Jump Castle Cookout

After a long and wet winter this year, Spring has finally arrived and we decided to kick off the season with a Jump Castle cookout.  We invited a few of EB's little friends (and their fams) to come over for brats, potato chips, and watermelon- easy peasy and our little girl had a BLAST!

I wouldn't necessarily consider her to be shy, however EB will get overwhelmed/ hesitant to join in certain social situations.  She really thrives in her comfort zone with her familiar friends, and as her mom it's my favorite to watch her shine.  Here are a few snaps:

Popsicle Squad:

Pulled out the fairy wings:

 Childhood: 

Please take a closer inspection of this ragamuffin:

Needless to say, this child slept GREAT after much-needed bath time.

These are the days!

xLaura

House Tour: EB's Big Girl Room

Adios, Guest Room!  

We are officially moving EB into her "Big Girl Room" tonight, so I figured I'd snap some photos before it's turned upside down.  It's pretty much her nursery reconfigured with a few new additions.  Note *EB loves her crib so I have no actual plans to transition, but when the time comes I think we will do two twin beds.  For now, Here's a peek:  

 I am going to move the changing pad to the top of the desk so I'm not running back and forth.  But in the future, I plan to add a desk lamp and a mirror on the wall here:

 I still need to make sure her book shelf is properly secured before I load it up with all of her books.  We are also going to add a hook lock to the outside of the bathroom pocket door at some point.  

 I struggle with maintaining an organized closet for this little girl so it's something I'm trying to work on in the new room.  This is the current situation:

There you have it!  

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Up next, Baby Sis gets a Nursery!  Right now its a blank slate, so I want to do something fun and different in here.  Stay tuned! 

xLaura

Easter Hop-penings

Yesterday was a truly beautiful Easter Sunday!

We've really enjoyed all of the Spring celebrations this year and getting to experience the holiday through EB's eyes.  I wanted to take a moment to share some pics with you peeps ;)

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We had some friends over to dye Easter eggs a couple of weeks ago...it was sort of an "OK, Now what?" craft with toddler age kids:  

Our church hosted an Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday.  EB found a few before the big kids stampeded the scene:

This cute little Easter cottage is right around the corner from our house and was just begging for a photoshoot.  

 

We brought Alfie to meet the Easter Bunny with us this year, hoping he might make EB more comfortable, but she refused to go near at all.  So, we paid $20 for this:  

 I don't think I would ever submit EB as a child model, but she is certainly acting the part here.  She looked adorable for her class Easter egg hunt and party.   

This year the Easter Bunny brought:

A new bathing suit and beach cover up.

A kite, a DIY bird feeder kit, and a doctor playset.

Fruit snacks and marshmallow bunnies.

Yesterday, a precious Easter angel...

...who does not like to take pics with Mommy and Daddy these days.

 We had Easter dinner at my parents and enjoyed lots of outside time in the beautiful weather.

Unless I'm forgetting something, this will likely be our last major holiday as a family of 3!
xLaura

Pregnancy Journal: 30 Weeks

Lots going on since my last update...let's catch up!

30 weeks:

Symptoms:

Nausea

 It has dissipated these past several weeks!

Sleep 

OMG...I was up 5 times to the bathroom last night.  

Exhaustion  

3:30 pm I hit a wall, pretty much like clockwork everyday.  It sounds weird but usually if I brush my teeth and chug some cold water it revives me to get through the next few hours.  

Food Aversions  

I've been eating and cooking (mostly) normally these past few weeks so I think I'm through the worst of these.  I know once I have the baby my taste buds will officially return! 

Weight Gain  

I honestly don't know what I weighed going into this pregnancy, so it's hard to say.  I am up about 7 lbs in the last 10 weeks, putting me at 19 total.  I am very close to my top weight with EB, which I know I will surpass...I'm hoping by no more than 5 lbs...  

Movement  

Yes.  This is my favorite part of pregnancy!

Nursery: 

I am going to do a couple of posts sharing EB's new room AND MB's nursery.  We had a productive weekend working on them and I hope to share pics soon.

Anticipation:

I am feeling really good about where we are in regards to preparation.  I'm organized with the few remaining items we need to buy, and I've got small list of household "to-dos" that I'm feeling on top of...

Other:

We had a sprinkle for little sis a couple weeks back, which was very sweet.

Oh, and I have to mention these #pregnancybrain moments... Every week when I pick up my groceries I find a surprise of something ridiculous that I ordered.  4 containers of different brands of sour cream?  OK.  And this past week:  8 lbs of rice!

Friday Highfive

Here is a highfive for making it to Friday!!

{1}

Two points here:  One... Only once you become a mom do you view commitments such as doctor's appointments, etc as "me time" and the second, I'm liking this book so far. 

**I will post a 30 week pregnancy update next week.

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{2}

Y'all...make this for dinner ASAP!  Barefoot Contessa's Oven Risotto.  I added sauteed shrimp and it was delish!

 Another simple food mention: Italian dressing as marinade.  Good on just about anything but we specifically like it with grilled corn on the cob.

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{3}

I got this cute bib collar dress at Once Upon a Child with the intention of trying out some hand embroidery.  I think the monogram looks pretty DIY but still cute. I may put her in this for Easter... 

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{4}

This is definitely a "had to be there" kind of story, but I'm documenting it because it's something I don't want to forget!

The backstory is that EB has started mimicking K when he says "Poor thing".  He says it in an exaggerated way when she is whining or pretending to cry.  Her imitation is hysterical and I've been trying to get in on video, unprompted, with no success, for a couple weeks.  Yesterday afternoon I decided to give EB her first pedicure and afterwards she kept admiring her "piggies" and telling me how "beautiful" they were.  So I tried to pull out my video camera to capture the cute moment.  In true toddler fashion, she immediately stops once the camera is out.

SO!  In this video I'm trying to get her to tell me how beautiful her toes are and instead she says "Poor Thing" *not on cue* in her hilarious, old southern belle, way.  

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{5}
Another day, Another playground.

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Have a great weekend!
xLaura

Friday Afternoon at The Pig, Pt 2

I posted this a little over a year ago after exhausting my search options for the painting "Friday Afternoon at The Pig".  I have continued to ask around art galleries/antique shops and wouldn't you know it...it paid off!

I want to thank Kathy at McGregor's Gallery for recognizing the formerly illegible signature of the talented local artist, Bernadette Cali.  I quickly emailed her and she sent me a print ASAP!

I visited her booth at 'Art in the Barn' a few weekends back and fell in love with so many of her paintings.  

Now, the fun part...matting and framing!

It's hard to see the scale in this photo, but the print is for an 18x24 frame, so pretty big.  I really wanted something to pull out the vivid blues and green.

Kathy helped me choose this brilliant blue mat, which really brightens it up.

As for the frame, I initially wanted to go with a white-washed wood, which is pictured here.  But honestly, it's not doing anything for me. 

 After hanging it in our Den I'm still not feeling it.  It's giving me an 80's Beach House vibe, and not in a good way.  So I think it's back to the drawing board...or frame shop if you will.   

Update:  Found this gold frame (now on MAJOR SALE) and I like the look!

Hope y'all have a great weekend,

xLaura

Life Lately

It's raining and cold out this morning, and it's EB's first day back to school from Spring Break.  So, I figure it's the perfect time to sit down in the office and update on the happenings around here lately!  I've got a couple weeks worth of life lately coming at ya.

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I made banana bread muffins with my little helper.  They turned out great and the house smelled amazing for a cozy Sunday afternoon at home.  

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Walking to Art in the Barn.

I have such a fun post coming soon about this!

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James Island County Park: One of our very favorite Sunday spots.  We walk the same route: Park at the crabbing dock, loop around, and then cut the through the large field to let the dog/child run free on the way back to the car. 

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Look at my cute little lunch date.  Honestly, it had been a bit since we hit Chic fil A...for a while there it was a once a week thing...And oh! Mom hack! I can't remember where I saw this tip, but it's great: Leave the foil cap on the kids milk, puncture it and insert straw, Spill proof milk!

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Bee City.  We took a trip here last Friday and we didn't have the best time.  I think it was a combination of issues, but I'd be willing to give it another chance before writing it off completely.  As it was, EB and I were not feeling it...but I did get this cute picture of her at the entrance: 

 

 Oh, and I snapped this on the way out the door: dressed appropriately for the occasion:

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It's no news here that cooking/enjoying food is one of my primary pregnancy struggles, but I did manage to get my groove back for our dinner Saturday night.  Here you have Cedar Plank Salmon, "Risotto" with parm and blistered tomatoes, and roasted asparagus.  I think I have shared photos of some variation of this meal a buhzillion times on this blog, but we LOVE it! 

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Church on Sunday!

For every smiling family photo, there are atleast 5 outtakes along the likes of this:

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Third Trimester Alert!  Things are moving right along over here...and so is this baby!  So many squirms and kicks.  K caught this sweet moment last night:   

And that brings us to the present!  I'm going to sign off so I can get a few things done before it's time to pick her up from school.  Hope y'all are having a great week!

xLaura