Spice Girl

If it's spicy...she'll eat it!

I made Cincinnati Style "Skyline" Chili last night for dinner and G couldn't get enough of it.

In between the noodle slurping I would hear,

"More noodles, please!"

Time to clean-up!

What am I going to do when she too big

for the kitchen sink?

If you've never had Skyline Chili, you should try it. I just use the packets we buy from the restaurant when we go to Naples, FL but you could try this recipe. Harris Teeter has the sauce in the frozen section...it's not quite as yummy as making it fresh but it's quick, easy and still pretty good.

The Cincinnati "Skyline" Chili Ordering Code

1-way: just the chili

2-way: chili served over spaghetti

3-way: chili, spaghetti, and grated Cheddar cheese

4-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, and onions

5-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, onions, and beans

All "ways" are served with oyster crackers.

Gracie likes a 2-way and eats some handfuls of cheese in between bites. I like to have a 3-way; Todd likes a 4-way plus hot sauce. Any leftovers reheat really well and it's also delicious on top of a hot dog...or better known as a cheese coney! Seriously, this chili is so good and perfect on a chilly night! Give it a try!

Morning Glory

We had a pretty good night which means we're having a good morning! Gracie went to bed around 8 pm and woke up just a bit before 8 am - YAY! She's come a long way.

And Delaney slept from 8:30 last night until 3'ish...that's a 7 hour stretch....Yippee! But then she "snacks" every 1-2 hours after that...oh well, I'm excited about the long stretch and I'll enjoy my frequent early morning snuggle time with her.

Keep your fingers crossed that the long sleeping stretches will continue for both girls. This mommy likes her sleep!

Me: "Are you sleepy?"

G: "No, I'm just snuggling with NightNight."

Melts my heart!

Rise & Shine

Good Morning Sunshines!

Gracie loves to climb up into Delaney's crib to get some morning snuggles with her little sister!

Fallin' for the Girl-Lees

Ellee, Todd's mom, and I tried to get some fall pictures with the girls this afternoon. We got some cute ones of Gracie while Delaney was sleeping in her car seat...and when Delaney woke up, Gracie started getting grumpy which you'll see below...so we didn't get too many of Delaney; I'm sorry D. Ugh - just like so many of my friends say...it's really hard to get a GOOD picture of everyone!

But here are my favs!

She makes me S M I L E !

Bean Bag Chair Cuties

Slippers?

Lately, it seems like both of my girls are really cold (see post below)! I came down the stairs to see Miss Gracie sporting these.

Oven Mitts as Slippers -

Maybe we should turn up the heat?!?!

How does she come up with this stuff?

Sock It To Me

Delaney was in that newborn baby coma for the first 3 weeks or so...during that time she was so easy going and I thought she was a dream baby. She would eat and sleep and that's about it! She liked to be swaddled and just went with the flow.

Well, weeks 3-6 were a little different. She went through a very fussy phase each evening....it would start around 6'ish and continue off & on until midnight. So I stopped drinking milk and Coke Zero and, wait for it...I even gave up chocolate (which I've started eating again - darn Halloween candy) in hopes it would help ease her fussiness. I'm still off milk and Coke, which I'm really proud of, but the verdict is still out on whether or not it has helped or if she's getting better sleep during the day and simply outgrowing her fussy time.

So back to why I titled this post Sock It To Me...

I gave up on swaddling Delaney during her fussy bedtime...she seemed to calm down more when her arms were free. Well, in the middle of night when she would wake up to eat...her hands were absolutely ice cold. I didn't want to cover her with a blanket because she's able to wiggly them off and it made me paranoid that she would get it over her face. I also didn't want to turn up the heat in the house because I read that warmer rooms put babies at higher risk for SIDS. My solution for her freezing cold hands at night -

SOCKS!

I heard Gracie's nightstand drawer close the other morning (at 8:45 am - that's right, she's been sleeping in - WooHoo) - FYI, I keep her big girl panties and socks in those small drawers.

So much to my surprise when I went in to check her, here's what I found....

She was putting socks on her hands.

I said, "what are doing?"

Gracie said, "I'm putting socks on just like Delaney"!

How cute is that?

It's adorable that she wants to be like her sister...

and soon Delaney will want to be just like Gracie!

Yet another reason why we love our girls!!!

Talking with D

Trick or Treat

Halloween was so much fun for Gracie. She had a blast and didn't go to bed until after 10 pm because of lots of lollipops and we had to webcam with both sets of grandparents to tell them all about her 1st night of trick or treating.

Gracie is her father's child! She didn't want a new costume...she wanted to wear her 1st costume again...so the Canadian Lobster surfaced again!

She was very excited about seeing all the kids in their costumes but was a little timid about actually getting candy from strangers...I'm relieved that she's appropriately shy and unsure of people she doesn't know. With lots of encouragement and us standing right by her side, she was able to get lots and lots of yummy treats. Our neighbors were very generous and she had a blast walking down the sidewalks watching all the kids running by. She kept saying there's some of "my friends"...oh really, I didn't know you were "friends" with those 8 year olds?

She was so cute...and to my surprise, actually LOVED handing out candy on our front porch to the other trick or treaters. I was a little worried that she would take after me and not want to give candy away...but she is very giving and has such a sweet, kind heart...and was more than happy to give treats to her "friends".

I couldn't find our Pickle a pickle costume but

I thought being a sweet pea was close enough.

She's just too cute & has blue, blue eyes!