Thanksgiving & Bday Fun

Here is my late Thanksgiving post! Wow, I always forget how hard it is to keep up on a blog on a daily basis, I really need to get better at this! I need to start making a routine on my days off....maybe this should include working out & blogging during G's naptime. Alot the time I catch up on my tv shows when she sleeps...on me, which I need to get out of the habit of and put her in her crib. She is in her crib right now. Her wonderful dad got her to go to sleep for her nap, boy was she fighting it!

For Thanksgiving we went to my sister-in-laws place in Poulsbo, she hosts every Thanksgiving at her place for my husband's WHOLE family. Big get together. It was a very long day....started out at about 5am when I tried to get up before G did to shower and she got up right along with me, haha. Hubby had to work the opening shift at work from 5-9am, so we met him at his work when he got off. Met his parents and we waited in the Edmonds Ferry line for about 2 hours. We didn't get home until about 10pm. G had fun most of the time, she got to see her 2nd cousin( I think once removed...can't figure out the relationship) Ellie and lots of her aunts, uncles and cousins.

G throwing a tantrum over my camera at Starbucks Thanksgiving AM....And they say tantrums start at 2?

Ellie & G both wearing their tutus!

I also celebrated my 29th ( 1 more year till the dirty 30) birthday this past week also. We had several celebrations including dinner & cheesecake factory with friends, birthday dinner with family and then my husband took me out to dinner and a movie on my birthday. So it was a fun week! My mom and I also got some good Christmas shopping done early on Black Friday, we didn't go too crazy, just Freddy's, Target & Old Navy.....but I can honestly say that I only have like 2 presents left to buy and a few to make for some friends. This is a first, it's not even December yet! I am almost sad that I barely having anymore Christmas shopping left....I love Christmas Shopping! haha

This was a longer post than I intended, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is starting to get into the Christmas & holiday spirit!

Tiny Dancer

G loves to dance! Here she is dancing to Caspar Baby Pants, loves them! I love how babies just know how to dance, it just comes so naturally to them when the music comes on, they can't help but dance. They don't hold back like many of us adults do, because they don't care what they look like! Love it!

Ugh

How ironic is it that I get sick a few days after having a conversation with a co-worker about how I never have to call in sick to work? And what did I do this morning? I called in sick to work...ugh I hate being sick, especially when I get to stay home All day and watch my 10 month old....thankfully she slept a lot today, she must have known I wasn't feeling well;).

And more not so very exciting note...I'm researching convertible car seats cause G has almost outgrown her infant car seat...wow!

Little Reader

Sorry I have been a bit MIA, life and G have been keeping me pretty busy these last few days.......G turned 10 months old on the 17th! I can't believe she will be a year old in 2 months! Where has the time gone? She is such a blessing to us!

Our daughter LOVES her books! She loves for her us read to her and she also loves to turn the pages and look through them herself. Right now her favorite books are....Happy Baby Colors, Wooley The Sheep, Peekaboo Book and Goodnight Moon. I think I'm going to get her Goodnight Seattle for Christmas...I think they have the Goodnight Series in every city now!

Reading upside down! Aren't those overalls just adorable?

Happy Baby Colors:)

On another note, I am so excited for the holidays! First we have Thanksgiving in Poulsbo with Josh's family, My Birthday(also Black Friday), and then Christmas!!! And THEN G's First Birthday Party in January! So much coming up!

Budget Friendly Meals Blog

First of all, I have found so many good and delicious looking recipes on Pinterest...if you haven't heard of this, then give me a shout out and I will invite you, yes it's very exclusive like that, you have to be invited:).

Picture Courtesy Of Budget Bytes Blog

One of them, Chicken Taco Bowls , were a big hit with the fam! Not to mention you make it in a crockpot, so super easy and super cheap AND you will be left with leftovers. I love leftovers, my husband not so much...I think that is a guy thing? I love taking leftovers to work so that I can heat it up and have a warm lunch:)! Mmmm.

This recipes also led me to this blog.... Budget Bytes , where she gives you the low down on some very budget friendly recipes. Check it out!

Baby & Toddler Play Area Reviews

Last weekend G and I went to the Bellevue Mall with my little sister and mom, we checked out the kids play area which is on the 3rd floor of the mall, all that is on that floor is the play area, Gymboree, PinkaBella Cupcakes and another store that I can't remember. The play area was PACKED with toddlers and kids.....a few babies, but with all the kids, they didn't stand a chance, I stayed right by G's side so that she didn't get trampled. They don't have any toys, but a lot of soft objects (boat,tunnel,etc) to climb on and under and around. There are tables outside of the play area and a stroller parking area. We didn't stay for long since it was so crowded(was the weekend), but we intend to try again and have a playdate with friends there during the week and I fully intend to try one of the cupcakes from PinkaBella as well:)!

Trying to climb up, such a big girl!

Someone help me up!

My second review is of the Tot Spot Cafe in Woodinville. We met up with some moms & babies from our church play group today.  It was very crowded, loud, messy, took forever to get a beverage or food and you have to pay.....G was only $3 since she is under a year, but over that is $6 for only and hour or $10 for the day. When we got there I think we were all a bit overwhelmed at how busy and loud it was in there. After an hour and 1/2, a bad cup of coffee("americano" with cream & sugar), and $7.17 you kind of get that this one is not so good of a review. But I can finally say that I checked it out after driving by so many times. It is a great concept, but just didn't do it for us! Have a few more places to check out and will write reviews on those as well!

It' All Worth It

Doesn't this picture just melt your heart? She is resting her head on my knee....one of her new favorite things is to rest her head on a pillow or on the ground like she is going to bed. So sweet!

Blogging with a baby

I never realized how difficult it would be to keep up on blogging with a 9 month old getting in to everything! Not to mention every time I break out the IPad, G sees it, gets a sneaky look on her face and makes a beline for me, I mean for the IPad.....she is in love with it....not so thrilled about it. I definitely limit her time every day though . She loves to watch Elmo sing the ABC's. And here she comes, she spotted me! I'm going to have to start doing this after she is in bed at night before I crash

Meals on a Budget

I love it when you find a delicious meal that feeds lots of people and that fits your budget as well.....We started really budgeting several months ago and so far it is working out pretty well! The only part that is really tough to keep within the budget is groceries and eating out. My parents watched G last night so that we could hang out with some friends. We were trying to think of "budget friendly" things we could do for a date night.....and decided that a movie, dinner, etc would end up being a little more than we should be spending. We ended up deciding that I would make dinner and we would take it to their house to hang out and watch a movie over there.

This is what I made....

Courtesy of Pioneer Woman

We had PW's Sour Cream Enchiladas ( if you haven't heard of the Pioneer Woman, then you need to check our her website...and I just plain feel sorry for you!), which are so creamy and delicious with under 10 ingredients. I highly recommend these! Her meat enchiladas are to die for as well!

So I made the enchiladas and we had those along with lime & chili refried beans, chips & fresh salsa. This fed 8 people(made  a pan of them for my parents and sister as well) with leftovers for under $30 (thanks to Fred Meyers)! Definately a lot cheaper than dinner and a movie for two!

Our friends made dessert, grilled peaches with ice cream, which were easy and equally delicious!

I'm going to try to post at least one budget-friendly meal a week on here, so stay tuned!

Chelan

A few weekends ago, my hubby had a wedding to DJ in Lake Chelan, and Genesis and I got to tag along! We headed over Friday morning, stopped at Zeek's to get some of their famous milk shakes and didn't make any stops until Leavenworth for some much needed coffee. Here is where I made the mistake of getting a peppermint mocha from McDonalds, bad idea:/, next time, when in doubt, go to Starbucks. (I'm sure most of you are thinking "I could of told you that".)

After settling into our room at the Best Western Lakeside Lodge (which have the best continental breakfasts ever btw, don't the name fool ya) we went in search of a good place for dinner and settled on a Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately it wasn't very good:(. We tend to have this problem when trying new Mexican restaurants while on a trip. Lesson learned again.

My husband was gone pretty much all day until late night at the wedding, so G and I kept busy, spemnding alot of time in nthe hotel room, since it was pretty cold out nd poor G was fighting a cold. lets just say I watched too much tv while G slept.

G and I lounging in our hotel room...we did alot of that on Saturday!

G loved playing in the hotel room with her toys, playing hide n seek, peek-a-boo, and jumping in all the soft pillows on the bed.

A trip to the Chelan Starbucks!

All bundled up for a stroller ride down along the water.

It was a cold, but beautiful day.

Swinging at the park.

G and dada on our balcony.

All in all we had a fun little weekend away and thought Chelan was a beautiful lake and  little town!

Toms for the Whole Family

 Movember Toms for Dad

 Pink Sparkle Tiny Toms for Genesis

Morocco Toms for Mom


I <3 Me a pair of Toms......I really want the teal colored ones that I keep seeing all over Pinterest, but I can't find anywhere that sells them:(.

This begins our Christmas List!

A lazy Fall Day

What a beautiful, cold, very fallish 1st day of November! I'm already getting excited for the holidays...more to come on that:)! I have the day off and my husband doesn't go to work until this afternoon, winning!

So far it has been a relaxing morning, hubby has taken care of G all morning so that I can get things done...ie balancing check book, working on November's budget, uploading new pics, and making this blog. Thank you to my wonderful husband for giving me these couple of hours to catch up on "me time"!

I did read G some books until she fell asleep for her morning nap, but then hubby gave her a yummy breakfast of whole milk vanilla yogurt(which was kinda hard to find btw) , bananas and her bottle, and then they took Jimi for a walk.

Looking forward to blogging again and updating everyone on what's going on in our lives, other than facebook, which I'm starting to get sick of.

Hope you are all enjoying this day as much as we are and hope you enjoy following along!