Mommy & Me Monday

Wow this Monday has been an emotional rollercoaster ride.

I tell ya moving and renovating is stressful especially with a little peanut in tow. I just want to wake up and this all to be over. I know its only a matter of time before we will be in and we will look back on this time and laugh at the ridiculously long process it took to get where we are, but till then Im just going to be really honest and tell y'all its been tough. I have hit the fan a few times, we have had some great moments and some moments where I just simply want to walk away from it all and be done. This too shall pass :) I just need to keep reminding myself that.

 

Since all we do lately is eat, breathe and sleep this house stuff, I did not get a pic in with little miss Paisley but I wanted to share one of the earlier pics when she was just a wee lil lad....I know it was only eight months ago, but it seriously feels like forever ago especially when you look at her now and how grown up she looks. Wishing I could hit a pause button on how fast my child grows up. Anyone else with me?

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week dear ones!



Guest Posting over at A Nelson's Nest

Happy Monday!!

 

Today I am guest posting over at A Nelson's Nest about a few little lessons Motherhood has taught me. I think the list could go on and on :) You should stop by and check out my post AND check out sweet little Anderson! He is a handsome fella and little Autumn might just be the sweetest big sis I know. She surely loves that "Baby Boy!" Congrats Ashley on your new little addition! Hope you get feeling better soon!

 



Five on Friday

This has been a bit of a chaotic week! After months of sitting on the same home and having to deal with an investor, terrible appraisers, switch loan types and reschedule closing 3 times, yes 3!! We FINALLY get to close today!! We close at noon and I feel like I can breath again somewhat! This has been a loooonnnnggg process and no one is more excited to see this process end than this girl!

We might just need to celebrate when this is all over!!

Well....HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

 

{1}

 

 

If you read the above we are homeowners!! Somehow saying that makes me feel like I am all grown up! Weird! Nonetheless the house is ours! SOLD!! We are not done renovating yet, but should be near close to move in next weekend! I cant tell you how great the house is looking. Looks like a whole new place! Be watching for before and after photos and a home tour!

 

 

 

{2}

 

After seeing these for months and so many tutorials and needing something to complete the entry way, I tried my hand at making my own Tissue Tassel Garland. I am pleased with how it turned out and it was super easy!

 

 

{3}

 

We have a crawler on our hands and she's into everything! She knows exactly where she is headed and exactly what she wants! There is no stopping her now!

 

 

 

{4}

 

Phil Wickham released a new CD this week and it blows my mind. His lyrics are so powerful I cant even stand it! If I only were half the writer that he is! Amazing songs. Go get this album for yourself!

 

{Source}

 

{5}

 

Monday I am guest posting over at A Nelson's Nest on Lessons in Motherhood. You should stop by and check it out AND check out her new sweet little handsome bundle of joy...Anderson! He is a cutie y'all!!

 

 

Happy weekend friends! I am off for our closing and some home shopping!!



Dinner and a Baby {Guest Post for NTSST}

Hello Never the Same Spice Twice followers!

 Im Rychelle and I blog over at Foltz Family Life. I have an eighth month old daughter, Paisley Grace who is the joy and center of our lives. I have waited for what feels like a lifetime to have a baby, and now that she is finally here I am not sure what I ever did without her. She makes me a better person *ahem* a more patient person to say the least :) Being a mom is the greatest gift in life, but I am sure that you all know that right??

If your household is anything like mine, its busy, chaotic and truth be told, there is never enough hours in my day to get it all done. My husband and I were always super busy before having a baby, and now with Paisley we are twice as busy. The thing that lacks in our household and gets the back burner is cooking at home. Especially with Paisley, who demands a lot of my attention, its hard to take the time needed to make healthy, good meals for us. Luckily, when Paisley was born my mom cooked for us while she was visiting, and then my step-mom cooked for us when they came, and the greatest blessing has been having my in-laws close by who have really helped us out in the meal department. We have managed to make it this far and not had to cook overly much. I tell my husband all the time, that I really see why people eat out or do take-in when they have a baby because its sooo much easier, and there is no mess to clean! Who hates clean up {hand raised}?

Whenever anyone of our friends has a baby I always volunteer to make a meal, well, one in particular because it makes sooo much food. Enough for them and enough for us so that I am not having to make two meals in one night, because that clearly is absolutely no fun! My all-time favorite meal is Chicken Tetrazzini. I know as Stephanie is taking care of her brand new little one, she probably has thought in advance, what she can cook, freeze and stock up on. IF you buy cooked chicken, whether it be a rotisserie chicken, or the already cooked and cut up, packaged chicken this is super quick to make and it makes a generous, generous portion. If you cook the chicken, cut it or shred it on your own then it does take some time. When I do make this dish, it generally makes one full 9x13 and one half filled 9x13 that I freeze for another time. 

Are y'all about ready to get your appetites on?

Chicken Tetrazzini from Southern Living
{Seriously the BEST recipe}


{Source}

Ingredients:

1 (16-oz.) package vermicelli noodles
1/2 cup chicken broth 
4 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (see above)
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of celery soup
1 (8-oz.) container sour cream 
1 (6-oz.) jar sliced mushrooms, drained 
1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon pepper
2 Cups (8oz) Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1. Cook vermicelli according to package directions; drain. Return to pot, and toss with chicken broth

2. Stir together chicken and next 8 ingredients; add vermicelli, and toss well. Spoon mixture into 2 lightly greased 9- x 13-inch baking dishes. Sprinkle evenly with cheese.

3. Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Simple Right?? Are you hungry now?? I know I sure am!!

AND.....

Because no night is ever complete without dessert I am leaving a simple recipe for Chocolate Cake. This Chocolate Cake recipe just happens to be vegan {dont get all weird on me, just try it first before you make assumptions} and it literally takes 5 minutes to prepare, get in the oven and a few dishes to clean :) Im for real!

{Source}

Cake Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp margarine or butter
2 tbsp soy milk or whatever milk you use
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In an 8x8 baking dish mix all dry ingredients till everything is blended

3. Add in all liquid ingredients and mixing well enough that everything is blended together and sides are scraped down

4. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean

Ok...the directions next say to let cool for 2 hours....who seriously lets a chocolate cake cool for 2 hours!???? I definitely didnt let cool for 2 hours because lets face it, chocolate has to be eaten asap. Agreed?

5. Let cool till you think its ready to "Glaze" I waited maybe 45 minutes to an hour

6. When you think its close enough to glaze or frost begin making the chocolate glaze

7. For the Chocolate Glaze: In a small saucepan, bring sugar, margarine, milk and cocoa to a boil stirring frequently and then turn down to simmer for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir for 5 minutes

8. Add vanilla and immediately pour on cake. Glaze dries quickly so spread evenly and add any sprinkles, chocolate chips or candy to the top

9. Let cool for 1 hour. {Again, who does that??}

**This cake is way better the next day :) Are you drooling yet??

Well, fellow Never the Same Spice Twice followers, I think that about wraps us up for this post. I hope you have enjoyed this post and if you are close to Stephanie I hope you make this for her, when that little bundle of joy arrives :) 

Thank you Stephanie for letting me come and be part of your world and your blog! Its been an honor to be here!! Congrats and best wishes with that little princess. Cant wait to "meet" her!

See Ya Later Y'all!!

Mommy & Me

Its finally starting to look like fall here, not feeling like fall yet, but I am embracing this rainy, fall day!! No one is more excited than this girl!! Its been a long time coming and I am so beyond happy to welcome in fall!

Welcome Fall!

Are you feeling the fall weather yet?

Paisley and I had this great game of hide and seek earlier today! I wish you all could see just how fun this little thing is :) We have such a blast! I cant wait to see what it will be like when she is older. I have a feeling this girl is going to keep me on my toes ;)
AND within the last few days Paisley Grace has become mobile!! She's on the move and there is no stopping her!! She is determined to get just where she wants to go, which means when we move next week I better get my baby proofing on because we are gonna need it!! 

Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Have a great week!!

Five on Friday

Im sure you all know a teething baby is the worlds worst moments. If you dont, consider yourself lucky. I maybe have averaged 10-12 hours of sleep this week. No joke! My poor teething princess has decided that she is on strike from anything and everything. Trying to get her to eat is a job in itself, and naps and sleeping at night... we arent even going to go there. Im sure you can guess what we I will be doing this weekend.....

And now its my favorite time of the week!! Five on Friday!!

::1::

Wednesday after a very long night and no sleep, I found this little cup of pick me up for $1!! I was quite impressed with my Pumpkin Iced Coffee. I now know why people rave about Dunkin' Donuts coffee!! Thank you Dunkin' Donuts for being easy on my pocket book and fueling the rest of my afternoon! You can never have enough coffee right?? ;)

::2::

We finally get to close on Wednesday yippee!! Its been a veeeerrrryyyyy looooonnnnnggg process to buy this house, one that I hope noone ever has to go through. Everything that could happen and go wrong on our house/loan process certainly did. Its been stressful and emotional, but I am just hoping the end result brings much happiness and joy! We have been able to go and remodel though and here are some sneak peeks....We took down several walls and added a HUGE pantry closet. I am not lying. Its HUGE!! Jealous??

::3::

I finally got in to Bath & Body Works to grab me some heavenly goodness! I am so overly pleased with this purchase and I CANNOT wait to burn these in our new home! Fall is in the air and Fall is about to be in my home!!!

::4::

Really wanting a DSLR camera of sorts for a beginner. Any recommendations? Im looking into Canon ones right now. Any favorites camera or brand wise?

{Source}

::5::

I am drooling over these photoshop actions!! I found others that I was in love with, but for the price I cannot wait to get my hands on them. Thank you Greater Than Gatsby for making it affordable!! You must check them out!

{Source}

Have a great weekend Y'all!

Friend Connect Blog Hop {CO-HOST}

It's Tuesday again which means it's time for the Friend Connect Blog Hop!

It's the time to meet new friends and find new blogs. You can choose to follow the cohosts in whatever way is best for YOU! Here are some of my favorite ways: GFC, BlogLovin', HelloCotton, RSS, Twitter, Facebook.

Ok, so let's get to the party, shall we?

RULES are simple:

1. Follow your host: The First link below

2. Follow your co-hosts: The Next 6 links below

3. Link up below using your main blog url not a specific post.

4. Make sure to visit some of the blogs in the link up and follow them and if you want to leave them a comment, I'm sure they'd appreciate that as well.

5. Tweet about this blog hop Tweet

6. Share about this blog hop by grabbing a button and putting it on your sidebar!

<a href="http://www.thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com/search/label/gfcbloghop"> <img src="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z237/melissaenault/fcbloghop_zps81aaa394.gif" border="0" /></a>    I have cohost spots available!  Email me if you're interested at melissa@thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com Ready to make new friends? Ok, GO!!

Co-hosting My First Blog Hop!

Hello lovely friends!

Just want to give you a heads up....

I am co-hosting with Melissa from The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife for her weekly Blog Hop.

If you havent joined in the fun you are surely missing out! Its a great way to meet new bloggers and make new friends! 

You simply just link your blog, visit some other blogs, comment, tweet about it and voila thats it! 

Simple. 

So now, that you know a little bit....are you excited??

I sure am. Hope you will join in the fun tomorrow!

Mommy & Me

Yesterday Paisley turned Eight months! 

To say that time is flying would be an understatement. Never in my life has time gone by so quickly. It's weird. For this edition of Mommy & Me I wanted to share something that makes me all giddy. I snapped this pic yesterday at lunch and realized something....

We look almost like twins! Like mother, like daughter. For the longest time I kept seeing Aaron in her, but at that particular moment, she couldnt look anything more like her momma :)

This will probably be my newest, favorite set of pics ;)

Have a great week!

EIGHT Months

Age: 8 Months

Birthday: January 15, 2013

Weight: 14 pounds 5 ounces

Height: 26 3/4 inches

Sleep: Nightime is not great at all. You take two naps, sometimes a third if you are overly tired which is of late because you wont sleep at night. You wake up every hour to three hours. You and mommy are exhausted most days! Teething must be ruining our whole lives!

Bedtime: 8:30/9 I am thinking if we get you to bed before you are really tired we might just be able to fix this nighttime nonsense. We'll see what happens....

Favorite Toy: KEYS!! You love our keys! You also love your exersaucer, books, baby doll, taggies elephant, anything that makes noise and your blocks

Clothes Size: 3 months still and some 3-6 months. You are a petite thing :)

Diaper Size: Size 2

Milestones Reached:

*Standing up holding on to something

*Copying sounds and emotions

*Making {some} animal noises

*Working on crawling

*You have got your two bottom teeth! You are adorable with those little toothers :)

*Reaching for what you want

*Looking for things when we hide them....smart cookie!

*Motioning "Come Here" {Best thing ever}

*Trying to feed yourself

*Saying buh-buy

*Sticking out tongue

*Sitting yourself up from laying down. Its a lot of work but you manage to do it when you want

Firsts:

*Loving your new stroller

*Love Peekaboo and you try to play too!

*First BIG accident...you fell out backwards in your carseat onto the tile floor. It was heartbreaking! We all cried!

*You LOVE to growl

*Love making high pitched noises

*Love standing yourself up in the bathtub {kinda}

*LOVE Daniel Tiger on PBS

*Dealing with separation anxiety :(

*You roll EVERYWHERE! Its so funny!

*Love sleeping on your belly. Thats how you sleep most night

*LOVE mangos

*You copy us when we laugh, growl, or make some funny faces

*You swung in a big girl swing and liked it so-so

*You have to tell all your animals and things night-night

*Tapping on beat to music! Its amazing!!

*LOVE puffs

*You dont like wearing bibs...you spend half the time trying to take them off

*Messy, Messy, Messy eater!!

*You think it is funny to fake whine just to get our attention. Its funny!

*VERY opinionated

*You tell us when you are angry and dont like things! Attitude from a lil thang!

*Ticklish on your back

*You are a busy body. You never, ever stop moving!

*You hate getting changed....you like to roll over and not let us change you

*Painted your piggies...too cute for words
*Drinking from a sippy

Best Mood: Mornings by far! I have never seen a happier baby than when you wake up! Makes my whole entire day!

Best Moments: Seeing you learn and do new things! You are a copy cat to the max. I love doing something and you imitating what I am doing. I cant get enough. It makes my heart spill out on the floor. You also dropped your spoon one night and kept telling it, "come here." It was the cutest thing ever!

Worst Moments: Dealing with all this teething, you falling on your head, suffering separation anxiety and not sleeping at night. 

**Paisley Sunshine: You are the highlight of my life. I just cant seem to get over the fact that you are MY daughter and I get the honor of being your mommy and staying home with you everyday. You never cease to amaze me. I never imagined how great having a daughter would be, but you have exceeded every dream and every imaginary thought of what being a mother would be like. Thank you for making my dreams come true. You are becoming quite the little firecracker, and quite the personality! You have some sass and down right stubbornness about you. We wont talk about where you got that from ;) I love how fast you are learning and grasping things. If you could get up and walk right now I am sure you would be on your way. You never stop. You always have to be moving. Always talking, always making some kind of noise, or imitating us. My favorite thing that you do right now is "come here" If we could ever get it on video I might just be the happiest girl ever! I love your little giggles. Its music to my ears and the growling, although not very lady like, I fall in love with every single time. Its funny! You are a funny girl. We might just be in trouble with you when you get older. I cant wait! Life with you wont ever be boring. Thats for sure! I love you sweet girl! Cant believe how fast my time is flying with you :(

Five on Friday

Why, hello Friday I am glad you are here! I feel like I can breath again. 

Anyone else feeling like that this week?

*1*

I made my hubs Birthday Cake Pancakes for his birthday last weekend, and let me tell you, there is almost nothing better than these babies. So good you pry wont want to share...just sayin! :) You can find my recipe here.

*2*

When I first started blogging, it was pretty much just for me to record everything happening in our lives so that our family and friends could be in the know. After several months of sharing my life with the world, I have to say I have been blessed by some amazing friendships through the blog community. Blogging excites me, and its such an excitement to "make" some new friends and learn things that I didnt think were even possible. Thanks for Five on Friday, I have met a lot of people here :) 

{via}

*3*

So Im pretty sure that I saw these around blog world a few months back, and while I am late to the party, this suckers sure dont disappoint. They are almost as good as my Birthday Cake Pancakes. You wonder what they are?? COTTON CANDY GRAPES!! Holy moly best invention ever!! Yikes they are addicting!! Yes, they really do taste like cotton candy!

*4*

With us moving next week and all this house stuff, I really fell to the short end of the stick with Halloween this year. I was really hoping to make something for Paisley for Halloween but its just not going to happen. So, instead I found this cute little mouse costume at Carter's and knew it was exactly her :) Next year will be so much better, but for the time being I think she will just be oh so adorbs!

{via}

P.S. It looks way cuter in person than it does in that picture!

*5*

LOVING the new Fall Essie line! I seriously need to get my self to a store asap and pick up these colors!! I am crushing on The Lace is On and Cashmere Bathrobe, ok, ok, maybe all of them ;)

{via}

Happy Weekend Peeps! 

We are off for a playdate this morning!!