Final Touches

Ya'll we're getting really close to being a family of four. I'm talking like single digit weeks left. Holy moly.  It's time to get things moving. I got a phone call the other night that MaKenzie had everything on order and we were ready to go~EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK.

That + bedrest has left me with a bit of a panic that it's time to start nailing down the finishing touches. I've got all the big things, the furniture is in and assembled. The gender specific bedding, accents etc. are ordered and on their way. So that leaves my procrastination items and I think I'm close to rounding up my list. Here is everything I can currently think of that I need to secure in the coming weeks to finish the final touches for baby moon.

1. The Curtains: Penny will be here this week to give Hubby and I an anniversary date night and we're gonna knock this one out. I'm loving the idea of picking a fun neutral fabric and adding little balled tassels on the ends. 
2. The Lavender Rug / The Orange Rug: I've narrowed it to these two lovelies and placed my order thanks to awesome Labor Day Sales. Just hoping I love them in person as much as I do online. 
3. A side table: I am LOVING this pedestal table from the RH Baby line. I definitely want a circular table and think this may be the one!
4. The Halo Bassinet: I'm still undecided on this one - but I think I want it. It's got great reviews and looks so perfect for my C-section recovery. I'm really considering pulling the trigger. 
5. The Diaper Genie: Duh! This was obviously a baby registry item that I need to purchase myself this time around. Must have.
6. Graco Noise Machine: Sorry, Bennett's not ready to hand his down just yet. Baby moon is in need of his/her own. 
7. Newborn Diapers: Gotta stock up on those teeny tiny little ones again! Thanks to Hub's diaper shower last go round, I don't think we every purchased diapers. But this time - time to hit up Costco!
8. Soothies: Bennett lost interest in these types of pacis wayyy earlier than planned and MaKenzie's girls were still all about them (and she had three - HA!), so I gave her all of mine. Time to snag a few for that wittle nugget!
9. Second Monitor Camera: Time to add more gadgets to our rooms! Luckily we've got a monitor that allows the addition of a second camera (up to 3 more!) so just need to purchase the camera for Moon's room. 

So there we have it.  Can you guys think of anything else I'm missing. I'm really missing my registry list right about now - and those "I loved this when I was a mom" gifts that I was so thankful for last time.  Because right now I'm staring at 9 things and about 9 weeks left. Maybe if I set out to purchase one item a week I'll actually be ready for this little one. Maybe. But I'm sure I'm forgetting something, sheesh :)

Recipe Monday: Asian Slaw

Last week I posted about what fun it was to host one of my best friend's Baby Shower. And this week I'm here to share a super simple recipe that we served, Asian Slaw.

When we were putting together the menu, we knew we wanted yummy + easy dishes that would please a crowd, not break the bank, and look delicious. Not to mention, they had to please the mama of course! So after we secured all things our preggo loves (ahem lots and lots of macaroni 'n' cheese + giant puffed Cheetos + chocolate milk) we were looking for a quick and easy dish that added a little something green and fresh. Enter, Asian Slaw. 

*Asian Slaw*

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 oz.) package slaw
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 packages Ramen noodles (chicken flavored)
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• Salt to taste

Recipe/Instructions:

• Crush Ramen noodles. Mix all ingredients together and add chicken flavored packets from Ramen noodles. Salt to taste if needed.  Can chill before serving, but not needed.  Enjoy! 

 How's that one for an easy side dish?! Enjoy your week pals!

 

Pampering the Perfect Little Prince

Guys, this past weekend was one of those where I would love to hit the rewind button and do all over again. It was such a great weekend and made my heart happy. Let's just host a #TakeMeBackTuesday and pretend it's a thing shall we?

We headed back to Kentucky this weekend to have a weekend jam packed with family and friends and it was perfect. Friday, my mom kept B for a few hours and I got some grand alone time to drive around and run errands, run in and out of stores and it was just the time I needed. Thanks mama!

Saturday we spent some good QT with PaPaw, GoGo + Grampa at my parent's pool and it was all things great. If ya'll are saying your prayers this weekend throw some in for Shane's dad would ya - he could use em :)

Saturday night, one of my good friends married her College sweetheart and the wedding and performances were on point!  The bride and groom had the most perfect choreographed dance (she was on the dance team at UK - so it was super fitting) + their dad's had an epic father dance off. It was the best night surrounded by long time friends and naturally, Lana was stunning!

And Sunday, Holly and I had the pleasure of hosting one of my bestest friend's baby showers! Laura is due with her first baby (boy) in late August.  In college, she was Cinderella for Halloween + she and her husband Chris (I've talked about them before) have a love affair for Disney - so it only made sense to make her our queen and celebrate baby Prince Charlie! 

Quinn bought Laura this amazing flower crown and it was the perfect addition to the perfect day!

A day filled with lots of gifts, goodies, girlies, giggles and love. We cannot wait to meet you little Charlie, and your mama is a stunner!

Snickerdoodle cake .. gimme more.

While some of our gals had to battle "the wedding flu" the next morning, we all rallied and it worked so well because so many of our favorites were in town for the wedding! Hey Emily and Leah :)

We played a cute little "Wishes for the Prince" game ... and reading through them at the end was such a highlight :)

These gals have my heart.

They still have it in color too ;) {pictured left to right: Holly, JoAnna, Jessica, Sara, Leah, Laura, Moi, Baili, Quinn, Rachael}

And the hosts with our gal ... we love her so! The babies in our bellies (mine + Laura's) are destined to be besties. Best friends raising best friends ... I LOVE it!

So again, can we have a do-over of the weekend please? PLEASE! Loved it!

Recipe Monday: Pasta Salad Woes

Okay, do ya'll remember when I shared my unhealthy love for Ruby Tuesday's pasta salad? I was bound and determined to find a recipe that could give me my fix at home, but just an update we're on about recipe 7 and still haven't nailed it. 

Basically, anytime I can find an excuse to take another stab at the recipe I pounce on the idea. So forewarning to my friends and family, you're probably going to have some version of this salad for the next 2 years until I feel certain that I have cracked the code. 

That being said I made another version of the infamous pasta salad for a couples shower and I felt pretty good about the outcome. Definitely not solid enough to end the quest, but heading in a good direction. So here we go ...

Creamy Ham and Pea Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 box rotini pasta
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 3/4 cup  mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces diced ham
• 1 cup frozen green peas, defrosted
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

Directions:

• Cook the pasta according to package directions ... about 9 minutes until al dente
• Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Place in large mixing bowl. 
• Whisk the ranch dressing, sour cream, mayonnaise, seasoning salt and pepper. 
  
• I forgot the sour cream, so for me that got added later. I was also using a 1/4 measuring cup, so that's what it's heaping.
  
• Toss the dressing with the pasta and then gently stir in the ham, peas and bell pepper. 
  
• Taste and add more seasoning salt or pepper, if needed. 
• Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

So there is attempt number 7.  Until my next try. Enjoy!

Recipe Monday: Buffalo Chicken Dip

The age-old football party/tailgate favorite: Buffalo Chicken Dip. There are so many variations that can be made to this recipe, but in the end they all come out the same ... DEEEELISH!  Plus HUGE bonus ... when you eat it as a dip, you don't have to worry about anyone seeing your treacherous wing eating face, getting that delectable sauce allover your cheekies or having to wear gloves because you have a cut on your finger and the wing sauce makes it sting.  Not that Shane or I have any knowledge in any of these departments or anything ...

Oh heavens he is going to KILL me, so worth it though.  Hehehe, okay so we hosted a couples baby shower this weekend, and I knew the food better be boy friendly.  Therefore, I thought this would be a great addition to the menu.

Hubs and I are ranch people, opposed to the bleu cheese connoisseurs ... so my recipe includes ranch, but feel free to substitute or add both for that matter if you want some bleu cheese in your recipe. Additionally, any shredded cheese works ... so don't feel like you need to buy anything in particular. Just use whatever amazing cheesy concoction you can scrounge up from your fat mold cheese drawer.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (reduced fat or the regular super fat kind will work)
• 1/2 cup wing hot sauce (I use Frank's)
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing (I use Ken's, but any ranch will do, even a thicker veggie dip kind would be fine. This is also where you could use bleu cheese if it tickles you fancy)
• 2 cups shredded or chopped chicken (I buy a fryer chicken from Kroger because it has tons of flavor and it's super easy ... I've also made it with chicken thighs [cooked anyway you prefer] ... I know you can also buy canned white chunk chicken and use that too, but quite frankly that freaks me out. Meat in a can just shouldn't be allowed. Ever.)
• 2 cups cheese (I use the cheddar blend, but again, any will do)
• Serve with celery and Frito scoops ... so they're not part of the ingredients, but you'll wanna snag em' on your grocery run :)

Directions

There are 2 ways to make this goodness. Layered or mixed. I do both, but I think I've recently decided I like it mixed for a couple of reasons. First and most importantly, its the easiest Second, it ensures you get all of the mixture on your serving utensil (celery or Frito). You know how sometimes you get those "scared to dip" type of people? The ones that just dip the tip of their chip only halfway down in the mixture.  I want to grab them by the shoulders, shake them violently and scream "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH CREAM CHEESE YOU JUST LEFT AT THE BOTTOM!?!?!" And for that very reason, I think we should just all agree to mix it all. Capisch?

HOWEVER - if you want to layer it do so like this:

• Spread cream cheese evenly among the bottom of an ungreased 1 qt shallow baking dish
• Top with layer of your NON-CANNED chicken
• Mix ranch and hot sauce together - pour over chicken
• Finish her off by topping with your cheesy goodness
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or until mixture is hot and bubbly and heated through)

But, I'd suggest the mix.  Pull chicken off the bone and chop into bite sized little pieces.

Next put all of the ingredients in a bowl.  Then stir them all together. Now plop em down in your 1 quart baking dish so they can get all warm and cozy together.

Finally, pop em in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Garnish with some baby celery/green onions/or extra cheese to give it a little prettiness.  Serve with celery and Frito's. Hello buffalo chicken heaven without sauce all over your hands and face. Sheer perfection!

Gettin' Leafy Wreath It

Yep, it's a horrible attempt at a play on words, you caught me. 

"Getting Leafy Wreath It" ... "Gettin Jiggy With It" ... get it? 

No? Okay, great because I really don't either, but I'm all jazzed because my crafty skills just repurposed a wreath. And that means not only did I save mucho dinero, but I also have new door decor! Yipppeeee. I'm so domestic!

Alright, so do you remember this adorable little bowtie wreath from my Little Gentleman's Shower my gal pals threw me? 

Yes, adorable I know. My pal Megan made it for me ... and speaking of that she's started an adorable little Etsy Shop called Crafts Galore by Megan that is totes worth checking out if you're in the market for other adorable door decor.

 Well anyway, after BUB came home and I finally took the "It's a Boy!" thingie-mah-jig off the front door I had to replace it with something and I wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel on the whole baby theme just yet. So, I popped up the fancy bowtie wreath and it's been charming our entry way for nearly 2 months.

However, today I decided it was time to bust out the fall decor and I was stumped when it came to the new door decoration.  I swear I had a cute wreath I used to put up for fall ... it was one of those viney looking ones and I would always add a scarecrow I had or something, but I've already repurposed that wreath for another permanent decoration in our formal living room ... so I was left with nothing. 

After I got all of the decorations up in the house I had 2 bundles of leaves from Michael's left over and thought I'd add them to the bowtie wreath and see where it took me.  And it took me on a one way street to a beloved fall wreath I tell ya!

I'd share a tutorial, but in all honesty I didn't do anything other than remove the bowties and randomly stick the leaf bunches in the wreath and add a pre-made welcome sign (also from Michael's).  So here it is ... whaddya think? 

Not to shabby eh? And even better news ... I think that green burlap ribbon piece (which is nearly permanent) will parlay perfectly into Christmas colors as well ... so we may have another repurposing job on our hands!

SHOWERed with LOVE {pt. 3}

I know what you're thinking ... 3 showers ... seriously, is that necessary?  The answer is likely no, no it is not. BUT I've said it before and I'll say it again. I truly have the greatest support system, and little BUB is being born into so much LOVE it makes my heart melt.  So, yes I have had 3 showers. 

Mom and Pops are both Cincinnati | Williamsburg | Newport | Ohio | Northern, KY natives, so the bulk of my extended side of the family still lives there. So, mom wanted to throw a shower for both her and dad's side of the family, as well as momma's gal pals.  And she did SUCH A SPECTACULAR job!  My Aunt Toby worked her hands to the bone right alongside momma and also deserves a BIGG shout out! Smooches to you both!

But before I start sharing details of the day I need to say: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ... to all of my family that drove over 2 hours to come spoil me and little man.  Seriously, that means so much to me. 

Okay, now onto the deetz   :0)

For starters .. we decided on a Saturday shower, because so many of the guests would be traveling. So we wanted to let them be able to come down ... head back home and still have some weekend time of their own.  But ADDED bonus! ... because the shower was Saturday, that meant that MaKenzie and Maebyn came down Friday night to stay with me!!  So I got an extra dose of love and extended play time ... simply. the. BEST.

We hadn't seen each other for a while ... and remember MaK is pregnant with IDENTICAL TWIN GIRLS, and is about 10 weeks behind me. We were SO excited to compare bellies ... moving right along ... cannot wait to meet those pretties! 

We headed back to the casa to dish all things pregnancy, babies, and just catch up (Hubs was loving every minute of it, let me tell you ... hehehe)

We gave sweet baby Maebyn a bath, and oooed and aahed at how she is the most adorably precious thing I have ever seen. I mean seriously, can you even try to tell me she is not the SWEETEST!?

I am still so amazed at how beautiful she is, and how quickly she is growing up :( UGH I absolutely HATE that they live so far away. I want to see them all the tiiiiime!

Okay, enough pouting.  Onto the beautiful shower! The house was adorned with the most precious decorations, and I forgot to snag a photo of the invite (DANGIT!), but it was awesome.  The theme was "No Pink Allowed" and totally ALL BOY :0)  MaKenzie helped Mom's bring her vision to life and created all of the print collateral. - SUPERB job ladies.

 LOVE the Blocks and the truck!

 There was a station set up (sorry, photo is kind of dark), but everyone was supposed to write wishes for sweet baby boy. And reading through them was such a treat after I got home. I 've put some of my favorites in his baby book and stashed the rest away for a rainy day when he is older :0)

Duhh ... Daisies ... My fave!

And, to satisfy momma's sweet tooth ... a Little dirt pudding for those messy boys :) and and BOY OH BOY an oh so adorable cake! I'm a sucker for cute cakes I've decided. And all of my showers have been crazy CUTE!

And then, of course: cookies from the infamous cookie lady to take home! Adorned with another cutesy card! I may or may not have taken the leftovers and eaten them at work nearly everyday sporadically, for the next week or so...

Biggest fail of the shower ... I did not get one single picture with my momma ... the greatest hostess of all! :( WHAT in the world were we thinking?! SO STUPID.

However, We did happen to capture this great shot of me and my main gal.  So I guess I can go one living :)

But seriously, thank you for all of the hard work put into making it such a perfectly special day. I loved every second if it, and Bennett cannot wait to meet all of you!  Especially his sweet Grandma he has heard so much about and thank her for his big party to help bring him into the world. We LOVE YOU! Counting my blessings today, in a big way.