Since E turned 1 I stopped doing the monthly updates, but I kind of miss them! Chris even asked if I would start them up again, so, no promises, but I wil try to post more regularly about her development. Elliot is going to be 17 months tomorrow and I can’t believe it. Here’s what she is up to these days:

• she started walking right about 12.5/13 months and now she RUNS everywhere she goes
• she LOVES the park, but forget the baby slides and playset, she has to play on the big kid slide! There is one HUGE slide at our park that I thought would terrify her, but she walked right up and went all the way down on her down – it was kind of hilarious because she is so little!
• she goes to preschool 2 mornings a week and has been doing really well. She struggled with separation anxiety for the first few months, but now she just walks right in and says “bye bye!”
• speaking of words, she is a talker (shocking, I know), her vocab includes: mama, dada, Jack, bad dog (hahaha!), sit, eat, go, slide, outside, kids, paci, baby, night night, bath, cheese, grapes, yogurt, juice, water, shoes, socks, more, please, ouch, bite, no way!, see ya!, Yaya, Papa, eyes…that’s all I can think of right now!

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**disclaimer: this post is about nursing/breastfeeding, if you don’t want to read it and/or it totally seems weird to you, then this is my warning to move on and not read this post!**

I have been hesitant to write this post because I know some people get totally weirded out by nursing (whatevs!!), but when I was pregnant I read Sherry from Young House Love’s nursing story and I was so, so encouraged by it, so I thought I would share mine too in case there are any other new or expectant mama’s out there who read my blog! I think so often we read the horror stories of nursing (other blogs, Baby Center Message Boards, etc), I thought it would be good to share a positive experience with nursing…so,here we go!! I can’t say enough how thankful I am that nursing worked out for us and my heart breaks for the women who battle with feelings of failure because breastfeeding did not work out for them.…

In October I posted my personal results with the Ultimate Reset on my Facebook Page and got a TON of response asking how I did it and TONS of questions about the program, so I thought it would be a good idea to do a little post about the Reset, how it can fit into a normal, busy life, and how I feel after!

First of all, I want to tell you what the reset is NOT

• It is NOT a starvation diet – you eat 3 meals a day AND a snack
• It is not a crazy cleanse (like the Master Cleanse, etc where you drink a crazy concoction all day instead of eating…that is bad news, folks!)
• It is not a quick fix – yes, you will see killer weight loss results, but if you go right back to your old habits you WILL gain it all back!
• It is not a laxative or diet pill – yes, you will take supplements, but they are to enhance your body and not harmful in ANY way

What does it consist of?…

Alright folks…I KNOW this recipe is going to sound cah-razy, but I am telling you, it. is. delicious. I had a version of this at a restaurant and had to duplicate it at home. It is SO easy:

First, throw as much spinach as you want into a bowl. Then chop up a plain baked sweet potato (I put mine in the freezer after I pulled it out of the oven to cool it down!) then dump 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa on it…easy as that. Now..the dressing, oh the dressing!!!

Creamy Garlic Dressing:

• 1/2 cup EVOO
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3-5 cloves of crushed garlic (I recommend closer to 3…or else get a breath mint!)
• 3 TB. Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp. himalayan salt
• 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 TB. Agave Nectar or Honey

Place all ingredients in blender and blend on medium for 30 seconds or until well mixed.…

well, of course…I am late on this update, but this is a big one!! My sweet girl is a YEAR old, that is so crazy. This has been the fastest, most incredible year of my life and I can’t believe she is ONE!

Elliot, at one year you:

• stand up on your own without holding onto anything! You are so, so proud every time you do it!

• You took your first steps! You are up to about 10 at a time before your fall, but you usually get right back up and try again. I have a feeling one day soon you will just take off!
• are saying more and more words. Right now you say: mama, dada, baby (you love your baby doll!), more, mum mum…and I am sure you say more than that and I just don’t know you are saying them yet.
• make funny animal sounds. You can do: dog (even though you cough instead of bark thanks to Jack!), cat, cow and duck.

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