18 Months of Pure Bliss!!

Ava-cakes is 18 months old already! She has never been more fun than she is right now. Gosh, I wish time would just stand still so I can soak up every last bit of her! She's talking, running, jumping, following directions, pretending, and changing before our very own eyes everyday.

Ava's word bank is huge! She says about 30+ words (of course we've counted!) including...daddy, mommy, kitty, bye, hi, hot, cup, dink (drink), cheese (her favorite!), cacka (cracker), orsh (portia), bobble (bottle), gah (gone), boo-boo, shoes, and many, many more that I can't recall at this very moment. She shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want something and is catching onto nodding her head "yes" when she does want something. Too cute...

She knows every part of her body and points to it when you ask her too--even her teeth! She follows directions really well...ahem--so far. :) I'll say, "take this to daddy please" or "throw that away please" and sure enough, she does it! She's started to associate things with us as well, such as daddy's clothes, mommy's purse, etc. I was folding clothes today and I was hanging one of Eric's shirts up and Ava pointed at the shirt and said, "dats daddys." So cool to see her thinking and putting concepts together. When we get ready to leave the house, she grabs her little purse, puts it on her shoulder, and says "bye keety, bye keety" and waves bye-bye to the kitty. Her and that sweet little voice of hers makes me just wanna gobble her up!! She had her 18 month checkup this week and our little heifer weighs 27 lbs and is 33 inches tall. Dr. Brown seemed pretty pleased with her development and told us to take in all that we can of her at this stage because it goes by so fast..not that we haven't noticed that already! He said she would probably catch onto potty training really quickly, so we could start trying that out if we wanted. Our baby is nearly a full fledged toddler...it won't be long before she's talking in sentences and telling us what she wants! Hmmm...makes me almost ready to fill this house with another tiny one! I said, almost ready... ;o)

She loves berries and cheese (like, with every square inch of her heart!), having lunch outside, wearing mommy & daddy's shoes around the house, just being outside--rain or shine!, playing with other kids, going on walks with "orsh", trying to dress herself (and undress herself!), running around the house half nakie, dancing! (usually half nakie!), looking for airplanes, and rough-housing with her daddy--matter of fact, she likes anything that revolves around her daddy. She's in love with him. Head. Over. Heels. It's a very interesting phenomenon. They dance together, romp around together, eat kettle-style popcorn together, tinker in the garage together, and she steals piggy-back rides from him at every opportunity...it's unbelievable. They have become best buddies. We can't walk through the garage to the car without Ava pointing to daddy's 4 wheeler and saying, "daddys," and when I load the dishwasher and she sees his favorite cup that he always drinks out of, again she says, "daddys." And when he comes home from work--oooooohhhh, it's all over...mama's immediately chopped liver! Haha! I love seeing those two together...I hope they always stay so sweetly close.

Really...you just gotta love her... in all her ornery glory.

Yummo! Tuna salad sandwich dipped in yogurt! Eww. She dips everything in yogurt!

Ava and "Orsh"

On airplane watch! She looooves looking for airplanes!

There it is!!

She loves getting under our covers on our bed...and brushing her teeth in our bed. :)

Gotta try out the foot of the bed, too!

2 Years and Counting!!

Eric & I celebrated our 2 year anniversary last Monday. It's been an eventful 2 years filled with some of the best memories of my entire life!! I spent the entire day just thinking about that day 2 years ago when we anxiously, yet peacefully, exchanged our vows and started a new chapter--well, more like a new series in our life together. I really can't even put in words how much I appreciate Eric & I's relationship and am proud of our dedication to our marriage. We learn new relationship skills everyday it seems. Times get a little tricky now and then, especially while trying to juggle parenting, working, and our social lives, but God knows I love this journey we're on. Bring on 50 more years!!! :~)

Let's take a little trip down memory lane....Ahhh, I loved that April 12th day in 2008!

Now, for our anniversary, a couple of real sweet Baldner's insisted on--no wait--they down-right demanded that they watch our daughter for a few hours while we went to dinner. I would say that we hesitated a moment at their offer, but we more or less pummeled it--like a lion on its prey--the offer went up in the air and we jumped on it at lightning speed!! You must be thinking, "Wow Liz. That eager to give up your daughter for an evening, huh?" And my quick response is, "You betcha!" Sometimes, I'd do anything for a babyless dinner date with my husband...just a nice glass of Pinot...relaxing...the dim lighting and savory aromas coming from the kitchen just put me in a warm & fuzzy state of mind. A state of mind where I'm not worried about picking up utensils off the floor that my daughter has thrown there, or dodging mashed potatoes as she flings them through the air, or hushing her as she belts out a shrill, hair-raising squeal. Just peace and quiet with my husband and the relaxing effects of wine...a big glass...or two. :)

We started the evening with some good ol Red Stripe...in honor of Jamaica, where we went on our honeymoon. And although I wasn't able to thoroughly enjoy Red Stripe while we were in Jamaica...since I happened to be growing this little thing called a fetus in my belly...I decided we should have some on our anniversary...you know, for honor's sake. :)

We went to one of our favorite restaurants ever...Columbus Fish Market. The best Cedar Plank Salmon my taste buds have ever met.

And wouldn't you know, they gave me a rose at the end of dinner because we were celebrating our anniversary. See--I knew I loved that place. :)

And where else would we finish off our evening!?!? Lowe's! We were babyless people! Of course we were gonna hit up Lowe's and take our time browsing around thinking up ideas for the house. We even came home with a "Do-It-Yourself" book. :)

And just as a reminder hunny--There's no turning back now!!! heeeehehehe!

Click Here for a Smile !!

She's the best thing ever...

Quad Madness!!

Eric took a trip to Kentucky this weekend on a 4-wheeling trip with the fellas. Aaaand he only took 4 pictures...what's with that!? Such a boy. :) Actually, I was quite worried about our lil red camera and the journey it faced...first of all--Eric was the handler (yikes!), second of all--Eric was riding a dirty, muddy, 4 wheeler on bumpy trails (ahhh!). I was just happy that everyone and everything came home in the same condition that they left in!! He had a lot of fun....there were 16 guys total with their quads....need I say more? Their weekend was filled with loads of dirt, mud, dusty trails, beer, very little sleep, and other stuff that guys find to be fun...like watching wrestling. Speaking of very little sleep, Eric's in bed as I type...out cold. Bless his heart...

Umm...yes...that is a lady mannequin...don't ask me?

A Newly Discovered Favorite...

I've had the urge lately to try my hand at homemade yogurt making. It sounded so easy, economical, and homemade is always better, right!? Well, yogurt is no exception...homemade yogurt is the bomb!! My family goes through what seems like gallons of yogurt each week. While Eric isn't a huge yogurt fan, I love, love, love Stonyfield Farms yogurt in every variety, and Ava is hooked on Stonyfield Farms YoBaby or YoKids. The stuff is amazing...and Yoplait offers absolutely no comparison...even my once favorite thick-n-creamy custard style Yoplait doesn't even come close to the smooth, pure-tasting, creamy, organic bliss that Stonyfield offers. When I took a look at the ingredients list on the back of my Stonyfield yogurt container, all that was listed was organic low fat milk, pectin, and vitamin D. That's it. How simple...I like simple. So, I thought--hey, let me just do a little research and see how complicated of a process this might be, and to my giddy astonishment...it's so stinkin' easy. Even easier than making my own babyfood! :) I am hooked. The best part here is the money I'll save by making my own yogurt....check this out:

Stonyfield Farms Yogurt--Usually $0.99 per container which is 6 ounces--so I'll just say $1/container. I buy at least 6 containers (36 ounces) of these every week. My favorite math teacher Mr. Shaffer taught me that this would equal $6/ week (about $25/month)

Stonyfield Farms YoBaby--About $3.79/ 6-pack (4 ounce containers). At least one 6-pack (24 ounces) of these a week...usually more though. So, about $15-$20/ week.

Add them up and we consume about 240 ounces of yogurt/ month and I'm spending about $40-$45/ month on organic yogurt!!

Making my own:
Organic Whole Milk: $2.79/ quart (that's 32 ounces)
Organic Powdered Milk: $6.49 (the lifetime of this bag of powdered milk will vary depending on whether or not I use it each time for my yogurt--it's kind of an optional item, so this bag should last me a really long time.)
One container of Stonyfield Farm yogurt--$0.99 (this was a one time purchase to use as a starter for my homemade yogurt, but now I have my own yogurt to use as a starter for my next batch)
Organic wildflower honey--$3.99.

So, the math tells us that 240 ounces divided by 32 ....oh, never mind, I'll just cut to the chase....making my own yogurt will cost me roughly $20-$25/ month!  An all around win... 50% savings...all-organic...economical...delicious...and all the flavor combos I can create. I saw a goji berry mix at Whole Foods today that would be so yummy pureed & thrown in this homemade yogurt.

Now, onto the meat & potatoes of this post....

Homemade Yogurt How-To

1 Quart (4 Cups) Fresh, Organic Whole Milk
2/3 Cup Powdered Milk
1/2 Cup Fresh Organic Yogurt with active cultures (most yogurts have active cultures)

A couple notes:
*You can use 2%, 1%, or skim milk if you wanted to. I used whole milk because I want thick & creamy yogurt and until I am an 'professional' yogurt maker, I figured full fat milk would yield best results--which it has! I'll try a low-fat milk next time and see how it goes.
*The powdered milk isn't necessarily needed--you can make yogurt without it--but if you're using a lower-fat milk the yogurt tends to be runnier and the powered milk helps thicken it up a bit.
*The organic yogurt is just a one time purchase--you need the yogurt to use as a starter to get the bacteria in the milk which develops the yogurt. After you make a batch then you'll have your own yogurt to use as a starter for subsequent batches.

3 Simple Ingredients.

First, heat the milk and powdered milk in a 2 qt saucepan, until it reaches 180*, stirring frequently to avoid scorching--you definitely want to avoid scorching and boiling. This picture clearly is not showing what I described above, but rather Step 2, which is to place the saucepan in a sink of cold water to bring the temperature down to about 110*. You don't have to put it in cold water, you could just let the milk sit at room temperature and wait for the temperature to fall to 110*...but that method is for patient folks. :)

Once the milk is cooled to 110*, pour the milk into a glass quart jar--I have plenty of them around from canning. You want to make sure the jar is sterilized to assure the bacteria in the jar won't interfere with the bacteria that will be producing the enzymes that turn the milk into yogurt--thankfully my dishwasher took care of that step for me. Then wrap some towels around your quart jar--this will provide insulation and help keep your milk at 110* for the next 6-8 hours. Place your wrapped up quart jar in the oven with the light turned on. The oven doesn't need to be turned on, just have the oven light on and that will provide enough warmth to help keep the milk at 110* for the incubation period. Really, 6 hours in my oven and my yogurt was perfect--if you like really tart plain yogurt then let it incubate longer. I stayed close to the 6 hour mark because I don't like my yogurt too tart.

And here she is...in all her delicious, smooth, creamy glory...Homemade Yogurt!!! Sooo good! Just stick this puppy in the back of the fridge so it's nice & cold in the morning. Wake up...scoop out...sprinkle berries...gobble up. Easy as that.

Now, these two paired together = one seriously yummy concoction! I also have TONS of strawberry freezer jam left in my freezer from last summer that I plan on stirring into my yogurt. It will add a sweetness better than any plain sugar can offer. Now THAT will be good--I can hardly wait til morning. :)

I highly recommend giving homemade yogurt making a try! It's so easy, seriously, there are a million different ways to make yogurt and there's so much experimenting you can do to get exactly what you're looking for. Do some browsing of the web, like I did, and I'm sure you'll get sucked into the ease of making yogurt. It's as easy as warming milk and letting it sit for 6 hours, really. Plus, you cut down on environmental waste by using your own glass jars. Love it.