1 Year Old Today!

My little man turned one year old today!! It was so exciting! And so crazy to think about, all at the same time!! I can't believe one year today, I gave birth to this wonderful little boy. Little did I know how MUCH life would REALLY change. It's been filled with many ups and downs. But oh so worth it all. He's walking. He has 6 teeth and working on 4 more. He's been on his first plane, bus, and subway! I look forward to what the future has to bring in this little guys life.



Soooo, for his First Birthday we went to the Splash Park! The weather was perfect! And we where joined by our wonderful friends and family. And although Cohen was tired and a wee bit sick (small cough), it was so much fun.





Cohen had his first cake (and last one until next year, I know, I'm mean) and he enjoyed it thoroughly.



We splashed around in the water. And we couldn't ask for anything more. It was truly a blessed day.

Festive Goodie Bags

So, a couple of weeks ago I blogged that I was intending on making these drawstring bags for Cohen's Birthday Goodie Bags. Well, that idea got nixed real fast when I realized Cohen's birthday party was a lot sooner than realized. So, I did some brainstorming and visited the local dollar store (that may sound cheap, but I'm on a super tight budget).



I figured since we are going to the splash park, I should do something water related. So, I picked up some sand castle buckets, water guns, bubbles, and splash balls (from target). And voila, I had our goodie bags. I assembled them today and I think they turned our pretty well.


And this is Cohen when he woke up from his nap. Notice the hair.

5 Second Sunshine

For the past 4 days it has been raining. Pretty much nonstop. Some parts of Central Florida are flooded and it's not even Hurricane Season. But I'm not complaining. We've had a drought for who knows how long and earlier this month we've had Wild Fires. So I am grateful for the rain. But Today, the rain let up for a little bit and I even got to see some Sunlight, before the clouds covered it again. And all the rain gave life to our Southern Magnolia.

(I know it doesn't look so great...)

Which popped out its first flower of the year...and we have about 5 more ready to bloom!!



It's suppose to rain every day from here on out for who knows how long. So, my garden has been put on hold....

Black and White Color Scheme

I am choosing to do a black and white color scheme for our home we build. Along with some grays and other neutrals. I've been loving this idea for a while, and while I would like to implement it in our home now, I think I will just wait for our new place.

I just love the neutrals and the bold statement it makes. It will also allow me to throw parties where I can mix and match decorations depending on the theme, other than trying to blend it with our decor without it clashing.

The DH may not be too thrilled...but he typically lets me do what I want. After all I did go to school for interior design...

All Day Yard Work

Saturday we spent all day in the yard. Pulling weeds, clearing out the flower beds, edging, trimming bushes, patching the fence AND planting our tree.



I'm sore, but loving that we got so much done. There is still more to do, but we are on our way.



And we ended the evening with some yum-o Chinese.

Cinema in the Park

Friday Night we attended our first ever Cinema in the Park.



We've tried to go other times...but it hadn't worked out. Our city shows a movie in the park every 3rd Friday of the month. It was a lot of fun: the weather was nice, good friends, free popcorn, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.



I hope to do more Cinema's in the park in the future.

Planning out the Garden

I have been researching like CRAZY this week!! So much so that I have completely neglected the house. I'm sure the husband isn't too happy about that. Oh well, I'll step it up later today.

Anyways,

I have finished the plan for our backyard garden.


At least the layout. I am super stoked about this. I went driving around town yesterday looking for some scrap wood. I found some at a construction site. But didn't get any then...because I had the baby with me and there was so much stuff. So, I want to bring my hubs with me to get it all...hopefully it wont be hauled away before then. And I was also looking through the shed and came across some nice pieces of wood. Maybe we will be able to get one box built this weekend.

I can't wait until I have my garden!

It's Alive!!

Remember our tree we got from the City? Well, I forgot to ask my mom to water it while we were away in Boston. And when we came back, it was looking quite dead. But I was determined to bring it back to life! So, I watered and watered, and it sprinkled here and there. And the other day when I was watering, I noticed this:


Life!! Our Tree isn't dead! I was so excited because we have big plans for this guy. This weekend he will be planted in our Front Yard. Yay!!

Making Goodie Bags

I am trying every day to learn new ways to green up my life more and more. And for Cohen's Birthday Party, I wanted that to continue. I knew I would need to have some goodie bags for Cohen's friends, to thank them for celebrating with us. I came across this blog one day, Lovely Design, and saw she made her own personalized goodie bags for her child's b-day party. And I thought what a great idea. Unfortunately I don't have fabric laying around, but it shouldn't be all that expensive.



Now I just need to find a sewing machine to borrow....

And we have Lift Off!!

The Shuttle Atlantis just lifted off!!



I don't think the lift off ever gets old. I remember in elementary, middle, and high school, our teachers would always allow us to go outside to see the shuttle launch. This is a historical moment as well. Atlantis will only have 8 more flights after today. It is scheduled to retire in September 2010. Then NASA will be building a new Rocket for its space flights.

Our Mother's Day

Every Mother's Day, at our Church, they have a baby dedication. And this year Cohen was being dedicated!! I remember this time last year I was so ready to have our baby. I was sitting at 3 cm and 50% effaced. And it stayed that way for 4 more weeks. I wasn't too happy. But it was nice having Cohen dedicated, along with our other friends' babies.


Then after church we went to Ruby Tuesday's for some grub and relaxed at Jason's parents home.

Happy Mother's Day!!

4 Hours

That's how long it took us to do yard work this morning!! And we still have so much to do before I (we) will be happy with. But our budget is tight...so we will be stretching the dollar as far as we possibly can.

This is our house before. The yard is covered with our Oaks lovely dead leaves. And we have tons of weeds everywhere. We've been very neglectful.



Cohen helped us by happily playing in his Play Pen.



Jason helping with the last bit of weed picking/clean up for the day.



Our collection of bags of leaves. A total of 13 bags. I was pretty surprised because our yard isn't that big. And we didnt even make it to the back yard or the side yard.



And this is our yard so far. We raked all the leaves we could possibly get. Removed the wood rot surrounding the tree and trimmed the hedges. It is now ready for more weeding and for new plantings to pretty it up. Maybe we can win Yard of the Month for once. haha. I'll make it my goal.



Until next weekend.

We're Selling our Home!

Jason and I have decided to sell our home!

(our home when we first moved in)

This is so exciting for us. Which may later turn stressful due to the fact it's not the greatest time to try and sell a home. But(!!), Jason's parents have a bit of land just south of us and they are lovingly going to gift us a piece of it so we can build a home there. We have always had it in our plans to build a home, but we never in a million years thought it would be possible this early in our lives together. But we couldn't be more happy. We have even picked out a plan that we like, with a little tweeking of course.

We like the idea of having a loft. That way when the kids (future, since we only have one currently) are older, we can send them upstairs to play while we are having dinner parties.



Our plan is to get what we feel is needed to get done in order to put it on the market, hire one awesome realtor and give it all up to God.

So, we have comprised a list of To Do's.

To Do List:

1. Improve the lawn. This includes fixing the fence, landscaping, and trimming the Large Oak.
2. Replace lighting in both bathrooms.
3. Paint Doors and Trim.
4. Pressure wash the house.
5. And Stage the House!

Hopefully we can get this all done in 2 Months. To some this may seem doable in the allotted time, but most of our weekends are booked solid.

This Saturday Kicks off the start to our list and the selling of our home.

I'll be blogging about my inspirations and the things we desire for our new home.

Going Green

I was perusing the blogosphere when I happened across this Lovely Little Site, Little Homstead in the City. It is a website/blog about a family in Pasadena, CA. They grow all their own fruits and Vegetables. Along with herbs, eggs, milk, edible flowers, etc.



This is MY DREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For some time now I have been wanting to plant my own garden. Unfortunately, our yard is made up of sand and weeds, and a few patches of grass. Right before we found out we were preggers, we had plans to redo the yard, and things have been put on hold since then. But as of recent, it has been tugging on my heart more and more. Just imagine, fresh organice food!! And saving money! So, I have started saving seeds and have started doing more research again. I'm jumping back into composting, so I can have some fresh compost to plant goodies in and am thinking of making planter boxes. I've heard this is a super productive way to start a garden.

This weekend is the start of our new adventure. And an adventure, good or bad, it will be. I know it will be all worth it in the end. I can't wait!!!

Southwest-Style Chicken Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup crushed nacho-flavor or plain tortilla chips
• 3 Tbsp. finely chopped green sweet pepper
• 3/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 lb. uncooked ground chicken
• 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers, shredded
• 4 Cheesy Corn Bread Slices (below)
• 1 medium avocado, seeded, peeled, and sliced
• Purchased or homemade salsa

Directions

1. In a large bowl beat egg with a whisk; stir in crushed tortilla chips, sweet pepper, chili powder, salt, and black pepper. Add chicken; mix well. Shape the chicken mixture into four 3/4-inch-thick patties.

2. Place patties on the grill rack directly over medium heat; grill for 14 to 18 minutes or until no longer pink (165 degrees F), turning once halfway through grilling. Add Cheesy Corn Bread Slices for the last 2 minutes of grilling; turn slices once.

3. Top patties with cheese. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

4. Serve patties on toasted Cheesy Corn Bread Slices with avocado and salsa. Makes 4 servings.

5. Cheesy Corn Bread Slices: In a large bowl combine 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. In a small bowl beat 3 eggs, 1-1/2 cups milk, and 1/3 cup cooking oil with a whisk; add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Fold in 1 cx4x2-inch loaf pan. Bake in a 400 degrees F oven about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely. Wrap and store corn bread overnight before slicing. Cut corn bread in half crosswise. Reserve half of the corn bread for another use (if desired, freeze in an airtight freezer container or bag for up to 3 months). Cut remaining half of the corn bread into four lengthwise slices.

The only thing different is that, my recipe book said buns, not yummy cornbread. Oh well, it was still yummy.

26 Days

In just 26 days my little man will be going from infant to toddler. He will be turning 1 Year Old!!! I can't believe it. This year has gone by soooo faaaasst!

It is now time to plan my first 1st Birthday Party. I am super excited!! I love planning parties! And if my budget allowed I would host parties all the time. Until then, I will take what I can get.

So, Cohen's favorite word is ball, although it sounds like "ba" (long a), I know he is saying ball. And he knows what they are...even though he says it to everything. So, the theme is going to be Balls, all different kinds, bouncy balls, soccer balls, beach balls, all of them.



And I found this great recipe for Cake Pops via Bakerella, my new fave blog (one of them).



I'm planning on also doing it at one of the local splashparks, since Cohen loves the water.

There is so much to do!! And I don't have much time. So here goes....

Here is my little man at the pool this weekend. So cute!! (dont mind my half closed eyes)

Dancing Pool Parties

This weekend was another crazy weekend! And I loved it!!! I love doing things and always being on the go. I guess it makes me feel like I am living out my life. I love making memories and experiencing the things that come my way.

So this past Friday we went out to Celebrate our Friend Kelly's 21st Birthday! We went out to Jimmy Buffets's Margaritaville at Universals City Walk and then down to the Clubs. I hadn't been out dancing since right before we found out we were preggers and not with my husband way before that.



We had a ton of fun, and although I only got 4.5 hours of sleep that night, it was all worth it.


Then on Saturday one of my cousins had a BBQ Pool Party for all the in town family members and those visiting. I hadn't seen my cousins in a while, so this was a great time to catch up and have a good time.

Boston - Day 1

Packed and Ready to go. We were off to Boston! I hadn't been on a plane since we went to Seattle the August before we found out we were pregnant. I was super nervous and extra nervous flying with a baby for the first time and with a 6:30 am flight.



But Cohen did amazingly well. We had so many compliments and were super proud of him. And before we knew it we were in Boston.

The First day we didn't do much. We stayed with Jason's sister and her family. We hadn't been to see them in Boston in almost 3 years.

So, we hung out around the house and went to the park.



It was a nice calm before the storm. Which was a list of everything I wanted to do in Boston. When I visit different Cities I am a major tourist! I want to visit everything and make the most of my time there.



We went to bed early to make sure we got enough rest for our busy and fun vacation.