threw the rattle over and over again (throwing is his new thing) and played fetch with himself. He then found the cardboard square and turned it over and over in his hand like it was gold.  I love how his little eyes light up with wonder at a simple piece of cardboard.  Here is the link for the tactile boards. 

I observed during most of this playtime, but I also sang with him and talked about the items he was exploring.  We sang Shake, Shake, Shake and Do, Re, Me with the xylophone.  Although, I didn't remember all the words, but I am really, really good (haha)at making up my own words to songs I don't know.  (That is an entirely different post.)  I also clapped and tried to see if he would clap with me, but that's not happening just yet.  I used words like: sound, clap, music, and made lots of sounds (swish, tick tock, knock knock, shhhhh, boom boom).  

I am planning on getting out the sound treasure box every once in awhile to mix things up again and work on some sound vocabulary.  I don't think Luke will mind.

this was the rattle he threw over and over 

luke exploring the bottle

moving around the piece of cardboard

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Pinterest Love: Christmas Cookies in July

This month for cooking club the theme was 'Christmas in July'.  It was such a fun theme and nice to eat some home cooked, savory yumminess that did not get cooked on the grill.  Don't get me wrong, I could eat a cheeseburger every night, but it was a welcome change.  One of my friends in cooking club, Lydia, made some aaaa-mazing, decadent desserts.  She is the inspiration to my Pinterest love this week!  It's been unusually cool the last five days on the Trail....perfect for a 'Christmas Cookies in July' weekend!

click here to pin...all time favorite christmas cookie recipes

click here to pin...as most of you know we love peanut butter on the trail, enough said

click to pin...lydia made these for cooking club and they were ridiculous

click here to pin...i made these for the cookies exchange last year and they. were. perfect.

Wedding Season: Shelby's Wedding

 One of my best girlfriends is a married woman!  She married her super sweet husband, Jeff, a few weeks ago at a beautiful ceremony surrounded by family and friends.  

Shelby is the most laid back, cool lady I know.  She is a go-with-the-flow, 'whatever', 'sounds good' kind of person and I just love that about her.  She was not one bit anxious or nervous during her big day.  She was exactly how I thought she would be...beautiful and relaxed.  She knew she was about to marry the man of her dreams and that's all that mattered to her.

I was lucky to be a part of Shelby's wedding and I was so honored to observe their love and commitment to each other.  They are such a beautiful couple...inside and out...and Kevin, Luke and I are blessed to be a part of their lives.  Congratulations Jeff and Shelby!

finishing touches on shelby's hair!

shelby dressing her daughter, scarlet

the reveal...so sweet

the happy couple

kevin, luke, and i

the bridesmaids

shelby and jeff were able to take a picture in a corvette...so cool!

so sweet!

Pinterest Love: Baby Resources

This fall Kevin and I have around 15 friends that are having babies.  Madness.  Pure baby madness.  Being a baby lover, I couldn't be happier.  I can't wait to hold, cuddle, squeeze and kiss each and every last one of them.

During my pregnancy I pinned lots, lots of 'baby stuff'.  Today I'm going to share the pins I have gone back to over and over again during Luke's little life.  I hope these are helpful to some of you new-mommys-to-be!  Love you all!

click here to pin...if you have read some of my previous posts, i have tried these treasure baskets with luke and they are so fun!

click here to pin...baby center has tons of fun things to do with your babe, broken down by month

click here to pin...great information if you're going to breastfeed

click here to pin...this is THE BEST site for making your own baby food; it's genius

click here to pin...timeline of baby sleep, sleeping baby means sleeping mommy; super important

5x7 Folded Card

Picture In Landscape 5x7 folded card

Click here to see graduation announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

5x7 Folded Card

Picture In Landscape 5x7 folded card

Check out our modern shower invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Pumpkin Muffins...in July

Yes, I made pumpkin muffins in July.  Yes, I know pumpkin is reserved for fall.

I don't care.

And you won't either after you make these muffins.  If you're anything like me, you love fall baking.  I tried these muffins last year and loved them.  Mostly because they're dense and yummy, but also because they are simple and easy to get from the bowl to the oven.  Did I mention there are only 3 ingredients?  I love that about them, too.

I made these last night because I was craving something sweet and didn't want a whole pan of bars or brownies in my kitchen tempting me.  Because these are individual muffins, I can freeze some of the batch for another time when I'm craving something sweet (which is like every night).  

I shared these muffins with some of my favorite people today...Amelia Mae and her mommy, Kara.  Amelia had one without frosting and Kara and I enjoyed the full fat version.  Hope you try!

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
1 box spice cake mix
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
Icing of choice (I cheated and used a can of frosting.)

Directions
1.  Beat cake mix and pumpkin in stand mixer.
2.  Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter.
3.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
4.  Cool completely then frost.

this was so sweet...miss amelia feeding luke cheerios

Cherry Pie and Fourth of July Weekend

Wasn't it awesome to have the Fourth of July on a Thursday?  It meant a four day weekend for some lucky people, my husband and parents included.  They all took Friday off so we could spend the day and rest of the weekend together.  Now that I'm a stay-at-home-mommy I love, love when people come to visit during the week.  It's just extra special and makes the days a little more fun.  

My mom and I took the opportunity to do some shopping on Friday and then we hit the Quarry up for some swimming that evening.  And then Saturday, blessed Saturday.  It was a wonderful day.  My parents and I strolled through the Farmer's Market and I ate a way-too-large-calorie-filled chocolate long john.  It. was. so. good.  Everyone should eat one from the Greek stand at the Farmer's market one time in their life.  Two times might be too many.  Oops.  

Anyways...then we all went to La Buvette for lunch, but mainly for a glass of wine or two.  Luke and Kevin joined us and Luke was such a trooper.  We sat out on the patio and Luke loved watching the people go by (and the people loved him).  It was a heavenly afternoon.  We don't eat out too much anymore living so far from the city, so this was a special treat.  

On the Fourth I made a cherry pie for the first time this year.  We have a cherry tree that is completely loaded, so it was the perfect time to break out the pie pan.  What was really special about this pie is my grandma taught me how to put the top and bottom crusts together to make it pretty.  I couldn't get it at first, but Grandma was patient and I finally figured it out on my second pie the next day.  Yep, second pie...the next day.  We ate the first pie in less than 24 hours and I made another one less than 24 hours later on Friday afternoon.  It was that good.  The secret ingredient is the almond extract.  I used some on Thursday, but not on Friday and there was a difference.  So, use the almond extract if you can.  Here it is; the easy, yummy, delicious cherry pie recipe.

Cherry Pie

Ingredients

4 cups cherries, pitted

1 1/2 cups sugar

4-6 T cornstarch

1/8 t almond extract

1 package Pillsbury pie crusts (or 2 crusts)

Directions

1.  Place cherries in saucepan on medium heat until juices start to run (about 5 minutes).

2.  Add sugar and cornstarch and stir over medium low heat.  Heat until thickened.

3.  Remove from heat and mix in almond extract.

4.  Prepare bottom crust in pie pan.  Spoon cherry pie mixture onto crust.  Cover with top crust and pinch sides together (this is important!).  Make a few slits in the top crust with a knife.

5.  Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  Enjoy!

quarry time

farmer's market chocolate long john

grandma and baby luke

grandma, papa, and luke at la buvette

luke's first time at one of mommy and daddy's favorite places...la burette

Fourth of July and Pizza!

Luke's first Fourth of July was spent on the farm.  We were lucky enough to have my parents come to celebrate along with my grandparents, sister, and nephew from Ottumwa.  We spent the day lounging around and eating...a lot.  We had brunch and dinner within four hours because my sister was driving my grandparents home that evening.  Although it was a quick trip, it was a special afternoon and I'm so happy I was able to spend some time with my super sweet Grandma and Grandpa.  

The brunch theme was pizza.  I made a breakfast pizza and fruit flag pizza for the holiday.  They are both easy recipes that can be made in a very, very short amount of time.  The breakfast pizza was, um, not so healthy, but the fruit pizza kind of made up for it...

Hope you had a happy Fourth!

Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients
1 Pillsbury pizza crust (or other pizza crust)
4 ounces cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8 strips of bacon, cooked
8 eggs, scrambled

Directions
1.  Place pizza crust on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.
2.  Scramble eggs and cook bacon.
3.  Spread cream cheese on crust.  Top with eggs, bacon, and cheese.
4.  Bake pizza at 400 degrees for 8 more minutes.

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients
1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough
16 ounces vanilla greek yogurt
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries

Directions
1.  Grease cookie sheet.  Spread sugar cookie dough on sheet.  Bake for 7-8 minutes (a few minutes less than what the package directs).
2.  Let dough cool.
3.  Spread yogurt on cookie dough.
4.  Use berries to make a flag.

rachael and little luke

grandpa insisted grandma sit on his lap, 'like they used to do' he said

my boys

landon got some tractor time in

landon picking some cherries

grandma, rach, and i

4 generations

great-grandpa hasley loving on little luke