DIY Pumpkin Shirt

My Halloween costume this year was the easiest {and cheapest} I've ever made. I think it cost me a total of $3 and took me 15 minutes to throw together. 

 Materials

Orange Shirt

Ribbon

Black Sticker Felt

Scissors

Safety Pin

*if you can't find the black felt with the sticker back, you can use regular felt and double-sided tape

Although you probably don't need it, I used a pumpkin face template just to make sure everything was even.

 Trace your cutout pieces onto the back of the felt, cut it out, peel the back off and stick to your shirt.

For the bow, I gathered the middle using a piece of thread then safety pinned it to my shirt.

 Charlie approves.   And my runner up Halloween costume? A mummy! How cute is this idea from delia creates?

{via}

Week 13 Bumpdate

How far along: 13 weeks! I can't believe today marks our second trimester! Time is flying!
Baby Size: The baby is a size of a peach (3 inches long).
Weight gain: Up another pound, coming in at 112.5. Pretty sure all my weight gain is from carbs so far.

Maternity clothes: I picked up a shirt and a pair of leggings from Gap this week. Old Navy was also running a huge sale online so I stocked up on tunics, jeans and dresses. I got 12 items for $75!
  Stretch marks: Between both moms, I have enough stretch mark cream to last me through my pregnancy. Never in a million years did I expect the moms to pack our Halloween package with candy, gift cards and stretch mark prevention cream. Gotta love the moms! 
Sleep: For some reason I have been waking up at 2 or 3 a.m. to tinkle and have the hardest time going back to sleep. I toss and turn for at least 2 hours afterwards. Matt thinks it's because I'm going to bed at 8 pm. Eek!
Best moment this week: This week we received so many cards and packages in the mail that I can't stop smiling. From frosted animal crackers to car mirrors for the baby, our mailman has been busy!

Looking forward to: Halloween and our anniversary trip! We have some friends staying with us Halloween night and can't wait to hang out on the porch catching up and passing out candy to all the cute trick-or-treaters! Then on Friday morning Matt, Charlie and I are hitting the road for a nice cabin weekend in the mountains! We are so excited to celebrate two years with our growing family!

What I miss: Nothing really.
Movement: Not yet...

Food cravings: Still eating tons of carbs {bagels, pastas and french fries}. Also, I owe Mel, McKinsey, Laura, Meghan and Cristina a huge shout out {and thank you from baby M} for letting us change our weekly Tuesday night dinner date from Panera to IHOP so I could stuff my face with pancakes. You girls are the BEST!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still disgusted by chicken. Gross.
Gender: I thought it was a boy last week, but after reading all of your comments I am back to thinking it's a girl...

Labor Signs: Will start answering this in about 28 weeks...

Symptoms: After I eat a large meal I stay full for a very long time these days.  
Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood: Happy, happy, happy! 
Nursery: I started seriously thinking about the nursery this week. Matt's going to kill me when he finds out what sort of projects I have in mind.  
Workouts: Using the elliptical more than ever, and of course I am still attending Cardio Funk dance class on Fridays.

Prayer for Baby:   Dear Lord, this week our baby is developing vocal cords. I pray our child will grow up and speak only positive and encouraging words, and to avoid gossip and criticism. Help me, too, so that I can also be a good role model for godly speech. Thank you for blessing us with this special baby. We are so grateful to be entering our second trimester. In Jesus' name, Amen.   "May the words of me mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, my rock and my redeemer."  - Psalm 19:14 

The Best Chili

Just popping in to post the best chili recipe that Matt and I have ever made. It started with a "Wendy's Chili Recipe" I found on Pinterest. I doctored it up a bit and oh-my-goodness it is so de-licious I couldn't wait to post it! So if you're looking to make a batch of chili soon, try this one!!!

The Best Chili
Adapted from Key Ingredient's Wendy's Chili

 

 
1 pound fresh ground beef
1 (29 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
 1 (29 ounce) can tomato purée
1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
1 medium-large onion, chopped (about 1½ cups)
1 cup diced celery
1 box of Two Alarm Chili Kit {using only half the chili powder and omitting the Masa flour}
1 ranch packet
 
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Drain off the fat. Put the beef and the remaining ingredients in a 6-quart pot. Cover the pot and let the chili simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. You can also cook this in a slow cooker on low for 3 to 4 hours. 

photo added 10/15/16 -- CGM at 25 months

Caroline worked hard to dump all 16 cans into the pot. She was proud of the finished product. Now if only she'd clean the kitchen...

new photo updated 10/15/16

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! You know the drill...

- ONE - After 3 longs months of waiting, our Custom Kenter Classic Chair from Home Decorators Collection arrived! I love how it fills the corner of our living room. Plus now we don't have to squeeze all of our guests onto the couch! Oh, and we snagged this during HDC's last huge sale at over half off and free shipping!

 We went with the "Chelsea Silver" fabric and I love how the grey looks with the beige's in the room.

  But now I need some serious advice! What the heck do I put in front of our fireplace mantel and what kind of chair {or element} should I add to the left? Help! I am desperate to complete this room before Thanksgiving!   - TWO - With boot season in full force, I finally got my act together and cleaned off all of last year's snow and rain stains off my boots. Using a spray bottle, I combined one part water and one part vinegar. Then I sprayed it all over my boots and wiped them with a paper towel. Voila! Good as NEW! - THREE - Earlier this week Kappa Prep posted her spaghetti dinner on Instagram {here} and for days all I could think about was recreating that delicious looking meal. So I did. I also Barilla's Veggie Pasta noodles for the first time and was so impressed!

- FOUR - You all know how awesome my mom is about sending "care packages" around the holidays. Well I have to admit, I was nervous about what would happen to these amazing surprises once a baby was in the picture. Would the baby only get packages from here on out? So far it looks like no because our Halloween goodies arrived yesterday and mom knocked it out of the park per usual. The only baby related item? Stretch mark cream! I'll take it!

 {the goods}

  And I am so thankful I didn't know about these pumpkin shaped Reese cups earlier this season because they are incredibly addicting.

Also, speaking of stretch mark cream - Matt's mom also sent us a dang good Halloween package this week, complete with all things baby, Starbucks and guess what else? Stretch mark cream! Our moms know what's up.   - FIVE - At my work event on Wednesday night we had a florist from The Blossom Shop give demonstrations on how to make fall inspired centerpieces. At the end of the event he gave me one to take home and I am so in love with it!

Wanna join  Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is... 1.)  Write  your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!). 2.)  Share the logo above on your blog and link back. 3.)  Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

Week 12 Bumpdate

It is so surreal to me that I am starting my weekly pregnancy surveys! Somebody pinch me! The love we’ve received from friends and family since our announcement has totally filled my heart with joy. We couldn’t be happier to celebrate these next 36ish weeks, but we really know that the best part comes in May! So here we go, Baby M’s 12 week survey!

How far along: 12 weeks!
Baby Size: According to my What to Expect app, the babe is a full half-ounce and is the size of a large plum. And we found out at last week's appointment that the babe has a healthy heartbeat of 170 bpm!

Weight gain: Before our Mexico trip in August I went on a strict salt-free diet and was regularly hitting the gym, so I was able to drop 6 pounds in 5 weeks, coming in at 108 lbs. Since then, I’ve gained 3.5 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Although all the books say to hold off on maternity clothes as long as possible, I just couldn’t wait to make my first purchase. So even though I don’t need them quite yet, I bought a pair of maternity jeans from Destination Maternity. And while I was there, I played with the fake bump in the dressing room for way too long. I’ve also started using black and white Baby Be Mine Maternity Belly Bands since my pants no longer button!

Stretch marks: No sign of these yet, but something tells me I should be as proactive as possible so I purchased some Mama Bees Belly Butter.

Sleep: Well, bedtime is more like 8:30 p.m. these days because I come home from work absolutely exhausted and all I can think about is sleep! And as soon as we found out I was preggo I purchased the Leachco Snoogle Pregnancy Pillow and am obsessed (and I think Matt is too)! I’ve caught the hubs several times trying to cuddle the other side of my pillow in the middle of the night. He's a fan.

Best moment this week: Having my sister in town and cheering on our husbands at the BBQ competition. One of my more serious cravings is MEAT, but not chicken. Pre-pregnancy, I was 95% vegetarian {5% chicken}, but now all I can think about is BBQ, hamburgers, etc., so being at a BBQ festival all weekend long was heaven!

Looking forward to: A nice relaxing weekend! We've been so busy the past few weekends that it will be nice to slow down and knock some stuff off of my "to do" list (liiiike make my Halloween costume).

What I miss: My energy! It's slowly coming back thankfully! Believe it or not, I haven't missed wine or pumpkin beer which I thought I would. Before going public, I was drinking Ariel Dealcoholized Wine during girl's wine nights and thought it tasted great! I just poured it into a screw top white wine bottle and no one ever suspected a thing!

Movement: Not for awhile although at our last ultrasound our babe was bouncing around like crazy!!

Food cravings: Carbs, carbs and more carbs. I am crazy for pastas, sandwiches, bagels, potatoes, etc. More specifically, blueberry bagels and orange juice! And of course, as I mentioned, MEAT!

Anything making you queasy or sick: For awhile I couldn't do coffee, but this week was the first week I could tolerate it again. And don’t even think about putting me anywhere near chicken. Gross. Ew. Can’t even talk about it, moving on…

Gender: Yes, we plan to find out as soon as possible! I really thought we were having a girl until I read that meat cravings are indicative of a BOY! We will be ecstatic either way!

Labor Signs: Will start answering this in about 28 weeks...

Symptoms: Most of the crazy symptoms have gone away! However, I am thirsty and hungry all the time!  
Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood: Happy, happy, happy! I haven't really had any crazy mood swings or anything yet. Fingers crossed I don't turn into a crazy person for a little while longer.

Nursery: We will start on nursery progress immediately after Thanksgiving. We are hosting Thanksgiving this year so we don't want to flip our guest room quite yet!  
Workouts: I am finally back to the gym after an 8 week hiatus. I am hitting the gym 4 days a week right now and it feels great!

Prayer for Baby:  Dear Lord, this is a special week for my baby. It's the last week of the first trimester and the week in which his digestive system is beginning to develop. Please help my baby develop a strong, healthy system that works in perfect order. This week I also pray for Your hand in giving my baby a compassionate heart and to love others like you do. Give my child a Christlike attitude toward his family and everyone he meets. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.