Batman Pajama Pants!

I actually finished these a couple of weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to get pictures of my goofy awesome husband wearing them, so without further ado...

Ta-da!

If you're wondering why I made Batman pants for a 28-year old man, you kinda just have to know Matt. :) I brought home a bunch of flannel to make burp cloths when JoAnn had all of their flannel on sale for $2/yd (score!), and one of the prints was a cartoon-ish one with Bam! and Pow! speech bubbles all over it. Matt joked that he wanted pajama pants made out of it, and since his birthday was coming up, I schemed to make some for him. 

Only I was too late getting back to the store to get the fabric because they were sold out of it by the time I made it back. They did have their licensed prints on sale too (although unfortunately not for $2/yd), so I decided on the Batman. Okay fine, it was mostly out of selfish motives because Batman is really the only superhero I like. Anyway.

As with most of my sewing projects, I hit a couple of snags (pun only kind of intended). First, I realized when I took a closer look at the pattern that it was only women's sizing. Oops. I solved the problem by using the largest cut and then altering it a little by comparing it to some pj pants that Matt had in his closet that I knew fit him well. My second obstacle was that I chose the one week Matt was home with us (spring break) to make the surprise pants, so it took a little bit of creativity to find times that he was either gone or working outside or something so I could sneak to my sewing machine and put them together.

I finished the pants just in time for his birthday, and I'm SO pleased with how they turned out. BTW, this was the first time I'd actually pre-washed fabric (I know, I know), and I loved not freaking out about whether they would shrink in the wash. 

I wasn't crazy about the pattern instructions because 1) they were confusing, and 2) the online tutorial pics were made using a printed fabric and made it impossible to tell what was going on. I did like that it made a very sturdy final product, and it was relatively easy to tweek for my purposes (ahem, men's pants). I also love the trim. Oh, and I didn't do the button fly that it called for (that was the most poorly worded section of the instructions). And I figured for men's pjs it would work without buttoning it down. If I use the pattern again, I'll just omit a fly all together to make it easier on myself. I'm kinda lazy like that.

Final verdict on the pattern: worth using if you find it on sale (like my mom did) and you're patient enough to read and re-read the instructions. 

Final verdict on the pants: Holy Awesomeness, Batman!

Weekend Update

{FRIDAY}

After sleeping in and enjoying a lazy morning, Avery and I went and met an old friend's mom to pick up some baby boy clothes that they weren't going to be using (thanks again, Tami!). 

Then we came home to play for awhile before meeting up with my friend Kari and her daughter, Emma, at a local outdoor mall. Avery and I tried to enjoy our little picnic lunch by the fountains, but she freaked out every time the wind blew and we got sprinkled by the water. Haha! Either we need to work on her not being afraid to get wet before summer comes, or she was just cranky because it was naptime.

Even though she was beyond tired, Avery got her second wind before we left. She followed Emma everywhere. It was precious.

We did make it home in time for her to take a nap, but she was still sleeping by the time Matt got home from work! I totally didn't feel like cooking at that point, and we remembered we had a gift card for the same mall that Avery and I had just gone to, so we went back to the mall with Matt and enjoyed a completely relaxed evening complete with take-out hot dogs from a cool little place and Paciugo gelato. Avery even ventured closer to the fountains with Daddy's help.

{SATURDAY} 

We had an entire Saturday with no plans. That rarely happens, especially on a gorgeous day! After Avery and I made a quick run to Walmart (the one in our town is the only one I'll go to; it's super nice), we spent the majority of our day outside while Matt worked on assembling Avery's fort (which he quickly discovered is not a one-man job). We did take a break to walk down to the model home in our neighborhood since they were giving away free bbq sandwiches, chips, and sodas as part of their grand opening. Yum! And after Avery's nap we attempted some water fun in the backyard, although the munchkin wouldn't even get in the water (not the I blame her; the water was freezing!). So she played with bubbles and her sand/water table instead. :)

{SUNDAY}

About once a month we have a Sunday that is pretty much a whirlwind. This was that Sunday. We had church from 9-12, I held a children's ministry teacher training/lunch meeting from 12-2 (since Matt teaches Sunday School, Avery went to my parents' to eat lunch and take a nap), I went to choir practice from 3-4 while Matt stayed at my parents' until Avery woke up, I ran home to feed Nutmeg before going back to my parents' to meet Matt and Avery and eat our leftover pizza, and then we all went back to church for the prayer gathering. We finally got to go home at 7:30, just in time to get Avery down for bed. Whew. 

And now it's Monday, a cold front has blown through, and we have a million errands to run today. But all Avery wants to do is go outside and "play in the water, too!", and I just want a nap. Have a great week!

31 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

 

How Far Along: 31 weeks! Only 9ish to go!

Size of baby: Over 16 inches long and about 3.3 pounds (the size of 4 navel oranges)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 17 lbs. (give or take a lot; I don't own a scale, so I'm going by my last appointment, which was like five weeks ago)

Maternity Clothes: I'm in mostly maternity clothes because I don't want to stretch out my "real" clothes, but I still wear some regular tops.

Gender: We're having a boy! Landon Matthew. :)

Movement: This baby is very active. All the time.

Sleep: What's that? I told Matt to not let me go to bed without getting out the body pillow tonight. I haven't slept well in about a week.

What I miss: Being skinny :) Okay, so that's a little vain. Sorry. I also miss being able to bend over like a normal person. Everyday activities are getting a little awkward. Hey, I can still see my toes though.

Cravings: Pretty much anything sweet

Symptoms: I have to pee like all the time. TMI, but annoyingly true.

Best Moment this week: Um, it was a good week? I can't think of any pregnancy-related highlights to add today, but I am excited to (finally) go back to the doctor tomorrow. I somehow got off on my every-four-week schedule, so five weeks feels like forever between appointments.

I did decide though that I need to wear my navy long sleeved maternity shirt every single day. I got stopped at church a kajillion times yesterday by people who told me I looked too small to be as far along as I am. They are obviously mistaken; I blame the shirt.

And I'm guessing that now that I'm getting closer to the end, I need to brace myself for all kinds of comments. That was my least favorite part of pregnancy the first time around. Why is it that people feel the need to eliminate their filter when speaking to a pregnant chick? Sigh, that's another post for another day.

Friday Five

1. I have been totally slacking on the 52 Week Organizing Challenge. While I like to think that I'm Superwoman and can accomplish my entire to-do list in a day, I'm beginning to realize that I just can't do everything. I know, it's taken me awhile to come to this conclusion, but these days I'm working my big ol' booty off just to keep our house in functioning order, take care of a very active toddler, keep up with all the children's ministry stuff I'm responsible for, and not lose my mind over all the things I still need to get done before Landon gets here. That said, big organizing projects have fallen by the wayside. I'll still post updates when I get to them, but don't hold your breath too long in the waiting.

2. Avery got her very first Sonic slush yesterday! Keep in mind that this is the girl who only drinks milk and water. (We don't give her juice because 1) we're cheap, 2) I'm paranoid about her teeth getting too coated with sugar, and 3) we figure if she doesn't know what she's missing, she won't be begging for it all the time, haha.)

Anyway, she had a great day yesterday, and I had a $1.17 in change just calling Sonic's name after I picked up the munchkin from Mother's Day Out. Plus it was Happy Hour. Score! So I got a small Coke and Avery got a blue coconut slush, and we enjoyed our treats on the back porch when we got home.

What mom in her right mind gives her not-yet-two-year-old a dark blue beverage?!? Seeing as how my financial limitations required colored slushes (as opposed to the real fruit lime ones that are clear) and she was wearing a blue shirt, I just went with it.

Let's just say that Avery likes "slushy!!"

3. I had my first big sewing fail this week. It was bound to happen, especially since I was moving on from burp cloths and straight lines. My mom already had the cute pattern and fabric for it, so I decided to make some adorable Bermuda shorts for Avery. Fail #1: I started these shorts a few weeks ago but stopped in the middle of making them because I needed to make Matt's Batman birthday pajama pants (post on those coming soon, btw). Well, when I returned to the project this week, I completely forgot that I was using white thread and inadvertently switched to chocolate brown. By the time I realized my error, I was way too far into it to bring myself to take it all apart and switch back to white. Argh. Fail #2: The second fail was actually not really my fail per se. I blame the stupid pattern. Because when I went to try the (still uncompleted but close) shorts on my little model, they didn't even cover half of her bottom. I'm not a huge fan of toddler super-low rise pants. So now it's back to the drawing board sewing machine. I refuse to throw the shorts away because I did a stinking good job on the pockets and the bottom, non-waist section, so I will find a solution.

4. We are LOVING this weather! It's been in the 70s and 80s all week, and we've been spending tons of time outside. We went to the park with friends on Wednesday, have been going on exploratory walks in the yard (and playing in the sand) at home, and today we're going to meet Kari and Emma for a picnic at an outside shopping center that has a good play area.

5. This weekend is another free one (this is so unusual for us, but we'll take it!), so we're probably gonna spend it just working (and playing) around the house. We're such homebodies these days. :)

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday: A Day at the Park

And the Award Goes To...

...ME!

Haha, thanks to my awesome neighbor Brooke for dubbing me a "Stylish Blogger." This might be the first time in my entire life that the word stylish has ever been used to describe me, so I'll soak it up while I can. :)

The fine print:

1. Link back and thank the person who gave you the award.2. Share 7 things about yourself.3. Award 5 recently discovered blogs.4. Contact them and tell them about their award. 

7 Random Awesome Things About Heather:

1. I bought 11 boxes of Annie's mac and cheese when I was grocery shopping today. I would've bought 12, but they only had 11 left. (Don't judge, they were $0.49 each!)
2. I'm going through a little bit of a Bachelor withdrawal tonight. Monday was my only must-watch TV night, so now I suppose Matt and I will spend our evening watching...
3. ...Parking Wars. Seriously, have you seen this show? Our friends told us about it, and I was admittedly pretty skeptical of a show that revolves completely around ticketing, booting, towing, and impounding cars in Philadelphia, but it's strangely fascinating and now we're hooked. Now if only they'd add more seasons of Airline to Netflix, I'd be a happy girl.
4. Pregnant or not, I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I guess it's a good thing that I have two other people to feed in this house, otherwise I probably would.
5. I don't miss teaching. I thought I would, but the decision for me to stay at home with my sweet little girl was one of the best that Matt and I have ever made.
6. I love lists and pretty fonts. So now most of my lists are typed out with pretty headers and categories. It's ridiculous. 
7. If you follow this blog at all, you already know that I've become obsessed with gotten into sewing. My mom used to sew all sorts of stuff for us when we were kids, and I had absolutely no interest in learning back then, but I'm so glad that she taught me after my recent interest in the craft. I'm also seriously considering opening an Etsy shop and attempting to make a little extra cash. If I wasn't so much of a perfectionist, I would've already started it, but I can't bring myself to make it official until I have everything just so. 

Tag, You're It!

The following five blogs on my must-reads list have now been given the Stylish Blogger Award. Check them out!

Allison @ Allison Jean Photo

April @ Pieces of April

Corrianna @ Southern Mother

Kati @ Living Well

Sarah @ Casa del Arnold

30 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 30 weeks! It sounds so much closer to 40, but 10 weeks is a long time. Sigh.

Size of baby: Almost 16 inches long and three pounds (the size of a head of cabbage)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 17 lbs. (give or take a few; I don't own a scale, so I'm going by my last appointment)

Maternity Clothes: I'm in mostly maternity clothes because I don't want to stretch out my "real" clothes, but I still wear some regular tops.

Gender: We're having a boy! Landon Matthew. :)

Movement: This baby is very active. All the time.

Sleep: I'm sleeping okay for now once I actually get to sleep. I really need to bust out the body pillow.

What I miss: Being skinny :) Okay, so that's a little vain. Sorry. I also miss being able to bend over like a normal person. Everyday activities are getting a little awkward. Hey, I can still see my toes though.

Cravings: Pretty much anything sweet

Symptoms: I have to pee like all the time. TMI, but annoyingly true.

Best Moment this week: Getting Landon's room painted! Matt finished last week during his spring break, and it looks SO great! We painted one wall red and the other three are a caramel color. The furniture is all in its proper place now, so all I need to do for the room is figure out wall decor, buy and paint his name letters, empty out his closet (currently where all sorts of random junk is stored), and encourage my mom to finish the bedding (haha, just kidding; I am incredibly excited that she's making it though, and I can't wait to see it!).

I feel like this last week a ton of people I know had babies! Seriously, it's been like 10 people this month, and even more are due in the very near future. Babies everywhere! And every week I keep hearing of more of my friends who are pregnant, so it's fun that Landon will apparently have tons of built-in friends. :)

The Best Chicken Salad in the World

I promised over a week ago that I'd post this recipe and then I completely forgot to do it. Anyway, without further ado, here's the best chicken salad in the world. (And I don't say that lightly; it took a lot for me to rank it above my mom's [sorry, Mom!].) 

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: Makes 4 servings

{Ingredients}

• 1/2  cup  regular mayonnaise (don't even bother with the light stuff; my current favorite mayo is the kind made with olive oil)
• 1/2  cup  regular sour cream
• 1  tablespoon  lemon juice (fresh is probably the best way to go, but I used a bottle and it was still delicious)
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  pepper
• 2  pounds  skinned and boned chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (I just boiled two large chicken breasts and it was plenty)
• 3  cups  red and white seedless grapes, halved (I used all red)
• 1  cup  chopped pecans, toasted (I used more than a cup, but we really like pecans; I also didn't toast them, I just chopped them straight out of the bag)
• Lettuce leaves (optional)

{Preparation}

Stir together 1/2 cup mayonnaise and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chopped chicken and grapes, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Stir in pecans just before serving.

If you're feeling fancy, serve in stemware lined with lettuce leaves. If you're feeling normal, slap the salad on your choice of bread. If you're feeling ravenous, forgo all manners, grab a spoon and dig in. Yummy!

Happy Birthday, Matty!

We started off Matt's 28th birthday celebration by feasting on donuts. Mmm. I offered to make breakfast, but the birthday boy wanted donuts, and I'm not going to argue with the easier option. Only, don't ask Avery to smile when she's eating sugary goodness (a rare breakfast treat). Because she won't.

Then we went to our town's Chamber of Commerce expo at the conference center, and we loaded up on free candy, pens, stress balls, and toothbrushes. It was surprisingly kinda fun to walk around, but it got even better when we went upstairs to the Taste of... section. Yum.

We drove around town for awhile after that and stopped at a few garage sales. There wasn't anything too spectacular, so all we came home with was a box of alphabet fridge magnets (how did we not already have these?) that we bought for a whopping 50 cents.

During Avery's naptime, I mowed the yard (oh my gosh, when did our yard get so much bigger?) to give my hard-working husband a break and cleaned the house.

And to top off our day, we had our friends Kendra and Carlos along with my brother Nick and his girlfriend, Brittany, over for dinner on the deck (after our neighbors so graciously let us borrow their propane tank since Matt discovered ours was completely empty right as he was putting the chicken on the grill; we owe them so big).

Yeah, we still haven't bought patio furniture yet.

Needless to say, Avery LOVES playing outside. If she gets this dirty playing by herself, I'm a little scared to see what messes she'll create when she has a partner in crime!

See? She wore herself out.

After the boys beat the girls in a game of Buzzwords, Matt got to open his not-so-secret-thanks-to-Nick (haha) birthday gift of.... Batman pajama pants. That's right, be jealous. I worked on them all week and finally finished them Friday night (pictures to come in a sewing post later this week).

So happy birthday to the best guy I know. I love you, Matt!!

Friday Five

1. I'm actually not happy that today's Friday because that means spring break is almost over. :(

2. We woke up this morning to find out that we have a new niece! Granted, we had to find out via Facebook, but she's SOOO cute! Welcome to the world, Josie! And congrats to Matt's brother, Justin, and his wife, Miriam! We can't wait to meet her! That's a lot of exclamation points!

3. While the time change (combined with spring break) has kinda thrown off Avery's bedtime schedule, I'm loving that she's been sleeping past 9 all week (because that means we get to sleep in, too!). We'll take it while we can. And I'm probably jinxing us now, but she still just stays in bed when she wakes up, even though she's perfectly capable of getting out. I'm hoping that lasts!

4. Tomorrow is a certain someone's birthday! I'm thisclose to finishing his present, so I'd better get on that soon!

5. Today we're going to check out prices on some lumber we need to replace on the fort that's been sitting unassembled in our yard for two weeks, and we're also going to run some other completely boring errands. The weekend looks promising though; I'm just hoping the sun comes out and stays out!

Happy weekend!

Spring Break, pt. 1

We LOVE spring break around our house (and the fact that Matt has a job that allows him to have a whole week off for practically no reason)! However, I'll admit that it's hard to keep up with housework when there's so much fun to be had. :) Today's been dedicated to catching up around the house, so in keeping with the theme, I'll catch up the blog world on our past few days...

Oh, and if you just want to see the pictures, scroll down. I didn't take any pictures over the weekend, go figure!

{FRIDAY}

On Friday morning Avery and I went to an old friend's house so Amanda and I could sew and Avery could play with Amanda's kids. Poor planning on my part (i.e. not cutting my fabric ahead of time) made it a not-so-productive sewing day for me, but it was fun to catch up and let the kids play. 

On our way home, we stopped by the high school stadium so I could do a mic check for senior soccer night, during which I'd be announcing all the seniors over the loudspeaker. (Talk about intimidating!) 

Avery's only nap that day was in the car (yikes), so I was completely relieved that my brother Nick called and offered to babysit (and put Avery to bed) while I was at the stadium and Matt was running the clock for the JV games at the track field. 

The announcing ended up being not so scary, and it was fun to see the girls I remember as little freshmen babies on JV1 take the field for their last home game. I can't believe they're seniors already! Being in the soccer environment again almost made me miss coaching.

{SATURDAY}

Matt was being honored as an outstanding educator by DeMolay (um, yeah, I'm not quite sure what to think about the organization, but yay for Matt) on Saturday morning, but before we went to the meeting, we stopped at a local consignment sale since it was half-price day (that is so when you score the best deals). While the sale was much smaller than the national ones I've been to, it was surprisingly good! I got some great pants and shirts (and even a Rangers cap!) for Landon (and Avery even got a pair of shorts for the summer) all for $15. If you've never gone to the big consignment sales, I highly recommend checking them out. They typically hold events twice a year (spring and fall), the clothes are usually name brands in great shape (better than thrift stores, which I haven't really gotten into), and they usually mark everything half off on the last day of the sale. I know you don't get first pick when you wait until the last day, but I've been able to find some really good deals that way.

We got to the DeMolay meeting right as it was supposed to start, but they didn't even start for another 30 minutes (read: Avery was done before it even began). The whole thing was a little awkward, and because Avery was being a huge disruption (she and I ended up spending most of the time outside), we left after Matt was recognized.

As soon as Avery went down for her nap, I went up to church to get classrooms ready for Sunday, and then my mom and I went to JoAnn, aka the store I go to every single week. It's getting ridiculous. We ran to Costco afterward and since we had stayed out way later than I planned, we picked up Matt and Avery at my house and all of us went and ate some delicious tilapia at my parents' house.

{SUNDAY}

Combine a late night with the time change, and you get a girl who completely overslept and barely made it to church on time. Oops! Combine the beginning of spring break with all the sickness going around, and you get a pretty quiet Sunday at church. 

Matt had to be back up at church by 1:00 for worship team rehearsal, so we went with a bunch of people to Whataburger for lunch, where Avery ate her weight in ketchup. And we let her. Sigh. 

We had a chill afternoon and evening, and Matt went riding on my brother's police shift, so after Avery went to bed, I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning sewing. I'm working on a super-cute pair of shorts for Avery, and I started Matt's top-secret birthday present. :) I quickly learned that there's a reason I go to bed before midnight these days. Snooze.

{MONDAY}

We had to recover from our aforementioned late night, so I'm pretty sure we just hung around the house all day and napped when Avery did. 

My brother Aaron and his wife, Chelsea, stopped in town on their way down to visit her parents for spring break, so we had Matt's family birthday dinner a little early (we missed you, Allison!). My mom made Reata steaks with mashed potatoes and green beans. Y'all. My mom can cook. We even got fancy cupcakes for dessert, and Avery got to stay up way past her bedtime. All the siblings and their significant others played a rousing game of Bohnanza (so fun!) before we tortured the boys by watching the DVR'd season finale of The Bachelor. Yay that Brad picked Emily! Although I'm still not really sure why I continue to watch that show. That's another post.

{TUESDAY}

Tuesday was our designated "date day," and we spent the whole day trying to be as cheap as we could possibly be. Haha! Matt had signed up for a kajillion fast food and restaurant email lists for their birthday rewards, so we took advantage of all the free coupons he accumulated:

• Our first stop was a free meal at Chick Fil A ($5.65)
• Then we drove through Schlotzky's for a free sandwich ($4.99)

We stopped and ate in the mall parking lot, and I'll tell you right now that food tastes even better when it's free. By the way, I always forget how much I love Scholtzky's! I just wish it wasn't so dang expensive. I mean, really, $5 for a sandwich? At least Subway's is a foot long.

• Then we had lunch #2. That's right. It was a day of gluttony. We went and split a flauta platter and beef fajita taco at Taco Cabana. I never go to Taco Cabana; in fact, I usually forget the place even exists. But y'all, they have this salsa ranch sauce that I could eat all day long. How did I not know about this stuff?!? ($7ish)

We had to walk off all those calories somehow, so we went to Target and Babies R Us to create a baby registry for the (surprisingly few) things we need/want for Landon. For the record, Babies R Us completely overwhelms me. And I have a pretty good idea about what kind of stuff is necessary for a new baby; I can't imagine walking in there without a clue! We really didn't register for much there because their prices are significantly higher than Target (for the exact same items), but they did have some things that we've had our eyes on that Target doesn't carry.

• We wanted to pass out from exhaustion, but we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were right by the mall and had a B1G1 coupon for Auntie Anne's. I'm a sucker for soft pretzels (I blame my mother for this fact), so we each got one and people-watched while we ate. ($2.69)
• Total of food consumed = $20.33, and it was all for the cost of one (delicious) pretzel. Hooray for being broke! :)

I love hanging out with my husband, even when we're doing relatively mundane activities.  I'm also so thankful that my parents live so close to us and like to keep Avery when Matt and I need to spend time together.

We picked up our sweet little girl and went to eat dinner with some of our favorite friends, Kendra and Carlos. Since they live about 45 minutes away from us, we don't get to go to their place very often, so we're hoping they're able to find a place out this way soon! Carlos is Venezuelan and made us some fantastic tostadas (which were not like any Mexican tostadas I've ever had; they're like fajita sandwiches with fried arepas as the bread). YUM!

Avery loves Carlos and Kendra. She had a blast running around their apartment, eating tostadas, rough housing with Carlos, and watching The Backyardigans from inside an ottoman. She's so much fun these days!

{WEDNESDAY}

And that brings us to today. Avery slept until 9:30 this morning after all the late nights she's had this week, and since we haven't set our alarms all week, we got to sleep in, too! Matt got three walls painted in Landon's room (he'll paint the fourth tonight), and I did some vacuuming and laundry.  It can't always be fun and games, right? Avery doesn't know that though, and she had a blast helping both of us. :)

Ahhh, and now the munchkin is fast asleep, Matt is at a pre-St. Patrick's Day party with the soccer guys, and I'm about to spend some quality time with my sewing machine. 

Have I mentioned that I love spring break?

29 Weeks

 

(If I look tired in this picture, it's because, well, I am.)

 Pregnancy Highlights

 

How Far Along: 29 weeks

Size of baby: A little over 15 inches long and two and a half pounds (the size of a butternut squash)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 17 lbs. (give or take a few; I don't own a scale, so I'm going by my last appointment)

Maternity Clothes: I'm in mostly maternity clothes because I don't want to stretch out my "real" clothes, but I still wear some regular tops.

Gender: We're having a boy! Introducing.... Landon Matthew. :)

Movement: I feel lots of movement all the time; surely he can't be as active as Avery, right? I think I might be in trouble. You can seriously see my belly moving now, and it still creeps me out!

Sleep: I'm sleeping okay for now once I actually get to sleep. I might be busting out the body pillow soon though!

What I miss: Being skinny :) Okay, so that's a little vain. Sorry.  

Cravings: I have a major sweet tooth these days. And I crave milk. Seriously, I'm drinking more milk than Avery.

Symptoms: I have to pee like all the time. TMI, but annoyingly true.

Best Moment this week: Getting Landon's furniture moved into his room! It'll be painted this week, but we needed to move the baby furniture out of Avery's room so we could move her to her big girl bed (which has been a huge success, btw!).


Matt and I are going to register today at Babies R Us and Target, essentially so we can have a list of baby things we need to buy, but mostly so we can get the registry completion discount closer to the due date. I'm excited to look at baby things again! Good thing we don't need much because I think I would definitely go a little overboard if we did. :)

Friday Five

1. I have officially found the best chicken salad recipe in the world. (Sorry, Mom!) Chicken salad is a tricky thing; it needs a little sweetness without being overbearing, and in my opinion it should require as few ingredients and steps as possible. Everyone has their own preferences for this delectable concoction, but this fits my requirements (and taste buds) perfectly with its crushed pecans and sliced red grapes. Mmmm, and now I'm just mad that we ate all the leftovers. I'll post the Heather-fied version of it later this week, but if you can't wait until then, just go with the link. You can thank me later.

2. If you missed it Tuesday, Avery's sleeping in her new bed! We finally finished her "big girl" room, and while I know lots of people think we're nuts for moving her to a twin bed before she even turns two (we need the crib in the new nursery), she has adjusted excellently so far. She actually goes to sleep now without tears, and she's fallen off the bed fewer and fewer times each night. :) After a rough first middle-of-the-night, during which I ended up sleeping with her from midnight to 5am, we're excited that she hasn't had any major issues with the transition.

3. For some people it's TV shows. For some people it's video games. My time-sucker is Facebook. I'm really trying to back down on the time I spend catching up on other peoples' lives so I can focus on living my own. There's a lot more to it, but really, I'm just adding this to my Friday Five as accountability for myself. :)

4. Today we're making a second attempt to go to my friend Amanda's house so we can sew while our kids play. We originally planned to do this a couple weeks ago, but Avery was sick-ish and I didn't want to be that mom (whatever that means, haha). So today is Sewing Day, take two. Maybe I can whip out a cute pair of shorts I've been wanting to make for my little munchkin.

5. I especially LOVE that today's Friday because it means spring break for my favorite person in the world! We have a fun weekend ahead, but then we also get the whole week with Matt home! And it's his birthday week, so we might just have to make it an extra-long celebration.

Hope you have a great weekend!

52 Weeks of Organizing: Baby Shower Cards

If you've noticed the trend, my 52 Weeks projects have been fairly trivial lately, but honestly that's all I've had the energy (and time) for. So this week since we got Avery's big girl room put together, I finally did something about all of the cards we've had in a basket since before she was born. Plus, I needed the basket for other organizational purposes. My original intent was to make a scrapbook of all of the cards/notes, but there were a LOT of them. So I took the easy way out and just hole punched each one and put a ribbon through them. Easy breezy, yet effective for our purposes.

(And yes, I probably should've just thrown them away, but I am admittedly too sentimental to do such things.)

BEFORE

AFTER

And there you have it, folks. I think next week might require something a little more involved, especially since it's Matt's spring break and I'll have an extra set of hands around the house. Mwahahaha...