Apple chips

Thanks to Pinterest, I've been trying many new things. New recips, new projects, and lots of dreams of what I can do in the future. Last night I realized that the apples I had purchased a couple days before weren't as crispy as I'd like. I need my apples very crunchy. Any hint of mush and the apples are not edible, at least as raw apples. I already had the oven on from making supper, so I figured I'd give a recipe a shot.

I usually just peel and dice the apples, sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on them, and bake them in a casserole dish until they are soft. Then I'll eat them as chunky applesauce. I had a different idea for these apples.


I found this recipe on Pinterest, linked to the blog of some crafty lady who wanted to do the hard work for me and and just tell me how to make the apples delicious.

This is her picture, because it is far better than mine.  The recipe is simple.

What you will need:

• 2 apples
• Cinnamon

Directions:

• Remove apple core.
• Thinly slice the entire apple.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place apple slices on it.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Bake at 275 degrees for two hours. At the end of hour one flip them over so they bake evenly.

I baked mine for an hour and a half total. This made them more like dried apples, not apple chips. But if I would have left them in longer, they were starting to crisp and would have become crunchy. I also learned that cinnamon/sugar mix is not a substitute for cinnamon. We ran out of cinnamon so I used what I could find--a container of cinnamon and sugar we'd previously mixed together. They were almost too sweet and the sugar didn't dissolve in the apples. Just cinnamon would be perfect, although they'd be fine with nothing on them.

These were delicious, and only lasted until the next day.

Communication

I love that Tessa is at the stage where she is becoming an effective communicator. She tells us when she's hungry, when she's thirsty, when she pooped, what she wants, and where everyone is or should be.

I hate that Tessa is at the stage where she is becoming an effective communicator. She tells us when she's hungry, when she's thirsty, when she pooped, what she wants, and where everyone is or should be.

Yep, that's right. It's the best and worst thing so far about her growing up. If she wants it, it must be RIGHT NAO. If she can't have it, it's a meltdown, of the epic variety. She gets a one track mind about what she wants, and it's not as easy to distract her so she forgets anymore.

If she's hungry and you tell her it's not quite time to eat, she will go to wherever you are and try to physically remove you from the couch, the bed, the tub, the toilet, etc. She will grab your arm, pinch you, whine & cry to get you to eat. If that doesn't work, she'll crawl on the kitchen table.

We also name everything we see at least 50 times a day.  For example:

Lamp

Tessa: Lamp. Broke it. (One time she knocked over the floor lamp and I said she broke it, so now that is the official title of the lamp)

Me: Yep, that's the lamp. You broke it. But daddy fixed it, remember?

Tessa: Daddy fixed it.

At least every 10 minutes.

Ottoman

Tessa: Tessa color

Me: Yes, Tessa. You colored on the ottoman. That's a no-no.

Tessa:  :::points to ottoman::: This color. No No.

Daddy

Tessa: Where's daddy go?

Me: Daddy's bye-bye. He's working.

Tessa: Dada Work. Bye Bye Daddy. ::runs to all the doors to verify he is in fact gone and waves:::


She's also incredibly particular. She knows yes and no so well, she loves telling us her opinion.

Me: Tessa, do you want supper?

Tessa: Supper!! :::runs to kitchen:: "Up please, supper, EAT!"

Me: Ok, I have to cook it.

Tessa: NO! EAT!

Me: Yes, we'll eat. After I cook it.

Tessa: ::meltdown:: EAT! NOW. Supper.

I forsee a long future full of "MOM YOU ARE THE MEANEST PERSON EVER HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!"

Week 24

I've made it to week 24. Only 15 to go. Technically, this baby is now viable, meaning that it could live outside the womb. However, I'm going to keep baking this baby so it'll come out a little chunkier.

My OB said I was a dream patient and he wished they were all that easy. Pshhh. It's pretty easy to show up at the appointments. I did find out that my OB's nurse is leaving and I'm so sad about that. She is so wonderful and welcoming in the office, and I'll miss her. Luckily she's still going to be employed by the hospital so I'll still see her, just not in that capacity.

I'm up a whopping 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I guess when you start by losing 9, there's some catch up to do. I'm feeling better most days, but some days the nausea still hits me and I just don't feel like eating much.

Baby Murph is pretty active most of the time. It's not uncomfortable yet but sometimes when I forget I'm pregnant, I get reminded with a swift jab.

Tessa is still loving this baby, even though she thinks the baby is my belly button. It's pretty cute though.

18 months

We had Tessa's 18 month appointment last week. She is still a runt, at 23 pounds and 30.5 inches tall. But, she's a very healthy and active gal! While speaking to the doctor, she decided to open the door and explore the office. Since we're familiar with the office and know everyone, we weren't worried. Until she didn't come back for 10 minutes. I went to find her, and the front office girls had put her to work. She was sitting in the desk chair, wearing only her diaper, typing a document in Microsoft Word and eating animal crackers. What a silly girl!

She is such a ham these days and is quite a social little girl. It's fun to watch her string together words to make phrases and sentences, and everyday she seems to pick up something new.

She loves to pick up my purse, fling it over her shoulder and try to walk out the door, all the while hollering, "Tessa bye-bye. Love you." Well, ok then dear.

Bath time is still her favorite part of the day, and all of a sudden, she's become very clingy with her blankey. It doesn't matter which one she has, but when she starts to get mad, she needs a blanket. Oh well. It's a small request.