Impatience rears its ugly head

For Nathan's birthday we decided to get him a play kitchen. He loves to open and close things, play with spoons, pots, pans etc so this seemed the most obvious birthday gift choice. We discussed agreed and ordered
Well it was delivered yesterday while I was at dance and I came home I find it assembled and ready to be used.

Impatient Kevin? I think so!

To be fair he made a good point; if I were home too, I'm not positive how easily I would have been able to resist opening it either.

Now to find another gift....

A Baby's First Birthday Bash

I started planning Nathan's birthday when he was about 3 months old I think. K and I knew we didn't want a huge party, but something cute and fun. I started researching and everything led to these gigantic parties that cost as much as a Bar Mitzvah. Really? We aren't having any of that.

After talking it over, we decided to rent a lodge in one of our local parks. Not because we wanted to invite a million people, but I didn't want to try to fit people in our house. It's nicer to have an open space for people to mingle and there's a playground outside if it happens to be nicer out.

Then it came time to pick a "theme." I decided I wanted it to be blue, green and yellow somehow and went from there.
Here are some pictures I found on Google that helped me come up with all the crafts I did or am doing for his party.

I know the last few are girly but they're still good ideas. Now you'll have to wait and see how each thing turns out. I'll be posting the invitations and the how to within the next couple of days so stay tuned!

It's going to be a Sweet Celebration!! 

Upgraded to a King

After debating for a while, Kevin and I decided to upgrade our bed to a King. We've been wanting one for a while, (and it would've been amazing if we did it while I was pregnant!) but we didn't have much room in our current bedroom. Well we decided to just live with it taking up the whole room for a year until we build our addition. Comfort trumps room to move apparently for us. So off we went to look for furniture. We ended up getting the Chatham set from Bassett and we love it so far. We purchased the Poster Bed, 9 Drawer Bureau, and 2- 3 Drawer Nightstands.

The nightstands won't fit in our room right now but we got them and put them in storage. We also don't have the posts on yet. I know, so silly to even bother but hey, when your husband complains every.single.day. about his aching body, you'll do anything to remedy it right?

So here are a couple pics of our bedroom now!

 

So that's without the Bassett nightstands. We have small side tables from Target we picked up just to have something!

I need to rearrange and purchase different wall art now that the giant bed covers part of the window, the picture we had centered over our queen just doesn't look right. Off to shop!

New Body, New Wardrobe

It has been almost a year since I had Nathan and I have finally realized that my body is not the same as before and I don't see a close future where it will be. And it took me a while, but I'm ok with it. I'm a size larger than before therefore most of my pre-pregnancy clothes don't fit. I have purchased a lot of new jeans, tops, etc but now I need dresses.

This year, 5 of my wonderful friends/family members are getting married. That means I need new dresses for them as well as the showers! Well I've made a start, here's 3 so far. I don't have each one designated yet though!

Any suggestions for more casual ones for the shower? I need some help!! :-)

10 Months in Review....

I just want to quickly update everyone on Nathan. He's a handsome healthy boy who is off the charts in height and weight and quite the little monkey!
He just turned 11 months and is just starting to walk on his own. It's crazy to see the time flying by!
Here are some of his monthly pictures taken by Kracke Photography. I won't bore you with all the mundane details of his life, just know that he's an extremely happy healthy solid boy!

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months ~ Happy Halloween!

7 Months ~ Happy Holidays!

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

Giddy-up!

A Quick Delicious Meal

So as usual, Kevin and I have been trying to eat better. This time we've been doing really well and trying to eat more organic and natural foods versus all the processed foods out there. We have upped the grocery bill and decreased the restaurant bill and we both are really enjoying it!

I found a website that I have been REALLY enjoying. It gives me the opportunity to try new things and introduce new items into our old boring routine. Plus she gives all the calories, WW points if you're doing that etc. I made this recipe the other day and it was a HUGE hit!
Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa. From Skinnytaste.com

I chose to use chicken breasts instead just because I had plain ones instead of a plain pork tenderloin. I did have to buy all the other ingredients because we don't use sirarchi sauce frequently in this house!
I added a side of Jasmine Rice instead of her recommended Coconut Rice (we aren't big coconut fans) and a side of steamed broccoli in case we didn't like the salsa.
Everything was very unique and went together well. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Birth Announcement

I think all I did when I  originally started blogging was give facts and post photos. I want to include more of the crafts I do from now on since numerous people keep telling me to! So even though it's way beyond, here is the Birth Announcement I made for Nathan.

These were very simple because they're pre-made from Target. All I had to do was print the pictures and the blank cards with the information then assemble. Don't get me wrong, they took a while because I had to  make about 100 but they came out so much nicer than the ones I saw on various online websites.

So when looking at invitations, announcements etc, don't forget about the DIY options at Target, Michaels etc. They can look very nice and sophisticated and can be refreshing after the endless Shutterfly and Tinypic options!

New Name, Better Blogging...

Well now that it has pretty much been a year since I've updated this, I figured it's time to get back into it. I am going to revamp it, change some things around and try to find more of a blogging style I guess versus just random postings of my kid though he's super cute and you know you love looking at him! That's all for now but I will start updating from where I left off last time and post a million pictures along the way!

He's Getting So Big

And he's starting to look like a little man. I look at him and see Kevin so much. A lot of people say he's really starting to look like me though. I don't see it much, I see Kevin!

Nate has really changed so much since we brought him home. He is generally not very fussy, occasionally sleeping through the night, eating a ton and growing like a weed.

His 2 month appointment is on Friday so it will be interesting to see how big he is. I weighed him 2 weeks ago and he was 12 pounds 4 ounces. Up from his 8 pound 11 ounce birth weight. He's definitely grown in inches too. He was 22.5 inches at his 10 day old doctor visit so my guess is he's somewhere around 13.5 pounds and 24.5 inches. We'll see if I'm right.

We've had to move him up to 3-6 month clothing for the most part. He's again in between it seems so he's either stuffed in them like a sausage or swimming in them (sounds familiar, I'm going through the same thing :-(    ) Oh well, soon he can be naked since it seems to be getting warmer and staying warmer (finally!) which by the way he LOVES!

He's starting to love bath time and no longer crying during it. He's a wiggler though so I'm still a little nervous to give him a bath by myself although I have done it once now very successfully.

He's also very alert. He focuses and sees a lot of things and is continuously wanting to see more. I just picked up a new chair and toy bar for him that he already loves. This chair is really cool. Also, it will strengthen his legs so he can be a power forward like his Grandpa is hoping for :) The toy bar I got is universal and will fit onto his Rock and Play, Stroller, or really anything I want it to fit on!

We have a very happy baby in general. He's always smiling and cooing.

Here are some pictures of our little guy. Enjoy!

Back In Action

So again I've been slacking keeping up with this blog but I have been super busy! I know that's everyone's excuse but mine is legit. I swear.

I went back to work at 4 weeks postpartum and it's been very hectic since. As I've mentioned before, N gets to come along with me. If that weren't the case, I don't know I would ever go back. I give the people that do a lot of credit.

Since going back to work, I work 45 hours a week nannying and I teach 4 days a week at the studios. Before it was no biggie but I have to say, all together, it's really tough. Not because while I'm at dance I can't be away from N, it's the fact that I'm not with my family all at once.

Anyways, I've been back at it for 4 weeks and things are getting easier. I've been managing my mornings and evenings home to make it all easier on the evenings I won't be home. We also have been using some of the frozen meals we prepared ahead of time! Soon enough I will be off for the summer and bored out of my mind :)

Newborn Photoshoot

Our wonderful friends Julia and Kurtis (Kracke Photography) gave us the most wonderful gift for the arrival of our son. A years worth of photographs. To us, this gift is priceless. One, their pictures are amazing (they did our engagement pictures and our wedding!) and two, they're so creative. They just do such a great job!!
Anyways, here are some from our newborn shoot when Nate was only 6 days old!