Saturday, August 31, 2013

Reflections of Thankfulness: August

It's amazing how fast time flies.  I have found that taking this time out to reflect on the blessings that I have received overwhelms my heart and blesses my soul.

1.  Weekends with Hubby, Winston and Lubaby
2.  UT Houston Orthodontics residency
3.  The celebration of Benjamin's graduation from UT Ortho (!)
4.  Lulu's improvement
5.  Winston kisses
6.  First steps
7.  The fulfillment of God's promises
8.  Dinner dates with Mom
9.  Audrey Moon and her awesome flower skills
10. Luke and Kala Bailey
11. Everyone who helped prepare graduation
12. Time at the zoo with grandparents
13. Warm evenings with cool breezes
14. Blow up pools
15. Siblings who give up their weekends to celebrate graduation with us
16. The celebrating in Brooklyn Laurali
17. Holding hands with my love
18. The joy of drinking water out of a cup
19. My Well Technology team members
20. PF Chang's frozen meals
21. Mum-mums
22. Bathtime with Bug 
23. Swinging 
24. Family nap times
25. Delicious food with friends
26. Tiny Scope bottles and the fun they bring
27. Discovering new stores
28. Biblical encouragement
29. Benjamin
30. A new ergonomic mouse
31. The splendor of my God

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

GAPTAP: Frigerators

It's been a while since I've done a GAPTAP.  This weekend is Labor Day weekend and we are in the market for a new refrigerator!  The fridge that we purchased for our first home is now a garage fridge holding most of our beverages and a overflow for the freezer.  We did a quick pop into Best Buy earlier this week and was a little taken aback by the plethora of options out there!  

We've already decided that we want water and ice in the door and that's about it.  

How do you know what fridge is the best fridge for your lifestyle?!  What features are deal makers and deal breakers?

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

And he walks!

It's been brewing for the last few weeks.  Tiny foot movements here and there.  Shuffling of the feet as he danced around the furniture.  Grasping the pushy and moving it swiftly across the floor.  Then the day arrived.  Those first steps!  It has been amazing to see how each day he gets a little more steady and a little more brave moving from one stationary object to the next.  It won't be long now before walking is the only way he gets around!
First we check to see if Lulu is in her Safe Space...Nope, she was cuddling with Daddy!
Pulling up like a champ!
And we're off!
The look of determination!
Celebration upon arrival!!  He loves to celebrate!
And because it was so much fun, we did it again, and again and again!!
Just love his look of excited determination!
However, walking still wears us out and crawling is just as fun and can get us to where we want to go quicker!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Inspiration: Graduation Dinner!

Y'all.  Benjamin and his classmates graduate in less than 2 weeks from Ortho Residency!  I can hardly believe it as I type it.  Where have the past 26 months gone?!  I am so proud of Benjamin and his class, my skin can hardly contain me!

Benjamin assumed responsibilities for planning graduation this year and I am super stoked about it!  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen the giant toothbrushes that are a brilliant gold.  Our theme for this Grand-uation is "Glamorous Teeth!"  I mean, these seven people are going into the business of enhancing and creating beautiful smiles, so why not give them a beautiful graduation dinner!  

UT Ortho Grad

The decor will be classy with splashes of color to compliment the UT orange, along with black, white and gold.  Dental themed accents will be sprinkled throughout the room and yes, a few chalkboard items may make an appearance.  I'll be looking forward to sharing the final turnout of the event in weeks to come!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Give-a-way: Kate Spade Freeze Framed Ring


It's a Monday give-a-way, y'all!  Here's how to enter!
1. Follow this blog via bloglovin' by clicking the button on the right hand side of this post.  Leave me a comment telling me about it.
2. Follow me on Pinterest by clicking the button on the right hand side of this post.  Leave me a comment telling me about it.
3. Leave me a comment telling me one thing you are totally stoked about this week!

All entries must be submitted by midnight PST, Saturday, August 10th.  The ring is a size 7.  Sponsored by me!

Summer Watermelon Craft

Winston is growing like a weed!  I just love how tiny his little hands and fingers are.  With a good number of our family living out of town, we enjoy sending personalized cards with photos of Winston over the previous months.  

Since it's summer time, we decided to go with a watermelon theme!  Using our Silhouette, we cut out the shapes that we would need to make the perfect slice of watermelon.  Next, we got the ink all ready for Winston's little fingers.  At the beginning he was not as thrilled as I thought he would be...however after the first five or six, he got into the groove and routine!
The watermelon needed a little pizazz to make it pop, so w headed to Hobby Lobby and found a background.  It was a toss up between the wood or the grass.  We were pleased with the turn out!
After gluing the watermelon pieces onto the background onto the card, I then took puff paint and wrote phrases like "Hooray for Summer!" and "Hip Hooray for Summer!"

The cards were a big hit with family members and besides the fingerprinting, can be made in the amount of a nap time!  We used 5x7 cards and they fit nicely into a picture frame proving to be multi-purpose!

Note: Make sure that the ink you use is truly washable ink... We had to scrub little baby's fingers with Goop for a good five minutes to remove all signs of black ink!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

July iPhone Faves

Cute Baby Smirk at Torchy's | Lulu baby | Winston at Houston's | The favorite place for my hand
Freebirds | We have brick! | Snuggle time with Lubaby | Playtime!
My daily banana | Sweet eyelashes | Monstor PB&J | Lulu loves keeping an eye on Winston
Crazy morning hair | The Golden Toothbrushes | One box packed! | Lulu loves her pillow fort

Baby Muffins

First of all, just a little disclaimer: These are muffins made for babies, not from babies.  

When it comes to recipes I stick to exact directions and measurements even after making something dozens of times, rarely stray from the classic I've grown to love.  

On Friday I spent some time during Winston's morning nap doing some reading up on ideas of things to feed an eight - ten month old.  I came across the simplest recipe ever for little baby muffins!  All you need is a banana and oat flour!

I thought to myself, anyone cal do this, even me!  I added banana to my grocery list and headed out.  When Winston went down for his nap, I found myself in the kitchen eager to whip up some new yummies for baby.  Then I went to get out my oat flour and realized... I didn't have oat flour!  I did however, how some rolled oats.  So I took out my Pampered Chef Baker's Roller and went to town creating oat flour!  Y'all, I was so proud of myself that I actually improvised and created a new something out of an existed something!

Once I was happy with my product, I added the banana, scooped the mixture into my mini muffin pan and baked them for 10 minutes!  My oven produced a delicious little treat that even Benjamin thought was tasty!
Ingredients
1 banana
1/2 cup of oat flour {can be gluten free if need be!}
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350
Blend all ingredients together.
Spray mini muffin tin with Pam.
Spoon mixture into muffin pan.
Bake for 10 minutes

You can also use this same mixture to create baby pancakes as well!

Recipe found at tiny sneakers via pinterest.
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