Breakfast at the Zoo!!!

Last Friday my BFF and I took two of our kids to a program at the zoo called Breakfast with the Animals. March was Monkey Madness and since monkey's are Allie's favorite, we knew we had to check it out. Allie and Tyler had so much fun. We got into the zoo an hour before it opened and got to have breakfast right in front of one of the monkey exhibits. The monkeys were going crazy playing in the trees, swinging from the ropes and 'talking' to each other, it was hilarious to watch and listen to them. They also had a bunch of monkey activities to do while eating breakfast. Then we walked over to Monkey Village, another exhibit of Squirrel Monkeys. The zookeeper made a special treat for the monkeys and we got to be right there in Monkey Village while they ate it, actually they swarmed and devoured it - Allie LOVED watching! The snack was peanut butter and raisins in between a couple of paper plates. If you ask Allie what they ate, she will tell you it was peanut butter and jelly with raisins...she has been asking for 'monkey lunch' every day since we went :) We had so much fun and definitely will do it again!

Eating breakfast

Me and my monkey

My bestie and her boy

Monkey mask Allie made

Monkeys eating their snack

Ty and Allie - I love this picture because Allie is so lovingly gazing at Ty and Ty is pretending he doesn't love her back :)

Thanks for coming with us Bri and Tyler!!!

8 Months Old!

Sienna Faith,
I cannot believe that you are 8 months old already! Each and every month just goes by so fast. Part of me wants to freeze time everytime I look at you because you are so little and sweet and part of me wants to fast-forward because every milestone that you reach is so much fun.

This past month we put away your swing and activity mat. Swinging was okay but you didn't last very long and you finally started rolling all over so your activity mat had to go. I'm not sure why you took such a long break with rolling but now that you are doing it again, you love it and have so much fun! I usually put you on a blanket in our family room but now you won't stay on it. Aside from rolling around on the ground, you love to just sit up and play with toys. I can sit you up and dump a whole basket of toys next to you and you are entertained for quite a while.

You are still loving to eat. You eat oatmeal every morning (ususally with some prunes - gotta keep a girl regular!), and then fruits and veggies for lunch and dinner. I think the only new thing you tried was pumpkin and you weren't a fan. But luckily you will eat it if it's mixed with something you like. I think I'll start some meats with you this next month - we'll see if you like it or are going to be a self proclaimed vegetarian like your big sister! You've also started to eat puffs! You can't quite get them in your mouth yet but you love it when I feed them to you...such a big girl!

Sleeping has been fantastic! You are completely, regularly sleeping through the night. And so many mornings I will hear you wake up pretty early, but then you find your paci and fall back asleep. Boy my life changed when you learned how to put that paci in your mouth all by yourself! (you have about 4 of them in your crib!) You sleep 12-13 hours a night and take two, usually two hour naps. I am so thankful that you are turning into such a good sleeper and you are so happy when you wake up.

Still no teeth but I think they are definitely coming soon. You constantly have your fingers in your mouth lately and have had some fussy days but all in all 'teething' hasn't seemed to bother you too much. We'll see how you do when they start to break through though.

You are still my sweet, clingy girl. You definitely are a momma's girl and still don't like it when I am out of your site. Your favorite place to be is in my arms or on my lap, which makes taking care of a two year old, husband and house a little difficult, but I keep thinking that it's not going to last much longer so I've learned to lower my expectations - cleaning can wait if it means spending time with my girls and my man. :)

I love you my sweet girl. Thank you for your smiles, cuddles, kisses and cries, I would not trade them for anything!!!


***Sienna was a bit of a grump when I was taking her 8 month pictures, I just had to share a few 'outtakes' :)
No, I am not opening my mouth and smiling

Yes, those are tears in my eyes

Get this sticker off my shirt

Hah, you can't see me

GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!

Allie has been a fan of soccer for a while now. She has a little yellow soccer ball that she has kicked around the house probably since soon after she started walking. In an effort to bring out some sort of athletic gene that is (hopefully) within her, Matt has been wanting to get her a real soccer ball and net for a while. Well, last weekend they went on a breakfast 'date' and afterwards he took her to the store to pick them out. Of course Allie had to get a ball that was pink :) Matt set up the net in our backyard and then they went to town. Allie had soooooo much fun. I can't promise that she is going to be a star athlete (sorry honey, but at least we know she will be handy like her momma!), but she has a great time and that's all that matters. I just LOVE watching Matt and his girl doing things like this together :)

Check out that follow through


Playing with Daddy

Still working on the 'no hands' concept :)

My Furry Nephew (and the real one too:)

People often say that you shouldn't get married and buy a house within the same year, have a baby and move, or remodel a house and start a new job. But what about getting a puppy and having a baby...within just a couple of months??? Well, I know two people who are totally up for the challenge. My brother and sister-in-law just brought home the cutest little ball of fur to join their growing family. Otis is an adorable silver lab and also happens to be the son of Ryan and Lindsay's grown silver lab, Maverick. It's so cute to see the two dogs together because Otis is literally the size of Mav's head, but of course like all puppies, he thinks he can take on Maverick with one paw behind his back. :) Otis is going to have so much fun in their house because not only does he have his dad to play with, but in about two months, he's going to have another boy to play with...my nephew! I can't wait until he gets here, we need a boy to balance out all these girls in this family! Spring and summer are going to be very busy in the McGuire and Abram households because between my parents, Matt and I, my brother and Lindsay and the three of our kids...we ALL have birthdays within 4 1/2 months of each other. Crazy!

Me, Allie and Otis

Allie LOVED Otis

This is a bad picture but you can just see how little Otis is compared to Maverick

Ryan, Linds, Sienna (and baby Turner:)

Coconut Lime Banana Bread

I have found that people seem to have a love-hate relationship with coconut. There are those who, like me, LOVE it and will choose to eat something simply because the word coconut it used to describe it, and there are those who HATE it, usually blaming it on the texture. Well, if you hate coconut, this post is not for you. I recently found this recipe, and for the reason stated above, I just had to make it. And let me tell you, it is delicious! I love banana bread and have made and tried several different kinds, but never with coconut. If you are a fan, trust me, you will love this!!!

Coconut Lime Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 - 1 1/2 cups smashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
3 tbs apple juice or apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 tbs coconut to sprinkle on top

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
approximately 1 1/2 tbs fresh lime juice

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl, then set aside

Mix eggs, butter and sugar in mixer. Add mashed bananas, yogurt, apple (juice or sauce), vanilla and coconut. Then add the dry ingredients, mix on low speed just until moist. Pour in greased (I just used Pam) bread pan. Sprinkle the top with 1 tbs coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour (my oven always cooks faster so mine took about 45 minutes - and about half way through I covered it with foil because the top was getting really brown).

While the bread is cooking, make the glaze. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime and add powdered sugar until its a slightly runny consistency.

When the bread is done, cool for 5 minutes, slide out of bread pan and drizzle the glaze over your warm bread.

Voila! Enjoy!!!




(Recipe courtesy of this fabulous blog...www.dana-made-it.com)