Andi – Page 47 – ANDI HAYS

Birthday Photo Shoot

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Andi

My brother offered to take some pictures of Maddie for her first birthday. Of course I took him up on the offer. We (including his fiancé, Katie) went to the Guthrie Theater to walk around and see if we could find some good spots for pictures. I saw a number of people recommend going there after doing a little searching online. We had a great time and Adam sent me a few of the pictures. He said these aren’t even his favorite ones! I’m so excited to see the rest! He said he is bringing them to her birthday party tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Posted on February 16, 2012April 5, 2016 by Andi

It’s really here! Maddie’s 1st birthday! I say it every month, but where did the time go and what happened to my baby!? She’s growing so fast and becoming such a big girl. She is so sweet and getting more personality every day.

Some new things she has been doing these days: she is so determined and so curious. She studies things very carefully. I see Chuck in her when she does this. My mom gave her a Gyro Bowl the other day and she studied that thing like she needed to know how it worked. It’s so cute!

She is very into books and bringing things to us. She will bring us her books to hold for her so she can flip through them, or brings us her toys or blankets.

She also understands a freakish amount of words. You can ask her if she wants milk and she goes over to the refrigerator and tries to open it. Ask her if she wants to go upstairs, and she runs to the gate on the stairs. Ask her where her head is, and she finds her “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” book and then pats her head. Ask her where her “baby” is and she will bring you a doll. Ask her where the puppy is, and she brings us her puppy doll. Ask her if she wants some food and she goes to her high chair. It’s so fascinating and so scary at the same time. It makes you think about what you say to or around her because she really listens.

She is starting to copy what you say and make more noises and sounds. We have been working on animal noises. Sometimes she will get them on her own, but mostly she will copy what you do for an animal noise. She is pretty consistent at knowing a cow noise. You say “mooo” and she says “oooo.” It’s really cute.

She also likes to climb up the stairs. She’s getting faster every time she goes up them. Chuck got her to go down the stairs. She went backwards once, but mostly she would stand up on the step, inch forward until she felt the edge with her toes and then sit down and put her feet on the step below her.

I just used up the last of the formula a couple days ago and started her on milk. Milk is going to be so much cheaper than formula! Now I just have to get her to drink out of a cup and not her sippy/straw cups all the time.

I posted a video the other day about her feeding herself yogurt. Using a spoon like that is a new skill. I thought it would take her longer to figure it out, but she just picked it up and went for it. It’s amazing the things kids can do!

She has been starting to stack blocks and things, but she mostly likes to just knock them down. I cut a hole in an oatmeal container, and she likes to put spoons and letter rings into the slot. She loves stacking her blocks on her block stacker. In the last few days, her favorite toys have been balls. She runs after it yelling “Baaaaaa” and then picks it up and throws it or kicks it around the room. It cracks me up!

Maddie is also acting like she wants to go to one nap. When I put her down for her morning nap, she isn’t usually rubbing her eyes like she normally does, and it will take her almost a half hour to fall asleep. Then, in the afternoon, she hasn’t taken a nap. She just plays in her crib. She has been happy at night, though, so I am thinking she just doesn’t need to sleep quite as long during the day. But since her birthday party is at noon, we will try one nap after her party so she can still get a nap in before her party (hopefully). I’ll be sure to report how that transition goes!

And in a couple days, we will be having Maddie’s birthday party. I know it doesn’t mean much to her, but I am so excited to celebrate with friends and family! I know there will be tons of pictures (and videos) of the fun event!

Here are the pictures from the past month and the previous months of posts.

After such a great post about what a wonderful baby Maddie has become, I feel like I should look back and reflect on when she was born. It was such a happy day mixed in with some scary stuff. I wouldn’t change anything about the past year. I know I made the right choice for me to stay home with her and I can’t wait to see what excitement the next year will bring!

On another note….I should probably get rid of my thing on the top of my website that says how old Maddie is. Sad smile

Or maybe I’ll keep it! At least I saved the picture that says she is 1! Smile

Ever Have One Of Those Days?

Posted on February 15, 2012February 13, 2012 by Andi

Some days I wonder what is wrong with me. Seriously. I have done some pretty stupid things in my days. But this past weekend, I did a number of dumb things.

First, I ruined both of our Sonicare toothbrushes. Yes. You read that right. Chuck some times boils some water and dips the top of the handle in the water to sanitize it. I thought I would give it a try. But I didn’t remember exactly what Chuck did. I just remembered that he boiled them. So I tried to help out and get them done during nap time. So I boiled some water, and dropped the handles in. That was my first mistake. The second was leaving them in there for 5 minutes. I figured I had to leave them in there to sanitize them. Well, it didn’t occur to me that it was a bad idea to boil batteries. So they were good and ruined. I think the batteries may have actually still worked, but I boiled them so long that they lost their shape and the brush heads wouldn’t screw back on. Whoops.

Next, we went to a baby shower for Chuck’s sister and brother-in-law. It was over dinner time, so I fed Maddie some food. She had a mouthful of banana and milk and flung the straw at me so I was left with food and milk in my hair. Then I dipped my shirt in the food and didn’t know it and got food all over my shirt and pants. And as if that weren’t bad enough, I leaned over to get something for Maddie and proceeded to dump my glass of wine down my pant leg. Wonderful. Just lovely.

I know there were other things I had done, I think I have just blocked them all out of my head. I was pretty happy when the weekend was over and I could start fresh. Some days I think I should just go back to bed and start over. Smile

Have you ever had one of those days?

Happy Love Day

Posted on February 14, 2012February 13, 2012 by Andi

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share with you a picture from when Maddie was just a week old all dressed in a heart outfit. She looks so little. I hardly recognize her!

Awe….baby!

I remember how timid we were with her at first. Wow. Only two more days and that little peanut will be 1! Stay tuned for that post! Smile

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m spending the evening with these two loves of my life!

What A Big Girl

Posted on February 13, 2012February 10, 2012 by Andi

Maddie has learned that spoons are fun. I have been giving her yogurt on her spoon and handing it to her to eat. She licks it all off then hands the spoon back for more. It’s really cute. So the other day, I thought it would be fun to give her the yogurt and spoon and see what she did. Smile I have about a thousand pictures of this, but here’s a video, first!

I took a couple other videos, but this one was the best. I love that she gets it all over herself. I don’t know what I was thinking not putting a bib on her! Smile

Tuna Pasta Salad

Posted on February 12, 2012February 12, 2012 by Andi

At most family functions, someone in the family makes Tuna Pasta Salad. I love this stuff! But I never make it. Last weekend, Maddie and I went to a baby shower for my cousin’s wife and without fail, the salad was there! So my next trip to the store, I decided to pick up the ingredients!

Cook some ring pasta. It’s supposed to be the large rings, but I used the small ones.

Then I chopped up some celery, red onion, added some canned peas, Miracle Whip, salt, pepper and garlic salt.….

I mixed it all together, adding more Miracle Whip as I went, to make it the right consistency. Then I threw in some tuna. (You are supposed to add hard boiled egg in there, too, but I don’t like it, so I left it out.)

It might not look that tasty in this picture, but I couldn’t wait to eat it. It is supposed to be refrigerated for at least an hour before eating it. I was snacking the whole time I was making it. (I had to taste test, you know!) Then Maddie and I had it for dinner! Yum!

Here’s the recipe in case you feel like whipping up some deliciousness for your next event….or lunch, or snack, or dinner!

——-

Tuna Pasta Salad

1 box large ring pasta

2 envelopes tuna (packed in water)

1/2 or more medium onion

3-4 stalks celery

1 small can peas (drained)

3-4 hard boiled eggs

¼ tsp garlic salt

Miracle Whip (enough to make your salad moist)

Salt and pepper to taste

—

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain. Put into your container. Empty contents of tuna to the pasta (use the envelopes so you can use the “juice” this adds extra tuna fish flavor.) Chop onions, celery, and eggs. Add all ingredients to bowl. Mix Miracle Whip with a little milk, add it to your salad and mix gently. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Kid Songs

Posted on February 11, 2012February 11, 2012 by Andi

This song cracks me up when I hear it. I just love it. It has such a good beat to it. And it’s funny! There’s a video of this song at the end of the lyrics. It’s the only one I could find, but you can hear the tune.

Two Kinds Of Seagulls by Tom Chapin

There’s two kinds of seagulls: he-gulls and she-gulls.
He-gulls like she-gulls and that’s why there’s seagulls.

There’s two kinds of pythons: girl-thons and guy-thons.
Girl-thons like guy-thons and that’s why there’s pythons.

There’s two kinds of wombats: Dad-bats and Mom-bats.
Dad-bats dig Mom-bats and that’s why there’s wombats.

And there’s two kinds of squirrels: him-mels and her-rels.
Him-mels are nuts about her-rels and that’s why there’s squirrels.

Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of penguins: lady-guins and men-guins.
Lady-guins flip for men-guins and that’s why there’s penguins.

There’s two kinds of blackbirds: jill-birds and jack-birds.
Jill-birds thrill jack-birds and that’s why there’s blackbirds.

There’s two kinds of lizards: her-zards and hiz-ards.
Her-zards think hiz-ards are wizards and that’s why there’s lizards.

There’s two kinds of llamas: papas and mamas.
They wear different pajamas and that’s why there’s llamas.

Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of peoples: he-puls and she-puls.
He-puls like she-puls. She-puls like he-puls.
And that’s why there’s me-puls, and you-puls,
And peoples.

Then I heard the most awful song….There’s an even more horrendous video after the lyrics for your viewing enjoyment.

No Excuse T’Use Booze by Peter Alsop Chorus:

There’s no excuse t’use booze
All you get is confused
Booze makes a problem for you, so
There’s no excuse t’use booze!

Booze is bad for kids
Now we all know that’s true
But some folks don’t admit
That it’s bad for the grown-ups, too!

Chorus

One of my good friends
Offered me some beer
But I got “common sense”
So I whispered in his ear:

Chorus

M’friend said “You’re no fun!”
“When there’s booze around, I grab it!”
He got drunk, and he got sick,
If that’s fun, well, he can have it!

Now some kids drink at parties
’Cause they’re feelin’ bad inside
And sometimes getting’ loaded
Seems like a way to hide.
Yeah, sometimes life’s a drag
An’ it’s tough t’be a kid
But you’ll make it fine without drugs an’ booze
Lots of other people did!

Chorus

Nice, huh? Thankfully, I play lots of Raffi music, too. I think I know the words to all his songs! Smile

Another Haircut

Posted on February 10, 2012February 10, 2012 by Andi

How exciting, I know. I last got my hair cut back in November. It wasn’t anything too wild and crazy except for the fact that I got some bangs. They were ok. I liked them for a couple days, then I put them in a clip….everyday. So I was ready for a new cut. And I got a coupon to Solimar Spa and thought I’d go for it!

Here’s what I had done.

The bangs were much better than the time before. But I couldn’t stop playing with them so I thought I would call them back and get something else done to my bangs.

This is what they looked like when I came home.

I like them a lot! It takes some getting used to, though because I don’t feel like I look like myself at all. I pulled it half back (my hair, not my bangs) the other night for date night and that was cute, too.

The real test is liking them when the stylist doesn’t do it. So here it is on my own. And I still like them!

We’ll see if I continue to like them as they grow out. I might just keep them this time and then grow them back out. It was just time for a change.

Oh, and can you tell I am a little obsessed with scarves lately? Smile

Chicken No Peek

Posted on February 9, 2012February 7, 2012 by Andi

Well, since my last couple food posts were meals that didn’t really turn out (the Egg Bake and the Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups)…I thought I should post a meal that turned out better. And this meal is a new go-to for me. I just love it! It’s so simple and turns out great every time!

HERE is the recipe that I came across and followed.

First mix the cans of soup with the minute rice. The first few times I made it, I used Cream of Mushroom and Broccoli Cheddar soups. This time (when I remembered to take pictures) I used Cream of Chicken and Cheddar Cheese soups.

The you put it into a greased baking dish and top with half a packet of onion soup mix.

Top with chicken breasts. And then cover the chicken with the rest of the onion soup mix.

Cover and put into the oven and bake for about and hour. It comes out looking like this!

It is so yummy! I am sure there are endless soup combinations you could do with this meal. The next time I make it, I am going to use brown rice instead of white rice. Oh man, I get hungry looking at this picture! I need to put it on my food menu rotation again soon!