New Hair!

I love long hair, and I'm ALWAYS trying to grow mine out longer. Rob scheduled me an appointment with his amazing cousin Laken just for a trim and thinning. Well it was a super hot day yesterday so when I got to Lakens I told her I wanted it all chopped off. She moderated that with what she knew I could actually live with, and we cut it! Almost 6 inches, GONE. Well then I go up to show Rob and work, and he loves it, but says it needs color. We had talked about highlights FOREVER, but still hadn't committed to a color. Well he calls Laken and tells her I'm on my way back to get highlights put it. haha. So I ended up spending most of my day at Lakens, and I think she ended up doing an amazing job!!!

Menu planning

Alright so this post is 100% for accountability. I figure if I post it for all to see, I have to stick with it right?! That’s the hope at least.

My greatest woe of life since Rob and I have gotten married is trying to come up with dinners. Stupid right? Yeah, it really is, but here’s why. I have VERY few meals that feed only 2 people. So I’ll cook up a huge 9x13 of enchiladas (which we both love) and a week later we’re cursing the very thought of enchiladas as we are still gagging them down trying to finish eating them before they go bad. It drives me crazy! I feel like I really can’t cook a legit meal more than twice a week, because the leftovers are just beyond overwhelming. So I have come up with a brilliant solution. I’m sure I’ll say this and all of you will go “…well duh. It took you over a year to come up with this idea?” Yes it did. Don’t judge, I might be slow, but I do get there eventually.

Ready? …freezing meals. Yes, that is my brilliant solution! After doing some research and having my mother spend forever convincing me, I’ve decided it is ok to do, and works great! So here’s the plan. I figure I need to come up with dinners for 6 nights a week. 1 day a week we are usually off doing something, rather that’s going out with friends, eating with family or whatever…I’m only usually responsible for 6 a week. So the goal is to cook only 3 meals a week. We’ll eat a regular helping, and freeze everything that’s left into servings of 2. Then the other 3 nights a week we have a variety of leftovers we can choose from. That way we’re not eating leftovers every single day, but we’re still keeping up on the freezer so they don’t get freezer burn from sitting there to long.

One of my favorite parts about this plan is if I stick with it, we’ll have a good healthy storage built up by the time Weston gets here.  That way when I’m having those ‘super fan days’ that I keep here about where I’m beyond exhausted and grouchy and the thought of getting up to do anything makes me want to cry, let alone cook a meal, I can just pull something out of the freezer and toss it into the microwave! Again, I’m pretty sure this plan is brilliant : ) I started 2 days ago, and thus far it is going perfectly! Last night I made Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, which is kind of my favorite ever! What did I make my mom make for my birthday every single year for well over 10 years? Chicken and Broccoli Casserole. The recipe I have isn’t as intense as my moms, but it’s almost as good, and still satisfies the craving : ) Here’s the recipe in case any of you want to experience heaven : ) 

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

1 pkg. stove top stuffing

1 ½ lbs chicken breast

1 can cream of chicken soup

                                                    1/3 cup sour cream

                                              1 bag frozen broccoli, thawed

Prepare stuffing mix according to box.

Cook chicken, mix with soup, sour cream, and broccoli. Pour into a greased 9X13, top with

stuffing.

Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, until warmed through.

This is what it looked like reheated the next day, tasted just as yummylicious as the first night :)

28 Weeks!!!

That means only 12 weeks to go!!! Holy CRAZINESS! Right now everyone’s favorite thing to ask me is if it’s just taking forever and am I getting impatient with waiting. It’s SO hard to try to answer that question without feeling….like a baby mom I guess. Yes I’m excited for Weston to be here, BEYOND excited, but at the same time, I’m loving this right now too! I love feeling him move around inside me ALL the time now, I love these last few months I get to spend with just my amazing husband and have enjoyed our ‘last summer of little responsibility.’ Haha again, please don’t get me wrong. I cannot wait for this little guy to just be here, and there are days where I think I might explode with anticipation, but overall, I’m really just enjoying where we’re at right now in this whole adventure.

 Now that all being said…I cannot wait to have my body back! I’ve finally reached the point where if I’m sitting, I can’t bend over and touch the ground anymore, my belly is officially too big. It’s so hard feeling…crippled almost. It’s hard to move, it’s hard to get comfortable…and I’m sure it’s only going to get worse. So yes, that part I really don’t think could come fast enough. (sorry the pic is such bad quality and I look like crap. I don't know why I can't just wait for Rob to get home to take the pic and make sure I look cute first...it just never happens!)

Here’s my to-do list of everything we need before Weston gets here (or hope to have I guess is a better way to say that). This is mainly for me, because I know I can’t lose the list if it’s posted on the blog :P However, if anyone knows of anyone getting rid of some of the stuff that we still need, PLEASE let me know. I have become an avid Craiglist stalker and it’s working out quite nicely, but still. If anyone knows of anyone, don’t hesitate to let me know!!

THE LIST

Crib sheets

Dresser/changing table

Changing table pad

Pack and Play with basinet attachment

Rocking chair/glider

Clothes, clothes, and more clothes!

Boppy pillow

DIAPERS

And all the other small things that I’m sure I’ll remember 2 weeks before the due date that will throw me into a slight panic.

NOW FOR EVERYTHING WE ALREADY HAVE…JUST SO I FEEL LIKE WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS :)

Crib

Crib Mattress (although we do need a second one as well)

Car seat

Baby swing

Breast pumps

Diaper bag

Diaper genie

Tub

Bunk beds

Safety gate

Alright all you already moms out there, what else am I forgetting?! I know there has to be more than this, I’m sure of it! I didn’t put down the small little things that you have to buy a million of, like bottles, I don’t think I’ll forget about those.  But what else is there?! PLEASE let me know if I have missed something obvious, and like I said before, if any of you knows anyone wanting to clean out their baby stuff, we are DEFINITELY in the market right now!!!

Washington Trip Numero 2 and the OFFICIAL NURSERY THEME

Well we had our second drive to Washington last week. I have to admit, it is a long drive, but I really don’t mind it too much. We always take the Montana route, and it is so pretty that it is really not too horrible of a drive. That being said…This last drive up there was…an adventure. This is mainly due to the fact that we decided to leave around 7 o’clock at night, and we drove all the way through.  It still wasn’t bad, but when you can’t see the pretty landscaping to keep you distracted, and you’re super tired... it does become kind of a long trip. I got MAYBE two hours of sleep the entire ride, and Rob drove the whole way. We did make really good time though, so I can’t complain too much. We got to Enumclaw at 5 o’clock the next morning.

 Spending the weekends with Rob’s family is always one of the best parts of our Washington business trips.  That weekend we got to stay with Twyla and Aaron, pretty sure they’re going to heaven just for putting up with us and our mess for those 3 days. That Saturday all the boys were going over to work on Mom and Dad Dickson’s new house, and so I got to spend the day with my most amazing sister-in-law Twyla.  We decided to brave the roads and go on an adventure for the day to the Salt Water National Park. It was SO MUCH FUN. Twyla packed us a picnic lunch and we got to just kill the day out in the sun. I got my first sunburn of the year!!! Sadly I forgot to take a picture though…it was kind of a funny burn :P Anyways, Ben had the time of his life finding seashells and little crabs, and we only got in one fight with the crows, so all in all, it was amazing!

That Sunday we got to eat dinner with the whole family before we had to head back to Ellensburg for a week. I got an entire week to focus solely on homework….yay??? Ok it wasn’t too bad, and I did get caught up on a LOT of stuff, so it was really nice. Rob passed his high voltage class, which is always a good thing! He’s officially high voltage certified :P I’m so proud of him!

Once the next weekend FINALLY got here, we loaded up and headed back to Enumclaw, however my husband totally surprised me with an unplanned stop. See, he knows that I LOVE waterfalls, so we stopped at Snowqualmie Falls! I was amazed that such an amazing waterfall seemed to be just in the middle of the town, and if you didn't know it was there, you would have never guessed it! It was such a beautiful waterfall and walk! Rob even let me get a shot glass while we were there!!! Oh my goodness, it made my day!

Once we left the falls, we headed for Lanae and Matt's house, since they had the privilege of us invading their home this time… once again, there is a special place in heaven for anyone who is willing to let us crash their house! Even though the weekend was REALLY busy, we both still really enjoyed getting to hang out with the siblings and catch up with everyone.

The drive back was honestly the easiest drive we have yet to make! Rob got the idea that I should read my book out loud to him while he drove, and we read an entire book that way! It made the time FLY by, and it was nice to have him so involved in the book as well :) DEFINITELY something I’m going to remember for the next trip up!

Alright so now on to the moment of suspense that everyone I’m sure has just been dying to hear…. The official nursery theme. First let me say this (can you tell I’m milking the suspense for all it’s worth?), we both really loved ALL the ideas that we had and we got from people, and it really almost killed us (or me at least) to commit to one theme that was going to be amazing. However, after weeks of stressing and worrying and finding every possible idea under the sun…we finally decided on…(drum roll please) CALVIN AND HOBBES! Here’s why: I really did love the pirate theme, I was the one that originally came up with it, but I realized VERY quickly that I was going to have a really hard time keeping it…how’s the best way to describe this…appropriate for a small child. Not that I’m completely emo crazy and would totally jump that line, but I know I would have a hard time making sure I didn’t play too much ON that line since I caught myself looking at skull fabric for the sheets, if that makes sense. Now to answer the question you have all been asking: How on earth are we going to decorate a room in Calvin and Hobbes? Well all my few readers out there, I shall tell you. I have this amazing Sister-In-Law named Twyla. There you go, that’s the answer to all of my stress. I have hired Twyla to come down in July to spend a week with us, and she is going to paint the entire nursery in Calvin and Hobbes murals and whatnot. Can you all say holy amazingness??? Yes, yes she is. And conveniently I get to enjoy her company for an entire week :) I’m still trying to figure out what to do for bedding and whatnot, but I shall figure it out. If Twyla can make the entire room an epic Calvin and Hobbes paradise, I know I can figure out something for bedding. I can do that.

Alright here’s my last little rant and then I promise I’m done. I bought Weston clothes for the first time today! I kind of feel like I’m behind on this, and I should have started like FOREVER ago, but nonetheless, I finally bought the first two shirts to begin my “Weston’s going to be the cutest dressed baby in the entire world” collection. My dear sister Jaden accompanied me on this most amazing trek. Once you see these shirts, no one is even going to be able to deny that my collection name is true. Here they are, I know, try to contain the excitement! I will admit, I really did giggle in the store as I was buying them! :)