Oh Boy!

If you've been following the blog over the past few weeks, you'll remember that I was prepping for a top secret pregnancy announcement/gender reveal photo shoot.  When my dear friend Anita told me she was pregnant at just barely 8 weeks, I was over the moon and honored that she wanted me to help her come up with a fun way to announce it.  After doing the math, we realized that she would find out the gender before Halloween so we decided to incorporate that into our photo shoot.  Anita has a fondness for skulls & crossbones so I suggested that her and her husband Paul get his & hers skeleton maternity shirts.  They were on board right away.  I also came across a cute craft project involving decorating pumpkins to look like a boy or girl baby and suggested that to Anita for the gender reveal.  Again, she was all about it.  The exciting thing was that I was one of few people that actually knew the sex of the baby for the past week!  The photo shoot was a total blast and the results were better than I could have expected.  Anita & Paul posted the photos to Facebook today and were able to share this wonderful news with their friends & family.  Congrats Anita & Paul!!  Can't wait for our next photo shoot!

5 on Friday

{one}
Chili
As Autumn turns into Fall, I couldn't be more excited that it is Chili season!  This past Sunday I made my first batch of Chili in the Crock pot and it was great.  My recipe is a mash up of various chili recipes but the key is it is super easy!

Mandy's Chili
1 jar of Salsa
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
1 chili seasoning packet
1 lb of ground meat - beef, turkey, chicken, or our favorite - Venison!

Brown the meat.  Stir in seasoning.  Dump meat & everything else in the crock pot for 4 hours. Enjoy!
Favorite toppings: Fritos, Doritos, Shredded cheese/Avocado/Tortilla Strips, or Oyster Crackers

{two}
Family Dinner Recipes
I don't know what has gotten into me but I'm a recipe printing freak lately!  My email is continuously getting flooded with links to Pillsbury, Kraft, and Betty Crocker.  I've always been obsessed with collecting recipes so I'm loving that there are so many yummy new dishes out there.

{three}
Fall TV premiers!
Last Fall, we were in a newborn baby haze and watching our favorite shows was the furthest things from our minds.  Now that our little baby is 1 and goes to bed like a champ, we can enjoy our shows again.  Here's to watching Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Bones, and whatever Bravo has to offer!

{four}
Gallery Wall is a go!
My personal handyman Brad is on board with my latest project!  As part of our date night last Saturday, we went to IKEA before dinner and our movie to get all the frames.  We decided to go with a combination of black and white frames with white mats in various sizes.  We even mapped out the layout the frames.  Some may think the hard part will be hanging all of these frames but I think it is going to be picking out the photos.  Thankfully we just had a photo shoot for Eloise's birthday with the amazing Chantel Ferraro so we have some great photos to pick from!

{five}
Eloise's 1 year Photo Shoot.
"The best that a photographer can do is have someone else take their family photos" - Chantel Ferraro.  We got to see some sneak peaks this week from Eloise's 1 year photo shoot and they were amazing.  We can't wait to see the rest!

5 on Friday

  

I took last week off from 5 on Friday as I was in the midst of some serious birthday party prep, but I'm back in action this week! This week's 5 on Friday is mash up of last week and this week.

{one}
Devin Jay Thakur
On 8.29.13, my bestie Sarah gave birth to her second child, a sweet little baby boy named Devin Jay Thakur.  Dev was 7lbs and 18.5 inches.  A few weeks before he was born, I made him a name banner for his room.  I've been dying to share it but I was sworn to secrecy when it came to the name.  Name banners are by far one of my favorite things to make for kiddos.

{two}
Toddler.
And with the passing of August 31st, all of the sudden my inbox is filled with everything Toddler.  "3 amazing facts about your Toddler," "Getting your Toddler to eat," and the best so far, "How to raise a patient and kind toddler."  I feel like I'm a contestant in a spelling bee and I was just informed that my word to spell is Toddler.  Use it in a sentence? Sure - I'm the parent of a Toddler.  Provide a definition? Sure - Toddler: what happens after a sweet baby starts to walk and turns 1.  Over on The Littlest Kalins blog, I did a Baby Face Friday post every week.  With this whole Toddler thing staring us in the face, I will have to come up with something else...

{three}
Do you remember my last post about looking for my reward, award, or medal for nursing for a year?  Well, my sister surprised me last Friday with a one of a kind trophy commemorating my year of nursing.  Seriously, sisters rule! I really want to display this next to my diplomas and professional licenses.  Heck, it may need it's own trophy cabinet.

{four}
Iced Pumpkin Mocha Latte
I'm a freak for Fall and all things pumpkin-flavored.  When I heard a commercial that Dunkin Donuts was debuting all their pumpkin menu items this week, I was eager to give something a try.  This drink definitely did not disappoint.

{five}
Donnie Wahlberg & Jenny McCarthy.
It's official.  They are a couple.  That's all.

Is it raining? No, just Sprinkling.

Saturday morning I hosted a Sprinkle along with my dear friend Anita for our bestie Sarah.  In case you didn't know, a Sprinkle is smaller, more intimate version of a baby shower usually thrown for a second child.  In Sarah's case, she is having a boy this time so she was in need of some serious boy stuff!  

When I mentioned the idea of a onesie clothesline to Anita, her response was, "Done."  

As you can see, it turned out great!

What baby celebration isn't complete without a diaper cake??

A beautiful brunch spread with a few "boy toys" for Mama Sarah to take home with her. 

Best of luck to Sarah, Jay, & big sis Sasha!!!

Baby Girl Shadow Box

Just like many of you, I troll around Pinterest almost daily looking for inspiration for everything from a photo to a new recipe.  When I was pregnant, I came across a great idea to make a shadow box with some of the baby items from the hospital.  Of course, I pinned it and planned on making it immediately after having the baby.  HA!  It only took me 3 months, but I finally put it together.  I plan on displaying it on one of the shelves in our play room (also still needs to be put together).

Items included in the shadow box:

Hospital Bracelets

ID card from the Hospital Crib

1st outfit from the hospital: Kimono shirt & Baby Hat

Photo Collage/Birth Announcement

All pinned down & ready to put inside the shadow box...

Final Product....

Click here to see my inspiration on Pinterest

Babies are a Hoot: Tour of our Owl/Forest-themed Nursery

Before we even knew the sex of the baby, Brad & I had decided to do a forest theme with the nursery.  We started off by painting the walls a warm green color - Spring Cactus Green.    

Considering that we have vaulted ceilings in the room, we decided to have some fun and paint a big tree to really emphasize the forest theme. 

After finding the sex and deciding on a name, we decided to make our own letters to display the name.

After looking for Owl decals & wall decor for what seemed like weeks, I decided to make my own Owls for the Nursery. In fact, I made a whole Owl Family.  

Here are the steps for making Baby Girl's Owl. 

No baby's room is complete without their own personal name banner made by me. 

Enter through the door and see what we have created for our baby girl....

Our Owl Family

The lyrics to "You are my Sunshine" hang above the crib

Meet her Owl friends, Penny & Joy

No way getting around having a little Deer representation in the nursery - painted by Brad & Me

I painted a little garden of hydrangeas (our wedding flower) under the window