Life on Ledgestone

Blake's first year in pictures

2011-06-12T20:04:00.001-07:00

Super late to post this, but here is Blake's first year of life in review...

The best 12 months of our lives

2011-04-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

April 13, 2011 marked a very big day in the Andry household...Blake's first birthday and also my last day as a stay at home mom. It is hard to believe that she is already a year old! This year has seriously flown by!! For the day of her birthday I made her favorite breakfast: cheese omelette with blueberries and milk, then we met Chris for lunch at Ouishi where Blake fell in love with curry chicken (definitely my daugther), we came home, napped and then had mac n cheese followed up by chocolate cake (which Blake devoured). Then that Saturday we had her birthday party - which was just family and her one best friend, Dawson. The party was a success - she had a blast being the center of attention and the weather was amazing! All of Blake's grandparents and great grandparents were in attendance which was so great! This last month Blake has gotten even closer to walking on her own - she has taken several solo steps (her first were on April 2nd), but she is still a little apprehensive about it - we keep telling ourselves that in no time she will be running thru the house like a crazy woman! She also got her 2nd haircut, which was about 3 inches of hair - seriously insane how much hair this little chick has!

Another major change is that Blake started daycare since I went back to work and as any major change - it is taking some adjustments on all parts, but it seems to be going pretty well for the most part. The first few days she didn't nap or eat, but by the end of the 1st week she was sleeping 2 hours and eating pretty well.

12 month stats:

Height: 30 1/4" - 88th percentile

Weight: 20lbs. - 55th percentile

Head 17 3/4" - 55th percentile.

In the last month Blake also got to go to her first petting zoo and absolutely LOVED it! She was literally squealing with excitement and reached right out to pet the goats. I only wish I could have gotten it on video, although I was able to capture a little bit of it. Another fun first was Blake had her first Easter - including easter egg hunt! She obviously didn't really get the concept, it was adorable to watch her just pick up eggs, shake them, put them down and go for the next one.

Videos:

Eating her first cake:

Reading a book in the car:

Blake's PawPaw giving her the giggles:

First Petting Zoo:

11 months

2011-03-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

Better late than never I guess. Little miss is already 11 months old and it's hard to believe!

Stats:

Height: 28 3/4"

Weight: 19.5 lbs.

Teeth: 8 (and two molars on the their way)

This last month was seriously one of my favorites. Blake has developed not only a voracious appetite, but also a killer personality. She is honestly HILARIOUS. She is a huge ham, and LOVES an audience. She's talking a lot (in her own language), but also says several words now. She says, "Hi, Bye Bye, Dog, Mama, Dada, Yeah" She LOVES to share her food and toys, especially with Oliver. She has mastered the fake laugh as well as the fake cry and used both quite often to get rise out of you. She has started standing on her own and is so close to walking! This kid LOVES being outdoors - she kicks her legs and squeals with excitement most days when I take her outside. This last month we took Blake to the park and the arboretum and she LOVED it! She's big into observing people and new things, so the people watching alone was the highlight of her time there. Blake has also discovered dancing and she LOVES to dance! She dances to the music on her new house, but her favorite song is definitely twist and shout by the Beatles. She LOVES it!!!

Schedule: She normally wakes up about 7:30am with the exception of day or two here and there. She eats breakfast shortly after waking up and we normally feed her either an egg yolk and cheese omelette with fruit or mini pancakes, greek yogurt and fruit. I'm pretty sure she's going to turn into a blueberry if we're not careful. She can eat an entire carton of blueberries in 2 days if I let her. I normally give her a bottle of half milk half formula about 1 1/2 hours after breakfast and then she takes a nap. We eat lunch about 11:30am and she normally eats a HUGE lunch - there's nothing she really doesn't like except for green beans. We try to go outside after lunch for a while until nap time which is about 2:30. (in total she only sleeps about 2.5 hours during the day between both naps). We do dinner for her about 5:30 and then bath at 6:15 and bed at 7pm.

Here are a few pictures from the park and arboretum...

Practicing walking:

First Swing:

Feeding Oliver and saying Dog:

Crawling on fireplace:

10 months

2011-02-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

10 month stats:
Length: 28 3/8" (76th percentile)
Weight: 17lbs. 8 oz (25th percentile)
Head: 16 3/4" (10th percentile)
Sleep: normally 12 hours (7 - 7)

She is such a happy happy baby. I feel so lucky to have such a laid back sweet baby who rarely cries. We are starting to figure out what table food she likes which has been an adventure - so far she is not a red meat eater - she just spits it right out. Not a fan of avocado yet either. She does LOVE LOVE LOVE cheese, bread, crackers, fruit (all of it), ice cream, pizza (thanks to Dad). We're going to try meat balls this week and see how that goes. She also likes lunch meat. She's a huge talker and is starting to learn more words which is crazy cute! She has a similar personality to me in the fact that she is shy at first and then once she's comfortable opens up and is a huge ham. It's extremely entertaining!

9 Months...better late than never

2011-02-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

So this is nearly a month over due, but here is Blake's 9 month photo and stats

Weight: 18.5 lbs.
Height: almost 29"...
mobility: crawling, walking with a walker and from furniture to furniture, pulls up on everything, stood by herself for a few seconds.
vocabulary: can say "Bye Bye," "Hi," "Mama," "Dada"
Teeth: 8
Sleep: 12 - 13 hours (7pm - 7 or 8am)
Favorite Foods: cheese, blueberries
Favorite toy: lids, piano
Personality: Extremely goofy, outgoing, loves to flirt with boys, not afraid of anything, smiles and laughs often, but also very quiet around new people.

Blake's First word:

Chatty Cathy:

Laughing at mommy:

Blake's First Christmas

2011-01-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

So I'm terribly late with this post, but life is hectic and naps have been few and far between which leaves little time for updating the ol' blog. I would have to say that I was extremely excited for Christmas this year for two reasons: 1) it was Blake's very first Christmas and although I know she's too young to understand exactly what is going on, I knew she was just old enough to still have fun. 2) We are going to have a very low key Christmas in Missouri with my family which I was looking forward to. We actually ended up having two Christmas celebrations thru the holiday season - one with Chris' mom and step dad here and then actual Christmas at my grandparents' house. Blake made out like a bandit. She got more toys than we know what to do with. It was seriously entertaining to watch her play with the paper and wrapping - she enjoyed it much more than the actual gifts themselves. I should have known I could just give her paper haha. Here are a few pictures from our holidays.

Where did MY baby go...

2010-12-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

So the week after Blake turned 8 months old something happened...something crazy...she went from a non-fussy, non-crying, content, perfect sleeper to a fussy, crying often, non-sleeper. In these past 2 tumultuous weeks our perfect little peanut, now wakes up 2 - 6 times in the middle of night screaming and during the day is pretty much fussy most of the time unless you are holding her. She has done a complete 180 and quite frankly I don't like it. I MISS MY BABY! I miss the sleep 12 hours at night, love independent play, smile all day baby girl. I don't understand what the deal is! It's like once she mastered crawling she became a completely different person. I took her to the doctor because I was sure something HAD to be wrong with her - and of course - we left with a clean bill of health. Is this normal?! Am I missing something here?! I must admit I realize now I took her easy going attitude and great sleeping for granted, but hello God, I appreciate it now, you can change her back!

Merry 8 Months...

2010-12-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

As of Monday, 8 months have gone by since Blake came into the world. It bewilders me how time so can go by so quickly and this little person change so drastically. She has developed quite the personality and I see so many characteristics of both Chris and I in her. She's definitely a daddy's girl, which makes me so happy to see. She gets SO excited when Chris comes into the room and she takes after him in so many ways. She's extremely determined, laid back, energetic, easily bored with one thing, always moving, loves to be outside, and loves to laugh. I also see so much of myself in her as well...she's quiet at first, but once she's comfortable in a situation you can't keep her quiet, she loves to eat new things, likes music or so it seems, a big fan of clothes, doesn't like when Chris tries to scare her. In the last month she has learned to pretty much crawl (still slow, but almost has it down,) she can now go from being on her stomach to sitting up all by herself, she can pinch things with her two fingers to pick them up, says mama and dada (not sure if she knows what they are just quite yet.) She can almost pull all the way up to standing by herself, she can feed herself crackers, mum-mums etc, can move around in the sit & step, has different smiles, and different laughs. She is getting sooooooooo big!

8 month stats:

Weight: 17.5 lbs

Height: 28 3/4 inches

Here are the outtakes from our photo session:

Craddy's Kitchen - December Dishes

2010-12-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

So I've been super busy in the kitchen so far this month experimenting and trying out recipes from friends etc. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Crock Pot Potato Soup:
This recipe is SO easy and perfect for a cold day.

Ingredients:

1 (30 oz) bag frozen hashed brown potatoes (the chopped potatoes...not shredded)

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth

1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1/2 c chopped onion

black pepper

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened

Add ons:

Bacon bits

Green onions

Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Combine potatoes, broth, soup, onion and pepper. Put in your slow cooker. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese, cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until combined and smooth. If you want a creamier soup, put in food processor or blender until desired consistency. Garnish with green onions, bacon bits and cheddar cheese, if desired.

Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients:

1 can of artichoke hearts - chopped

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup mayo

Garlic salt and salt and pepper - ab 1/2 a teaspoon o each

4 chicken breasts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Chop artichoke hearts

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with the artichoke hearts

Spray pan

Place chicken in pan

Top with artichoke mixture

Bake 30 mins

Top with paprika and fresh ground pepper

Oreo Cake Balls

Courtesy of Elizabeth Dains

be ware- these are VERY rich

Ingredients:

melted chocolate (use a package or more of melted semi sweet chocolate chips)
1 package oreos
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

Directions:
Put the oreos and cream cheese in a food processor and mix/chop! Put wax paper on a counter and make little balls of the oreo and cream cheese mixture. (I stuck them in the freezer for a little bit so they would harden) Then stick a toothpick in the oreo ball and dip it in the chocolate. Use another toothpick to loosen the ball from the original toothpick or just tap the toothpick to have the oreo ball fall on the wax paper. Then use a toothpick dipped in the chocolate to drizzle chocolate over the "hole" from the toothpick! Make a pretty design or swirl! Let harden then SERVE!

And I creep yeah...

2010-12-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

Blake has officially been "creeping" or doing the Blake Shuffle as we like to call it since last week and this child gets around pretty good considering she's still not really crawling. It's almost like a cross between an army crawl and what it looks like in the movies when someone has been shot in the leg and they're trying to escape from the enemy. She now can shuffle her way under the couch, under the chair, under the christmas tree, into the bathroom, up to the mirror, well you get the picture - she's mobile! Yesterday I left her alone in the bedroom for 1 min. to get her a pair of socks - I came back in to find her over at the mirror playing with her reflection. Today I found her just playing under the chair on the living room with her spatula (yes our egg spatula is her FAVORITE toy). It cracks me up how far she can move especially on the hardwood floors. We already have our hands full. I'm so excited she's figuring this out, but boy do I miss just being able to lay her down and leave the room knowing she couldn't get into any trouble.....those days are LONG gone! Here are a few pictures and videos or her doing the "Blake Shuffle" and playing with the reflection in the mirror. I also threw in a few Thanksgiving pics.

The Blake Shuffle: Thanksgiving 2010

Booty in the air - practicing crawling in her sleep!

sleeping in the crib Chris' grandpa made for his dad as a boy.

Thanksgiving day at the Farm

Hanging out with Uncle Nathan

I'm Thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own...

2010-11-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving right around the corner my thoughts have been filled with all the many amazing things I have to be Thankful for. God has truly blessed Chris and I - this year has especially been wonderful. There have been some of the largest challenges and changes in our lives, but they have been the absolute best. I am thankful for my amazing husband, Chris, who is not only a loving, wonderful, supportive husband, but a FANTASTIC father. I am so thankful for our beautiful, healthy, happy baby girl. I am thankful for all of our wonderful family and each of their roles in our lives. I am thankful to have the opportunity to be home with Blake this first year of her life to bond with her, experience all of her firsts, and work on our home and family. I am thankful for the AMAZING group of friends we have, who are like family. I could go on and on, but let's be honest here...at the end of the day it comes down to this - if you look hard enough - there is a million things to be thankful for and at the core of all these wonderful blessings is God. Without him we would have nothing and so often we seem to forget this. To channel my inner old soul, "My cup runneth over."

7 months!

2010-11-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Blake is already 7 months old - time has SERIOUSLY flown by! She has brought so much joy to Chris and I over these past seven months, we can't wait to see what else is in store. This pint sized person has so much personality and spunk already. She is hilarious! In the last month she has mastered sitting, learned to bang, can almost say Dada, and is REALLY close to crawling. She can definitely move around quite a bit without actually crawling. She sleeps 12 - 13 hours at night (from 6:30pm - about 7:00am). She LOVES food, loves play and loves to be outside and try to eat leaves.

7 month stats:
Weight: 16.5 lbs.
Length: 27.5 inches

Here are her 7 month pictures in the "the chair."

workout - smurkout

2010-11-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

So at our MOPS meeting this past Monday two ladies came to speak to us regarding healthy eating and fitness. The healthy eating portion of the segment really made a lot of sense and got me excited to focus more on this in my home for my family - the fitness portion made me want to punch the perky poodle in the tooth. Is that bad?! When one of my favorite fellow mothers, Jennifer, posed the question, "How do you find time to work out when you have 3 children running around and you're sleep deprived?" The crazy work out fanatic responded with a dumbfounded expression and "slide across your living room floor on paper plates." I mean really?! Are you for serious?! Maybe I'm more of a realist, but I can't picture that happening or being worth while. Maybe this is why I have yet to lose all of my baby weight, but at least I am enjoying each and every moment I have with her and more importantly - each and every calorie of delicious food I eat! (Me jumping off soap box).

On a lighter note- instead of working out today I spent about 15 minutes making my daughter laugh so hard she snorted - this is just a snippet...her laughter is contagious!

YOU ARE THE CURE Breast Cancer Fundraiser Trunk Show in honor of November Durst

2010-10-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

As you know this is breast cancer awareness month and I'm sure most of you personally know someone who has battled or is battling breast cancer. I have known several women in my life who have had the misfortune of fighting this fight. In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have met November Durst, an amazing mother and wife. November is only in her mid thirties and has a precious 5 year old son, Jordan, and a wonderful husband, Jason. November recently found out that her breast cancer came back in a short period of time went from non-existent to stage 4. She is a strong courageous woman who has handled this with such grace, dignity and faith. Here is a little more information on her amazing story: http://www.sharingcourage.com/Survivors/Survivor.aspx?id=48

I am hosting an online Stella & Dot Trunk show in honor of November and 50% proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen charity: http://ww5.komen.org/ and the other 50% will be given to November to help with medical bills and costs

The Show will run from today thru October 31st

So here's how it works -

1.) go to to my website: www.stelladot.com/aliciaandry

2) in the upper right hand side of the page under style watch you will see a link that says: Can't make it to the trunk show? Find your Hostess - click on the find your hostess link

3) type in November Durst

4) you will then be directed to the trunk show page and all purchases will go toward this charitable donation.

5) click on shop to browse and shop

This is a great opportunity to not only help out with a great cause, but also get your Christimas shopping done for your friends, sisters, daughters, mothers, grandmothers, teachers, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

For for info. on November please feel free to visit November's Hope: novembershope@groups.facebook.com

Alicia Andry
Stella & Dot Stylist

Stylist ID# 112153

www.stelladot.com/aliciaandry

Ask me how you can get free Stella & Dot jewelry!

http://stylewatch.stelladot.com/content/videos/fall-2010-collection/

Wednesday Ramblings and Recipes

2010-10-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those days where you have a million things to do, a million ideas and thoughts running through your head and you can't seem to focus on anything long enough to get anything accomplished?! Well, that has been my life the past week. All of a sudden it's like my brain just stopped working and I am officially flighty. It may have something to do with the fact that out of nowhere Blake has decided to revert back to the early infant days and wake up up for several hours in the middle of the night, or it could be the fact that I've had 2 trunk shows almost every week this month, or it could be that I am trying to plan meals for the week, go grocery shopping, clean house and take care of everything else all at the same time....in short - too many distractions! Anywho, long story short I have had to revert to carrying a pen and note pad around with me at all times to write down what I need to do, and what I've finished. I mean seriously - it's getting ridiculous! That being said, I was trying to plan the meals for the week when I came upon two fantastic recipes that I often forget about. These two recipes are super easy, super tasty and don't take a lot of ingredients. In fact, most of the ingredients you probably have lying around your house already.

this one came from my friend Amanda and it rocks!!!

Spicy Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients

8 oz package of spaghetti (I buy a full package…it’s normally 14 oz and put in around half)

½ purple onion chopped

1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup

2-4 chicken breasts cooked and diced – seasoned Tony Chacheres or Mexican spices (I have also used the meat from a rotisserie chicken)

8 oz of Velveeta (they sell smaller sizes, and you can also use cheese wiz in the jar…it melts better)

1 can of Ro-Tel

*Optional Items that I found are pretty yummy!

Whole wheat spaghetti…it’s really good in here because it’s baked with cheese J

Mushrooms

Green Pepper

A few jalapenos

Directions

Cook spaghetti according to the package. Sauté onions in a large deep pan (you will use this to mix everything into) with a little butter and once they are done, add in the cream of chicken soup and Velveeta to melt.

After you have a good mixture in your pan, add the chicken and then finally fold in your cooked spaghetti.

Pour the whole thing into a 13X9 backing dish and bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Baked Dijon Pork Chops

ingredients:

4 - 6 pork chops

3/4 c. olive oil

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

1/4 c. dijon mustard

2 tbs. minced chives or green onion

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 clove garlic minced

preheat oven to 475. Arrange pork chops on in a baking pan. spread mustard sauce over top of each pork chop and bake on top rack for 10 min. Turn chops over, spread mustard sauce over pork chop and cook another 10 min or until browned and no longer pink at the bone.

6 months already?!

2010-10-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Blake's 6 month birthday and it SERIOUSLY baffles me that half a year has already passed since she was born. I know she has changed so much from that tiny little nugget we brought home in April, but at the same time I can't even believe that she's already half way down with her first year of life! It doesn't seem possible!!! I must say - it has been the most difficult 6 months of my life, but the BEST 6 months of life! I feel so truly blessed to have this amazing little girl in my life and to be able to spend my days at home with her. I wouldn't change this for anything in the world!

So here's the skinny on her stats at 6 months:
Weight: 14 lbs. 12 oz. (25th percentile)
Height: 26 3/4" (85th percentile)
Head: 16 1/4" (20th percentile)

Major highlights in the last month: she has her two front bottom teeth. She started eating solid food (she LOVES sweet potatoes and squash!) She can sit unsupported for several minutes at a time now. She can take her pacifier out and put it back in her mouth correctly most of the time. :) She also attended her first college football game and didn't fuss at all!

Look at the comparison between her now and her the day she came home....hard to believe....

6 lbs. 7 oz. 19 inches long

Here are some more pictures from today when I was trying to get one good shot of her at 6 months....she is too funny!

Teething is the devil

2010-09-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Blake has officially been "teething" since she was about 3 months old...she's now 5 1/2 months old. What do we have to show for it you might ask? Several sleepless nights, 2 teeth that are only 1/3 of the way in, drool fest 2010, fussiness and wasted money on all possible teething remedies to find that none of them work! I truly thought we were going to be ok with this whole teething debacle a month ago. She had 2 nights where she woke up once and then the teeth broke thru the gums and I thought to myself, "that wasn't so bad!" That was where I screwed up - I thought I had beat the system! As all things in my life tend to go it went downhill rapidly! haha. My sweet girl went from sleeping 12 -13 hours a night to sleeping about 3 hours a night. The past 3 nights I have gotten up with her pretty much every hour from 10:30pm on. Needless to say I am deliriously tired, very frustrated and wanting nothing more than sleep! I feel bad for her b/c it's obvious she's in pain as well, but give me a friggin' break here! Elizabeth Sparks said it best, "Isn't it bizarre how in the beginning you got WAY less sleep than you are getting now with her waking up...but once you get used to your baby sleeping - you don't want to give it up!?!?" It blows my mind that I was able to function at all in the first 6 weeks of her life when she was basically up every 2 hours...I have been so spoiled these last few months! I want my sleeping baby back!!!!

Very Blessed

2010-09-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to the sounds of Blake talking to her stuffed animals and as I glanced at the monitor to watch her for a few minutes I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude. It was as if all of a sudden I realized how blessed I really am!

I will be the first to admit that I take things for granted - not intentionally of course- I just get swept up in the business of life and my daily routines. I've been praying for several months for so many of my friends and different situations they are going through - different challenges they are having to face with their children, or trying to have children and I can't believe how truly lucky I am. Chris and I definitely weren't planning on Miss Blake and to be honest - when we found out I was pregnant I think we both had mini heart attacks. It was definitely ahead of "our schedule" in life, but true to fashion - God had other plans! My pregnancy was smooth for the most part - aside from being extremely sick the first trimester and battling crazy heartburn - no major scares, worries, issues that in itself is a major blessing. My delivery was smooth and essentially painless (thank God for epidurals) and our little girl is healthy, happy and so easy to care for. I'm lucky enough to get to stay home with her this first year of her life to watch her grow and help teach her. All of these things I have taken for granted! As I was sitting on the couch with my beautiful baby girl I have this overwhelming urge to just cry out to God in thanks. Unexpected surprises truly are the greatest blessings!

5 fabulous months

2010-09-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

5 months ago today little Blake came into this world. I can't believe how much she has changed in these 5 short months, but especially the last month in particular. In the last 4 weeks Blake has learned to roll over from her back to her front, blow raspberries, squeal, make more sounds, "talk" incessantly, and flirt like a champ. As I was taking her 5 month pictures today she was wiggling everywhere, trying to grab the sign and chew on it, and sit up by herself. It was too funny! She has developed so much personality - I can only imagine what's in store. I think we're going to have our hands full with this little chick!

She is now 13.5 lbs. and over 26" long. Below is her picture from last month - she's getting so big!

Jet Setting

2010-09-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Miss Blake had her very first plane ride this last weekend when I took her to Missouri to visit my grandparents. I was extremely apprehensive prior to the flight for several reasons: I was taking her by myself, it was her first flight and I was worried she would cry b/c it hurt her ears and she was teething and lastly the weather was a little sketchy! Luckily, the flight there and back went smoothly and Blake slept 95% of the the way! I even had 2 people from the flight and a flight attendant tell me she was the best baby they had ever seen. I was of course very proud of our little peanut. We had so much fun just relaxing at the house and my grandparents had a field day spoiling her rotten with affection and of course more clothes! Here are a few pictures from our little trip.

I scream - you scream - we all scream for sweet potatoes?!

2010-08-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

So today was a big day in the Andry household. I set up Blake's highchair and she not only sat in it for the first time and loved it, but she had her first baby food. We started her on sweet potatoes and surprisingly after just a few bites she caught on and really liked them! It was so funny to watch her. She seemed like such a big girl. And before someone yells at me, I know it's not recommended to start them on baby food until 6 months, but I bought the organic food labeled 4 months and she has been opening her mouth for my food the last few days so I thought we'd try it. I don't foresee her developing food allergies after all I ate while I was breastfeeding. Another big discovery today is that she likes when I sing the blues to her - I have finally found a use for my random rhyming words - THEY MAKE HER LAUGH!

Cinematic moments.

2010-08-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Blake LOVES her new dragonfly toy that Grandma Sarah brought her. She gets SUPER excited about it:

Talking is now a hobby that takes up about 50% of her day. She wakes up and talks for about 20 min. and this is her after her nap this afternoon...

She's also just started to figure out her exersaucer

It's so fun to see her changing and growing and learning everyday. I feel so so blessed to be home with her to witness it all and spend this time with her that I would never get back. It's so great to see her developing such personality! I can't wait to see the person she is going to become some day.

Baby Talk

2010-08-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

I've always been one of those deeply cynical people who never understood or appreciated baby talk. I always scoffed at "those people" who would baby talk to their pets, or children. I always secretly thought to myself how weird they were and swore I would never be one of them. Here I am 4.5 months into my daughters life and I find myself unable to talk like a normal adult when I interact with her. I AM A BABY TALKER! What is wrong with me?! Or should I rephrase that and say, "What changed?!" I have come to the conclusion that once you have a child God takes you and overnight changes you into one of "those people." You don't see it coming - it just happens. The absolute most entertaining part of it all, is I like speaking with her in the sing songy baby talk manner that I always ridiculed - it makes her smile! I never claimed to be cool, but I have officially come to the realization that I am a nerd, a parent, a softy and I am one of "those people" and I like it! I whole heartedly accept what I have become and am running with it. So when you are out and find yourself also making fun of that parent talking baby talk, or acting silly to entertain their child, also think to yourself - I am making fun of Alicia and someday I will be doing the same thing!

These are a few of my favorite things....

2010-08-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

The smell of brownies baking, a good steak, Mediterranean food, sushi, snuggling up by a fire, scarves, puppies, being covered by warm laundry fresh out of the dryer, driving with the windows down on a nice sunny spring afternoon, laughing so hard you cry, a good glass of wine, a REALLY good meal, spending time with your best friends, impromptu dance parties, new clothes, getting your hair cut, lounging all day long in your pj's, watching movies in bed, kisses from the love of your life, gelato, traveling to new places, discovering your new favorite song, rainy days indoors with a movie, hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream, the state fair, boats, hearing the crash of the waves at the beach, relaxing on the lake, chickfila, spicy food, having great friends that love you no matter what, meeting "the one," experiencing God's grace, doing something nice for someone else, giving presents, surprises, tex-mex, marrying your best friend, seeing your baby for the first time, a babies laugh.....

This rambling hodge podge of items came to me as I was trying to write a letter for Blake to give to her when she's older of things in life that gave me true pleasure and joy. I want to give her a list of things to try to experience in life and a list of things that express a bit more who I am. This idea came to me after my dear friend Whitney's mother passed away last year and when going thru all her things we found a letter that she had written to Whitney when she was a baby. I knew after reading that and both our eyes filling up with tears that I wanted to have something like this to give to precious little Blake to always be able to hold onto no matter what.

It ended up being much harder than I thought to come up with my favorite experiences, things, moments and words of wisdom, but the funny thing is - for the most part - many of my favorite things were simple. Items that we often take for granted and overlook if we go thru the motions of each day too quickly. It made me realize that I need to really take a step back and take in every single moment of life and enjoy it to the fullest.

Vogue cover model...well someday

2010-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

We just got back from the 4 month checkup at the pediatrician's office and our freak of nature child is in the 95th percentile for height! I mean seriously...where the in world did she get her height from?! She definitely didn't get it from me and Chris is no NBA star...must be something in the milk! I have decided if this keeps up we're just going to sign her up for modeling to bring on some extra income - ok seriously kidding here, but if she ends up being 6 feet tall I think modeling is more in her cards than sports b/c quite frankly if she takes after me at all she'll be way too clumsy for athletics!

4 month stats:

Weight: 12.7lbs (25th percentile)

Length: 26 in. (95th percentile)

Head: 16 in. (40th percentile)

She also rolled from her back to her stomach while we were at the doctor's office! Big day for little Miss Blake Salome!

Eat, Pray, Love

2010-08-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

If you know me at all, then you probably know that Eat, Pray, Love is seriously my favorite book. Not because it was a best seller and not because it's well written, but because this author, Elizabeth Gilbert, did what I have always wanted to do: drop everything, pack up and move halfway across the world to experience life! I have ALWAYS enjoyed travel and lucky for me I have been very blessed to have had several amazing opportunities to take advantage of this love and passion of mine. I've been to Europe, Mexico, Costa Rica, across the U.S. and I still yearn to see more. There was once a time in my life, not so long ago that my goal was to become a fashion writer and travel around the world to cover all the top stories relating to fashion. I was offered an internship at Women's Wear Daily the summer prior to my last semester at Baylor, but passed on this opportunity to stay in Houston near my boyfriend who had been battling lukemia. Do I regret this decision - not necessarily, but I often wonder what would have been if I had taken that internship?

Unlike Elizabeth Gilbert, at the time of this story - I am happily married and would want to take my amazing husband and beautiful baby girl with me on my journey. I can think of nothing more exciting and fulfilling than to take my family and experience life eating new foods, experiencing new cultures and meeting new people. We could spend a few months in Thailand, hop on over to Russia and Poland to show Blake where our families come from. After a while we could check out the beaches of the Greek Isles (and stuff ourselves silly with food). There are so many places I want to see, so many things I want to do and shocker here - stay in the bubble of Dallas, Texas is not one of them. No offense to Dallas - it's a perfectly good place - it is just so cookie cutter and well quite frankly materialistic!

Just imagine - a life of simple pleasures - great food, great experiences all shared with my great family! Chris and I had talked several years ago about trying to find jobs in London and live there for a year or two. We looked briefly and then gave up. Here I am 5 years later still squashing out that desire. Why is it so scary to drop it all and go? Why do our heads often guide us instead of our hearts? Hopefully some day down the road we'll grow enough courage to do the unthinkable and sell our house, our cars, pack up just the necessities and just sail off to some unforeseen life adventure. Realistically I know this will probably end up some pipe dream or missed opportunity much like my fashion writing career.

How sweet it is...

2010-08-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

I will preface this by saying I know I am horrible about keeping up with this, but truth be told, I often forget that I have a blog to keep up with. I am losing my mind...or at least my memory. I'm midweek thru my first week as a stay at home mom. I have to say I could get used to this gig. I love waking up to my beautiful girl smiling at me and knowing that I don't have to rush around to get her dropped off in time for me to get to work. I love just enjoying a morning cup of coffee in my ol' worn out jummies watching her play and giggle. Seriously - it is awesome! I also have to say the days go by surprisingly quickly. I have never been so busy in my life- I realized today when I sat down at 4:00 that it was the first moment in 3 days that I have really just sat down and relaxed with no pressing matter to attend to.

My grandparents are in town for the next few days and talk about perfect timing to arrive - Blake is starting to teeth and poor thing was up pretty much ALL night last day - so lucky for me Gigi was able to be here to help out with all those late night rocking sessions! I am praying that tonight is a better night for all of us though - sleep deprivation and me are not friends!

I know I have touched on this subject before - but I still don't understand those people in this world who can function on only a few hours of sleep. I am seriously borderline mental patient when I am sleep deprived.

In all seriousness though - I am so very grateful and blessed to have this opportunity and I plan on not taking any of it for granted.

Glutton for nourishment

2010-07-28T11:26:00.001-07:00

Now for all of you who REALLY know me, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE food. I find extreme joy in eating. In fact to a certain extent I am obsessed with meal time. Dining is one of my all time favorite most favorite things to do in the whole world. It's up there with travel and people watching. Eating out has quickly become one of my guilty pleasures in life, but now that well we're going to be on a super duper crazy tight budget I am now channeling the granddaughter of a restaurateur self to try to create tasty and fun dinners at home. I have now found another new obsession that ties in closely with food and that's reading blogs about food! I wanted to share a few of my new favorite dishes because I feel that if I can make one person have one great meal b/c of a recipe I shared that good food karma is going to come my way!

Saláta Horiátiki (Greek Salad with Feta, Tomatoes & Olives)

Nutrition

Per serving (about 6oz/182g-wt.): 200 calories (160 from fat), 18g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 20mg cholesterol, 480mg sodium, 7g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 4g protein

Ingredients

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into bite-size chunks

4 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into bite-size pieces

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and roughly chopped

1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

4 to 6 ounces feta cheese, cut into cubes

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper to make a dressing. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, feta cheese and olives and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

These next two recipes I got from my new favorite blog: Bitchin' Camero - there is a link on my page

The first recipe I got from my new favorite blog: Bitchin' Camero - there is a link on my page

SUMMERY BAKED TOMATOES

4 large tomatoes
2 ears sweet corn, shucked
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 zucchini, diced
1/4 of a red onion, diced
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Cotija cheese (about 1 oz.)

Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a baking dish. Slice the very top off of your tomatoes, then use a spoon to carefully hollow them out, making sure to save the inside for another dish (soup, sauce, etc).

In a large bowl, mix together the corn, zucchini, black beans, onion, olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, salt and spices until evenly combined. Carefully, spoon them into the tomatoes until over-stuffed. If you have extra filling, place in the dish around the tomatoes.

Top each of the tomatoes with breadcrumbs and generous grating of Cotija cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve with a side of crusty bread, pasta or rice.

WHEAT BERRY GREEK SALAD

For the dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. dried oregano

For the salad
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 large cucumber, diced
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (or 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced)
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked grains, such as wheat berries ( I USED COUSCOUS)
1/4 lb. feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped black olives (optional)

Place all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until emulsified. Set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a very large bowl, drizzle with dressing and toss until thoroughly combined.

Home Home on the Range

2010-07-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

So I've been really bad about keeping everyone in the loop, but here's the skinny what's happening in the Andry household. The Lord has really been laying the desire to stay home with Blake on my heart since she was about 10 weeks old. I really thought that when I went back to work I would get back into the swing of things and that desire would go away. Well, long story short it didn't - in fact it got worse with everyday that went by. So I started seriously praying...my prayer was that if it was God's will for our lives for me to stay home that God would soften Chris' heart to the idea and give us both a servant's heart to make this arrangement work. Insert sarcastic tone here, "I know this a shock to most of you, but we're not rich." haha. I continued to pray that if it was His will for me to work that my heart toward work would change and my desire to be home would diminish.

After 2 full weeks of devout prayer and 2 full weeks of work, I created an in depth powerpoint presentation for Chris to discuss this arrangement. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I went inside the head of Chris Andry to figure out what I would need to analyze, calculate and evaluate in order for him to 1.)take the proposal seriously 2.) see if it was even remotely an option 3.) see what sacrifices we were realistically talking about and 4.) foresee questions that were going to come my way. I have to say at the end of the day I think my powerpoint was pretty amazing...if you're interested in seeing my masterpiece let me know! haha. Anywho, I presented my idea to Chris one Friday evening a couple of weeks ago and of course, he saw it coming and of course true to my prayers - God softened his heart to the idea. I told him to continue to pray about it, look at the numbers and really think about it before saying anything....So another week went by before we decided that it was worth the sacrifice (no more vacations, no more eating out every weekend, no more shopping - gasp). I turned in my 2 weeks notice at Medassets this past Friday and my last day of work will be August 6th. HOLY HOTDOG!

Now don't go thinking I'm going to be come some stepford wife and never work again...I'm only taking off until Blake reaches 1 year old and then she'll be going back to school and I will be going back to work. In the meantime I am in charge of all the mundane household tasks that Chris and I both hate (laundry, grocery shopping cooking dinner, cleaning the house). I also promised to try to bring in some extra funds to help offset a little of what we'll be missing out on so I decided to start selling Stella & Dot Jewelry. So true to Alicia Andry form - I'm brining on loads of change and new obstacles all at once - BRING ON THE CHANGE!

I am actually so very excited to have this opportunity to not only spend the time with my amazing daughter, but to also try to start up a business that's not only my own, but FUN! I've been sacrificing my passion in the workforce for years to make enough to actually make a living and I really hope and pray that this new venture will eventually take off the ground and be my NEW full time gig once the year is over.

If anyone is interested in buying some fun jewelery, starting up a Stella & Dot business of their own or just want to come to one of the trunk shows to play around let me know and check out my fancy new website! www.stelladot.com/aliciaandry

So basically we're in a state of constant change with new obstacles to overcome and new adventures in store. I can't wait to see what God is up to now. He always throws me a curve ball when I start to make my own plans in life. Prayers are very much appreciated as we face this new chapter in life. It's going to be interesting that is for sure!

chchchchchanges.

2010-07-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

So Blake is 3 months old tomorrow and has been in daycare for a week tomorrow, and I have been down in the dumps for 1 week tomorrow. I knew it would be hard to leave her precious little face and go back to work, but I figured that after a couple of days I would start transitioning back into my old role and be happy for the adult interaction and work responsibilities. BOY WAS I WRONG!

I seriously never pictured myself being a stay at home mom until Blake arrived. Once I met her I instantly changed my entire perspective and feeling on staying home. Going back to work has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do and all I do all day while at work is think, "I hope they are taking care of her, I hope they are loving her, I hope that she knows we love her since we're not there, I hope she doesn't forget us, and most of all, I hope I don't miss any of her firsts." It would probably make things easier if I was in a career that I loved, but much like most of the world out there - it's just a job and nothing more.

Enough about the sob story though - let's talk about firsts.....this past Saturday Blake had 2 major accomplishments: 1) she giggled out loud

it was the most adorable, happy sound in the world. I only wish I could get her to giggle all day everyday.

2) She rolled over from her tummy to her back. Now, I have to preface this with the fact that I think it was a fluke, but little chick just rolled over like it was easy as pie. She hasn't done it since, but just in case you think I'm lying Trimble was here and witnessed the entire thing. As you can see Saturday was a really big day for us! Also, as you can see - our lives have changed exponentially - who would have thought a year ago that I would be blogging about how excited we were to see a kid roll over! haha Actually who would have thought a year ago that I would be blogging period or have a child!

I love that I can see her change everyday and develop personality and learn new things. It seriously is one of the best things in the world!!!

Please continue to pray that I get used to her being in daycare and stop crying everyday over not being with her.

Here is Blake's 3 month picture. She is getting so big!

2 month check up

2010-06-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Blake's 2 month checkup with the pediatrician and our little monkey is growing like crazy! It was a good checkup overall, but she had to get her first round of vaccinations and it was sooooooooo sad. She cried the loudest, hardest and longest I have yet to see! It broke my heart, but Chris and I being the weird people we are also found it absolutely hysterical. One minute she was fine and then all of a sudden her face got super red and she just started screaming haha. She's cute even when she's upset. So here are her growth stats:

1 month:

Weight: 7 lbs. 15 oz. (15th percentile)

Length: 21 3/4 " (75th percentile)

Head size: 14" (10th percentile)

2 month:

Weight: 9 lbs. 7 oz. (15th percentile)

Length: 22 1/2" (55th percentile)

Head size: 14 3/4" (10th percentile)

She is holding her head up so well...it will be no time at all before she can hold it up completely by herself, which I guess is one of the bonuses of having a small head haha. She is also loving standing on her legs - so we hold her up and let her push up on her legs often...I have a feeling crawling might come early for her as well, but who knows.

T-minus 27 days until D-day...

2010-06-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Only 27 days left of my maternity leave -which means only 27 days left until I have to send our precious little monkey to daycare. I have such mixed emotions over it all. If you had asked me a month ago if I was ready to go back to work I would have whole heartedly said yes. That being said, it's amazing how much has changed in the last 4 weeks....she's started interacting with me, recognizing me, smiling with me and bonding with me. It hit me like a ton of bricks on Monday as I realized I had less than a month left and there are small little things she does each day that cause me to break down in tears knowing I won't get to share in all of these little moments starting in July. I got to witness her first grin, her first coo, her first mimic of me sticking my tongue out at her. How much am I going to miss once I go back to work? Will she be taken care of?

I know that it's not really an option for me to stay home, and I at the end of the day I know she will be fine, but I just hope and pray that she gets enough attention and affection and that we won't lose the bond that we have. This is definitely going to be a very difficult transition and one that I am dreading deeply.

I like smiling - smiling's my favorite

2010-05-26T18:14:00.001-07:00

So our little peanut has officially started smiling and I have to be honest it's the most amazing feeling to get a huge smile from her in response to something Chris or I have done. I never realized that babies didn't just immediately come out knowing how to smile, but rather that it's something learned. This small, but amazing little development seriously makes my day every time I see it. Let's just hope she ends up being funny! j/k

Sleepless in Seattle - I mean Dallas....wait where am I?!

2010-05-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

So everyone jokes about or warns you about the fact that once the baby comes you no longer get to sleep...I had no idea how little sleep they meant. I have gone several days literally getting no more than 2 straight hours of sleep at a time and for those of you who know me - well that's just not copasetic.

Without the sufficient amount of sleep I transform into this zombie-like emotional crazy beast character where my every thought is consumed by images of down comforters, fluffy pillows and dreams...along with this state of delirium and fantasy I get extremely angry and short tempered with anything or anyone keeping me from getting to this zin place of sleep and happiness.

Poor Chris and Blake have had several days of dealing with me crying for no reason, having no patience and being well....2 seconds from losing my mind. Thank God that there are points in the week where Chris can take some of the duties to allow me to get some much needed sleep, and vice versa. This leads me to the question...what is wrong with those people who only need 4 hours of sleep to function? Why didn't God grant all mothers with this super power? Will I ever get used to this?

The not so Ugly Truth....labor and delivery

2010-04-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

So several of you keep asking me for the gory details of my experience with labor. I have say that I was pleasantly surprised...it wasn't the horror story or war zone I had pictured in my head. In fact, it was overall a wonderful experience.

I guess technically things started at 5:30am on Monday April 12th...I woke up early with some contractions, but they weren't steady and stopped by 7:30am so I went ahead and got ready and went into work. I had several more throughout the day, but again I had been having contractions for weeks so I thought nothing of it. I worked the full day and went home to take a nap, because I had only slept about 2 hours that night. Around 6:40pm I was abruptly woken from my nap with a more intense contraction...I decided to try to go back to sleep, but then another one came on just a few minutes later. They are strong enough that it made me think to myself, "Self, you should probably time these." I crawled out of bed, groggy, hungry and went into the kitchen where Chris was about to grill up some burgers. I told him, "Hey, I don't really think so, but this baby could come tonight...these are pretty strong pains." He asked if he should keep cooking the burgers and in true Alicia fashion I replied with - Um, yes I never skip a meal!

I started timing the contractions and they were 4 - 5 minutes apart right out of the starting gate. I was told my OB that they had to be 5 min. apart or less for at least an hour before calling in so I ate dinner, and a tasty toblerone candy bar. They were coming steadily and closer together, but I was still afraid it was false labor so literally I took a shower, got dressed, made the bed, called a couple of friends and let 3 hours pass before Chris finally said, CALL THE DOCTOR.

I called up and of course the doctor on call is the one doctor in my practice that I don't like and she told me to come in. We started on our way to the hospital and arrived about 9:45pm.

They hooked me up to the contraction monitor and the fetal heart rate monitor and checked my progress. I was 4 cm dilated with "a bulging bag of waters." In short they told me I would be having this baby within the next 24 hours and I wasn't go anywhere.

I went ahead and called my family to let them know it was go time and Chris called his and the rest started to go by very quickly.

About 11:00 they came in and hooked up the IV fluids and the port for the epidural. My contractions at this point were about 2 - 3 min apart however once they started the IV fluid my contractions started to slow down just a bit so we waited to turn on the epidural until they were back up. The doctor broke my water once the IV's were in and checked me again and I was 5 cm dilated, 100% effaced and she expected that I would be ready to start pushing about 4:30am. She told me to just try to relax and get some rest if possible. (right......)

Well about 2 min after she broke my water the contractions came with a vengeance! I was literally gripping the side of the bed in pain - so I called in the nurse to turn on the epidural. She said within 30 min. I should be feeling no pain and good to go......well 30 min. came and went and the pain only grew stronger. I was started to literally freak out that the epidural wasn't going to work - I had read horror stories about this online and knowing my luck it would happen to me....So the L & D nurse came back in and I told her it wasn't working so she sent the anesthesiologist back in with an extra shot of the epidural to give me. Once she gave me the extra shot within 10 min. I couldn't feel my contraction pain anymore....so it is now 1am and I am comfy and thinking I have 3 1/2 more hours to just wait.

Chris and I killed time by playing scrabble - texting friends, watching crummy TV shows and hanging out. Then at 2 am - just an hour later - our awesome L & D nurse, Christy came back in and checked my progress - I was already 10 cm dilated. She said she was going to call the doctor to come back up and that I could either start pushing in about 15 min or wait a while until the baby had dropped down a little further....I opted to wait so I wouldn't have to push as long.

So an hour and a half later at 3:30am I started pushing. I am not gonna lie and tell you that it wasn't miserable at this point, but it wasn't fun...it was exhausting and although the epidural had gotten rid of most of my pain - it never made me fully numb and I was in some pain still. I pushed for about 30 min. and we realized that the baby's heart rate was dropping between contractions and she wasn't moving past my pelvis...so they called the doctor in and she informed me they were going to have to use forceps to assist in getting Miss Blake out.

This completely freaked me out when all I saw were these giant salad tong looking things hanging out of me, but I was ready to stop pushing at get her out. I had to push thru 2 more contractions and then the little monkey was out! That was it....less than an hour of pushing - minimal pain...no tearing....and our precious baby girl was here.

In short - the pain was minimal, the labor wasn't long and the recovery was quick....I would definitely do it again for such a wonderful result.

A Model Baby

2010-04-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today we did Blake's newborn photos and had Summer Spooner come over and take some amazing pictures of our little monkey. I was a little worried how it was going to go since miss Blake had decided to be awake from 12:30am - 3:30am and then again from 6:30am - 8:30am. She actually did really well considering!

Blake was sooooooooo cute - she slept pretty much the entire time and let us just pose her and play with her for the pictures. She looked so cute with her little arms crossed and little pout. It was a lot of fun to play around with different little outfits and poses. I am excited to see the pictures! Here are some sneak peeks I took on my phone along with 1 sneak peak from Summer.

pictures of our little monkey

2010-04-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Life doesn't get much better than this

2010-04-21T13:16:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 4:25am we were blessed with the arrival of the most beautiful little girl, Blake Salome Andry.

The feeling that I felt as soon as I saw her can not be described in words. I instantly loved her more than I have ever loved anything else. I immediately welled up with tears of joy and emotion that I've never experienced before. She had the most perfect little fingers, toes and full head of shiny brown hair and HUGE eyes that were wide open ready to greet the world.

I turned to look at Chris and he was even more enamored and overjoyed than I was. She literally had him wrapped around his finger from the moment she showed up. The goofy, fun loving man that I married became the biggest ball of mush and I knew that he was going to be the most amazing father to our little girl.

It's been 8 days since she was born and each day is better than the one before. She has already changed so much and has the funniest facial expressions and sounds. Chris and I just can't get enough of her. She's such a good baby too - she sleeps so soundly and peacefully I could just watch her sleep for hours.