Savannah Visit: Cooking

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take a few days off work and I headed down to Savannah with Gibson. The original plan was to fly but when I got the news (last minute) that my flight had been cancelled I took to the road and we drove!

Driving alone with a 4 month old isn't my idea of fun but it was important to get down there for a Saturday visit with my brother so I couldn't wait for the next direct flight. As a plus, it allowed for me to take a few more items... like his mama roo which was helpful to have around while I was cooking and painting...

The weekend consisted of a nice visit with my brother, church, lunch out, cooking and preparing of a lot of freezer meals, and I painted my nephews bedroom! A very productive weekend!

A few of the meals that I made were:

The BEST Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas - With only 4 ingredients these are SOOOO easy and yummy! I made this meal for dinner one night but made some extra of the filling and placed it in a freezer bag along with flour tortillas for my sister-in-law to cook up on another night.

My Sausage, Goat Cheese, and Arugula Stuffed Peppers: Another easy and tasty meal. So easy in fact that, under my direction, my 8 year old niece did all of the cooking for this meal! 

Creamy, Tomato and Spinach pasta: I made this one as a freezer meal. Placing uncooked pasta in a freezer bag, Added a freezer bag of uncooked (frozen) shrimp, and pre-cooked the sauce and added that in a freezer bag. Placed all three items into one bigger bag with cooking instructions on the outside. (Directions: Cook pasta. Thaw, shell, & Cook shrimp. Add sauce to shrimp and heat through. Add pasta to shrimp and sauce mixture. DONE)

Chicken, Broccoli, Rice Casserole: this is one of the freezer meals that I did before Gibson's Birth. I decided to to a half recipe and it ended up being MUCH more manageable! 

Sausage and Zucchini Casserole: This is such a yummy and flavorful dish! So easy! 

Plum Pork Tenderloin: this is a crock pot meal

Next Tuesday I will be sharing my before and after of my nephew's room!

Favorite Things Friday

I would like to add DIY Panels to our downstairs doors. Right now they are just plain jane and this gives so much personality!

 

 

Yes please to ALL of this house! From the fabulous kitchen with the painted base on the island and marble, painted beams, Wallpaper accent wall in the half bath! Even the piggy bookends holding the cookbooks!!! I WANT IT! Don't even get me started on the gift wrap station in the laundry room. That would be my happy place... Don't know where mommy is??? In the Laundry room of course!!!

 

This Nursery for a Third Child is AMAZING! It makes me want to re-do my own kiddos rooms!! the closet organization is just making my head spin. Soon we will need to do our own closet revamp when Gibson and Hunter start sharing a room. Which, side-note, is likely only a few months away since Gibson is such an amazing sleeper. I just want to get him through his first few teeth.

 

What rock have I been living under??? I didn't realize that H&M has baby clothes. I'm not an H&M lover typically but this vest, via Brooklyn Limestone is too much!!! Would it be a crime to put my boy in it??? I asked Matt and he thought that Hunter could rock it.

 

I'm obsessed with this first birthday party!

 

 Hope that everyone has a GREAT weekend. I'm off to Savannah for 4 days with Gibson!



Stitch Fix #3

I was SOOOO excited to see a lovely Stitch Fix box when I got home yesterday from work!

I instantly ripped that sucker open to reveal all of the lovely items inside! Can you believe that I actually waited four WHOLE HOURS to try anything on??? That is some self control people! But I was under strict instruction from Emma to wait until she was there to provide "input"...

I always love to see how they have the items styled and I like that they have both a dress-up and dress-down option.

I also enjoy reading my note to see why certain items are picked... For this order I had requested not to receive anymore jeans and I was happy to see that they honored that request.

And now for the good stuff... sorry for the HORRIBLE lighting. I took the photos at night because I had to wait for Emma.

Cropped pants and navy/white dot blouse

I love the feel of the pants... they are SUPER soft but EXPENSIVE! A little on the fence about the blouse.

Cropped Paints (again) and White cotton cardigan  

The cardigan is SOOOO soft and I want to wear it forever!

Navy/White Dot top with some ORANGE paints that I already own

Emma was NOT a fan of this look and I'm still on the fence with the top

Jace Dot Dress

The details don't show up very well in these photos but the dress is black with a cute teal dot detail. Spoiler alert I'm wearing the dress now... so safe to say I'm keeping it.

Chevron Print Dress

Matt was not a fan of this look... I thought that it was okay and looked better once I added a skinny gold belt.

Breakdown...

Blue/white Blouse: $48
Capri Pants: $108
White Cotton Cardigan: $54
Jace Dot Dress: $68
Chevron Dress: $58










TOTAL: $336

If I were to buy everything I get a 25% discount. So with the discount and minus the $20 styling fee my total would be $237. 

This is the first month that I'm really tempted to buy everything... If I do not buy everything I think I would only by the Jace dress and cardigan which would come to $102 with the styling fee already subtracted. 
 

Want to try Stitch Fix??? I highly recommend Here is some additional Info

Also, I was not the only one to get some new duds yesterday!!! Hunter and Gibson both had a package from Old Navy!

Gibson Update

First I would like to say THANK YOU for keeping Gibson in your thoughts and prayers. Last week at his 4 month appointment we discovered that our little guy was not gaining properly despite eating VERY well.

I went back to the doctor yesterday for my weekly weight check with a nurse and he is currently at 13.9 oz this was 1.5 oz up but due to the fact that I had just fed him before taking him in they really think that the "weight gain" was just my milk in his belly not yet digested. SOOOO... they are classifying this week as a no gain week. (They had been hoping for at least 5 ozs.)

We take him back next week for another check-in with the nurse... if there is still no weight gain they are going to start to run a few tests. I will also be bringing in some pumped milk so that they can test the fat content... but I already know that it will come back with a nice high caloric content and don't for a second think that my milk isn't fatty enough.

He continues to be a happy little guy though!

 

Monthly Goals: August

Time is just flying by! Before we know it school will be back in session. Here are a few goals that I hope to accomplish this month!

1. Loose 5 lbs... Still trying to get down to the pre-pregnancy weight.
2. RUN... Matt just bought me some new running shoes and I signed up for a 5 mile race in September so I really need to get focused on this. Matt has decided that he will also start running with me (because I need accountability!) I like that this is going to be our family time 3 times a week! Matt will push the double stroller and Emma will ride her bike or run along with us.
3. Move furniture around in Gibson's Room... Want to get this done and photos taken so that I can officially take this one off my list. Cannot wait to share all in a future post because I'm really happy with how this room turned out!
4. Sell at least $300 worth of items on eBay... I am actually doing really well with my eBay selling and I'm going to keep track of EVERYTHING that I do this month so that I can do a post about it. I'm also so happy to be clearing out a lot of Emma's old items.
5. Create a reading nook in the playroom
6. Touch-up paint in the house
7. Create a homework station for back-to school... Shared some ideas HERE
8. Backpack for Hunter... I am going to ATTEMPT  to sew a toddler backpack for Hunter. I found an amazing one on etsy but the shop is closed until October... Found this pattern so wish me luck!
9. Organize Hunter's Clothes... I need to pull out all of his 2T clothes and see what is needed and switch out items that he has outgrown.
10. Trip to Savannah... To help out family. I was going to leave Gibson behind with Matt but with the weight issues I've changed my flight reservation to infant-on-lap. This mommy cannot leave her little man for 4 nights!

July Re-cap

Via

Is July really over??? How is this even possible?

Here is how I did this month...

SUCCESS:

• Finish Gibson's Room... I'm going to go ahead and call this one. I did the bed skirt and honestly that it is really all I need to do. He does not really need a bumper or quilt... those are really more decorative items. I am however going to change some of the furniture around and will do a final blog post.
• Throw a baby shower for my girl Krista! done and done... you can see the shower photos here.
  
• Get Emma ready for Camp... done and done... Emma went to Camp Winshape again this year and had a fabulous time!
  
• Paint Upper level doors... DONE!!! After two year all doors are WHITE! THANK goodness 
  
• Finally take some family photos... Done! The wonderful and talented Virginia Leslie of House of Maps Photography came by a few weeks ago and we took some family photos! I cannot wait to see and share the results!

FAILS:

• Loose 5 lbs... Lost 3
• Run 3 miles w/out walking... FAIL I can do 2... and that is only because I forced myself to do it on the last day of the month... I only ran 4 times total... big old fail.
• Birch Event and Design Website... Still need to upload the photos.
• FINISH THE FREAKING PLAYROOM! I did finish one project... the playroom table. Hope to cross a few more items off the list in this room over the weekend.
  
• Finish Basement Bathroom. Need to just do crown molding and tile in here and it will be done... didn't even go into this room in the last month SOOOO... FAIL
• Work out at least 4 times a week. - Fail

Favorite Things Friday - Back to School Edition

While we still, THANKFULLY, have a month before school is back in session I have a lot of friends and family that are already gearing up for a new school year... So in a nod to them and in an effort to organize my own family ahead of time I decided to do a round-up of my favorite back to school items in the blog world!

This year Emma will be entering 5th GRADE!! How is this even possible??? Hunter will also make his academic debut in Pre-school. (for a few hours a few days a week)

This is an adorable Teacher Survival Kit. Would be a cute gift for their teachers. I will also give some home-made cookies and a card made by each of the kiddos.

Emma is easy for lunch... Just pack her a ham and cheese sub and you have a happy girl... but Hunter is a TOTALLY different story... The boy HATES sandwiches. He even pulls apart his grilled chesse! I found these Healthy School Lunch Ideas and I cannot wait to make a few. I especially think that he will be a fan of the DIY Lunchables.

I leave for work before Emma gets up in the mornings and often when I pick her up from school I find myself exclaiming... "What are you wearing!!!" With two kiddos in school this year I plan on making these Day of the week clothing hangers and picking out clothes on Sunday.

 

I will need to get a cute little toddler backpack for Hunter and I REALLY want to get this Dump truck one from etsy... but the shop owner is taking a break until October :-( I'm tempted to just get a generic one and order this the second her shop opens back up! It looks to be really well made. Or maybe I will try to make one...

 

This year I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and do the annual Back to school Interview and Photo

 

And finally one of my goals for the month of August is to create a homework station... Last year we STRUGGLED with Emma when it came to completing homework. The girl pretended that a whole subject didn't even exist and I had no clue because she did such a good job at hiding it... Lat's just say she was NOT a fan of all of the make-up work we made her do once we discovered that she had gone two semesters without doing ANYTHING for that one subject... This is NOT a problem that we will be having this year!

 

I love this station from House of Smiths and I plan to steal a few of their ideas!