Jack's 11 Month Update

My not-so-tiny baby is less than a month away from his first birthday. I don't want to go all cliche on you, but good lands, where has the time gone?!?

{I also haven't done a specific monthly post on him since 7 months. This is a prime example of why I do not scrapbook.}

One of the few pics without the sign in his mouth.
My sweet baby son is all over the place and pulling up on everything. Somewhere in his 9th month he went from barely moving from one spot in the morning, to crawling into the kitchen to remove all of the contents of my Tupperware cabinet by the afternoon. The Lord showed me great favor and allowed it to happen on a day I was home from work. He is in the smallest of my details.

Besides that, we finally have some teeth! He's been warming up to real food for a while now, but eating toothless, I would imagine, is quite a challenge. His first taste of real food was a Little Debbie Christmas Tree cake. If you've ever had one, you can understand why that finally motivated him to eat real things. For the record, it has not turned him off of healthy foods, and I did make him share it with me. He'll eat anything I put in front of him these days, which of course is making me evaluate how healthy we are eating (i.e. limiting frequency of Little Debbie incidents.)

We just moved him into 18 month pajamas, which have historically been the first clothing item he's advanced in size. I think we're about to need new Levi's, and his winter coat seems a bit snug. All of these are signs of a healthy little man, who has charmed us to pieces. And on February 26, he'll be an entire year old!

Previous updates found here!

Weekending: Fort Worth Stock Show

Last Friday, we took in Cowtown's most illustrious event, the Fort Worth Stock Show. The joke around town is that the weather always takes a bad turn during the Stock Show, so it was no surprise when it came a 24-hour gully washer here earlier last week. And we are most grateful for it. Fortunately for us, Friday was a beautiful day to see the animals {and the red velvet funnel cake--worth every calorie.}

Jack got his very first pair of cowboy boots for Christmas from his great-grandparents, and I couldn't wait to put them on him. They also gave him a darling little pearl snap shirt. I nearly died when we opened it because it's so precious. (Cowboys can be precious until they are old enough to tell you not to call them that, right?) But that day he wore his Carhartt gear since we were heading to the farm after.

Clearly, my baby might need to go wander in the woods?

How does the {insert every barnyard animal under the sun} sound?
We spent Friday night and all day Saturday with my parents. My mom and I ran to Dallas Saturday morning for a quick round of shopping before we gathered with my dad's family to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. One stop we made was the Gilt City Warehouse Sale, which was kind of a madhouse.

I spent Sunday hopping from one place to the next, it seems, with church, housework, and other social commitments. That's just the way it is some Sundays, but I'm sure the next Lord's day will be much more restful. I try very hard to put away my list of "to-do's" on that day, simply so it's not treated as just one more day in the week. I mean, one of the first ten commandments God gave us was to keep it holy. Rest. Keep the day dedicated to the Lord. That being said, I did just enough laundry done that we'll make it until Friday and grabbed some groceries to get us through.

It's so fun on Sunday night after a busy weekend to visit Downton. I love Lady Mary more each week, but she is especially endearing herself this episode. I'm also wondering, "Where on earth are Daisy's parent's?!?"

I hope you have a great week!

Friday Favorites: Amazing Cleaning Products

Since it's not all sunshine and Kate Spade bangles around here, I thought I'd share my favorite cleaning products. I think I've mentioned before that I do my own home-ec stunts, short of taking out the trash and the floors. (My love does that, and I'm grateful.) Here are two products that I won't go without:


Comet Bathroom Cleaner. If you have glass shower doors, you should make friends with Comet Bathroom Cleaner. No more scrubbing the glass! You simply spray it on, then wipe it off. The soap/hardwater residue wipes right off. It works better than the Magic Eraser, and you can quote me on that. I know this because I spent a year trying everything under the sun to keep that door clean after we moved in.

Bar Keepers Friend. I do not keep a bar because we don't drink anything stronger than Dr. Pepper. But I do keep this cleaner because it works amazing wonders to clean up my stainless cookware and my stainless sink. Seriously, the bottom of your pans can look like they are stained forever, and a couple of wax on/wax off motions with BKF makes them brand new. I used to use Comet powder, but this just works better. It also smells terrible, so there is a trade-off there. (Note: I like the smell of Comet powder. It reminds me of my childhood. Maybe that is weird, but my mom kept a clean house.)

I was not compensated to review these products. They were just on my mind as I scrubbed away Thursday night after putting the baby to bed.

Go forth into the weekend with a sparkling home!

Large (or EXTRA LARGE) Family Portraits

I've had home decor on my mind lately. (Hence, put a bird on it.) We've been in our home for 5 years this summer, and I still have some blank walls. And I'm completely okay with that. I'm not one to put something that doesn't quite belong just to take up space. I'd rather it be blank until I find the right inspiration, and I love the layered look our house has as it takes shape over time.

When the lovely Hailey asked me what I wanted for our photos back in the fall, besides a nice Christmas card pic, I told her I wanted something I could hang in my living room in a giant gaudy gold frame. (I prefer a good gaudy gold frame over a canvas, which I think is the en vogue thing right now.)

After receiving our photos, one shot stood out to me, and of course it was primarily of our tiny boy. I know that many people have used the pose, but I loved the entire composition of the shot: the ethereal look of the golden field in the background, the details of our rings and my arm party, the little look on our tiny guy's face, and those beautiful baby blues of his.

That little boy is the Creator's most beautiful art, to me.
In a bit of a "go big or go home" moment, I decided I would order an extra large print. And when I say extra large, I mean extra large. The photo alone is 24x36, and I think the frame adds an extra 6 inches. BIG. The more I got to thinking about it though, the more it made sense. I also found a photographer's blog post (which I can't find now) that validated what I was thinking. Back in the Mr. Darcy days, people commissioned beautiful, large portraits of their families. Why should I spend money on random art work when I can fill my walls with beautiful, large portraits of my greatest treasures on earth? The most beautiful art that God has created on earth, in my opinion. We thank Him daily for that sweet face.

I had a "what was I thinking" moment when this HUGE package arrived.
And that's unframed!
I love it. It may be a little bold, but somehow it makes our house feel a little more like home.

This angle is a bit deceiving. We joke that it is life-size of Jack.

Hi! My name is Emily, and I put birds on things.

My brother sent me this YouTube video for what will become obvious obvious reasons. (See below.) I don't watch Portlandia, but this is enough to make me think I should watch it and/or move there despite my incredibly conservative values.


These are my people.

Put. A. Bird. On. It.


I even sewed that pillow in the window seat, then put a bird on it.

I probably have more, but these were the most immediate around me.

Real birds need not a apply.

Under the Weather & A New Skinny Recipe

After being up several stretches in the night with the tiny man coughing last night, I decided to stay home and carry him to the doctor's office today. I'll be glad when he's old enough for over the counter cough medicines so we can actually do something for him on nights like that one. Over Christmas he had croup (which was the most awful sounding illness ever), and today it's the runny nose and congestion. It's so sad to see him feeling bad.

Our pediatrician is just wonderful. She's a mom of not one, but TWO sets of twins. (!!!) So, even besides the MD thing she has going on, she knows what she's about. She is especially patient when I ask new mom questions. Half the time we go in there, she's probably treating me, honestly. Today was no different. She got us all fixed up with something that has provided relief before, and we were back out the door to home.

Normally I would just work from home on a day like today, but Jack is also teething which requires a lot more TLC than usual. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with work and tend to him, so it was for the best that he got all of my attention. After we got back from the doc, I put him down for a nap that lasted 3 hours. Poor little fella!

While he was sleeping, I used the opportunity to try out a new skinny recipe. This one is for a very delicious banana bread from Eat Yourself Skinny. I think you'll love it!

Grandma's Banana Bread (from Eat Yourself Skinny) 12 servings at 3 Points+ (using Splenda)
1/2 cup (1 stick) light butter, softened
1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend (or 1 cup sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand mixer, or hand held, mix together softened butter and sugar until well combined. Then add in eggs and mix well. Next add in vanilla, sour cream and mashed bananas then, while the mixer is on, slowly add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix slowly until completely combined, scraping the sides and the bottom.

Meanwhile, grease your pan(s) and lightly flour so that your bread won't stick. If using one 9x5 loaf pan, bake bread for about one hour. If using two smaller loaf pans, bake bread for about 45 minutes.

I used 1 cup of sugar. Running it through WW recipe builder, it calculated out to 4 points with 20 servings which is a really skinny piece of banana bread. Next time I'll try it with Splenda to cut down the points like Eat Yourself Skinny recommends and have a bigger slice. Have you ever baked with that before? Can you tell a huge difference?

Mr. G would like you to know that he approves this banana bread. Good for the whole family!

Weekending.

ETA: And the week changes on a dime! Jack coughed and cried all night last night (and he's teething), so if you need me, I'll be playing the role of Nurse today. Such is the life of Mama.


At last minute on Friday I decided to take off at lunch and come home to my guys. The beautiful weather, plus the prospect of spending time with both of them, was too much to keep me at my desk. Our church provides the wonderful gift of inexpensive childcare one Friday night a month, so later that evening Mr. G and I dropped the little man off with his little man friends and headed over to Chuy's for supper. From there, we ended up across the street at Target.

Such rebels we are.

I spent a perfect, lazy Saturday playing with Jack, deep conditioning my hair, painting my nails, and doing the laundry. It never does do itself, does it?

In the evening, I got all gussied up for a friend's 30th birthday dinner. But it wasn't just "dinner." We tried out a Murder Mystery Dinner, which was not exactly what we had in mind. I think everyone pictured something like "Clue" with a butler and other more sophisticated roles playing out the mystery, plus maybe a fine dining experience. (The tickets were pricey.) But instead, we showed up to a creaky old restaurant only open on the weekends, serving chicken fried steak (which was actually quite good) and a murder at a 70s disco. And every possibly 70s cliche you can think of, they threw down.

Oh, and we thought the dress was after 5. Nope, it was casual. I really don't think I've laughed that much in a long time! I had fun in spite of myself. It was definitely out of my comfort zone.

Me and Ashley.
Right as we got there wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into.
Sunday was church, relaxing, and preparing to go back for another week of work. I've got dinner all ready assembled in the Crock Pot (Skinny Santa Fe Chicken, actually), and I'm ready to go.

Have a great week!