The Makings of a Nursery

Ever since we found out we were having a boy I've been busy planning the nursery. It's been kind of fun too :) . The first thing on my list was painting. Now its been 10+ years since I've even had a hand in helping to paint a room (and I didn't even really do much), so first I needed to do my research on painting a room. I'm kind of a perfectionist (as is Michael) so I wanted to make sure I got it right. Next was choosing the color and getting the paint. I decided on a light gray color. I loved the neutral color of it and how it could easily grow with our little guy. During my scouring of Pinterest for ideas on the nursery I kept seeing striped accent walls and I immediately fell in love. I was a little worried about how hard it would be to do, but it turned out to be fairly easy. So here is the finished product:

My dear sweet husband helped out with the accent wall. He measured out the stripes and then taped them out so all I had to do was paint them, so it made my job quick and easy. My sister was visiting this past weekend so she helped paint the rest of the room. I really love how it all turned out! Now it just needs furniture.

We have one piece of furniture bought already for the nursery. We decided that instead of getting a glider to put in the nursery we would get a futon instead. That way it can double as a place for me to sit and nurse but also as extra sleeping place when we have company. I ended up finding the perfect one too. I saw it on craigslist and it was perfect!

When I saw that it had a blue mattress it was a match made in heaven (ha!). It's currently sitting in the living to act as extra seating, and then when it gets closer to the due date Michael will move it up stairs.

17 Weeks: Gender Reveal

Well it's official we are having a...

BOY!!!!!!!

Michael and I are both excited! I grew up with all girls in my family so in a way I was hoping to have a boy. We weren't surprised either. With all the boys in Michael's family it was just inevitable haha. Of course once we found out I couldn't resist going out clothes shopping. :)

He's going to be such a stud :)

Right now I'm at 17 weeks. I can't believe it! Before I know it I'll be half way through! I finally started looking more pregnant than fat, and started growing out of my clothes. I can no longer rubber band my shorts, I'm officially in maternity shorts or as Michael calls it "fat women clothes" (he means well haha).

Now that we know the baby is a boy, nursery plans are underway. I'm planning on doing gray walls with blue whales to decorate. This picture inspired my idea:

In puppy related news, Mozzie is doing really great! He's is basically house trained (a few accidents every once and a while) and he follows commands well. He's a big whiner, which in a way is kind of funny. He whines anytime someone leaves the house (us or company), when he comes back from a walk, or when he comes home after hanging out with people. He's loves people! I finally took him to the vet to get a shot, and found out he weighs about 8 lbs. He's most likely bigger than that now haha, he's been growing so much!

The Newest Addition

Introducing the newest member of our growing family Mozzie. :)

We finally did it, we finally bought a puppy. :) At first we thought maybe we should wait to get one but then I decided that now would be the best time. I didn't want to have to deal with house training a puppy with a newborn and I thought that getting one now and house training it before the baby comes would be the best idea. Well at least in my mind it makes sense, I might seem utterly crazy to everybody else haha. He's a sweetheart. He's very playful and loves to cuddle (which I love!). I think we have a good one.

Our Growing Family

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted on here. Yikes! Of course things have been kind of busy so I guess that gives me a good excuse. :) In March Michael and I were able to celebrate our first anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year already! It has been a really good year. Of course it did come with it's many struggles that I would like to not go through again but I believe those struggles made us closer as a couple and strong and wiser too.

Also in March we did receive some very exciting news. Our family will be growing from a family of two to a family of three! We are very excited to be expecting this precious little one. S/he is due October 30 so that puts me at approx 12 weeks. Almost done with my first trimester (woo hoo!). So far I'm doing ok. The first several weeks were pretty rough with morning sickness and fatigue. Thankfully the morning sickness is slowly wearing off and I'm slowly but surely getting more of my energy back. All the family was told soon after we found out. Everybody is really excited, including my dad though he says he's not ready for it :P . We wanted to wait announce officially to everybody else until I finished my first trimester but after my first doctor's appt. we were a little to excited to contain it. :)

So little yet so cute!

I won't be posting any pictures of my belly quite yet. Right now it just looks like I ate a really big meal (not flattering). Hopefully soon it will start to look like more of a pregnant belly. :)

Chinese Dinner

So we're officially all moved in and unpacked! I absolutely love our new place. I'll post pictures later but for now I'm going to do my first recipe post. For awhile now I've really been wanting to try my hand at making homemade Chinese food. So this week I decided to finally give it a shot. I found this recipe for sweet and sour chicken on Pinterest. I found the recipe here. Here's what you'll need:

-3-5 chicken breasts
-salt and pepper
-2 eggs beaten
-approx 1 cup of cornstarch
-oil to fry the chicken in (The original recipe calls for canola oil but I used vegetable oil)

First you'll need to rinse and chop the chicken into 1 inch cubes

Once the chicken is cut, dip the chicken first in cornstarch and then in the egg (this can and will get REALLY messy). The fry the chicken till its golden brown.

Once the chicken is fried, put it into a baking dish. I used about 3 chicken breast and it fit perfectly into a 9x13 dish. Now for the sauce. You'll need:

-3/4 cups of sugar

-4 tablespoons of ketchup

-1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

-1 tablespoon of soy sauce

-1 teaspoon of garlic salt

The original recipe calls for distilled vinegar, but some people were saying that it was a little to vinegary so I took used apple cider to cut the taste down. It tasted delicious anyways. :) Just mix all the ingredients together until smooth.

Once all the chicken is fried and in the dish pour the sauce over the chicken, make sure you turn over the chicken so the sauce gets on both sides. Once that's done put the chicken into the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn the chicken and put it in for another 15.

Trust me the chicken looks as good as it tastes. Now to compliment the main dish. I searched high and low for an easy and simple lo-mein. I finally found it here. Its pretty simple and straight forward. However I made a few mistakes with it (crazy right?). It was mostly just little things, my mind has been pretty scattered brain lately. I had twice the amount of pasta needed and forgot the vegetables, but it was still decent. The final addition to the meal was Chinese doughnuts. You usually find these at buffets, but the were always my favorite. These are pretty simple to make as well. Get some refrigerated biscuits, fry them, let them drain on a paper towel and roll them in some sugar. They tasted great! Put all these things together and you have a wonderful Chinese meal at home.

Michael really loved all of it, and requested it to be made again. So in my book that's a win. :)

Looking Ahead

Life has been busy as our upcoming move is getting closer (next week!). Cleaning the apartment has been my major focus right now as I've already packed some and don't have to much left to pack. The apartment wasn't in the greatest condition when we moved in, nevertheless I'm making sure the place is spotless. So I've been scrubbing the floors (I mean literally on my hands and knees scrubbing) and vacuuming every corner. There's no reason this place shouldn't pass inspection (they would be crazy if didn't). Anyways, I want to share with you some things that I'm looking forward to at the new place.


1.  Location Location Location

The location of the new place is such a huge blessing. Its just minutes away from Michael's work and minutes away from everything else that we will most likely be making weekly trips too (i.e. grocery, laundry, gas station etc). It's also in a great area of town. Its going to feel like a major upgrade from where we are at now.

2. Paint!

We will be allowed to paint the walls! I was really excited when we heard this. I thought I wouldn't be able to paint until we owned our own place (if that ever happens). The ideas have been coming in full force for possible colors. I really love this color green for the kitchen. It brightens it up!

3. Patio

Last summer I kept wishing I had a place I could just go sit outside and relax, maybe plant some flowers and just enjoy the fresh air and this summer I'll be able to do just that! 

4. Pets

Isn't he the cutest thing?

My long desire for a dog may soon be fulfilled! Allowing pets was one of the main things we were looking for in the next place. Michael and I tend to disagree on what dog to get. I'm a big fan of large dogs whereas Michael likes the smaller ones. However, we've both have agreed on a sheltie. Michael grew up with having a sheltie and I just adore the cuteness!

Where for Art Thou.....Motivation?

Motivation has not been my friend lately. I just can't seem to get myself up and do things that need to be done, like cleaning, and organizing and my personal favorite (sarcastically speaking) packing. Oh yeah, did I mention we're moving? It's kind of a last minute thing, it was our original plan to move once our lease was up but then we were thinking that maybe we should stay another six months to save a little bit more money. We've been looking at different places to move to that would be closer to Michael's job. Recently we went to go visit an apartment complex that was in a great location. Just minutes away from everything. We ended up falling in love with the place. So we took a look at our finances, moved some things around and now we're moving! I'm really excited. I've been wanting to move out. I'm not the biggest fan of our apartment, but we won't get started on that (we would be here all day). The only bad thing is that we're moving in 5 weeks (yikes!). It's a good thing we don't have to much stuff, but I still have to go through all of it and sort out all the collected junk. Packing is one of the things I hate doing. It takes me forever just to pack a suitcase, imagine an entire apartment! I'm hoping this non-existent motivation will not last very long.