Thursday, May 30, 2013

Finished Nursery

I'm so excited to finally have the nursery all finished and photographed.  I had always thought I would have a girl and had so many plans for girl nurseries that when we found out it was a boy I had to completely rethink everything I wanted.  I wanted something that he could grow into that wasn't super themed.  I can't imagine having to re-do a room every time he starts liking a new color or thing, so we just kept it pretty neutral.


And for anyone interested here are the links to items in the room. 
 
Convertible Crib - Target
Charleston Glider - Target
Threshold Window Panel - Target (added the trim)
Book Ledges - IKEA
Poms - Etsy
Crib Blanket - Made by Me
Glider Quilt - Made by Me
Pouf - Target
Side Table - Old (Re-Painted)
Light Fixture - IKEA
Crib Skirt - Amazon (added the trim)

Boppy and Changing Pad Cover - Etsy 


Ribba Picture Frames - IKEA

Hemnes Dresser - IKEA
Moose Head - Etsy
Lamp & Shade - Target
Silver Leaf "S" - Made by Me

All we need now if the little bebe!
Only 17 more days to go!

Friday, May 24, 2013

Sunday Night Mac & Cheese

This week the boys at work decided we should all bring dinner in and eat together. It sounds like a good idea until everyone eats way too much and then a foot chase happens and someone throws up... luckily that did not happen today.  Although it has happened before.
 I decided to bring in a more grown up version of mac and cheese and some yummy dessert.  Keep reading if this looks amazing... which it does. Tasted even better.  Dessert was an always classic Peanut Butter Dream Bars, but that's Betty Crockers recipe so you'll have to get it from her. 
(I don't add the nuts, instead I add some peanut butter cups chopped up)
I change the recipe most of the time the way I like it, I would recommend doing that with any recipe if there are things you just don't love about it.  Recipes are never meant to be follow. 

Anyway, on to the Mac & Cheese!


Sunday Night Mac & Cheese
Time: 15 mins prep 25 mins cook
Diffc: Mediano

Ingredients:
2 C Elbow Mac & Cheese (obviously I just used whatever I have around and usually the whole package)
1/4 C Flour
1/4 C Butter
1/2 t Salt
1/4 t Pepper
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
2 C Milk
2 C Shredded Cheese
1/2 C croutons (crushed)
1/2 package of bacon (if you want, but who doesn't want bacon) You could even use left over chicken cut into pieces.

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.
3. In a seperate pan melt butter over low heat.  Once it's melted add the Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and flour.  Cook over med/low heaat until the mixture is sooth and bubbly.  Remove from heat.
4. Add milk. Put pan back on heat and heat to boiling while constantly stirring.   Boil and stir for about a minute.  Finally, add the cheese. Lower the temp to medium/low and stir to mix everything together. 
5. Drain the macaroni and in the bigger pot mix the sauce and macaroni together. (also this is the time to mix in the cooked bacon/chicken/sausage if you choose to do that)
6. Pour into 2 quart casserole pan.  Top with croutons. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown.


Yum!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Custom Nursery Closet

Now that the nursery is done I want to take pictures to post here but I haven't yet gotten around to it yet so I figured I would post the closet instead since that's all I have done.  I will say I searched Pinterest up and down trying to find a custom closet that wasn't super expensive to make.  It took a long time but I finally found one I liked.  I took inspiration from "David + Jen" 's nursery.  I would for sure take a look closely at how did they it.  We did not, and afterwards I wished I would because then I would have found out why their closet turned out with much bigger shelves than ours. (dang it!)
(They used two shelving units and cut one of them up for shelves)


I took pictures from both sides.  Jeff had a great idea to only have one shelf on one side so we could fit the bigger items like the stroller and I would say it turned out wonderfully.  We also have plenty of room for lots of hanging items.  You can see I barely have one bar filled up let alone all three.
So, there it is! A closet already full of diapers!

What we bought:
EXPEDIT shelving unit 1 
(white, 1x5)    - LINK
LACK shelf x3 - LINK
EKBY STILIG bracket x6 - LINK
Metal Bars (from Lowes0 x3
Threshold Cubes (Target) x4

Monday, May 20, 2013

Week 36

Jeff and I had a great long weekend together.  I got a ton of stuff done around the house.  The nursery is completely finished.  Absolutely nothing to do.  Feels good to have it done.  I also did major cleaning in the entire house.  The basement was a complete mess.  I never go down there so I kinda just "forget" about it but I figured since we're gonna have guests in the near future I might as well clean it up now.  
Also finished planting the garden. (and the herb garden) This year I did the bare minimum since I don't know how much gardening I'm really going to have time to do.  I planted some tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and arugula.  Enough for Jeff to have some salads throughout the summer.

We also had a fun dinner and drive date on Saturday.  We went to our fave restaurant, six.one.six. and I got to dress up and wear heels which doesn't happen that often now that I'm so pregnant I don't feel like I can do anything fun. Every time we go out I rather be in pjs or sweats.


We had a great meal as usual. The waiter even noticed that I was pregnant and gave us a free dessert at the end.  It was a great way to finish the dinner. They always treat us so nice there.


 We ended the night by driving Jeffs half Ironman bike route in Ada/Caledonia.  It was fun to just hold hands and take a look at the scenery, but let me tell you, it is really far.  I think when you hear that someone is going to bike 56 miles it sounds like a lot but it feels like a lot more when you actually drive it and then realize someone is going to bike that same amount.  Only three more weeks to the half Ironman. We're almost there!  Cross your fingers I don't go into labor that day 'cause if I do it's gonna be pretty crappy... and that's if we even find Jeff on the course.  I might be delivering this baby with my mom... if she makes it either! Yikes!
Anywho! Onto the weekly update!

  • How far along?: 36 Weeks
  • Baby is the size of a: Honeydew melon. (17.2- to 18.7-inch and 4.2- to 5.8lbs)
  • Total weight gain/loss: Up 21 lbs so right on track for 25 total.  Pretty excited I've been able to keep it under control this pregnancy.
  • Symptoms: Heartburn at night is pretty bad.  But still pretty "limber" as my nurse pointed out this week as I jumped of the table to go to the bathroom. =)
  • Sleep: Up and down, some nights are great, some are not.  With the warmer weather my allergies have started to kick in and that's making it worse.  Lots of coughing at night bc of the drainage issue in my throat.  I'll have to ask the Dr. about it later this week to see what I can take.
  • What I miss: Having some moscato with dinner when we eat outside.  It really just makes summer so much better.
  • Movement: He's all over the place.  I don't even think he bothers to sleep anymore. 
  • Maternity Clothes: Excited for the next pregnancy so I can buy more of it.
  • Labor Signs: Nada.
  • Best Moment of the Week:  Only a pound up!  Woo!  Actually .8 so even better.
  • What I’m excited about/looking forward to: Sleeping better.  I know I'm not going to sleep more, but when I do sleep it would be nice to be out completely and not wake up because I feel like crap.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Meatball Sub

At my house, it never seems like we're home for dinner since we both work second shift, and that means, no time to make yummy dinners.  We eat a ton of left overs and we make due with what's in the fridge from the nights we were home to make dinner.  Problem is, there is never enough and we end up having to make "dinner" during the day before we leave for work and it's usually rushed. So here is a fast dinner you can make at home.  Took me just over twenty minutes from start to finish!



Meatball Sub
Time: 20 mins
Diffc: Easy Peasy

Ingredients:
2.25 lbs ground beef 80/20 - Use how ever much you have, this does not have to be perfect to taste yummy.
1/4 C bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 C parmesan cheese
fresh grated parmesan cheese for topping
half a bottle of marinara sauce - use more or less depending on how much sauce you want
seasonings to taste: I used salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder & parsley

Directions:
1. Make sure you defrost your beef ahead of time to make this as quick as possible.  With your hands mix beef, bread crumbs, egg and seasonings to your taste. Make sure you mix just enough to get everything incorporated but don't overmix or you'll have tough meatballs.
2. Heat a large pan to med/high.  Roll your meatballs gently; slightly smaller than a golf ball. They will shrink a little and you want to make sure they fit on your bread.  Since I'm choosing a smaller piece of bread, I want mine smaller.  If you choose a bigger piece, like a hotdog bun, make slightly bigger ones.
3. Put your balls in the pan and cook with the top on to keep the moisture in.  Once they are slightly browned on one side 2-3 mins, flip and continue cooking.  Drain the extra juice/fat.
4. To the cooked meatballs add your parmesan cheese and marinara sauce.  Turn heat down to low and simmer for 5-6 mins.
5. Toast some bread and top with meatballs.  Add some grated parmesan cheese on top and enjoy!

This made 37 small meatballs, I put three on each sammy and I would say for me,  
a good dinner would be two sandwiches and a small side to be satisfied.


Seriously though, this was delicious.  
I ate a couple of extra meatballs when I was putting the leftovers away.