Move Over Baby!

So, I’ve been MIA for 3 months now.  WOW – that’s crazy!  Let’s play catch up, like super quick, shall we?

First, we moved.  Yeah, I know – didn’t we just do that?  Yep!  Twice in one year.  Boy that was fun.  But our lease was up at the end of June, and our house, which was on the market, hadn’t budged.  The inevitable was happening – we had to move back into our house.  We just couldn’t make two house payments work anymore!  So we decided to move at the end of March / beginning of April, when I was 7 months pregnant.  Certainly it would be easier to move while 7 months pregnant than with a one month old baby, right?

Ughhhh it took forever!  Or so it seemed.  Because we were still signed into a contract until the end of June, we took our time and tried not to stress about the move.  For a 7-month pregnant lady, that’s a good thing.  But at the same time, it’s not.  I just wanted it to be over!

When everything was all said and done, we had everything back in our new (old) house and all the essentials got taken care of, just in the nick of time.  No, the nursery wasn’t finished.  No, the crib wasn’t even set up.  But we had a pack-n-play, and some diapers, and that was just going to have to work!

37.5 weeks.  How did I not fall over?

At the beginning of May, Baby Queen (gender was still unknown by us!) was growing rather large.  In fact, the docs had me a little freaked at how big it was going to be.  So I was hoping that it wouldn’t get any bigger and I wouldn’t go much past my due date.  I reeeeally wanted to have the baby on my due date at the end of May.  It was my husband’s birthday and he was really looking forward to it!!

5 weeks vs 41 weeks

No such luck.  Due date came and went.  And so did 11 other days.  Finally, at 8 am on Wednesday, I was induced.  36 hours later, baby BOY Queen came into this world.  That’s right.  36 hours.  26 hours of no food.  20 hours of active labor.  And just over 3 ½ hours of pushing.  I didn’t think I would EVER get that baby out!!  Oliver Lincoln weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces, 21 inches long.  His head was 14 ¼ inches.  Yep.  I’m pretty sure a size 0 girl should not be birthing such a large child … but I did it!

One day old

Isn’t he precious?  Looks JUST like DH, swear.

So yeah, after giving birth to a child that was nearly big enough to carry me out of the hospital, I parked it on the couch for a few weeks.  Yikes!  DH didn’t know he’d have to take care of two babies – Oliver and me!!

So here we are.  Little Man just turned one month old this past weekend.  And I’m finally starting to feel human again.  Believe it or not, life is slowing down and I think I’m ready to tackle this blog again!  A little more about Lil’ O: he’s already sleeping through the night.  He’s up to 12 pounds.  And he loves the ceiling fan.  And one of the best parts: Momma’s back into her pre-pregnancy jeans and stilettos.  Thank you very much nursing!!  :)

Promise it won’t be another three months.  Promise.

Paprika Potatoes

I’m always looking for quick easy ways to fix potatoes.  I love baked red potatoes SO much!  But I can’t buy just two or three for dinner, I have to buy the whole darn bag!  Then the next thing I know, I have just a couple left and I’m ready for something different.

This recipe is absolutely one of my faves.  Maybe it’s my love for paprika, or maybe it’s my love for red baked potatoes, or maybe it’s my love for simple recipes … that I often forget about and then fall in love with all over again.  Whatever it is, I’m sharing it with you!

Just peal a few potatoes.  (I chose red, but you could use your favorite).  Next combine olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.  You could mix all of this in a ziplock bag.  I chose to mix it in a corning ware dish with a lid … because I hate wasting things like ziplock bags.  I like to reuse :)  Pour the mixture over the potatoes and toss to combine.

Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet (or a jelly roll pan; it’s best if the sheet has a lip on it so the oil doesn’t run all over your oven).  And bake for 40 minutes.

Yumm!!  I usually let my potatoes get a little bit darker than this, just because I like them that way.  But the night I fixed this, we were on a tight time schedule, so I could only go for 40 minutes.  As long as the potatoes are baked all the way through, you can choose how dark you want them to get.

Enjoy!

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Paprika Potatoes

3 pounds potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups)

¼ cup olive oil

1 ¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 ¼ teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In bowl, toss potatoes with oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.  Spread potatoes on large jellyroll pan.  Roast, turning once, until potatoes are tender and golden brown, about 40 minutes.

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Easy Party BBQ Meatballs

I have to share this simple recipe with you.  It’s one I rarely make for dinner, but I make all the time for parties, get-togethers, etc etc.  It’s just so stinkin’ simple and everyone requests them – so I don’t mind bringing them.

Even though I rarely make them for supper, it doesn’t mean you can’t!  I was looking around the pantry trying to come up with some ideas for dinner, when I saw I still had a bottle of BBQ sauce leftover from this and I had a jar of jelly that I got for super cheap here.  So why not use them both?

I also grabbed a box of pre-made meatballs from the store, because I was short on time.  But if you have a few extra minutes, by all means, make your own!  Although, one word of advice, I usually get the store brand (at Walmart) but I went to Food Lion and this was the only brand they had… and it was gross.  So if you do buy your own meatballs, don’t get this brand :)

I’m not kidding that this is simple, and so yummy!  Mix the BBQ sauce and the grape jelly in crockpot.  Don’t worry if at first it looks chunky from the jelly.  Once it heats, the jelly will become less congealed and more liquid like.

Cook on low or high for however long you need to heat them thoroughly or until you’re ready to serve.  As long as your meatballs are already cooked, you just need to heat them!  And before you know it, viola!  So easy … even my sister can make them.  ;)

So yes, they are easy for parties with lots of finger foods.  But they can also be a part of a well-balanced meal.

I’ll share that potato dish soon!  Happy partying!!

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Easy Party BBQ Meatballs

-1 jar of BBQ sauce
-1 jar of grape jelly
-1 package of frozen plain meatballs, or pre-made cooked meatballs

Combine BBQ sauce and grape jelly in crockpot until well blended.  Begin to heat the sauce.  Add meatballs and cook in sauce until warmed thoroughly.
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lessons learned

So I’ve been pretty much MIA for a week…. or two.  Whoops.

A lot happened over the last few weeks.  The biggest news is, I got our living room back in order!!  Without getting sent to the hospital this time for “over-doing-it”  :)  even better!  Big thanks to my sis who spent part of her spring break moving things for me.  She’s awesome!  And she also did our maternity photo shoot.  Sis has gone pro with her photography business, and yet hubs and I still managed to be her first baby-bump shoot.  It’s like we planned it that way or something.  Hehe.

So what have I been up to since last blogging?  All sorts of things.  I got the living room cleaned, lots of new recipes, went to a friend’s daughter’s first birthday party (omgeeeee I can’t believe she’s one!) had my first baby shower, designed the thank you cards and started making them … oh, and learned a few lessons along the way.

What not to do.

#1 – Don’t leave a plastic cutting board in the drawer beneath your oven if you are going to clean it.  I’ve never had this happen before, but apparently my new oven cleans at a higher temperature than my old oven.

 

Truth is, I’ve been wanting new cutting boards for a while.  This was NOT my plan to get them.

#2 – If you think you can make one of those adorable fabric covered cardboard boxes that everyone is pinning on pinterest with just this:

cardboard box, scissors, tape, thick white paper

…you’re wrong.  It definitely needs spray adhesive.  Otherwise, it turns out like this:

Not what I had in mind.  And while paper is much cheaper than fabric, it doesn’t look nearly as nice.

#3 – While preparing this wonderful meal:

I managed to severely slice my finger.  Which meant I burned these:

Epic fail.  They still tasted yummy … just a little dry.  So I guess all wasn’t lost.  [oh and the finger is fine.  It’s just … pregnant women bleed … a LOT.  So it took quite a while to heal.]

#4 – When stamping, check the ink on textured cardstock before stamping.  Oh, and always measure before you cut.  Or your card will turn out disastrous.

Fortunately she’s only one, so she didn’t know any better.  Sorry for the purple fingers, Mom and Dad!

And there you have it!  My lessons learned.  Hey, what’s life without a few mistakes?

Look for more on those recipes in the future.  And check back for my thank you card design.  And hopefully those maternity pics too!!

Flashback Friday: think spring ... cakes!

I’m in complete denial, but it has officially been one year since I did my last cake.  Are you serious?  Life got so hectic and I had piled waaaaaay too much on my plate, so I went into “retirement” promising to pick it back up one day. 

Truth is: I miss it.  A lot.  It was such a creative outlet for me, and suited me better than any other outlet I’ve found.  But at the same time, I’m not ready to pick it back up yet.  Unless you are a fellow caker, you really have no idea how much time goes into each cake.  Not just planning and prepping, but baking, frosting, décor, delivery, and clean up.  …which often takes as much time as everything else.  When I did cakes full time (and by full time I mean, I had a full time real job and I was still cranking out three custom cakes a week – that was a ton of work for me) my house stayed a disaster.  I would get it cleaned from one cake just in time to start the next.  It was a never ending, VERY VERY exhausting cycle.

Sometimes I get the itch again and I’ll reminisce back through my old pictures of cakes.  Sometimes I view them and think “wow I can’t believe I did that.”  Most of the time I look back and think “wow, I wish I could do this one again – it would turn out a lot better.”

So in the hopes for spring (doesn’t it feel woooonderful outside??)  I thought this flashback Friday could be all about spring time cakes!  Granted, I’ll only show you a few.  And do keep in mind that they span from one of my very first cakes to one of my last cakes.  You’ll see what I mean if you try to critique them.  ;)

Think spring!

After a long, hard winter that year, that’s all we wanted to do – think spring!!

This year, we barely saw any snow.  But it’s still exciting to see the first signs of beautiful flowers.

If any of you are Texans out there, how about a few bluebonnets?

Last one for today:

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy this gorgeous weekend!!

bathroom closet makeover

This week I set out to reorganize our bathroom closet.  It was part of the “still unpacking boxes of junk from our old house” that I’ve been working on for about a month now.  I had to be forced to consolidate 3 bathrooms to one.  Not an easy task.

[Disclaimer, I am going to show you a lot of pictures of our bathroom.  Duh.  But seriously, it was decorated like this when we moved in – by our landlord.  At first, I was repulsed.  There’s only so much you can do with baby blue tile left over from the 70s, but I hated it.  The very first time I actually got ready in the bathroom though, my opinion changed immediately.  The decorations remind me of a tacky beach house.  So, literally, every morning I get ready for work or whatever, I feel like I’m at the beach!!  Not kidding.  Could be worse, my friends!  But I just wanted to forewarn you.  This is not my style.  If it were my bathroom, the fish would have been flushed a long time ago … along with that horrid wall color.  There.  I spoke my piece, now I can show you the place.  :) ]

When I had moved our essentials into the new place, our bathroom was still messy.  It looked like this:

Then I added all the bathroom stuff from the boxes I unpacked.  …after I threw away everything that I didn’t want any more or disposed of expired drugs.  [which was a lot, but the way.]  Even after that, I still had all this stuff:

At this point in my madness, my husband walked in.  His exact words were “I’m going to throw up”  haha!  He gets a little bit stressed to walk into the middle of one of my projects.

But after a few hours alone in the bathroom with nothing but a pair of scissors, shelf liner, and Pandora ABBA channel, it turned into this:

Ahhhhhhh!!  So much better!  And the total cost of this project: Free.  :)  I had all those little white storage containers.  Albeit, most of them needed a good scrub!  And I already had the shelf liner too.  Here are a few of my favorite things.

Best way to store bobby-pins ever?  Magnetic paper clip holder.  I’ve been doing this one for years.  It WORKS and I stick with it.

One thing I looooove about this bathroom is the drawers to the sides of the sink.  I haven’t had drawers next to my sink since I moved out of my parents’ house.  Oh how I’ve missed them!!  It makes organizing so much easier.  Check out these small plastic organizers I put in each drawer.  And yes, I lined the plastic with shelf liner so my stuff isn’t flying all over the place each time I open the drawer.

And of course, there’s some organization to each little bin – one for eyeliner/eye colors, one for brushes, one for foundations, and another for lips.  It makes my daily routine so much easier.  And yes yes yes, my eye colors are now alphabetized.  Need you even ask??

So there you have it.  That’s how I squeezed three bathrooms into one.  I made sure to include only what I use and got rid of a lot [a LOT] of expired drugs, meds, and make up.  Remember, cosmetics have a shelf life of three years, unless it’s mascara – that’s only 3 months folks!

This is such an easy task that really takes so little time.  It’s something that we all need to do more often than we do.  It’s no use keeping old cold medicine if it’s passed its expiration date.  …especially if it’s 5 years passed.  Yikes!

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