Foodie February

February changed our lives in a lot of wonderful ways. As Ada approached six months we got to start introducing her to solid foods and so far she is a fan! She wasn't really sure what do with the rice cereal and breast milk mixture I presented her with a spoon, but she thought these rice husks were pretty awesome from the very beginning. 

Rory and Ada have such a rough love relationship meaning Rory is really rough with her and I hope there is love involved in some way. Ada LOVES Rory so much, sometimes when Rory walks into the room I swear I can see heart pupils in Ada's eyes just like in the cartoons. She just completely lights up every time she sees her. When Rory gives her any amount of attention Ada instantly smiles or giggles, and exactly half a second later Rory will do something to make her cry (bite her, poke her, grab her, shake her, sit on her- you name it Ada has lived through it). What doesn't kill you makes you stronger? 

Since we did a second session of Toddlerschool we got to do another class party for Valentines day. Rory picked out some Frozen valentines at the Dollar Store and then as we got them ready for her classmates she insisted that really she should just keep them all since she loves Elsa the most-est. She got to decorate sugar cookies, sing special songs, and have some snacks with her friends after they passed out their goodies. Rory's favorite part was the whip cream and strawberries. She loved it so much she asked for two more helpings and then Mrs. Miller, her teacher, sent her home with the leftovers. She now requests it for every meal. 

On the way back from the party a straight up miracle occurred. ADA FELL ASLEEP IN THE CAR. She's gotten so much better about not losing her mind every time we drive, and preschool is only 8 minutes from our house that I didn't think anything of it when she was finally nice and quiet, but SHE DID IT! SHE FELL ASLEEP IN THE CAR! May this be the start of a long and industrious car sleeping career for her. 

I LOVE Valentine's day, not because I think the holiday is important or even romantic really, but because it involves presents, desserts, chocolate, and the color pink. In college Taylor and I would host big dessert nights for Valentine's day because we both loved all the pink baking and this year I finally got to get back to it. Ironically, I made a goal at the beginning of this year to not eat sweets for 100 days in an effort to help me prep for our vacation to Mexico in April. But not being able to eat the desserts was not about to stop me from making them! Marisa hosted a Galentine's High Fitness class so I volunteered to provide the treats. I made chocolate dipped red velvet Oreo pops that turned out so stinking cute I just wanted to look at them all day. I also made heart-shaped chocolate-dipped strawberries that didn't turn out nearly as heart-shaped as pinterest had promised. I didn't get a picture of them, but I'm going to just assume they tasted great. Rory was an awesome "helper". 

I also worked on making some royally iced sugar cookies to deliver to the young women for Valentine's day. We had an activity coming up where we would be decorating cookies for a care facility and since I never use royal icing I wanted to be sure I figured it out before I tried to teach it to all the young women. It was a ton of baking and frosting making, and it is almost impossible to get a truly red frosting, but they turned out really cute! I don't know why I forgot to get a picture, probably because I was too busy baking, decorating, and then hiding everything from Rory so she wouldn't try to eat it. 

With all the treats I was making, it was a busy day in the kitchen. While I was making dinner I sent her to go play. She found my paper scraps from the cards I cut out for the young women and she quickly came in and asked me for some tape so she could make "the ouchey thingy that Jesus sits on". Then she came back and asked me to write, "Jesus was putted on the cross by the soldiers" on it. This is what happens when you show your children a video depiction of the Crucifixion when they are two, by the way. Not sure whether this goes in the parenting wins or losses category but it's definitely worth remembering.

Stephen is in busy season working crazy long hours like usual this time of year, and so by the time bed time rolls around I am usually feeling pretty spent. On this night when I went to tuck Rory in she asked me if Ada could lay down and chat with her for a minute. Look at the joy on that baby's face! And Rory was so sweet and so happy! I snapped a million pictures and cried actual tears of joy because for once their interaction didn't end in Ada tears! I love seeing the potential friends they can be (though if they take after their mother it will take them till about high school graduation to appreciate each other at all).

To get us through busy season we have instituted a mandatory pizza and a movie night on Friday. I win because I am too tired to cook any more meals. Stephen gets to cuddle Rory while she watches a movie, which after weeks of working around the clock is so good for him mentally and about the only play he can handle physically since he never sees the sun or leaves his small workspace (haha jk- kind of). We love Friday pizza night! And now Ada is following suit. Apparently now that shes mastered rice husks and mauling peanut butter toast sticks she feels equipped to take on pizza. She snatched this piece right out of Stephen's hand and then clung to it with a force we didn't even know she was capable of. So it seemed only right to let her finish most of it. It's looking like Ada loves food and it makes me love her even more. 

We got back on our weekly play date schedule with Rebecca and we did another fun Valentine's themed play date after dance class this year. Sarah took these cute pictures of the girls at her house and then we had some lunch and crafts at mine. While she was there I left the girls with her and ran out with my YW adviser Emily Lott to deliver the Valentine cookies. I got a bunch of heart balloons at the Dollar store and we left a heart balloon and two cookies for each girl. I brought Ada with me because I didn't want to leave Sarah feeling overwhelmed and I thought, "It's been a while since she's cried in the car I think she may even fall asleep." She cried and cried and cried until I finally thought to turn on the Frozen 2  soundtrack (since that's what is normally playing in the car when she and Rory are with me). Literally as soon as those first chords hit, she stopped crying and didn't make a peep the rest of the time. She fell asleep by the second track. It was crazy.

Now that Ada's tried pizza we keep seeing what else she might like. She loved these Ramen noodles from Costco. Feeding her is our new favorite thing. Also this last picture is when Rory and I did each other's makeup. She said I looked beautiful, but that I didn't do a very good job on hers. Thus, it begins...