Thankful: 1.

I am thankful for this adorable, wild and crazy, loving, and wonderful family of mine. Each one if these boys holds a special place in my heart, but together they are my world.

Happy November and here's to a month of being thankful! :)

And P.S. I'm also thankful that there is no school today. Here's to sleeping in on the day after Halloween! (Or letting Andrew asleep in while I deal with a cranky pants baby who didn't get enough sleep last night!)

Xo! :)

Meal Plan Monday: no. 1

amazing meal planning calendars found here!

 

Here at my house, we are so disorganized when it comes to planning our dinners.  Both my husband and I will run to the store for a few things in an effort to get dinner made, and we rarely go big-time grocery shopping.  That gets hard with two kids and a house to run.  Yikes!  SO, I decided to get organized and start meal planning.  Last week, I took both boys with me grocery shopping.  Two and a half hours, one bottle, one diaper change, a few freebies at Costco, and four stores later, we had everything we needed for more than a week at least.  So I wanted to start sharing my meal plans each week with you all.  Maybe we can start getting dinner ideas from each other?!  You never know!  I can always use some fresh ideas when it comes to cooking. :)  Here's what our week looks like:

 

Sunday

French Dip, Potatoes & Salad

Monday

Hot Dogs & Macaroni and Cheese

Tuesday

Spaghetti & Meatballs, Rolls, Salad

Wednesday

Black Bean Quesadillas & Corn Casserole

Thursday

Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, Bacon & Eggs

Friday

Salsa Chicken & Refried Beans

Saturday 

Buffet Night AKA Leftovers :)

 

I do want to share my recipes for Salsa Chicken and the Black Bean Quesadillas- both of which are frequent dinners at our house.  So easy, too! :) 

 

What will you be eating this week?  What recipes would you like to share?  Quick kitchen tips to keep your family organized?! :)  I'd love to hear from you!

xo!

 

six months old!

    Declan, you are half a year old!!!  Six months already?!  Time has seriously flown by.  It makes me teary eyed just to think of how fast you are growing and how quickly time really passes when you are little.  You have grown so much since you were born, changed in so many ways, and developed into a little person with his own hilarious personality.  That smile of yours {just like your momma with your mouth wide open with happiness!} is amazingly adorable.  You laugh wholeheartedly at so many things.  You love to be tickled, you love your jumper, and you are starting to love to splash around in the bathtub as well.  {Finally!} You can be completely distracted with your toys, or my cell phone covered in rhinestones- whichever is closer. :)  You babble and talk all day, repeatedly saying "ma-ma-ma" whenever you need something- a bottle, food, or someone to snuggle.  Not sure if you know what it means yet, but it sure makes my heart melt!  You think Dad is so wonderful, and when he walks in after work, you can't take your eyes off him.  Sometimes you need a break from me, and Dad is always there to swoop in and play. :)  Your brother is so in love with you, helping out wherever he can.  You laugh at him all the time, even when he isn't doing anything at all. :)   You love to eat, gobbling down oatmeal, applesauce, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas, peaches, prunes, and the favorite of all, green beans! :)  You are getting so much chubbier, and I can't wait to see how much you have grown these past two months at your next doctor's visit. {Monday!}  You sleep through the night soundly, but we do need to get you in your crib, once and for all.  You like to nap there occasionally, but still love sleeping in our room at night.  That's our next big hurdle, my dear boy.  I hate that you won't be at arm's length anymore, but it is time for you to love that cozy crib of yours as well. We also are working on you and the swimming pool.  So far, you think it is mildly  interesting, but haven't fully given in to the fun of the pool just yet.    These past six months have changed our lives in ways we couldn't imagine.  We are a happy family and we feel so complete knowing that you are part of our puzzle.  You might be small, but you have made a very large impact on all our lives and we couldn't imagine a single moment without you. I love you, Declan Eugene! :) Happy half birthday!
 Love, Mom

The Little Things

As busy mothers, sometimes it is hard to pick out the little things that make us happy on a daily basis.  We are running kids to school, feeding the baby, cleaning the house, making dinner, go, go, go all day long.  But we should all stop to see these little things, that while they may seem insignificant in a passing moment, are truly what our happiness is made of. :)

Here's what I stopped to smile at this week...

 

A happy baby at his two month doctor's appointment.  All smiles! 

...That is, until those crummy shots to the leg.  {sniff!} Made me so sad for this little man.

 

A wonderful husband who brings me flowers for no reason at all...

except to let me know he loves me. :)

 

 As a self-proclaimed TV addict, catching up on The Vampire Diaries was very happy for me this week.

{That is, until one of my favorites got killed.  Not cool, not cool at all.}

 Coffee.  {Need I say more?}  It's what gets me through the morning. :)

 Baby smooches!!! :)

{and for momma keeping it real with my crummy hair, roots and all, no makeup, looking like total crap.  A day in the life, people. ;) }

 Family game night!

{Seriously, who knew Risk could be so much fun?  And so addicting?}

 It was Andrew and my first time playing!  John was quite the teacher of world domination.

 

 

 One smart little cookie that I have raised.

Andrew got an A+ on his report about Teddy Roosevelt.  Go Andrew!!!!

You sure know how to make a momma proud. :)

 

What made you smile this week? :)

xo!

 

*Linking up with Falling for Friday :) Love her blog!!!

*Also linked to a new blog I just discovered. High Five for Friday! :)

Warm Days

I feel so lucky to live so close to the coast. We live four miles up the street from the beach, so this past weekend, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect for an evening trip to the beach. We tossed a few towels in the car, I grabbed my beach chair and a book, and took my boys down to enjoy the last couple of hours of sunshine.

Andrew splashed his toes in the water, played with shells and rocks, we shared some snacks, I started my new book, and we watched the sunset.

 

Oh yeah, and Declan slept right through it all. :) 

 

Thank you to the wonderful weekend weather, even though it's back to being a little chilly for the rest of the week. Feeling lucky to be a southern California girl right about now. :)

xo! 

  

Welcome to the world, baby!

Declan Eugene is here!
Born on New Year's Day morning, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy!!!! He weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and surprised us by coming a week early :) He is perfect and is such an amazing baby so far!

At two weeks old, he is a good sleeper for a few solid hours at a time and rarely cries! He makes the sweetest baby sounds and loves to snuggle!  Andrew is such a proud big brother and helps hold and feed Declan as much as he can. I can't believe that I am now a mother of TWO beautiful boys!! I am so very blessed. :)

More photos to come... this momma is trying to find the energy to get back into blogging. Bear with me, I will return!! :) xo!

things that are exciting me lately + mani monday!

OK, I am seriously excited today. For quite a few reasons!   Number one?! I am officially in my THIRD TRIMESTER! Baby boy is the size of a cauliflower, weighing in at 2 pounds. He can blink, hiccup, and listen to me ramble on each day. yay! Only 13 more weeks until we get to meet our little man. Names have been the topic of discussion between my husband and me lately.  We've got a top two that we like, so let's keep our fingers crossed that we have something to call this baby soon. :)   Speaking of fingers... it's Mani Monday over at Just Lovely!   I usually have my fingernails done at a local salon, but got sick of having to go in there every couple of weeks.  SO, I decided to grab some fun new polish and give myself a manicure!  I am SO happy with the way it turned out, and am loving these greens. {The dark one is actually a slightly glittery black-green.}   Polishes I Used: Spoiled "The Parking Meteor Expired" + Sally Hansen Hard as Nails "Mint Sorbet" on my pinkies + a topping of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Topcoat = happy & cute fingers!   {PS.  I love the names of nail polishes.  So funny!}   Another exciting thing?? FALL television is back! New Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, Modern Family, Private Practice, Once Upon a Time, Gossip Girl, and my personal FAVE..... EEEEEEK!  I've been waiting all summer for this one!  Can't wait!!!! Only three more days!!! :) I'm a total TV junkie, by the way. :) What are you watching?? Any new shows caught your attention? My husband and I are liking Revolution and Last Resort so far. :)   And always an exciting thing... I was so happy to make these darling birthday party invitations for a new customer- her son is having a Hallowen themed party and the invites sure turned out amazingly cute.  Yay!  Need some custom invites?  Pop over to the shop and I would love to help out :)   So, what is exciting YOU lately?! Happy Monday, xo!

on disarray.

{via}   My house is in a bit of a disarray at the moment. Let's be honest. With the Queen Bee Market in only 4 days, the corner of my office/bedroom looks like a tornado of paper has exploded. In a good way.  Cute stuff has been made!! {Or a bad way if you need to get into the left side of the closet.}   Seriously, I am not sure how people do markets and craft show like this all the time.  I would drive myself nuts.  My house is not a complete diaster, but the floors need to be swept, carpets vacuumed, the bathrooms could use a cleaning.  You know the drill.  It's just bugging me.  But I feel like I want to devote the time to my products, to ensure a successful show this Saturday.  Plus, I have been having weird dreams about forgetting essential items the day of the show and me not being prepared.  I won't let that happen. :)   So the floors might have to wait a couple more days and I'll put the windex back in the cupboard until Sunday. :) I'm a real person, I have a child and a husband, and my house is not perfect. There, I said it. Whew. OK, now back to cutting paper...... {but...who is going to take out the trash, though??}

photo friday! :)

I have been stockpiling photos over the past two weeks and then I happened to stumble on the CUTEST new blog.  Photo Friday is the theme for today, and you can share the last things you took photos of.  Here is my past week or two in photos- and it's feeling great to catch up here!! :)   Andrew started third grade last week.  AH!  How did he become so grown up looking??!!  Where is my little boy??  He is loving his class, his school, everything about the new year so far.  That makes a momma very pleased. :)   He also started baseball!!  This is his first baseball team and he is so excited to play fall ball this year.  Here's to hoping he loves it, because I actually like watching baseball.  {As opposed to another certain sport that has started recently! ::cough::football::cough::}  So far so good, and he is so thrilled to play his first game on Sunday!!! :) :)   My shop is undergoing some exciting changes!!!  New packaging for the Queen Bee Market next week!  Do you like???  Everything will now have these fab brown paper labels on them, and I should be phasing them into the shop orders after the market as well.  Plus there are some new items that will be hitting the shop as well- these cute polka dot trees are TOO cute.  Seriously, I am in love with them! :)  They will be available in the shop soon, but contact me through Etsy if you can't live without them and I'll see what I can do! ;)   Another new item that will debut at the market next Saturday.  These fantastic new brown paper greeting cards!!!  This is one of my favorite songs and I love mason jars.  I just had to combine the two and voila!  Serious cuteness, in my opinion.  Hopefully some of you will agree! :)  These cards, along with some other mason jar card designs, will be in the shop after the market.   Speaking of the Queen Bee Market, are you local to Southern California?! Then stop by and see me at the event on Saturday, September 22nd from 9am to 3pm! Here is a great info blog to get you set on where you will be going for this event.  Hope to see some of you there!! :)   And...

 

Pop over to see more photos here!

 

Hope you all enjoy a fantastic weekend!

xo!

a baby on it's way...!

It's a BOY!!!!

 

 

Yes, that's right! My husband and I are expecting our first child together, and Andrew is going to be a BIG brother!!! We all are SO thrilled! I have been so absent from my blog, and had to sign on today to finally share the news.

I am about 22 and a half weeks along and this healthy baby boy is doing perfectly so far!  I have to say, I was a little disapointed at first to be denied the tutu's, bows and dresses... BUT, the thought of having two darling BOYS is perfect in my eyes now.  It's how it is supposed to be.  Maybe I am destined to be the only girl in the house ;)

 

I have started a Pinterest board for ideas for the boys room.. yes, that's right!  My two boys will be sharing a room when the little one can sleep through the night well.  So that means some fun decorating for momma!!!!  See the beginnings of my board here. :)

 

I will be back soon with more blogs, I promise this time! 

Happy Friday, xo!

 

happy monday & a winner! :)

Happy Monday!
Around my house, Monday morning brings a lot of stress to my life. After the weekend and a very happy Andrew, it is back to setting an alarm, getting up to get dressed and ready for the day, feeding breakfast to a very grumpy 6 year old, and selling the idea of school to him as well. It is a constant battle to get out the door on time and get Andrew to school, of which he is not a huge fan of lately.

But... then when I come home to a quiet house, Mondays seem so peaceful to me. A cup or two of coffee greets me warmly and starts my morning off right. Then the idea that I have until 2:30 in the afternoon to calmly wrap up orders from the shop, work on new items, clean up... that makes me actually like Mondays. And then of course, when school is out, Andrew has a brand new and bright attitude and is so happy to be headed home with me.

How are your Mondays?!
Please tell me I'm not the only one that fights to get going each week! :)

And for one lucky person,
this Monday is off to a fun start as well.
The winner of the Mommy Holly giveaway from last week is....
YOU.
Email me your address and I'll pop your bird notecards in the mail to you asap!

A very happy Monday to you all!
xo!

image via weheart it and altered by me.

my day....

...consisted of the following so far:
coffee.
breakfast & school with andrew.
make the beds.
listing items in my shop.
off to andrew's school again to work at his book fair.
post office.
birthday shopping for andrew.
doing the dishes.
sweeping the floor.
listing more items on etsy.
coffee. again. :)


1. black damask thank you card
2. bright and happy thank you card
3. sweet strawberry and lime thank you card
4. sweet coffee cups thank you card

Hope your day was a productive one as well!
see my new things here. :)
xo!

a good day.

The sun came out.
It was a gorgeous day.
I saw "The Lightning Thief" with my momma.
It was a great day!
xo!