Shannon’s World

A colleague sent me a link to something on you tube and I was surprised to see this video come up along the right menu bar as a related video (odd because it wasn’t related in any way). It’s the original Straight No Chaser singing its version of the 12 Days of Christmas. The video brought me back to the concert at the IU Auditorium, the week before finals (if I remember correctly).

Hopefully it will add some holiday cheer to your day…only 4 shopping days left!

I think Libby looks like a member of the Brady Bunch in this rockin’ outfit! I literally said “smile for Mommy” and she stood straight up and struck this pose…what a ham we have on our hands!

Libby had her 9 months Dr. appt yesterday and it went really well.  Libby continues to grow, grow, grow!  She weighs 21 lbs 4 oz (90%) and is 29.5 inches tall (95%).  I can’t remember what her head circumferance is, but she is in the 50%.  Dr. M was impressed with Libby’s waiving hello and buh-bye and how she flipped the pages and flaps in books.  I reported that Libby is crawling (it’s amazing how fast she’s gotten!), pulling herself up and cruising around like crazy. 

Libby got her second flu shot and had blood taken to test her iron.  Libby’s iron levels were a little low.  The target number is 10.5 and her first test was 9.8 and her second was 10.2, so we’re going to be giving Libby iron drops for 3 months.  From what I understand this is nothing to worry about.  Babies are born with iron stored up that acculmulated during the last months in utero and the stored iron typically lasts about 6 months.  Libby probably hasn’t been getting much iron through my breast milk because of my diet – I don’t eat a lot of red meat (Mike: I think we need to go to Ruths Chris for a steak!) and I’ve been staying away from broccoli and spinach since she was little because it is supposed to be rough on babies stomachs.  Time to change that. . .

All in all I am happy to report we have a happy, healthy,  big baby girl!

I had a great weekend!  It started off with dinner with friends at Oakleys Bistro (who knew such a posh restaurant could be tucked in a strip mall on 86th St?!).  We had a great meal; we ate, drank, caught up, laughed.  On Saturday, I headed to Noblesville for Gretchen’s baby shower.  Gretchen is due at the end of February (she looks fantastic, btw) and does not know what she’s having (I’m guessing boy).  We had a great brunch prepared by Gretchen’s Mom, twin sister and sister in law.  I wanted to pass along a link the super cute favor that all the guests received.  Rachael Ray has a candy bar label that you can personalize and print (or have color copies made) - what a cute and easy idea!

Saturday night a few of us ladies in the neighborhood headed over to Carolina Grill.  Prior to Saturday night only the guys have been over to this newly opened restaurant.  This restaurant is so close to our house – I love it!  I hope we can ride our bikes over to Carolina Grill in the spring and summer. 

We decorated our tree on Saturday night and Sunday.  As I unwrapped each ornament, they were set into one of two piles: safe for Libby to touch and not safe for Libby to touch.  Needless to say the first pile went on the bottom half of the tree and those that are not Libby-approved are at the top.  Libby missed most of the decorating, but she was so excited to see the finished product.  Her favorite ornament so far is the disco ball (perhaps this is due to all the Bee Gees and Barry Manilow I listen to?!) and a little cherry ornament that I got at Marshall Fields a few years ago.

This weekend I called up Santa via his hotline and asked him to give Jackson and Avery a call this weekend – they’ve been very good this year, after all. Santa called on Sunday morning and talked to them. This is so fun!

My friend Julie sent me some cute ideas for little gift baskets/gifts under $10 – perhaps with my recommendations they are under $20 but that’s what’s great about these…you can add more or take away to reach your price point. I think these would be great hostess/teacher/friend gifts. I added commentary and links to some cute things I’ve seen recently and thought I’d share:

Sundaes Supreme: 2 jars of ice cream toppings, an ice cream scoop, and a jar of sprinkles (Posey and I gave these as gifts one year. We bought Frango chocolate topping from Marshall Fields, a cute ice cream scoop and bowls from Crate and Barrel). You can also make your own chocolate sauce, put it in a mason jar, tie a ribbon and you’re all set:

Swiss Chocolate Sauce
4, 30z Toblerone Milk Chocolate Honey Almond-Nougat Bars
3/4 c light cream
1-2 T. Khalua or Frangelico

Break up the chocolate and combine with with cream in saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring until creamy and smooth. Set empty glass jars in a warm water bath. Pour chocolate sauce in jars in warm water bath for 5 minutes.

Muffin Munchies: Muffin mixes, paper liners, and a six cup muffin tin…or you can turn this into a fun cupcake themed gift: cupcake feet or santa/elf feet), cupcake recipe book, sprinkles, cupcake spatula

Clean Cut: Plastic cutting board and a knife. I like the idea of this knife; the cover makes it nice to throw in a picnic basket, lunch tote, etc. Throw an apron in the mix and a little pot of herbs.

Ready Wrap: Wrapping paper, curling ribbon, cards, and tape. Who wouldn’t want supplies from Paper Source? I would also add to this list a good pair of scissors; it’s so much easier to cut with good scissors.

Kid’s Collection: Stickers, colored pencils, erasers, and a cool notepad. You can’t go wrong with color wonder and I think these crayon aprons are so cute.

We had our first snow on Tuesday night; when we woke up on Wednesday morning there was a thick blanket of snow on everything. Libby was more interested than usual in the view out our sliding door. After a later than usual breakfast (she slept in until 9 am, I kid you not), we bundled up (mental note: buy snow pants a size bigger than your babies actual size – you should have seem me trying to get the pants past Libby’s thighs/bum) and headed out side. Libby was so thick with layers that she had a tough time sitting up by herself! Libby’s not looking at the camera in any of the photos because she was very distracted by our next door neighbors snow blower!

On Friday night we loaded up the family roadster and headed to Stow, OH for the weekend to visit the Jackson’s. We had a great weekend. It was Libby’s first trip in quite some time and she did pretty well. She was fascinated by the new sites and sounds the Jackson home had to offer.

After Libby woke up from her morning nap (that lasted all of 45 minutes) we headed into the cute little town of Hudson for a great Mexican lunch at Luchitas. Mike, Kathy and I shared a pitcher of margaritas, chips, salsa and guacamole. I ordered the fish tacos for lunch and they were excellent. Prior to ordering Mike and I agreed that we would switch plates to give each other a taste of what the other had ordered. I could tell Mike liked his entree because I want to offer him my second fish taco in exchange for his second taco and he was half way through his last taco!

After lunch we walked around the cute shops in Hudson – life is good, Gymboree and (drum roll please) MAIN STREET CUPCAKES! What a cute little shop that offered a variety of unique and tasty cupcake flavors. I bought 6 for us to try: classic chocolate, classic white, toffee coffee, margarita, red velvet and a chocolate gonash. The cupcakes did not disappoint – I would highly recommend the classic white if you are looking for a good cupcake the next time you are in the suburbs of Cleveland.

Libby snoozed in the car on the way home and decided that was the only nap she needed in the afternoon. As you can imagine over tiredness set in and we put her to bed at 7, but she had a rough time staying down. After waking up at 8:30 pm and 12:30 am she finally went down for the night.

We had a great breakfast on Sunday morning – Hash brown quiche. What a great one dish breakfast treat that combines all my favorite flavors. I am not a quiche fan but I went back for seconds – this was great!

Sunday Libby spent some quality time with Grandma Bettie, Dean and admiring the tree at the Jackson’s. She loved to sit and listen to Grandma Bettie. Libby especially enjoyed the songs Grandma Bettie sang to her in German – she was fascinated by the different sounds.

It was fun to see Libby’s reaction to her first Christmas tree. She loved to see her reflection in the red glass balls. Libby did a great job of just touching the tree and not grabbing/pulling at it. We’ll see how she does when we put up our tree this week.

This is our second or third trip to Stow and every time we visit it’s winter.  I’ve promised the Jackon’s we’d return in the spring – there is so much to see and do when the weather is nice.  We have a great time in the winter, so we are excited to see the fun Stow and the Jackson’s have in spring!