Mama needs a new pair of shoes

 And by need I mean want. I'll be looking for some black shoes this weekend..here's my inspiration.

All pictures here

Daytime TV

Growing up I can always remember my mom and Granny watching their "stories" AKA daytime soap operas. It seemed to me that it was some kind of Mom thing to start watching soap operas when you had children and stayed home with them. This week I haven't been able to get into work much for several reasons and so I began watching The Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful which conveniently come on during Molly's one nap.

I am officially hooked on my stories...if you are a stay at home mom, get lots of time off, or have TiVo...start watching. It's terrible but oh so good.

Christmas Recap

Merry Christmas!! Here is our weekend recap in pictures...

 

Here is little miss Christmas morning before we went to my Grandparents. The picture is terrible because she wouldn't stand still.

 Checking out her new Elmo books. I think we have an Elmo lover for sure!

Until Molly is officially walking, which I don't think is too far off, her main form of movement is still crawling. We had to tie up her pretty dress with a hair band, because she kept getting stuck up in it.

My Dad's sister gave Molly this little sleeping bag and as you can see it was a huge hit. Also note that we have completely ditched the sweet dress for a onsie. Much easier to move in.

And finally here is Molly in our living room chair...

 And here is Molly in that same chair one year ago...

 It's so hard to believe these little things can change that much over a year. It really is amazing.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!



Christmas Dinner

This Christmas I am fixing dinner for my dad's side of the family, which is about 15 people. I am all about simple, because it feels like when I try to get to creative everything gets away from me. It's not the most traditional Christmas Dinner food, I am not even close to being able to attempt baking a turkey yet, but hopefully it will fill everyone up!

Pork Tenderloin is pretty much my go to when I have to cook meat. Even when I ate meat I just never did well preparing and cooking it. I have made a similiar pork tenderloin in the crock pot before, so I am going to kinda of mix the two recipes together. Since we will be running around all day, I am not going to brown it first, so instead of using that as the liquid I am going to add chicken broth and a packet of french onion soup. We'll see how it turns out!

When I decided on the  main course and then picked some sides I didn't really include anything healthy so I searched for what goes well with Pork and here we have, Wild Rice. This one is a crock pot recipe, but I am not sure if I have another crock pot to use so we may be improvising AND I forgot the mushrooms it calls for. The forgotten mushrooms may have happened because I chose to go to the grocery store TODAY, Molly was a little wild and I ended up carrying my 20 pound child down about 3 aisles and got a "hurry the hell up" look from a woman while searching for wild rice. If mushrooms is all I forgot, we are good.

I found these little guys on Pinterest and they are my wild card. Since I am going to have to double the recipe and they have to be timed well to serve hot, these could be a flop. I am also switching out the gruyere and using asiago.

All of my aunts are bringing things and we will also have salad, so if there isn't something for everyone to eat then I will be shocked. Happy Holidays everyone!! 

Molly pictures are coming, I promise!

New daily read

I just came across this new blog Fern and Feather and I love it. My favorite post is about her first month with her second son. In the post she really captures how I feel about having a second child and how the dynamic of a mother's relationship with her first born changes. Of course there is always room for more love, but juggling two babes can be all consuming I would imagine. Geez, one is all consuming for me, as I experienced yet again today trying to run last minute holiday errands. Coming soon: day 1 of Molly's holiday outfits

Growing Up

photo: zulily.com

I think it's safe to say that little miss Molly has out grown her Baby Bjorn, so much so that her little legs kick me anytime we walk. I have been wanting to try out a sling like this and they finally had one on sale on Zulily, and I am sure it will arrive in approximately 2 months (I am exaggerating but, the one downside to zulily is that anytime you order something it feels like it takes FOREVER to get to you!) Hopefully this will be better for my back and allow me to have free hands. That child is all over the place now and I feel like I am the woman people look at in the grocery store whose child is backwards in the cart. Problem solved...well at least I think it is.

Just one year ago

Tonight I was searching through photos for some new frames and spent a good chunk of time just looking back at Molly's first year of life. On a side note, I sometimes still look at her and wonder to myself " Just where did you come from?". So I thought I would post a few from this time last year, which was just over a month after she was born (aka the blur, since brandon and I are convinced that's how people decide to have more children).

Exactly one year ago, funny since she was absolutely not having any part of napping today.

Just hanging out with her buddy.

Napping in her crib, which was extremly rare back then.

Long time no write

Things have just gotten away from me the last two months, but I am going to try to be better. Starting tonight with a must try recipe from my favorite recipe finder...Pinterest, duh.

Photo: Smashed Peas and Carrots via Pinterest

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup chocolate chips (it calls for minis, but I had regular white chocolate)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients then place in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Take out and make into balls.

Seriously, I made these last night and ended up with about 12 and Im pretty sure half are already gone. So good!

Web Favorites

This recipe looks delicious and I believe I will be trying it soon.
I can't wait to have a breakfast nook/big enough kitchen to have these big chairs at my kitchen table. All these home pictures on Pinterest get me itching to make a move...but the hubs says that won't be happening anytime soon. Sad Face.

I just saw this on one of my favorite blogs...is that not the most precious baby swimsuit EVER. Her post says it's from Gap, but I can't find it through the link...I am now on a mission.

My little Beethoven...

I am pretty certain she is a musical prodigy :)

The forgotten space

The Laundry Room. I say the "forgotten space" because for me it is the room I pay the least attention to. Also, one of my least favorite chores is laundry, and I feel like it shows because my laundry space looks nothing like the ones below. I am thinking if I spruce the space up a bit I may do a little better with my weekly (note: I am being generous when I use the word weekly) laundry. I almost posted on with a TV and then I thought, maybe that's a bit much. I am also wondering if anyone else has a "forgotten space" that gets little to no decorating attention.

Photo: Barbara Gilbert Interiors

Photo: Simoretti

Photo: NestEgg

Photo: Tiny White Daisies

Photo: A Glimps of the Girl Next Door

This is just the greatest idea. Unfortunately I have a top load washer, but I will definitely be keeping this in mind.

What's Cooking?

Mushroom Pasta Sauce

I found on pinterest (where else?) last week and have been dying to try it. As a vegetarian, mushrooms are a big part of my diet. Always a good substitute for meat. The recipe is super easy and took about 20 minutes total. In the originial I didn't add hot sauce, but ofcourse my husband added it his and I kind of wish I had because right about now it sounds good. Would spice things up a bit..next time.

Birthday Girl

Molly's first birthday was yesterday and we have been celebrating all week. Tuesday we had our immediate family over for Molly's birthday cake. The cake was supposed to be an owl, but as you can see that didn't exactly turn out. The icing slid down the side and no more owl. Soo it turned into a gigantic ugly cupcake, but Molly looooved it!

Thursday night we celebrated with my mom's family and Molly enjoyed another cupcake (this one normal size).

On Molly's actual birthday we went to a home style restaurant with Molly's grandparents and Aunt Kelly. Like her mother, she loves mashed potatoes and biscuits. My dad seems to think Molly sensed it was her birthday because she was WILD, I couldn't get her to nap all day and she got a second wind crawling around and laughing hysterically last night before bed.

Brandon and I ended the night with a toast to one year down with a happy, healthy baby girl.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Five Faves

Favorite Find of the Day on Pinterest

Photo: A Hint of Honey

Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Icing: My birthday cake of choice

Photo: Ann Taylor via Pinterest

Cardigans: So much so that my husband actually made a comment, while doing laundry, on how many cardigans I actually have. I can't help it, they are just so wonderful and such a key piece of styling.

The Kind Life with Alicia Silverstone: Maybe vegan eating isn't your thing, but this website is great for any environmently friendly person. Lots of simple ways to be more eco-friendly and things to look out for.

Flipboard: This iPad aplication is just amazing. It catalogs all the top stories and organizes them by health, business, style, entertainment, etc. So easy and informative!

Happy Friday night

Tonight's Plan: Mexican and Margaritas

What actually happened: Pizza and Red wine

No complaints here, but I was looking forward to a dinner out except by the end of the day I didn't have the energy to entertain Molly all through dinner. So in we stayed and I pinned away...

This one may need explaining..It's preplanned and prepaid date nights for a year. One a month. LOVE this idea!

All photos: www.pinterest.com

Love

This story is the sweetest thing. To live a long life and pass away with the love of your life, even though I know it's a weird word to use, would be perfect. It's a real Notebook story.

Long-Married Couple Gordon Yeager And Norma Yeager Pass Away Holding Hands

By the way, I don't know how you can not tear up reading this article.

First Swing

Little miss had her first trip to the park on Sunday afternoon. She isn't quite big enough for all the craziness of the park, but I thought she might like to swing a bit. She LOVED it. We also found out this weekend that people running really cracks her up. Park = Lots of Running Kids.

All I could think about while Molly was swinging away was the episode of Friends when Rachel is afraid to put Emma on the swing due to a childhood trauma of her own. One of the funniest episodes.

By the way it's not easy to take a good picture of a swinging baby, so these will have to do.

I've gone to the other side

I have to admit that when the iPad came out I really didn't get it. I thought it seemed silly because it was basically like a laptop computer and I just didn't understand all the fuss. Then I spent about a week with my aunt who has an iPad and me who had my laptop. After that I definitely got what all the fuss was about. While I as lugging my laptop and power cord everywhere in my handbag causing permanent back pain she just slipped her little iPad in the like a notebook and off she went.

Flash foward to this past Wednesday when my sweet husband and little one went way over board for my birthday and got me an iPad. I am officially addicted. I've gone app crazy. Another thing I didn't understand was the tablet reader thing, which you can do with the iPad. I always liked the feel of a book and going to the book store or the library so I swore I would never have one. Hypocrite. I absolutely LOVE it. I've already read one book and half way through another. It's amazing.

So I thought I would post some of my favorite things about the iPad

1. HauteLook has an app. Soooo easy!

2. NY Times Crossword App

3. FaceTime...Molly got to chat with her "Aunt" Meg in Charleston during her lunchtime today.

4. It so portable and light I can use it to do work while hanging out with Molly as she piddles around in her room.

I am certain I will have more favorite things to come.

Have a great weekend!!

Little punkin

There are just no words for how much I love this little thing.

What's Cooking?

I think by now anyone who is actually reading this blog knows how much I love pinterest. One of the main reasons I love it is for all the recipes. Here a just a few found through Pinterest that I am going to be trying soon.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Creamy Chicken Marsala (sans the chicken)

Bang Bang Shrimp

Five Faves

This is just too cute. I love how he grabs her face!

Rooms like this are so inspiring to try something new. Mixing colors and patterns, and that adorable mongram. I also really like nurseries that don't look so obviously like a baby room. Let's be honest, without the bunny in the seat you probably wouldn't have guessed nursery.

How I did not know about this site is beyond me, but I have already joined and will be receiving my first box November 11th. For $10 a month you get a box delivered to your house with beauty samples. I mean, come on, how awesome is that?

New Daily Read: Emphasis Added found through Georgie Girl

Newest favorite addiciton: Hautelook.com...remember zulily? It's kinda like that, but more women's apparel. Amazing

Sweet Treats II

Back in August I posted and made these little guys. Wasting away time on pinterest I find these...

Which I will be making ASAP.

Happenings

Today is Molly's 11 month birthday! I know I've already posted about this, but I cannot believe in a month she will be a year old. Time flies! One thing I am pretty excited about is to turn her around in her car seat, I know you are supposed to keep them rear facing as long as possible, but she seems so unhappy when she can't see us. I think it will make for a more pleasant car ride for her. And all passengers involved.

A couple weeks ago I FINALLY found an upholsterer to re-do my mom's arm chair with fabric I found super cheap. Fifty bucks for five yards is a pretty good deal to me, especially since it was exactly what I was looking for.

Before:

After:

Remember one of my first posts I mentioned re-decorating my living room? Well, it is actually coming along. Piece by piece I am changing a lot. Hopefully I will be able to post a before and after in the next month or so. I made the mistake when we first moved thinking I had to have everything done and filled right away instead of looking for things I really loved. Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda. Now I am doing it the right way, by taking my time and find pieces I love.

Lazy Sunday + Lately

Yesterday we realized that my tire was in fact flat. I had been noticing the PSI (I say this like I know what I am talking about) on my dashboard kept blinking low, but it has done that before when it gets cold. Of course I didn't think anything of it, until yesterday when we realized there was a nail in it. Soooo Molly and I are home bound for the day until Brandon gets home from a meeting in Blacksburg.

Let's see..this weekend Molly was quite a social thing.

Thursday night we had dinner over at Brandon's parents for his sisters birthday. During which Molly used her Grandma's phone to call someone except we didn't know this until we are pretty sure that "someone" picked up. She loves the phone and has her own pink cell phone.

After the party in her big girl car seat.

Friday we went on a stroll with her great aunt in the morning and later that evening we took her to our high school's homecoming parade. She was mesmerized. It's been chilly here so we got to pull out this little sweater for her.

Saturday was a long day for little one...

• 
  
  Breakfast with some family where she decided to suck on a lemon.
  


• 
  
  Lunch and shopping with an out of town friend and Molly's friend Jillian who is exactly 4 months younger than her. Note: Mommy has reached her shopping budget for this month and next, but I did finally break down and buy those boots I've now tried on 4 times at Target!


• 
  
  Went to a friend's house to watch the Hokies play. Made it to half time, then it was the witching hour for some little person.
  
  

Sunday: This...

a little bit of this...

And then maybe an art show at the farmer's market. As I am reading back over this, I realize this isn't a REALLY busy weekend, at least I don't know if I would have considered it that 11 months ago, but now with baby in tow it's a REALLY busy weekend for us. Molly always seems to do better when she is busy and out and about though so I'll take it. Have a lazy Sunday!!