Sitting Pretty

First sit up with no help (and no falling over!).

And here's my little advertisement for the Ergo. I love mine! The "on the hip" position is my favorite. It's just how I carry her around the house anyway, but it's hands free! And she loves it, cause she can be right in the action. (Sometimes TOO much! We had a lesson today about how NOT to grab dishes and dump the contents in Mommy's lap.)

It seems that I forget to take pictures of the house we're living in until we get ready to move! These are taken in front of our home...the one we will be moving from in a few days. Off to start another summer adventure! Last summer, we traveled all over and saw many friends before we settled down for the fall & winter. There were some challenges, but looking back, we made some great memories. I'm looking forward to seeing what adventures we'll have this summer! 

Chocolate Pudding!

I admit, I am writing this while licking out the bowl!

So, Jon & I have been trying to avoid refined sugar as of late. Lately, we've been greatly missing dessert! This morning, I got desperate and altered a chocolate pudding recipe to my liking. Here it is...

2/3 cup Honey (or if you're trying to be really good...1/2 tsp Stevia extract powder)

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

2 3/4 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp hazelnut extract

1. Mix honey, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil and cook til the mixture will coat the back of a metal spoon. 

2. Mix in butter, vanilla & hazelnut extracts.

3. Serve warm or chill.

 

Yum!!

Oh, also! I recently met a woman who is on a gluten free, dairy free, sugar free diet. (poor woman!!) When I was dealing with Evie's allergy issues, I was on a similar diet. She took pity on me and shared her fudge recipe with me. Surprisingly, it was quite good. So here's that one too...

"Sugar-free Fudge"

1 Cup coconut oil

3/4 Cup cocoa powder

1/4 Cup honey

1/4 Cup almond butter

1. Melt 30-60 seconds in the microwave. 

2. Pour into bread pan. (It's best when the fudge is about 1/4 inch thick.)

3. Chill, serve cold. (The coconut oil will melt at room temperature.)

6 months old!

This little girl is growing up! Here she is on her six month birthday! (yesterday) I can't believe six months have flown by since she joined us! I can't imagine life without her now. 

Spare Video

I just had to add one more video from our picnic. It wouldn't seem to load in the other post. Blogger seems to have some weird quirks when it comes to pics and videos. Anyway, I love this one, cause Evie just LOVES riding on Dad's shoulders! Puts a smile on her face no matter her mood!

Columbia River Picnic

There's been a lot going on lately in the Suomi household. We've got (to use my husband's saying...) all sorts of irons in the fire. Thus, the Sunday afternoon that we had a family picnic by the river was very much appreciated! It was a gorgeous day to enjoy God's creation & each other. Here's some proof that we got out of the house for some fun!

Growing Pains

Not Evelyn's.

Mine. 

I have been having a really hard time with her crying lately. The other night, I put her down in her crib for bed. She'd been fed, changed, burped; she was just tired. And yet, when I came downstairs and heard her screaming on the monitor, I could barely stand it. Now, it had been a pretty emotional day already, but her crying brought me to tears! She sounded scared. I hated the thought that she might wonder why I wasn't coming to her rescue. 

But the other part of my brain doesn't want to teach her that all she has to do is cry to get her way. I don't know if she can even think that way yet... She's going to be six months next week. I want her to learn that bedtime is bedtime. When she goes down, she's down for the night. But the way she cries is nearly unbearable! Am I just too faint hearted? Advice anyone? 

I want to "grow up" to be a good mom! I want to raise a daughter who knows her boundaries and is a joy to have around. It's just more complicated than I anticipated, and she's not even one year old!