What Is On My Phone

What have I been snapping pics of these past couple of weeks?  Well.....

 Miss A has is such a little fish.  We are at the pool all the time and she just swims all over the place. 

 You never know when you will find the inspiration for a birthday party....

My mom bought this massive armoire from Wisteria, yet it was too big for where she was wanting to put it.  So, I rearranged some things and it is now in our study.  I wish I could decorate my entire house with Wisteria furniture. 

My next furniture refinishing project will be to repaint the piece of furniture that our tv sits on in the game room.  Normally, I go for white, but this time I think I am going to paint it this beautiful teal / turquoise - Galapagos Turquoise.

Isn't this runner great? I saw it on Designer Bags and Diaper Bags blog and I have been obsessed with getting a huge rug like this for our living room.  If you have seen something like this, send me a link!

I had an Erin Condren planner last year and while it goes until the end of the year, I was ready for something new.  And smaller.  And cheaper.  And smaller.  I just ordered this ikat planner from May Books and I am excited to start using it.  I really wish that I had known about this company when Baby N was born - I would have loved the baby diary feature. 

I am about to do a post on what we do to pass the time when it is 115 degrees outside.... one of the things is mall walking with Kate and Baby L. And if you've ever been to North Park in Dallas, you know that no kid can walk by the turtles and ducks and not slide down this huge planter.

Baby N is also a huge fan of the water. 



 Sweet sisters at the pool.

Miss A loves to play with the camera on my phone and it is always funny to see what all she has taken pictures of.  

While working on this post, I was watching the Rogers/Dalhausser beach volleyball match.  That young girl is Rogers' daughter, but what I am more interested in is what is going on behind her.  See that bottle of wine and plastic cup?  I guess the Olympics is BYOB.  Awesome. 

Five for Fall

My friend AEOT just tagged me to do a post on my top 5 goals for this Fall. So, here we go....

1) Have a baby! What, that isn't also on your goal list?

2) Stay caught up on making photo books for the family. I am not good at getting pictures printed for albums - instead I prefer to make photo books. I just finished making our most recent book and now I am caught up! I know we will be taking hundreds of pictures in the coming weeks, so hopefully I will be able to keep all of these images printed and organized. Side note - I started making these about 2 years ago and so far I've made about 20 different books.

3) Make meals to freeze. I usually cook about 5 meals a week and we often have leftovers. Either I want to just make half recipes and freeze the other half OR specifically make meals to have on hand.

4) Finish Miss A's baby book. Actually, I should say start and finish her baby book. Back when I was pregnant with her, I had the hardest time finding a book that I even liked and then somehow I ended up with 3 or 4 books - all of which are sitting completely blank. Oops. So, not only is my goal to finish her book, but it is to stay on top of Baby #2's book.

5) Pick a baby name. Yeah, I know the majority of these goals pertain to the baby, but oh well. That is what happens when you are about 20 months pregnant. I have about 6 weeks to go, which means we have about 6 weeks and 30 hours to pick a name. For some reason, we have a much easier time agreeing on girl names vs boy names. Last time, we did not have a boy name picked out until I was at the hospital, in labor. And I have a feeling we are headed in the same direction this time.

Random Thoughts

What is it about the middle of the week that makes you want to do a random, catch all post? Well, here are my hump day thoughts...

- Miss A and I were out running errands and had to make a special stop at Braum's for milk. (Side note - there was a little Twitter discussion the other day about Braum's... If you don't have you in your city, I am sorry.) Anyway, whenever I buy milk, I always poke around and look at the expiration dates. You can always find a range of expiration dates and I always buy the ones with the longer expiration date. Granted, we usually go through 2 gallons of milk every couple of days, I just feel like this way it is fresher, longer. I am not the only one that does this - right?

- For the past two weeks, Miss A has been sleeping in her big girl room. She loves everything about the room, including her new, big girl bed. But, now that she is out of the crib, she has way more freedom when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning. Yesterday, she was in our room around 6:30... normally, she sleeps in until at least 7:30. She and I had a little chat about not getting out of bed until Mr.Sun wakes up for the day. If Mr.Sun is still sleeping and in bed, then so should you. So, this am she woke up before Mr.Sun, but just decided to sit at the bottom of the stairs until she could come into our room. The Mr. found he around 7:30 - I am not sure how long she had been sitting there, but I thought it was cute how she had listened to me the day before and was waiting to come wake up Mommy!

- I've tweeted or blogged about this family a couple of times - Jamesie beats the tumor. Kara and I are friends and she is in our Sunday School Class at church. Our class collected giraffes in memory of James and this past Sunday we tagged all of the giraffe stuff to get ready for donation. All of these giraffes are going to be donated to Children's Medical Center Dallas and they will be distributed to kids that are admitted for any length of time. I know this will make many, many people smile at a time they probably need it the most.

- As if I need one more project to complete before this baby comes, I have the bug to refinish another piece of furniture. We have this big, wooden storage 'thing' up in our game room and I think it would look perfect painted this rich shade of turquoise. Now, who wants to come help me? :)


- I remember this stage of pregnancy from the last time... you are sick of the clothes in your current closet. You longingly look at non-maternity clothing and start counting down the days until you can wear something normal. But, then you are faced with the kicker of wearing a crazy size, needing it to be nursing accessible and not wanting to spend a fortune on your temporary post-baby clothing. These couple of blouses look like they will be perfect for a post-baby body.

- And yes, I made a special early morning trip to Target yesterday. I picked up this cardigan for Miss A and I got the matching flats and infinity scarf. I am crazy and sometimes like to coordinate what A and I wear.

Bambi does Dallas

Growing up, my brothers were always rescuing stray animals. Dogs and cats were the norm, but they would also rescue birds, squirrels, ducks, etc. My parents probably had the animal rescue organizations phone number on speed dial. And our backyard --- a graveyard of random animals. Family pets, as well as the random rescue animal all ended up receiving a proper backyard burial. Keep in mind, we lived in the middle of the city, not the country.

So, given my childhood, my evening last night seemed pretty normal.

Miss A and the Mr. were on an evening walk and all of a sudden a baby deer appears from inbetween 2 houses and starts to follow them. Keep in mind, we do not live by an wooded area or in the country ... we are in the middle of Dallas. The only non-domestic animal I have ever seen roaming our neighborhood is the stray bunny or dirty possum. Never, ever a deer.

Mr. calls me outside and this little baby deer is just hanging out in our yard. Not trying to run away, not spooked by us and definately not scared of the 2 year old that is directly on its level. So, we do what anyone with a deer in their frontyard would do - take pictures! We thought it was going to run away any minute, but it just stands by us and does not show any signs of running away.

By this point, I was worried that when the baby deer decided to leave our yard, it would get hit by a car. We decided to put it in our backyard and then tried to call a wild animal rescue group. The baby deer simply followed us as we walked back to the backyard and walked right through the open gate. It was the strangest thing. At this point, I start to think that maybe it is a family pet. But, a baby deer as a family pet?

By now, it is past 8 and every single animal organization we can think of is closed. Miss A is loving the fact that there is a "baby deer at our door!" Or, "the baby deer is drinking Jake's water!!" "Momma, look at the baby deer!!!" I knew that as long as baby Bambi was in our yard, there was no way of getting her in bed.

Finally, I ended up calling 311 and they put me in contact with the Department of Wildlife. They decided that as long as the baby was not injured, we should just open the gate and see if the deer would leave on its own. After a while, it did just that.

As I was putting Miss A to bed, she was still talking about the baby deer. She wanted to know if she could see it in the morning.... I had to think fast on this one, so I responded with "no, the baby has to go home to sleep with its Momma and Daddy." She was happy with this answer.

So, this morning as I am leaving the neighborhood, I was on the lookout for the baby or momma and I could not find anything.

Just a normal Wednesday night.

What is on my phone

I was reading the latest InStyle and thought this was interesting.... Baking Soda as a facial scrub... will definitely be giving this a try.

We went to the park last week and we were surrounded by these beautiful wildflowers. Love them!

Last week I got my hair cut and I asked the stylist to give me big, beachy waves. And, the above picture is how my hair ended up. Ugh.

This is what I had in mind. Big, beachy waves.

Someone loves to read.

I have been taking prenatal vitamins for years, for my hair, but my hair lady suggested these pills. Not sure if they really work, but might be worth a try.

Steve has become a fan of playing in the crib. Crazy cat.

The Mr. made berry shortcake (from scratch!) for Mother's Day and it was delish! He should make this more often.

I think I need to get this ponytail holder thing.

16 weeks.

I snapped this picture on a walk the other day. I am in LOVE with this orange front door. And they grey trim - perfection.

What's On My Phone

Here is another installment of "What Is On My Phone...."

The bluebonnets are beautiful this time of year. This field is not far from out house - we took Miss A up there a couple weeks ago for pictures.

She got this car for Christmas and LOVES it. "Momma, chase me!"

Spring has sprung.

I stole this recipe from Kate (Elefantitas Alegres) and it is wonderful. I served it over whole wheat pasta.... makes me hungry just looking at this picture.

I think this plate needs to be added to my plate wall.

The other day Miss A came up to me and said "Steve needs to eat on a plate. I be right back." And so, she came back with a plate of food for Steve.

My friend has a booth (Gypsy Soul Interiors) at an antique store here in town. I love everything she sells, so much so that I bought a new dresser for Miss A's new room AND I am going to replicate these huge canvases for our living room.

My mini me.

Fat Tuesday Randomness

Time for another random, numbered blog post.....

1. Since I have never had King Cake, I picked up a couple slices tonight at Whole Foods. Granted, this is no home made masterpiece like the one my friend Kate made, but it will do. I am not really sure how I should eat it. Do I heat it up? Eat it room temperature? Put butter on it? Help a Texas girl out. (We all know Texas is not really the South.....)

2. Tomorrow night kiddos can eat free at Chili's.

3. Have you tried e-mealz? I have never even heard of it until my friend told me about it a couple weeks ago.... I was looking around on the website this afternoon and I think it looks pretty neat. I have never really been a huge fan of meal plan sites like this, but I might give this one a shot. I love how it gives you a complete grocery list, plus you can customize the types of meals you want.

4. I don't think I have talked about Steve lately. His entire world has been turned upside down in the last year. Not only did we bring a huge lab into the mix, but there is a wild toddler chasing him around. I am sure he misses the days when it was just the two of us. Poor kitty.

5. Miss A turns 2 on Thursday! Wow. My girl is growing up so quickly.... she is an active ball of energy these days, talks all the time and is such a sweet and smart girl. Her party is not until the end of the month, but I am taking cupcakes to her class at school. Last year I made dozens of cupcakes, trying to get the just right recipe..... this year, I ordered them from the Target Bakery. They are moist, cute and perfect. Don't you love the big sprinkles?

Sweet, Sweet Summer

As we are in the dead of Summer here in Dallas, I have to think of the positives about this unbearable heat. Otherwise, I would stay inside and not come out until October. Or November. OR I would just purchase a one way ticket to a better climate.

Splash Parks

We LOVE playing in these parks all over town. You don't have to worry about life jackets, the deep end of the pool or constantly having to hold your little one.

Fresh Fruit

Blueberries. Cantaloupe. Watermelon. Strawberries. Our family eats tons and tons of fresh produce year round, but especially in the summer when you can get huge containers of blueberries for $1.50 and cantaloupe melons for $.50.

Pinot Grigio

Wine is my beverage of choice and there is nothing better than a crisp glass of pinot on a hot evening. Drop in a couple of frozen berries and it is delish.

Summer Smells

Do you switch your perfume/lotion in the summer? I love to wear light and airy scents in the summer.... gardenia is my favorite. And my allergies may hate the smell of fresh cut grass, but I love to take in that scent.

Storms

The grass looks greener. The air smells sweeter. And my veggies and herbs love it.

Cajun Shrimp

My toes are always painted with OPI Cajun Shrimp in the summer. It is a great coral color that goes with everything. It is kind of ironic that I am deathly allergic to shrimp, yet it is my favorite color.

What are you loving this summer?

Little bit of this, little bit of that

So far this summer, I have spent the majority of my days in workout clothes, a swimsuit, and shorts/tank top. And I hardly ever dry my hair and I have not touched makeup in days. What in the world has happened to Mrs. Preppy? Well, I am going on long morning walks with a neighborhood friend and her daughter, then playing out in the yard with Miss A and we normally end up in the pool at some point. I love it! We are having a great time and I am working on a pretty decent tan. All that being said, this is a here is a hodge podge of random thoughts.

• I recently put out an APB for a Wal Mart necklace... I had searched high and low and was determined to find it. My blog and Twitter friends were looking all over the country and The Tale of a Southern Belle found it for me! I am so excited to get this orange beauty.

• Have you seen these glammed up pictures of the Glee cast? They are looking pretty snazzy. Excited for it to come back on in the fall, doesn't it seem like it has been on for longer than just 1 season?
  

• I just ordered this cute swim top from Land's End. All of my current suits are solid black, so this will mix it up a bit.
  

• And finally, a new study just came out that urges pregnant women NOT to wear high heels, Uggs, flip flops or ballet flats. Um... are you supposed to walk around barefoot? I wore all of these forbidden shoes the entire 9 months I was pregnant. Had I read this then, I would have just ignored it. Just like I am doing now.