Big Girl Room

I finally finished Lea's big girl room! She's actually been in there for quite some time but I have just now put the finishing touches on it. I am really happy with how it turned out and Lea loves it, too! Here are some pics... sorry the lighting isn't very great.

These pink curtains are usually shut and in the morning the sun shines through her window, turning her entire room bright pink! They were supposed to be "black out" panels but considering that they're from Walmart, I can't complain. Lea doesn't seem to mind the extra pink anyway!

I scored on the quilt, pillow sham, artwork, wall decals, lamp and night light... Craigslist... everything for $50! The cute little foot stool by her bed (which even opens to a mini toy box) was only $14 from Homegoods. And the birdie sheets were on clearance at Pottery Barn Kids.

Lea got this adorable KidKraft kitchen for her 2nd birthday (Craigslist... $40!). I did a little touch up painting and Kevin replaced the back splash and a missing piece of plexi-glass.

(Here's the adorable, little lamp that matches her bedding. The picture didn't turn out well...but it's super cute!)

Here's her little table and chair set with her tea set all ready to go. She loves to serve you coffee anytime you go in her room!

I just love the awesome clock above the book shelf. My mom found it at a little boutique at the beach. :) The little birdhouses were hand painted (by me!) decorations at Lea's first birthday party.

A little hedgehog and mushroom hiding near her kitchen. There's also a few owls, birds and a squirrel around the room.

We painted this nightstand and put glass handles on it. The before was hideous...I am very happy with the after! The big birdhouse/toy box on the left was a $20 find at a consignment shop. It actually didn't open...but after Kevin added a couple hinges and a cute knob... voila!

Pine Cone Bird Feeders

It's a warm, rainy January day today and Lea woke up with the beginnings of a cold... so we decided to take it easy. After a morning movie on the sofa, we got out the pine cones we collected yesterday. I smeared peanut butter on them and Lea rolled them in bird seed.

 Then, we took them outside to hang them up...

And while we were out there, Lea had to take the opportunity to splash in the rain puddle!



Around Home

Lea and I have had a lot of fun the past couple weeks. She has been going to a "dance/theatre" class once a week this month. They do a lot of cool things with hula hoops, sticks, puppets, bells and scarves. Here's our adorable little ballerina (she likes to call herself "Lea Ballerina")...

I also decided to have Lea help us dye some pasta. She had a lot of fun filling the jars and then shaking them to mix the dye. After about a day of letting the dye soak in and a night of drying, they were ready for play time!

Last night Lea spent the night at her Gaga & Papa's house so Kevin and I took the opportunity to go out to dinner and a movie. We had a great night out and I ate WAY too much! (seriously, I thought I was going to puke at one point during the movie. lol) Then, when Gaga brought Lea home today, we decided to go see Beauty & the Beast in 3D. Lea got that dvd for Christmas and has loved it ever since but I wasn't sure how the whole 3D part would play out. Turns out she liked it! She did take her glasses off  few times but we quickly out them back on. I think she just liked seeing the difference with them on and off. We pigged out on lollipops, gummi bears, Dots, pretzels and licorice... yes, my daughter likes licorice. :) I forgot my phone so I didn't get a picture of us in our cool shades. We had a lot of fun, though!

25 weeks!

Today I am 25 weeks pregnant. That means only 15 weeks to go! Holy cow this pregnancy is going by fast. I feel pretty good these days...there really isn't anything I can complain about. I have all the normal pregnancy aches and discomforts but it is SO worth it. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

BabyCenter.com says that our little girl now weighs about a pound & a half and is around 13 1/2 inches long. She's getting big!

Here's a couple belly comparison pics to show you how this looks on the outside:

22 weeks

25 weeks

Homemade Granola

Who knew how easy it was to make delicious homemade granola? Ok...maybe you did but I had no clue. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know store bought granola started with "old fashioned" oats. Now that I have made some myself, it seems pretty obvious.

We always have old fashioned oatmeal on hand (that's my favorite) and I love granola cereal so when I found this recipe I just had to try it! I whipped it up in just a few minutes and then it baked for less than an hour.

Shall I dare say I will never buy prepared granola again??? (Seriously, it was that easy to make. Try it!)

Here's what I used:

2 generous cups old-fashioned oats
½ cup Wheat Germ
2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
¼ tsp Salt
1/8 cup Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp Agave nectar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 Tbsp flavorless cooking oil (I used Canola)
1 Tbsp Water
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

Basically, you just mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl (oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt nuts and coconut) and simmer the wet ingredients on the stove (syrup, agave, vanilla, oil and water). Then just drizzle the syrup mixture over the oat mixture and stir really well to coat it all. Spread it out on a large backing pan/dish and bake at about 250 for 30 minutes... stir and bake a little longer, if needed (you want it to be a nice golden brown color). When you take it out, let it sit to cool completely before storing it (or eating it!).

ENJOY!!!