Baby Footprint Ornaments

I made imprints on Stella's feet months ago.  I used this recipe to make the dough. I kind of feel bad because I don't even remember how old she was when we did it. I wanted to write on the back how many weeks/months she was, but I honestly have no clue.  In that case, we are just putting the year. Close enough and it will have to do.  

My original plan was to leave them as is. Just put the name and year, glue a ribbon on and be done. But as you can see below, some of the imprints got a little too dark around the edges when baking and didn't all look the same. And I wanted them to.  To fix it and make myself happy, I looked through the paint I had on hand and found this peachy pink color and went with that.  

I let them dry, wrote her name and the year on the back with a black Sharpie and hot glued cream colored ribbon to the back for hanging.  Here is the finished product.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I wish the imprint was a bit more noticeable, but overall, it was success. And I know the grandparents, great grandparents and other family will love and cherish it.

Mistletoes 2013

As a new mom around the Holidays, I feel like I'm one of Santa's newest Elves.  I'm sure most mothers feel this way during this time of year.  Not only are you running around getting gifts for the usual's on the list, now you have to think of what to get baby, plus gifts "from" the baby to the grandparents and such.  Thanks to my good friend, Pinterest, I have tons of ideas. Thanks to Stella's adorable feet and this photo, along with many others very similar online, we have a very cute gift that is also a keepsake.  

I used construction paper, tempera paint, what are listed at Terra Cotta markers (but I'm sure a Sharpie would work) and of course, her feet.  I stamped as many as she would let me do.  I was by myself which makes things a little more difficult.  I ended up with four sets of footprints.  I drew on the string, but if you have a good hand when it comes to painting (I don't), then you could do that as well.

I then took an empty cardboard toilet paper roll and painted the ends and used it as a stamp for little whimsical circles. I thought about filling them in with paint or putting little polka dots here and there, but I thought it best to keep it simple.  I have one for us to keep, 2 of each set of grandparents and I'll most likely give one to my brother and his girlfriend. I'm thinking I'll laminate the one we keep and use it as a placemat when she gets older.  Even if we don't use it for that, it will keep a lot longer that way.  

Cork Christmas Tree and Flower

This is another super quick and simple craft project. These guys here are my inspiration.  I may go back and paint some of the ends and add a star, but at this point I'm undecided. I think I'll make two of them when I have enough to do so. I really like the idea of having this one up in my kitchen year round. I feel if I paint it and put "ornaments" on it along with a star, then it will look too Christmasy.  I didn't even take photos as I was doing this because it's so self explanatory.  I just hot glued the 3 corks at the bottom. Then I glued the next 5 together. I then glued the bottom 3 to the 5. And repeated until I reached the 1 remaining cork up top.  I then glued a mini terra cotta pot to the bottom. Done!

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I made this cork flower a few years ago. I'm pretty sure it was before I even knew what Pinterest was. I was making a cork board and had some leftover corks. I saw the "B" and really like the various shades of pink and purple from the wine on the ends of the corks. Since "B" is the initial of my last name I thought it would be cute to make a flower.  I display it on our bookshelf in front of one of my favorite wedding photographs.

Christmas Card "Corkboard"

I've been saving corks since the beginning of time. Ok, so it hasn't really been that long, but many, many years. Funny thing is, I don't even drink corked products. My husband drinks wine so we save what he drinks.  And my mama does, although she doesn't add to the cork bucket too much since she's a fan of boxed wine, but no judgement there.  She does steal them for me to add to my collection. I also snag them from random places when I know their destiny is the trash.  

This is such an easy project.  Basically you need three things to make this craft: yard stick, corks, hot glue gun.  Add push pins and the Christmas cards that your mailbox is being ambushed with this time of year and the total reaches a whopping five things.   If you want to add newspaper comics, then the total reaches six items. I save the comics each week for projects like this around the house where I don't want to risk messing up the table, counter or butcher block. I also sometimes wrap children's gifts in comics.  It's easy to be green.

My yard stick came from either a yard sale or Goodwill. It has a tiny hole in it at the top which now I see isn't really visible in the picture. This is what I used to nail it into the wall.   Just put a small line of hot glue down on the yard stick and press the cork onto it. Repeat until the stick is full.  The remarkable thing about my "corkboard" is that none of the corks were repeated. I feel that is impressive because our family drinks a lot of Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joes) and Rex Goliath.

So I happened to see this while gluing.  It says, "Merry Christmas" on the other side of the yardstick. How funny!

I decided to put it in the doorway from our living room into our kitchen. 

I put the non photo cards underneath with pins.

And then laid the photo cards on top. Wow, that's a crooked picture. You get the idea though. It's cheap, recycled/up-cycled (not sure of the difference, but I see both a lot), easy and quick. All things I like.

This is my first year as a Mommy and I must tell you, just that is the perfect Christmas gift. I sent out personalized photo Christmas cards for the first year.  Our card isn't on the corkboard.  It's on the fridge instead. I had two yardsticks and truly need them for all the cards we've received this year, but I didn't have enough corks. I guess next year, we'll add two "corkboards" for all of the cards. What a blessing to be running out of room for Christmas cards. Merry Everything and Happy Always! 

Stella, meet Santa

We took Stella to meet Santa Claus on Thursday. I met Donald at the mall to do pictures and for lunch.  I have friends who have posted their fearful, screaming, red-faced, mouth wide open look of "why are you doing this to me?" I'm not gonna lie, I wanted that!  I think the pictures are hilarious. I wanted to have a photo to submit to Ellen on Instagram.  The girls tell you to approach Santa with the child looking at you instead of him so the kids don't freak out.  By them saying this line, it proves that kids have Santa induced meltdowns all the time. 

Sidenote: The girls were not dressed like elves or Santa's helpers.  I was so hoping for a chick dressed in red and white striped leggings, a green crushed velvet jacket, elf shoes with the curled toe topped with a jngle bell, definitely a hat of some sort and possibly, and this is a big hope, but elf ears.  I basically just described Santa's helper from Home Alone when Kevin visits Santa to ask for his family back.  I know it's a huge wish for myself, but it is Christmas. Disappointment swept over my face as I approached and realized my wish was not coming true. Hopefully it wasn't too obvious. 

So instead for the Santa screamer, we got the cute, adorable, happy, smiling girl seen here.

I love this one of her checking him out. I thought she'd go straight for yanking on his beard, but she seemed pretty mesmerized. 

We have been handing Stella off to family and friends as much as possible since day one, so I guess that with stranger anxiety. We didn't want a baby who wouldn't go to anyone.  I've been told the red-faced holiday horror photo I so desperately want will happen if I sit and wait patiently for a few years.  It might even happy as early as next Christmas when she's 18 months.  I've got my fingers crossed! 

Zucchini & Scallion Corncakes

I love Manager's Special deals at Kroger and frequently challenge myself see if I can get what we need by finding veggies, fruit, cheese, milk and meat on manager's special. I purchased a few tubs of Alouette Garlic & Herb cheese and popped them in the freezer. Whenever I want to use one, I'll take it out that morning and since it's soft spreadable cheese, it'll thaw in a few hours. On the inside of the label, I saw a recipe for Cheesy Pancake Bites.  It consisted of eight ingredients that I had on hand and was super easy to make. I needed an appetizer for a Christmas dinner we were attending and I decided to make these. I wanted to jazz them up and little and found a zucchini in the crisper drawer.  I also love the mouth feel and taste of cornmeal, so I tweaked the recipe a bit to include it.

I just realized I never took a picture of the finished product.  Here is the original recipe if you prefer to use it and you can also see a photo of these guys.

Zucchini & Scallion Corncakes

1 (6.5 oz) container of Aloutte Garlic & Herb cheese, divided in half

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup self rising cornmeal

3/4 cup water

2 scallions, finely chopped (1 is to put in the pancakes, 1 is for garnishing)

1/2 zucchini, grated

1 egg or 3 tbsp of Egg Beaters All Whites ( I used this because I didn't have any whole eggs, but I always have egg whites)

salt & pepper

oil of your choice for skillet/griddle

Beat egg with half of the cheese spread. Stir in flour, cornmeal, water, scallions, zucchini and s&p.  Let batter sit for 10 minutes.  Heat skillet/griddle to medium heat & coat with oil. Using a mini cookie scoop, place batter on griddle and cook for 2-3 min until golden brown. Flip and cook for another minute or so.  Top the corncakes with a dollop or spread of the remaining 1/2 of the cheese and garnish with scallions.  I think these are quite tasty right off the griddle, but were also yummy at room temperature which is a huge plus. 

Thankfulness

During the month of November, a lot of folks do a daily post on Facebook of what they're thankful for. I don't participate in this, not because I'm not thankful, but because I try to make a conscious effort to be thankful year round. I actually download a "thankful" app on my iPhone so wherever I am, I can record whatever it is that I'm thankful for at that moment. Sometimes I go weeks between posts, other times it get a few in in a week. It just depends on when I remember to post them. I decided  to make a list of things that I'm thankful for. I thinknit will be nice to look back over them in the years to come. To see what may have changed and what's remained the same.

I'm thankful.....

• To be a stay-at-home mama. Being a mom is the one true thing I've wanted to be my entire life. 
• My husband has a career he enjoys and works for such a great company. They truly care about their employees and their families which unfortunately is rare.  Next August he'll have been there 10 years. 
• To have a husband who supports me in more ways than one to make the above possible.
• That buns are "in" right now. Between Stella grabbing at everything and me not really having the time or care to fix my hair, it's nice to feel somewhat fashionable and yet effortless at the same time.
• Baby girl loves being outdoors. I can always count on her calming down when I walk outside if she's upset.
• That we can almost start feeding Stella actual food very soon. I wanted to wait until she is 6 months since we are going to do the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) method. She's had some purees, but nothing that really counts. Food is such a huge part of our lives and we want her to have a healthy relationship with it. I was very picky as a child and we don't want her to be that way.
• For awesome girlfriends in Atlanta. I've always had more guy friends that girl friends growing up, but as I've gotten older I realize a girl needs to have the chance to talk, bond and bitch with her girls. I'm so lucky that the men found such wonderful ladies.
• That our friends have kids and continue to add to the group. I love the idea of the babies all being great friends like we all are.
• Donald is a great cook. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal when Stella was a newborn instead of junk or fast food all the time.
• He also cleans up the kitchen and doesn't mind.
• I have a smart husband.  Growing up I didn't truly understand why women always listed "smart" as a quality they'd like to have in a man. Not that I wanted a dummy, but I thought, "Of all the things to want, this is what you've narrowed it down to?" Now, I totally get it. He is so incredibly smart and it's such a turn on. It's also nice that he knows how to fix things or can at least figure it out and we don't have to pay to have certain things done around the house. 
• I have a smart daughter. The doctor tells us she's advanced for her age every time we see her. People everywhere point out how advanced she seems for her age.  What a beautiful thing to hear.  Every parent wants better for their children. I'm so happy she was born healthy and will have every opportunity to advance herself as much as she wants. 
• For parents and in-laws who don't mind stepping in to help out.
• That Stella has great-grandparents in her life. 
• We don't have to travel long distances for Thanksgiving or really any holiday.
• Our families live in the same town. We don't have to alternate holidays or drive far to celebrate. This was great when we were dating and even better now that we have a child.
• I know how to cook and clean and take care of our home along with the people in it.  "Common sense is a flower that doesn't grow in everyone's garden."  Thank goodness it grows in mine!
• For days when Stella and I just hang out in our PJ's.  I like getting out and about with her, especially now that she can sit in the cart and goes longer between feedings, but it's so nice not to have anywhere to be.  
• For listening to Donald and Mother-in-Law when it came to what type of chair should go in the nursery. I only wanted my great grandmother's rocking chair because I wanted to be that mother.   They both said La-Z Boy.  They were both right.  We got a beautiful leather one that really is quite nice looking (most look frumpy and old person-ish) and it's soooo comfy.  Miss Priss had quite the appetite the first two months and fed very often.  My Boppy fits perfectly in it.  I also ended up sleeping in it a good bit the first month or so and I still nap in it a few times a week with Stella on my chest (Can we agree a sleepy baby heart to heart with you is THE BEST FEELING EVER?!) The rocking chair resides in our room and is great for brief rockings and nice to look at, but that's it.  
• That both my parents and in-laws are retired so they can visit whenever.
• We have a fenced in yard. 32 temp, 20+ mph winds and snow/ice on the ground definitely doesn't make me want to be out walking puppies.
• Stella loves animals, especially doggies.
• My Daddy doesn't have to be out working in this harsh winter weather anymore.
• For a nice warm mug of Apple cider. 
• Stella is such a great sleeper at night (typically).
• We have such a laid back and happy baby.  
• Rainy day cuddles and snoozing in my lap. Especially when Stella hasn't fallen asleep while nursing during the day in quite some time.
• For early morning snuggles.  When I was pregnant I told Donald the thing I look forward to the most was putting the baby in bed with us and cuddling and  playing.  For the past month or so, if Stella wakes up after 5:30 am, instead of feeding her in the La-Z Boy in her nursery, I'll just go get her and put her in bed with us to nurse.  We both usually go back to sleep and then she wakes us up with soft hard thwacks on the face, chest or back and baby babbling.  It's one of my favorite times of day because we are all together as a family.  And she always wakes up in a good mood. 

Christmas Traditions for Stella

As Stella approaches the six month mark (What?! Where has the time gone?) and the Holidays are around the corner, I can't help but think of all the stuff I can't wait to do with her around this time of year.  She'll only get to do a few of these things this year, but I love dreaming about the days when we can do all of this together.

• Ride Priscilla The Pink Pig in Macy's at Lenox Square Mall.
• Have her picture taken with Santa (most likely screaming).
• Drive around looking at Christmas lights.
• New Christmas pj's each year.
• Watch Christmas movies together around a crackling fire electric fireplace.
• Decorate the house and Christmas tree.
• Sip hot cocoa or apple cider together while we pick out a Christmas tree.
• Get an Elf on the Shelf.
• Take her to see The Atlanta Ballet's The Nutcracker at The Fox Theatre.
• Donate clothes and toys to those in need.
• Play in the snow (if we're lucky): build a snowman, sled, make snow angels, catch snowflakes in our eyelashes and on our tongue 
• Ice skate at an outdoor ice rink.
• Christmas Eve Mass/Church service (depending on the family).
• Make gingerbread men.
• Make cookies for Santa.
• Make Reindeer food.
• Read Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.
• Start a Christmas Book Advent
• Have Mommy & Daughter Tea at Mable's Tea Room.
• Sing Christmas Carols.
• See a holiday lights show.

This Christmas should be very interesting. I think she might be crawling at that point. She's already into everything and I'm sure she'll be just as interested in our presents, wrapping paper, bows, etc...  I think next year she might "get it", but who knows?  We aren't really planning on getting her too much. She doesn't need  anything.  She has a ton of clothes, plenty of toys and already has our hearts. 

3rd anniversary....Skyview Atlanta

I'm a month late at posting this, but wanted to include it since the ferris wheel is Atlanta's newest attraction.

Wednesday, October 23rd, Donald and I celebrated three years of marriage. This year was noticeably different from the past two, since we are now parents.  I fixed a tasty French inspired meal of Dijon chicken over rice pilaf and green beans amandine. The Dijon chicken was the first recipe in such a very long time that I actually followed almost to a tee.  I usually tweak recipes to our liking (isn't that what it's all about when you're the cook?) or substitute other things when I don't have a particular item.  

This day turned out to be the coldest day/night of the season. It was super windy and we were a bit concerned about being 20 stories high, but it turned out to just fine.  Stella wasn't feeling too great and luckily she fell asleep on the car ride down.  We parked and I wrapped her up warm and cozy in my Mei Tai carrier and we walked towards Skyview.

The picture quality here is pretty crappy (cell phone & flash doesn't cooperate always), but I love it.  I love that Stella's little head is peek-a-booing in from the bottom.  

I feel as though D and I look so visibly happy. 

We are happy. Parenthood is treating us well.

Stella mostly slept throughout our little date since she wasn't feeling good, but occasionally would pop her head up and look around like below.

From our gondola (which has AC or heat depending on the temperature-Sweet!), we could see the rings at Centennial Olympic Park.  We walked over for a bit after our ride was finished and I actually wanted to walk around the park, but....it was night and I honestly didn't know if it would have been a good idea.  It's one thing to put just me and D at risk, but I didn't want to take the chance having Stella with us. I hate to say that about the city, but stuff happens all the time.  Really, it could happen anywhere, city or not.   

If it had been the day, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

This is a shot of the Georgia Aquarium. D and I have only been once and it truly wasn't the greatest experience. But, it wasn't long after it opened and it was a Sunday.  I say it wasn't a good experience because the crowds were insane. We couldn't see anything. Actually, that's a lie. We got to see a Beluga whale's boy parts. Insert loud "GASP!"  

Apparently we picked Beluga Whale mating season to visit the aquarium.  I'd like to go back during the week and when school is in session and when Stella is a little older. We went to the Zoo Atlanta in September. Stella has developed quite the love for animals (ie: our dog, Bandit) and although I think she enjoyed it, she obviously didn't fully grasp the idea of 

"Oh yay, being at the zoo surrounded by wildlife is awesome!"

We saw a small group of people standing around the fountain of rings holding coffees and daring each other to run into the water.  I developed a craving for coffee while I was preggers with Stella and it has stuck. Since I decided to leave my jacket in the car (turns out, not a great idea on the coldest night of the season, but I thought I'd be too warm with Stella wrapped up against me), I was cold and really wanted a vanilla latte. Now, I knew there was a coffee house just across the park that I really wanted to go sit at and warm up in, but several factors swayed us otherwise.  1. Stella wasn't herself and consequently was passed out 2. It was late and a school night (hehe). 3. No jacket to walk across the park in.  4. Probably would have been approached by half a dozen "homeless" people on the short walk over and well...you know.  So instead, we headed back to the house.  I have the cutest journal a friend gave us before we married and I designated it to be our "Anniversary Journal." Each year, I document what we did that year to celebrate. I think it will be fun to look back over it as the years pass and it will be a wonderful keepsake for our child(ren). 

Herd the Bird

Last week it started off somewhat mild, but as the week progressed, it got cooler and cooler. There's something so comforting about a warm meal made all in one pot.  I'd made mashed potatoes and had a good bit of them leftover. One of my favorite things to do is to transform leftovers into a new meal, so I made a delicious Shepherd's Pie topped with said potatoes.

Now traditionally, Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb, and most make it with beef.  But I went a little different route and made it with ground turkey.  You really can't taste a difference and it's a nice alternative if you want something a little healthier or have already had your beef fix for the week.

I served our Shepherd's Pie with leftover homemade bread that I'd made the day before in the bread machine.  I'd put it in the machine and left to run some errands and returned home to the smell of yeasty dough rising and baking. Ahh, such a wonderful aroma!  This pie is made with lots of veggies and what's nice is you can make it with whatever ones you like. Also, you can use fresh, frozen or canned veggies or a combination which is what I did.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

• 2 lb package of ground turkey (you can use the ground white & dark meat combo like I did or if you prefer, ground turkey breast)
• 1 medium onion, chopped as fine or chunky as you like (I prefer small dices)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup green beans (I had fresh ones and steamed them for a few minutes before adding to the rest of my veggies)
• 1 cup corn (I had fresh, but a certain little one, was a bit fussy, so we resorted to frozen to speed things up)
• 1 cup leeks (I had frozen, sliced ones from Trader Joes)
• 1 cup fresh, sliced mushrooms
•  1 cup green peas (frozen)
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper 
• 1/2-3/4 cup of turkey or chicken stock (I happened to have turkey on hand since it's the holiday season)
• 2-3 cups of leftover mashed potatoes (Or make your own fresh taters to top with)
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (optional, but Donald suggested it and I went with it)

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Heat Dutch oven on medium high heat and add ground turkey. Break up with a wooden spoon and stir around pot until just cooked through.  I scrape it from the pot into a colander with a plate underneath to catch grease and extra liquid.  (I let it cool, then transfer it to an old can or jar and discard in the trash. )This makes it healthier and a lot less greasy on your palate. I do this to all ground meat I'm cooking.
3. Add onions and cook until tender and translucent.  Add garlic and stir in good with the onions to prevent it from burning. Then add the rest of the veggies of your choosing.  Add salt and pepper. (But don't go too crazy as you want to taste again after adding the meat, tomato paste and stock below.  These ingredients might add just enough saltiness to your liking and you won't need to put more. If you feel it needs more s&p, then sprinkle away. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take away.)
4. Splash in about 1/2 of the stock and cover the pot and let the frozen veggies steam and heat up.
5. Add the drained turkey to the veggies and mix together.  
6. Add the can of paste along with the rest of the stock and combine.  Adjust seasoning if needed.
7. Top with the mashed potatoes.
8. Sprinkle cheese on top of potatoes and place in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.

If you are not in any hurry on eating, this can sit for a while and still be quite hot. With the blanket of potatoes and cheese keeping the turkey and veggies warm beneath, you could leave this for days and return to find it still warm. However, if you'd like to eat that day, I would suggest going ahead and spooning out your portion onto a plate soon after taking out of the oven.  It will be very warm, but will cool down nicely.  I love watching steam escape from a fresh made meal. Plus, the warm plate will keep your hands toasty on especially cold days.  I wrapped our leftover bread in tinfoil and had it heat through the last 10 minutes or so.  To be honest, I miss the orange color of that carrots would bring to this dish and I'm pretty sure carrots are very traditional in Shepherd's Pie, but I just don't like cooked carrots.  Donald will eat them, but I just didn't feel like peeling, chopping and cooking something only to pick it out later.  Besides, as I said before, fussy pants wouldn't have allowed me to do this if I wanted to. If you like carrots, then by all means, add them to your pie.

"New" laundry "room"

We've lived in our home for over five years and our laundry "room" has never been practical or functional.  It's not really a room, it's merely a space just off of the walk way to our backporch.  It was literally a washer, a dryer, a double laundry bin and a re-purposed bookshelf that held supplies. I'd been unhappy with it for years, but didn't know what I wanted. Scratch that, I knew what I wanted. I wanted shelves and cabinets (read: functionality), but I didn't know how I wanted it to look. Until I saw this picture on pinterest one day.  This laundry room is about the same size as ours so I knew it was totally doable.  I set out on the hunt for a cabinet.  I'm a thrifty girl, so there was no way I was going to pay full price for a cabinet. I went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore hoping to find something there, but had no luck.  I looked very briefly on craigslist, but didn't see anything and got bored.  One day, a lady in my MOM's Club emailed everyone about her neighborhood yard sale. Let me tell you, this subdivision was organized!  She attached a map of the subdivision with each house that was participating.  And each family who was participating could list the main things they were selling.  So awesome! One house listed cabinets. Bingo!  

I got this guy right here for $10!

Here's the "before" of our laundry "room".  

Originally, the washer and bookshelf were in each others places, but about two months ago, I decided to flip them.  I couldn't access much below the first shelf with it in the corner. I took everything off the shelves, cleaned them, dusted off the products and re-organized.  There was still the problem of having the wall space and not utilizing it, plus, now it was more difficult to get to the washer.  

Now for the after pictures.  

Donald purchased some light blue paint for the ceiling on our front porch. When we vacationed and/or honeymooned in Charleston, we learned that people in the South paint their porch ceiling blue to keep wasps from building nests.  Apparently if your ceiling is blue, the wasps think it's the sky and therefore, do not make a nest.  If it's white, then they just move right in.  Like I said above, we've been in our house for over five years now and we noticed the ceiling needs a bit of re-touching.  Since he bought a gallon, I decided to borrow some of the blue paint and paint the cabinet.  Donald got one, 1 X 12, 8 foot board from Home Depot (which he cut into 4 sections himself), along with 8 metal brackets to make the shelves.   The knobs on the cabinet were brass colored. They had.to.go.  Since the brackets were a matte black color, I painted the knobs with leftover black chalkboard paint.  

Winner, winner.  

The baskets and jars were all re-purposed. 

I moved the washer back to it's original spot and put the laundry sorter in the corner.  I took the Bandit's dog food bin and his treats out of the pantry and put them on this little wooden shelf. It was making do as a temporary nightstand for Donald, but I snagged it instead.  The 3-drawer compartment holds batteries, superglue and little odds and ends. I wanted it on the shelf or in the cabinet, but it's very heavy because of the batteries. The cabinet was mounted on the studs, but the shelves/brackets are not unfortunately, so they cannot bear much weight.  Why does that always happen during projects/renovations?  Nothing ever seems to line up with the studs.  So frustrating, but I made it work.

I was able to get rid of the bookshelf completely. 

Everything fit in the cabinet or on the shelves.

The bulletin board came from Goodwill for less than $2. 

I actually got two of them and one is going in the office.   I've got a stain removal, list of chores to help serve as a reminder, a calendar and a few other miscellaneous items on here.

Donald painted the boards for me over a month ago. Then I painted the cabinet a week or so after that. And then everything sat.  And sat. Basically, the time changing messed us up. He could have hung the cabinet whenever, but he couldn't cut the board into sections because by the time he got home from work, it was almost completely dark. Then we went out of town 2 weekends ago. So last Saturday, Donald hung everything and went to a motorcycle show with his cousin, Justin. Stella took a 2+ hour nap and I unleashed my inner Monica Gellar and did all of this in that time. Ok, I didn't do the bulletin board, because it wasn't hung yet, but I got everything else done. I felt sooooo accomplished.  And organized. And happy.   Such a good feeling.  

So, here's the rough estimate for costs for the laundry room renovation.

1" X 12" X 8' board-$16.16

Metal brackets $6.87 a piece X 8=$54.96

Bulletin board-$2

Cabinet-$10

The gallon of blue paint was $31.87, but since I only used a little of it, I'll just say $5.

We already had white paint from house touch-ups. 

I already had black chalkboard spray paint, but I think it was around $7.

Basically, this transformation was done for less than $90.  I am thrilled with the results and it took less than 2 1/2 hours. 

Before & After of our pottery

I'm finally getting around to posting the "finished" pictures of the pottery we painted at Just Kiln' Time with Stella's footprints.

So here's the "before." 

And the "after."  D was going for something reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. The footprints are supposed to be a sun. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it will do.

This is a close up of D and I's thumbprint heart.  His is on the left, mine on the right. My print looks bigger because I didn't make a good enough first stamp and when I went back over it to fill in the bottom, I accidentally made it a little bigger. Oops. Oh well, I still love it. I'm going to tie a ribbon around it and make it a Christmas ornament. But I'll most likely keep it out year round somewhere in the house.

Getting our little one Baptized

Two weekends ago, we went down to South Georgia for Stella's Baptism. Friday night we celebrated Donald's oldest brother, Daniel and his 39th (gasp) birthday. It was at (drumroll please.....) El Vaquero.  I truly believe this place has such a booming business due to The Bryan Family.  Donald's parents, Daniel, his girlfriend, Jaycie and their friends meet her every, yes EVERY Wednesday night for supper.  When we lived in Sylvester, this was the only Mexican restaurant I ate at. And many other Bryan family members frequent this tasty establishment quite often.  

Jaycie is a Spanish teacher and had the table decorated with these cute sombreros. 

As you can see here, Stella had too much tequila gotten sleepy 

and passed out in Daddy's arms.

Saturday we hung out at Mama and Daddy's all day. The weather was perfect to hang out on the lawn and cheer on UGA.

The Baptism was at the church where most of my family attended and where Donald grew up going to. We had to be up bright dark and early Sunday morning: 6 o'clock am!  This was the earliest we'd had to get up as a family since becoming a party of 3 and let me tell you, it was difficult.  We had to be at the church for mass at 8:30 am and we had a 45 min drive.  I'm so happy we don't have this type of time deadline a lot.  It turned out great. She did great because she LOVES the water.  The weather was wonderful ( a bit warm for the season but very nice) and the company was even better.

I snapped this right before we walked into the church.

Father Stanton, The Godfather, Uncle Daniel, us and The fairy Godmother, Aunt Ginger.

As you can see, she was very content just playing in the water.

 She absolutely didn't mind water being poured over her head. I don't think she would have minded actually taking a bath in it.

So here we have my Aunt Ann Marie, my grandpa, my Nina, my parents: Grammy and Grampy, my brother, Michael and his girlfriend, Jessica.

Stella and her Great Grandparents (my mom's father and my dad's mother).

Donald's family: middle brother Paul and his wife, Ginger and their children, Emily, Asher and Ivy, Daniel and Donald's parents: Nini and Grandaddy

Stella was over pictures at this point, but this was the first she fussed. Donald's oldest brother, Daniel, Aunt Janet, cousins Monica and Becky and Aunt Bonnie 

Stella makes Nina a first time Great Grandmother

Our baptized little angel

Grandpa and Stella

Ann Marie and Stella

Papa and Mema weren't able to make it, so we visited them instead.

Later on Sunday night, Stella got to meet Stacy, Kris and Kabe. I haven't seen them in about 2 1/2 years since they were in Japan until June. I'm so happy we could get together.

Here are better details of Stella's gown

Our friend, Kim got Stella this bracelet and I love putting it on her at special times.

Thanks to Stacy for the beautiful necklace.  

Monday we went back out to my parents to get Bandit.  While we were waiting for it to get dark (Stella sleeps great at night), Daddy took Stella for a ride on the lawnmower. I expected her to be startled when he cranked it up, but she didn't care. They rode around for about 5 minutes or so. I guess when she gets a little older, he'll have her on the John Deere. 

It was such a beautiful weekend and we were thrilled to be surrounded by family and friends for our daughter's special occasion.