Life By Nadine Lynn - Page 98 of 336

baby

Twelve Months

Twelve months. One year. What a milestone!!! I cannot believe that a year has already gone by. You have changed so much over the last twelve months and life has just been truly amazing. It feels as if you have always been a part of our family.

Nicknames:Little Z, Z, Zoe Bear, Bear, Z Bear, Lovey, Booger Butt, Monkey, Zo-Zo

Loves: Your favorite toys are still your Vtech Walker, your yellow chair and your activity table. You also like your tea pot and still play with your shape sorter and stacking cups.

Hates: Waiting for food to be prepared. Having your nose and hands wiped. Mommy dropping you off at daycare in the morning. Going down for your afternoon nap.

Milestones: You are walking like a pro!!! You eat pretty much everything we eat these days and are completely off of baby foods and formula. We have dropped all your bottles except your nighttime one. We now brush your teeth every night because you have four top teeth and two bottom teeth now! You blow kisses, wave bye bye and clap.

Clothing: You still fit in some 9 month stuff, most everything is 12 months these days though. You are still in a size 3 diapers for the day, and a 4 for your overnights. We switched from Pamper’s Swaddlers to the Cruisers this past month now that you are moving a lot more.

Feeding/Sleeping: Your schedule is about to be rocked because you are graduating to the next class at daycare!!! You are going to be the youngest one in there, but I know you are going to do great! Right now you nap from 11-1 but we are pushing it back from 12-2 so you are on schedule with daycare. Your bedtime is still around 7pm and you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack around 2-3pm.

Looks: You have strikingly beautiful light blue eyes that are closer to mommy and your hair has settled to a light brown/blonde color that matches your daddy exactly.

Things I want to remember from this month…

You used to clap your hands with one hand open and one in a fist, but now you clap with both hands open and you do it so often. You clap at yourself when you do something good, and you clap at us when we do something you like. You randomly clap your hands while riding in the cart at Target, or during a diaper change, or while we are playing. I love your claps!

One day you came home and started putting your hand over your mouth and making “Indian” noises. Might be the cutest thing ever. You do it all the time now.

I love walking into your room during the week to wake you up because the way your face lights up when you register that it is me is priceless and warms my heart. You always stand up along your crib rail with one paci in your mouth and holding the other in your hand and you wave at me and put your arms up for a hug. It is the sweetest thing!

You put your arms up in the air anytime you want to be picked up.

The way you grab your food so confidently now! You will pretty much try anything we give you.

The look on your face when you realized that you can walk on your own without assistance!!! You looked both shocked and so proud of yourself all at the same time.

When you get in your car seat, you sit forward looking in the mirror waiting for me to appear and wave at you then you squeal in delight.

After you are finished eating your dinner, you point at the table because you know your yogurt melts are sitting there and you get so excited to get some.

You blow kisses now and it is the sweetest thing ever!!!

You have no strangers, as you say hi to just about anyone these days. You are even known to blow kisses to random people out in public. You are just too sweet!!!

December 27, 2017 by Nadine

about me, Christmas

Three Things Christmas

Steph always does the three things posts and I just love them! I was reminded that I wanted to do it too when I saw it on Laura’s blog earlier.

Christmas circa 1998

Three foods I always have around in December

1.Cookies

2.The popcorn tin that has the three different flavors (butter, caramel and white cheddar)

3.Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries

Three things I love about Christmas

1.The magic that I feel this time of year

2.All the delicious treats

3.Christmas movies

Three things I hate about Christmas

1. Traffic and crowds.

2.When family members inevitably stress you out and make you feel guilty for having to split your time.

3.Fruitcake. Seriously, who eats that shit?

Three Christmas songs I listen to the most

1.All I Want for Christmas – Mariah Carey

2. Christmas Cannon Rock – Trans Siberian Orchestra

3.O Holy Night – There is something about this song when done right…that is just truly magical!!! I can remember getting goosebumps on my arms at a very young age while singing this and Silent Night in church and that feeling has stuck with me forever.

Three favorite Christmas Movies

1. Elf

2.The Grinch

3.Home Alone

Three Favorite Christmas Traditions

1. Baking cookies

2. Building a gingerbread house (new tradition we are starting this year)

3.When I was little, my favorite tradition was trading presents with my sister on Christmas Eve. We each got to open one thing (our gift to each other.) When Zoe is older, I want to give her one present on Christmas Eve too!

our first Christmas together

Three things I’ll do before the end of 2017 because I want to

1.Build a gingerbread house

2.Bake and decorate cookies

3.Watch all the Christmas movies

Three things I’ll do before the end of 2017 because I have to

1.Work

2.Put on real pants

3.Clean the house

Three words of the year for 2018 if I were a person who chose words of the year

1.Health

2.Savor

3.Treat

Zoe 2017/Nadine 1984 or 1985 (looks like I am around 2 or 3?)

December 20, 2017 by Nadine

weekend shenanigans

Weekend Shenanigans – The One Before All the Christmas Things

I cannot believe that next Monday is Christmas!!! Speaking of Christmas, spam me with your favorite Christmas breakfast recipes and ideas. I am going to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas Eve, but I want to make an extra special breakfast for Christmas and start a new tradition. I am thinking a breakfast casserole or crockpot recipe or something. Clearly I will be spending all week on Pinterest, but I want your suggestions too!

This past weekend was wonderful. Well, until Zoe got sick on Sunday. Luckily she is doing better, but I am working from home today to keep her away from all the germs to be sure!

On Saturday, Chris and I set out to knock out a big chunk of our Christmas shopping that we had left. We went to Bargain Hunt in Irondale and found a ton of good deals and left with a cart full of stuff. I then headed over to The Summit with no clear destination in mind, only to realize that we really needed to be in Hoover instead. A quick jump back on 459 and we were at the Bargain Hunt in Hoover pretty quick. Found a few more things at that one, and then had lunch at J Alexander’s. We shared the spinach queso and I got the Thai Kai salad. We ordered Zoe smashed potatoes and she shared my chicken from my salad with me. She is such a good eater these days!!!

We then walked around 2nd and Charles and then headed back to Trussville. We were on the search for Fingerlings for our nephew all weekend, so we wanted to check out the Walmarts and see if they restocked. No such luck at either that we went to, but I did find some this morning!!!

Chris mentioned that Olive Garden to go sounded like a great idea for dinner, so he ordered it and we hung out at Best Buy until it was time to pick up our food. We had a wonderful day, and it was so much fun Christmas shopping for Zoe and our family. Zoe was so amazing all day, but eventually she was over it. Pretty sure she may get her inability to hide facial expressions from me. At least we will always know where we stand with her?

Sunday we headed out early to get our grocery shopping done. That was when we realized that Zoe really wasn’t feeling well, so we quickly headed back home and hung around the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and snuggling.

Oh, I forgot to mention on Friday when I dropped Zoe off….one of her sweet teachers handed me a bag that had Zoe’s picture on one side where she is wearing reindeer ears and her little tiny hand prints on the other made to look like reindeer. Inside was the most beautiful plate with her foot prints on it. Have I mentioned how much I love her daycare and teachers??? I hate not being there with her 24/7, but I know that when Chris and I aren’t with her, she is getting lots of love. How precious is this???

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! We are in crunch time for Christmas shopping! Have you finished or are you in the party that waits until the last weekend to go? Linking up with Biana.

December 18, 2017 by Nadine

favorites, friday favorites

Friday Favorites

Here there, Friday!!! I am not sure what all we have planned for this weekend. It is basically the last one for us to get any Christmas shopping done, since we have Christmas get togethers starting next Saturday with family. I am hoping we can get the supplies to make a gingerbread house and maybe catch a few more Christmas movies this weekend, along with whatever else we decide to do! Have you finished your shopping?

Favorite Memories:I had lunch with Laura yesterday. We decided on Saigon and I had the hardest time deciding what to order because everything sounded amazing. The spring rolls as an appetizer is always a given, and we had seen a Cider Wassail Slushy on Instagram earlier in the week so we knew that had to be ordered as well! (Cider Wassail slushy: apple cider, rum, cinnamon, ginger, orange juice, simple syrup, & anise.) I finally decided on the B4 pork and noodle bowl with egg rolls and it was soooooo good! We might be going back there again next week because their deliciousness cant be beat.

We are slowly trying to wean Zoe off her bottle. Honestly, her feeding times have been some of my most favorite moments over the last year. The way she will just stare into my eyes sometimes, or hold my hand while she takes her bottle is just the sweetest. I will never forget her gummy crinkled face smile that she gives me sometimes after she is finished. Or the way she she is silly and will hide behind it and giggle like in the picture below. Or how she screams when you take too long to get one together for her. It is bittersweet saying goodbye to these bottles. The ones I have spent hours and hours of my life cleaning over the last year. The ones that have given Zoe all the nutrients.

Favorite Recipe: I mentioned before that I am going to be doing Whole30 again in January. If you are looking for a good reset, please join me!!! I would be happy to share any recipes I have loved or any knowledge doing it the last two years. Anyways, I always struggle with breakfast because I really hate eggs. How amazing does this pumpkin apple bake look???

Favorite Beauty Buy: I had to make a Sephora run this week to get face wash. I need some new lip products, a lot of mine are about empty. I have been dying to try the NARS Rita for a really long time. I always talked myself out of it before, but decided to pull the trigger. I love it!!! This has to be one of the longest lasting lipsticks I have ever used. Plus, the packaging is amazing. The lid is magnetic, so it isn’t falling off in your black hole of a purse….ruining all the things. It is true what they say, it really is the perfect red for any skin tone. Thanks Lindsay for recommending it!

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda. Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

December 15, 2017 by Nadine

recipe

Bacon Pasta

Everything is better with bacon, no? Especially pasta!!! This Bacon Pasta was a super quick meal that I whipped up last weekend and we really enjoyed. I think I may change out the bacon with pancetta or prosciutto to change it up from time to time.