Monday, March 31, 2008

Balls!

We had a pretty rough start today...Emily was awake all night long due to teething and a very stuffy nose, and she was pretty miserable all day. Unless I held her, she was NOT a happy baby. I did manage to get her to take a nice nap in the middle of the day (THANK YOU teething tablets!!).

Just after Emily fell asleep, Ava told me she wanted to play catch and also "make pweedy artworks." Hmmm...how to make art with a ball? A quick browse online gave me this dea. How fun! Ava had a blast rolling the ball and paint around. We sang the "Shake and Shake and Stop" song while she painted.

Here are a few samples of her work:

Photobucket

Photobucket

After we had fun with ball painting, we made this cute feathery duckie:

Photobucket

Ava is obsessed with ducks lately...probably because I told her that it was almost time to go feed the ducks at our favorite park. She asks me every morning if we can feed them, so hopefully the wacky March weather will go away and we'll get a few days of sunshine so that we can get to the park. Until then, we'll stay home and do art projects all day long!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Fun Friday

Ava woke up pretty late after an evening at Chuck E Cheese with some friends from MOMS Club, so we barely got out of the house in time for her friend Maddie's birthday. She had a princess theme (her brother, the lone boy, was dressed as a pirate)...which seems to be the popular theme with birthdays these days!

This afternoon we are dropping off a meal to a new MOMS Club member who just had her first baby. I really think that this is one of the best parts of MOMS Club - we really support each other when we are in need. We have a fantastic support coordinator who organizes meal trains for moms who have just had babies (because we all know how NOT fun it is to cook with a brand new baby!), who are ill, or who have had a loss. Today I made some chili, cornbread, and brownies to take over, and when I called the mom to tell her I was coming, I could hear the relief - her baby is only 3 weeks old and she sounds a bit overwhelmed. At least she knows that a meal is on the way!

Here are a few pictures from last night and today:

Ava taking a shot at skee ball:

Photobucket

On the carousel:

Photobucket

And today at Maddie's birthday party (the birthday girl is in the yellow dress):

Photobucket

Shameless plug of Emily and her cuteness

Testing out how to post a video clip:



More baby cuteness:

Photobucket

I like trains:

Photobucket

Kickin' it in the stroller:

Photobucket

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Playgroup v2.0

I was lucky enough to find out about a discussion/class for new moms when I had Ava. The group was facilitated through Providence and helped me know that a) I was not alone in having half of my hair fall out 3 months post partum, b) babies cry for no reason A LOT, and c) moms need other moms to support them. Ava and I have been active members of a playgroup through that new moms class for almost 3 years and I can't describe how important it has been to me. What's also been great is that over the past year, a lot of members have added siblings and recently, those of us with 2 began meeting a few times a month. While we all expected our hair to fall out again, we have all been suprised at just how different our second babies are from their older siblings, so it's been wonderful to be able to support each other through motherhood the second time around. This morning, I was able to host a few moms and their kids - the older kids were able to chase each other down, while the babies babbled and practiced tummy time. We moms just tried to manage the chaos that ensued! Here are a few of the kids:

Photobucket

Before everyone came over, Ava helped me make some yummy Banana Coconut muffins to share. These are a staple in our house, and soooo easy to make (and great to make with your kids!), so I thought I'd share the recipe:

Banana Coconut Muffins
recipe: Epicurious
Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 45 min
Servings: Makes 8.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
(3/4 cup) 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Special equipment: a muffin tin with 8 (1/2-cup) muffin cups; paper liners

Preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Ayelet's notes: I usually substitute unsweetened applesauce for the butter and half of the sugar, and replace the AP flour with white whole wheat pastry flour. For playgroups, I make these into mini-muffins and bake them for about 20 minutes.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sleeps for Food...

It's quite funny how different Ava and Emily are. Ava wouldn't sleep anywhere but her crib or our arms (as is the case even to this day), while Emily will sleep pretty much anywhere. Lately, she's gotten into the adorable habit of sleeping in her high chair. The other day I was feeding her and then got up to make Ava a sandwich. In those few minutes, Emily had fallen asleep in her chair!

Photobucket

The other night, she fell asleep at a friend's house while all of the adults were eating dinner (and drinking quite a lot of wine!). The older kids were all upstairs playing, and apparently, our adult conversation was boring her:

Photobucket

HUGE American Girl Wardrobe Giveaway!