My Latest Obsessions

Happy Wednesday...a few of my latest obsessions/favorites! I still have yet to write a post about our fabulous trip to AZ to visit JuJu and Grandpa T but wanted to get some of my faves out! 

For awhile Margaret was asking for "heart" shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. However, she never ate the outside of the heart so I stopped making them. I saw these adorable Lunch Punches from Fawn & Forest and they made me rethink shaped sandwiches. 

I'm super excited for little Baby Boy Carr's high chair. OMG, did I just say that! Ha! A couple JuJu (my mom's) friends went in on the Tripp Trapp Stokke high chair and accessories for us. I'm so excited to check it out! This high chair will allow little Baby Boy Carr to dine at the table with the rest of us! 

My dear City Gal Pals hosted a lovely Baby Shower for me last weekend - it was ADORABLE. Cutest theme ever! Check out the post from the shower (and btw, my friend Taryn's new blog Sage & Style rocks)! 

I saw these adorable needlepoint pillows from Jonathan Adler - and Daily Candy featured a special on them for 20% off through May 7th (enter DC20).  

Okay, so I'm kind of obsessed with Aimee Wilder's wallpaper - discovered it this weekend and now I cannot get her stuff out of my mind! We are thinking of wallpapering the new "kids" bathroom - wouldn't these squirrels be adorable (envisioning this combined with a lime green wall). FUN! Aimee has a pretty cool blog as well. 

I think these personalized reversible dresses from Garnet Hill are ADORABLE! 

Daily Candy Kids featured some Mom Blogs - lots of cute ones. 

Fryd + Design - Norwegian mom of 2 covers everything from interiors, meals and her kiddos. 

The Happy Home - former editor at Australian interiors mag Real Living documents her home renovation and decoration. 

Ish and Chi - Sydney-based Mansour started blogging while renovating her home and putting together a nursery for her son, Robert. 

Ummm, love these brown paper packages tied up with string (from Decor8). 

Week 26 - A Cucumber (an English Hothouse one that is)

This past Friday I hit the 26 week mark (6 and a 1/2 months) - so 14 weeks to go! I hit the 3rd trimester in 2 weeks. So, according to BabyCenter our little "Rutabaga" is now the size of a "Cucumber" (an English Hothouse one that is)! I'm laughing because just as the girls were getting used to the word "rutabaga" I told them that now their little brother is the size of a cucumber! I enjoyed listening to Cate tell people that her little brother was the size of a "Root-a-Bagel."

Little Baby Boy Carr (according to my pregnancy bible BabyCenter) can now hear conversations around him (so hopefully he can hear the chatter of his soon to be sisters and Daddy). He is continuing to put on baby fat and now weighs about a pound and two-thirds. He measures about 14 inches from head to toe.

Right now we are visiting my mom and stepdad in Arizona (more later about our fun trip). It has been very fun for me to share my pregnancy experience with my mom (as of late it has been all long distance via phone). I loved showing her my NEW GROWING BELLY when we arrived on Thursday. The two of us were chatting about the fact that I was born at 30 weeks (which would be a few weeks from now for me). WOWSER. So wild. Her pregnancy experience (and the birth itself) was quite different from the "uneventful" and smooth (thank goodness) one that I have been having thus far.

Quick Thinking "Tooth Fairy"

Cate has already lost two teeth (her front bottom teeth). She lost her first tooth in late October and it was such an exciting event! 5 gold coins later she was telling everyone about her "tooth fairy" experience. So, fast forward to yesterday when she lost her 3rd tooth. Peter had been trying to "help" her pull this one out as it was starting to stick out a bit! Well, she lost her tooth at school and was beaming when I came to pick her up. She was so excited and couldn't wait until the morning to get her note and quarter from the tooth fairy. 

Well, low and behold I had the "tooth fairy" on my mind all day (made a mental note not to forget to run upstairs and leave her a note and a quarter when she was sound asleep under her pillow in exchange for her tooth). 

6:00 am this morning I hear Cate upstairs yelling down, "Mom, the tooth fairy forgot to COME." Sh*t, UGH, Sh*t, as I completely spaced in the midst of getting ready last night to leave for our trip to AZ (as I had fallen asleep on the couch and then gone to bed late). YIKES. Think fast. I called up, "No honey, she didn't forget, I'm SURE that she left you a note at the breakfast room table - because she hasn't been to our temporary house yet...I bet she knew you would be coming downstairs for breakfast before school." "Oh, okay!" YIKES. I scrambled to put together a note...and found a quarter and placed them at her place setting - seconds before she arrived. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you were right, she did come." 

The note read: 

Dear Cate, 

Congratulations on losing your 3rd tooth! I wasn't sure which bedroom was yours since you are not in your house. I know you always have breakfast before school. I would like you to keep your tooth this time. I know your dad hasn't seen it yet and you can surprise him with it in Arizona. 

Love, The Tooth Fairy

"Oh my gosh, MOM, the Tooth Fairy wants me to keep my tooth so we can show Daddy. She is so smart, how did she know that Daddy is not here?" (Phew...all good). She was so excited that the Tooth Fairy was oh so thoughtful about having her keep her tooth. (THANK GOODNESS). 

Alas, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, thank goodness as that would have been a bummer to try to get out of that one! 

Week 25 - A Rutabaga

I cannot believe that last week I posted my 6th month pic (of me being pregnant). Wow - half a year has flown by - that is for sure. I hit the 25th week this past Friday and apparently little Baby Boy Carr is the size of a rutabaga (will say that this is one of the oddest veggie/fruit comparisons from Baby Center thus far). 

I chuckled when I read (per week 25 on Baby Center) that I may not be able to gracefully move around anymore! Yes, for sure my center of gravity has changed! 

The "cowboy" left Saturday to meet my stepdad for their horseback riding excursion. The girls and I are in countdown mode to meet "Daddy" at the tail end of their trip. Cate has been trying on her new cowboy boots daily and tonight had them on with her pjs (quite a cute look!). Cowgirl up! This saying might have to replace my mom's famous line, "Suck it up cupcake." 

My Latest Obsessions - Style Inspiration (Children's Books)

I was at the gym the other day and happened to flip through a bridal magazine. I have not looked at a bridal magazine in ages. I stumbled upon a style review entitled "Style Inspiration: Children's Books." It was fun to see how someone took the color palettes from various children's book faves and used them as a starting point for creating a fabulous wedding look. 

On a side note, the girls and I have been reading quite a bit this week in honor of TV Tune Out Week.  I try to limit their TV watching on an everyday basis but this week in particular we focused on making "NO TV" a priority! 

PS - A friend of mine reminded me that GOOP just recently did a post on Children's Books. I loved Julianne Moore's description of the book entitled, Ann Likes Red (by Dorothy Z. Seymour) "My mother bought me this book in a supermarket when I was six years old and I have never forgotten it. It is about a little girl who goes back to school shopping and insists on buying everything red. Evidently, I am not the only one who never forgot it – it has recently been reissued by popular demand. The book’s author is a former 1st grade teacher who used limited vocabulary to create a primer for kindergartners and 1st graders. But I loved it because it is about self-determinism!" 

Week 24 - Ear of Corn

I've hit the 6th month mark - wahoo! Little Baby Boy Carr is kicking away these days - so fun to feel that a little one is in there. According to BabyCenter.com our little guy has gained about 4 ounces from last week and he is now about a foot long (about the length of an ear of corn). Wowser!

The girls have enjoyed being involved in this process and every Friday I update them on the new fruit/veggie that represents their soon to be little brother. They thought the Spaghetti Squash (2 weeks ago) was such a hilarious vegetable! It was a riot listening to their conversations - "so, there is something called a spaghetti squash - do you eat this squash with spaghetti?"

I'm excited to see my mom and stepdad soon as they have yet to see me "prego" in person! Peter is leaving this upcoming Saturday for a week long Desert Horseback Riding Trip in Wickenburg, AZ. My stepdad is sponsoring Peter as a "newbie" this year. The girls and I are then flying out together late the following week to greet them at the tail end of their ride. Yesterday we hit Alcala's for a few last minute packing items for Peter's trip. The girls think it is hilarious that their Daddy gets to be a "cowboy" for a week!

Peep-alicious!

I will be honest, I truly do not like to eat Peeps (too sugary for my taste). But I will say they are quite an adorable addition to treats (for kiddos).

A few weeks ago we welcomed a new baby boy cousin into the family so we decided to make "baby blue" frosted cupcakes in his honor. We were at the grocery store and we bought some yellow peeps to put on top - they turned out super cute. Little did I know that there were so many fun things you could do with peeps - kids love them (they make a yummy cupcake even more fun to eat!).

So then for Easter we decided to make fruit shish kabobs for the kids and their cousins (in lieu of fruit salad) and used blue, pink and yellow peeps on top. We even practiced "patterns" (as Cate has been learning about about patterns this year in kindergarten) with the fruit that we used (bottom to top: 1 green grape / 1 pineapple cube / 1 green grape / 2 swiss cheese cubes / 1 grape / 1 strawberry / 1 peep). We used a 10 inch bamboo stick and it worked out well. Maybe our next "Peep" creation will be a Sunflower Cake for spring. The ideas are endless!