Katie's 18 Month Check-Up

I'm so glad that Melissa posted on Jackson's 9 month checkup--it reminded me to post Katie's most recent data. (Feel free to click on Jackson's name for comparison's sake).

Height: 32.5" (74th percentile)
Weight: 22 lbs, 2 oz (18th percentile)
Head circumference: 43.25 cm (0.7 percentile)

Katie loves to snuggle with Daddy...


...and she likes to stack things--especially containers!

An Especially Cute Day (With a Semi-Clean Family Room)

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (free download!)

Tonight we're enjoying a date at home: drinking garedelli hot chocolate and listening to The Long Winter. (Do you have your salt pork and potato bushells ready?)

Make Your Brunch Look Pretty

Jeannie and Gianna came over for brunch today. We kept things easy with 2 dishes.

I love how Jeannie arranged her banana bread pieces between the fruits!


I made an egg and ham bake using this recipie. Honestly, I totally cheated; last week, I made 2 casserole dishes of the recepie. We ate one immediately, and I froze the 2nd dish to use for today. The heating-up process only took 20 minutes, and the dish was delicious!


And finally--our family room after 2 toddlers tore through it.

A Post for Todd--Free Coffee!!

Kum and Go (a gas station in Iowa) has a coupon for a free 20 oz coffee. Go get you some, Todd!

Snow Date with Tyler

The weather forecasters are calling for 6-12 inches of snow today. Since Beth needs to get some work done this morning (and I need to this afternoon), we're switching kids all day! Luckily, neither of us has to leave the cul de sac.

Katie's time with Tyler is so enjoyable. They entertain each other and play well together.

Ashley's 2010 Goals

I'm not one to make goals just to break them or to be a stickler on such things. But for the fun of it, I created a list of goals for 2010. Originally, these were only ideas in my head, but Dave Ramsey keeps emphasizing this week the need for written goals. Since he's older, wiser, and richer than me, I'll follow his lead. (Bryan said he'd also contribute his goals--we'll see when they get posted).

1. Clean out the freezer of non-meal items.
Whenever I cook a chicken, I tend to keep the broth--to use for soup or in receipies. Earlier this week, I counted 12 cups of frozen broth. Since we had chicken and dumplings on Monday, we're down to 6 cups. Also, we have random things in there, such as 2/3 cups of pumpkin, 2 servings of chicken casserole, 5 frozen tater tots. I take 100% responsibility on this!

With Baby #2 coming in March, we need the space to store breast milk and "real food"--which leads me to goal #2.

2. Stock freezer with homemade "convenience" meals for the post-natal survival period.
Last week I made a double batch of lasagna. We ate one tray; the other is frozen and ready for March. Additionally, I have 2 different chicken-based meals ready to thaw and throw in the crockpot. I've been reading up a few other freezer-cooking ideas on other blogs, but any suggestions are welcome!

3. Balance the checkbook at least every 2 weeks.
Enough said.

4. See how long we can go without writing a check.
This year has been a turning point for us with online banking. Once we make sure that we can set up an online account with our church tithe, there will be no need to write monthly checks for anything! (In fact, I ran out of checks on Dec. 31st and haven't looked into re-ordering yet.)

5. Negotiate our Time Warner internet bill to reduce by at least $10.
My friend Curt was able to do this. Since our bill just increased, now is the perfect time to get on this one.

Toddler Fun

It's cold outside--so we're trying to keep as entertained as possible in our cozy house.

Katie loves playing with her animals. She stacks them in her new sled and in rows.


Diapers were on sale last weekend at Babies R Us for $3.50 per jumbo pack AND 1 pack of free wipes for every 3 packs bought!! We stocked up for the post-natal "survival" period.


She loves building and tipping piles!