weekend recap... a little late...

We had some fun with our close college friends this last Saturday... I am a little late on getting my photos organized , but better late than never right?♥

Our friends are here from South Africa for a visit and we all wanted to be together to share breakfast and get all the families together.  To recap on this group, we are talking 12 adults (One being very much with child...) and 9 kids under the age of 5.  Yep, we are a little crazy like that...
We love you all and are so thankful that we get to share life with you.  It truly is an honor!

meal planning

Good morning!  How was your weekend?

It's monday and that means that I am getting all organized for the week.

I have never been the quickest  when it comes  to meal planning and food budgets.  However, over the last month, I have been planning the week's meals on monday and grocery shopping for those meals and I have been spending way less, and we have been throwing  SO MUCH less food out, and we have been eating much healthier!  I know, some of you have been doing this kind of planning for a long time, and what can I say, I'm a little slow.   So we are off to the grocery store to get our week of food organized...

ps:I use this day of the week mouse pad and it really helps with making the list of meals as well as making the grocery lists that go with them.
Here are some recipes we are trying this week:
(Thanks to Real Simple Magazine)
Creamy spinach enchiladas
Slow-cooker chicken tikka masala
Slow cooker spaghetti bolognese
and these turkey sloppy joes:
Brown 1  pound of ground turkey in canola oil with 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped clove of garlic in a large skillet.  Mix in 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, 1/4 cup each of dark brown sugar and barbecue sauce, and 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce; season with salt and pepper.  Simmer until thickened.  Serve on hamburger buns with coleslaw.  

We have a due date!

We just locked in our repeat c section date for March 1.  I know that babies come when they want and she might decide to come early... but right now that is our planned date and we are so excited!

Have a happy friday and a wonderful weekend!

Sephora products

I have never been someone who is very good at makeup.  My family and my room mate's in college will tell you that I did the bare minimum and just tried to not look ill.  (However, nursing school gave me so much stress that no amount of cover up could manage the bags under my eyes or the look of sheer exhaustion...)

Anyway, I digress.  My mom recently introduced me to the brand Urban Decay, a brand that she found at Sephora.

The  two new products that my mom recently spoiled me with are:

Stardust eye shadow in Space Cowboy: 

 And the 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in Bourbon:

It is really fun to be trying something new, especially when I feel like I am just getting larger my the day...

Thank you so much Mom for spoiling me!  

Valentines cards...

WIth valentine's day coming up, I wanted to make our annual valentines day cards and do a little photo shoot of Ryder to send with them. (That will be a post for a later date...)

We have been at Lowe's quite a bit recently due to wanting to finish house projects for our kids rooms.

I have seen so many ideas on Pinterest that utilize paint samples, and I was very inspired.

So this is what I came up with:

Using these colors, and my sister's heart punch:

 

I came up with this easy and simple design:

I am very excited to send these out next month!

It's fun to have them all ready to go...

I'm losing my marbles...

We have  a jar of marbles that belonged to my dad when he was a kid and on very special occasions, we will pull them out and let Ryder roll them around on the carpet.

(It's a big commitment because we NEVER leave him with them, since they can be a choking hazard and the cleanup is very tedious, but it really can be a fun treat for Ryder...)

We hope that you have a great day!

ps: if you come over for a playmate, don't worry, we won't play with marbles... we will stick with things like our knife collection and balloons, you know, the safe stuff...)

weekend recap

Hi! How was your weekend?

We had some much needed family time.

I am so thankful! It was filled with laying low:

taking naps, making meals  and eating together, reading with Ryder, playing in the yard, wrestling matches that always ended with both guys being tuckered out...

We rented Moneyball and really enjoyed it.  We played games on the iPad and just enjoyed not having anything on the schedule.  We purchased the final items needed for Eden 

(crib sheets and a new boppy cover that is pink and white! So girly...) We are saving for a double stroller but other than that I think we have the necessities for her room and her arrival.

That feels really good! 

Kit used his smoker to make pulled pork sandwiches and we had dinner with Ryder's Uncle Andrew and Aunt Mallory.  It was so fun!  That was the only thing planned over the weekend, minus church on Sunday...  

It was a busy week last week with lots of late night meetings for Kit and so this week we should officially be getting back to normal...

I hope you have a happy monday!

It's feeling like maternity leave...

I have to start by saying that I only work one day a week, or to think of it another way, I am home 6 days a week, so being on maternity leave doesn't really feel a whole lot different for me, except for today. 

I work on Kit's days off which is 99% of the time on fridays.  So knowing that we are all together today feels so good.  I am really enjoying being with my guys...  We are so ready to enjoy a family day together!

I hope you have a happy Friday!

A play date at pretend city

Yesterday we met our friends Jen and Izzy at Pretend City in Irvine for a play date.

It was really fun!

 Just driving around pretend town:

 Ryder and miss Izzy:

 He loved the library:

(Specifically the computer at the check out center)

 Ryder loved the farm area and raking the "dirt":

 Looking at baby chicks with Jen and Izzy...

 And of course, the water area was a favorite:

 We then headed for lunch at Cafe Rio for the sweet pork barbacoa salad.  It was so tasty and Ryder loved it too.

Thanks Jen and Izzy for a wonderful day!  

We love getting to spend time with you guys.

Thank you cards

I have been wanting to make some thank you cards using Eden's 4D pictures and yesterday I was able to sit down and make them during Ryder's nap time.

Here are the supplies:

 Here is the finished product:

I love looking at her little face.  

I can't wait to meet her!

Eden's room updates...

We have been having so much fun getting the kids rooms all ready.  Ryder has been loving his new space.  We are approaching the big boy bed very slowly but I think that he is going to do great.

So it has allowed us to have some fun working on Eden's room.

First, the changing table:

We recovered the back board twice, first in a white fabric to cover the dark pattern, then we finished it in her fabric: 

 

We then attached the board to the previous strips of velcro:

Here is the finished changing table:

 We love how it came out!

Second, I have started to accessorize her book shelf.  

We have been moving Ryder's favorite books to his room so I have been placing her special items out on her bookshelf.  My mom made these dolls for her and I am so excited that they get to be displayed! 

we also plan to add to her collection:

Third, I made a little wall art for the top of her book shelf:
(Doing this project really made me realize that we are having a little girl because of getting to bring in some pink accents.)

Fourth, we are changing her crib area.  Kit's mom made a BEAUTIFUL crib skirt for when it goes back to the newborn height.  I can't wait to put it on!  I already have white crib sheets that look great with it, so when it  all comes together, it will be such a sweet little area for her to sleep (and we are praying that she does sleep, even if it's just a little bit...).  Thanks Diane for all your hard work!

For the wall by her crib, we have been collecting all of these frames from thrift stores and the large one from IKEA:

I have slowly been sanding them and spray painting them the same shade of yellow from her fabric so that they look like this:

They will be mounted on the wall by her crib.  Kit has that part all figured out...

Fifth, I plan to put this little chandelier that I got for a couple bucks at Good Will above her chair.
It went from this:

 to this: 

Here it is hanging:

I have a pillow project that my sister is doing for her favorite niece... Cole, thank you for making all the visions that this mommy has come to fruition... I love you like crazy cakes!
So those are the updates on Miss Eden Marie's room so far...
We are excited to share more of our little projects with you as we wait for her arrival!
Have a great day! 

tackling a little project...

On saturday, before Kit got home, Ryder and I surprised Kit by putting together the dresser for Ryder's room.

Man, there were lots of pieces, but my need for nesting was over the top and I was feeling very ambitious.

My helper:

The finished product:

There have been many times over the past few weeks and months that I feel like I am watching Ryder grow up in front of my eyes.  This whole room switch has really made me think of him as little boy.  He is going from my baby boy to my big kid and I am just trying to take it all in.  I really am trying to savor every second of this time.

ps: If anyone has a machine or a way to slow time, I would love to borrow it....

Finishing up...

Yesterday I finished my NRP skills lab and today I finished my CPR class and I am officially on maternity leave.  I am so thankful for this time with Ryder and Kit.  I know that before we know it, Eden will be here, so we are going to savor this season of anticipation of her arrival.

A picture for posterity:

We are getting new blue scrubs while I am on my leave, so this is the last time that I plan to wear this much green!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers this week while Kit has been gone and while I have been trying to get all my work stuff done.

You spoil me!

This weekend we will be enjoying that Kit is home and next week I will have some updates of Eden's room for you...

Oh, it's all coming together!

I still can't believe that we are having a baby girl...

ps: Kit comes home tomorrow night and did I mention that we can't wait to see him!

tid bits

We have really been missing our Kit.  We can't wait for him to come home!  It's just been a few days and we have been keeping busy in the mean time:

Things on the "have to" list, aka the not so fun list...

 REALLY not so fun...

When I don't want to read about intubating newborns or pushing epinephrine on a person weighing less than 5 pounds through their umbilical vein, I have been reading these:

(Lots more fun...)

Spending time with this little man:

(Best part of the day...)

Picking our tangelos and eating them everyday...

Putting finishing touches on Ryder's bookshelf in his room:

(Each item is so special to us that it's fun to look at them on a regular basis!)

Organizing photos, making thank you cards, and scrapbooking:

Spending time with family:

Keeping track of my phone:

(Who is being Face Timed, Hey Telled, phoned, or text by this little man.)

(I went to down load some pictures from my phone and there were SO MANY "self portraits" of my little guy.  I need to be more diligent...)

I'm also trying to stay on top of the grocery shopping, meal prep., laundry, house cleaning, while taking breaks throughout the day for this little munch:

Speaking of this little munch, I can't wait to share some of the projects for her room with you.  They are in process but I can't wait to see how it all comes together!
My mom is coming out today and I am so excited to get some family time with her!  Ryder is beside himself when she is here...
Have a wonderful Thursday!