house house house, home

I’m not sure if this is early nesting or if I’m just finally feeling settled in to our new house enough to think about decorating and creating our HOME. It seems that lately my brain is consumed with thoughts about how I want our house to feel. What colors I want to use in our bedroom. What will be the best layout for our growing family? What the coziest furniture will be for the family room we’re creating in the basement. We’re only actively working on one room currently (the sunroom that will also function as my home office) but I’m definitely making major plans for at least five other rooms.

Instead of loading up one blog post with tons of pictures of what I am imagining for our home, I’m going to be patient and post separately for each room. It will be good for me to force my brain into concentrating on one thing at a time- if only for a few minutes.

I can’t wait for our house to feel like a home. B and I have actually lived together in five different places along the years. Some we loved, some we didn't  but one thing is for sure- we never made any of them our HOME. I guess since we have always rented up until now our townhouse/apartment/house always seemed temporary. We never invested a lot of time or money into making everything look and feel the way we wanted. We have lots of mismatched furniture and crappy old decor. Nothing was really planned out or purchased specifically with a design in mind. I am so looking forward to that changing in this house.

Since I’m not sharing plans or pictures for any specific room today, I'm including some random pictures that I like. These are all from Pinterest. In an effort to keep things organized I have my Pinterest boards divided up really specifically- "house- bedrooms" "house- laundry room" "house- playroom", etc. That is how I have my holiday boards divided up too. I know that if I don’t keep things organized I won’t be able to find anything and all usefulness will fly out the window. So far it is working out wonderfully!

 More to come, as we make our house our HOME!

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili : Project Pinterest

This is the best new crock pot recipe I have tried in a while. I am a sucker for a good crock pot meal. So simple, so delicious.

I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili on Pinterest. The recipe came from Plain Chicken. I love being able to just dump ingredients in and let the crock pot do all the work. The most work you have to do on this recipe is draining and rinsing black beans- it doesn't get too much easier than that.

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

ingredients:

1 can black beans

1 can corn, undrained

1 can Rotel, undrained

1 package ranch dressing mix

1 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 8oz package cream cheese

2 chicken breasts

Drain and rinse black beans. Place chicken at bottom of pot, then pour out whole can of corn, rotel, and black beans. Top with seasonings and ranch mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir cream cheese into chili. Shred chicken. Stir together and serve.

*I have to say, I didn't use the exact seasonings. I never ever do. Sometimes because I don't have all the ingredients, sometimes because I like things spicier, maybe I just don't like following directions. Either way.. I know I didn't use any cumin at all. I did use some random amount of chili powder and onion powder. I definitely used a lot of crushed red pepper flakes. I may have added some garlic powder? Also I didn't use two chicken breasts. I used a package of chicken tenderloins, probably around 1lb. I always use tenders when a recipe calls for shredding. Not sure why, but that is what I do.

Make this recipe!! It is SIMPLE and absolutely DELICIOUS!! I loved it and so did Brandon.

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it's a .....

Crazy morning!! Looks like nearly everyone in the poll was wrong! 

Baby #2 is a 

BOY!!!!!!

boy or girl?

Things are getting really exciting around here! Next Wednesday (10/10) we will find out if babe 2 is a BOY or GIRL!! I have spent a ton of time thinking about what things would be like if we have another boy and what things would be like with a girl. I'm so excited about either option!! I just can't wait to find out so we can start planning!

Since we find out the big news so soon, I think it is time to start the guessing! I want to know what you think!! I added a poll over on the left side bar. Please vote!

If you want more information before voting, let's see if this helps:

I looked up some of the old wives tales for predicting the sex of babies. They're all weird and who knows if it holds any truth, but it is entertaining either way.  :)

-Put your wedding ring on a string and hold it over your belly. If it goes in a circle: boy. Goes back and forth: girl. It definitely went in circles and I did it two different times. That means boy! But to be totally honest, I didn't use my wedding ring on a string- I just used a necklace that is a chain with a pendant. Does that still work the same?

-The whole "a girl steals your beauty" thing.. from the very first second I was pregnant this time (before it was even confirmed with a pregnancy test) my hair was so gross. Oily and gross. I had to stop using conditioner all together and had to start using a clarifying shampoo. It stayed gross for a long time. I'm still not using conditioner except on the very ends. Also my skin has been horrible this time around. I didn't have any of those issues with Reid. That test points to girl!

-Heart Rate. This also leads to girl. Although, Reid's heart rate was always high too! But it has consistently been higher than Reid's at the same stage.

-Cravings- sweets= girl, salty or sour= boy. Last time around I had serious cravings for sour stuff. So that time it was accurate! This time I haven't had many cravings at all. It definitely hasn't been the sour stuff like last time though so although I don't think this one should really count, I think it points to girl.

-Chinese birth chart. This one says girl! And just out of curiosity I tried it with Reid's information and it said boy!

-Morning sickness. Last time around I wasn't sick AT ALL. Never. This time around I haven't actually thrown up, but the whole first trimester (and a little bit into the second) I experienced a lot of nausea but a TON TON TON of gagging. Smells, movement, etc, would all cause me to gag. That definitely points to girl.

-Mom gut. I feel like it will be a boy. But that should count at all because I was convinced that Reid was a girl up until I saw the proof on the ultrasound screen! But based on symptoms I think girl.

?!?!?!?!?!

What do YOU think??

Go vote in the poll over at the top of the left side bar. Poll will be open until next Wednesday at 8:00AM. The ultrasound is at 8:30 and then I see my doctor at 9:00.

bath giggles

B got this adorable video of Reid laughing in the bath tub last night. The picture is horrible but it is the sound that matters anyway :)

Project Pinterest: Accordion Folder as a Glove Compartment Organizer

A Pinterest project I completed this week is the Accordion Folder as a Glove Compartment Organizer. I think it is on everyone's organization board. It is such a simple little project.

{Real Simple}

 I got this cute little accordion folder at the Dollar Tree! While I was getting this full size folder I also picked up two mini folders that will be used for other organization projects.  I pulled out all the random papers from my glove compartment and started organizing. It is separated into categories like insurance, registration, receipts, etc. There is still room for other categories so I will likely add to it. Now I just need to find a way to organize all the napkins, straws, cords, antibacterial hand gel, koozies, etc. Don't act like you don't have a koozie and a wine opener in your glove box.

{my pictures}

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If you have projects to share, link up to AP's Project Pinterest!

18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks (18w1d today)

Baby size? the size of a sweet potato :) about 5.6 inches long and about 6.7 ounces

Total weight gain/loss? still losing weight for now, which is hard to believe because I’m getting big! I have a feeling the pounds will start accumulating soon.

Belly Button in or out? In. It never popped out last time around. I’m interested to see how it holds up this time.

Maternity clothes? Oh God yes! I barely had time to put away my maternity clothes before having to get them back out. You know how you show faster the second time around? Well if you do it immediately after having a baby, multiply that by about a thousand.

Stretch marks?  Same old stretch marks that showed up in the last couple weeks of pregnancy with Reid.

Movement?  itty bitty wiggles are just starting

Food cravings?  Nope.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Thankfully my constant nausea and gagging is gone now! 

Sleep?  HA!

Gender? We will find out in just 13 days!!! 

Best moment this week?  feeling baby wiggles :)

Miss Anything?  Beer. Wine. Rum. Beer. Wine. Wine.

Looking forward to? Finding out if this little peanut is a boy or girl!!!