A Few Things I've Made

Baby stuff is expensive so rather than pay $10th for car seat strap covers that I didn't even like, I decided to make some! I found an easy tutorial and had all the supplies on hand. After making the first set I decided to make some more for my friend's babies. I used stuffing instead of batting and it worked just fine.

Speaking of babies, I also threw 2 baby showers and had one thrown for me. The one given for me had a book theme and my awesome friend made the paper wreath as part of the decor. I loved it so much I took it home! I also had burlap that was used as table runners left over from one of the showers so I used that to make some more wreaths to go along. Now when I see them on my walls I think of both my closest friends!

Postpartum Style

I'm trying the Blogger app on my phone for the first time as well as "typing" this post using Swipe. We'll see if I can handle it. If so, I may be back in the blogging game. My husband is using my laptop currently and it needs to be replaced anyways. I got my first smart phone a few months ago and I know I'm not using it to its full potential. Basically I use it to text, browse Facebook and play Solitaire, so here goes.

I had very little interest in style posts for a while due to having few clothes that actually fit for a few months, but Baby Belly (not sure if this is going to be her new nickname but we'll use it for now) is 5 weeks and things are getting back on track. I will be posting all about her and her birth soon. Meanwhile, I still have 10 lbs to go to get back to pre pregnancy weight so style is still a challenge. This is an outfit that I put together via Pinterest for a lunch with family and then driving to a meeting. Until further notice, all outfits will be nursing friendly.

You can see the outfit inspiration here: http://www.polyvore.com/summer_casual/set?.svc=copypaste&embedder=0&id=39603924#cs

Hopefully I can figure out the finest points of phone posting soon!

Denim shirt, skirt: modified, sweater: Vanity, belt: Rue 21, shoes: Payless 

Style: All Neutrals

I came across this inspiration photo on Pinterest and knew it would be pretty easy to replicate. It wasn't until that I got a new camel colored necklace and shoes though that I decided to try it, with some modifications for summer and pregnancy.

Tee - JC Penny
Vest: - Wal-mart
Gaucho's - Wal-mart
Shoes - Payless
Necklace/Earrings - Flea Market ($1!)

I can totally see myself wearing versions of this again and again when we travel as these are all great pieces that I can use with other outfits!

Date Night!

Because we have traveled sooo much in the last several months, the last time we went out without our daughter was in April. And that wasn't actually a date because we were out with a group of missionaries and pastors. So a real date night? Just the two of us? I honestly can't tell you the last time that had happened. Recently, we were staying in a missions house in the U. P. for about 5 days and the pastor of the church we were out offered to have his daughters watch ours so we could go out. My first thought was, "And do what?" I hadn't seen much of the town we were in but I knew it was pretty small. Never-the-less, we decided to take him up on it. We ended up having a really nice time. First we went to the Three Seasons Cafe. The hubs got "Broasted" chicken which was really good and that we later found out was a middle eastern thing. Go figure. I got a cheese steak sandwich. Told ya I liked 'em!

After that we drove over to a little stretch of Lake Michigan beach that also sported a lighthouse that you could walk out to. At this point I was glad that we were solo as I would not have enjoyed walking out there for fear that my daughter would fall off the edge!

The weather was beautiful, if a bit cool for July, so I was wearing the $2.15 Old Navy shirt that I had gotten from Goodwill the week before. Every Goodwill should have a daily half price color! But I digress. Although the lighthouse looks really far away, it actually wasn't that far so we walked all the way out to it. The wall was lined with rocks on either side and turned at a right angle to help make a marina. 

It was neat because occasionally the waves would be a little bigger and would make a big splash against the rocks sending up a really pretty spray. Not enough to give us more than a mist if we stayed on the far side. My husband had a good time trying to predict when a big wave would come. I tried to be artsy with the camera. I don't think I will ever be that good at photography but I did think this one was pretty cool!

After our walk we went to the nicest grocery store in town and picked out some dessert. We started doing this after we got married when we realized that we could get just as nice of a dessert from the Publix bakery for half the price of the restaurant dessert which we were never hungry for just after dinner anyways. Then we took it home and shared it with our daughter while we all watched a movie. I'm glad we were able to go out alone as I don't see us getting in more than one or two more dates before our next baby comes. Do you date your spouse? Do you think date nights are important?

Kitchitikipi

One of the perks of deputation is getting to see things that you would probably NEVER otherwise see. For me, the Upper Penninsula of Michigan is one of those places. I have to tell you, I am truly glad that we are here in July though. The weather has been pretty cool. The high today was 64. In July. The hottest time of the year. But, third trimester me doesn't mind so much right now! Not sure I would be up to coming here if it was much cooler though. There is not much to do around here, but there are some beautiful sights. One that we decided to check out was Kitchitikipi at Palms Book State Park. It is a natural spring that connects with Indian Lake. I have always wanted to see a natural spring so we decided to pay the $8.50.

The park itself was just beautiful, if a bit small. The real attraction was a boat that you could take out over the water for a better view. It was attached to a pulley system that took it in a straight line over the spring. You could make it move by turning a large wheel. We had about 30 people on it with us and did not have to even worry about making it move.

Our daughter loved looking down into the water from Mommy and Daddy's arms. She kept saying "fish" and "boat" very excitedly!

I was told that the water was about 45 feet deep but you could see all the way to the bottom the entire way. There was a cut-out in the middle of the boat so you could look straight down. One side had a railing and one had plexi-glass, but even with Mommy by her side, our daughter still wasn't too sure about it.

Funny story: I stepped out of the house that morning and thought, wow, it's a bit chilly. I should grab jackets. Then I thought, nah! That's silly. It's July! When we got there we were the only ones without them! If you ever find yourself near Manistique, MI, you should check this place out! Just bring your sweater!

Philly Cheesesteak Croisants

Ever send your husband to the grocery store and have him come back with things totally not on the list? Eh, at least he did the shopping, right!? Well that's how I ended up with this:

A pack of frozen cheesesteaks. We had real Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia for our anniversary 2 years ago and I have loved them ever since.

 Apparently, a "real" one has cheese wiz on it. I tried it and didn't think it was that bad.

This version calls for all real cheeses however. I had pinned it pretty recently, so it was the first thing that came to mind when my husband brought his prize find home! 

You can find the original recipe here, but I did make a few modifications and would make a few more. I started by cooking up some onions. Mushrooms and peppers would be good too, but peppers we all I had on hand. Next, I started on the meat.

The package suggested that I break the meat up and microwave it but when I tried that it didn't work very well, so I just threw in into the pan with the onions and it cooked up great! Next I added the broth and cream cheese. I would not use as much cream cheese next time as it was a tad overpowering. And that is coming from someone that loves cheese! Next I rolled out my crescent dough and put some shredded mozzarella on each one. I prefer mozzarella to Swiss. I then crammed as much filling as I could into each one, but after cutting the recipe in half I still had more than would fit in 1 can of jumbo crescent rolls. NBD, I just ate the rest of the filling! I justify those kinds of things at this stage of pregnancy. Then I baked them at the magic 350 until they looked like this (about 14-15 minutes).

For once, a new recipe that my husband loved! We had no problem finishing these off in 2 meals. He can be a tough critic so this one is a keeper for sure!

4th of July - 2013

This year the 4th of July again saw us traveling. Honestly, being away from family and friends on special occasions is one of the hardest parts of deputation for me. But, we always try to make the best of it and we usually do. I decided to try something crazy for packing this time and for our two week trip I packed the three of us entirely in clothes that were red, white, blue or gray. Don't worry, not every outfit was patriotic for the whole two weeks! I ended up wearing mostly blue. July 3rd was a Wednesday so I dressed my daughter up in the outfit below and thought she was absolutely precious! (I can say that even though I'm her mother, right?) We even had matching hair flowers. She didn't end up wearing the play necklaces to our meeting but she enjoyed playing with them. 

The next day, the 4th, we had about a two hour drive to our next destination. We stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and Dida very much enjoyed her .50 cent "I-seam" cone.

We then had a few hours to settle in to our next place and shop for groceries before we headed out to a local golf and ski resort to partake in some festivities and watch the fireworks. We only knew to go there because the pastor of the church we were at also happened to work there and her gave us the tip.

 I was so thankful that we had purchased a shower curtain to sit on because about an hour before the fireworks there was a big rain storm so the ground was pretty wet. Instead of feeling silly for having a shower curtain instead of a blanket, I was feeling pretty smart! Dida also enjoyed the bounce house and being in grass where she didn't have to worry about being bitten by ants!

 Sadly, we found out the hard way that our daughter is NOT ready for fireworks. This was the first time we had taken her and we really weren't sure what she would do. About 3 explosions in, she was done! Daddy had to come to the rescue and take her inside, where, he later told me she kept pointing as far away from the fireworks as she could get and saying "No wan-ne!" (meaning I don't want . . .) I'm still not sure she has forgiven us as she now clings to me every time she hears a lawn mower or motorcycle! We'll try again in a few years I guess!