The Other Sister

teeny tiny hiatus

2012-01-16T19:49:00.000-05:00

hey friends :)

i'm just taking a teeny tine hiatus from blog-land. being a wife, mom and working is taking up all my time these days! elliot is growing like a week, i've done some fun crafts, been on some awesome dates and had the best holiday season yet. and i promise to blog about it at sometime. i've drafted several posts, but haven't had the time to edit and post them yet!

thanks for hanging in there with me! there's going to be lots of fabulosity in 2012, and i promise to share with you all!

xoxo,
blair

cook it: balmasic-garlic crusted pork tenderloin and roasted parmesan green beans

2011-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I had my family up for Christmas Dinner and Brunch. I know that you're not supposed to attmept brand new recipes when you have company coming over, but Pinterest really got the better of me. And what do you know, the recipes were a total success!

Here are two recipes that were a total hit at dinner:

Balsamic-Garlic Pork Tenderloin (recipe and photo from http://kitchenconfidante.com)

Ingredients:

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pork tenderloins (about 1.25 pounds each)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1) Mix garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt pepper and olive oil. Rub onto pork and let marinate over night.

2) Heat canola oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add pork, and brown all over, about 4 minutes

3) Transfer pan to oven. Roast pork, turning occasionally, until the internal temperature is 160 degrees, about 20 minutes.

4) Transfer pork to a cutting board, and try to let it rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans (recipe and photo fromhttp://www.skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients:

2 oz green beans, trimmed (make sure they are dry)

2 tsp olive oil

kosher salt + fresh cracked pepper to taste

1/4 tsp garlic powder1 1/2 tbsp shredded parmesan

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum for easy clean-up.

2) Lay green beans out on the baking sheet and drizzle oil over them. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss to evenly coat.

3) Spread them out on the sheet so that they all lay flat and place on the lower third section of your oven.

4) Bake 10 minutes, shake the pan to turn; bake 5 additional minutes.

5) Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.

craft it: a merry little banner

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I have been seriously M.I.A. lately. I'd like to take this opportunity to blame said absence on my dear husband. See, Josh got an iphone about a month ago and since then he's been posting pictures of our fab life all over facebook and instagram. I feel like everything I'd like to put on the blog has already been scooped by Josh.

I vow to do better about posting though. Because really, who wants to live via Instagram or Facebook anyways? Exactly.

So, here's a little banner craft to get your creative juices flowing this dreary Wednesday. You can use this craft to decorate a door, mirror, hallway or even use it to tie on top of a gift. You can follow the tutorial HERE that I posted when I made the "give thanks" banner earlier this fall.

My office at work was in need of some serious holiday cheer. Here's a few places I tried out the banner (excuse the poor photo quality, left camera at home and had to take pics on my cell!)

who needs curtains when you have a sweet banner?!


reminding me to be merry before going into work

a banner over a painting? perfection!

And how could this banner making get any easier?? Click HERE and HERE and you can download PDFs of my banner to print out yourself. I aim to please!

elliot weekly: week 37

2011-12-16T17:42:00.000-05:00


elliot helping me wrap presents

what we've been up to this week:

Anticipating Family Time: We're celebrating Christmas with my family this weekend, which means my sisters are coming to town!! I love having two sisters and I love Elliot getting to spend time with them. This Christmas celebration is especially exciting because my older sister Lauren (the doctor) is moving out to Portland this summer. I hope to burn up the skyways with Elliot while she's under two years old (they still fly babies for free, right??) but I still hate the idea of the Rollins Sisters being so spread out. Boo.

Reach-Scoot-Fall-Roll: Elliot has been more and more interested in items that are more than an arm's length away. She'll reach and reach for it (toy, book, bug, etc) and then kind of scoot her bottom, fall over (either head first, sideways or on her back) and then roll over. She'll them get distracted by her new vantage point and play with whatever toy/book/bug/etc is closest. It's like watching ADD in action.

Real Baby Food, Almost: Elliot is about to start real baby food this weekend. We're going to make her baby food (it's cheap and organic/no preservatives) but I went ahead and picked up some pre-packaged stuff at the grocery store so we'd know how "runny" to make ours. Dr. Mark (our pediatrician) said to start her out on yellow vegetables first. Well, the only vegetable I could think of was squash, which isn't exactly in season down here in the Carolinas. So, Josh and I think that orange is pretty dang close to yellow, so we're starting Elliot out on carrots. We'll let you know how it goes.

Dream Feed: We're still giving Elliot a full bottle around 10:30pm. She's asleep and we're not sure if she totally needs it to sleep through the night. BUT, Elliot is only weighing in at the 25% mark, so we're going to keep giving her this full bottle until she's up to two baby food meals per day (which is another week or so.)

Stats: I work right across the street from our Children's Clinic, so I took Elliot over there to get weighed. She weighed in at 15 pounds 12 ounces. One more reason I love living in a small town: the clinic's front door is a little less that 75 yards from my desk at work. Yes, I am spoiled by small-town convenience!

elliot weekly: week 36

2011-12-09T17:40:00.000-05:00

helping with laundry

what we've been up to this week:

Hungry Lady: Elliot is doing great with her rice cereal! Last week she was doing 1/2 a serving and wasn't too interested. This week she's up to a full serving and is practically slurping it down.

Flapping her wings: Elliot does this funny arm-flapping-thing when she gets really excited or sees something that she really likes. She flaps her arms up and down like she's trying to fly away....or conduct an orchestra. Trust me, it's funny.

Family Time: This past weekend we were able to drive down to Columbia, SC and visit Grandmother (my grandmother, Elliot's great-grandmother.) It was a sweet time with the family, lots of playing, giggling and baby-cuddling.

snuggle time with grandmother

four generations. love :)

Creepy Old Men: Elliot met Santa today. We aren't so sure that we're going to do the whole "Santa" thing at our house, but we took Elliot to visit Santa with Merrin (Elliot's bff.) Merrin was digging the whole experience, Elliot....not so much.

elliot weekly: week 35

2011-12-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

what we've been up to:

Wallow: Elliot isn't crawling, but she sure is into wallowing. She'll sit in my lap and wiggle and roll all over the place. She just reaches and grabs for everything in sight, always trusting that we won't let her fall off our laps or off the couch/chair. She loves looking at things sideways or upside-down, but she likes to that mostly while you're holding her.

Peek-a-Boo: Elliot has finally gotten the hang of peek-a-boo. We play it mostly with her blanket, because it's small enough for her to grab. She likes it when we hold it in front of her, completely hiding ourselves, and she smiles hugely when we say "where's the baby? where's elliot?" and then promptly rips the blanket away. She's even gotten into holding the blanket up herself when she's ready to play (she even did it in the grocery store the other day!) It is SO cute.

Outdoor Babe: Baby Girl is still loving the outdoors. Only problem? Yeah, the fact that it was 34 degrees and Elliot was crying to play outside. How exactly do I know she wanted to play outside? Because we were at work and she was so very fussy until I walked her over to the glass door leading to the backyard and she started panting. Like a dog. I'm pretty sure she would've wagged her tail if she had one. So, like any brave mama, I strapped her into the stroller and bundled her up with a hat and blanket and we walked the 1.2 miles to the post office. Why the post office? Well, duh, I was at work and needed an excuse to take the babe on a walk. Multitasking folks, it's what being a working mama is all about!

Xylophone: My friend Sherry gave Elliot a wooden toy set at a baby shower last fall. The set is meant for babes 18 months and older, but Elliot loves the xylophone! We've played with it enough now that she knows how to hammer the keys. Or she just spazes out and the note-playing is just a byproduct of flailing arms.

Not So Yummy: We started Elliot on rice cereal yesterday. She took a few spoon fulls and was interested in the whole deal at first. She wanted to play with the spoon more than anything, but she quickly got the hang of the whole keep-you-arms-down-while-we-feed-you routine. After a few minutes thought Elliot seemed to lose interest in the whole project and was getting more down her face and on her bib than in her mouth. My last resort was to let her sip it out of the side. Turns out she loved that method. I know we're supposed to be teaching her how to use a spoon, but I just didn't want to waste the breast-milk that we'd mixed in with the cereal. Yep, I'm cheap, even with breast-milk.

happy 8 months elliot! we love you baby girl!!

elliot weekly: week 34

2011-11-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

at the Washburn General Store
trying to convince us to buy her this little rocking chair

what we've been up to:

To the Park: Elliot went to the park for the first time! Josh and I both had Wednesday afternoon off and we took Elliot to the park. She's obviously not old enough to run around yet, but she seemed to enjoy the swings and the carousel. We are so lucky to have such a gem of a park only minutes from our house...its actually walking distance from my office and uptown so we'll have to keep it in the running destination rotation.

Winner, Winner: Elliot is a winner! Elliot and I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving this past week. Ok, Elliot actually fell asleep around mile 2. BUT, Elliot won the costume contest! I'm pretty sure she won by default, but she was the CUTEST little indian ever. I made her costume out of felt and ribbon and managed to whip it up during her nap on Wednesday afternoon. Its all sew-free and made by knotting and hot-glue that I learned how to do by watching this video from Joann's. (You can't really see in this picture, but she had a little papoose on the back of her costume to hold her stuffed animal like a mama!)

Elliot and I post-race waiting for the results

cutest little baby ever?
yep.
and we have the trophy to prove it.

Thankful: We are so thankful for so many things; the Lord is so very good and so good to us. It was nice to have a day set aside to remember that this week. I pray that we keep that mindset as we enter into these next holiday weeks!

elliot weekly: week 33

2011-11-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

what we've been up to:

Never Met a Stranger: Elliot continues to enjoy meeting new people...although, you'd never know they were "new" by the way she coos and smiles at everyone. When I was pregnant with Elliot I prayed that she would be warm towards others, because I knew how many people the Lord had us in contact with through ministry. I know she's little and could certainly develop a shy streak later on, but we're just going to enjoy our little social butterfly for now.

Huge Smiles: Elliot has a huge smile, complete with drool and giggles. Noticeably absent: teeth. Elliot doesn't have any teeth yet. And, according to Aunt Joy (dental hygienist extraordinaire) it doesn't look like she has any teeth coming any time soon. Oh well, we'll just enjoy our little gums-only girl for now :)

Bath Baby: Elliot is still loving her bath time. She'd probably play in the bathtub all day if we let her. And, she loves to tote around her bath toys and play with them around the house. We get quite the strange looks when we're out and about and Elliot is swinging around a rubber ducky!

elliot weekly: week 32

2011-11-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

holding her water bottle at 32 weeks

What we've been up to:

Roll Over: Elliot is a rolling over champ! She's been great with her tummy time and regularly rolls front to back (she definitely favors rolling to the right.) She's not showing any interest in crawling yet and prefers to play with what's around her than crawling for a toy farther away.

Sing a Song: Elliot has been really into music lately. If she's fussy in the car, turning on the radio (or plugging in the iPod) really seems to calm her down. I don't think she has any real favorites so far, but I'm thinking she'll be a 'top 40s' girl. Josh and Elliot rock out to the guitar while I'm running in the mornings. It's fun to sneak into the house and hear them singing Vida la Vida or Mr. Jones (ok, let's be honest, Josh does the singing and Elliot just kind of lays on her back, grabs her feet in the air, smiles and does a sweet little baby scream.)

Elliot and Josh having a little sing-a-long/chew-toy time

elliot weekly: week 31

2011-11-04T14:27:00.000-04:00

loving outdoor time at 31 weeks

What we've been up to this week:

Reach For It: Elliot is getting so much better at reaching for toys (or my cell phone, keys, silverware or anything else she shouldn't be putting in her mouth!) She will be sitting up, lean to one side to grab a toy, sit back up and pass the toy between her hands. It's so wild to watch her....I just hear her think "I want what's over there....so I'm going to get it myself." It is amazing to see her independence grow each day!

Arms Open Wide: When Elliot is getting fussy/tired/bored and she starts to cry, she doesn't really hold her arms "up", she holds them out (like she's making a giant "T" shape.) She holds her arms like this often and most of the time isn't trying to communicate "pick me up." I feel like a bit of a mind-reader these days---trying to decipher what she wants, with one motion/gesture meaning multiple things.

In Its Place: Everything has a place....and Elliot believes that place is in her mouth. Car keys, make-up, remote controls, towels and tabletops are all fair game for our little girl. Yes, she did try to chew on the edge of a table at Early Girl in Asheville. And yes, I did laugh while pulling her away. What can I say, I guess our daughter is part beaver.

elliot weekly: week 30

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

loving the outdoors at 30 weeks

What we've been up to:

Bath Time: Elliot is still loving her baths. She's getting better at sitting up (in general) and it's fun to watch her sit up in the tub. She doesn't quite get the whole sitting-up-while-not-falling-face-first-thing and still likes to lay down on her bath sling.

Sleeping Champ: Elliot is still sleeping through the night. We are so thankful to have solid sleep in our lives! Elliot usually goes down around 7:30pm and it leaves lots of time for me and Josh to spend time together.

Backpack Baby: Josh and I did a little hike at South Mountain and some yard work this week. Elliot was both great help and great company. We were given this baby pack by Elizabeth and John and we love it! We hang a few toys on there and Elliot is set. She loves the outdoors and this pack is the perfect combination of baby-containment/baby-entertainment center :)

Elliot directing te mulch placement

Josh and Elliot at South Mountain

elliot weekly: week 29

2011-10-21T13:08:00.000-04:00

wearing socks at week 29....and kicking them off right away!

what we've been up to this week:

Sleeping Beauty: Elliot has been sleeping great this week. We've even had a few nights where she slept until 7am! We know that teething is probably right around the corner, so we are soaking up these good nights while we can.

Banquet: We had our fundraising banquet for Young Life on Tuesday. Elliot was a great gift-bag stuffer. Consider yourself blessed if you got a little baby slobber on your baggie :) Did you miss the banquet? Check out a video clip here.

Just Me and Bottles: Elliot is still nursing exclusively. Breastfeeding has been such a gift and I'm glad that she's taken so well to it. It was a huge prayer of mine during my pregnancy and I'm so thankful for the time with her. Our pediatrician has advised us to start moving her towards baby food at 8 months. The plan is to start her with rice cereal at 8 months and then transition to baby food after that. It makes me kind of sad because I really enjoy the time with her and let's be honest here: its free! Momma loves a deal y'all.

craft it: homemade trellis

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

I got Josh to craft with me! The key to getting the hubs involved: outdoor crafting. We bought and planted some Carolina Jasmine earlier this year. We used a trellis that we already owned, but knew that it wouldn't be large enough in the end. The Jasmine we bought is trailing; and trailing it was....it was starting to get a bit out of control.

Here's a shot of the front of out house.

We planted the Jasmine in between the garage windows.

See how sad it looks on the too-small-trellis?

The plan was to drill into the mortar and created a wire trellis running in-between the windows. Josh picked up some garden wire at our local hardware store and that was the only cost for this project (about $5.)

Here's Josh using a masonry bit to drill into the mortar. This is manly crafting for sure.

We ran the wire in a giant "X" pattern and then wove the Jasmine through.

Here are a few "after" shots:

And here are some shots at dusk:

Doesn't it look so much better?!

sitting up

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

I think we'd all be happy if we applauded each other the way we do babies. Babies do hardly anything and we're cheering them on as if they've finished a marathon in record time. Josh and I are totally those parents. We cheer when Elliot finishes a bottle, sleeps through the night or grins at us. How different would the world be if you got a high-five or pat on the back for brushing your teeth, going to work or just going to bed? I think we'd all walk around standing a little taller, feeling a bit more proud and secure....because after all, we'd put on clothes all by ourselves.

But until that day, I'll just keep cheering on my baby girl...because look at her learning how to sit up on her own:

Isn't that totally cheer-worthy?!

craft it: banner/mantle makeover

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

As the chiller weather has been approaching, I've been wearing more jackets and evening donning my slippers (only around the house, don't worry.) It has made me think about this winter and warm fires and snuggles with the hubs. Josh did a wonderful job installing this sliding doors on out over-the-fireplace-tv-nook, but the area is still feeling a little naked. See what I mean?

I bought several succulents (because I can't keep real plants alive) from Lowes a couple of glass vases from Anthropologie (not exactly cheap, but perfect for the space!)

But I still felt like the space needing something more. And this is where Chelsea comes in.

My friend Chelsea is the queen of banners. I try to copy a lot of what she does, and this is no exception. Thanks Chelsea for still being my friend even though I copy you all.the.time.

Here's what you need for this little banner session:

1) banner paper (i used an old dictionary, because it was free)

2) sharpie

3) scissors

4) tape

5) remote control. i had to catch up on gossip girl. yes, there is a 16 year old girl hiding inside this 28 year old mom. yikes.

If you have cute handwriting like Chelsea than you can go ahead and free-hand your letter. I, on the other hand, printed off letters and then traced them using a lamp:

Josh was reading from 1 Corinthians the other day and it got us talking about we want to give thanks more often. I thought putting it on the banner would put it front and center in the house:

I didn't know how to separate the words "give" and "thanks", so I just whipped up a coffee-filter and dictionary-page flower. I just folded about 12 filters and 9 dictionary page circle cut-outs together and stuck a brad through them. Easy peasy.

One last look.

Now doesn't that mantle look fresh?

wedded bliss

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Elliot went to her fourth wedding to see our friends Baird and John get married. We have known Baird for almost 10 years and Josh and I both wept happy tears as we watched her walk down the aisle. She looked radiant and so very happy. Here are a few moments from the ceremony and reception:

loved having a little bluegrass band off to the side!


rare thing: photo of just the two of us. love.him.

young life girls entertaining elliot

cutest ring bearer ever!

happily married. ready to party!

beautiful reception site! can you see the barn? amazingness.

loved how they used cotton in their arrangements

how cute are elliot's baby Toms?! thanks lampley family!

elliot weekly: week 28

2011-10-14T09:33:00.000-04:00

so happy at 28 weeks

What we've been up to this week:

Outdoor Lady: Elliot has really been loving her outdoor time this week. We had a few rainy spells, but other than that we've been spending a lot of time outside at work and home. I'm fortunate to have a yard at work where we can sneak out for play breaks. We have to keep an eye out for the rogue chicken or two (I always take a broom outside with me for protection---makes me feel like I'm on Little House on the Prairie). Elliot loves looking at everything, feeling the breeze, pulling up all the grass around here and promptly trying to eat it.

Raspberry Central: Elliot is all about blowing raspberries these days. She'll take a huge breath and just blow/dribble away. Her face turns so red that I feel like she might pass out or something! I have to say "Breath Elliot!" The distraction makes her stop; she'll look up at me and laugh---its so sweet. We caught a clip on our friend's video camera---we hope to share it soon!

Ears: Elliot has found her ears! She been "playing" with her ears, flicking the cartilage back and forth. At first I was nervous that she might be pulling on her ears and was worried about an ear infection (rumor has it that I had a ton of those as a baby). But, she is often smiling when she's doing it, so I'm not too worried. She's also discovered my ears. I haven't been wearing dangly earring for a while, fearing that she'd pull them out with her incredible baby strength (sidenote: babies are seriously strong, can I get an "Amen!" on that??) But even on the days were I'm wearing small post earrings Elliot just wants to flick/tug/poke my upper cartilage. We may have a future ENT doctor on our hands.

Growing Like a Weed: Elliot had a little growth spurt this week. Over a span of three days she took a full extra feeding, was a little more fussy and slept a little more poorly. We are entirely too spoiled with our sweet girl, because when we have something as totally normal as a growth spurt I totally freak out like "why is she wanting so much milk? why did she wake up at 1am? why is she fussy? is she getting teeth?"

Toothless Wonder: Elliot is officially 6.5 months old with no teeth in sight. She keeps her fingers in her mouth a lot these days, but I'm pretty sure she's just playing with her tongue (also a recent discovery!) I'm not rushing her into teething, but every time she's fussy I think "oh! maybe she's teething??"

real life tom and jerry

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

I went over to my friend Marywinn's house a couple of days ago. Her daughter (my friend Cora) is coming into town this weekend and she wanted to freshen up Cora's room. Marywinn's house is the coolest; its a two story yellow-with-white-and-green-trim Victorian house. They've added a few modern luxuries (amazing on-suite master bath with heated floors and towel warmer, yowsa!) but the house still has so many fun and eclectic original pieces. I love that every room has a coal burning fireplace, the stained glass and that Cora's room has a secret little play-room tucked away. Marywinn has done a fabulous job of displaying the old (she keeps her mom's vintage jewelry in a shadow box that has a hinged door so she can still use the jewelry!) while enjoying the new (stainless steel range and granite counter tops in the kitchen.)

Marywinn's children are all grown and married, so she doesn't spend a ton of time upstairs. When she went to go look in Cora's room, check out what was waiting just under Cora's vanity:

Its a real mouse hole! While it might be a little eeeek-inducing, I thought it was funny. I mean, doesn't it look just like a cartoon mouse hole??

I just couldn't help but giggle. I told Marywinn not to worry, that it was just where Jaq and Gus lived (remember the mice from Cinderella?!) She was worried that it was a rat, but I assured her that it was certainly a sweet, song-singing, dress-making, princess-coaching cartoon mouse that lived there. Or that it was a wiley, prank-causing, teeny mouse that would terrorize her dog. Either way, the mouse is definitely a cartoon...and that's my professional opinion.

craft it: monogram it!

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

I recently received these vintage kitchen towels from my friend Marywinn and this dress for Elliot from my mom. They were both super cute....but definitely needed a little extra sass.

I wasn't quite sure what to do to them. applique? screen print? my crafty brain was stumped! So I took them uptown and had our local monogramming lady work her magic!

I like that the monogramming lady used a number on the dish towels. I told her that I wanted something a little different than the normal "married couple monogram" look. I also think she did a great job on Elliot's dress! I wanted a little less "girly" monogram and Chelsea suggested getting it done in gray and I loved the idea--of course Chelsea would have the best eye for that, have you checked out her blog?? She's styled my entire closet for me (it was like a what-not-to-wear marathon) and she always has the most unique ideas.

So a sneaky little crafty lesson....when in doubt, have someone else do the planning and the doing of a craft. I guess I just "managed" this craft. Oh well, that's the life of a crafting mama...sometime you feel the urge to craft but have neither the time nor the ideas. Hahahaha.

cook it: ginormous biscuits

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Josh and I have been cooking at home more lately. I'm not sure if its the cooler temperatures, night falling a little earlier or just spending more time at home---but I love it! I love bumping into him while we cook, talking over our day and making something together. We've been extra inspired by our Tupelo Honey cookbook lately. We were actually looking for a dinner recipe (tomato pie, definitely will share soon!) when we came across their famous biscuit recipe. Josh made them on Sunday morning. I'm not sure if it was using bread flour or the insane amount of butter, but these babies were delish! Make some coffee and get out some blackberry preserves, these biscuits are yummmmm!

Tupelo Honey's Ginormous Biscuits

Makes 6 Biscuits

2 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon plus ½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup unsalted butter, frozen

½ cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1) Preheat the oven to 450F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sour cream, and ½ teaspoon of the salt in a large bowl.

2) With a cheese grater, grate the frozen butter using the largest holes; quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

3) Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.

4) On a floured surface, turn out the dough and roll out to a 1-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits and place on a rimmed sheet pan.

5) Cook on the top rack of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until light brown, and remove from the oven. 6) Brush the melted butter on top of each biscuit and return to the oven for about 5 minutes longer, or until the biscuits are golden brown.

craft it: jewelry display

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have some super fun pieces of jewelry. Some were gifts from my sweet sisters and friends. Some were impulsively purchased while others caught my eye for a while before I indulged. But the results were always the same: a big ole dusty mess on top of my dresser:

The site is anything but inspiring folks. I ended up just wearing my wedding bands and the same necklace every day. I love my wedding bands and the silver everyday necklace, but I wanted my jewelry to speak to my fun personality....because all my wear-the-same-darn-thing-every-stinking-day look was saying about me was that I was boring. And I'm not. Trust me. I really quite fun. Really!

Anyways, back to the issue at hand. I scoured Pinterest for ideas but couldn't find any that were really "me." I felt like the whole frame-backed-with-chicken-wire was great, but a little over done. And, as you can see in the picture above, I was trying the whole jewelry-tree idea----but was really going to need a jewelry-forest to get the problem fixed.

In walked inspiration: a $1 bin of old cabinet inlays at a yard sale!

I had some off-white paint in the garage. I wasn't even sure if the paint would be good...but I figured that the cabinet inlays were only $1, so I wasn't really ready to splurge on new paint.

The inlays cleaned up pretty good! After arranging the panels in the order I thought I'd hang them on the wall, I added hangers to the back

Next I used a little rub-n-buff to add a little interest to the panels

You always need an assistant while crafting. How cute is mine?!?!

Yikes. Its looks like I got a little to interested in my assistant and didn't quite see the mess I was making! Word to the wise---rub-n-buff dries QUICK!

Fortunately, it covers pretty well too! Here's a look at the edges

Next up: drilling pilot holes for my hooks. I covered the area with painters tape to reduce wood splitage and paint chipage. Yep, made up two words right there. You can do that with a blog.

Now I had to find a spot to hang them up! This is the wall our bed faces. The door on the left is the door to the bathroom and the door on the right is the door to the hallway (where our media wall is!) I chose to hang the jewelry display to the left of the bathroom door. Why? Because we leave that door open a lot and it would hide the display most of the time. Hey, I married a man who for some reason doesn't want to see my jewelry all the time. what?!?

couldn't quite get josh or elliot out of the shot. oh well!

But, that sweet jewelry-display-hating man did actually help me measure and hang the display. Bless him.

I wanted to do as little damage to the wall as possible. These furniture pads should help eliminate scratches. The display will "rock" a little bit when taking bigger pieces of jewelry off.

Oh. Be still my heart.

So fresh and so clean. Just waiting to be filled with so much awesomeness.

Oh, my. My name is Blair. So nice to meet you. You look fabulous.

I want to get my ears pierces 204982 more times so I can wear all of you at once!

Even after 68 hooks, I still ran out of room for my headbands and stud earrings. Oh well. That's a little better!

I will say that my jewelry organization has already helped my accessorizing immensely. Its also caused more jewelry-buying though. Eek. Good thing I have a few more panels left over---might need to add one or two more!

elliot weekly: week 27

2011-10-07T21:23:00.000-04:00

Elliot loves Con Queso---she smiles SO big when she sees him!

What we've been up to this week:

Smack Those Lips: Elliot has been making this funny lip-sucking-but-smacking sound this week. Its been funny to see her learn to do something new. She'll learn a new skill (like smacking her lips) and not do an old skill (like making funny noises, grabbing her ears, etc). It is really wild to watch her learn all of this stuff.

Back to Front: Elliot has finally been rolling over! She's rolled over several times this week and even got stuck on her belly during a nap. The whole stuck-on-her-stomach fiasco wasn't so exciting, but I'm glad that she seems a little more interested in rolling around. She'd still rather have you pick her up or grab a toy for her--and honestly, who am I to complain, I pretty much love holding her.

Outdoor Girl: Elliot has been loving her outside play time lately. I took an old quilt to work with me and we've been having a blast playing outside. I have to keep an eye out for the wandering chickens, but other than that we're having a great time. Elliot seems to really enjoy all the noises (birds, breeze, cars and trains) as well as watching the chipmunks and squirrels run around.

Sitting Pretty: The bumbo has been quite handy! I really think its helped Elliot do a better job of sitting up. She needs to kind of have her legs in a "v" shape and have some toys in between, but she's doing ok. If she sees/hears something interesting to her left or right, she'll face-plant for sure!

Sound Asleep: I'd like to say our little babe is officially sleeping through the night....although, I'm not going to say that....because as soon as I do, she'll be up all night! But it seems that the combination of quitting the pacifier and the Ferber method of falling asleep have worked great! A friend asked me if I'll use a pacifier for our next babe. Truth is, I'm not sure! The pacifier was great and horrible....I'm just glad she kicked the habit quickly!

Fair Life: This week the fair was in town....and we took full advantage. I love people-watching at the fair. I make up names for people and create full dialogue. Its kind of amazing. Here are some family pictures:

elliot....not so interested


elliot was MUCH more excited once she got her overalls on thanks hef for the sweet outfit! elliot totally loved it :)	!

love my sweet baby girl!

cook it: back bean and sweet potato soup

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

go ahead and drool.
i promise this meal is worth it!

I loved the cool weather this past weekend! It made me so excited about soup season this fall. I found this recipe on Pinterest last week and thought it sounded like the perfect quirky alternative to regular old vegetarian chili. I don't know if its the blend of spices or the addition of sweet potatoes, but this soup is great! This recipe serves about 8-10, so invite over a few friends and enjoy!

ingredients:

1 1/2 onions chopped

2 gloves garlic minced

1 poblano pepper diced* (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

28 ounces petite diced tomatoes (in juice)

8 cups of broth (i make my own veggie broth)

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 large carrot peeled and diced

1 large sweet potato peeled and diced

1 cup frozen corn

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup fire roasted salsa

1/4 cup corn starch

directions:

1) heat olive oil over medium-high heat, add onion and saute for 5 minutes (until tender and golden)

2) add garlic and poblano pepper and saute for another minutes (until frgrant)

3) add cumin and chili powder and saute for another 2 minutes

4) lower heat to medium-low and add tomatoes and broth (save 1/4 cup broth), make sure to loosen any browned bits in pan

5) add all remaining ingredients except cornstarch and reserved broth

6) in a small bowl whisk together cornstarch and remaining broth until smooth. add this to the chili pot and stir until well mixed. bring to a boil for 2 minutes.

7) simmer over low heat uncovered for 1 hour. the continue to cook with a lid for 30 minutes.

serve topped with fresh cilantro, monterrey jack cheese and crusty bread.

all in a morning's work

2011-10-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Someone recently asked me how it felt being a new mom. I told them that I felt like it must be what being a postal worker is like: no matter how much mail they deliver a day, there's always going to be more the next day regardless of the weather. Around our house it feels like there's always something that needs to be done. There's always clothes to be washed, dishes to put away, toys to tidy up. Sometimes it feels like the list is just endless!

Here's my normal pre-work routine:

7:00am feed and change elliot

7:15am hand elliot off to josh

7:20am out the door for a quick run

8:00am get ready for work (while josh and i take turns entertaining elliot)

8:30am make coffee, pack lunch, pack elliot's stuff for work and clean kitchen

8:55am rush out the door to work

this shows about 2/3 of our messy kitchen
funny part is, this is just messy from the night before!

take out clean dishes and put in dirty ones
take out recycling (cause we're green like that, ya know)
put away expressed milk (can you see it over there? ha)
try and keep elliot out of josh's snack bowl

"who, me? mom, i'm just helping sort the snacks"

Then I come home from work, put Elliot to sleep for a quick pre-dinner cat nap, try and get a little crafting in, feed elliot, give elliot a bath, attempt to cook dinner, put elliot to sleep, attempt to put away as many dishes as I can without waking the babe, hang out with Josh, feed elliot again, go to sleep.....all to begin the entire process again the next morning. So yeah...come rain, snow, sleet or hail, there's always more mail.

cook it: chocolate pecan pie

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

My dears, let me introduce you to my new favorite fall dessert. Yep, my chocolate chip pumpkin muffins have been kicked to the curb (except that now that I thought of them, I'm so tempted to make them!) to make way for this beauty:

another great recipe from Tupelo Honey

I tried to give a few slices of this one away, but Josh refused. Yep, we ate the entire pie ourselves (over several days of course...because chocolate pecan pie is a perfectly acceptable breakfast item.) Trust me, this recipe is a total winner and will make you the hit of your holiday party this season! Check it out:

Ingredients:

pie dough (i always use premade!)

3/4 cup light corn syup

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons tupelo honey

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 and 1/2 cups pecan pieces

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

directions:

1) roll out pie dough into 10" pie pan and crimp edges

2) in a large bowl combine light corn syrup, sugar, sea salt, eggs, vanilla and honey. mix well.

3) stir in the melted butter and pour entire mixture into pie crust

4) top with pecan pieces and semi-sweet chocolate chips

5) bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes (or until the crust is brown and the pie filling is bubbly)

tips:

-if you don't have honey on hand, you can use a total of 1 cup light corn syrup and 1 and 1/2 cups sugar instead

-make sure to rotate the pie half-way through baking to ensure even baking. be careful--the mixture is very soup-y while cooking!

-don't hesitate to bring the pie out a little earlier than you think. this pie doesn't really "set" until it starts cooling. its not like making brownies or a cake :)

-serve with a side of ice cream and/or coffee.

-be warned: you will likely get a marriage proposal out of this pie. you're already married? well, you'll probably not have to do the dishes, feel free to make a mess while baking. yes, it is that good!

team amy

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Thank you to all of you who supported us financially and in prayer for the Komen race this past weekend. It was a joy and privilege to be a part of Team Patwa this year, thank you so much for joining with me to fight cancer on behalf of our friend Amy.

This was the second year that I ran for Team Patwa. Elliot was just the little secret that we were keeping during last year during the run. I was glad that she got to be a part of the run this year (well, as much a part of it as a baby could be, getting pushed in the stroller and falling asleep!) I ran the race without my Ipod. I just spent the time praying for Amy, her family, her second fight against this cancer, her friends and support team, her doctors, those that she comes in contact with and her story of faith.

There are so many things that I want to make sure I teach Elliot. I want to teach her music and etiquette, running and piano, but I hope I teach her the most important thing: to love Jesus and love others. I want her to know the assurance of the Lord's presence...that she would abide in His love...that she would experience such an overflowing of His spirit that it would flow into the lives of those around her. I see those things in Amy and I am different because of it.

So, not to be cheesy or anything, but the race this past weekend is over but Amy's journey continues. Please continue to pray for her and her sweet family. If you'd like to support Amy (or her family) in any way, please let me know. We're always on the lookout for a new way to show the Patwa family some love :)


amy, getting her grove on so typical, hahaha

it was chilly! mid-40s during the race, yikes

elliot loved the race!

my friend richard, sleep training and taking away the pacifier

2011-10-02T19:30:00.000-04:00

(those of y'all not interested in baby stuff will probably want to skip this post entirely, hahahaha!)

I've made a new friend named Richard. Richard Ferber. Dr. Richard Ferber that is.

Now, I know I'm taking a risk by talking about Dr. Ferber. It seems like nothing polarizes moms quite like a mom's decision to let their baby cry-it-out. Well, here goes nothing!

See, the way I'd heard people talk about "the ferber method" made it sound like they just left their kid in their room to just cry for hours and hours, without ever checking on them, until they fell asleep exhausted. It sounded a little extreme to me. We've been having so much trouble getting Elliot to sleep-through-the-night and a lot of my girl friends were telling me to "just let her cry." I figured that I'd read Dr. Ferber's book and check him, and his methods, out for myself (because I'm probably the most skeptical person you'll ever meet---I don't take anything at face value!)

Here's the thing---Richard ain't so extreme after all!

We initially "sleep trained" Elliot when she was around 3 months old. It was a modified version of the Ferber method and was suggested to us by our pediatrician. We'd have a normal night-time routine (bath, eat, pajamas) and watch for signs that Elliot was ready for bed (rubbing her eyes, fussy, etc). The goal was to put her in her crib semi-sleepy (eyes at "half mast") and train her to fall asleep on her own. We were to let her cry for 5 minutes, go in and settle her for 1-2 minutes, let her cry for 5 more minutes and repeat the routine for up to 30 minutes. If Elliot was still crying at 30 minutes, we were to do whatever it took to get her eyes back to "half mast", we could pick her up, rock her, sing and even feed her if we needed to. The training went really well, and in about 10 days we had a routine where Elliot would fall asleep on her own. I considered it a successful routine because we weren't rocking her to sleep, nursing her to sleep, driving her around in the car or anything that was a parent-dependent sleep prop.

The problem? Giving her a pacifier to fall asleep.

After reading Dr. Ferber's book, I realized that it was most likely letting Elliot use a pacifier may have been our biggest problem in getting her to sleep through the night. Yes, the pacifier was our greatest friend in getting her to calm down and get to sleep. But the problem was nearly the same every night: Elliot would wake up around 1am or 2am, need her pacifier, go right back to sleep, wake up around 4am or so and need her pacifier again. Sometimes we'd get a night where she might sleep until 6am-ish, but it was anything but consistent.

Our pediatrician-advised method worked really well on Elliot then, so when we started having problems with her sleeping again, I thought we'd take a similar approach. I read Dr. Ferber's book and evaluated his suggestions for myself . The book was pretty helpful (and not at all as militant as I'd heard) and his approach seemed pretty similar to our pediatrician's, so I figured we'd give it a try. Josh skimmed over the chapters on sleep training, self-soothing and pacifier use and we agreed to give the process one week. We were both encouraged by the fact that Dr Ferber claimed that weaning from the pacifier was one of the easiest sleep-prop habits to break!

We ditched the pacifier and went cold-turkey on Sunday night. Here's how our results on how long it took elliot to fall asleep and what time she woke up in the morning:

Sunday Night: 1 hour 40 minutes---slept until 5:50am

Monday Night: 16 minutes----slept until 6:10am

Tuesday Night: 38 minutes---awake at 1am, took 30 minutes to settle----slept until 6:50am
Wednesday Night: 13 minutes---slept until 6:20am
Thursday Night: 34 minutes---slept until 6:30am
Friday Night: 12 minutes---slept until we woke her at 6am (leaving for the race)
Saturday Night: 5 minutes---slept until 6:30am
Sunday Night: asleep immediately, with no crying!!

I couldn't believe that elliot was able to sleep so well during the night! And, she woke so happy in the morning. Most days she woke up "talking" in her room. So much cuter than a crying baby at 2am ;)

Dr Ferber encouraged us to focus on Elliot's night time sleep and that her naps would fall into place after her night time sleep was set. Our goal is a 60-90 minute morning and afternoon nap with a 30-45 minute cat-nap before dinner. Here were our nap results:

Monday: no morning nap, 35 min afternoon nap, 45 min pre-dinner nap

Tuesday: 45 min morning nap, 35 min afternoon nap, 45 min pre-dinner nap

Wednesday: no morning nap, 31 minute + 55 minute afternoon nap, 40 min pre-dinner nap
Thursday: 38 minute morning nap, 1 hour 15 minute afternoon nap, 40 minute pre-dinner nap
Friday: 45 minute morning nap, 40 minute afternoon nap, 35 minute pre-dinner nap
Saturday: 20 minute morning nap (during race) + 30 minute morning nap, 40 minute afternoon nap, 45 minute pre-dinner nap
Sunday: 40 minute morning nap, 35 minute afternoon nap, no pre-dinner nap

As you can see, our naps are not great yet. Elliot has definitely needing more attention during the day, but I'm totally ok with that. I'm fortunate enough to have a job where I can have Elliot sitting close to me or even in my lap. The extra cuddles she's needed this week are fine me be! Elliot is doing so well at night that I'm sure the nap-time stuff will work its self out. And who knows, Elliot may just be a 45 minute napping baby!

My tips, suggestions, rants, ravings, or whatever:

1) use a stopwatch or timer. its amazing how hearing your baby cry can sound like 40 minutes when its really only been 7 minutes!

2) keep a written record. it'll help you see if your baby is progressing in one area over another.

3) pick a time you can work with. we'd already let elliot cry for 5 minutes at a time, so we started on the "day 2" suggested allotments, instead of the smaller increments of time suggested in the "day 1" routine. dr ferber also suggests that you could start with smaller increments of time if you need to.

4) give it a couple of days. josh was ready to throw the towel in after the first night, but we both saw the improvements and were ready for a few more days.

5) its all like shoots and ladders. my sister lauren said that parenting is a lot like shoots and ladders, and she's right! just as soon as you think you're doing right, something else is going to fall to pieces---but its ok! we're in this thing for the long haul, so we have to remember that Elliot is going to sleep well----and as soon as she starts sleeping well regularly, she's going to have a rough night (or several rough nights!)

elliot asleep at work
without a pacifier!

elliot weekly: week 26

2011-09-30T10:30:00.000-04:00

worn out at week 26

What we've been up to this week:

Windy Gap: Last weekend we tagged along to Windy Gap with some of our high school friends. I love this weekend....because we go with my old high school group, because it kicks off fall, because the place is holy ground, because my family was there:


elliot with aunt lauren (camp doctor)

us with shannon (my young life leader from shs!)

Chupo-less: Yep, we stole Elliot's pacifier. Actually, we stole all 9 of them from her. I thought I was out of the whole "frenemy" stage of life...you know, because I'm not 12 anymore. Turns out Chupo was the biggest frenemy of all....best friend by day, torturer by night. Elliot loved her pacifier during the day but just couldn't get back to sleep in the middle of the night unless she had it. Weaning her from Chupo is a story we'll get into next week. I can just hear how excited you are!

Sleeping Beauty: Elliot is sleeping at night much better! Most of this week was focused on sleep training. It occupied most of my time, mentally energy and sanity for the past seven days. I'll give y'all more details in the Chupo post, because I'm pretty sure they're directly related.

Baggies: Elliot loves bags. Paper bags. Plastic bags. Clean bags. Dirty bags. The girl just loves her choking hazards. I can't tell if she likes the sound, texture, flavor or just freaking me out. One thing is for sure--you've got to keep an eye on this girl!

craft it: butterfly wall

2011-09-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

I've been totally inspired by my friend Maury and her entire-house transformation she's been working on. I started thinking about how Josh and I built our house nearly 6 years ago and the changes (and lack thereof!) our house has been through. We moved from our 2 bedroom loft apartment into our brand-new 4 bedroom home in the fall of 2005. Since our house was as-close-to-dream as we could afford, we didn't have the money to buy anything new and we only owned enough to furnish the downstairs! Our friends affectionately referred to this upstairs bedroom as "The Chair Room" because it held several of my friends' cast-off salvation-army-worthy arm chairs. Sadly, the room looked like that for almost a year. I was so overwhelmed with how to decorate the place and Josh and I were still tying to figure out how our styles merged.

Our real estate agent gave us an antique bed and we decided the room would officially become a bedroom. Hey, up until that point we were really sure what to do with the space--we'd toyed with the idea of craft room, game room and reading room. For the past four years the space has held a bed, bedside table, armoir and arm chair. We've switched items from various rooms over the years and the space now has a bed, bedside table, desk, arm-less chair and piano. I'm not exactly how the piano fits into the decor.....my parents bought it for me when I was a kid and I have hopes of Elliot maybe playing it one day. It was in my crafting room before, but now that's Elliot's room, so the piano moved down the hallway to this room. For now I've got to decorate around it. (Maybe we could build some snazzy sideboard type cover for it....kind of like a radiator cover?)

The big blank wall has been bugging me lately:

We also have several guitars in this room
Maybe its a music room and not a bedroom?
or maybe its a bedroom for musical guests?

I saw a friends blog about how she put 3d birds on a wall in her bathroom. I loved the idea but thought the whole put-a-bird on it craze was getting a little over done. Here's my interpretation:

butterfly die cut + old emmerson poetry = perfection
sidenote: aren't these linens so cute? i love you ikea!

i made about one zillion of these cut-outs
yep. a zillion.

I knew I wanted to put the butterflies up with painters tape, because I thought that'd be the least damaging and most temporary solution. The problem was what shape to put them in! I thought about just throwing them up on the wall, but that clearly wasn't working:

proof that not every crafting idea is a success

After several shape attempts (circle, heart, blob) I came up with the swirl idea (or maybe Chelsea came up with it?)

finished product!

I'm still not sure that I'm 100% in love with this wall, but it's definitely an improvement. And with the use of painters tape, I can change the design or take the entire thing down without having to worry about damaging the wall. Perfect for modern wall art!

I already had the Emmerson book and painters tape, so I only had to purchase the butterfly die-cut ($11 on amazon.) What inexpensive and crafty wall art have you been up to?

craft it: media wall update

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

One of the things that is the most fun, yet equally frustrating, part of decorating your home is that you're never quite done. Case and point: my media wall. I keep finding more fun items to add to the wall. I'm afraid that what started out as an attempt to decorate one blank wall may turn into the long expanse of crazy art and nick nacks. The line between unique and weird can just be so fine sometimes, can't it?

Here's the wall after the first attempt around 8 months ago:

Here's the updated wall:

Here are a few of my favorites:

elliot's newborn footprints and silhouette

e is for elliot

key to josh's old land rover

little butterflies

sweetgrass basket from charleston, sc

canvas of me and e by lindsey lee photography

giant embroidery hoop

As you can see, we're adding to the wall and trying to fill in several gaps. We've found several items we like/think are funny/remind us places we love...but we aren't quite sure where/how to hang them; hence the painters tape :)

its not me, its you

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Netflix,

Wow. Its been a while since I've had to have this kind of conversation. This may get a little awkward.

We've had a good run. It was so fun and casual in the beginning. But somewhere a long the line you started getting a little clingy. I'll admit, it was hard to notice at first...just a movie suggestion here and a tv show insinuation there. But when you started asking for more money, I knew I had to draw the line. What started out as a casual-gift-card-trial-membership had turned into a double-my-billing-for-nothing-extra monster.

If it had just been that time that you implied I'd like "The American" I may have let our growing differences slide. But then you wanted $10 more a month for no additional services. I knew then that our relationship was nearing it's final scene.

Let's not make this harder than it has to be. Its not me, its you. No, really. Its you. Its your less-than-average selection of streaming movies and your attempt to slap a 3+ year customer in the face.

I (kind of) wish you the best. May you find happiness with some ~~sucker~~ wonderful customer with ~~seriously bad~~ average taste to enjoy your ~~b grade~~ movies and shows.

blair

elliot weekly: week 25

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-04:00

large and in charge at 25 weeks

What we've been up to this week:

Fat Booth: Ok, the picture above is a ~~little~~ lot deceiving. It was made using the "Fat Booth" app. You take a regular picture on an iphone, line up the eyes and mouth and voila! You're a fatty. (side note: while you're waiting for the "fat" picture to load, it shows a picture of a dancing hamburger saying "yummy yummy", hahahahaha) Elliot was giving lots of no-lips smiles and with the drool running down her face we knew we had the perfect fat-booth opportunity.

And the little one did not roll over: Do y'all remember that song? There were 10 in the bed and the little one said "roll over, roll over!" Anyone? Bueller? Well, Elliot is not really all that interested in rolling over. She does great with her tummy time, even doing these funny little baby push ups. But put that girl on her back and she's happy to just grab her feet (and put them in her mouth of course) and coo and goo away. I've heard that if a baby crawls longer its directly correlated to the child being more athletic. So, maybe if it takes her a while to roll over, she'll be extra athletic?

Happy Baby: Elliot is happy to meet anyone. As soon as someone else is holder her, she turns on the charm; reaching for their face and smiling (with at least two chins.) Its probably all the local election campaigns getting to me, but I swear she thinks she's running for office with the way she's trying to woo everyone. It doesn't matter if its me, Josh or a person she's never met before--the girl just turns on the charm. It makes me really excited because with Young Life we're always traveling and around tons of people. We hoped that Elliot would be a good travel and social baby. She's excelling in both departments so far! I know there may be a time, when she's older, that she gets a bit more shy---but we're just soaking up our happy-baby time for now!

update and video

2011-09-22T17:44:00.001-04:00

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Most of the time it makes my life easier. And most of the time I feel like a moron trying to figure it out.

Case and point: digital pictures. Love them. Love taking them. Love sharing them. Getting them on to the computer? Most of the time its a cinch. Know when it wasn't a cinch? Last week....when I lost 246 pictures. Who's a Mac moron? This girl!

Yep, I lost 246 pictures when trying to upload them to iphoto. Yes, a program so easy that my 5 month old baby could probably figure it out.

The sad part (other than feeling like a total loser) is that I lost the "before" pictures of several craft projects. Total bummer. I'm prepping the "after" shots to share with y'all, but something tells me they're going to lose that amazement/pop/sizzle/sparkle factor without the "before" shot to compare.

Sad.

Here's a video of us waking Elliot up. Yep. I'm that mom that recorded waking up my kid. I don't know why I felt compared to tape it---or share it. Maybe I'm over-sharing in the parenting department because I'm under-sharing in the craft department??

Anyways, here's our babe:

who's at the door?

2011-09-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

I've been at work for the past hour. Things were going well and I was cramming in as much paperwork and phone calls as I could (while Elliot was asleep) when I got interrupted by a knock at the door.

It was actually more like a light tap on the door and I was thankful that whoever it was at the door was being kind to not wake my baby girl. I went to all three doors of my office, but couldn't find anyone there.

Then a few minutes later I heard the light tap again. I thought maybe some of my young life girls were playing a trick on me----like ding-dong-dash but more like lightly-tap-and-hide or something.

Then I found the culprits:

Turns out that the chickens just wanted to see if Elliot wanted to come out and play. Who knew chickens knew how to "knock" on doors? I guess you really do learn something new every day.

elliot weekly: week 24

2011-09-16T19:21:00.002-04:00

happy at week 24

What we've been up to this week:

Jumping Bean: Elliot has been really jumping a lot in the exersaucer at work. Its a hand me down, so I'm sure the bunjee cords are a little work out. Regardless, we had to raise her up to leverl 2. She was just jumping so much on level one that I thought she might jump out of the exersaucer.

Grabby Grabby: Elliot is getting better and better at grabbing and reaching for what she wants. Unfortunately, she's gotten equally good at tossing what she wants...which usually means I'm picking things up from the ground (or across the room--girl has got an arm!) all day long. I don't think she's really doing the whole hey-i've-got-you-wrapped-around-my-finger-i-can-make-you-pick-things-up-when-i-drop-them-because-you're-my-servant, but I don't think we're very far off from that either!

Good Night's Sleep: Elliot has been sleeping better at night this week! We've had several nights where she has slept until 6am(ish). Its still a bit early for this mama, but we'll take it for now!

Here are a few outtakes from our photo shoot this morning:

young house love, i heart you too

2011-09-14T13:09:00.000-04:00

I love reading Young House Love's blog. It makes me laugh, envy their style and gives me tons of decorating goals. They sometimes post several times a day, which makes me a very happy reader! With every post I'm one step closer to putting our house on the market and buying a fixer-upper to remodel and re-decorate from floor to ceiling. After floating back to realty, I remember that I should at least try a project or two before things get out of hand. And out of hand they would get. Trust me. Remember that time I had a baby? I can hardly get anything done outside of work and baby-wrangling. All my projects lately have lasted under 30 minutes...perfectly coined "speed-crafting" by Chelsea.

Anyways.

John posted today on YHL about a brass chandelier that they refinished for their office. Its fun and whimsical and i LOVE IT. He asked for comments about any chandelier projects we'd attempted, so I just had to share about Elliot's chandelier.

And Sherry commented back almost immediately:

They like me! See how much? ALL CAPS. That is a loooot in the blogging world peoples. Seriously. I feel so validated. I am one ~~dorky~~ happy mama.

Almost makes me want to craft again. Anyone have any 45 minute ideas?

buy it, you'll like it

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

Buy it, you'll like it....well, if you're a girl. Well, these days I guess I should say buy it, you'll like it...if you're into makeup. I've seen plenty of boys lately trying to pull off at little matte foundation and/or eyeliner (hello jay manuel). But that is so another entry for another time.

So, for all of you beauty-minded individuals out there: take note!


mary kay cream blush in cranberry $13

I always swore I'd never want to get into the whole "mary kay" deal. I didn't want to go to parties and feel pressured into buying stuff, I didn't want the awkward conversations that I just knew would happen and I certainly didn't want to part with any of my hard earn moolah for products that I thought were sub-par.

Hello. My name is Blair. I will be eating crow from now on. Please pass the mustard.

Yep. I'm a convert. Well, a convert as far as face wash, moisturizer, mineral powder, mascara, eye-liner, eye shadow and cream blush are concerned. (And, in case you're keeping track, that includes every item that I've tried.)

I am in LOVE with their new cream blush. The pigment is great, its build-able (meaning: you can wear just a bit or layer it on for a sultry pop), it glides on super smooth and lasts all day! I wear such minimal make-up during this time of year (hello 97 degrees and 80% humidity, I kind of hate you) and this cream blush is just perfect. I've worn Bobbi Brown blush and Benetint, and may always keep them in the rotation, but this little baby is my new favorite.

And for those of you out there in need of ordering some of this blush perfection, let me introduce you to my friend Allison:

ok, so this is us at the virginia beach half marathon that we ran last year...

here's a better picture of allison:

Allison and I have been friends for years and she may be the least pushy saleswoman I've ever known. She has been wearing Mary Kay for a while and I found myself asking her about where she got her eye-liner from: MaryKay. And what about that new eye shadow? MaryKay. I invited Allison to come over to my house and I got to play dress-up with all her make-up. It was sooo fun. Now I look forward to the new looks each season--can't wait to call her up and try out the products for myself.

You can (and should!) email allison at allison.cook@marykay.com to order your own cranberry cream blush. You won't be disappointed!! (you may also want to order the amethyst eye liner, honey spice eye shadow and waterproof mascara---the whole look is gorgeous!)

brittany got married

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday our little family joined up with the rest of the Jones family for a big ole party. Josh's baby cousin Brittany got married. It was so sweet to see two people so much in love with each other, so thankful for the Lord and so grateful for their families; we were so very blessed to witness such a ceremony!

Here are a few of my favorite moments from the wedding:

what a view!

bride's side

groom's side

beautiful flowers!

super fun guest book

elliot and yaya

my mom's baby dress!

keeping baby entertained

coolest entrance ever

looooove the dress

does it get any prettier thank this?!

seven years and going strong

and baby makes three

awkward family photo ;)

elliot weekly: week 23

2011-09-09T14:57:00.000-04:00

looking large at 23 weeks!

what we've been up to this week

Beach Time: We spent is past weekend at our favorite beach: Sullivan's Island. Its just north of Charleston, SC and is the perfect family beach spot. We love it there. It was Elliot's second trip to the beach (the first was when I was on my last week of maternity leave.) I figured that she'd like the sand and water more this time because she's gotten into grabbing things more and splashing during her baths. She smiled when the breeze blew across her face and she patted the water when we were sitting in a shallow portion. I hope that we get to visit the beach more as she grows up. We always went every summer when I was growing up and I have such fond memories!

Laughing: We've had a few laughing spells with Elliot, but she is becoming a regular giggler. She's always been a big smiley baby, but lately we've gotten more and more laughs out of her. They are just about the cutest thing (I think only a pink baby unicorn could be cuter). I've been trying to get her on camera, but I get so wrapped up in her sweet giggles that I forget to run and find the camera. Josh and I were laughing with her as we were putting her down for her 5pm catnap yesterday and managed to get a few giggles on camera:

Friends: Ryan Clark, one of our best friends, was in town for a quick flyfishing trip with Josh. Ok, so he was actually in town to visit his family, but we managed to snag some time with him. We all ate dinner together last night and he's flyfishing with Josh today. He's having a third baby soon--he's such a natural with the babes:

i promise elliot loved it

Hugs: Elliot has been giving some really good snuggles lately. She'll put her head on your shoulder and even wrap her arms around your neck a little bit. When she does it to me she gets a bit tempted to pull out my hair or at least give my ponytail a good yank--the girl is strong, let me tell you! Here's the hug in action:

Reach For It: Elliot has been reaching for me and Josh, and it is SO cute. It melts my heart every time. I'll be holding Elliot and when Josh walks up to us, she reaches her arms out to him and leans toward him. It is SO SWEET! I'll have to try and get it on film soon.

Sleep, Sweet Sleep: I've been trying to recreate the "windy gap amazing sleep environment" at home. Since it was basically just a pack-n-play in a closet, I haven't had to be that creative! I crank the AC down to 72 degrees (hey, that's cranked down for us--y'all know I'm a penny pincher!), we took the night-light out of her room (it was really just for us to see her anyways) and we traded her super-soft-potterybarn sheet out for a super-thin-target sheet. Its been great! She has slept the past three nights until 6:30ish am! Hallelujah! Josh is enjoying the cooler night-time temperatures, Elliot is sleeping better and I'm one happy momma---sounds like a good recipe we've got going...I just pray Elliot stay on board :)

It just seems like Elliot is growing by leaps and bounds--I'm trying so hard to soak up every minute with her. I am SO glad that I get to have her at work with me and I that I'm available for so many milestones. I love that I get to see her face so much during the day!

beach time!

2011-09-07T17:29:00.002-04:00

Josh and I spent this past long weekend with Elliot down at Sullivan's Island, SC. It is probably our favorite place to vacation together. Josh and I are pretty different, so when we find something that we both love we don't really deviate that often (remind me to tell you about the pub where we've gone for our anniversary and valentine's day!)
So, we love Sullivan's Island...we love it so much that the name "Sullivan" was actually on our list of potential baby names. But then we found out that the name "Sullivan" is actually pretty popular; seems that a lot of folks named their kids after that pilot that landed that plane in the Hudson River? Anyways, I digress.
Our next few weeks are going to be pretty busy, so we relished the few days that we had to relax together and play. Here are some pictures from our long weekend:

did someone say beach baby??

this baby loves some beach time!

Josh getting ready to attack the red fish on the marsh

happy baby!

a family that runs together, stays together...unless one person is a faster runner

vacation=yummy food!!

happy baby...even when stuck in labor day weekend traffic!

Our vacation is over and now its back to real life; guess its a pretty good thing that we love our "real" life too. We are a blessed, blessed family.

elliot weekly: week 22

2011-09-02T08:00:00.000-04:00


all smiles at week 22

What we've been up to this week

Young Life's Windy Gap: Elliot took her very first trip to Young Life camp this week. We stayed at Windy Gap for Josh's Young Life conference Sunday-Tuesday. It was so good to spend some time with the other staff (and staff families!) at one of our favorite places. I was so happy to take Elliot to Windy Gap and tell her about how kids will come with their YL leaders to share in an amazing time and hear the Good News of Jesus. I cannot believe that our leaders will be there with our high school friends in three short weeks!

Teeth: Ok, I know its supposed to be too early to Elliot to be teething....but I swear she is. The girl is drooling all.over.the.place. and putting every.single.thing. in her mouth. She really gnaws on the side of her chupo more than she sucks on it. The fussy and irritability factor has definitely been up as well!

Sleep, such sweet Sleep: Elliot got three nights in a row of sleeping until 6+am! Unfortunately, it was all at Windy Gap and not in her nursery here at her own house. We've been trying to recreate the environment here in her room. At Windy Gap she was in her pack-n-play (what she naps in at work) and was in a huge walk-in closet in our room. We've put a plain sheet in her crib (took out the super soft and fuzzy sheet), took out the night-light (that closet was DARK) and put diffusers over the ceiling vents (certainly weren't any vents in that closet!) I'm about this.close to putting her in a pack-n-play in our walk-in closet at home and seeing how she does ;)


we've been traveling a lot and elliot does great in the carseat

Fight for Amy

2011-09-01T10:28:00.004-04:00

Ok folks....I'm halfway to my fundraising goal for the October 1st kick-cancer's-ass-in-honor-of-my-friend-amy 5k.

You have 30 days to help me raise the remaining $75. Come on folks---can you think of anything better to spend your money on than helping this sweet family??

You can go here and donate. So far only my daughter and mom have donated. This is embarrassing friends...Elliot is only 5 months old and she's giving $25! Help a sister out!

I'd really love to have you on my team. You should come with me and Elliot and Josh as we lace up our running shoes and get our game faces on. Sign up for the 5k here and donate to our team here. Seriously....what do you really have better to do on Oct 1????

fun with friends!

2011-08-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

Elliot has had lots of visits with friends over the past week. Here are a few of her favorite girls:

Amy and Kay--two parts of the BFC. They gave Elliot some good advice on debutantes, jean diapers (jiapers) and turkey.

Can you tell how excited Elliot is to hang out with cousin Anna Nichole? She was loving their "matching" outfits ;)

Ahhhh, sister time. Love this picture of Elliot and our "fake" daughter Rachel. Can't believe Rachel is a Mrs now!

Elliot had a styling session with resident fashionista Chelsea. They talked mixing patterns, textures and hair accessories (we're still waiting on that last one, hahahaha.

warrior dash 2011

2011-08-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday I participated in the Warrior Dash in Huntersville, NC. It was the first time that the race came to the Carolinas and the crowds were seriously ridiculous. I found out about the race via a sidebar advertisement on Facebook so I had no idea of he legitimacy (or lack thereof) for the race series. Well friends....the Warrior Dash race series is legitimate. Its also crazy. And difficult. And full of insane and hilarious and hungover (and some insanely hilarious hungover) runners. I don't think I'll forget this race experience any time soon.

I've been running for the past three years and participated in a number of 5ks, 10ks and even several half-marathons. It was around this time last year when I found out that I was pregnant with our daughter. I was deep into training for my first marathon when I the pregnancy test came back positive. I was so very excited to be pregnant, but a little sad to be shelving my marathon dreams. I was really active during my pregnancy, even running two half marathons (albeit much slower!) I even managed a slow jog the week Elliot was born (come to think of it, we're pretty sure that was part of what brought her 10 days early!)

I've been anticipated my running come-back for several months. I searched for a race that I could get excited about, but not stress about. I had no idea what to expect from my post-pregnancy body and didn't know when I'd be back to good racing form. I needed a race to inspire me. And then I found it: the Warrior Dash.

I've already blogged about the race series, so I'll just post a few pictures from this past weekend to share the fun with you. It was pretty good trail 5k with some seriously fun (and tough!) obstacles. The race was certainly not for the faint of heart and I'm still nursing a few bumps, bruises, cuts and sore muscles!

elliot was so excited about the race. she was a great cheerleder!

cargo net climb, jungle gym, fire jump

mud pit and barbed wire

there was a costume contest so i wore this old bridesmaids dress. fingers crossed for the win!

elliot doing "blue steel" with the warrior hat

cutest little warrior

pre-race family photo op

the bubble gum pink dress made me pretty easy to spot!

the photo doesn't quite capture the form or beauty of my fire jumping prowess

I had an amazing jump into the mud, but alas, we missed getting it on camera

so graceful!

post-race curtsy. the dress demanded it.

seriously? this tiny towel to clean off? i mean, that's pretty cheap warrior dash!

time chip=free beer. i traded mine in for bottled water. may have considered a beer if hadn't have been bud light.

hard-earned finisher's medal

cook it: white chocolate raspberry cheesecake

2011-08-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

Monday is a night for girlfriends. My girlfriend Allison comes over after work and we giggle, gossip and watch Bachelor Pad. It is good for me to start my week with her!

So, in honor of good girl friends, I'm posting a winner of a recipe. Bake this cheesecake, invite over your closest girls and turn on some seriously-so-bad-its-so-good reality tv.

*note, I made this with raspberry preserves because its Josh's favorite. I think this recipe would be great with any preserve though. My mother-in-law gave me some homemade blackberry preserves---can't wait to try those out!


be still my heart.

Crust

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs or 20 crumbled Oreo cookies (filling removed)
1/3 cup margarine, melted

Filling

1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/4 cup water
4 8-ounce pkgs. cream cheese
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Optional Garnish

2 ounces shaved white chocolate
whipped cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a large pan or oven-safe skillet filled with about 1/2-inch of water into the oven while it preheats. This will be your water bath.

2. Combine the raspberry preserves with 1/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 1/2 minutes on high in your microwave. Stir until smooth. Strain to remove the raspberry seeds (toss 'em out), then let the strained preserves sit to cool, then put the bowl in the refrigerator until later.

3. Measure 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (or crush 20 Oreo cookie wafers -- with the filling scraped out -- in a resealable plastic bag) into a medium bowl. Mix in 1/3 cup melted margarine. Press the crumb into a 9-inch spring form pan that has been lined on the bottom and side with parchment paper. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the crumb mixture flat into the bottom of the pan and about 2/3 the way up the side. Wrap a large piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to keep the cheesecake in the water bath. Put the crust in your freezer until the filling is done.

4. Use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese with the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix for a couple minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add them to the cream cheese mixture. Blend the mixture just enough to integrate the eggs.

5. Remove the crust from the freezer and sprinkle 4 ounces of white chocolate chunks onto the bottom of the crust. Pour half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Drizzle the raspberry preserves over the entire surface of the filling. Use a butter knife to swirl the raspberry into the cream cheese. Just a couple passes is fine, you don't want to blend the raspberry and cream cheese together too much. Pour the other half of the filling into the crust.

6. Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool. When the cheesecake is cool, use the foil from the bottom to cover the cheesecake and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

7. Before serving, sprinkle the entire top surface of cheesecake with 2 ounces of shaved white chocolate. To serve, slice the cheesecake into 12 equal portions. Apply a pile of canned whipped cream to the top of each slice and serve.

elliot weekly: week 21

2011-08-26T13:18:00.001-04:00

happy at 21 weeks!

What we've been up to this week:

Mouthful: Elliot has been putting her toes in her mouth. It is really cute until she chokes herself. Yep, she's been trying to get her whole foot in her mouth and choking on her big toe in the process. Its one part cute, one part alarming.

Missing Bottom Lip: Elliot has really gotten into sucking her bottom lip. She hums and makes all kinds of noises while sucking her bottom lip up and under her top lip. It makes for a very funny, and very drooly, baby face.

Rocking and Rolling: Elliot is going craaaazy in her exersaucer. My boss is letting us use his grandson's exersaucer while we're at work. Its very similar to the one we have at home. Its like a combination of a johnny jump-up and a traditional exersaucer. Here she is going at it:

Party Like its 4am: Yep, she's still waking up. All.the.time. Josh and I are doing everything we can think of. We're feeding her a big bottle at 10pm (or 10:30pm) and she wakes up at 4am. As soon as she gets her chupa in, she immediately calms down and falls back to sleep....only to wake up and repeat the process at 5am, 6am and 7am (if not more frequently!) She's still nursing and doing great. Our pediatrician isn't in a hurry to move her to solids, and neither am I. She's great at 50th% for weight, so I know she's getting enough food. I wonder if there is just something weird going on in our house during the night that we don't know about? Maybe the air conditioning hits her crib? Any suggestions??

cook it: power balls

2011-08-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

picture stolen from the internet
ooops ;)

Power Balls:

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 cup Honey

1 cup Dark Chocolate bits

1 cup Oats

1/2 cup Dried Cranberries (you can use raisins, but yuck, why would you?!)

2 cups Pretzels (crushed)

Directions:

1: mix honey and peanut butter together until smooth

2: add in dark chocolate, oats and cranberries

3: roll into small balls, rounded tablespoon is plenty big. trust me, these are filling!

4: roll power ball into crushed pretzels

5: store in air-tight container in fridge or freezer

makes about three dozen, which is plenty to share!

elliot weekly: week 20

2011-08-19T08:00:00.000-04:00


such a happy baby!

What we've been up to this week:

4 month check up: The big news this week was Elliot's four month check up. She'll be 5 months old in about 10 days, so its weird to have just had her 4 month appointment. I still haven't figured out how they calculate ages for appointments at the children's clinic here! The good news is that our little babe is really healthy. Her measurements and skills are measuring normal, even though I swear she's above average ;) The only thing Dr. Mark said she needed to work on was her hair. Well, if she takes after me she won't get much until around her 2nd birthday! Oh how we love our little follicularly challenged baby girl hahahahaha.

All giggles: Elliot has had several more laughs and I still haven't been able to capture any on camera! Josh and I are usually dancing around (or high-fiving) and trying to get her to repeat her performance. She just looks at us like we're morons (which we most certainly look like at the moment!)

Grabby Grabby: Elliot has been grabbing lots lately. She'll reach for a pacifier, a toy or your hair (she's slowly ripping out all the little hairs behind my ears--ouch!) Case and point:

this photo shoot is over!

Why the face: Elliot is making some funny faces. I like to give her a voice (and words!) to her faces. She looks so hilarious when she raises an eyebrow or furrows her forehead. She only holds the face for a second or two, because as soon as I see it I bust out laughing and then she does her pull-back-her-head-and-give-a-triple-chin smile. Every once and a while I can get a picture of one....


i am NOT liking this outfit

Because everyone needs just one for picture of E:

happy weekend y'all!

lookin' good baby

2011-08-17T10:20:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been MIA. I've been recuperating with the cutest patient ever:

happy as a clam.
not sure what clams have to be so happy about
but she's just as happy as one!

Elliot had her 4 month check up on Monday and baby girl is looking good! She weighed in at 13 pounds 3 ounces and is 25 inches long, which puts her at 75% for height and 50% for weight. Its the exact same percentages as her last check-up!

She had more immunizations this time and she handled them better than before. We gave her some Tylenol before her appointment (as advised by her physician) since she was so very fussy after her first set of shots. Her first immunization was oral. The nurse wasn't quite sure how Elliot would handle it, so she only gave her a little taste. Elliot reacted by grabbing the nurses hands and trying to sit up in an attempt to get more of the liquid from the dropper. The nurse laughed as Elliot sucked on the dropper so hard that she had to pry it out of Elliot's hands! The shots were not as friendly.....Elliot looked at us as she cried as if to say "WHAT THE HECK?!?!" I shoved her chupa in her mouth and she was immediately calmed....still teary-eyed, but calm.

I made sure to give Elliot another dose of Tylenol when she went to bed and she slept so much better than the last round of shots. Elliot was 90% her sun-shiny self on Tuesday at work. It went a little/a lot downhill starting at 7:30pm. She was fussy and hard to settle down for sleep (which she hasn't been at bedtime in a while) and then she woke up at 12:30am, 2:30am and then every 30 minutes after that. The nighttime report is courtesy of Josh since he was the one with her all night. After a full day of work, hard bike ride and full night with his Young Life kids, he did night-time duty with Elliot. I could not ask for a better partner is this!

So, if you see Josh around town give him a hug and a pat on the back---the man is amazing!

elliot weekly: 19 weeks

2011-08-12T08:00:00.005-04:00

19 weeks

Roll On Over: Elliot rolled over for the first time this week! Well, she rolled over from her back to her stomach. So, I guess she technically rolled half-way over. She did it twice on Wednesday afternoon. I wish that I could have captured it on camera, but I was too giddy to think of it at the time. Yep, the transformation to dorky-mom has commenced!

Sleeveless in Sleep: Elliot is no longer in the swaddle for sleep. She's "free" as Josh liked to think of it (he never loved the idea of her all strapped in like that.) We've got her in a sleeveless sleep sack. The transition has been much easier than we thought. We were running on over two weeks of Elliot waking up all night and breaking out of her swaddle. Last Saturday, during the middle of the night and at our wits end, we tried out the sleep sack. I had no idea that we were supposed to slowly transition her out of the swaddle (one arm, then both arms, then fully un-swaddled). Bottom line---she's been napping just as good as with the swaddle and sleeping just as poorly at night ;)

Grab the Chupa: Josh and I aren't huge fans of the word "paci." My boss is from Colombia and his family uses the word chupete or chupa. We've been trying to teach Elliot how to grab the chupa and put it in her mouth by herself (mostly in the hopes that she'll be able to put it in during the middle of the night and not wake us up, hahahaha!) Josh and I were up at the neighborhood pool on Wednesday afternoon and Elliot just took the chupa out of my hand and put it in her mouth. She can regularly put it in her mouth by herself if you hand it to her facing the right direction----and most of the time she can keep it in her mouth without knocking it out with her hands :)

Sleep, or rather the lack thereof: Yep, Elliot is still not sleeping through the night. She'll wake up several times during the night. She's pretty quick to settle down and get back to sleep, but still.....Josh and I are ready to get some consistent sleep. Speaking of, Josh has been a lifesaver. We've been trading off night duty; he'll have two nights on to take care of Elliot while I sleep and then the next two nights we switch off. I don't think I could have asked for a more supportive husband!

cook it: not your kid's chocolate chip cookies

2011-08-11T09:25:00.000-04:00

I was stalking, I mean lurking, I mean oh-so-casually browsing Facebook when I saw that my friend Jordan was suggesting to my friend Hef that they make Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies. Since Josh is our resident cookie monster, I figured I try out the recipe.

Wow, the cookies are simply delish. I think the bittersweet chocolate and light sprinkling of sea salt on top make this a cookie that any true dessert connoisseur (uhm, or any girl with a craving) would enjoy. So get your workout clothes on friends...you're going to need to burn a few calories so you can enjoy these delectables. Or you can just enjoy an elastic waistband to eat a dozen or two---trust me, you're going to want to!

Recipe:

2 cups minus 2tbl cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbl granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate (min of 60% cacao)

sea salt

1) sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into bowl. set aside

2) cream butter and sugers together until creamy (about 5 minutes)

3) add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition

4) add vanilla

5) slowly add in dry ingredients. mix until just combined.

6) stir in chocolate chips/pieces

-------now the hard part-------

7)cover the dough with saran wrap (not just the lid, but pressing saran wrap over top of dough)

8) refridgerate dough for 24-72 hours. the longer you wait the more the flavors increase. promise its worth the wait!

-------bring dough back to room temperature------

9)bake rounded tablespoons of dough at 350degrees for 10-12 minutes (don't worry about pressing the rounded balls down, they'll make perfect shapes without you having to do that!)

In true cheapo fashion, I used the ingredients we had on hand. Meaning, I used a mix of 60% and 100% cacao (I had to chop the 100% by hand) and only used swan's cake flour because I didn't have any bread flour. I did make sure to have the eggs and butter at room temperature, a trick I learned from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. This was my first time using the cake flour. I had no idea that it was so much finer than traditional all-purpose flour---it certainly made a difference in the cookies. Josh didn't love the 100% cacao chips....I think it was because I had a hard time getting the chunks to be small without just ending up with shavings. Next go round I think I'll just use the 60% cacao morsels in the bag.

oh-so-yummy

craft it: upcycled art

2011-08-10T08:00:00.002-04:00

Josh helped me with this fabulous free upcycled art project. This project was inspired by my friend (and college roommate, go tigers!) Maury. You should totally check out her blog, its all about the fantastic projects she and her husband are doing to transform their new house. She's got tons of great ideas!

Maury had this project recently about using toilet paper and paper towel rolls to create fun free art. She said she got the idea from pinterest. So here's our version of her project. Straight from someone else, to pinterest, to Maury, to me to you

It didn't take too long to collect the paper towel and toilet paper tubes. Apparently we go through a lot of tp and pt at our house. Hmmmm, might have to look into that. Anyways, all you need after that is some hot glue (my current crafting obsession), spray paint and small finished nails for hanging.

Here was the wall I chose. You can see this wall (in our bathroom) from our bedroom. It hasn't every really seemed too bland to me before. I thought this wall would be a good place to test out the art. If we didn't like it, then no one else had to see how bad it turned out. And if it turned out great....then we'd just make another one for somewhere else in the house!

I don't have any "during" pictures of this project. Just too much playing with Elliot I guess! I 100% copied this design that was on Maury's blog.

I cut the pieces and glued them together. Josh and I agreed on using silver spray paint because a) we already had it at the house and b) we thought it would give it a iron-filigree kind of look. Josh did the spray painting (and came up with this ingenius way to get even coats!)

and where was the babe while we were doing all this crafting?
why right here of course!
(side note: elliot does have hair. it is just really blonde on top!)

Here's Josh in the tub. Hahaha, had to write that :) We used the very precise technique of eh-i-think-this-looks-ok-here-so-we'll-just-throw-a-few-nails-up-here-and-hope-for-the-best to hang up our new art:

here's an up close and personal shot:

15 toilet paper tubes: free!
shiny silver spray paint: free!
finishing nails: free!
hot glue: free!
grand total: free!
now that's the kind of math this mama likes

craft it: fabric flowers

2011-08-09T08:00:00.004-04:00

Josh and I stayed at home this past weekend. It was nice to have a weekend together where we weren't driving all over creation. Don't get me wrong---I have a lot of fun on our weekend adventures, but sometimes just staying home is nice.

You know what else is nice? When your husband takes care of the baby so you can craft! He sure does know the way to my heart.

I'm kind of obsessed with these super easy no-sew fabric flowers. I even included a template...hope it works!

You will need:
scrap fabric (i had tons left over from different projects)
glue gun
glue sticks
felt (or other scrap fabric)
scissors

Step 1: fold your selected fabric into a nice stack and trace your desired flower pattern

Step 2: trim your pattern. layers=petals...so the more layers you use the more petals you'll have. and the more petals you have will give you a more full flower

Step 3: fold your petal in half...then in half again. put a small spot of glue on the corner and adhere to small felt square
Step 4: repeat with three more petals to complete the bottom layer

Step 5: make another layer of 4 petals...be sure to place new petals on top of exposed seams...you want to be sure to cover up the felt backing! you can add more layers if you like. remember, the more layers the more the flower will look! you can also try adding smaller petals too...just reduce the template when you print it out.

Step 6: roll up center piece and glue in the middle

Step 7: put small drops of glue on base of surrounding petals. then, press the petals to the center piece. this will help it look more realistic...well, as realistic as a fabric flower could be!

Step 8: now fluff the flower. you're done!

I made nearly a zillion of these this past weekend. They got hot-glued to anything that would sit still. I put them on magnets, picture frames and pillows. See, check it out:

This previously crafted pillow was looking sloppy.

What it needed was some more flowers. See:

i think the trick was using several different types of flowers.

I put it in the guest room. See how much happier the bed looks?!

So what are you waiting for?!

Get fabric flower crazy!!

breaking free!

2011-08-08T14:58:00.007-04:00

Elliot has been a bit...difficult. Well, difficult as far as sleep goes. Here's an update:

Week 1-12: aka typical newborn sleeping and eating
8/9pm bed
11pm feed
3am feed
7am feed

Week 13: aka (mean) little sneak peak at dream sleep for parents
8pm bed
10:30pm feed
7am wake

Week 14-16: aka up all night to party!
8pm bed
10:30pm feed
3am wake
4am wake
5am wake
6am wake
7am feed

Week 17: aka sneak in a few days of sleep just to keep us on our toes
7:30pm bed
10:30pm feed
6am wake
7am feed

Week 18: aka yep, back to the all night routine!
7:30pm bed
10:30pm feed
2am wake
3am wake
4am wake
5am wake
6am wake
7am feed

Last night: aka sleep, blessed sleep!
7:30pm bed
10:30pm feed
6:30am wake

Like I posted last week, we're on a bit of a spiral with Elliot; two steps forward and then one step back. I am so thankful for all your prayers and advice. I am convinced it was the Lord that let us get some sleep last night!

Last week, Elliot was getting so upset in the wee-morning hours that she'd break out of her swaddle. Josh kept suggesting that it was time to wean her off the swaddle, but I wasn't convinced. She was napping so well in her swaddle and I'd heard horror stories about weaning off the swaddle. But in the wee hours of Saturday morning, I caved. Completely sleep deprived and not sure what to do with my fussy four month old I unwrapped her swaddle and zipped her into a sleep sack.

The result? She slept just as horribly as she did in the swaddle. She hit herself in the face repeatedly and woke up shocked, as if someone else was doing the face-smacking to her. But patience/Josh prevailed. We used the sleep sack for her naps and bedtime sleep for Saturday and Sunday.

I was praying so fervently that Elliot would sleep through the night last night. I woke up at 5am this morning and couldn't believe it! Elliot was still asleep! I wanted to leap out of bed and shout hallelujahs--but I didn't, because Josh was sound asleep next to me. So I sat there grinning from ear to ear. I hope this is the start of a good transition into really sleeping through the night.

So far Elliot has done great with her naps at work in the sleep sack. Here's a picture of her asleep at work. I love how she has Leo the Lion (blanket from Lauren) and Smokey the Bear (pacifier+animal) tucked in right beside her.

Thank you for your continued prayers for this baby girl and her sleepy parents!!

elliot weekly: week 18

2011-08-05T08:00:00.006-04:00

18 weeks and trying to push con queso out of the picture
already wants the spotlight for herself!

What we've been up to this week:

Braves Game! We met up with my sister Lauren and her husband Jon in Atlanta for a Braves baseball game. It was so fun to meet up with them and share Elliot's first game with them! We met up at Flying Biscuit for lunch and then headed over to the game. Lauren has a bunch of pictures on her camera, but I've only got this one of E (while we were waiting outside for our table):

Something to Chew on: Elliot has been putting everything into her mouth lately. She's usually content with her hands, but she's been pretty keen on Sophie too. Sophie is her new giraffe.

She sounds and looks like a dog chew toy. But hey, our little girl loves her!

Fort Time: Elliot built her first fort this week. Somehow I thought she'd build it with Amy, Kate or Kay. But she said she was ready:

Sleep...or rather, No Sleep: Well, it seems like we need more prayers for sleep around here! Elliot had a 12 day streak of sleeping from 8pm-6:30am (with a dream feed at 10:30pm.) Elliot has now been on a 10 day streak of sleeping from 7:30pm-3:30am and then waking every 30-45 minutes until 6:30am. It is making for a very tired set of parents! Elliot doesn't seem to be minding all that much. She'll cry, I (or Josh) walk in and give her a pacifier and she back to sleep immediately. She'll sleep for about 30-45 minutes (maybe an hour!) and then the process repeats itself. I've heard that babies have a "progress spiral" when developing. In that, they take two steps forward, and then one step back. I knew it was too good to think that E was just going to sleep through the night for good....but, man--I'm ready for a break! This is what we've been feeling around our house:

like father like daughter

2011-08-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

Elliot has been a foot-grabbing champ lately. It seems like nearly every time she's on her back she's trying to grab her toes. Here's how I caught her on the sofa the other yesterday:

I was wondering how she just all-of-a-sudden got to be so stinking good at grabbing her feet. It just seemed like one day she was trying to reach for them...and then the next day she was grabbing them with a firm grasp. Then I walked in on this:

i'm so glad he's teaching her all the important life skills
next thing he'll probably teach her is the proper way to dunk a chocolate chip cookie
or who makes the best sausage biscuits
yes sir. we're imparting all the necessary life lessons here!

typical morning

2011-08-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Eeeek, I didn't get to Elliot's weekly post last friday. My bad! I'll get it ASAP.

Until then, I thought I'd share my morning routine at work. I am so very blessed to be able to take my sweet baby girl to work with me. My boss is beyond amazing to let me have her with me. It sure doesn't hurt that she's so dang cute!

So, I walk in the door to work and put Elliot down for her morning nap in the conference room:

Then, I go outside and water the garden. Yep, we have a garden at work. We're currently growing tomatoes, basil, green beans, bell peppers, squash and zucchini. We had lettuce early in the season.

Then, I go and feed the chickens. Yep. You read that correctly. I go and feed our sx chickens.

Apparently, instead of working for a new home subcontractor I now work at a small farm. It certainly is interesting work around here!

cook it: blackening spice rub and catfish

2011-07-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

When Josh and I ate at Tupelo Honey for his Father's Day brunch, we picked up a copy of their cook book. We've been slowly working our way through a few recipes. Last week I put together their Blackening Spice, but I couldn't figure out what to try it on. I'm still rocking the whole vegan thing, so I didn't really know what kind of meat to blacken for Josh. Tupelo Honey recommends catfish. Sounded totally gross to me, but Josh was up for the adventure!

Here's the recipe for the rub:

Blackening Spice
1 tbls sugar
1 tbls seat salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbls smoked paprika
1 tsp powdered onion
1 tsp powdered garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano

step 1) mix it all together
step 2) blacken something!

We (and by we, I actually mean Josh) dredged the catfish in the blackening spices. We (still just Josh) then placed the seasoned fish in a pan of lightly simmering oil. We (yep, just Josh) then fried each side for 3 minutes. Tupelo Honey suggests topping the spiced catfish with their Sunshot Salsa. Check it out:

I was having a veggie plate for dinner, so I plated up Josh's catfish with sides. He said the meal was delish. A perfect Sunday Southern meal!

tupelo honey blackened catfish with sunshot salsa
garden fresh green beans and sea-salt
garden fresh squash with olive oil, salt and pper
farmer's market silver queen corn (with butter!)
southern biscuit

cook it: doo-doo drops

2011-07-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, these cookies are actually called 'Fudge Ecstasies'. I thought using the word 'ecstasies' might be a wee-bit racy for the 'ole blog, so I asked Josh what he'd refer to these cookies as. He said "I'd call them 'doo doo drops' so that no one would want them and then I wouldn't have to share any!" So here you have it; some amazing rich chocolate cookies:

ingredients:
12 oz semisweet chocolate chip pieces
2 oz unsweet chocolate
1tbl butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped cashews, pecans or almonds* (nuts are optional, so we skipped 'em!)

directions:
1) melt half of the semi-sweet chocolate, all the butter and all the un-sweet chocolate in a saucepan

2) in another small bowl mix eggs, sugar, flour and baking soda. then add to melty chocolate mix

3) pour in remaining semi-sweet chocolate (and nuts, if you like!) then drop by rounded teaspoon onto greased cookie tray

optional step 4) top with something crazy if you're daring! i used a little sea salt on a few!

bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. cool on wire rack.

now pour yourself a big glass of milk (or coffee!) and enjoy a cookie (or a dozen!)

elliot weekly: week 16

2011-07-22T13:12:00.006-04:00

16 weeks? already?!

Playdates with Friends: We went over to our friends' house for dinner and took the babe with us. Lauren and Matt are our dear friends in Shelby and they're the parents of Elliot's bff Merrin. We had the most amazing meal and got some serious play time in (both parents and kiddos!) We even got to try and weigh Elliot on their vintage baby scale. She was wiggling around a ton---we're guessing 12.5 pounds, but who knows!

attempting to weight the babe

gotta love those matching outfits ;)

Snug as a Bug: Elliot has been sleeping much better this week! Thanks for all your prayers!! She's been sleeping from about 8pm-6:15am (still giving her a dream feed at 10:30pm.) Its made for happier parents and turns out that Elliot's even napping better. Here's the evidence from a nap at work:

Grabbing Feet: Elliot is getting better and better and grabbing her toes. Check her out:

Excited about Bouncing: Elliot has been loving her bouncy seat at work! Check her out:

and of course i had to leave you with a picture of the babe:

cook it: Nancy's Salsa

2011-07-20T08:00:00.007-04:00

didn't know what to do with our latest batch of garden goodness
until i remember nancy's salsa!

Nancy was a chef out at Young Life's Crooked Creek Ranch. She made the best salsa ever. I ate gobs and gobs of it while Josh was working out there. I managed to pry the recipe out of her. Then I had to whittle it down to a manageable size (she was making salsa for 500 a week---me, not so much!)

Be prepared to be addicted folks!

Nancy's Salsa

12 roma tomatoes
2 jalapenos
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch of green onion

1 T salt
1 T pepper
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz soy sauce
2 T sugar
1/2 oz distilled white vinegar

1) chop and mix tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro and green onion. you can also you a food processor if you'd like
2) add in all other ingredients

Now, is that a simple recipe or what?! We use this salsa with whatever kind of tomatoes we can get our hands on. Roma tomatoes seem to make the least "water-y" salsa, but free is always best in my book and so we'll use whatever is growing in our garden (currently better boy and grape tomatoes.)

This salsa is great served with chips, quesadillas, nachos and over grilled chicken (I had it back when I was a meat eater---grilled chicken topped with mexican blend cheese and salsa---remember it being totally delish.)

So mix up a batch of margaritas, or sangria or just some good 'ole lemonade. You'll need something to quench your thirst when you're chowing down on this salsa!

you did that how?

2011-07-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

On Sunday afternoon I broke my toe; my cute little left pinky toe to be exact. Its puffy and purple and not at all pretty.

while i may look in desperate need of a pedicure, this is actually pretty dang good for runner's feet!

What is more sad than a broken pinky toe? Admitting to your husband that you broke it walking down these:

Yep, that totally terrifying height is the two steps from our garage to our house. I was trying to walk down the stairs while putting on my tennis shoes. I'm not sure why I was trying to multi-task or why I was in such a rush. I was going to work in the yard and was going to put my "yard shoes" (old running shoes that I keep in the garage because they're usually so dirty) on while standing up. I was going to slide the shoe on while stepping down a step and slide the shoe the rest of the way up one I stepped down to the garage floor. This sounds so much more smooth in my head than it is coming out in blog form.

Long awkward story later, my left pink toe in broken. But don't worry, I didn't let it get in the way of Zumba last night at the gym. When a girl has got to dance, a girl has got to dance!

Elliot Weekly: Week 15

2011-07-15T08:00:00.006-04:00

looking oh so serious this morning!

What we've been up to this week:

All Nighters: Yep, Elliot has been quite the little night owl this week. She's become an absolute champ at going to bed...its the staying asleep part that has us a little overwhelmed. Elliot is now going to bed around 8pm and sleeping soundly. I sneak in her room around 10:30pm for a late night feeding by bottle, with the hopes of waking her less. As I lay her down and I pray that she'll sleep through the night. Since last Friday night she's been waking up around 2-3am. We can get her back to sleep pretty quickly and easily, but she'll inevitably be back up in 45-60 minutes. The pattern continues until 7am when we "start" our day. I will say this: Josh wins the Husband Of The Year award for taking care of Elliot during those wee hours of the morning. I did it Friday night and Saturday night and had a little bit of a meltdown Sunday afternoon about it! Josh took over this week and it has been a blessed relief for this tired mama!

Bath Time: Elliot is loving her bath time! This week we switched to using the bathtub for her baths (instead of the sink.) We have a little green frog sponge-thing that we can lay or sit her on while she gets he bath. She'll smile, coo and talk while she has her bath. She gets a bath right before dinner each night. The 5-7pm hours used to be the "witching hours" around our house. I've found that baths are the perfect distraction for her. She can be so fussy and as soon as she gets in the tub she just lights up :) Its so much less scary to hold a squirmy wet baby at this age; I remember when she was two and three weeks old and I felt like I'd drop her!

Yoga Baby: Remember back when I said that our baby girl was a little yoga baby? Well, its true! Elliot has been grabbing at her toes. She's even managed to grab both feet at the same time. I was able to grab a quick picture of her with my cell phone. Sorry for the poor quality--and I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture once is was on my mac :) Oh the joys of pc to mac conversion!

Since I'm still not working Fridays, the work week is done for me. I'm so excited to soak up some girl time with Elliot today! I really treasure our Friday time together--just me and my girl. The weekends are a great time for us to be a fun family of three and I do love those times. But there's something special and this time alone with my babe!

Save The Date--October 1st

2011-07-14T08:00:00.005-04:00

get your calendar out.

get your pen ready.

seriously.

are you ready?

ready for what??

to kick cancer's ass.

yep, i just said ass on my blog

(oops, just said it twice!)

This past year cancer got personal. In June of 2010 my friend Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She found a lump while breast feeding her four month old daughter. This past year has been filled with diagnosis, scans, genetic testing, chemotherapy, radiation, and a double masectomy. But Amy's story doesn't end there, most recently she had a "bad scan" (my words, not hers) at her oncologist's office. It might be back. Amy was literally days away from reconstructive surgery when she got the news. She had a biopsy on Tuesday and they're currently waiting for the results.

And if that wasn't enough for one woman...she recently lost her job. Amy has a tremendous support system and speaks often of her friends, church family and faith in the Lord. I cannot fathom how she does it.

Hold on tight, I'm about to get on a soapbox folks!

So, what are you doing right now? Reading blogs? Drinking some coffee? At work? Up and about being cancer free?? Well, now is your chance to get out your wallets and lace up your shoes to throw a little support Amy's way.

Elliot and I are running the Charlotte Susan G Komen 5k on October 1st. This is our second year to run with Amy's team (Team Patwa.) Last year was the most humbling experience for me, I think I cried the entire run. There were thousands of people running; survivors, supports, men with pink tutus on, babies in strollers, oh geez I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

This is where YOU come in. Give me some money. Better yet, run with me and race your own money. I'm serious. Get off your lazy butt and get out your wallet. Its time to part with some of your most cherished assests (time and money) and give it to such a worthy cause.

Here's how much you should donate:
$25: helps provide transportation for women to get to treatments and appointments
$50: educate 300 women about early detection and breast self awareness materials
$75: provide for a woman to get an annual breast exam
$100: provide for a woman to get a mammogram

And how should you donate??? Click here, its my personal fundraising page for Amy's team. I'm only trying to raise $150, but I'm going to try and do it soley through blog love. That's right readers----make a little tax-deductable donation to Team Patwa---I'll give you a shout out on my blog about your awesomeness!

You can read about Amy's diagnosis on her personal blog here, her most recent scan here and check our her caringbridge site here.

the littlest fan

2011-07-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

May I take a moment to introduce you to the littlest fan of the Tour de France:

she looks like she has ricky bobby hands here, hahaha

My friend Kay showed me several cool sites for buying TDF onesies. I'm not sure if its because I'm so dang cheap or because Elliot is growing so fast (or combination of the two) but I just wasn't willing to part with the cash even though they were so dang cute! Check them out here and here.

Plus, I wanted her to be able to wear the onesie now, while the Tour is actually going on. So, I dug through my crafting trunk and this is what I came up with! I found a hand-me-down plain onesie in Elliot's drawer. I used some of my iron-on backing and scrap fabrics (as close to Garmin-Cervelo as I could--she's a big fan of Tyler and Thor) and voila! A free and immediately usable onesie. Hooray for instant, and cheap, gratification!

Here's a close up:

putting baby to work

2011-07-12T09:00:00.012-04:00

A couple of folks have asked what Elliot does while she's with me at work. Well, she does what every three month old does: listens to NPR, talks with her friends on her cell phone, browses her favorite blogs, plays on pinterest, wastes vast amounts of time on etsy...you know, the typical stuff.

When she's not napping, Elliot loves playing here:

We're borrowing this seat from Elliot's friend Austin. He's 1 year old and too big for it now. Boy are we lucky to have it at the office! We have a similar one at home and its so nice to not have to lug it back and forth every day. She loves to shake and rock the seat. She'll coo and goo (and sometimes yell) at the animals. Here are a few photos of her:

my favorite is that last picture of elliot.
this girl has LOTS of personality

Elliot also loves to help me type emails, invoices, contracts and insurance updates. She's quite the cute assistant!

I know we are so blessed to be able to bring Elliot to work; I am so thankful to work for such a great boss!

shhhhhh elliot's sleeping!

2011-07-11T08:00:00.008-04:00

So, this is life with a baby: making a milkshake in your bathroom

yep.

that's josh.

sitting on the toilet.

making a milkshake.

Elliot has been a little sensitive (to say the least!) in her night-time sleeping. So, when baby girl is down for the night you better believe we're tip-toeing around the house. Which also means blenders must be used as far away from her room as possible....and that means they're used in our bathroom.

Wow, we're making dessert in the bathroom---is that the ultimate in parental desperation or what?!

**ps, the milkshake pictures here is peanut butter and chocolate. so delish, even if it was made in the bathroom!

elliot weekly: week 14

2011-07-08T07:00:00.009-04:00

14 weeks and looking large!

What we were up to this past week:

Lake time! We visited our friends Lauren and Matt (and baby Merrin--Elliot's bff) up at Lake Lure on Saturday. I forgot my camera and have no pictures :( I'll have to steal some of their's to share later. We also hung out with our friends LeeLee and Joe on Sunday at their house on Lake Badin. I did remember to take my camera....but had a blast on the lake and didn't really take too many pictures!

isn't he such a natural?!
leelee and joe are having their first baby this december
yay for more friends for elliot!

elliot looooved the lake.
can't you tell?!

Baby Pool Time: We had a baby pool for Elliot and thought it was about time we tested it out. Its just a $5 blow up plastic pool, but we weren't really going to invest that much since we have a pool (and baby pool) in our neighborhood. We would have just taken her up to the pool, but it doesn't have any shade. We set up Elliot's pool under our umbrella on the upper deck:

Those were our big adventures for the week (other than two up-the-back-dirty-diapers at work--------barf!) Here are a few funny faces from Elliot from this past week. Enjoy!

watching/riding/babysitting

2011-07-07T08:11:00.001-04:00

When you become a parent you enter a whole new world of multi-tasking.
-Blair Jones

Folks, you can quote me on that. I know, I know...my intellectual depth and life reflections are at times just so overwhelming. What can I say, I love Mensa.

Working out/staying fit is very important to me. Watching the Tour de France is very important to me. Watching my baby is very important to me. And I've figured out a way to do all three:

The little red thing in the back that's holding up the rear tire of my road bike, subsequently turning it into a stationery bike, is called a trainer. Truth be told, we actually bought the trainer when Josh was rehabbing his knee from his ACL surgery.

Elliot's most recent schedule has her napping from 5-6pm, which is normally when I've taken her for a run in the jogging stroller. She's starting to turn the corner with some of her sleep training (oh goodness, a post for another day!) and Josh and I are really trying to give her some good solid naptime during the day. She naps great while I'm at work, and she can cat-nap in the jogger---but its just not good sleep.

Enter: The Trainer. The Trainer gets two capital letters because he is that intense. There is no drafting and no downhills with a trainer. He's essentially the guy in the pace car telling me "no, no, no---keep up the pace, increase your cadence, you're getting dropped from the peloton!" It may be the most intense 50 minute workout I've had in a year (other than the bodypump class I went to with Sunday---crap that class was insane!)

The room I'm cycling in is our bonus room over our garage. Its just down the hall from Elliot's room, which makes it perfect for spinning-while-watching-the-tour-and-keeping-an-eye-out-for-my-baby. Ahhh, the art of the multi-tasking parent. Any of y'all out there with kids that have any multi-tasking/juggling stories to share??

*do you see that bag of trash in the hallway? just my spring-but-actually-now-summer cleaning.
*do you see that box in the hallway? it is headed toward the trashbag. it might take that box four days to get down the hall and into the trashbag. pacing, its all about pacing folks.

tour de france 2011

2011-07-05T13:43:00.002-04:00

Ahhh, its (one of) my favorite time of the year: The Tour is on! Yep, its all cycling talk around Casa de Jones these days. We'll read and watch just about anything related to the tour, and boy is there a lot!

Here's a quick breakdown of a few topics Josh and I have been discussing:

Andy Schleck:

I love some Andy Schleck! He, and his brother Frank (also cute, I mean fabulous rider), left SaxoBank to form their own new team: Leopard Trek. He previously rode for team SaxoBank; the only team Andy had even ridden professionally for. So jumping to Leopard Trek was a huge risk...but I think its going to pay off for both the Schleck brothers. Last year, among other awards, Andy won Best Young Rider and finished 2nd overall in the Tour de France. I think this could really be his year. I can't wait to see Andy on top of the podium in Paris!

Tyler Farrar:

Tyler has been with Garmin Cervelo (previously Garmin Chipotle) since 2005. He's had several stage wins in some of the big tours, but never at the TDF--until yesterday! That's right, Farrar, my favorite sprinter, beat Mark Cavendish to the line for a win on Stage 3. I'm sure it had to do with more than just his fabulosity (like an incredible lead out from Thor) but it made me so happy. And, I definitely shed a tear when he crossed the line holding up a big "W" for his best friend Wouter Weylandt of team Leopard Trek(that died at the Giro d'Italia this past May.) I can't wait to see what else Tyler has in store for us!

elliot weekly: week 13

2011-07-01T23:23:00.001-04:00

What we've been up to this week:

Bubbles, Bubbles: Elliot has been quite the drooling little lady lately. She's been making tons of bubbles and dribbling down every outfit. We used to have to change her outfits due to spit-up, now we have to change them because she's soaking them through!

Taking A Stand: Elliot loves testing out her legs. She likes to be held upright, putting weight on her little legs. She's got some strong little quads! Josh and I can't wait until she's old enough to test out a jumper/exersaucer, it should be quite entertaining!

Head Held High: Elliot is getting better and better at holding up her head. When she's full of energy (just after waking up and just after eating) she can hold her head up high. It usually only lasts a few minutes, but she looks so cute craning her little neck. She stretches out her neck, raises her eyebrows and wrinkles her forehead....it leaves her looking very curious (and a bit like a wrinkled old lady!)

So Much To Say: Elliot has been talking/cooing more and more! She gets so animated, wiggling her eyebrows and undulating her voice. It makes me laugh and I usually end up distracting her by smiling too much. If I can keep a straight face she will usually "talk" a bit more.

Growing Like A Weed: Well, we've had to retire some of Elliot's clothes. She was so little when we brought her home from the hospital (5 pounds 10 ounces) that we actually had to go out and buy some newborn clothes. I finally had to take those newborn outfits out of her armoir and pack them away. It was so sad! I know she's still our little baby, but she seems like she's getting bigger by the minute.

cuddle time with con queso
she's loving to snuggle lately

you talking to me?!
i love some of the stares that she gives me
i was actually trying pretty hard to get her to smile for this picture...
clearly, she wasn't interested!

csa

2011-06-30T09:00:00.010-04:00

I'm not quite sure what CSA stands for. I know it has something to do with farming. And everyone in big cities seems really into their CSA. So, its a noun. Aaaand, that's about all I've got on that.

So, here's what I hope has something remotely to do with CSA: our contraban garden! No, we're not growing contraban....its just that having a garden is against our homeowner's association. Yes, I'm a rebel!! (We've also got two pink flamingos standing guard on our back deck---take that HOA!)

We've hidden our garden on the backside of our house. Can you spot it??

Its just over there, on the left side of the deck stairs:

Here's what we've got growing:

zuchinni, jalapenos, tomatos, squash, basil

and my favorite plant:

the rogue tomato plant!

Josh and I had a sad little cherry tomato plant in a planter on the deck last summer. To say the plant was fruitless is polite.....it was just an awful shrivled up shell of a plant. We only got one or two nearly sun-dried looking tomatoes out of the whole plant. Then low-and-behold, the garden fairies smiled upon us! Our rogue tomato plant is one of the volunteers that sprouted up from the seeds of the long forgotten plant from last year. I say "one of" the volunteers because we had about a zillion sprout up in the area. We have about 6 good ones growing (in addition to this beauty). We dont really have the room for the additions and would love to see them in a good home. Any takers???

born to run

2011-06-29T09:26:00.009-04:00

Running. We were born to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you. But seriously, I think we were designed to be runners; we've lost our connection to basics and I think its about time we got back to the fundamentals.

Why am I on a running rampage? Simple; I just finished reading Born to Run for the fifth time. Its written by Christopher McDougall, regular contributor to Runner's World, and is what

started the minimalist running shoe craze (those weirdos wearing rubberized gloves as shoes.) Born to Run is exciting, engaging, informative and adventurous. The first time I read the book (about a year ago) I could feel the heat from the Copper Canyons and hear the cheers at the Leadville 100. It made me want to skip out of work and literally run for the hills (yes, I was reading while I work, shhhhhh!)

So why am I all jacked up about this book? Because this mama just went for her first trail run (up at the US National White Water Center). It was exilherating! I felt like an indian, running quickly and lightly over rough terrain. I'm sure I didn't look as smooth as I felt, but I didn't care. It was the most fun I've had running in months! I starting thinking back to McDougall's book and his stories about the Tarahumara. I felt like I finally understood what he meant about the joy of running.

So, this mama is changing her running form! McDougall writes about how the modern running shoe, with its over indulgent cushioning, actually prevents proper running form and increases our likelihood to "heel strike." When training for my half-marathons last year I focused a lot on running form and posture (lean back, shoulders relaxed, smile), but I could never quite maintain any semblance of proper foot strike. That season is over!

I've been day-dreaming about the races that Elliot and I could run together (or rather, me running while pushing her in the jogger!) I found several jogger-friendly races, but they were all under 5 miles. I wanted something bigger, possibly even a half-marathon, to run with my baby girl. I realized that here I was, basically re-starting my running, and I was focusing more on distance than form. If ever there was a time to re-train myself, its now! So, I'm now committed to landing lightly and gently on the balls of my feet. Sounds easy, right? Uhm, not so much!

I ran my 5k route (without Elliot) focusing on proper form, mainly my feet. As soon as I'd get my feet landing good, then I'd realize that my shoulders were incredibly tense. Then I'd relax my shoulders only to find out that my feet were back to pounding. It was maybe the longest and slowest 3.1 miles I've run in six months! I don't know how long its going to take to train myself to run properly, like I was designed to do as McDougall would say, but I'm pretty sure its going to take a lot of focus.

So, if you see me running and I look like a sloth...well, I'm trying! I'd rather run slow with proper form than burn myself out. And let me know if you hear of any races I can run with Elliot!

elliot weekly: week 12

2011-06-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

holla for the 12 week old baby!

What we've been up to this week:

Attempting to sit up: Elliot is doing these funny little "sit ups" when she's laying on our laps. We'll lay her on our lap and she starts nodding her head like she's doing a little mini ab crunch/sit-up. We then pick her up to a "standing" position and the girl is all smiles! I guess she's just tired of staring up my nostrils ;)

Sleeping through the night: Hallelujah! Elliot is on a three night rampage! She's been going to be between 8:15-8:45pm and sleeping until 6:45-7am (with a 'dream feed' at 11pm). Mama is a new woman! I don't think I can quite communicate how amazing this is. Its so hard to believe that I've been not sleeping through the night for the past 12 weeks---even more amazing that I haven't actually turned into a zombie or something. I think Elliot is sleeping longer because her stomach is getting a little bit bigger and can now hold more milk, which equals sleeping longer (because she's not waking up hungry earlier.)

Sweet smiles: Elliot is still giving us some sweet smiles and she's getting more animated. Instead of her normal wide open-mouthed smile, she's now scrunching up her nose and raising her eyebrows too. When its combined with some coos and goos, its pretty funny looking. She looks like she's trying so hard to communicate. I end up mimicking her, which is pretty funny looking too....yes, I've turned into that mom that does just about anything to get a smile out of my baby.

Celebrating in Charlotte: We met up with Auntie Chelsea in Charlotte for a little Dean & Deluca celebration for Elliot's 12 week birthday. We had some giggles, snuggles, sweets and treats and then headed over to South Park for a little shopping excursion. We also had to hit up Trader Joe's and restock the pantry while we were in town. What can I say, these small town ladies had to take advantage of our trip to the big city!

hanging out with auntie chelsea

The days and weeks are passing by too quickly! I'm trying to soak up every minute with this sweet little babe:

check out that stare!
and those cheeks!!

craft it: antropologie inspired chandelier

2011-06-23T07:00:00.004-04:00

I have had so much fun decorating Elliot's room. I let Josh voice the occasional opinion, but for the most part it has been a girls-only endeavor. And from the vintage prints to the pink and green accents its certainly a girly room!

I was going through a vintage/anthropologie-ish feel for Elliot's room. And one thing that was not going to fly was the builder grade light fixture:

Don't get me wrong; we built our house and picked out all the lights (and everything other dang detail---seriously, who cares about switch plate covers?!) The light worked perfect when this room was an office and then when it was my crafting room. But it didn't scream "cutest-girl-in-the-entire-world-sleeps-here." We needed an Elliot-worthy upgrade!

The hunt for a sweet chandelier ensued. But not just any old chandelier would do. I needed a cheap one (for my sanity) with lots of character (for my sweet baby girl.) I searched all over the Charlotte area, riffling through flea markets, thrift stores and Ikea. No luck.

Then I hit the Amaya Jackpot! My friends (and bosses) had an extra chandelier they weren't using and decided to let me use it while we're in our house. Score!!!

All it needed was a little TLC and an Elliot-worthy crafting upgrade! My creative juices went wild! The glass was beautiful and the vertical pieces had an almost mercury-glass type look. Be still my heart!

I knew I wanted to add some natural elements into the room (I already had plans for the wood crates and the moss covered letters) so I added some twigs and flowers to the arms of chandelier. I think it really hid the brassy-ness of the fixture and hit the spot for the nature theme too. After realizing that the chain was entirely too long, Dicky came over to help me trim it down to size.

All that was left was the installation and hanging some crystals.
Ready for a little before and after???

now that is some lighting perfection!
check out the details:

yep, we had to put a bird on it ;)

elliot speaks

2011-06-21T07:00:00.001-04:00

what can i say?
with us as parents we knew she'd be talking early
here's a peak at what elliot's got to say:

elliot weekly: week 11

2011-06-17T09:00:00.012-04:00

what we've been up to this week:

Work! Elliot has been a great assistant this week. She's mostly polite when she answers the phone and her typing skills are seriously advanced. She has been sleeping well at the office and I've been able to get everything done well and on time. I think I'm actually more efficient with her at the office, because I've got more pressure to get everything done. Funny how that works sometimes, huh?

Two Month Check-Up: Baby Girl is growing up. Elliot is gaining weight at the 50th percentile and getting taller at the 75th percentile. She had to get her first big series of immunizations this week. She handled the shots very well, only crying for a little over two minutes. She came back to work with me and slept the rest of the day. Josh watched her while I went for a run after work, and that's when the post-immunization-fussiness really kicked in. Elliot was nearly inconsolable for around three hours. We were all in tears. She wouldn't nurse, she just kept crying---nothing more sad than a little lip quiver! She ended up eating later and slept for a long time. She was back to her normal self the next day at work. Whew! I can't imagine what it would be like to have a fussy baby. We are spoiled with our sweet girl!

10 pounds 14 ounces
23 inches

craft it: lamp redo

2011-06-16T07:00:00.002-04:00

My friend Chelsea, bless her, is the one that first introduced me to shopping at thrift stores. I was always amazed/envious at the quality of goods and savings that she found at stores around town. I would try and thrift on my own, get really overwhelmed, and end up walking out of a Goodwill-type store looking like I'd just survived some sort of cataclysmic event (messed hair, squinting at the sun, blank stare, aura of shocked desperation). It didn't take me long to learn an up-until-now-well-kept secret: follow Chelsea around a store and then purchase her cast-offs. Works every time (this technique can be used at retail store, thrift store, yard sale and JCrew sidewalk sales!!)

After years of swiping Chelsea's leftovers, I have managed to find a few steals around Shelby on my own. For example: I found this fun cut crystal lamp at the Habitat Re-Store for a measly $2! I wasn't quite sure where I'd put her, but I knew she was perfect for our house. When have you ever had too many lamps?! Ladies, trust me, nothing makes you look better than the glow of lamplight (well, a suntan in Cabo might make you look better!)

She just needed a little TLC
Before:

After:

All it needed was a good cleaning, some funky pink spray paint and a tan shade.

Perfect for Elliot's nursery!

sidenote: Chelsea can be found thrifting around the Charlotte, NC metro area, but she is available for travel ;)

hunger games comes to town

2011-06-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

Shelby is no longer the City of Pleasant Living....its now known as District 12. That's right folks, Shelby is the set for the fictional District 12, the home of Katniss Everdeen from the hit series The Hunger Games.

Filming started when Josh and I were leaving to go to the beach a few weeks ago. We were stopping by Sugerbakers to grab a quick cup of coffee (and chocolate croissant, delish!). It took for-ev-er to order because the place was packed. Turns out it was packed with folks from the film crew. I knew there was some movie coming into town, but the last movie filmed here was Blood Done Signed My Name (yeah, I'd never heard of it either) and no one really cared about it. I figured it was another low-budget, no-name "film." Boy, when mama is wrong she is wrong!

So, I've been quickly catching up on the plot line:

In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by
drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into
the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each
district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part
entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the
televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are
forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to
watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining
district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and
her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the
fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger,
stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Hooked yet?? I'm ordering the series now! Hopefully I'll get them finished by the 2012 movie release.

Here are some pictures from the Shelby set---can't wait to see our hometown on the big screen!

elliot weekly: week 10

2011-06-10T22:19:00.000-04:00

10 weeks?!
as in, 2.5 months old?
seriously?!

time.is.flying.

what elliot has been up to this week:

back to work and loving it!
elliot came to work with me this week. it was my second week back at work, but the first time that elliot came with me. my boss dicky is a-maz-ing for many reasons, but especially cool right now because he's letting me bring elliot to work! elliot naps and plays in her pack 'n play by my desk while i'm at work. she's been a great sport. i'm able to get all my paperwork, emails and phone calls done during her naps. i couldn't ask for a better set-up. i've got some reduced hours for the month of june (due to the continued downturn of the economy) but i'm hoping for full hours starting back in july. i'm trying to embrace the shorter work week for now (more play time with elliot at home!) but definitely praying for our company. so, hey, if you need any work done on your bathtubs, showers, counter tops or sinks call Amaya Glaze!

see how happy elliot is to go to work?
she's the best assistant ever :)

jordan's birthday
elliot got to celebrate jordan's birthday on monday. jordan is one of elliot's favorite people. they enjoy playing xbox kinnect, discussing world politics and listening to sugarland.

whitewater center
elliot made her first trip to the whitewater center. the rain and thunder couldn't keep elliot away from the whitewater center this past thursday. she partied until the wee hour of 10pm, dancing to the bluegrass and was eventually lulled to sleep by the sound of the river (and the 20938 dogs barking.) she's going to make it a regular occurrence this summer.

see how she can hardly contain her excitement?
the whitewater center is one of her favorite summer activities

coo and goo
elliot is making some seriously fun sounds. she'll start "talking" and become really animated with her face, regularly raising her eyebrows. josh and i are really enjoying it and have totally become those parents who jump up and down, making stupid faces and weird noises to try and get her to continue. its kind of sad, but really fun at the same time. check her out:

she'd already been "talking" for about 30seconds before we got this on video
hopefully we can get a longer session on camera soon!

love

2011-06-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

Elliot loves her Aunt Lauren and Aunt Taylor!