Garden of Herbs

Although we've been growing a wide variety of vegetables for several years now, we've never gotten into herbs, so we decided to expand this year.  Of course, our garden expands every year, but this year herbs were included in the expansion plans.  We had the best luck with our basil that we started from seeds back in March.

Like most plants in the garden, we planted way more basil than we really need.  However, as you know, we don't like to let anything go to waste, so what better way to use all that basil than make a bunch of delicious pesto :)  Being amateurs at making pesto, we experimented with various recipes from friends as well as ones we found in cookbooks.  After combining various components of different recipes to get the flavor and consistency we like, we arrived at our version of the perfect pesto...

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
2/3 cup EVOO
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
dash of salt
several dashes of pepper (we LOVE black pepper)

We blend everything together using our BlendTec blender, which we drove to the Costco in Blue Springs, MO to get a few months ago when the BlendTec demo guy was there because Mathew was so excited about getting one.  Of course, any blender or food processor will work.  Once it's all blended together, using the suggestion of some friends (thanks Cory and Katherine!), we pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it.  When it's frozen, we throw it into freezer bags and have ice cube size servings of pesto ready to use on french bread or in pasta.  It's very convenient and extremely delicious!

Weekly photo shoot

First thing every Saturday morning, Madeline and I have our weekly photo shoot.  I do it first thing in the morning so I don't get busy and forget and also because she is usually a very happy baby first thing in the AM.  We go down to her room, put her in a white onesie, and lay her down on one of her many brightly colored blankets.  Then, I take way too many photos of her and have a hard time going through them to pick out my favorite(s).  My plan is to keep this tradition going until her first birthday, at which time it will be fun to put together a "Madeline's first year" collage and see how much she has changed.  Instead of sitting her in the same place each week, such as her crib or a specific chair, I thought it would be fun to have all different backgrounds to make it a bit more exciting.

Madeline turned 12 weeks old on Saturday, so I thought this would be a good time to share a few of my favorite weekly photos.  Here she is at 1 week old (look at those long and SKINNY legs!)...

She was starting to fill out a bit by 4 weeks...

This picture at 5 weeks is hilarious...

We thought she was very unique in practicing her "en garde" pose at 5 weeks old.  A few nights later, I was reading about baby development during the first 6 months in my handy Dr. Sears baby book, and there was a picture of a baby in the exact same position.  It turns out, this is the tonic neck reflex which is a very common position for babies at that age as this reflex helps in muscle development.  Who knew?!?

Her 6 week pictures are some of my favorites.  She was cracking herself up that morning!

For her 8 week pictures, you can see that I had a hard time getting the snaps to close on the 0-3 month onesies since she's so long...

However, I decided it's wasteful to buy another package of white onesies since the only time she ever wears them is for this 10 minute weekly photo session.  I would never dress her in one of these any other time...she has way too many cute outfits to wear!  Therefore, starting at 9 weeks, I gave up buttoning it and just let her wear it as a top and show off her cute cloth diapers...

10 weeks (this is my favorite background so far)...

And here's one from this past Saturday when she turned 12 weeks old.  We find her with her eyes wide open like they are in this picture all the time now as she is constantly checking out the world around her and taking in as much as she can.

There you have it.  Highlights of the first 12 weeks of our little Madeline!

My first full day as a working mom

Although I started back to work last Wednesday, I only worked mornings last week, so today was really my first day as a working mom.  Maddie slept like a little angel last night and didn't wake up until 5:45.  I, on the other hand, spent a large part of the night watching the clock and wishing 6 AM wouldn't come so soon.

After about 45 minutes of cuddling with Maddie, I decided I really needed to get in gear in order to get us both ready for the day.  Fortunately, I had packed her diaper bag, my gym bag, and lunch for Mathew and I the night before.  I let Maddie stretch out on our bed while I got dressed, thinking she would fall asleep since she's been a sleepy head in the mornings lately.  To my surprise, she woke right up and was laying there kicking her legs around, smiling, and chatting away.  I'm not sure which makes the morning more difficult...when she wants to sleep on my chest like she did last week or mornings like today when she's wide awake, and I just wanted to lay around and play with her.  Either way, it's hard for me to load her up in her car seat knowing I'm dropping her off for the day.  The entire day.  10 full hours away from her, which is 6 hours longer than I've ever been away from her.  That's a long time :(

Just as I was about to pick her up to get her loaded in the car seat, she spit up ALL over herself (and our bed).  It was what my sister Lindsay would call a hot mess.  So much for grandma getting to see her in these cute pj's she had on...

I'm just glad she got that out right before I picked her up so it spared me from having to shower and change outfits!  While I stripped the bedding, Mathew got Miss Maddie dressed for the day.  Since she's outgrown the dancing monkey onesies, his new favorites are the yellow chick ones...

This is her giving me the hungry face and saying "but mommy, I'm hungry now since I just spit up everything in my poor little tummy".  I wanted to pick her up and go cuddle in the rocker to feed her, but that's not what working moms get to do at 7:20 on a Monday morning.  Instead, I got her loaded up in her car seat, and we headed off to grandma's, with me trying not to get too upset as she gave me a sad face while I promised her grandma would give her a nice warm bottle.

Although still not easy, dropping her off this morning wasn't as difficult as last Wednesday.  However, I wasn't ready for how hard it was picking her up and hearing what a great day my mom had with her.  One of the things I'm most thankful for is my mom agreeing to baby-sit, and I know she just loves spending the day with Maddie.  However, it was still hard for me to hear what a great day they had together, hanging out and watching the US Open since I'd love to be the one laying around watching the US Open with my little girl.  I just remind myself, if it can't be me, I'm sure glad it's my mom.  She said Madeline was just great today, and she even got a few giggles out of her.  I'd say the grandma baby-sitting arrangement is going to work out just fine for both of them...and I'll eventually get used to it as well.

Is this dress to short?

I went to put one of my favorite dresses on Maddie, but this is what it looks like on her now...

It's more of a short shirt than a dress!  Obviously, she's growing like a flower (in the words of Grandma Emma), but I see her everyday so I don't realize how fast she is growing until I go to put an outfit on her that seemed to fit just the other day.  Mat was giving me a hard time about being upset that she's growing so fast until this happened...

That's Maddie in her daddy's favorite outfit ever...the pink dancing monkeys.  However, the pink dancing monkeys are going to have to go in the tub that is quickly filling up of clothes that don't fit her since this is now like spandex on her.  The snaps will hardly close!

In looking through photos of Miss Maddie, here's another vivid example of how much she has grow in less than two months.  This picture was taken in her yellow bumble bee outfit (another favorite of mine) on June 29 (notice how even though she was less than 4 weeks old, the size 3 month socks didn't fit her as the heel of the sock was part way up her foot...)

Here she is on August 6, and we couldn't snap it anymore!

I love this picture.  Her look is saying "Mommy, what are you thinking trying to cram me into some outfit made for a tiny 3 month old?  Come on, I am in the 90% percentile for height at my age!"  She's been long and lean since the day she was born, and although it's a bit sad thinking that she'll never be able to wear some of my favorite outfits again, I'm happy to have a little girl that is growing just like she should.  Fortunately, she has a closet full of adorable clothes that she's yet to grow into, so I'll just find some new favorite outfits :)

Our first watermelon!

Last year, we tried growing watermelon and cantaloupe for the first time but didn't have much success.  We decided to plant a few this year in the open garden, but nothing ever came up.  Fortunately, Sam's Club has had delicious cantaloupe lately.

We were out picking tomatoes (again) about a week ago when Mat decided to wander down to the last raised bed where we have our asparagus planted and see how it was looking.  Imagine his delight when he saw this growing among the asparagus...

A volunteer watermelon!  We planted our new asparagus bed in the raised bed where we had melons last year, and a plant came up on its own.  Mat has been watching it carefully so he could pick it when its ripe but before a raccoon gets it.  Last Saturday was his lucky day...

Can you tell he was just a little excited?  Not only was it huge, but it was sweet and delicious too!  It was also ripe just in time for Madeline's party Saturday night, so we served it with dinner.  Of course, as he was cutting it up, I found him picking out the seeds.  This was partially to be nice to our guests but primarily so that he could dry them out and freeze them to plant next year.  What a nerd, but that's my husband :)

Maddie's first day

Although my first day back to work was a very rough day for me, it doesn't seem like that was the case for Miss Madeline.  I arrived back at my parents' house shortly after noon and found this...

After having a very fun morning, my mom had just put her down for a nap in her crib.  She had given Maddie part of her bottle about an hour after I left, which she drank without any problems.  She's only had a bottle a couple of times, but I wasn't too worried about her not taking it since my mom is an old pro at giving babies bottles.  When my dad got home, the three of them went for a walk, which Maddie loved since she's a little outside girl.  She drank the rest of her bottle when they got home and fell asleep.

My mom and I were standing in her room talking, and she woke up after just a few minutes.  I like to think it's because she heard her mommy's voice and was excited to see me :)  When I looked over the side of the crib and said "Hello Madeline", she gave me the biggest smile ever.  It definitely made my day.

Since she loves the mobile in her crib at home, I ordered one for my mom to put on her crib at their house.  I had no idea that some mobiles run on batteries and will play for 30 minutes.  We simply registered for the mobile that went with her lady bug bedroom set, but you have to wind it, and it only plays for about 30 seconds before you have to wind it again.  It is super cute though with the little lady bugs on it, so I still love it.  However, after learning that mobile technology has advanced, I got one for my mom that has several different tunes and runs on batteries.  I think it is a hit with Maddie...

It's going to take us a bit to get into a new routine around our house, but I'm confident that everything will work out.  We live and learn and (hopefully) get smarter every day :)

Back to reality

I can't believe that it's ready the end of August, which means time for me to go back to work.  My first day back wasn't supposed to be until Monday August 29 since I planned on taking 12 full weeks off.  However, that would put me back to work on the Monday of close week, which is my crazy busy week that usually includes a few days of very long hours.  That would have been rough on me for numerous reasons, including the fact that I've never been away from Madeline for more than 3 hours.  Therefore, I decided to ease into the swing of things by starting back today and working half days for the rest of this week before going back full-time on Monday.

Needless to say, it was a rough morning around our house.  Mathew has gotten used to me brewing his coffee, packing his lunch, and having his egg sandwich ready to go so all he has to do is get dressed, grab his things, and head out the door.  After that, I get Maddie dressed, feed the dogs, get myself breakfast, and go about my nice morning routine, which usually includes cuddling with Maddie while I check out what's going on in the world.  Obviously, we're going to need to get into a much different routine now.

For several weeks now, Maddie has been waking up at 6 AM to eat.  After that, she does her morning "exercises" while smiling and shining those bright blue eyes at me, as you can see here...

Of course, that was not the case today.  After waking up hungry at 5 AM, she fell back asleep on my chest and did not want to wake up, which made getting up for me about a million times more difficult.  Who wants to get up and go to work when your 11 week old baby girl is cuddled up like a sweet little angel in your arms?  Let the tears begin...

By the time I was dressed and had Maddie's bag packed for her first day at grandma and grandpa's house, she was still sound asleep on our bed.  Instead of waking her up to get dressed, I decided to just put her in her car seat in her pj's since my mom never gets to see her in all the cute pj's she bought her.  Maddie and I headed out the door and left poor Mat to take care of himself and the dogs.  I wonder if he had time to make himself breakfast or if he went to work hungry after running around getting the puppies situated for the day...

On the drive to my mom's house, I made a list in my head of all reasons why me going back to work was a good thing, aside from the money.  At the top of the list was the fact that chasing a little girl around should help keep my parents young.  After all, my Grandma Margaret (after whom Madeline Margaret is named) didn't live to be 96 just sitting around...she was the one that baby-sat my three siblings and I our entire lives.  Great memories of my grandma and imagining all the wonderful times Maddie is going to have with her grandma helped cheer me up.  Then I arrived at my parents' house, and the realization hit me (hard) that I had to leave my little baby girl that looked like this a mere 11 1/2 weeks ago...

Having been through this four times herself, my mom wasn't surprised to see the tears in my eyes as I walked up to the house.  However, I could see her excitement as I know she has been looking forward to getting to baby-sit Madeline.  After all, that was one of the reasons she retired in May, and I couldn't be more grateful to her and my dad for volunteering to watch our little girl.  As hard as today was, I can't imagine how hard it would have been if I would have had to leave her with a stranger.  She immediately took Miss Maddie out of her car seat so she could stretch out (and because my mom loves holding her), and I know Maddie couldn't be in better hands.  Not only is she getting to spend time with her grandparents, but an added bonus is the fact that my mom is a retired nurse.  After chatting with my mom for a few minutes, who did a great job of helping cheer me up, I grabbed a handful of tissues, gave Madeline a kiss good-bye, and headed off to Payless.

Birthday season continued

As I mentioned last week, August is a month full of birthdays in our family.  After celebrating my birthday as well as my mother-in-law's last weekend, we celebrated our nephew Brody's 3rd birthday as well as my dad's birthday this weekend.  It was a party filled weekend for us!

Sunday afternoon, we went to my mother-in-law's for Brody's party.  Being the practical aunt and uncle we are (who also both work for a shoe company), we gave him a few pairs of shoes.  We thought they were pretty cool.  I picked out the soft and comfy slippers for this winter, and his Uncle Mat picked out the camo colored tennis shoes.  However, those shoes were not nearly as cool in Brody's book as the fireman rain boots his grandma gave him.  (He is obsessed with firemen right now.)  Even better than the rain boots was the fireman jacket, hat, and accessories he received.  Here's the birthday boy "putting out the fire" on his fire truck birthday cake, for which he had to have his siren in hand...

Miss Maddie had a fun time playing on her play mat during the festivities.

We left Brody's party and went to my parents' house for another celebration.  Lindsay was in town, so we had a birthday dinner for Abbey, my dad, and I.  Of course, Lindsay got to pick what we had for dinner since she doesn't get to enjoy as many delicious meals at home.  Not surprising, she requested a turkey dinner but not because she cared too much about the turkey.  She primarily likes the mashed potatoes and dressing. For the first time in years, we had a delicious Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake for dessert.

Maddie and GM...twinkies in pink :)

Once again, it was a fantastic weekend filled with lots of great family time.  Madeline was so exhausted from all the fun that she slept until 8 AM!

To finish off the weekend, we went to Lawrence to have breakfast at Milton's before Abbey's first day of school and on our way to drop Lindsay off at the airport on Monday morning.

That wraps up the birthday celebrations for now.  However, Maddie and I have already been hearing about the next birthday party since it's for Mathew, and he LOVES his birthday :)

Madeline's baptism

This past Saturday, August 20, was a very special day for us as we celebrated the baptism of Madeline Margaret.  She wore the baptism gown that has been worn by everyone in the Reilly family (my mom's side of the family) for over 40 years, which includes my siblings and I.  Here she is as I finished getting her dressed.

Maddie and Aunt Abbey, her godmother.  Initially, Mat said she wasn't allowed to wear the hat...but then he saw how adorable she looked in it :)

She started to get a bit fussy during mass (the homily was too long for her), but she fell asleep towards the end and slept through most of the baptism ceremony.  Not surprising, she did wake up when Father Chris poured the water on her head, but she didn't cry.  It just startled her for a minute until she decided it wasn't too bad, and she fell back asleep.  Here are just a few of the many pictures from the day...

The 3 of us with my sisters, parents, and Mat's mom.

Madeline (who loved the brightly colored ceiling in the church) and my sisters.

Maddie with her 2 aunts and 2 great-great aunts.

After the ceremony, everyone joined us for dinner at our house.  It was a fantastic evening, and we're very thankful everyone was able to come.  Madeline slept for most of the party, but she did wake up for a bit to watch as I opened her gifts :)

Maddie and her aunties

The general consensus seems to be that Madeline looks more like her dad right now than me.  She also possesses a number of definite Overbaugh characteristics, such as her big feet.  However, her ability to take a nap anywhere is a classic Holtz trait.  Like her mom, Madeline is particularly fond of afternoon naps and naps in the car.  She especially likes taking naps on mommy's chest.  Not surprising, my two sisters are also good nappers (if that's a word...)

This past weekend, we got to spend lots of time with my sisters as they were both in town for Maddie's baptism.  Between all the festivities, they both managed to squeeze in some quality nap time with their favorite niece...   

She's going to be spoiled from getting to take comfy naps on her aunts and not want to sleep in her crib all by herself now!  Fortunately, I never get tired of snuggling with my baby girl :)

These are a few of my favorite (baby) things

Since I have lot of friends that just had a baby, are pregnant, or are thinking about having a baby, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my absolute favorite baby things.  I received a lot of great suggestions from friends who already have kids before Madeline was born, so maybe some of my other friends will find a few of my suggestions helpful.  Remember, this is purely my opinion, and different things work for different families.

1.) "The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby From Birth to Age 2" by Dr. Sears
                 I purchased this book on Amazon when I was pregnant, and it's jam packed with great information.  It talks about your baby's development, birth plans, nursing, nutrition, nighttime parenting, health, and all kinds of other topics.  It's written by a well-known pediatrician and his wife, who have 8 kids of their own.  It's a fantastic reference book, and I read various chapters constantly.
2.) BumGenius 4.0 cloth diapers
                  I know a lot of people are apprehensive about cloth diapers, but I wanted to try them, and I absolutely LOVE them.  I researched brands extensively (as I do prior to most purchases) and ended up ordering the BumGenius ones.  I could do an entire post about all the things I love about them, but to name a few, they work great, come in fun colors, are much greener than filling a landfill with disposables, and you never have to worry about a 1 AM run to the store for diapers since you can always throw in a load of laundry.  They have also been great this summer as I can put Maddie in a cute top and matching cloth diaper and not have to worry about shorts or a diaper cover.

3.) Planet Wise wet bags
                  Instead of buying a big diaper pail, we use these wet bags to throw dirty diapers in.  We have a large one that we keep at the diaper changing table, and a medium size one that we carry in the diaper bag.  They come in all kinds of fun patterns and can be purchased on Amazon.  When I wash diapers, I throw the bags in the washer with them.  They are also a bit "green" since you don't have plastic bags full of diapers to throw out :)
4.) Angelcare Baby Movement and Sound Monitor Deluxe Plus
                 This is an awesome baby monitor.  Not only does it have the sound monitor with 2 receivers, but it also has a movement detector.  You place the pad under the baby mattress, and it detects movement (baby breathing).  If no movement it detected for 15 seconds, a warning beep sounds.  If there's no movement 5 seconds later, an alarm goes off.  This helps me sleep SO much better as I don't constantly wake up and run to check on Maddie.  There's a flashing light on the base to show movement is detected, and there's also an icon on the receivers that blinks to show there is movement in her crib.  As I said, I sleep much better since we have this.
5.) a mobile to attach to the crib
                    I used to think mobiles were more for decoration than anything.  However, I've learned that Madeline absolutely LOVES her lady bug mobile.  I wind it up (it plays Brahm's Lullaby), and she is fascinated with watching the lady bugs on it spin around in a circle.  Such a simple invention, but it will entertain her for a long time, as you can see!

6.) Baby Bjorn carrier
                    Mat read about these and thought it would be a good thing to have.  As it turns out, it is a GREAT thing to have as it allows me to put her in it when she's in a "I need to be held all day" mood, and I am still able to get things done around the house.  It will also save your arms and shoulders from becoming exhausted from carrying a baby around all day!  As you can see, we both get a lot of use out of this.

Those are my 6 favorite baby things we have.  As I said, it's purely a matter of personal preference, but I'd highly recommend these things :)

As a final note, I would also very highly recommend everyone watch "The Business of Being Born" prior to the birth of a child.  It is an informative documentary that makes a lot of great points.  It helped Mat and I decide to go to the Birth and Women's Center of Topeka, where we had the best experience imaginable throughout my pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum care.  Even if you don't choose to go the route of natural child birth, I think it is still helpful in informing parents about a number of things related to child birth in America.

Birthday season

August is a very busy birthday month in our family.  We kicked off the festivities this past weekend as my birthday is August 15, and my mother-in-law's is August 16.  After having brunch at our house, we went swimming at my great-aunt's house with Brody, our soon to be 3 year old nephew.  Maddie was all ready to go swimming again, but this is how she ended up spending the afternoon...

Apparently, she decided taking a nap on Grandma Emma's lap sounded like more fun than getting in the pool.  Fortunately, I don't think Grandma Emma minded holding her granddaughter while watching her grandson swim :)

That evening, we went to dinner at my parents' house to celebrate with my family.  Once again, there was no shortage of people volunteering to hold Miss Madeline.  Here she is with her Great-great Aunt Marie, who is wonderful at getting her to calm down and fall asleep.  Most people hand her right back to me when she starts to fuss, but Marie was up to the challenge of calming her down, at which she did a great job.

Here she is with her Great-great Aunt Patsy, who is also wonderful.

I did manage to get a family picture as well since we don't have too many of those.

The celebrations continue this weekend as we celebrate our nephew Brody's third birthday as well as my dad's birthday.  We'll also celebrate my birthday again as my sister Lindsay will be in town.  I do enjoy birthday parties :)

Better than a pacifier (in Maddie's opinion)

Maddie has only taken a pacifier a couple of times.  She's not impressed with them at all.  However, everything I turn around lately, this is what she's doing...

She loves sucking on her fist.  Not just her thumb.  Her entire fist.  Her goal seems to be getting the entire thing in her little mouth.  At first, I tried very hard to get her to take a pacifier instead.  Now, I've given up and decided at least I don't have to worry about her dropping her fist on the ground like she could a pacifier.