Showing posts with label fall season. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall season. Show all posts

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Update, Memory Record, Random

I am trying to write this, drink some water, relax and decide on the theme for E's first birthday all at the same time. I know, not that crazy but still, always multitasking if she is in her crib for a nap! Can I also just pause for a minute and re-iterate that I just typed first birthday?! Can't believe that's on the radar!

I am trying not to make the decision on her party decor a huge deal, but I still want to decide on something cute. Ben just reminded me of the "bedding debacle of '11" in which I stressed and went back and forth and thought long and hard over her bedding for her crib and how I laughed the other day and said, "I think I should sell her bedding, we don't even use it." We obviously don't use the big puffy "comforter," we have back up sheets so we aren't always using the crib sheet that came with, the bumper is off because we have a breathable one in there right now, the skirt is barely visible under her crib and just the other day we took the valance down and replaced with longer, blackout curtains. You know, because her window had been draped, hillbilly-style, with a blanket to create darkness. Oy.



Anyway. Back to the randomness that is our life. Over the past couple months we have had a little bit of goings on. Nothing of huge significance but worth noting on our part. We, well mostly I, am thoroughly annoyed of our dog. Which I feel really bad about because I love her and it's mostly not her fault that she is annoying it just is the way it is. She sheds like a...well, something that sheds a lot. And with the shedding comes the dander and when she scratches, shakes, walks or breathes, she is shedding. And it's disgusting. I can't really believe I have let my baby cohabit in the same dwelling as her for this long. And crawl around in it. Sick. So, last weekend we began taking our house back. We, as embarrassed as Ben is to say this, bought a shock collar, and are training her to be an outside dog. Why do you have to train your dog to be outside? you might ask. Well, our dog is afraid of something in our backyard and we don't know what. We thought it was the chickens and then quickly learned that is not the case because she jumps the chicken fence and plays merrily with the chickens. That's a whole 'nother story. So, we have to shock her, gently, when she is jumping at, scratching at or whining at the back door. Work in progress. We also got rid of the gross area rug we bought right before Eleanor was born because I really wanted a new, clean rug for the baby except that the dog hair wove itself into the stupid, braided design that I so carelessly bought because it was onsale and I was 9+ months pregnant and just wanted something. My awesome Dyson that I got for Christmas also began promptly ripping it up as soon as I started using it. Cool. Insert new, beautiful rug we got last weekend that has not begun to come apart and which I am trying my best to keep the dog off when she comes in to sleep at night.

We finished up the season pretty well with our garden with plentiful amounts of tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash. My rosebush also bloomed that we waited like, forever, 3 months to plant. It was beautiful.

I made a trip to my beloved college town, Bellingham, the other day in search of a solution for our night time diapering situation and came back with pre-fold cloth diapers of which I cannot figure out how to get around my baby. Hopefully more practice will help.

Here I am again during a nap time with a minute to blog and I cannot remember what I always want to sit down and type.

I am still in the middle of trying to decide to cut my hair off or go long. About 8 months ago I cut it just above my shoulders and then it grew pretty quickly and is in a fairly awkward stage of length and bushiness so I am back to trying to decide if I just want to grow it long or cut it to my chin, inverted bob-style. And some color, maybe I need some color. I see pictures of both my long and short styles and I like both. So, here I stand, undecided. As usual.

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend with some friends. It was fun because it was the same patch Ben and I went to last year while I was still pregnant and we talked about how the following year we would have a lil' baby. And we did! She loved being outside, of course, and holding herself up on the pumpkins. There were two other babies so they all had fun exploring and being out in the beautiful weather!

I have been trying to decide what type of milk product we will be offering E once she turns one year. I was on a little kick of goat's milk for awhile and trying to convince Ben we need to get a goat. Probably not going to happen at this time. However, goat's milk is slightly more appealing to me than cow's milk, not that I don't drink cow's milk because I do, but supposedly goat's is just a little more easily digestible, less likely to be allergenic and a few other things. But do you know that goat's milk is flipping expensive?! So yes, we will see. Also, Ben thinks that since I can't stand the chickens right now, there is probably a good chance I will get annoyed of a goat too. Kind of like the dog. Also, we do live in the city-limits so we may not necessarily be wanting to create such a farm-like atmosphere on our little, quarter of an acre property. We may need to sell our house someday and don't necessarily want to look like such hillbillies with goats, chickens and whatever else we may dream up. Those might be dreams for the future.

Last week, one of my college roommates was passing by our city and she stopped in to meet E. She lives in San Diego and I hadn't seen her in over 2 years so it was great to see her and have her meet E. She just turned 30 and it was kind of a shocker that meant we had met 9 years ago in the dorms. Wow. Time flies.

So, those are some of the things going on in our life. On top of that, gearing up for the holidays, E's first birthday, traveling to Texas for Christmas and just trying to enjoy each say in itself and not getting ahead of ourselves. I am trying to soak up this last little bit of E's first year still in constant amazement that some days seem so long yet I look back and can't believe December is so quickly approaching!

And, sorry for the randomness but this is how my brain works these days! ;)

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful Thursday

Well Happy Thanksgiving.
I really cannot believe that it is this time of year again. I am taking the year off from hosting dinner partly because of the lil' fact that I am 9 1/2 months pregnant and the fact that it is easier for my grandma to stay home and for the family to come to her. 

I just wanted to take a moment and express just how thankful I am for the many blessings in my life.

I am thankful for:
...My husband. I know I yammer on and on about him all the time on my blog, but really I just can never praise him enough. He is my best friend and throughout this exciting time of our lives, he has been such a calm, support and can always manage to get me to smile.

...My baby growing inside of me. We are bursting at the seams to meet her. Any day now.

...Our family. Our families are so supportive and are always there to help out. They are so excited to welcome their first grandchild/niece!

...Our home. We absolutely love our house. We don't always love the location however, we have made it our own, cozy and happy and couldn't be more excited to have a home to bring our daughter into.

...Our jobs. I am obviously off work right now, however my job let us put some extra money away for my time off and Ben's job obviously provides us the constant support to live our everyday life. We are so thankful in this time to have his job.

...Friends. We have amazing friends. We may not always get to see them all the time but we know that we have such supportive and loving friends. We have friends who are in similar seasons of life as us and some that aren't but that's okay. All of them offer different strengths to our lives.

...The troops. I don't always express how thankful I am for the military service men and women but during the holidays it really hits home because while I am home enjoying a warm and cozy meal with my family, they are overseas fighting for us. Not getting to enjoy time with their families. For this I am beyond thankful.

I know these are a few generic things to be thankful for but I tend to think that the everyday aspects of life often get overlooked. I don't like to take anything for granted and know that we are blessed beyond measure.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful, relaxing holiday and don't forget to count your blessings!


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Fall Maternity Pics

My husband's talents never cease to amaze me. *Sigh*
We took advantage of a frosty, sunny fall morning.
Here is what we came up with.













Monday, November 7, 2011

Monday Mumblings

I love a rainy fall day that I get to stay home all day in my pajamas. I can do chores at my own pace, relax, watch a TV show here or there. It's really nice.
Someone else posted about this this morning but I have to chime in. Desperate Housewives is just losing me. I want to watch because it is the final season but more often than not I wander off to do something else and realize I have missed 15 minutes of the show! Would Tom and Lynette just figure things out already?!
I am definitely feeling more at peace with being ready for the baby than I was last week. All of a sudden I get overwhelmed by things but then realize that we are ready. We just need the baby.
I am coming to terms with the fact that this will be my last week of work.
I am getting a little over anxious to decorate for Christmas. I know, I know. It's still early. I think I can hold out for two more weeks!
For some reason I have been loving frozen, chopped spinach. I usually eat one package at a time but I could probably eat two.
I am so lucky to have such loving, generous and wonderful friends and family.
I need to get some new house plants to put in a planter Ben made.
I don't feel like I really have any TV shows that I am so in love with these days, but for some reason I have having a hard time with pulling the plug on the cable.
I think that our dog senses the addition to the family and she is needing some extra attention lately.
It was really cold and clear the past couple of days and I loved it.
We put our fleece sheets on our bed a few weeks ago and I LOVE them.
I watched quite a bit of football this weekend {for me}, like actually really watched it, and I enjoyed it!
There is a lot of tag removing and washing that comes with having a baby.

What are your randoms for this Monday?

Monday, October 17, 2011

Our Trip to the Patch

Nothing like a fall day--crisp, foggy, smelling like burning woodstoves--to trek to the pumpkin patch. So that's what Ben and I did yesterday. He was very gracious in going with me and helping me pick out gourds, pumpkins and cornstalks. It did make us pretty excited to take our baby there one day.
A Christmas tree with pumpkin ornaments?

Hmmm, is this the one?

Sunflowers

Gourds

Found one!

Pumpkin for the baby!

Thanks for carrying my cornstalks!

Tiny apples


We had a fun time and got really good prices on everything.  It was a really cool farm where they had  a lot of activities such as hay rides, a pig show, a petting area, putt putt golf, U-pick vegetables and apples. Sure beats going to the grocery store to get our fall gourd items!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Time has Come...

A few weeks back when I got really excited about fall I got some mini Reese's peanut butter cups covered in fall foil to set in the coffee table candy dish. Well this little girl got to them:
Definitely came home one day and the bowl was empty. And then a few days later I came home and foil was regurgitated on the throw rug. Poor girl. 

Anyway, since the pup eating the candy, I haven't picked up anymore. However, I am getting a real hankering for my favorite fall candy:
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I don't know what it is about candy corn or when I even started liking it but I really love it. I could eat a lot of it I think. 

Obviously, my favorite flavor of the season is pumpkin spice. I love pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, cupcakes and would even like to try pumpkin pull apart bread.
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I may have to try this recipe at home.
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I am sorry but how good does this bread look? 
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It's really too bad we didn't grow any pumpkins in our garden this year. Maybe that can be on the docket for next year...

What are your favorite fall treats?




Wednesday, August 31, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday


A few blogs I follow link up pretty frequently to this Wednesday post at this kind of love. I always mean to do it also and then pretty much just forget. So this week, here is what I'm loving:

I am loving my husband. Yes I do this everyday but lately he has seriously just been the best person to have around when I am not feeling well and takes such good care of me.

Even though we haven't had a lot of sun this summer, I truly am loving that fall is on its way. I may or may not have chosen the above picture of Ben and I because it is from last fall. Love it.
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I am loving our garden. Every year I whine and complain that it isn't big enough and Ben always tells me that it is and that we are just two people to enjoy it. Well, not for long, Hub! Anyway we have been enjoying great fresh veggies.

Please excuse the poor quality of my cell phone photo. We have some zucchini, carrots, green onions and green beans here.

I am loving any kind of nursery inspiration.
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I am loving this sign I got the other day for the baby's room. All so very true.


Speaking of signs, I am loving this giveaway over at Little Miss Momma today. Seriously, go check it out!
A True Love Story Never Ends Heavily Distressed Sign in Black Vintage Style
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I love that Ben has a 4 day weekend coming up. I will be working a couple of the days but I am happy for him to have this time off as I am most sure that he is too!
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So, what are you loving this week? Head on over here  to link up! 

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Loving The Long Weekend

Well, what a wonderful weekend we have had. Actually, my weekend started on Wednesday which was an extra added bonus! A quick recap of Thanksgiving--success. Everything turned out wonderfully, the food was delicious and family-time was great.
Ready to go in the oven


The appetizer table {with a beautiful, snowy background!}

The table all set

Hub enjoying some Thanksgiving football games

Let the feast begin!

Yum!
In poor blogger fashion, I did not get a picture of each individual dish. I really wanted a picture of the green bean casserole and the creamed leeks. The creamed leeks were a huge hit, I would highly recommend them and I will be making them again! My great-grandma made a walnut pie that was exactly like pecan just made with walnuts and it really does give it a different flavor and is delicious!

Let me tell you, Thursday night was an early night for me after being up early and in the kitchen all day! My husband is such a great help and we work so well together as a team on these days! Thanks, honey!

We decided Friday not to get up early and head to the stores because we weren't really looking for anything in particular. We had a lazy morning and then before I knew it, Hub was bringing in the Christmas decor and we transformed the casa into Christmas season! He even made sure we had Christmas music playing. We then got some online Christmas shopping done and then headed to the little town where my mom has a home decor store and walked around for a bit to see the lights and Christmas decorations. We picked up a few White Elephant gifts for some get-togethers we have coming up and then headed to a friend's house for some games.

Saturday, we got a another slow start in the morning after talking to the Texas Riemers and then headed to Lowe's to check out their After-Thanksgiving sales. We actually refrained from spending any money, got some ideas {as we always do there}, some hints for some future DIY projects and then headed to the grocery store and home. {I know, you're probably wondering what in the world we could have needed at the grocery store with a fridge full of leftovers. Barley. For my turkey soup!} Another game night, another lazy morning and this weekend has shaped up to be restful and recharging for our upcoming busy weekends! Hope you all got to do the same! What were your successful recipes? What was your favorite moment of the weekend?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Giving Thanks

I know I posted a "Thankful Thursday" a couple of weeks ago but really, around this time of year {and all year 'round for that matter} can we ever really be too thankful? No! So I would like to make another list. During these past few days we have had a bit of a cold front in our area. Cold front for us=temperatures in the teens. Brrr! Yes it is cold, but I have a warm house to come home to, plenty of warms clothes to bundle up in and food to fill my belly. My mind couldn't help but wander to those less fortunate. Those that do not have the luxuries that I have and who have been freezing these past few nights.
I am thankful for...

...this man. He loves me unconditionally, without fail and in our good times and bad. He is my rock, my light and my happiness.



...my family. They love me and support me no matter what.



...this family. {what does the term "in-laws" mean?}



...this house I call home. It provides me with warmth, love and happiness.



...these two. My best and my godson. {love}



...this girl. Love her.

I am also so thankful for my grandparents and that I have a great-grandmother that I know. I have so many special friends to be thankful that are really like family. I am thankful to have two jobs that I enjoy. After a glimpse into my life, you can see I have so much to be thankful for. My heart goes out to those in need and I try to never take my life for granted {I am not without imperfection}. Tomorrow my husband and I will be preparing a meal for our family out of love and thankfulness and won't forget to count our many blessings.
Happy Thanksgiving!