Battle o' the Baby Showers!

This last weekend was full of traveling, celebrations, out of town guests, stress, more travel and finally we are home. I spent the majority of last week in Texas at my parents prior to my second baby shower and my hometown's claim to fame, The World's Largest Rattlesnake Round Up! Mostly I need to be there this week each year because mom gets really stressed about all the extra company and the open door policy that happens from Wednesday until Sunday at our house. Since dad and I enjoy this weekend SO much she typically sucks it up and we make it through but that does not mean there are not some fights and added stress! Always a Joy! :)

Anyway, when talking with the hosts of the shower in my hometown, I asked what they thought about doing it Round Up weekend so that if there were "out of towners" they would be able to make it to the shower and the rest of the Round Up festivities! They liked the idea so that is what we did!

The reason I titled this post "Battle o' the Baby Showers!" is because once I showed these ladies, my mom's dearest friends, photos of the shower my dearest friends hosted they new they wanted to try and "win!"  I have to declare this competition a TIE because the showers were equally lovely and perfect but so different at the same time!

 The OKC girls hosted a New and Trendy shower where the theme matched the colors of the nursery and they focused a lot of the decor and made sure that they foods they served made me happy! They asked my pregnancy cravings and planned a delicious menu based off those cravings! They know the way to my heart! FOOD!

The West Texas gals hosted a truly Southern Belle's Baby Shower! It was a morning shower where they served brunch foods and Petit Fours. Anyone know what those are?! They are delicious little moist cakes that are personal sized for you to pick up and bite or eat with a fork. One of my favorite desserts that I only get to enjoy at bridal showers or baby showers in Texas! I have never enjoyed a petit four anywhere else that my hometown! Something that also made this shower different was that it was a display shower. Instead of my having to sit in front of everyone and opening gifts, I was able to mingle with everyone that was there while the hostesses collected the gifts as guests arrived and displayed them in another room so people could go look if they wanted or just grab a bite and chit chat with friends.

As  I said, both showers were equally PERFECT and I could not have asked to be honored by two better groups of women! My moms best friends and my best friends made Peanut and I feel so extra special! I will post some pics from the second shower for you to enjoy!

OH, one more thing that was EXTRA special from the second shower was the old school alphabet blocks that were used at the party entrance. Since we aren't finding out the sex, they spelled out both our girl and boy name with the SAME building blocks that my mom's friend Vicki used at mom's baby shower when I was born! We looked and looked for a photo from the shower 28 years ago but we did not have any luck! Either way, the fact that the blocks were the same made this piece of decor so special!

XOXO

Hillary

Hello Slacker!

Happy Monday!  I am doing 'better' than the first few times I started this blog thing, but I still feel like I am slacking on my posts! I apologize also for mostly using this as a journal to just talk for the time being, that will hopefully change in the future. For right now, with all the things going on in my life, I find it hard to sit down and post of blog that explains how I am organizing my house or decorating my nursery or baking delicious treats! Each day is different and I just don't have a project going to blog about.  I know that blogging can be about ANYTHING but I want to occasionally entertain my readers with helpful hints like I did with my V-Day Blog! Other than RANDOMLY packing boxes to take to or storage unit there is nothing that I feel would benefit my readers at this point! If I blogged about how our packing and moving situation has gone so far, NO one would want to move or take my advice, EVER! I attempted to start a spreadsheet to keep things organized! My best friend and seester, Jennifer , did this when she moved and I thought, "WOW, this is great! When it comes time for us to move I will totally do this!" Well, I have labeled the boxes we have put in storage so far but now I have a Word List telling me what is in storage and a very short excell spreadsheet telling me what is in what boxes. This being pregnant thing is making packing hard! I have to place a box where I want it to stay until the weekend because once It gets packed it stays until my husband gets home move it. I can't always count on him wanting to move them after work either so I have been stalling. I swear I am trying to make progress though!  We are still in the process of finding a house but we are working on de-cluttering so we can list ours! My house feels naked because they say to remove all the personal touches when showing your home. We only have two photos still up of us and that is just not normal! My shelves are only holding a few items each when normally they are packed with "P's" and photos of us! I say "P's" because I am OBSESSED with monograms and our last name Initial - P! If you are ever looking for a gift to send just put a letter "P" in the mail! I will gladly accept it and display it somewhere in my house! Maybe after this week I will have some exciting info about a house to share but until then I am going to go do some random "organizing" if you can call it that or maybe some packing! We will see.

ALSO, 50 days until Peanut is due!!!! We will see if He or She arrives early or on time or late! I go this afternoon, despite the snow on the ground, for an ultrasound! It is crazy to think that when I left my midwife appointment last week that I scheduled the REST of my visits until my due date! Holy Moly!!!

Take care!

XOXO

Hillary

BUSY BABY WEEKEND!

WOW! It's been a while! I was trying NOT to skip so many days between blogs but this weekend got outta hand and I didn't turn on the TV or the Computer all weekend. There was a lot about ME but not a lot of ME time to just chill. This pregnancy thing tires me out so I have been taking a LOT more 'ME' time but really it is just resting time so I don't over do it!

So this weekend was all about babies! I would have to say it started on Thursday when my friend Brook was due in from IL. The plan was to pick her up from the airport at two and then head to meet Ryan to look at a few potential houses! Due to some plane issues she was delayed and we didn't meet up until later that evening. Ryan and I made it to see the houses and back home before we picked Brook up. Then we dined at the Cheesecake Factory. Brook and I sat up talking for a while since she recently moved away and then we decided it was time to hit the hay because we knew we had a FULL day planned for Friday!

Friday AM we woke up and grabbed coffee and breakfast before going to get pampered at the pedicure place. While we were there she received a text from one of the other hostesses, Jennifer, that he flight was delayed as well and that she and her husband and son would be making the trip via car! About a 12 and a half hour drive Jenn and her family would arrive! Since she was unable to get here a day early like planned, Brook and I spent the already busy day running around tending to Brooks final shower prep AND Jennifer's final shower prep!

Saturday was SHOWER DAY! I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends that wanted to host me a baby shower! 6 of my closest friends came together and planed what I would call the most spectacular Baby shower ever! Peanut is going to have the best Aunts in the world! They have already spoiled him/her with all the wonderful things they "showered" us with. The food was INCREDIBLE!!! I was able to have a a Virgin Bloody Mary that tasted JUST like a real one without the vodka! My cousin Meridith even duplicated a delicious dessert that I enjoyed in NOLA when we were there for the sugar bowl in January! They hit the nail on the head with the decor! I could not have asked for a more Beautiful shower to show my Peanut how much he/she is already loved!!! I have posted some photos below so you can all see how wonderful our day was!!!

Sunday was spent celebrating more babies! Brook and I have the same hair dresser and since she wasn't  flying out until around 5pm we planned to go see our hair dressers new baby boy Thomas! He is two weeks old and SOOO cute!!! I can't believe babies are really that small! Then we picked up Ryan and headed to Jennifer's mother's home to celebrate her baby boy! He will turn 1 in March so since she and her family where in from out of town for the shower, they chose to have his 1st birthday with all the rest of their Family. Baby J had great party and he is truly loved by all his family and friends! Such a cutie!

Overall the weekend was spent celebrating babies with ones that I love! Again, I am so blessed to have the friends and family that I do to make me and Peanut feel so special!!!

Thanks to everyone involved for a great weekend!!!

Delicious Food Spread

Me with 5 of the 6 hostesses

LOVE Cake

Decor - GOLD GLITTER!

Write a note to mommy on a diaper for those late night changings! So funny to read the diapers!

Such a creative guest book!

Cleaning Frenzy!

Is it just me or does everyone have to make a disaster of their house before they can completely clean it? I realized that it takes me twice as long to clean because before I can actually clean I have to de-clutter but when I de-clutter one space I clutter another space until it's time to clean that space and then I  just repeat the process. It is now 11:30pm and I am finally at a stopping point. I am having a friend in starting tomorrow and I had a lot of work to do. She is helping host my baby shower on Saturday and just moved away to Illinois last week! 3rd Trimester exhaustion has kept me from my normal routine so there was lots of dust and dirt to be wiped away and lots of paw prints to be moped from the floors! I got started this morning around 10, had a lunch break with a friend that I had not seen in weeks and then kept going! I had to make a Sonic drink break run to be able to make it the rest of the night but I managed to make lots of progress! The guest room is ready and we even have a freshly cleaned bathroom in the master suite! Needless to say my husband was excited to be able to see the bathroom counter when he got home. Oh…I also made dinner! So basically today was a HUGE success!!!!

As I mentioned above, my baby shower is this weekend!!! I am so excited. I have the best group of girls hosting it for me. Needless to say this baby is blessed and is going to have the best aunts in the world!!! I hope that after this shower I will feel a little bit more prepared. We have not purchased ANYTHING for this kid that is practical, only a book, an outfit and a toy! NOTHING ELSE!!! I have received some things as hand me downs that I am grateful for but I still feel like there are some pretty important things that we need to be able to bring the baby home from the hospital safely! I will blog again after the shower and the weekend has calmed down and report back on the items we receive that will help us raise this babe!!!

Just a short blog tonight about my cleaning frenzy and the upcoming shower this weekend! I can't wait to post pics because I know it is going to be FABULOUS!!!

XOXO

Hillary

Happy Hearts Day! "The" Valentine's Day Blog!

Welcome to my Official Valentine's Day Blog! In this post I will fill you in on the process I go through to prepare for a holiday! As I mentioned the other day, I prepared a list of ideas last Friday. I also told you that I was fortunate enough to receive a lot of display dishes as wedding gifts so I have a variety of things to choose from when displaying food! Here is a step by step list of what to do to make planning a tablescape fun and easy!

Step 1: Make a list of things you WANT to do. Ideas that you have seen online or in a magazine make a great place to start! Even if you may not be able to accomplish all of those things THIS time, it is good to have a Wish List! (Another neat trick is keep a file of all your lists from the past so you can look back! Maybe if you aren't able to do something this time you can keep it on the list for the next time around!) Your ideas can be as simple as wanting to add a centerpiece to spruce up your table or as complex as making your own table runner, napkins & matching place cards.

Step 2: After you make your list, you can go through your decor, craft supplies, serving pieces and your  pantry and decide what is an option for THIS time!  You can always get on Pinterest or Google for ideas if you don't know where to start.  I have a 'Holiday Ideas for the Future' Pin Board for just that reason! It is always smart to have a list of what you WANT and what you CAN HAVE when planning!

Step 3: I would say step three is set a budget. Once you know what you are willing to spend then you can move forward with your plan.  I will be honest, I am not a budget girl and it gets me in trouble. I cannot tell you what your budget should be because it depends on the type of event you are planning for! For everyone that is not me, once you decide what you are willing to spend, if anything, on extra decorations, details and food, you can move on! For this particular V-Day table I only spent money on Flowers and food things. I did not need to purchase any new serving pieces or anything. Also, since I cannot enjoy the Champagne and Ryan doesn't really like it, I did not purchase a bottle. I instead grabbed a bottle of wine from our wine cooler and used that instead!

Step 4: Plan your menu. Decide what you type of event you are going to have. A sit down Dinner, just "Sips and Sweets" or appetizers/snacks.  Then at that time, locate your recipes and plan your grocery list. Make sure when you are going through your pantry and fridge to read all your recipes to make sure you have enough of each ingredient. That should be obvious but I have been that girl that has gone back to the store twice or three times before being able to complete a menu because I did not have enough chicken broth or powdered sugar!

Step 5: This is the fun part for me…getting out your decor and serving pieces! Now you know what you are going to serve and you know what the theme of your event or party is, so now you can figure out how you want to display your creations! I love going through my buffet and my cabinets and seeing all my serving pieces and getting ideas of what I can use for what food item.  For this particular Valentine's Day, I am just setting up a table to photograph for my blog and to display the Sweet Treats that I am making with some friends to send with Ryan to work on Friday for his co-workers. (We are actually going out this year so no dinner menu here!) I have set the table as if we were having a romantic VDay Meal so I could take pictures for the blog!

Step 6: Get ahead of yourself! Buy anything you plan to purchase that is nonperishable early in the week of the event. I am baked cupcakes and brownies for Ryan's co-workers so I picked up my icing, sprinkles, cupcake liners and baking mixes on Monday. I also made chocolate covered strawberries but I waited until Thursday to buy the berries so they didn't get soggy! I sat down early and made my place cards as well. I had blank tags from Christmas and VDay stamps from last year so that did not cost me anything. I got out my silk flowers and my table runner and fabric and ironed those in advance.  I went ahead and purchased the live flowers I used for the table on Tuesday instead of waiting. Normally I would wait until the day before to purchase flowers!  (Hint: When using real flowers always trim the stem at an angle underneath running water!) I like to buy flowers at SAM's Club because they tend to be less expensive for more flowers and prettier flowers. I bought two bunches for less than $25.00 total broke them up and made 3 arrangements!

Step 7: Prepare your food! Start your day early.  I woke up on Thursday morning and started baking. I used disposable heart shaped baking dishes for the brownies and normal cupcake liners for the funfetti cupcakes! I always stock up on Pillsbury brand pink Icing around VDay! Target stocks it every year and I ALWAYS buy it! Funfetti cupcakes + Pink Icing + heart shaped sprinkles = the BEST VDAY treat! I bought my strawberries and dunked them in Almond Bark to make the chocolate covered strawberries. It has taken me years to figure out what type of chocolate to buy for dunking but finally figured out Almond Bark works the best.  I decided that since I had some adorable Coca Cola glasses that were favors from a friends wedding, I would used some cute straws I have to make mini Root Beer Floats! I am obsessed with the trendy paper straws so I have a lot in almost every color. I waited until the last minute to make these though so that the ice cream didn't melt all over the place!

This is where I get to feature some treats that my good friend Jennifer prepared! She sent me a photo and some recipes for her treats! Photos and links are attached below!  Sadly the link for the Chocolate Cake Mix Cookie Link is broken but I will try and get the recipe for you!

Isn't she talented! I just want to jump into the computer and gobble up these VDay Treats!

Pioneer Woman Valentine's Cookies            Valentine Pretzel Buttons

Step 8: While things are baking or cooling you can use this time to set the table. If you have pulled out all your serving pieces in advance then you should have very minimal work. I first laid the table runners down, then placed the chargers, plates, glasses and napkins. Then I prepared my floral arrangements. One for the Table, One for the champagne tray and one for the buffet in the back ground with all the extra VDay treats! After all your treats have cooled and been decorated then you can place them on their appropriate serving dishes and photograph your table. Again, I used the App Typic+ to label some of my photos like Jennifer did!

Step 9: ENJOY!!! At this time you can wait for your Sweetheart to arrive for your Special Valentine's Day! (One last tip-chill your wine or champagne all day and place in the champagne bucket with ice at the last minute!)

Just a view of the completed table

Cupcakes and Chocolate covered Strawberries

Root Beer Floats!

Extra Treats!

My place setting

A view of the entire room

Supplies for Placecards

Finished - Front and Back

Wine Bucket

I hope this is has been helpful for you and you are able to use the info to plan your next Valentine's Day or special dining event!

XOXO

Hillary

Baby Peanut Bump Photos

Baby Pitts: Due in April! Today is the 30 week mark and so I will take a bump photo later and post it to my Instagram!

Before we got pregnant, I ALWAYS thought I would do all the things you see online to keep up with the bump, announce the gender, etc.  I just knew I would do all the "popular" things to do during my pregnancy. As days and weeks passed, I decided that I would rather keep the pregnancy kind of private. Not a secret but just private. I was adamant about not posting anything until 12 weeks and even then it was more like 19 before we officially announced it via social media!  We told our parents right off the bat and from then certain family members and friends found out!  When you come from a small town it's hard to keep things private unless you tell NO ONE! I was not prepared for everyone to know just yet but apparently my family is physic and they "Just Knew." Basically we only confirmed the news!  After that day, we told the other close friends that we did not want to find out from anyone but us. That was me trying to be a "Planner" and it came back to bite me. There was a reason that everyone found out right away and I eventually got over the fact that I did not get to tell everyone the way I had envisioned!   Telling our friends and family was so exciting! Hearing and seeing their reactions was priceless! We actually took some professional photos to give to family members, frame for the house and the nursery and to announce the pregnancy on social media!

I did not want to NOT keep up with the bump progress so I did start documenting the bump at about 15 weeks! If it is a holiday or a significant event, IE: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Super Bowl Sunday, I have been documenting those times as well.  I have used the App 'Typic+' to label the pictures so I know what week it is and if there was a significant weather event or holiday happening. 'Typic+' is a free App that I downloaded on my iPhone. You can add text, frames and filters to your photos before posting them on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. It has made it easy for me to label my photos and keep track of how far along I am. I took one photo early on, about 6 weeks, and then did not take another until the 15 week mark when I first started noticing a bump! I am missing 2 weeks in the middle of the 20's, but I have one photo that I am not sure when it was taken so I will pretend it was during one of those weeks that I missed!!!  I wanted to use a chalkboard to make a cute weekly post with the size of the baby and some details about what I am feeling each week but the App has proven to be easier for me to do! I had a great plan but I can't take a photo of myself unless I use the mirror and Ryan gets home after dark so my plan of taking a photo outside each week did not work. That's when I resorted to selfies in the mirror!

I also thought that when I got pregnant that I would have a gender reveal party to announce the sex of the baby. Early on I decided that I wanted to wait to find out. I didn't want to fall into the mold and do what everyone else was doing. When I first saw that for the first time it was new but by the time we got pregnant I felt it had been overdone so Ryan and I discussed it and agreed that we would wait. We are keeping it a secret until the baby arrives! Each month we tell the Ultrasound Tech "we still aren't finding out the sex" and she tells when when to cover my eyes if she needs to check things out down there.  I don't know if I have mentioned before that Ryan is convinced that Peanut is a boy. I tend to think the same thing but we will see!!!

I have decided on Nursery Colors  that I feel are gender neutral and that will be a post all it's own. I have purchased fabric that my aunt and I will turn into baby bedding and I will definitely post about that! I can't wait to get started!

Something else that I have noticed in the past month is a lot more movement. I get a giant smile when Peanut does his/her daily Yoga and Karate routine. I can't wait to meet this little one!!!

Here are some photos from our photo shoot and some bump pics!   That's all for now!

XOXO,
Hillary

Happy 'Almost' Valentine's Day!

Happy 'Almost' Valentine's Day! I am excited about this post and my actual V-Day post that will reveal  my full Tablescape and Valentine's Day spread!  Now this post is just some of my plans for Friday but I may run out of time or there is the occasional mis-hap in the kitchen that leads to a heart shaped, pep to bismol colored "red velvet" going into the trash! Whoooops! ;)  Please don't hold me to all of these things but I DO plan to attempt them all.

I absolutely LOVE to design and decorate tables. I credit that to my two years at the party rental company where I got to decorate all the tables in the showroom for brides to see. It gave them about 5 different "themes" or "design" ideas for their wedding and displayed all the linen options that were available. I used to have the luxury of renting items at a discounted price for any sort of event that I was having personally. Since quitting the party store, I have had to invest in my own table top items. Luckily when I got married we received a TON of awesome serving pieces. I have added some to my collection over the years and have purchased napkin sets, chargers, napkin rings, place card holders, etc. Since I got my handy dandy sewing machine a few years back, I have made some table runners and things that I will use for my table this year! Even though it is only the two of us, for now, I will have a lot to display!

I actually went to work with Ryan yesterday so we could look at some houses and while he was working I made my list of ideas for V-Day! I am excited to share them with you!

A few years back I made a table runner out of burlap that I accented with some felt hearts and roses. I plan to use that again but I am going to pair it with my pink and white chevron fabric that was used for a friends baby shower. I am anxious to see how it will turn out. In my mind I think it will be adorable! I am excited to use my wonderfully carved white, wooden chargers again! They are my favorite investment for table top items so far! I received the matching tray for Christmas last year from my sister in law that I will pair with a champagne bucket, champagne flutes and some flowers! Even though I can't enjoy the champagne I will fake it! Gotta make the table pretty! I absolutely LOVE cake domes, so... I plan to create a dessert to put in my mini cake dome! For place cards I want to dip some strawberries in dark chocolate and tie a place card to them with bakers twine! I must also create the place cards! My friend Jennifer is going to create some other desserts for me to feature on my blog! I can't wait to see what she is going to come up with! She is a WONDERFUL cook! Hopefully the blog posts will give you some ideas for your Valentine's Day menu and table. I look forward to sharing the final product with you! Keep an eye out!

XOXO

Hillary