Fun with Bubble Wrap and Minnie Mouse - Baltimore, MD. - January 2012

So we spent a lot of time in our PJ's over the Christmas and New Years holidays for a couple of reasons. 

ONE - We were all sick so were therefore entitled.

TWO - PJ's are so much more fun!

I'll spare you the adults in there PJ's but isn't that the cutest PJ'ed fanny you've ever seen?!

It was great to have the Hub home for a few days before he started a pretty crazy rotation. We played with all our new toys from Santa. El and Mini Mouse became fast friends and you can see her new kitchen in the back ground of some of these pictures.

But as always the packing materials proved to be the most amusing occupiers of our time.

Introducing Bubble Wrap Wings!

What will we come up with next?!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

What's For Dinner? - Baltimore, MD - Dec 2011

So these days I'm completely motivated by food. With Little Sticks squashing my stomach in to my UPPER rib cage, somewhere around my shoulder, I get to eat a few extra meals each day! That's never a bad thing! =)

So with a looming grocery store run hanging over me yesterday I thought to myself "What's for dinner?" and THANKFULLY I had an answer! (so often I'm like... "I don't know... Whatever!?" But yesterday I got and answer! Woo hoo!!! Eggplant Parmesan!!! With this dish being one of my all time favorites I thought I'd do a little "blogumenting", is that a word?

My little sister made it for us for the first time when she came shortly after El was born and we loved it! SInce then, it's my "go to" meal when "we're having friends over for dinner", " a good friend has been in the hospital or has a new baby", or "The Hub wants to eat something that's not a casserole". It's ALWAYS met with RAVE reviews!  It also freezes well and makes for awesome leftovers!

You will need:

1 large eggplant

2 cups of bread crumbs

2-3 eggs

canola or vegetable oil or olive doesn't really matter

Approximately 48 ozs of homemade pasta sauce (made in advance) or 2 jars of whatever flavor of marinara sauce you like (I like Classico Tomato & Basil)

fresh spinach

fresh basil

42-3 cups of mozzarella

1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (not canned)

STEP 1 - Preheat canola oil in a cast iron skillet (once oil is hot keep heat on medium to medium low, depending on your stove and pan, to prevent oil from smoking).  At the same time, preheat oven to 350

NOTE TO READER: I use a cast iron skillet because it maintains a pretty consistent temperature and canola oil because it has a higher smoke point, both of which make it so that we are less likely to set off the fire alarm. =)

STEP 2 - Peal the skin off the eggplant and first slice the eggplant into quarter inch slices, then cut those slices in half,

Bread the eggplant slices. Have one shallow bowl for an egg wash (break eggs into bowl and mix whites and yolks together) and one shallow bowl for bread crumbs and a clean dry cutting board or cookie sheet for breaded eggplant slices. Once pealed, cut, and breaded they should look like this.

Note to Pregnant Readers: If your oven/stove top controls are on the front of your appliance beware, your baby belly likes to adjust the size of the flame. Oops! =)

(Holy Crap where the heck are my feet!)

(Oh thank goodness... There they are!)

 STEP 3 - Once all eggplant slices have been breaded place into hot oil and brown on each side.  According to the below picture, I can usually fit 8 or 9 half slices in the pan at a time.

 STEP 4 - After all the eggplant slices have been browned, it's time to assemble.  This goes together in layers, sort of like a lasagna.  Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with a ladle full of marinara sauce 

NOTE TO READER: If your going to freeze half for later or take half to a friend, use two 8x8 baking dishes.  Also when I'm freezing or taking to a friend I get the disposable aluminum 8x8 DEEP baking pans from the grocery store.  Makes clean up super easy and they don't have to worry with cleaning and  returning a dish.

Layers go like this on top of the thin coat of marinara sauce, layer browned eggplant, then cover with spinach, then mozzarella cheese, then a few torn basil leaves, and then another ladle of marinara sauce.  Should sort of look like this.

(It takes about 3 layers to use all the eggplant.)

STEP 5 - Once all the eggplant has been layered, top with a nice layer of marinara, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  Should look like this just before you stick it in the oven. 

Step 6 - Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Then it's yum yum eat it up!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

31 Weeks - Baltimore, MD - December 2011

I haven't done nearly the number of posts I thought I'd be doing on this pregnancy, but much to my amazement, my friends that are mommies of one and one on the way were right!  The days and weeks are just FLYING by!

(25 Weeks - Fall photo session by Monica Leigh: MM Leigh Photography)

The 2nd trimester was great!  I pretty much ran after the Monkey throughout that entire 12 weeks.  El and I also did some fun traveling.  First to see my friends Robyn and Sarah in Florida for about a week and then to see my Sister in Kansas for a 4 day weekend.  We also went as a family to New York City.  All of these trips I fully intend on posting about, so please stay tuned and please don't give up on me.  I just feel like on most days I'm going in circles and praying that at the end of the day the beds are made the sink is clean there is something to eat for dinner, The Hub has clean scrubs to wear tomorrow, and I can say I accomplished SOMETHING that day.

I'm starting to "list" all the things that need to be done before the arrival of Little Sticks and am starting to get a little overwhelmed, and A LOT excited!  Most things will need to wait until after the new year, but with the Hub on a pretty rough couple of rotations in a row I know we must take our time and do what we can today and be okay with leaving the rest for tomorrow, or the next day, or even next week or month.

It's been a lot harder for me this time around not knowing the gender of this baby because I am worried if it's a boy that he'll have to wear pink new born stuff, but I'm comforted when I pull out the box of preemee and newborn clothing from when El was tiny and remember that we deliberately bought things to be gender neutral. =)  Good thinking us!

Here are a few belly pictures

20 Weeks

 25 Weeks

30 Weeks

How far along? 31 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:10 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yep (Thank you Katie, I'd be naked without your super cute tops!)

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Not so great. My dreams are still NUTS and the heart burn is KILLER!!!
Working out? I picked up The Perfect Pregnancy Workout: Vol 1 and it's actually pretty good.

Best moment this week: I have 2: One hearing Little Stick's heart beat on Tuesday and two When El woke up yesterday morning she pointed at my belly and said "baby" and blew Little Sticks a kiss.

Movement: ALL THE TIME!!! And he/she gets the hiccups like you wouldn't believe!!!

Food cravings: Japanese Hibachi food, Red Robyn bottomless fries, and root beer floats! Mmmmmmmm!!!!

Gender: Not finding out!!

Labor Signs: Nope (unless you count Braxton Hicks contractions which I've had in both pregnancies from the 2nd trimester through to the end). 

Belly Button in or out? OUT

What I miss: Sushi and sleep

What I am looking forward to: Christmas! (I know this is a little late.)

Weekly Wisdom: Sleep when you can!

Milestones: I have my "shelf" back! Most often used as a plate or cup holder while kicking back on the couch, this belly comes in pretty handy! =)

Til Next Time,

Bon Voyage!

Family Gift Swap - Baltimore, MD - November 2011

I can't believe I'm already thinking about Christmas gifts.  reason number one is that it's in the 60's out side and I didn't even wear a coat today.  Reason number two is, if it's almost Christmas than I have less than 3 months till we meet this sweet baby! Yay!

After doing the family Christmas crazy dance last year, my siblings and I chattered about potentially doing a name swap this year so that we could concentrate more on the season rather than the mad dash to be sure you'd gotten everyone a gift.  So a few weeks ago I reintroduced the idea and everyone was still game to give it a go, so I volunteered to organize.

First off, I found this website which made it super easy to randomly generate the swap.  It allows you to set exceptions so that you don't draw your spouse or the same person you drew last year.

Second, I wanted to find a cute way to let my family know who they'd drawn. Yes, e-mail is "easy" but a cute card in the mail is WAY more fun!!!

I got these great "I Am Thankful For" cards from this Jones Design Company post.  This isn't how she used the cards, but I thought they were perfect for what I'm calling "Swap Cards".

I found these colorful blank cards at Target and stuck the "thankfulness" cards to the blank cards 

This is the finished product. 

(NOTE: The lower "eat-drink-be merry" card was from this JDC Free Christmas goodies post and I used it to communicate the "swap" details.)

I sent them to each family member with instructions to include the card with a message when they gave their gift.  This may sound silly to some, but this year more than ever I'm really feeling the need to stay connected to my family as we aren't going to be able to return to Tennessee for Christmas and both of my younger siblings could very likely be deployed fighting for our country next Christmas.

It was my goal to make it as easy as possible for each of us to know how much we are loved and to know that each of us hold a VERY special place in our family.

I miss and love them like crazy!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage

A Ponytail FINALLY!!! - Baltimore, MD - November 2011

I was mentioning to the Hub last night while playing with the Monkey's hair that I really thought it might FINALLY be long enough for a ponytail. I don't quite remember what his response was, but I'm sure it was something like,  "okay?".

Anyway, this morning, at her first peep, I rushed into her room, scooped her up and said something like "guess what today is? It's your FIRST PONYTAIL DAY!!!"

I must say, by far, I was the most excited about this milestone... 

Is this not the cutest, tiniest, little ponytail you've ever seen!

(NOTE TO READER: Those cute barrettes came out just after I took the pictures, as they're small enough to end up in her mouth, which I'm SURE would be the first place they'd go.)

I've been asked by SEVERAL people how I keep her still long enough to fix her hair?

That would be... iPhone Bribery! =)  Just kidding!

The truth is for the most part she sits pretty still and "reads" books, but as I said in my pig tail post, this has been  a bit of a process and my suggestion to mama's of little girls is, "START EARLY"!!!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

A Thanksgiving Craft C/O JDC Monthly - Baltimore, MD - November 2011

I joined JDC Monthly's printables a couple of months ago and have really enjoyed the cute calendars and note cards.  Another fun part is that she does a really cute DIY craft each month.  The first month she made her own envelopes.  Mine didn't turn out nearly as cute as hers.  The corners were all wonky  and none of my lines were straight (probably because I can't make a straight line to save my life) but I'm sure I just need more practice.

Each month generally has a theme, and this month had a hint of Thanksgiving.  I LOVED how cute it turned out in her house, so I decided to give it  a whirl.

So, after last year's whirl wind of putting up and taking down Christmas decorations with an infant under foot and only really getting to enjoy them for a few weeks, i decided that this year I'd start decorating after Halloween.  By doing this, our home would look festive and beautiful all the way through the holiday season.  So I started with our fireplace.

Before craft: This garland came from Sams Club last year and the "PEACE" letters were an after Christmas bargain 5 years ago from HomeGoods

 Craft in progress: I printed and cut out the letters from heavy card stock, then glittered the fronts...

 and backs of each letter.

 I used spray glu and fine glitter.

(I started using a glue stick, but the glitter didn't stick very well at all.)

 After letting everything dry for about an hour I punched two holes in the top of each letter and  threaded some twine through the holes to connect the letters.

FIRST LESSEN LEARNED: I think I'll let the glitter dry a little more if I do this again, because there was a little more glitter lost than I would have liked when I threaded the twine through the holes.

SECOND LESSEN LEARNED: When possible, do all gluing and glittering OUTSIDE!!!  Even after vacuming 3 times there is still glitter in places that I didn't even know existed.

After all the glitter settled, I hung the letters from the hooks that will eventually hold our stockings

Definitely don't needs stockings before Thanksgiving! =)

I LOVE IT!!!

(And it is note worthy to say that the Hub actually said it looked really good and he REALLY liked it too! YAY!!!)

Another (LESS SPARKLY) Thanksgiving craft coming soon!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Candy... STAT!!! - Baltimore, MD - October 2011

Last year, for Halloween, even though we didn't go door to door trick-or-treting, I couldn't resist dressing our little monkey up for the occasion.  She had two costumes...

A Monkey...

 I LOVE the tail!

And a Frog!

 

I LOVE both costumes and she wore them both from when they swallowed her up, until she was literally about to pop out of them.  I can't wait for "Little Sticks" to be able to wear them.  Dressed up babies are too cute!

This year she was a doctor.

When I was little we always went to our church's carnival for Halloween so I've never actually done door to door trick-or-treating, so we were really excited that Daddy was able to join us for our first trick-or-treating adventure!

It was really funny how quickly she caught on to knocking, saying "thank you"...

And then checking her bag for goodies,

She was great at sharing!

When we got home and dumped out the candy she was very cautious about if it all was hers, as I don't think she's ever even seen that much candy all in one place.

Daddy inspected all her candy and after going back and forth between Reese's Pieces and a candy bar, she finally decided that her first Halloween candy treat would be a Hershey's Cookies & Cream mini. 

Our little girl has good taste!  What a fun time!  Who knows what she'll be next year...

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!