She learned about wine over a week ago when my friend, Jaime, came over for dinner. We opened a bottle, poured ourselves a glass and said, “Cheers!” while clinking our glasses. Izzy thought this was the most awesomest thing she’s ever seen and now raises her sippy cup and shouts, “Cheers!” whenever she’s drinking.

The funny thing is that I don’t drink anything other than water. I may have an occasional root beer or a cup of tea, but that’s about it. It’s only been recently that I’ve started to drink wine again after about three years. The previously mentioned bottle was the first I’ve opened since I found out I was pregnant.

Tonight, Izzy got a little confused when I pulled out a Guinness from the fridge to have myself a little St. Paddy’s day toast. She pointed and asked wine? And I replied, “no sweetie, this is beer.”

Now everything is beer, and I am trying to teach her how to say Sláinte. Does that make me a bad parent?

I bought some of these amazing containers at Bed Bath and Beyond a couple of months ago as a replacement to for my Debbie Meyer Green Bags. I loved the bags and they worked, but were a total pain in the butt to wash between uses and I still had stacks of unknown produce in my fridge.

The Always Fresh containers totally work! I had strawberries last over 8 days. The spinach was still good 10 days in. And the Blueberries? 2 weeks! Pretty amazing if you ask me. The best part is that the containers stack so nicely in my tiny little fridge. I can fit more food in there than before, and it’s easier for Mitch to know what we have because I use masking tape and a Sharpie to mark what’s inside. When not in use, the containers nestle within one another.

They sell for $9.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond, but a total steal when you use your 20% off coupon.

My mom said I picked up the same word when I was a toddler. She said she started to say Sugar Honey Iced Tea instead. I don’t think I’ll remember to say that many words when I’m upset by the rotten cat.

Fortunately, I was prepared with Plan B. I brought her backpack stuffed full of toys she hadn’t seen in weeks, books, crayons, paper and an iPhone filled with Disney movies. I pulled each item out one at a time and was able to keep her attention in 10 minute increments.

Once we cycled through all of the toys, I brought out snacks–Goldfish, raisins and pumpkin pancakes. When her belly was sated, we cycled through the toys one more time. The flight was just over two hours and we made it through without much fuss.

The second leg was much shorter–35 minutes. Daddy was in charge of her for that trip. I used that break to my full advantage and ordered a glass of wine and watched part of a grown up movie with cussing and everything! It was awesome. One of these days l’ll be able to finish that movie.

We had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Cowboy’s house. We played in the snow, went swimming, played with the kitty, and took lots of naps. Oh yeah and I came down with a lovely case of Pink Eye.

The flight home was just as easy–no, actually easier–than the flight out. She fell asleep for the second, longer leg of the trip. I took advantage and ordered a cocktail. I tried to finish the movie I started on our way out, but my headphones weren’t working. It didn’t matter. I had my drink and a little bit of peace among the dull roar of the plane.

We have determined that Izzy is an awesome traveler and we’re making plans for our next trip to San Diego.

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The other day Izzy was playing quietly with her toys. She was wrapping her stuffed animals in a blanket and lying them down. I asked her a question–maybe inquiring if she was hungry. I just don’t remember because i was taken aback by her next move. She raised her finger to her lips and she shushed me! SHUSHED ME! She was putting her babies to sleep and didn’t want me to wake them.

I immediately felt scandalized and elated at the same time. No one likes getting shushed, but that was one of the funniest things I’d seen her do. I broke out into laughter (wrong wrong wrong) so now she does it whenever she plays her sleeping game with her babies.

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My kid is typical. Potty humor makes her laugh. When ever she passes gas, she screams, “farting, farting, farting,” and laughs maniacally. I don’t know who taught her this trick, but it was hard to stiffle a snicker (wrong wrong wrong), so she just got encouraged to keep it up.

I’m trying to not raise a savage, so for the last few weeks, I didn’t laugh or smile when she did this. You have NO IDEA how hard that was. It really is funny to hear a little a kid chant farting, farting, farting.

Tonight was a little different. My sweet little angel farted during her bath, and then she said, “pardon me.” What?! And then she repeated it. That’s right. Pardon me. I showered her with praise and hope this trend continues.

I’m so proud of my little girl. I just might succeed at raising a child with manners after all.

When they bagged up the pajamas, they left them on the hangers. When we got home, I gave them too her. She’s been playing “shopping” ever since. It’s the cutest little pretend game ever! She picks up the PJs one by one and inspects them, oohs and ahhs, then walks around house showing them off. Too bad I need to take them from her so I can send them to laundry. I’ll just have to put something else on the hanger so she can continue the game.

First up, these adorable outfits made from patterns found on the Internet. The kimono top pattern is from Habitual, and the yoga pants pattern came from Mani Mina. (I also just bought her kimono jacket and spring dresss patterns too).

This one is for Izzy:

This on is for Anneke:

The Black Apple is one of my favorite artists on Etsy. I’ve been following her career since Etsy was still in beta. I love her work. Mitch gave me one of her prints for Christmas this year and I love it. The Black Apple appeared on the Martha Stewart show showing the audience how to sew her signature dolls. She also gave the pattern away on Martha’s site.

Here are my renditions–the blond for Anneke and the brunette fir Izzy. I also made matching purses using a pattern that I designed.

Finally, I made no see tutus for the girls. These were super easy to make. Just measure out some elastic to fit the waist. Secure the ends an then tie strips of tulle all the way around.

I made everything with the supplies I already had on hand except for the tutus. I had to buy tulle and elastic, but that only cost about $5 each.

Here’s Izzy wearing everything at once.

Mitch bought me a super fancy flash for my camera. I’m able to bounce light around at will and I’m so surprised at how awesome my photos are coming out. No more harsh shadows screwing up my perfect shots.

Izzy is practicing dressing herself a lot these days. I leave a bunch of clothes for her in her bottom dresser drawer that she pulls out and attempts to put on. One day, we had our laundry bag packed and waiting in the foyer. Izzy was able to reaj through the gate and rifle through the bag. She pulled out a few things and got busy trying to put them on. She has one each of my and Mitch’s socks on her legs. She’s got a pair of my underwear hanging around her knees, and she grabbed another one of my really long socks and wrapped it around her neck like a scarf. She’s quite the fashion plate, dontcha think?

And finally, since there is still a kitties component to this blog, albeit not as robust as the kid part, here is a fabulous photo of Izzy’s feline boyfriend, Kirby. Isn’t he just the best?

Combine panko and parsley on a dinner plate. Mix egg and milk in a bowl.

Working one at a time, dip the fish fillets in the egg-and-milk mixture and shake off the excess. dredge lightly in the crumb mixture. Sprinkle with salt.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the fillets and cook until golden brown on one side, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook until fish is no longer translucent in the center, about another 4 minutes.

Lemon Tartar Sauce

3/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup light sour cream
2 Tbsp sweet relish
1 tsp lemon zest
salt to taste

Creamed Spinach

stir 1 Tbsp flour into 1 Tbsp milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and immediately add 2/3 cup milk a pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, whisking until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1/4 grated Parmesan, then add 1 package 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained. Heat through.