Mollie has something to show you!

Earlier this evening, I was inside making a grocery list, and Brad took the girls out to look at the garden and play in the backyard. All of a sudden, I hear this loud bang on one of the kitchen windows, and I see Brad motioning for me to come out. I can see a tiny little pink figure out in the middle of the yard . . . standing up! So I run out, then run back in to grab the camera. She just started doing standing out of the blue, with no prompting! Too cute! Note how at the verrrrry start of the video, she's attempting to clap - which then kind of causes her to lose her balance. She kept doing it over and over and over for quite a while. She even almost perfected clapping for herself at the same time! ;) :)

Mollie's First Stand! from Sarah Billheimer on Vimeo.

TEN Months

I don't know if you're aware, but Mollie is officially TEN months old. Yes, ten. Seriously. I am really planning a birthday party for our BABY! *sigh* She just gets sweeter all the time, and we're thrilled with each new milestone. She crawls like crazy and is completely and totally obsessed with pulling up on things. Not just "things" as in "some things" but "things" as in EV.RY.THING. It's so neat to see her becoming more independent, but we have to watch her like a hawk, especially in the bathtub! Just today, she stood unsupported for about 10 seconds which is seriously a long time for a newbie like Mollie! I kept trying to get her to stand on her own later, and she did, but as soon as she realized it, she dropped herself right back to the ground. She'll get there! I really feel like she'll be walking by her birthday, but you certainly never know! I am not especially in a hurry, but once they start down that road, it's fun to watch their progress. I know Natalie will be more than thrilled when Mollie is walking around!

Mollie started clapping over the past few weeks, and it's just too cute! Forgive me if I've already posted this, but she was clapping at the table on Mother's Day, and she had everyone else clapping too. It was so adorable how proud she was that she had the power to make us all clap! I think she was more excited about that than the clapping itself! I also realized a day or so ago that she will clap on command. I was totally surprised that I asked her to clap - and she DID! Pretty cute! She's also started waving, which is another fun milestone (but aren't they all?). Today when I got home from work, she was sitting on the kitchen floor by Brad, and she started whining, crawling toward me, and waving, but she was kind of waving at the floor. It was like she knew I'd like her to wave, but she didn't quite get the concept.

She's babbling LOTS more these days, and we hear lots of "dadada" so I'm always trying to get her to say "mama," naturally. :) Gotta have equal time, right? Sunday morning she and I were the only ones up, and she was in a sweet mood. I stood her up on my lap and said, "Mollie, can you say 'Mama'?" and she looked at me, then paused and kind of looked away. I figured that was the end, but a few seconds later, she looked right back at me, and in the teeeeeeny tinnnniest sweetest voice, she softly said "ma-ma-ma-ma" while clapping her hands. Melt my heart!

Mollie also LOVES to eat finger foods. She often gets finger foods for breakfast, and pretty much always at dinner. She literally gets upset with us if we are eating and she's not getting what we have, even if she just had her own jar of food before we started! Tonight she chowed down on some pasta and veggies. I'm pretty sure she at more than Natalie. ;) I'm not sure how we were blessed with TWO great eaters, but we're thankful for it!

So here's Mollie's 10-month photo. She's fresh from the tub, smelling yummy and being sweet in her jammies right before bed! :)

Playing Catch-up

Here are a few pictures that I've been meaning to post over the past few weeks. A couple cute random ones of the girls, then us painting pots for Mother's Day gifts.

My First Fondant

I have always admired smooth fondant-covered cakes, and I am thinking of trying to make one for each of the girl's birthdays this year instead of buying them. It's so expensive to buy fondant cakes, and all I ever hear is that the fondant doesn't even taste good at all. So one of the crafty-mom blogs that I follow had a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant that is supposed to be easy AND tasty, so what better opportunity to practice a bit than Mother's Day?

Using some recipes I found online and the advice of a friend who has is a professional baker, I made a yellow cake with raspberry creme filling and covered it with white marshmallow fondant. I will just say that none of the steps were as hard as I thought they'd be, but there were a LOT of steps! I'll definitely only be attempting these again for special occasions! I would do it again, though! I was really proud of how mine turned out! It tasted good, and lots of people went back for seconds, so I think it's safe to call this cake a success!

Mashmallow Fondant Recipe: click here