Friday Finds

At the end of each week there are usually several things that I my little brain can't stop thinking about. 

These are my obsessions for THIS week. ;) 

 try / splurge / baby buy / taste / laugh / diy

P.S. Did I actually blog three times this week!?!?! whoa!

Enjoy your weekend!

jenni

Lucky Ladd Farms

I don't know about you, but we have really been trying to take in the month of October the best that we can. Gabe is usually on the road for the majority of October....he has been since we have been married. However, he is actually off pretty much the entire month, and I am just LOVING it. I am not ready to give him up to this crazy tour season we have coming up.

In celebration, we are doing all things "fall". I love our little city during the fall months. It is just beautiful, and there are lots of things to do. We went to a farm this past week to pet and feed animals, "wing" high, pick out some "punkies", eat a caramel apple ( ok, that was just me), have fresh squeezed lemonade and just enjoy some time as a family.

Hope you are enjoying your fall season so far! There really is something special about this time of year, don't you think?

 ^^ The jury is still out about how she ACTUALLY felt about that slide. ^^

Cream cheese chocolate chip cookies

Yep, you heard right! CREAM CHEESE just might be the best thing that has happened to my chocolate chip cookie in a long time. I was in charge of dessert for our family night this past weekend, so I looked through my "sweets"board on Pinterest, and decided to try a new recipe.

 via

You guys....... these are the absolute best chocolate cookies I have had to date. No offense to anyone who has ever given me one of their homemade chocolate cookies. They were a hit with the fam, and there were NONE left when the night was over.

Original recipe found on Averie cooks blog, however, I only did 1 cup of chocolate chips and I sprinkled a flaky sea salt on top, which just takes it to the next level by bringing out the flavor of the chocolate. You can try Maldon, or any other brand.

Enjoy!

Forgotten photos....

T-G-I-freaking-F!!!! I don't know about you, but this week has completely exhausted me. I haven't been sleeping all that well, and my husband and I have also been painting/redoing our bedroom. I am ready to put a fork in this week for sure.

I was going through some photos, and realized I never posted these from our last day at Disney. For some reason, they are my favorites! Probably because they are of my two favorite people. I hope you enjoy your weekend. I am looking forward to a night out tonight with friends and none of our kids tonight. I just love the babies, but I also enjoy eating in peace.

 ^^ Sucking her thumb with her hand in her shirt....signs of exhaustion! ^^

^^ 2 minutes into putting on Daniel Tiger, she was OUT for the entire plane ride home.^^

Color dipped Ikea kid's table

I have been searching for almost a year for the perfect kids' table for Amara. She is so little, that even the smallest chairs have been to tall for her. Not to mention the way that she climbs up onto the chairs meant that I needed something that wouldn't tip over easily. Table and chair sets are expensive ya'll!!!

As long as it has taken my undecisive self to make a decision, it appears that Amara has grown. This is great news to me because I really liked all of the hacks that I have seen done to the Latke Ikea table, but I just never felt like it was a sturdy enough combo for my little. Until now! $20 for a table and 2 chairs!?!?! Boom....DONE! We were able to get it shipped to us for $11 bringing the final cost to around $32.

I took some leftover aqua paint that I had from her play kitchen, and spiced up the legs on the table just a bit. I just used some painter's tape to mark off where I wanted to paint. I really love how it turned out!

I am SLOOOOOOOOOWLY trying to put together an office upstairs in Amara's original nursery room. I really just working with what I already have. No new storage ( for right now) and no painting the walls (hence the bright pink chevron). I wanted to create a little nook in the office for Amara to entertain herself while I do whatever it is you do in an office/craft room. Its just a bright open space upstairs, and I find that we do NOT live upstairs. We spend all of our time downstairs, and I am trying to change that.....one. room. at. a. time.

Here is Amara's little nook as it stands today. When the budget allows, I plan on adding some book shelving below the artwork to hold art supplies and such.

 ^^ I took an old Anthropologie catalog that I had saved and hung pictures from it with gold washi tape! I saved the catalog for the pig picture specifically, but ended up hanging others also. Just kind of quirky and fun!^^

^^ The tassel garland was something I had already made from a baby shower I threw earlier in the year. It pays off to save those things, huh? ^^

I kind of love this little space for now. I think it is nice to have a little something your child can do in each room of the house until they can be left somewhat unsupervised. If I have to go to a different room in my house, I hate feeling like I have to take toys with me. They will just be there already! :)

Have a GREAT weekend!!

J

2 year check up!

We are kicking off Amara's second year of life this week. Loved all of the birthday festivities, but I am also glad that they are all over :) Time to "relax".....yeah, right!

We had Amara's 2 year check up today! Things are looking good. She is almost to the 50th percentile for height and weight, perfection (physically), and just an overall healthy/happy baby girl. I have a very cautious, lets be on the safe side, better now than later pediatrician, which I am so grateful for. He was MY pediatrician and a child, and I am so lucky to get to be able to bring Amara to him as well. It feels like family! Anyway, he mentioned possibly having a speech evaluation done in home by the state just to MAKE SURE that she is where she needs to be. I expressed to him that for the most part, I understand what she is saying, but family is still kind of lost when she talks sometimes?? The biggest thing that prompted his recommendation for the evaluation is that Amara's "f" is an "s". So, "Phone" is "shone" to her. I am not really concerned, but I think anytime you walk out of a check up with anything less than "everything looks great!", your mind starts to play mean tricks on your heart. I am going to schedule it and would appreciate prayer!

Amara did NOT like the doctor touching her with his "intsruments" today. No matter how much he let her play with them or how sweet he was with her, she would just cry every time he needs to examine her ears, eyes, nose, count her fingers, wiggle her legs, etc. I also told her that there would be no shots involved at this check up. Whoops....mommy lied! I hate that....I was totally set up for failure. She ended up having to get her finger pricked to test her iron and she also got the flu mist vaccine. All I can say, is thank goodness for stickers and ring pops. Today's visit exhausted us both. Then, we went to Target and got her the cutest fall jacket, which made us both feel better....I am pretty sure.

Happy Birthday Amara Claire!!

Amara,

 Baby girl.....you are turning TWO today! Technically you become a toddler today around 11:35 am, but I am still going to call you my baby. This birthday is an emotional one for mommy because not only are you older, you are acting older. You have grabbed your independence by the horns and run with it. Still, you asking mommy or daddy for "help" is something I won't tire from anytime soon. I promise you that! It is mixed emotion though. The only part that is "sad" is that I can't just hold you in my arms 24/7 (selfishly). All the rest of my emotion is pure joy and happiness.

 Sure, there is a day set aside to celebrate your birth, but you need to know that I celebrate you...God celebrates you every. single. day. He and I have a lot of conversations about you...good ones too! He has big plans for you, ya know? I owe more than I could ever possibly give to Him for bringing you into our lives on such a sweet morning. If the way that I look at you is the way that He looks at us all, mommy is taking note! We are loooooved!!!! You have shown us how to look at people through YOUR eyes, how to love better, how to take moments out of our day to have tickle fights in bed ( because they are necessary), how to dance like nobody is watching, how a smile can change someone's entire mindset, how singing loud and off key can be a favorite sound just to name a few.

I literally have tears pouring down my face at this very moment. I am so overwhelmed, and cannot put this last year into words for some reason. I tried reading this aloud to daddy, and I couldn't make it past the second sentence.

You make us smile and laugh! You offer up great cuddles without us asking. You are helpful, loving, kind, funny, sweet, sassy, laid back, curious, pure, sensitive, trusting, adventurous and so much more.

We love you from the pit of our hearts! Thank you for two of the best years of our lives!!

Happy Birthday.....my baby!

 Love,

 Mommy ( and Daddy)

Here is Amara's 2nd year video ....