Friday Kindness #7

Each Friday I am highlighting a Random Act of Kindness.

I invite you to join in and spread some happiness.

This week....

Give Something Away

A good friend had tried this Moby wrap with her baby

and hated it.

So she passed it along to me

to keep or give away.

I ended up liking another carrier better

so I offered the Moby up for free on Hellobee

(a favorite parenting site of mine)

and sent it off to another mama

who hopefully put it to good use.

Got something lying around your house gathering dust?

Give it away to someone who could use it!

*

For more Acts of Kindness, look here

Or comment with your own Act and help spread the joy!

Happy Birthday Evelyn

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet Evelyn.  

You have brought me more happiness than I thought was possible.  My heart swells when I think of you, and every day when I am at work I cannot wait to get home to see you again.   

The first several months were rough for both of us – you were miserable with colic, I was struggling with post partum depression.  But we fought our way through it - day by day, week by week.  And now here we are one year later.  You are turning into a little girl right before my eyes.  I am completely fascinated by you and could watch you explore the world for hours.  Every week I feel like I get to meet a new version of you, as you grow and change.  I cannot wait to see the person you become, but yet I want to hold onto these baby days before they slip away too quickly.

You are my sunshine, baby girl.   
May today be filled with lots of giggles, cookies, bouncy balls
and all of your favorite things!

Friday Kindness #6

Each Friday I am highlighting a Random Act of Kindness.

I invite you to join in and spread some kindness of your own.

This week's Act....

Donate Money

This was quite possibly the easiest Act I completed.

Right around the time I decided to do my Random Acts of Kindness

Hurricane Sandy swept through the east coast.

My heart went out to all those people that lost their homes.

Being in California, 3000 miles away from the destruction

there weren't too many things I could do to help.

So I logged onto the Red Cross website,

entered my credit card info,

and donated some money.

Done in under a minute

while in my pj's.

*

See other Acts of Kindness here,

or leave a comment with your own,

and help brighten someone's day!

Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup

It was 102 at my house today.

One hundred

and

two.

I was already sweating at 8am when I dropped E off at daycare.

And it only got worse from there.

On days like today,

which unfortunately happen way too often here in The Valley,

the last thing I want to do is cook a hot meal.

I'm not usually a big fan of cold soup

but this one is so yummy and refreshing.

And super easy.

So the next time you're having a steamy day,

whip up a batch of this soup and cool off.

Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup

1 cucumber, chopped

1 large avocado, chopped

1  clove of garlic, chopped

1 jalapeno, chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup greek yogurt

salt and pepper

Put all ingredients except salt and pepper to a blender and blend until smooth.

You can also use a food processor or immersion blender.

Season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle with olive oil

and garnish with tomatoes, croutons, scallions,

or whatever else looks good to you!

Friday Kindness

Each Friday I am highlighting a Random Act of Kindness.

I invite you to join in and spread some kindness of your own.

This week....

Let someone go in front of you at the store.

You know you've been there....

You're in the middle of making dinner and you realize you forgot one very important ingredient.

So you go to the store,

get your ingredient,

and get stuck in a long line behind people with full carts.

Time ticks slowly by

as you wait for the cashier to ring up 

the 50 cans of cat food the lady in front of you is buying.

And all you have is one lonely onion.

Don't let this happen to someone behind you.

Give up a minute of your time and let them go ahead of you.

Whenever I do this, the person is so thankful and happy,

it really makes BOTH of our days.

*

See other Acts of Kindness here,

(or comment with your own act)

and help make someone's day!

10 Months

As Evelyn has gotten older

I've kinda slacked off on the monthly pictures.

Not because I don't want to do them,

more because there is just NO way she would sit still for the photos.

She is a rolling, squirmy, cruising girl

who is constantly in movement.

Here's a look at her 10th month...

She loves her bath time

And going for walks in the park

(Although she's still getting used to touching the grass)

She's recently sprouted two teeth

and we have the marks on our coffee table to prove it.

And most of all, she loves her daddy

I can't believe she'll be a year old 

in two short months!

Can I just stop time now

and keep her this cute forever??

9 months

Evelyn's 9 month update...

only about 3 months late!  

I think the days of photos of her laying on the blanket are long gone.

It's near impossible to get a clear picture of her these days

since she's constantly in movement.

I definitely can't turn my back for long,

or else she'll topple right over the edge of a chair.

She's mastered climbing up the stairs

but hasn't gotten the hang of going down yet.

She loves to walk around our furniture

and play on her music table 

(best. Christmas. present. ever!)