Sophisticated

Okay, I'm in a very "braggy" mood.

As you can see in the this picture, I have this green comforter on my bed and out of the pillow shams that came with it, I made some curtains. I never loved the comforter, but having bought it online, I just decided to make myself like it.



Here's where the totally awesome part comes in. My totally hot/rad husband bought me an awesome bed for my birthday and a couple of days ago I bought an awesome aqua colored quilt at Target because we really needed something lighter on our bed now that the weather is getting warmer. And, I had some fabric that I bought with Shelley awhile ago and it was like $1 a yard and I loved it but never figured out what to make out of it other than a nursing cover. And, it matches the new quilt perfectly, so I made a little window valance! I'm totally in love with my bedrooms new look. Take a look and see for yourself.



New bed + new quilt + plus new curtain (it took me about 45 min. to make) = one totally rad new bedroom that Kyle and I both ADORE!!!

Up-closey of the curtain:

2 Things I Wish Were Illegal:

Mini-blinds that don't clean themselves.

Baby shirts made of wrinkling material.

'Nuf Said.

This Time of Year...

I love this time of year...the weather is consistently between 60-80 degrees and I want to be anywhere but inside my messy, dirty house. But, alas, I must be inside some of the day because I need to get things done like cooking, laundry, and somewhat cleaning. My mom is coming on Monday morning, so I really only have 1 day to get my house cleaned since Sundays are incredibly busy days for us. That day, being today...

Maddox woke me up at 7:15 this morning and I would love to still be asleep. But, motherly duties are far more important than my own, so Maddox and I sat in our "cuddle chair", snacked on some dry cereal and watched "Baby TV". It's included in our satellite TV package, so I thought I'd give it a try. He loved it, a little too much, he didn't unglue his eyes from the TV for 30 minutes. I don't think I'll do that again, I'd rather he be running around learning something!

Well, off to fix some oatmeal for the little guy and clean, clean, clean.

On another note, I'm almost finished with my 3rd hat, but I'm waiting for some new sizes of knitting needles to come in the mail. I ordered them off of ebay yesterday. It's a great deal if you're in the market for knitting needles! I got 2 sets of 12 different size knitting needles (Half circular and half double-pointed) for about $1.20 a set including shipping. You can't get most knitting needles for less than $5 a set and now I have all the sizes I need to do any hat in the book! Woohoo!

Another Hat

I finished my second baby hat today. I don't love it as much as the first one, but it's hard to tell what it will look like on a round head. The ears were tricky, but kinda fun at the same time. I'm addicted, I want to make another one now!!

Awesome Shopping Trip!

Okay, I just can't help but share my awesome shopping trip today. It totally pumped me up! I try to keep our grocery bill to about $160 a month including diapers, which comes about to about $40 a week. It was always doable, but now that I've started couponing and watching the sales, our pantry is super stocked and I get fun goodies like a 12 pack of Coke for free! Here's a picture of my loot today. My total ended up being $24.00 and $3 of that was Mother's Day cards that isn't included in my grocery budget. So, I have money left over to get a bag of frozen fruit at Costco for green smoothies and milk for Maddox later on in the week!


Included above:

6 boxes of cereal
TONS of bananas
Lettuce
Broccoli
Mayo
12 pk of Coke
2 8 packs of bottled water
6 Power bars
4 lbs of strawberries
Loaf of bread
Dishwashing detergent
Dishwashing rinse (it was free)
Organic crackers
Can of garbonzo beans
1/2 gallon of silk soy milk

My First Itty Bitty Hat

I bought this book with the $25 gift card I won last year from the bloggy giveaway last fall:


Today, I finished this:



I just wish I had a little head to try it on! I'm not sure on sizing and all that since I'm a brand new knitter and gauging can be sort of tricky. I've knit 1 scarf and I failed miserably at my attempt to make a baby blanket. I think I'll stick with baby hats from now on :-) I'm working on one now that has little ears on top. We'll see how that one turns out!

Green Smoothie Recipe

Since I got a few comments on this, I thought I'd post my made up recipe here. Basically, you can do whatever you want to make a fabulous green smoothie. Omit what you don't like and add what you do! YUMMO!

Amount : 40 oz. Enough for Kyle and I to have 16oz ea. and 8 oz. for the little guy

1 Blender full of dark leafy greens (pre-blended:-) - I use spinach and collard greens (they are way cheaper than spinach and have just as many yummy benefits)
3/4-1c. liquids (however much you need to get the greens blended, really just depends upon your blender...mine isn't the greatest, so I need lots of liquid)
1 c. frozen fruit - I bought a big bag of mixed fruit at Costco, it has peaches, blueberries, strawberries and cantaloupe and it's super yummy and fairly cheap ($1.50lb.ish)
2 bananas (the "secret" ingredient to get the greens taste out of your smoothie - I forgot to add them one day and could totally tell.)

Blend up the greens with the liquid until it's a green smooth liquid. Add the fruit, blend it up, and then blend in the banana and enjoy your muy delicioso green smoothie.

Pictures of the Cutie Patootie

Drinking milk, eating biscotti, and wearing his birthday shirt from Antie Shelley in his new recliner. (I know it's not the best picture)


Just being his cutie patootie self.


Helping Mommy with the laundry (yes, he does it because he wants to).


And, last but not least, the famous green smoothie.

Exercise is Poopy

I don't like exercising. In fact, I despise it. I've never found that it's a necessity in my life. If I eat moderately, I have always found I can maintain my weight fairly well. I walked pretty much every day when I worked full-time, during my lunch break, but that was more just to get out of the office because 10 hour days can make you feel a little locked inside.

I carry most of my weight in my hips and butt and have never had a problem with my tummy area. At least that was until I had a child. When I was nursing I ended up about 5-7 lbs. lighter than my normal weight (basically, I had not hips or butt), but within a week of stopping nursing I was back to my norm. There's something about having a child that just makes a tummy learn to pooch. I'm not happy with it AT ALL. I really can't complain that much, though, because I have hardly exercised since Maddox was born, let alone do consistent sit-ups.

Exercising is boring.

Any way, I'm trying really hard to do at least 50 sit-ups every day to see if I can get rid of some of the pooch. If I don't get it under control now, I'm afraid it will be there forever. I suppose it's not the end of the world, but there is nothing worse than a saggy belly hanging over my jeans when I sit!!!

Smoothie = Very Cold Monkey

So, I've been making the 3 of us Green Smoothies in the morning. Basically, it's a fruit smoothie with dark leafy greens in it to get all the yummy benefits of them without having to have a spinach salad every day. Plus, I've never had collard greens before, but I've heard they're good for you. It just tastes fruity, but looks green. Kyle and I each drink about 16oz. and I give Maddox about 6oz. Any way, today, Maddox is sitting on the kitchen floor drinking his smoothie and I look down and his lips are blue and his jaw is literally quaking. Poor guy!