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!)

Keeping Busy

Hello there strangers!

I've fallen off the face of the blogging world the past several months.

Life just gets in the way, ya know?

Between working, cooking/eating dinner, the never ending laundry pile

getting Evelyn ready for bed and school the next day,

and trying to spend an hour with my hubby every day,

there's not much time for anything else.

I don't know how all those other mom bloggers do it!

Weekends bring a little bit of down time,

but it's hard to get much work done 

when you're chasing down a very active baby.

Evelyn is 10 months now and spends her day

crawling all over the place,

climbing stairs,

banging toys on the coffee table,

yelling at the top of her lungs,

and cleaning out her toy box.

I don't know what she was looking for 

but I guess it wasn't in there!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Sleep

Every night before I go to bed

I sneak into Evelyn's room

to steal a peek at her sleeping.

Sleeping babies have got to be one of the cutest, 

most precious things on earth.

I can't resist patting her little bottom

and petting her head.

And sometimes I sneak in a few pictures too.

Here she is cuddled up with her lovey.

She's never really taken to a pacifier, 

but she loves having something soft to chew on while she sleeps.

We have two of these hippos that get rotated weekly.

That face.  Those lips.

My heart melts every time.

Meatless Monday - Black Bean Burgers

The day we came home from the hospital with Evelyn

all I wanted to eat was a big, juicy cheeseburger.

So my dutiful husband ran out and picked us some burgers and fries at The Counter.

And I devoured it in under 5 minutes.

Maybe it was 3 days of bland hospital food,

or some primal need to replenish my low red blood cell count the nurses were so worried about.

But it was just about the best meal I've ever had.

All this is to say 

I'm a meat person.

Not a veggie burger kind of girl.

But we can't have big juicy cheeseburgers everyday

if we have any hope of ever fitting back into those pre-pregnancy clothes.

So when I saw this recipe for Black Bean Burgers on Skinnytatse

I figured I'd give it a try.

And you know what?

They're pretty darn good.

With the right mixture of beans, veggies, and spices for good flavor,

and a nice kick of spiciness from the chipotle mayo.

The best part is that they're super easy to make

and freeze up well.

Meaning you just have to grab a couple out of the freezer,

heat them up, throw them on a bun 

and Boom!

Dinner is served.

Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo

from Skinnytaste

For the Burgers

16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 cup chopped scallions

3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

3 cloves garlic, peeled

 1 large egg

1 Tablespoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 cup quick oats

For the Mayo

3 1/2 Tablespoons mayo

1 chipotle, chopped

Mix the mayo and chipotle together in a small bowl and set aside.

Dry the beans well after rinsing, as extra moisture makes it hard to get the burgers to come together.

In a medium bowl, mash the beans with a fork until it gets pasty.

In a food processor, chop the pepper, scallions, cilantro and garlic.

Dump the veggies in with the black beans.

Add the egg, spices, and oats and stir it all together.

Divide the mixture into four patties.

Add more oats if the mixture is too wet.

Put the patties on waxed paper on a flat surface.

Freeze for at least 2 hours.

Once they're frozen, you can stack them between pieces of waxed paper

and put into a container or freezer bag.

To cook, heat a skillet on medium heat and cook for 7 minutes each side.

Serve on buns with avocado, tomato, and other fixin's.

Enjoy!