I'm a stay at home mama living in PDX with the hubs Chris, our two boys and two cats. We are living in (and slowly fixing up) our first house, a midcentury ranch. Jesus has captured my heart, and I am so thankful!
This little blog is mostly about our adventures as a family of four, with the possibility of a recipe or craftiness sprinkled in there.
Today is our anniversary and I can't believe it's already been four years!
Time really does fly when you're having fun.
I was going to write something mushy and lovey dovey but I'll save it for his card :)
This is the only professional picture I have from our wedding on our computer.
(we look so young!)
I love it so I thought I'd share...
Here are some that guests took...
Our cake was amazing!
(tasting and looking)
Headed to the car...
Some nice person in our bridal party wrote
"you can do it all night long" on the front windshield.
Chris' parents had to drive our car back to their house the next day so it wasn't sitting at the airport while we were on our honeymoon. I bet they got some weird looks. :)
If I were to plan my wedding all over again right now,
I would totally do everything different (except for marrying Chris of course).
Maybe that will be a future post, but oh the choices!
I just wanted to share a few more pictures from our 4th of July...a guy that was at the party is a photographer and was taking random shots.
I absolutely love Bennett's face in this, it was about 11pm and we were headed home. He was so sleepy but wouldn't sleep. We put the headphones on him because the fireworks we so flippin loud!
It's an awesome website that anyone can post recipes on, but the best part is that they are all listed by their picture. If you are like me, I never buy a cookbook that doesn't have pictures.
I pretty much can tell by looking at something if I'm going to like it or not.
Go to check it out, but don't be surprised if you find it slightly addicting.
Look at what I found there just in the most recent entries:
Avocado Fries
What could be better than a fried avocado? Nothing.
Looking back, I really didn't take many pictures and the ones that I did take are rather random. Please forgive me.
Saturday I decided to make patriotic red velvet cakeballs covered in white chocolate with 'blue' chocolate drizzles on top. These are the cakeballs before I covered them. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to baking and when things don't turn out like I imagined, I get really annoyed. Maybe that's why I didn't get any pictures of the finished product.
I also made some macaroons which turned out really good. I dipped them in dark chocolate after I took the picture ( I swear I used to be better at this whole picture taking thing). I had never made macaroons before and they were pretty darn easy and pretty impressive looking.
I think they tasted better a few days after baking.
We walked over to the Ace to grab some Stumptown...I always try to get a picture of this old hotel sign in the lobby. On Saturday there weren't people in the way so I was able to get it!
Bennett has never been able to wear shoes due to his 'kankles'. His feet just don't go into them because the chub won't let them. Well, I was determined to get his cute little feet into his Cons for church. They lasted for about 20 minutes until he got into the nursery then they promptly came off. Once he starts crawling (which I'm guessing will be in the next few days, he's SO close) all the sweet chub will disappear which makes me a little sad. I love it!
Sunday we went to our friend Tony's house for a day of BBQ-ing, game playing, relaxing and fireworks at night. I brought my sweet creations from the previous day and they disappeared very quickly. There probably was about 50-60 people and Bennett was totally cool with hanging out and being passed around the whole day. He's a ladies man already. I am seriously a blessed mama! At night, Bennett wanted to be social and not sleep. This is us watching fireworks on the front lawn:
Bennett looks like a zombie here:
On Monday my mom came over to watch Bennett for a bit while Chris and I went on a little date. We saw this movie in 3D:
We went to this ultra modern theater that plays mostly indie films and serves you amazing food while you watch your movie. We split a procuittio, apple and brie panini and a piece of the orange cheesecake. SO good! Here we are dorkin it up:
After the movie we stopped in at a vintage clothing shop we always walk by. We had fun looking through the stuff. I found some cool aviators and sweet boots but didn't get either. I always see people with super cute dresses that they find at vintage shops, but I had no such luck.
On our way back home we stopped at Forever 21 and I got a few summery tops to wear just in time for the weather to get butt-hot this week.
This is Bennett right before he fed himself for the first time sitting in his new highchair!
This is him after finishing (different meal/different bib).
As you can see, he throughouly enjoys making a giant mess.
I wanted to write a review for the things I find super useful during Bennett's meals.
There are so many choices out there, but luckily through nannying I was able to try out a lot of different products (that's how I found these amazing bibs) so I thought I would share since some of you are moms (or will be in the future!)
I liked the idea of a clip-on highchair because we can just fold it up and put it on a shelf when we aren't using it. Especially since we live in a tiny downtown apartment, I didn't want anything that had a footprint to it.
I really liked this highchair compared to other clip-ons because it looked the most comfortable for Bennett. The back has plenty of padding (unlike the phil & teds) and Bennett doesn't mind sitting in it while he watches me cook dinner. It also had excellent reviews everywhere I looked.
The only thing I wasn't sure about was the fabric but Bennett has smashed all sorts of food into it and I just wipe it down with a washcloth afterwards and it still looks like new after a few weeks. It is so secure and fits perfectly at our bar so he can eat right in between us.
I also like that it has two pouches; one on the back for a bib so you always have one, and a pouch on the bottom that has an attached bag to carry the chair in! I love that we can take it when we go out to eat because those wooden highchairs give me the creeps!
I ordered his highchair from Diapers.com for $49.99 with free shipping and it came in 2 or 3 days!
I got a cheap tablecloth to catch any food that accidentally (or purposefully) finds its way to the ground below him.
As I was reading reviews for the highchair, some had mentioned that this cute little placemat/plate combo fits right in between the bars of the highchair. I know kids like to flip their food-filled plates over so this was a no-brainer once we got the highchair.
We put it on the counter before we tighten the highchair so it actually sits underneath and between the bars so there is no physical way it could be flipped! I like that the white plate comes out so I can be getting his meal ready all at once on the other side of the counter then I just put it in the little place and Bennett is one happy little man.
This is a must-have if you get the highchair! (it comes in pink and turquoise too)
It runs about $20 wherever Skip-Hop products are sold. I got mine at a little boutique in Portland called Posh Baby.
When I was nannying, I was with a different family almost everyday. I soon realized that bibs get NASTY, especially if they are a cloth or absorbent material that can only be used once before they have to go to the laundry.
It wasn't uncommon for me to see stinky, mildewy bibs because they never dried out.
With that said, the day I first saw these bibs I told myself I would get these when I have kids.
They are completely waterproof (the little pocket on the bottom actually holds water without it seeping out!) and if they are a little dirty you can just wipe them off. If they are really dirty I just rinse the whole thing under the faucet and either hang them or lay them out to dry. They dry within ten minutes (even if they were soaking wet), they never smell, and they come so clean that I only need to throw them in the laundry once a week (crazy, right?!)
Try to get a multi pack if you can find them. I love the Keith Haring 3 pack on the Bumkins website because the prints aren't too cutesy.
One mistake I made was getting the Starter Bib, which we never used because it fits 0-3months so it was too small once Bennett started eating solid foods.
I highly recommend these bibs if you plan on feeding your baby! :)
I got both of mine from Babies R Us for $6.50 each.
Let me know if you found my reviews helpful and maybe I will do more in the future!
