Happy Birthday Ilana!!

What were YOU doing a year ago??

This is what was keeping us busy...

And she's still keeping us busy today...

I can't believe Ilana is one year old. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!

-H

First haircut

We've had a lot of firsts recently, and Paul and I thought it was about time to add to the list with her first haircut. She really needed one, the top kept coming into her eyes, and bothering her. So, here's the before...And here's the after...She did pretty well, we tried to give her a toy she hadn't seen for awhile. The tears weren't from pain, just from frustration from...who knows what (we have a lot of "frustration tears" shed these days). We ended up trimming the top and cutting about half the length off the back. Paul wanted to cut all the length off, but I wouldn't let him.

• Yes, we saved all the hair we cut off.
• Yes, I already miss the length she had in the back - but I know it's just hair and it will grow back...someday.
• Yes, I can't believe we made it this long without cutting her hair!

-H

this became that

Ilana's newest thing is pulling herself up. I started to notice when this...became that...

You think I'd really catch on when this...became THAT...


But, I think it finally sunk in when this...

became that...

She is a wild child - crawling on Moses! This morning Paul and I could barely eat our breakfast because she was everywhere; it took two of us to keep up with her! Needless to say, every moment is an adventure with Little Miss Ilana..and she sleeps really well because she's so tired. :) Speaking of sleeping well, I better go clean my kitchen while she's taking a nap!
-H

BLUEBONNETS!!!

So, the bluebonnet is the Texas state flower and if you were to come to Waco today you'd know why - they are out in full force and the fields along the highways are beautiful! So, when Paul's mom was in town last week we found a pretty field for Ilana to sit in - far away from the highway, don't worry - and took a few pictures of our own...is eight pictures too many for one blog?? I can't pick, they're all my favorites.

For those of you who may not know, this is what a bluebonnet looks like (the blue-ish, purple-y flowers in this picture), and there are usually a few of these pretty orange flowers in the fields of them as well...
The wind was blowing on this day and this is what Ilana does in the wind...or this...Does her index finger look double-jointed to you? It does to me, especially in this picture...Oh my word, she's just way too cute, and we had way too much fun just watching her explore these flowers...
Pensive, as always...
Ok, I think these last two are my favorites from the day, but only because the sun was shining perfectly so you can see every fat roll on her arms... :)

She was so delicate with the flowers until the very end when she picked one - which, by the way is illegal to do in Texas, but she's a baby. All we'd have to do is show the officer how cute she is and we know she'd be pardoned.
-H

Brussel Sprouts

Paul and I are generally pretty adventurous with our food. So, when my running partner said "I have this GREAT brussel sprout recipe!" We thought..we might actually like brussel sprouts, they're one of those "good for you" foods. So, we tried it and it was actually pretty good!

Here they are, all fresh and everything, funny looking little cabbage things...
All you do is cut them in half (and cut out any nasty parts you might find). They're even funnier looking once you cut into them, really cabbage-esque...
Throw them all into a plastic bag with 2-ish tablespoons of olive oil, some minced garlic, salt and pepper. Coat the sprouts well and spread on a cookie sheet...
Cook at 400 degrees for 10-20 minutes or until some of the leaves are brown and crispy.
Then comes my favorite part: toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of LEMON JUICE and enjoy!!
The lemon juice really makes them taste fresh and amazing. The only thing we're changing next time is we're actually going to cook them a little bit longer - the slightly burnt and crispy leaves were better than we thought they'd be. Thanks for the recipe, Brandi! Add brussel sprouts to our menu!
-H

Searching

It's often now that I'll look around a room and not see Ilana, so I have to go searching. After calling for her, she'll peek her head around a corner somewhere...... and I'll have to tell her to be careful, or my favorite "no, thank you, Ilana." On this day, though, she proceeded to smile at me, just to show me how cute she can be and to get herself out of trouble...it worked...who can resist this face...
Oh, she's trouble, and she's usually getting into a lot of trouble, especially when she pulls this little grin out.

Then there are some days when I'm cooking dinner and I find her completely in my way at my feet...
It's easy to say Ilana is getting into everything these days and really testing the boundaries. Search away!
-H

ps-this is her new bathing suit, how adorable!!!
We took her into the pool here at Baylor (and completely forgot to get any pictures of her in her suit - sorry!) - she was totally relaxed about the whole experience. Towards the end she finally started playing in the pool. We're looking forward to many more fun days in the water!

Happy dog...sometimes; good dog...ALWAYS

Paul and I watched Marley & Me last night and cried our eyeballs out. It really made us appreciate our crazy dog. A "Moses" update...

When he's not being climbed on, you'll generally find him at the window...
Sometimes even just standing and looking out the window can make a dog tired, though...And when he gets really tired, he generally looks like this (I call this "Fake Smile")...
But, as everyone knows, Moses is happiest around people, so when he gets really down, and looks like he could use some cheering up, we just take him into the hallway...
We have found that when people love Moses they LOVE him. The lighter brown marks on the floor are actually his hair. These students absolutely spoiled Moses this night. He was LOVING it!! Just look at that face.

So, although Moses may not always enjoy living in this apartment, he is mostly a happy dog, and he is always good.
-H