Cooler Weather.

That front that went through yesterday that took that hot, sticky weather and brought this crisp, cooler weather is my new hero. I didn't even want to go outside it was so gross out. Erin and I put some water in the pool to help with being outside, but I was just tired of the hot. I am ready for fall.

Our trip to Minneapolis was really nice. We went to the most amazing restaurant that I have ever been to. It was like actually getting to eat the food we see the chefs cook on Iron Chef America. Everything tasted so good together I just couldn't stop smiling. We took my brother, who is in culinary school and his girlfriend with us. It was kind of like a field trip for him. Plus it was fun talking about the food with him and all the different things they used in the dishes and how they prepare them. The restaurant we visited is called La Belle Vie and is ranked number one in Minneapolis. We wanted to get the whole experience so we did the 8 course tasting menu with wine flight. It was spendy, but it is a meal I will remember forever. Here is the link to their website, http://www.labellevie.us/ It took us 3 hours to get through it all and there were about 7 glasses of wine involved.

We also got to walk downtown quite a bit since our hotel was right in the middle of it. Our hotel gave us a room on the 19th floor and it had a nice city view. Pretty much all of where we wanted to go was within walking distance. So we were able to park our car in the hotel car ramp and not drive it again until we went home. I had fun walking around downtown with Scott during dusk and taking some fun pictures of buildings.

I came home to a little girl that was very excited to see me. She keeps telling me "Mommy home?" I reassure her that yes I am home. I also came home to lots of tomatoes and cucumbers to pick. I am trying to come up with some recipes to use my fresh tomatoes in a tasty way.

Last night I sliced up some of my Roma tomatoes and roasted them along with some garlic cloves in the oven. I reduced some wine with some minced onion in it. I added the roasted garlic to the sauce and some cream and let that reduce a little. Then I added Parmesan cheese and the roasted tomatoes to it. I also lightly coated some tilapia fillets in some flour, pepper, and salt. I got a pan nice and hot and cooked until the outside was crispy. To plate it all I put down some pasta, the fish on top, and the sauce on top of it all. Oh, so yummy!

Late Nights, Little Sleep.

We are still working our butts off on the ceiling in the basement. However, half is done and the other half is started. The half that is done looks really nice! Scott and I are going to work really hard to get the other half done before we take our little trip this weekend. I really don't want to think about it while we are away.



Erin is being very weird about her sleep lately. Not sure what is going on. She is having a hard time going to sleep at night and will wake up in the middle of the night and be up for a couple of hours. Needless to say, I am very tired. Last night she woke up at 2:30 and I went in there and rocked her. As soon as I put her back down in her bed she sat up. So I took here to our spare bedroom and put her in bed with me. She proceeded to wiggle, sing, kick, twist, and turn until 4am. At that point I had had enough and put her back in her bed to go to sleep. Thankfully, she did, but still woke up at 8am. After all the hard work on the house and losing sleep because of Erin's weird phase she is going through, I am tired. I need coffee. So I will drink some and hope her nap goes well as I will be taking one too.



On a more exciting note, I picked my first big red tomato yesterday. I can't wait to dig into that. It is going to be so sweet and yummy. I think some olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil will go very nicely with it. Oooo, I should buy some nice mozzarella and make caprese. Mmmmmmm. . .



I am also thinking of getting a tattoo. I want to get one on my upper arm and have been researching what I think I would like to get. I want to get some sort of tree or branch to signify strength and growth and have blossoms on it to signify my children (current and future). No I am not implying that I am pregnant. So here is a picture that I found that I really like.

August

Our house is still for sale. Although houses really aren't moving off the market very fast. The good news is that I will get to harvest all my tomatoes and can them to my heart's content. I have already canned some pickles and they are tasty.



We have decided to do a few projects to spruce up the unfinished part of the basement. My mom and I took a weekend and put a new coat of paint on the walls and on some concrete paint on the floor. The bright urine color that some previous owner put on the walls is finally gone. It looks much nicer and cleaner. The rainbow shag that was around the toilet also has been dealt with. It seems that our work in the basement has inspired and motivated my husband and he took on the project of getting rid of the drop ceiling and putting in pine planking. So we stained and sealed 450 sq ft of boards and he is doing his best to put it up. It is going to look really nice. We'll see if it will help sell our house.





Erin is two-years-old now. We had a great birthday week. My brother and his girlfriend were here for the whole week (top) and Erin loved dragging them around to play with her. My sister and her husband (bottom) came up for the weekend. I hadn't seen her in a few years so it was really great to see them. For the day of her birthday we went to the beach and had the party after her naptime. My brother (chef in training) helped me with the dinner and I made a really fun cake.



This other cake was my first attempt at fondant. It was pretty fun, but not sure that it is practical for birthdays as kids enjoy frosting more.


Other than all that Erin is working towards potty training and doing pretty well with it. She isn't completely ready yet, but she is going to look so very cute in underwears.

Not Yet.

Our house hasn't sold yet, but I'm trying not to hold it against it. It's a good house, it has done us well. We have improved all the important things like the roof and central air unit. I have heard that this price range takes awhile to sell. We have another showing today and three people called our realtor about our house yesterday. Very good to know that there is still interest.

Of course I have my vegetable garden all planted and it is getting to the part of the season that it will be too late to replant at the new house if we sell. So I'm kind of hoping that we get to stay until the end of August now so I can harvest and can all those tomatoes that I planted. Not to mention the pickles that I want to make.

Other than that I was sick for two weeks straight at the end of May/beginnin of June. Erin picked up some nasty bug that turned into an ear infection in 3 days. Then I caught it and ended up coughing so much that I couldn't sleep at night. I went to my doctor and got some cough medicine with codine in it and and worked like magic. It felt so good to finally get some sleep. On top of all that I caught the stomach flu and vomitted all night and the next day. Good thing that Scott didn't have to work that day. Erin caught it just a bit. She thew up three times and then was done. I was very thankful there. I am happy to report that I am well now, only the occasional sneezing attacks from my allergies.

Erin's birthday is coming up very soon and having a lot of family come into town so I will be a busy host. I love hosting. I love cooking for other people and making them feel pampered in my home. I'm planning on giving fondant a try for her cake this year. I think I have watched enough Food Network Challenges, and Ace of Cakes to give it a try. I'll post pictures of my attempts. Now just to figure out where to buy it. . .

Scott and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary last month. My mom was available to watch Erin so we got to go out to a nice restaurant, share a bottle of wine, and walk to a movie. It was a very nice time. Then on top of that we got to get away for a weekend the first weekend of June for the first time since Erin was born. My mom was very excited to get Erin a whole weekend to herself.

We went to The Melting Pot restaurant in downtown the first night we were there. I wasn't smart enough to call earlier for reservations for a Friday night so we didn't get in until 9:30. But we enjoyed it and it was a fun experience. Being downtown was interesting to just experience the different culture of city-dwellers. At 11 o'clock there were still tons of people all over.

We scheduled hour-long full body massages for the next day at noon. It was amazing and glorious. I could get one every day. We also visited the Alexis Bailley Vineyard that afternoon for their annual winetasting. We love that place. Scott suprised me by bringing me there 3 years ago for a birthday suprise. We brought chairs, a little table, cheese, crackers and fruit. It was a beautiful day and we sat so we could see the vineyards, and they had live music, and of course great wine. We bought 4 bottles to bring home. We enjoyed ourselves and it was very nice to have a break for mommy duties.

Hope everyone's spring is splendid!

Snow in April.

Ahhhh. . . Minnesota. I love the season changes that we get to experience. However the whiplash of winter's hopefully last attempt to rob us of a spring was quite shocking. It was so weird to get up and see huge flakes falling and accumulating on the ground. Here are some crazy pictures that I took on April 29th.

You can see the green grass through the snow. Thankfully it didn't damage my flowers that were already coming up and some of them blooming!

We still don't have the garden tilled, but the weather has been so weird and my husbands schedule so crazy that has to wait. I know that we have our house on the market, but I have to plant my vegetable garden to keep myself sane as we wait for it to sell. I would kick myself forever if I didn't plant it and we waited all summer for it to sell and I could have been eating all kids of gorgeous produce!

Erin's newest game is putting and taking off any shoes that she can find. She found her boots and puts them on and takes them off all day. In the picture she has her pajama shirt on, her boots, and a random pair of pants (because her other new game is to take off her diaper when she is in bed and then pees in the pants). Such a silly girl. She also puts random shoes and hats on me.

Oh and by the way. . . SOMEONE BUY MY HOUSE!!!!!

We can do it???

Well my confidence took a small blow when the house down the street listed after us, for $15k more and sold already. Granted it was a perfect house for a retiring couple with all main floor living with great upgrades like granite countertops and hardwood floors. Our house would be a death trap for them with the spiral staircase. Even with this rationale. . . IT'S NOT FAIR!!!! OUR HOUSE WAS ON THE MARKET FIRST!!!! (end rant) Ok I will be patient and have faith. . . or at least try. This house selling/buying is an emotional adventure.

We placed an offer on a nice 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and are still waiting on the reply. Of course the offer is contingent on our house selling, and who knows when that will be. So we wait. We wait until our house sells and then we rush, to buy another house that we hope we can love. It makes me wonder if there is a better way to do all of this.

Erin will be 2 years old in two months. It is going so fast. She absolutely loves playing outside and this awful weather forces me to keep her inside. But seriously, snow on April 26th???!!!!!

Next project. . . till the vegetable garden. Even if we aren't here long enough to eat the produce, at least it will look nice for showings and open houses.

The picture is of Erin demading to have the whole nectarine. Heaven forbid that I cut it up for her. . . nooooo she's a big girl. She ate the whole thing. What a silly girl.

Here we go. . .

We will be putting our house on the market next week. I will be holding my breath until it sells. I feel good about all the work we have put into this house. I think it looks fabulous! I will miss it here. Just need to have the relator take pictures of the house to put online. I think I will have Scott take Erin for an outing so that I don't have to keep picking stuff up all along the way. I am excited and nervous!


I think that we have come up with a good listing price as well. We aren't looking to make out like bandits, so that helps. If we can find the right people they will buy this house right up. We live on a dead end street and only a block from the lake, plus a large yard that I have beautifed.


I'm looking forward to the warm weather. Erin and I are going to take as many walks and go to the park as many times as we can before our house sells. It will be so much more fun this year since she can walk.

I love it when asparagus gets so cheap in the spring. I buy tons of it. I usually just sautee it in some olive oil and put salt and garlic on it. Erin won't touch broccoli, but she loves asparagus! I also make a creamy asparagus soup. So yummy. Not sure that anything beats putting it on the grill though. I could eat just that for dinner. It is weird how things you detested as a kid you learn to adore as an adult.



Our Easter was nice. We did a dinner with Scott's family the week before and a little dinner with the family that lives here the weekend of. I didn't let Erin eat a ton of candy, I still think she is too young to eat bunches of it. I'm all in support of easter baskets, but not sure how I feel about actual gifts for Easter. First of all Erin has plenty of toys and gets gifts for her birthday and Christmas. I don't think that kids need presents for every holiday! Plus I have to find a place to put it all!!!! My house is only so big.

Well everyone wish me luck on the sale of my house!!!

Oh My Goodness!

There is only two months before we want to put our house on the market and the to-do list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter! Since I am at home all day I am trying to chip away at things. However, with a one and a half year old I am mostly limited to her daily nap time to work on projects. Not very practical to try and paint with her running around. It would be a disaster.

After all the miscellaneous projects are finished then I need to go through the house and get all the clutter out. I plan on packing up a lot of stuff that we don't use much and putting it in a storage unit. I want people to be able to see the house, not our stuff! Wish me luck there.

It is all scary and exciting and seems like so much work. Can we do it???

On the other hand buying a new house and getting some options that we don't have in this one, seems very enticing. Also reducing Scott's commute by about 55 minutes is a huge motivator. I would really love to have a bigger kitchen in the next house. I love cooking and continue to grow in my bravery to try new things. Our kitchen is nice, but small and it is hard to have 2 people in there at all.

More square footage would be nice especially if our family grows. At least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms would be excellent. I also HAVE to have a vegetable garden. So a decent size lot would be in order. Not sure what to do about the garden this year. I guess I will plant one here just in case our selling aspirations take longer than we would like.

Erin is growing and changing and saying new words all the time. One of the pictures is my attempt to interest her in coloring, she was more interested in eating the blue crayon.

New Year

I have been very bad at keeping up, but I've decided to forgive myself.

Things have been good here. Erin is getting to big so fast. I am completely enjoying my time with her. She runs everywhere, says more words, and is such a goofy girl.

Our Thanksgiving and Christmas went well. Erin has so many toys, I'm just not sure what to do with them all. Her favorite game right now is cooking. She loves to put cheerios into pans and little cups and stir them with spoons while saying 'hot' and blowing on it. I just know she is going to be my little helper in the kitchen.

We have become aunt and uncle again for the third time. Our new nephew was born on January 6th and was 7 and a half pounds. We have yet to meet him, but hopefully within the next few weeks.

I think time goes by faster once you become a parent. You are always busy so there if very little, precious downtime. But with that it seems my baby is growing up too fast. I hate it and love it at the same time. She is so beautiful and fun and silly and it is hard to think that she is going to leave me someday. So I do my best not to think about that, but about all the years I get to have with her.

We are still doing projects to spruce up our house as we are going to be putting it on the market in April. Hopefully we will sell it and we will be moving closer to Scott's work. It seems like a big undertaking and we are leary about the housing market right now, but it makes the most sense with where we are at with our family. We want to have another baby someday, and I will need Scott more. He drives an hour each way to and from work and he is more than burnt out with it. Plus we will be closer to his family, and since the cousins are so close in age it will be nice to have them grow up together. So all in all it is the best decision for us.

I am still knitting here and there, and crocheting a bit too. I like to crochet washcloths, they go faster than knitting one and it is fun to mix it up a bit. I have been trying to be more adventurous with my cooking. It helps that my brother is going to culinary school and I can get some tips from him.

There are a lot of changes on the horizon for us. It is scary to think of my life with a toddler and a newborn. Moving will be crazy for us. Let alone if we are moving and I am pregnant!!! I hope we sell before that happens!

Oops, I missed.

Oops I missed my month mark. I had been doing so well. What's worse is that I even felt bad about only posting once a month. Oh well I have other things consuming my time, namely a 20 pound midget.

Hubby and I got some motivation the other weekend to forge on with completing our master bedroom. He has the tedious task of cutting trim and fitting it in the room. I got to demolish a closet and half a remaining wall in the basement. I am still pleased with the openness of it now. The bedroom only needs a few more pieces of trim and some pittly stuff. I also took on the project of making the door to the outside look nice. My husband couldn't seem to imagine a way of doing it without getting a custom door made for it (and spending way too much). The best way we have found to get through our creative differences is to let it become either his or my project.

The colors in the bedroom look so nice. I have a great green color on the walls and the wood trim and door are a dark mahogany. It looks so good.

I have taught myself to crochet. . . a little. I can do some basic stitches and have been making washcloths. Crocheted washcloths go quicker than knitted ones.

The Dells.

We went on our first family vacation. I grew up in Wisconsin and for some reason had never been to the Dells myself. Crazy, but true. So it was an experience for me as well. Some of my husband's family joined us there and a good time was had by all. Here is Erin in daddy's socks.

We had two babies in one condo on two different schedules. It made things definately interesting. Also with the little ones in tow it made our choices for activities limited. I wanted to go to a waterpark, but with how fair Erin's skin is and her two nap a day schedule, it didn't make sense to spend $40 a person to stay for 2-3 hours.

The resort we stayed at had an indoor and outdoor pool and Erin loved them!! She also had stairs to play on in the room. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa also came for a couple of days and let the two couples with the babies get out alone.

Scott and I went to a Japenese restaurant where they cook infront of you. We also had some sushi. I ordered the california rolls. . . which were delicious. Scott went for the raw stuff. We had an excellent time.

After family was gone we had the room for a couple of days to ourselves. We also visited the Deer Park where you get up close and personal with the deer and can feed them. Erin wasn't scared at all and pet them when they got close enough. The food we bought for the deer Erin was convinced it was for her. She kept looking at me and saying "more?"

We are going back next month. This time my mom will be joining us. We will have to figure out sleeping arrangements because she snores very loudly!

I enjoyed myself. It was hard for me when Erin didn't sleep well because of the noise of people in the room. I had two fans going as well as a blanket at the bottom of the door, but sometimes she didn't sleep very long. Sleep deprived babies are not good for mommies sanity. I did manage to calm down and relax. It was nice to be out of the house and out of town. I would have loved the waterpark, but dragging around a tired, crabby baby isn't my idea of fun.

I got some knitting done. I had to rip out the sweater I had started because it is knit in the round and it got twisted when I joined it. I thought I had been so careful. I guess not.

I am starting to look forward to fall. Now that Erin goes to bed at 7pm instead of 10pm like last year, we should be able to have some fun fires outside when it gets cool. We have plenty of scrap wood to burn.

I also got my hair cut before leaving for the Dells. It was just so frizzy I needed to cut it off, and I did. Nice and short in the back!!! Much better for this hot, humid weather.

Tag, I'm it.

These are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I was tagged by Monica who was tagged by Vanessa. I know absolutely no one else that blogs, and I don't have the heart to tag Monica back and make her think of 8 more things to post about herself. So the tag stops here it seems.

Anyway here we go into the weird life of Stephanie:

1. I didn't start drinking coffee until I met my husband at 22 years old. He drank coffee and I really liked the idea of enjoying coffee with him. I now adore it.

2. I look extremely boyish in my gradeschool pictures. Once someone asked my mom what her son's name was.

3. I love lists. I really love crossing things off my lists!

4. I am extremely sarcasatic.

5. Texture with food is a big deal with me. I gag on things that are very mushy even if it tastes good.

6. I love to run.

7. I look forward to getting older and seeing how time changes me.

8. I worked three jobs when I graduated High School. Walmart, Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, and the local bakery. I would go to work at 7am and not be done until 10pm. What a crazy girl I was!

My Baby is 1!!

How did it happen so fast??

We spent the last week doing parties for Erin. Not that she will remember, but I will and I want to make them all special. All of her family enjoyed it and lots of pictures were taken.

I made two cakes, one for each party. One of her very first words was "kitty" so I made kitty cakes. It was my first venture doing a layer cake and I was nervous. But they both turned out great. I made an orange one and a grey one. Erin loved them both and kept asking for more. The grandma's wanted to give her a lot more than mommy allowed. This was the first time she had so much sugar!



She got lots of fun new clothes that I am excited to dress her up in. We also got cash to buy a bike trailer so that we can get out together as a family. I think she is going to love it. Perhaps her favorite gift though was a card from Uncle James and Aunt Kris that played "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid everytime you opened it.



We did have a beach trip planned for the day of her birthday, but that was postponed due to our area being in a tornado watch. But we went the next day and she spashed around and kept leaning over her floatie that I had to hold one side up so she didn't keep dunking her face in. So Erin's first trip to the beach was a success.

Swimsuit

Hello everyone. It seems I blog about once a month. I would like to do more, but there are so many other things to do. =)

Had a little photo shoot with Erin in her new swimsuit yesterday. She is so pretty. She loves to crawl around in circles in her whale pool. I think we will have to make her first trip to the beach on her birthday next week. We will have a busy week. Next weekend we are going to Grandma's for a visit and a birthday party with aunts, uncles, and new cousins. Then another uncle is coming to visit over her birthday, so there will have to be another party. Not to mention the 4th of July is in there too! The weekend after that we will going back to Grandma's for her new cousin Anna's baby shower. Whew! Hopefully I will not be too busy to take tons of pictures.



I am so excited for my baby to be turning one! I'm trying to come up with ideas for a birthday cake to make it memorable. The World Wide Web is so nice researching those kind of things. Plus I got this great cake cookbook for Christmas.


My vegetable garden is growing like mad. Unfortunately, so are the weeds. I have been making stabbing attempts to get some of them out. It doesn't look like I have done much at all. But the plants that I want to grow in there are doing great. I just ate my first cucumber out of there yesterday.




I have been working on my knitting skills too. I had all the pieces knit up for a tank top, but was scared to start the finishing. To my surprise things are going pretty smoothly. I do need some more practice as sewing seems though. I also got some fun knitting books for my birthday. They should arrive next week.

Along with my gardening, knitting, housekeeping, and baby care, we have been doing some remodeling of our house. Just recently we put up a closet organizer in our walk-in closet in our bedroom. We had a little mishap with one of the shelving brackets, but with a little trip to Amazon.com we found some extras to order and they should be here Tuesday. Then another project can be crossed off my list.

And by the way, I need a haircut. So if anyone knows of a place that I can go that they will help me pick out a cut that is right for me let me know!

Until next month. . . .

Busy

Life has been busy but good. We had a garage sale last weekend and did well. It was also our 4th anniversary. We had the grandparents come so we could have some help with the baby while we had our sale, and go out for dinner.

A lot of the bigger things that we had for sale went, so we were thankful for that! I needed some bigger items out of the house because we are quickly running out of room now that we have baby. The more mobile they get, the more room they need. Thank goodness we got our fence built in the back yard. (another of the projects that we have been busy with) We built the fence with 4x4 posts and lattice. I have to say it looks really nice.

I also moved 2600 lbs. of rock into my backyard to create flower beds. It looks amazing. I planted a bunch of perennials as well to have a colorful garden every year. The only annual I planted is dalias. They get nice and big and so colorful. I bought a fountain on clearance last year and it is perfect. I take my coffee, breakfast, and knitting outside then turn on the fountain and relax under our pergola (after baby is down for her first nap). It feels like my own little resort.

Other than all that, just cleaning, purging, and re-organizing my house. The clutter drives me crazy, so I'm experimenting with different solutions. Time will tell what will work for us. I do have to admit that becoming a mother has helped me be more organized.

We are off to my husband's parents this weekend to visit since everyone has a long weekend. My sister-in-law is going to have a baby any minute so it might be a Memorial Day baby! I can't wait to meet her, little Anna Jordan.

Spring

I finished my sweater!!! That last April snow storm gave me the motivation to finish it up in hopes of wearing it. Of course as soon as it was finished it got warm out. I will have to wear it some evening is all. I'm pretty pleased with it as my first one. I have started a capelette for Erin. I'm just winging the pattern, we will see if it turns out. Also scouring the internet for fun summer baby patterns so I can make something for her to wear. I will eventually get a picture of the sweater on here.

We will be tilling the vegetable garden next week. Then I can get my onions, potatoes, cabbage, and peas planted! I am so excited to have endless fresh veggies. Our grilled chicken salads with everything out of the garden (minus the chicken of course) are the best.

Erin is trying to hard to say "kitty". I guess I didn't think she would try to talk this early. It is so cute though. She pulls herself up on everything and is starting to walk along it. So many things to learn, and she likes to learn them as fast as possible.

I can do it MYSELF!

Right now Erin has let me know that she wants to be more involved in the feeding process. She loves to pick up little pieces of bread and eat them. So I have started looking for things that she can eat herself and not choke on them. I've already had a couple of scares with choking. The first was a piece of tape that she found on the floor and she gagged on it and threw it up. I cried. Second was pureed green beans. I had to yank her out of her highchair and tip her upside down and thump her on the back. Deep breathing, but no crying. Third was her finding a stray strand of carpet that I had to dig out of her throat. Needless to say I'm a little jumpy now when it comes to any little cough she makes.

Plus I'm trying to find healthy things to introduce, not just easy things. I won't mind giving her mac and cheese every once in a while, but I want to mostly provide foods that are full of nutrition. So the other day I picked out whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and a ton of veggies from the store. Now to come up ideas on how to make it interesting for her, non-chokable, and flavorful.

I am also trying desperately to make meal time an enjoyable time, not a punishment. My husband and I love food and cooking and I want to pass that along to my children. I can tell when she really likes something and she loves to eat with us.

Rhythm

My days have a rhythm to them now. We get up and play, eat, play some more, then nap. So I measure them by first nap, second nap, and third nap. But my days with Erin are full and enjoyable. In the past 2 weeks she has turned into a baby. Not just a newborn or infant, but the kind of baby that you seen on TV that is exploring their world (generally by putting whatever they find in their mouth) and interacting with the people around them. She makes sounds at me and I make them back. She thinks I'm hilarious and I think the same of her. We are the perfect mother-daughter couple at the moment and I have hopes of it staying that way forever.

Has there been any mother-daughter relationship that hasn't gone through the "I hate you" stage?? God I hope so, I hope ours doesn't have to. I'd like to think that I will be approachable when we get to that stage, no matter the topic. I think one of the worst things a mother can do is to not instill trust in their daughter that they are able and capable to make good choices.

Thankfully that is a lot of tea parties and bedtime stories away!