Sophie the Giraffe

If you have been around Mary Stewart the past few weeks, you know her best friend, Sophie the Giraffe. People ask me all the time if we named her Sophie. Nope. Sophie came with her name. When we were in Baton Rouge this past November for Thanksgiving, Mary Stewart's second cousin Marlie had one. Marlie is about 3 months ahead of Mary Stewart. Once I saw Sophie, I knew we had to get one!

Matthew rolls his eyes at me because I spent close to $20 on Sophie (deep down though he loves Sophie too & knows she was well worth the money). It is the most used thing (as far as a teether/toy) I have bought to date. From what I understand, Sophie has been around for a long time.

Mary Stewart loves to chew all over sophie: hoofs, horns, mouth, leg. Sophie squeaks too and her neck is perfect for little hands to grasp. Wednesday at bible study my sweet friend Katy said, "She sure does like the giraffe." Katy is expecting & we see a Sophie in her future too. All this to say, if you have a little one that is on the verge of teething, invest in Sophie!


We like Sophie so much, we gave Mary Stewart's friend Charlotte one too!

Baby Food 101

Today I broke out the Baeba Babycook maker. If you know me well, you know I don't like to read directions and I'm a "just go with it" kinda gal (ask me about my "go with it" sewing projects). The baby food maker seemed simple enough and I called my friend Judith who also has one, to get her pointers. As Judith told me, it was super simple and easy to use. I highly recommend this to all my pregger friends and those of you interested in making your own food.

I decided to make my own food for a few reasons:

- it's cheaper! Super Babyfood, a great book, shows you just how affordable it is.

- it's healthier! Only the best for my Mary Stewart.

- Why not? I'm home and I have the time (which it takes NO time at all).

So far I've introduced rice cereal and avocado to Mary Stewart. Tomorrow we will try sweet potatoes. All I had to do to prep for the babycook was peel the sweet potato and cut it into chunks. I placed the sweet potato chunks into the steam basket and filled with the recommended water amount. Turned the steamer on and unloaded the dishwasher. About 15 minutes later the potatoes were steamed and then I pureed them. I used the leftover water from the steamer to get my desired consistency. Voila! We have sweet potato baby food!

For me the babycook is ideal. It's an "all in one" baby food maker. If you had a steamer, blender, and food processor you essentially have what you need (but a lot more to clean up). Since the babycook is all in one, it will be easy to use when I'm in the kitchen prepping other food. I am excited to see what recipes are in store for Mary Stewart. I'll keep you posted.

Why a picture of Starbuck's? Again, if you know me well, you know I would rather a non fat carmel macchiato over just about anything. Our sweet friend Luke stopped by to borrow Matt's tripod and left me a coffee! It just made the rest of the morning that much more enjoyable!!