We are back from an amazing (and very refreshing) trip to Pittsburgh to visit family one last time before Connor is born. After driving 13 hours each way, I'm glad to be on an unmoving surface again, but I would make that drive a hundred times over if we could have as much fun as we did this past weekend.
We packed so much stuff into 4 days: shopping, yard saling, the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, 2 birthday celebrations, a trip to Kennywood Amusement Park, a visit to Treesdale for canoeing, and plenty of hang out time with family. It was a great final getaway before the baby comes, and Haley had SO much fun
getting an ice cream mustache at Kennywood...
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...canoeing on the lake with Cousin Lena...
...wearing a crown made of wildflowers... 
...and riding her first rides at Kennywood (with Mommy of course, I'm not ready to let her try it on her own just yet!) Oh, and did I mention one of the Christmas presents we got for Haley came in yesterday?  It's a toddler-sized recliner! Yes, I realize it's September, but we just couldn't wait to give her  her present. She loves sitting in the kid-size foam chairs at daycare, so we knew we had to get her one of her own. And why not get her one to match Daddy's chair? How cute are they?? Now they can both watch the Fresh Beat Band together in their recliners :) And by the way, I would like to thank the whole cast of the Fresh Beat Band for making our 26 hour round trip to and from Pittsburgh that much more enjoyable. Although I have to say their songs are unavoidably catchy, and I think I may have infected my in-laws with Fresh Beat madness while we were visiting...there are worse things I suppose. The tutorial for the quilted bibs is coming soon, stay tuned!
So remember how I told you that I made a cow dress for Haley for Chick- fil- a's Cow Appreciation Day? Well, I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of it. If you're not aware of Cow Appreciation Day, it's a once a year event that Chick- fil-a holds at their restaurants where guests can dress up like cows for a free entree (even for the little calves.) Being a HUGE sucker for their chicken sandwiches, I planned on dressing up myself and my daughter and getting other obsessed people friends at the office to participate with us. Originally, I planned on making Haley a simple t-shirt with cow spots on it, you know, something that would only take 5 minutes to whip up. Instead, I got a grand vision for a shirt with cow ruffles that instead took me 4 1/2 hours to finish. And yes, the delicious food made up for the lack of sleep (even though my husband thinks I'm completely nuts for staying up until 11:45 for a $6.00 entree. He just doesn't understand.)  So unfortunately, I had a hard time getting the little calf to stand still (proof below), so the pictures are less than stellar (but at least I got one good one thanks to my wonderful hubby who got her to smile!)  I had this cow print fabric sitting in my stash for over a year now waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. It was a sign! I used a 4T shirt and cut it down to fit her, then sewed a ruffle around the bottom and used a blanket stitch to attach letters that spell "little cowgirl" (which I thought was very appropriate for the occasion :) I also made several fabric roses and attached one to her shirt, and 2 to the headband I made for her. I kinda winged it (wung it? wang it? whatever.) but here's a better tutorial to show you how to make cute fabric roses. Haley hates having stuff on her head (hats, glasses, bows, ANYTHING) so the headband didn't stay on long, but it was cute for pictures!
Oh, and did I mention I dressed up too? Chick-fil-a provided free printable ears, noses, tails, and "Eat Mor Chikin" signs for those who wanted to participate. Nice look, right?  And did I also mention that I got most of the office to dress up with me?? That's right, we love our chicken sandwiches!!
 All of us got free entrees except for the one guy on the far left who was denied because he didn't have cow spots on his pants. I don't know when this became a rule, I think he just got a grumpy employee. I finally got to try the spicy chicken sandwich (2 thumbs up!) but I'll probably be sticking with the classic in the future. There's just something about the original chicken sandwich, I'm pretty sure they put some kind of addictive substance in it...
We all had a great time though, I'll definitely be participating again next year!
Let me introduce you to my new baby....  Ok, so it's not the baby you were probably thinking of, but I'm still excited!! My husband and I are both sprawlers when we sleep, so that means someone inevitably gets kneed in the back or kicked in the leg night after night. (Patrick will tell you that it's all my doing, but I seem to remember a certain someone having a dream about a giant spider and kicking me in the back in his sleep.) Needless to say, our queen bed was just not doing it for us anymore. We are tall people! We need our space, especially since I'm only going to be getting bigger over the next 5 months. So on the weekend of July 4th, we decided it was time to get a king bed.
The guy at Mattress Firm saw that we were desperate was a great salesman. The bed we were looking at was already marked down $200 due to the holiday, but he offered us more money off the mattress, a free mattress cover, money off the frame, 2 year no interest financing, and same day delivery if we bought the mattress that day. A night without being kicked? Deal! Our brand spankin' new king mattress was delivered last Monday and my back and I have never been happier. Oh and Patrick has yet to claim that I'm on his side kicking him relentlessly through the night. My favorite part other than the good night's sleep? Buying the new comforter and matching pillows in my favorite color combination!! Hmm, should I be getting this excited about bedding? I suppose this is one of those "adult moments" I never understood when I was younger. Now, I just need to find a good tutorial for making a headboard. Any suggestions??
 I'm not! This is what I'll be wearing to Chick-fil-a today for a free combo meal to celebrate Cow Appreciation Day. Oh and Haley will be in tow in full cow-spotted glory, complete with tail (pictures on that later). If you want to participate, all you have to do is click here and print off Chick-fil-a's cow costume starter kit, then show up at your nearest location for free food. I have 2 Chick-fil-a's in my area, guess who's having chicken sandwich combo meals twice today??
I don't know about you, but my favorite thing about the 4th of July (aside from the fireworks) is the food. The 4th is a great excuse to dust off the grill, cut up a giant watermelon, and enjoy time with friends and family between bites of traditional BBQ food.
A few years back, a friend of mine brought a delicious trifle to a BBQ that was unforgettable. I had never had trifle before, but after one bite I was hooked. She gave me the recipe (which is surprisingly simple!) and I've probably made this for friends and family more times than any other dessert since then.
Traditionally, a trifle consists of layers sponge cake with brandy or rum and custard and whipped cream, but there are tons of different variations to this dessert. This particular version has no alcohol in it. The fresh strawberries and blueberries, along with the whipped cream, make this dessert surprisingly refreshing. 
Ingredients:- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 2 small packages of Jello brand instant cheesecake pudding
- 1 large container of fresh strawberries
- 1 small container of fresh blueberries
- 1 cup of Cool Whip whipped cream, softened
- 1 package of white chocolate chips
*Note: If you're making this for a party, make it a few hours ahead rather than overnight. The juices from the strawberries tend to soak the cake somewhat, so this dessert is best served right away.
Recipe:
Prepare cake mix according to package and let cool. (You will only need 1 of the prepared cakes, so only make 1/2 of the box if you want, or you can do what my husband and I do and make both so you can frost and eat the other cake later :) While your cake is cooling, prepare both boxes of pudding according to the directions on the box. Set aside 2/3 cup of pudding to be used for the topping later.
Rinse blueberries and strawberries, then cut up strawberries into slices and coat with sugar if desired.
Cut up cake into bite-sized pieces and layer 1/2 of the pieces in the bottom of a trifle dish or other large glass dish. Layer all of the pudding on top (except your reserve), followed by 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips, 1/2 of the blueberries, 1/2 of the strawberries, and lastly the remaining cake cubes.
Combine the reserved cheesecake pudding with the 1 cup Cool Whip and mix well. Pour mixture over top. Use the remaining fruit and white chocolate chips to decorate the top of the trifle (or just toss them on top, no one will mind, they'll be too busy eating :)
Enjoy!
These past few weeks have been busy busy busy! As the weather gets warmer in Tennessee, our weekends seem to have more packed into them, which is ok by me. Last weekend, Patrick, Haley, Todd and I piled in the van (a.k.a. the Swagger Wagon) and took a road trip to Alabama to see our friends Matt and Rachel get married. I've known Matt for a little over 2 years. He was in the same group of friends that Patrick was in when we lived in Virginia, and I have a lot of great memories of all of us having bbq's and movie nights at Patrick's bachelor pad not that long ago. After graduating, he moved back to Alabama to be closer to family, and ended up meeting his fiancee (now wife) Rachel. Happily, a few months ago Matt accepted a job where Pat and I both work, and he now lives in Tennessee - and will, of course, be bringing Rachel with him after they honeymoon in Aspen. I was really excited about this wedding because it would be the first one Patrick and I attended since our own wedding 2 years ago. There's just something magical about seeing 2 people so in love, nervously standing before each other, giving their hearts to one another completely. Love is a beautiful thing. It made me think of the long wait that I went through to get to my wedding day, only to have it fly by in an instant when I myself was standing before my husband, sliding a ring onto his finger.  The wedding was gorgeous. Rachel and Matt had chosen black, yellow, and white as their colors, and the whole wedding had a very fresh, "springy" feel to it. The flower girls were adorable in their little white dresses and daisies in their hair, and of course Rachel was radient. We were also glad to have a few of our friends at the wedding as well, especially since many of them hadn't seen Haley since she was a tiny baby. We all shared a row at the back of the church (in case I had to escape with a whiny toddler.)  |  |
Since we didn't want to leave Haley alone while we stayed overnight in Alabama, she came too and was a perfect angel throughout the whole wedding - up until they were reciting their vows and she started saying "oooooohhh," which seemed hilariously appropriate. She kept herself entertained with an assortment of board books, toys, and an iPhone - which she loves playing Bejeweled on. She's going to be the reigning champ by age 3. She sat through the whole wedding and then it was onto the reception. Without a solid nap in between, Pat and I wondered how she'd do since the reception would undoubtedly go until late evening.
 The reception was held at an art museum in Mobile. They had gone all out with personalized decorations like monogrammed aprons for some of the people serving food, and personalized coffee sleeves and goody bags for the favors - a cookie table where guests could choose from an assortment of homemade cookies. My favorite thing was the cake which, of course, carried out their yellow/white theme perfectly. And yes, it was as good as it looked.
After making it through several rounds at the buffet, toddling around the entire art museum, and the cake cutting, Haley promptly collapsed on Pat's shoulder in exhaustion at 9 pm. We were just glad that we made it through the whole night without any major freak outs from a little girl with no afternoon nap. We missed the dancing, but hey, I'm pretty sure the people there weren't ready for our sweet dance moves anyway. Oh well, maybe at the next wedding...
I know I'm a few days behind on this post, but I wanted to talk a little about how I spent my Valentine's Day. Patrick and I have been together almost 3 years (and married for almost 2,) and during that time, we've had the privilege of spending 3 Valentine's Days together. For the first Valentine's Day, I honestly cannot tell you what we did but if Patrick asks you, It was extremely magical and romantic. for the second Valentine's Day, I can't remember exactly what we did, but I know it involved a bed. Now now, don't go jumping into the gutters people. I was on bed rest last year while I was pregnant with Haley, so most of my life revolved around a bed at that time. All I was allowed to do was get up to take a shower and make myself a sandwich, so I'm sure that Valentine's day consisted mostly of TV watching and eating chocolate because, really, what's Valentine's Day without chocolate? This year, Patrick and I were looking forward to spending a special Valentine's Day together since this would be our first "official" (aka not on bed rest) Valentine's Day as a married couple. Since we have the most perfect, wonderful baby in the world (I'm a little biased, but it's still true) we were lucky that one of the girls who does daycare at work volunteered to watch Haley for us so we could go out. What to do? We decided to have a nice dinner at J. Alexander's and then see a movie afterward. I even convinced Patrick to dress up some - he wore a collared shirt - it's the small victories. Being V-Day and all, we decided to go to dinner at 4PM so that we had enough time to catch our 7:30 movie. For those of you who are math illiterate like me, that means we have 3 1/2 hours between dinner and a movie. Plenty of time, or so we thought. We get to J. Alexander's and like a good husband, Patrick lets me out at the curb so that I can avoid the rain and put our name on the waiting list while he stalked the nice couple who just came out of the restaurant for their parking spot. As I went inside, I could not find the line to stand in for reservations. I'm not joking, there were people stacked like sardines in the lobby. After doing a little more searching, I saw a tightly-packed group of people who looked like they would punch the next person who tried to elbow themselves in front of them. Realizing this was the waiting line, I took my spot at the end and waited my turn. As the line inched forward, I finally made my way to the front where a frazzled young hostess looked like she wanted to tell me and everyone else in the lobby to walk into traffic. "How long is the wait?" I asked, giving my best "you can bump us to the top of the line if you want to" smile. "2 1/2 hours" she said, staring back lifelessly. And that is how Patrick and I came to eat at Texas Road House for Valentine's Day. Instead of having our steak with a side of orzo and wild mushrooms, we had them with baked potatoes and rolls with cinnamon butter. Instead of nicely-dressed waiters and a wine list, we had waiters in t-shirts who did a line dance to "Sweet Home Alabama" and offered us house margaritas. But hey, I'm not complaining at all. The food was good and the company was even better AND I wasn't confined to a bed - who could ask for more? As we were waiting in the (much shorter) line to be seated, I had to laugh a little to myself though. With all the peanut shells on the ground, our nice clothes and dress shoes did look a little out of place. Oh well, so much for dressing up. 
I LOVE SNOW DAYS. Especially unexpected ones. This morning, I woke up to 3 inches of fresh snow on the ground and no work. In Tennessee, the whole city shuts down when it snows. There are no snow plows (that I have seen) and no salt trucks. Your best bet is to call up a buddy with a 4x4 and hope that you make it safely to the grocery store, and if not, you better hope you can live off of whatever is in your house until the snow melts. Having lived in Colorado for 8 years, 3 inches of snow is nothing. I remember many many days waking up and seeing 3+ inches of fresh snow outside and immediately running downstairs to the TV to watch for a cancellation, only to find out that school wasn't even delayed. Not even by half an hour. So I would sit there and wait until last minute, hoping that the superintendant had a change of heart and decided not to risk the lives of hundreds of children that day. He usually decided it was worth the risk. I would then trudge sadly upstairs to get ready for the grueling wait in the 20 degree weather for the bus. In Colorado, they didn't mess around with the snow. The minute the first flake fell, the snow plows and salt trucks were outside doing their thing. I hated them as a kid. They meant a morning full of algebra and science classes instead of cartoons and hot chocolate. As I began my walk to the bus stop, hands shoved into gloves deep into my pockets and close to my body to avoid letting any freezing wind in, I would inevitably see that one kid whose mom drove him to the bus stop in his warm, cozy van and let him wait inside until the bus came. I always wondered why Van Mom wouldn't let the rest of us in to keep warm. Couldn't she see that we were all losing precious extremities with each passing minute? We would all stand in a little group, waiting for the 15-minute mark - as we all know, that's the correct amount of time that is allowed to pass before you go home and tell your parents that school must be cancelled because the bus didn't show up. Inevitably though, we would get close to the 15-minute mark and then see it- the white strobe light. When there was heavy snowfall in Colorado, the busses would turn on a white strobe light on their roof and chug along in the snow to pick up the unwilling children. The white strobe light in the distance meant no cartoons or snowball fights...unless it snowed harder by lunch hour. I haven't had a snow day since...well, since last week, but BEFORE THAT I can't remember when I had a snow day. As an adult, you'd think that the excitement of a snow day would have died a little bit, but this morning, that child in me that used to run to the TV to see if school was cancelled got really excited when I found out that I didn't have to go in to work. What to do? Netflix instant que? Baking? Computer games? Reading? Playing in the snow is not really that appealing to me...I'm not too fond of wet, freezing feet and hands, but since Haley has never been in snow before, I promised my husband that I'd take her out in it. She spent most of her time trying to eat the snow. 11-month olds don't really get the fun factor of snow yet. Give her a few years and she'll be having snowball fights and getting excited when a new blanket of snow means no school that day.   
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