My little love.

Every day we have a routine of going outside and watering our plants. Hadley takes this very seriously! She is so amazing. :)

Hadley Irene 18 month stats

We went for the 18 month check-up yesterday at the pediatrician and she checked out healthy and normal!! :)
Stats:
Height 33.5" (92nd percentile)
Weight 26 lbs (74th percentile)
Head Cir 19" (90th percentile)
Our pediatrician was very impressed that Hadley is still happily rear facing in her car seats! The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends remaining rear facing until at least 2 years old or until the limits of your car seat which hopefully gets you past the 2 year mark. This recommendation was made in April 2011 and before that it was common to turn your child to be forward facing at 1 year old or 20 pounds, whichever came first. Our doctor said that most parents have continued to turn their children at 1 year old despite the heightened risk of deadly injuries which is pretty sad. I do believe that if your child is over 1 year old and does not tolerate rear facing in the car because of motion sickness, etc it can be more safe to turn them around so that they aren't screaming and stressing whomever is driving which is super dangerous. Since she digs it, Hadley will sit rear facing as log as she fits! :)

Smith College visit recap

I went last Thursday to visit my sister that attends Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and just got home last night. The campus is scenic and the student housing was almost like Harry Potter brought to life.
We roamed around downtown Northampton and visited a few boutique shops that were all really artsy and funky in a hip/modern way. I got to check out some of the academic buildings and we toured the botanical gardens that they are well-known for. In the web of greenhouses, there was a Titan Arum (Corpse flower) that was getting ready to bloom. It's an intensely stinky flower (think rotting flesh) and it's enormous.... like it was as tall as us in it's planter! We also visited the Eric Carle museum (Author/Artist of The Hungry Caterpillar, etc) where we saw exhibits on Maisy and The Snowy Day. They had a memory card art project that we did and that was so much fun too. :)

Pinterest Pad Thai

I pinned this easy, healthy Pad Thai recipe http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/ last week and made it on Sunday. It turns out that you need to triple the "sauce" for it to come out like we like it plus I made some steak to top it and make it a full meal but otherwise it is awesome.
Here are some food love shots!:)

These are days.

Chasing a sweet toddler all day long is the most exhausting yet rewarding job I've had... I mean I get to hug the product of my efforts each day. How perfect?!
We went to the Children's museum yesterday and Hadley tried to WALK down the stairs which was scary but she it definitely shows her adventurous spirit these days.

Labor Day & Couscous Balls!

Ok so we've been busy with lots of walking practice for Hadley and it was Labor Day weekend so lots going on! We got to go out on Lake Minnetonka last Friday with my family and we saw the blue moon. On Saturday we had friends over and found out about some babies that our friends are expecting next year... yay! :)
On Sunday, I made the Pioneer Woman's jalepeno poppers for a grill out at some friends' house and they were awesome! Last night I made couscous balls and they were beyond yumm so here's the recipe:
I cup coucous prepared per instructions and cooled
1 cup Italian seasoning panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped basil
Directions- Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine cooled couscous with cheeses, eggs and basil. Take spoonfuls of mixture and roll into balls in the panko crumbs. Bake on a sheet pan for 30 minutes. Serve warm or room temp with dipping sauce of your choice.