Mother's Day

First let me start off by saying that Mother's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I just love feeling so loved and appreciated by my family. I know they appreciate me every day, but on Mother's Day they have to show it :) Plus, many restaurants put on a mean brunch for Mother's Day. This year we returned to the same place as last year...The Copper Kettle. It's this cute little restaurant in downtown Nashville that does an amazing  brunch buffet. I pigged out and had a mimosa too...what a meal. Needless to say, I've only eaten once since brunch...and that was just some Raspberry Pomegranate sorbet from Sweet Cece's. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Mother's Day? LOL

Kiley and me after our meal. Love this girl

My girls and me before heading out for the afternoon

After brunch we headed back home where I snuck in a quick nap, then we headed out to Sweet Cece's for a quick treat, then to Dragon Park, our favorite park in Nashville. It's over in the Hillsboro Village area, and its just the coolest park. It has an old fashioned play area with a big hill, a fort, a tunnel, and a metal slide, a huge mosaic dragon you can climb all over, plus a modern play area. It's huge and we just love it.

Maddie wanted some Sweet Cece's too, so we gave her a spoon so she wouldn't feel left out

My babies wearing the flower headbands I made for them

Then, after the park we came home and Maddie took a very big step...her first rice cereal! She's been watching us eat with a lot of interest lately, and likes playing with spoons, so I decided to try it. I ground up my brown rice into a powder, cooked it down, then added some breast milk and voila...rice cereal!

All ready!

She did much better than we thought she would

As you can tell, I had a wonderful day. I love my family so much.

Something I'm Passionate About....

...is homemade baby food! When I had Kiley, at the young age of 21, I didn't think much about feeding her Gerber jarred baby food. After I found out I was pregnant with Madelyn, I did some research on it and decided to do homemade baby food-it's better for babies, as well as more economically and environmentally friendly. I am not one to judge people who do use store-bought baby food, just to be perfectly clear. I am just explaining my choice this time around. The best resource I've found for baby food recipes is Wholesome Baby Foods. Great recipes and feeding guidelines. I still want to get a cookbook of baby food recipes to keep in the kitchen, too. Yesterday I went ahead and made my first batches of baby food, since they can be frozen for up to 3 months. I made applesauce from some Granny Smith apples we had, and green beans from some frozen ones we had (frozen is the next best thing after fresh).  So with minimal effort and very little cost I ended up with 8 ounces of applesauce and 4 ounces of green beans. Next on the agenda-sweet potatoes and carrots! Pretty soon my it'll be time for my little princess to try these out: