16 Months and 16 Words

Lily is 16 months old!!! Today I realized that as she's been learning and growing, I haven't been keeping good track of her fun little milestones. Like talking! She has started to recognize objects and say words - she even said her first sentence this week! (I'm not sure she knows what it means, but it melts my heart anyways!) Here's a list of her vocabulary - of course the old standby's "Mama", "Dada", "Baby", "Duck", "Go", "Yucky", "Yum", "No", "Ya", and "More" (she also says "Moo" but we're not sure that's really a word); a few interesting ones that have back stories like "Wiggle", the name of her stuffed walrus, and "Donut", the name of her stuffed seal; and the ones that surprised me like "Banana" and her first sentence "I love you". I am so proud of my little Lily-bug and love watching her learn and grow.

Do Not Disturb

Mike just came home from a business trip to New Mexico and brought me a present from his hotel room. A "Do Not Disturb" door hanger! He's so funny, I love it, but I love more how he got it. He didn't remember to grab it for me until he was leaving. He was in the hall with all his luggage and the door shut behind him. Then he saw it. A "Do Not Disturb" hanger on the door across the way. Yes, he did the unthinkable, he stole someone else's door hanger. At like, 6 in the morning. HAHAHA! When he told me about it, I laughed so hard I almost lost control of my bladder.
I love it even more now.

Photos of the last week....

Bedtime stories with Daddy - Isn't that an awesome 'do?

Picture Perfect - Lily found an old photo mat in the garbage and walked around the house like this, framing her face, for hours.

Lily loves tickles from Daddy. In fact, she never laughs near as hard or loud when Mama tickles her.

Such a hottie at the dr's office.

Pure happiness - Lily loves Mama's chocolate cookies (easiest recipe ever: 1 box chocolate cake mix, 1 stick of melted butter, 1 egg - Mix, scoop, bake @ 350 for 8-10 min).

6 months along! Not a very good shot, but I'm still getting used to my iPhone camera.

Freezer Meals!

When I was pregnant with Lily I got a great suggestion to stock my deep freeze with dinners before her due date so I wouldn't have to rely on ward members or friends to feed us. I ended up doing about 24 dinners (most of which fed Mike and me for 2 dinners and leftover lunches) but in the process I ended up also freezing most of my bakeware :) This time around I've done a little more preparing and am lining all of my bakeware with tinfoil (for dishes that are cooked or partially cooked before freezing) or using gallon sized ziplock bags (for soups or pasta sauces that don't need to be baked before hand). I thought about buying the disposable baking pans, but can you say *expensive*? At least, compared to tinfoil and baggies. This time I'm also going to make more lunch and breakfast items (I forgot with Lily I'd need 3 meals a day, not just dinner LOL). Just like last time, I'm planning on just doubling recipes (i.e. on a night when I make Meatballs I'll just make twice as many and freeze the extras) instead of doing a big "Freezer Cooking Day".

Here's a list of what I have made (usually 3 batches of each) and plan on making for this baby's arrival:

Make-Ahead Butterhorn Rolls
Pop-Tarts
Pizza Pockets
Chicken Pockets
Brown Bag Burritos
Chimichangas
Beef Enchilada Casserole
Inside-out Lasagna
Meatballs
Quiche in a Bag
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Chicken Tamale Casserole
Chicken Pot Pie
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Teriyaki Chicken
Curried Chicken
Easy Cheesy Chicken
Mini Meatloaves