Lasagna, in the crock pot?!

This week I navigated into uncharted territory and decided to make a lasagna using the slow cooker.  I've been skeptical in the past.  Pasta in the slow cooker?  But, I was inspired by the Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna recipe I found on Weelicious.  Even though the site is geared toward food for kiddos, most of the recipes are parent-friendly.  

I used broccoli, zucchini and spinach as my vegetables of choice and this recipe did not disappoint...and the best part?  It was super easy!!  In the future, I think I will use different colored veggies and add more cheese.  It just wasn't gooey enough for me.  

Now if only Evelina would have enjoyed it :-/  Instead, she dined on watermelon and raisins.  What happened to my tot who previously would eat anything?  Ugh!!!  

Art Work

Evelina LOVES to eat crayons color!! She gets so excited at school when her teachers bring out the crayons.  When we are home hanging out in the playroom she will attempt to get onto one of her play table chairs (ultimately needing assistance) and point to the bin where she knows the crayons are stored.  

In between me telling her to take the crayon out of her mouth and put it on the paper, trying to prevent her from ripping the paper or throwing it on the floor, and/or scribbling on the table, window sill, or wall, she has made some very fun abstract art work.  

We've also attempted finger painting but I think more paint may have gone into her mouth than on the paper itself.  Either way, it was a fun way to create a homemade gift for her Grandpa and Mimi in honor of Grandparent's Day back in September (and one for Papa for his office at work).   

I'm excited for Chris to hang the curtain wire up on the wall above the cube bookcase so that we can showcase some of her first works.  In the meantime, I've framed one of her marker masterpieces and plan to rotate different creations in the frame every so often.   

  
PS:  Thank goodness crayons, markers and paint are non-toxic :-) 

UMASS Medicine Cancer Walk 2011

The Ciano Family Getting Ready to Walk (or nap)

On Sunday, Chris, Evelina and I participated in the UMASS Medicine Cancer Walk as members of the SXC/MedMetrics team (the company Chris works for who was once affiliated with UMASS Memorial).  It was a wonderful event to remember those who lost their life to the terrible disease, support survivors and raise money to support cancer research. We have all been impacted by this horrible disease and it is time to find a cure!!  

The SXC/MedMetrics Team

The SXC/MedMetrics team was the top fundraising team with almost $12,000 raised.  Team Ciano raised/contributed $1,115!!!  Way to go team!!!

Photo credit:  Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Can you spot us in the photo above? 

Raisin Love

Evelina and one of her favorite snacks

Fun Times on the Farm

We've had the opportunity to visit a few farms over the past month or so and Evelina has loved every minute of it. She LOVES observing the animals, reaching out to touch them (when we think it's safe), or even attempting to feed them.  I think the best part is visiting the farms with her favorite family members. 

Davis Farmland with Grandpa, all the way back in August.  Unfortunately, my point and shoot suffered a fatal accident (no worries, no animals were involved) during our trip to Davis Farmland so we missed out on some other great photo opportunities.  That means, we will just have to go back again soon. 

Belkin Family Lookout Farm with Mimi and Auntie K.  A beautiful farm with grapevine covered paths, orchards full of fruit ripe for picking, a fun children's play area, hay pyramid, burlap maize and animals. Evelina loved riding on the train underneath the grapevines and feeling the wind against her face.  We will definitely visit this farm again.  

Beautiful grapevine covered path

Hmmmm...what does a sheep say again?

Red Apple Farm to celebrate a special birthday boy.  Such a beautiful farm, quintessential New England, and the perfect place for a birthday party. Evelina got to visit with friends, go on a hay ride, "feed" animals, enjoy apple donuts and cider slushies...YUM!!  We brought some apples and peaches home from the orchard and they are truly delectable, Evelina thinks so too.  

Mama, I LOVE balloons!!!

Soon enough we will be putting on sweaters to protect us from the crisp fall air, picking out pumpkins for carving, and dressing up Evelina for Halloween.  So much fun!! 

Damn you....

canines!!!! Just when the wrath of 1st year molars was coming to and end and Evelina was once again happy and sleeping like a dream, you have arrived to ruin all semblance of calm and happiness in the Ciano home.  Constant whining, clinging and 2+ wake-ups a night, not including all of the "sleep whining" when no intervention is required.  Don't even get me started on the endless drooling which is wiped on our pant legs, shoulders, arms, furniture and toys....this from a child who has never been big on drooling. 

I'm so ready for this teething process to be over, as I'm sure Evelina is as well.  Only 4 more teeth (canines included) and 4 2nd year molars to go.  I hope I can make it while keeping my sanity.  

 

New Chair

An early Christmas present arrived for Evelina last week from her favorite Auntie, embroidered with her name of course. We were planning to wait to give it to her but considering she LOVES to try to climb onto the couch and our recliner, we thought she would love to have a chair of her own now...she won't know the difference if she doesn't actually get it for Christmas.  

In the morning, we allow her to watch a little Sesame Street while she eats some fruit.  I think it is one of her favorite moments of the day.  

Yard Sale = Success

Chris and some bargain hunters

On Saturday we held our first ever yard sale and it was a success!!  Boy, are we glad it is OVER!! It took a lot of prep work, going though everything in our basement and some spare closets, making and hanging signs, and setting up, but it was totally worth it.  

We had advertised that the yard sale was to begin at 8:00a and we had our first two bargain hunters around 7:30a before we had even finished with the set-up process.  By 8:30ish, our street was a parking lot.  It was a lot of fun.  We were able to catch up with most of our neighbors (two of which participated in the yard sale), and meet a few people from neighboring streets.  "Shoppers" came in waves and with each hour that passed, we would either slash prices or put more items on the $1 or free table.  We did NOT want to have to have to lug anything back up the driveway to the garage or basement.  In the end, we made $460.  We plan to donate $400 to the cancer walk we are participating in on Sunday and Chris and I split the remaining $60.  

It feels wonderful to be cleansed of so much extra "stuff" in our lives and it's refreshing to walk through the basement everyday.  

The Ciano Fam!!

A special thanks to my mom...without her spending some quality time with Evelina, we would have never been able to pull the yard sale off. 

Injured

This evening after dinner, poor Evelina Bambina was standing up stacking cups, when all of a sudden she lost her balance and fell head first into the top cup. Ouchie!!  Tears and screams followed along with a big hug from Papa.  Her eye lid started to bleed and swell almost immediately.  We attempted to put ice on it but she wouldn't sit still long enough or would just walk away.  She was back to her happy self within a few minutes but I anticipate a swollen, black and blue eye tomorrow. Oh, the joys of toddler-hood.  

Itsy Bitsy Spider

NOT!!! 

Meet our 4th resident.  Heebie jeebies, heebie jeebies.......

Remember this post from a few weeks ago?  Well the only time there hasn't been a huge intricate web weaved between the umbrella and one of our tiki lanterns was during hurricane Irene. I wonder where he hid out during that storm?!? This is the spider that won't quit...he (or she, I have no clue) must get some great catches each night.   

I snapped this picture at around 7:45 tonight and I just checked in on the fellow and he is busy fixing all of the gaps in the web that were caused by last night's victims.  He moves so swiftly and gracefully, truly an amazing artist. He only appears at night, during the day, he hangs out underneath the protection of the lantern.  

With his legs out (he curls up frequently), he is probably between the size of a nickel and a quarter.  Brown/orange in color with some faint spots. Close up his legs look similar to crab legs with little spurs or hairs on them, I assume used for web building.  

We can't bring ourselves to kill him.  Chris flicked him into the grass last week in hopes that he would go away but that night he just weaved another web.  He is no fool.  The good news is that we always know where he is hiding...so far anyway...as I write this I keep feeling something on my arms.  HEEBIE JEEBIES!! 

Yard Sale Prep

One of our 2011 goals was to hold a yard sale to purge the abundance of stuff that has overtaken our basement.  We have accumulated sooooo much for a number of reasons:  

1) Our taste has changed which means that many things we used to love, we no longer love, so they were moved down into the basement to make room upstairs for new things that we love. 

2) We had a baby!!  As a result, we had to make some room for her on the main levels of the house which resulted in more piles to the basement.  

3) We never completely unpacked from when we moved into the house back in 2008 (or when we moved in together in Charlestown for that matter).  Yesterday I was going through boxes with housewares still wrapped in newspaper dated from March 2002...yikes!!  Needless to say, these things are yard sale bound. 

Over the past week, Chris and I have been spending our evenings, after Evelina is in bed, along with her nap times, in the basement going through all of our stuff and moving things into the garage that we plan to sell at the yard sale this coming Saturday.  A few of our neighbors will also be participating. I'm envisioning a big cul-de-sac yard sale party!!  I'm praying for a good turnout AND good weather.  We don't want a repeat weather day from Evelina's 1st birthday party that's for sure.  

Our goal for the yard sale is to get rid of inventory.  As much as we would like to make some money, we are more focused on getting rid of stuff and moving on to the next project, ORGANIZING the basement.  I.CANNOT.WAIT!!  Chris and I also decided that we plan to donate the proceeds from our portion of the yard sale to the UMass Medicine Cancer Walk that we will be participating in on September 25th.  

Anything we don't sell will be listed on Freecycle or trashed.  I LOVE purging!! 

I've listed our yardsale at yardsalesearch.com and plan to list it on Craig's List as well.  Find more garage sales in Ashland on Yard Sale Search.

I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes!!  I desperately need to post (or photo dump) about a few farms we've visited over the past month but it may need to wait.  Too many pictures to sort through/edit and too little time.  

Potty!!

Evelina used the potty tonight!! We are by no means potty training, but I did buy a potty months ago and put it in the bathroom to allow Evelina to get used to seeing it.  Hoping that when we did start potty training, it wouldn't be a foreign object to her.  

Every now and then I will put her on the potty during a diaper change to see if she needs to go since I've read that it can help build a connection to diapers and actually going potty. Recently, Evelina has started sitting on the potty herself, while dressed, when we are in the bathroom getting her bath ready or I'm washing my hands, etc.  

I've noticed, since her first bath ever, that Evelina likes to potty immediately after her bath, so this week, I decided to put her on the potty once she was dried off.  We didn't have much success on Monday or Wednesday, and she even pee'd on the rug after sitting on the potty for a couple of minutes...but, tonight, she actually went on the potty!!  I was shocked!! Of course, I didn't think she would actually go so I had turned around to empty the tub and put toys away, but when I turned back around, she was standing up and I looked in the potty and there was pee!!  So exciting!!  It may have just been a fluke, but either way, I'm proud of her!!  Way to go Bean!! 

15 Month Stats

Aftermath of 15 Month Visit

Today was Evelina's 15 month well-baby visit. 

Evelina is your standard toddler, very active and busy, difficult during many meals, testing boundaries, and learning lots and lots of things each day. She still doesn't mind the pediatrician's office, but I know at some point, she is going to anticipate shots the second we enter the office and throw a fit.  I'm not looking forward to those days.  In the meantime, I will enjoy watching her play with the doctor and nurses, while making faces and gabbing. She really brings a smile to the face of many.  I would particularly like to thank the makers of Baby Mum-Mums and Happy Baby Yogurt drops for helping make the appointment pleasant as well...both god sends!!   

Evelina's Stats...

Weight: 21lbs (22nd %ile) - Up only about 1lbs since 12 month visit.  Just like her pediatrician said it would, Evelina's weight is beginning to plateau. She is still perfectly healthy and will have other growth spurts in the next year but she is very busy and very busy toddlers burn a lot of calories!!  Our goal will be to make sure she eats enough...which can be a struggle these days!!    

Length: 31.5" (82nd %ile). She is quite the skinny mini that's for sure. 

Head Circumference: I didn't catch the size this time around and it wasn't included on her growth chart.  It has never been on the small side so I don't think we have anything to worry about.     

Next appointment is at 18 months.

15 Months!!

Dear Evelina,

You are 15 months old!! What a big girl you are becoming!! You’re Papa and I can barely keep up with everything you are learning these days. You are a sponge just ready to absorb as much information as possible. We are so lucky that we get to watch you grow and explore everyday. You become more fun as each day passes and we are never at a loss for laughs when we are together. Your language, many expressions and gestures are constantly putting a smile on our faces. If I could bottle you up and save every moment, I most certainly would. We just love you to pieces!!

Some highlights from the past month include:

• The biggest milestone of the month hands down was, WALKING!!!! You are making so much progress everyday and Papa and I constantly catch you walking behind our back. In a couple of more weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if walking is your preferred mode of getting around. You already have ants in your pants so when you are more comfortable with walking, Papa and I will have serious problem on our hands!! Uh Oh!!
• You were visited by both Grandpa and Auntie K, complete with trips to local farms to see and pet lots of animals. You just love animals of all sizes and get so excited when you see them.
• You have been “pointing” with your thumb or entire hand for months now but you have now started to isolate your pointer finger to point.
• We have been working on improving your sign language and you will now sign more for things other than food, such as kisses. It is quite adorable. You also will sign milk when you are thirsty. We continue to work on signing “Water”, “Thank You” and “Please” as well as the signs for many animals.
• You will raise you arm in the air to mimic an Elephant trunk, thump your hands on your chest like a Gorilla, and put your hand up when the train is going by as if you are pulling the horn.
• When you are hungry, especially before dinner, you will make your way over to the pantry, try to open the doors and sign eat so that we will give you a snack. You are pretty smart!!
• You can show us where your head, ears, tongue, mouth, hands, belly button and feet are, and you can show us where our noses are.  
• You have started to shake your head for “Yes” and you will point to yourself when we say “Mine”.
• Your favorite word is “Hieeee”. Not sure if you are saying “Hi” or if you just like the way the word sounds.
• You love playing in water, but loathe the bath (again!). Go figure.
• Your favorite place to be is outside.
• Sitting in adult chairs or climbing on the couch is an addiction of yours. You cruise on over and fuss until we pull you up. Once we have helped you achieve your goal, you smile and become so excited. You actually were able to climb up onto the couch on your own a couple of times on your 15 month birthday!! We could be in some serious trouble soon.
• You LOVE playing peek-a-boo, grabbing our hands to encourage us to row and sing “Row, row, row, your boat”, and successfully gesturing to “The Wheels on the Bus”.
• You understand so much of what we say, it is truly amazing. I often wonder if all of a sudden you will start blurting out actual words in between all of your constant babbling.
• You have entered a phase of picky eating and boy oh boy, is it a pain. Many of your favorite foods are flung to the floor within seconds. Broccoli, strawberries, blueberries, quesadillas, waffles….all get tossed. I have found that you enjoy Turkey Dogs so I’m hoping they remain on your will-eat list. Luckily, you still love milk, yogurt, cheese, raspberries and oranges….for now.
• You are much cuddlier these days, giving us lots of kisses and hugs. You are just so sweet.
• I’m sure I’m forgetting something!! 

I’m looking forward to the next month, witnessing your improvements with walking, going to local farms, apple picking, watching the leaves change color and enjoying beautiful Autumn in New England. 

You are the sunshine of my life,

Mommy

1st Day of School - Toddler

Such a big girl going off to her first day in the Toddler room

Today is Evelina's first day in the toddler room at school.  She shed a few tears at drop off but I'm sure she will have fun and learn to love her new teachers.  Luckily, a few friends from her infant room will be in her class so it will be nice for her to see some familiar faces. She is still only 1 of 2 girls in her class though.  I have a feeling she is going to have to learn to be tough!!

It was sad saying goodbye to her infant room on Thursday.  She did so much learning and growing over the past year, it is truly amazing.  Each day we were given a note telling us when she napped, what she ate, what she did that day, etc.  I started out the year keeping each one of the notes but it got to be a little much so I only kept certain notes when she successfully achieved a milestone or had a particularly funny day.  It was fun to look back at her first note and last notes. 

Note from 9/9/2010:  

"Evelina had a wonderful 1st day of school!  She was so happy and alert paying close attention to what was going on all around her.  She enjoyed reaching for the dangle toys on the bouncy seat and the calming vibrations!"

Note from 8/30/2011: 
"Evelina had a great day! She did lots of independent walking around the classroom today! Yay, what a big girl.  I can't believe there's only 2 days left :-("

Note from 9/1/2011

"Evelina had a wonderful last day of school with us today!  It has been such an honor to have been able to watch Evelina grow into a young toddler with such an awesome personality.  I'm going to miss her so much! Best of luck in toddlers.  ♥ Ms. Jessica"


UPDATE: Evelina did well on her first day in the toddler room.  Her teachers told us that Evelina had A LOT to say and was quite the babbler.  She made them laugh all day and her funny personality really shined.  She was affectionate, took a nice nap and ate well. Her favorite thing about her new classroom? The toddler level sinks.  She was DETERMINED to turn on the faucets but is still a little too short.  I can just see her struggling now. 

Walking Footage

It takes 3 to actually capture Evelina walking.  She is doing very well but crawling is much more effective.  Lots of progress, effort and determination every day.  Yay Evelina!! 

Teacher Appreciation

Every once in awhile, I feel the urge to be crafty. Since today is the last day of school before Evelina transitions to a toddler room, I thought it would be fun to create something fun for Evelina's teachers to thank them for everything they have done for us over the past year. For inspiration, I sought out ideas from one of the best website on the planet, Pinterest. I LOVE this site almost as much as I love Etsy. 

I came across this "Thanks a latte" card and thought it would be perfect and easy to make...which is important for a non-crafty lady like myself. Since school is a peanut-free environment and they discourage bringing in homemade baked goods, Chris and I figured a Dunkin' Donuts gift card would be the next best thing.  Who doesn't run on Dunkin'?  But, just giving a gift card in a store bought card seemed too boring after seeing this idea.   

For my version, I used raffia instead of string. I also exposed the Dunkin' Donuts side of the cup sleeve instead of the ridged side since the ridged side had some glue on it that didn't look very nice.  I also included a personalized note from Evelina on the back of each card. I'm happy with the way they came out and it really didn't take that much effort.  I hope her teachers like 'em!!