First bike ride

J & I took G for her first bike ride on Wednesday. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day. We went to Abita Springs (north of Lake Ponchatrain) for lunch then rode on the Tammany Trace trail. It's part of the program Rails to Trails where old unused railways are turned into bike/walking/jogging paths. I'm not usually one to get into causes but this is something that I can really stand behind. The paths are beautiful because even if they run through towns, they are surrounded by trees so only a few of the icky run-down trailers that were once right next to the tracks peek through :-). Unfortunately, in an effort to take the more scenic route in the swamp, we (OK, I), sent us the wrong direction (northwest instead of south...what is it about this darn state that makes me lose my sense of direction?) and we ended up going through a town. It wasn't bad because the trail was marked but we had to ride on some small streets with traffic (minimal) which we didn't want to do with The G. It was still a great success, for J and I at least. M sat in her little bike trailer much like she does in her stroller. She just gives us the "OK, I'll tolerate this because I love you guys but this isn't my idea of fun" face. She's just too wiggly to be constrained for any amount of time right now. The best part was her bike helmet. AWESOME!!! Do you all get tired of me saying awesome? I use it a lot when talking about the G but it just describes her so perfectly!

Copycat

M has turned into quite the little copycat these days. Last night, J was thinking that his throut was sore so he had me look at it with the flashlight. It took awhile to see because I guess he has a really fat tongue or is just incapable of holding it down (I'm not sure which one and that's probably too much information). Anyway, afterward, M came up to me with the flashlight. She tried to turn it on but couldn't push the button hard enough so I turned it on for her. I tried to hand it to her but she pushed it away, stuck her little tongue out (and it is so tiny and cute), and said "ahhhhh." My baby is the BOMB. She's such a genius. So we spent a couple minutes looking in each other's mouths with the flashlight. All in all a great Wednesday night.

Also, she turned 15 months yesterday which warranted another doctor appointment. She hasn't grown at all in the past 3 months. Still 30 inches and 20 pounds. I described her eating habits, etc and the doctor said we were doing the right things so who knows?!? But, since J is gone tonight I'm gonna try and fatten her up with grilled cheese... lotsa butter and 2 slices of cheese! Oh, I'll have one too I think!

Lazy bum!

M is perfectly capable of holding her own bottle. In fact, she uses a sippy cup most of the time now. But, when we give her that last bottle before she hits the hay, she just flops down in my lap (or the lap of whoever has the pleasure of holding her for the 3 minutes she's still each day), flops her arms to the side, and is totally and utterly useless. She refuses to hold it. Crazy baby!
Also, does this look like a happy girl or what?!? I have a hard time explaining her awesomeness.

Mighty MO

The G and I are livin' it up at my mom & dad's in Missouri. We're enjoying the company but NOT the weather. I usually don't mind chilly weather (love sweaters, hats, and scarves) but G & I have gotten used to going outside everyday to play (plus she sleeps so much better after she runs around and wears herself out). It's not just cool, it's downright cold. The wind is biting but at least there's some sunshine today. I'm usually such a big fan of MO (especially when something in New Orleans has ticked me off) but this gives me a reason to be glad I live in NOLA. M wore shorts and a t-shirt the day before we came home for goodness sakes!

Is this cute or what???

I have to say that my favorite times these days are those spent watching J and M together. I especially love it when I know they don't realize that all eyes (ok, just mine) are on them. Almost every night my two favorite people make a trip to the mailbox together and I caught them in the act this time.

It makes me sad for so many of my friends whose husbands are off being heroes while they're home being heroes to their kids (love you Candie, Tiffany, and Kristin).

Baking Part II

So, everything turned out great!!! But, I remember why I don't like to bake... all the dishes to wash when I'm finished!
The finished product
The outside wasn't very pretty after I took off the springform ring but it sure did taste good
You definately want to let it sit in the fridge at least 4 hours. I have to admit that we cut into it after only 2 1/2 hours and it was good, but was even better today!