Fall colors, piano "lessons," and a new cornbread recipe...

We took a walk down the 800 dock road on Saturday afternoon. The trees are soooo pretty right now, this picture really doesn't do it justice.

Sporting her black and gold after Mizzou's big win on Saturday

I cleaned out the tupperware and "plastics" cabinet this weekend. I found a set of four plastic mixing bowls that I never use. So, Lola now uses them as a drum set, hats... and a place to sit.

Yogurt and pear face

I tried a couple of new recipes over the weekend. One was for whole grain skillet cornbread. Matt doesn't really care for cornbread, and he said this was "the best cornbread he's ever had." Wow. I thought it was good, but not that spectacular. However, it's definitely good enough to share. It has a quarter-cup of olive oil in it, and you can definitely taste the olive oil. If you don't like the taste of olive oil, you're probably not going to like it. (See recipe below.) On Sunday we made veggie soup, and I ate mine with the cornbread.

Lola really loves to "play" the piano. Sometimes I sit her on my lap and play for her, but she gets bored with that quickly. She likes to listen to her music instead.

I caught this sunset last night... if only I had been a few minutes earlier you'd have seen a gorgeous orange ball (pumpkin?) sinking below the trees. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Whole Grain Skillet Cornbread

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 large egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat an 8-inch cast iron pan or pie dish in the oven. In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk and olive oil. Fold wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined. Add about a tablespoon of oil to the preheated skillet, swirling it around to coat the bottom. Then pour in the batter and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with honey. (Note: We didn't brush ours with honey because Lola can't have honey yet.)

This little piggy...

Halloween is less than a week away, and I guess Miss Thing is going to be a piggy. As much as I want to get excited about Halloween this year, I just haven't been able to. I didn't want to spend money on a costume since Lola is still too little to really "get it." I kept thinking we'd just make something, or dress her up as a Mizzou cheerleader - we do have the appropriate gear for that. Then, we were at Sam's last week, and we walked by this little rack with just a few leftover costumes, including this piggy vest, and Lola grabbed at it. The face you see her making here is her "piggy face." When you ask her what the piggy says, she wrinkles her nose and "snorts." It's pretty funny. So, we brought it home. We'll probably pair this with a pink shirt and some pink leggings and call it good. I'm looking forward to all the candy she won't get to eat... I remember my parents always stealing candy from our pumpkins. Now, we're those parents. Mwah ha ha ha ha ha!

Birthday dinner

Today is my birthday. I'm 32. (Isn't it strange that I only look 25?) We celebrated yesterday since it was Sunday, and Mondays usually prove to be pretty crazy for us. Matt cooked dinner (and cleaned up!!). He made this creamy, spicy pasta dish - a special dish that we don't make very often. It's our version of the Mostaccioli con Salsiccia from The Pasta Factory in Columbia. Here is the description from their menu:

Mostaccioli con Salsiccia (a Factory favorite)

tubular noodles tossed with Italian sausage

from The Hill, hot red pepper flakes

and a rich creamy tomato sauce,

available tossed or baked*

with mozzarella cheese

(*we always order it baked, and we bake ours at home)

It was soooo delicious.

Leftovers were even better for lunch today.

Thanks, babe.

TGIF!

She's eating green stuff again... hallelujah! Lola has been a classic picky toddler lately. It's discouraging for me because she was such a good eater in the beginning. I hoped it would carry on forever! But, alas, we're still newbie parents, and we're learning to take things one day at a time... and to NEVER say "never." The other evening I fixed edamame for a little snack before dinner, and I just knew she'd hate it (that's just how mealtimes have been at our house lately). BUT, she didn't. In fact, she quite loved it.

And, by golly, after that she ate some asparagus. I nearly fainted with joy.

Yesterday was a chilly and windy fall day, but, the sun was shining, and we managed to make it to the park in the afternoon for a little play time. (Someone needed to run around and stretch her legs.)

This little musical instrument is hidden under the slides at the playground... Lola found it and enjoyed playing a ditty or two. We have a piano at home, and Lola loves to "play" it. (Fun Friday Fact: I took piano lessons for seven years and competed in music competitions. Maybe she will, too, someday?)

Daddy joined us when he got off work...

Rosy cheeks

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

A century of coming home

We traveled to Columbia this past weekend to celebrate Mizzou's 100th Homecoming... and Lola's second Homecoming. We took her last year, but she was only 7 weeks old. Boy, was she a lot easier to tote around back then. This proved to be a far busier weekend for us, but it was a lot of fun! Mom, Lola and I drove up Thursday afternoon. Matt and Dad had a conference in Springfield on Thursday and Friday, so they drove separately and met us in CoMo Friday afternoon. We met the Petersons and Deerings at Murry's for dinner Thursday night. By the time we finished with dinner, checked in the room, got her pack n play set up, had bath time and put on jammies, it was waaaaay past Lola's bedtime. I was a little nervous about having her in her pack n play... right next to our bed... but, she slept great and slept all night. Whew. Mom and I got up Friday morning and hit the bookstore. The first picture is Lola and me on campus. I just love being on campus when classes are in session. It's fun to watch all the kids (how old am I again??) hustling to class.

Afterward I dropped Mom off downtown with Gary and Cindy, where they took off on their bikes and rode the Katy Trail out to Rocheport (about 18 miles). Lola and I had lunch with Gabe, Jessica and Regan at Flat Branch and then headed out to the winery at Rocheport, where we met Megan, Chaney and Keaton. Katelyn (our nanny from this summer) rode over from St. Louis with Megan and the girls. Lola is 10 weeks younger than her cousin, Keaton, (pictured below), but Lola is now bigger. These next few pics were taken at the winery... 

The parking lot opened at 8:00 in the morning, so the tailgate started early on Saturday. By the time we all got around it was later than that when we arrived, but the festivities were already in full swing... 

My first cousin, Brad Morgan, and his wife, Sara, drove down from Iowa for the game on Saturday. Their daughter, Emily, is a junior at Iowa State. This was the first time these two met...

Thank you, Aunt Kate, for wearing black...

Children 2 years and younger get in the games for free. So, we took Lola in to her first football game at Faurot Field. It was very loud and overwhelming for her. We were packed in tight, and it was actually pretty hot. So, she didn't last very long, but she still got to see a few touchdowns! Mizzou beat Iowa State, 52-17.

Back at the tailgate, Lola put on her glittery gold tutu made by her other cousin, Emily Wade Wilson...

At the end of the day, Daddy let Lola have a sugar cookie (with icing!!), and she loved it.

Here are all of the pictures. Enjoy!

Fall has arrived in P-town

Anna Maria, the slideshow

I edited it down to 174 pictures - still A LOT of pictures to view! Enjoy!

Future volleyball player?

This is a little late, but I want to post Lola's 12-month stats before I forget...

Weight: 23 pounds, 5 ounces
Height: 32 inches

75th percentile in weight
105th percentile in height

We have a big girl on our hands.

And yes, you read that correctly - Lola is taller than 105 percent of girls her age. How is that even possible?! I don't know. Our pediatrician said she's "off the charts" in height. She must have had a growth spurt just before her appointment. Our pediatrician is a very petite Vietnamese woman. She looked at us and said, "Do you have tall people in your family?" Matt and I looked each other up and down (I'm 5'9, he's 6'2), and we said, "Yes."

Maybe Lola will be the next Kerri Walsh?

Runaway beach baby

One of my favorite pics so far...

Beach buddies

Here are a few pics of Lola and Regan from the trip... it was so fun to watch them interact. Even though Jess and Gabe are good friends of ours, our girls haven't actually spent that much time together. So, we really enjoyed having this little chunk of time for our families to be together and let the girls get to know each other. By the end of the trip they were "communicating" in their own little language. It sounded like a bird call - Regan started it, and Lola soon began answering her. It was hilarious!

Anna Maria, Florida (Day 1)

Matt, Lola and I just returned from a week of sun, fun, sand, good food and good times with the Blackburn family. Yup, we've been camped out on the beach in Anna Maria, Florida, since last Friday. Not literally "camped out" - we rented a house on the beach, and we had a blast. There are so many stories to share - mostly through pictures. Seven hundred and ninety-one (yes, 791) pictures, to be exact. I think I got a little snap happy with the camera(s) on this trip, but I just couldn't help myself. There were so many moments I wanted to capture. It's going to take me a while to edit all of those, so for now, here is a sneak peek at some of my fast favorites... and these are just from Day 1. Enjoy!
(p.s. Lola is now 13 months old - can you believe it?!)