Fri-YAY : Momma's weekend

The hubs is home after a week on capital hill. We were SO happy to see him!!!

However, me and my Lex ladies are packed up and headed to the Rivah for a weekend of baby-free fun! I'm looking forward to lots of chatter, good food, sleep and relaxation!

Cups for the ladies... via Amazon.

Cheers to the weekend friends!! 

Annalee Estelle | 23 months

Our sweet baby girl! I can not believe you are about to be 2 AND a Big Sister! I'm pretty sure this will also be my last "monthly post" for you. But I'm so glad we kept up with these (well, almost), it's already so fun to look back and read what you were up to during your first two years of life.

This season in life has been so fun. You're singing and talking up a storm. You are a sponge - soaking up everything we do and say. It's amazing how much you love your routine - no matter what that is - and how much you remember.

You love airplanes and the slide, baby dolls, reading, tea parties, bubbles, coloring and anything outside. Elmo and Clifford are crowd favorites. Popsicles are your favorite after-school snack, but you haven't quite figured out that once we make them, they have to freeze... we are working on patience.

You're up around 7/7:30 a.m. and typically we wake up to you signing, standing - calling for your paci, or hearing you un-do your diaper - to which we immediately come running. When we catch you taking it off you just look at us, shake your finger and say "no, no, no!" With the cutest lil face.

You're a solid 31 pounds and at least 32 inches tall - topping all the growth charts. You're wearing 2T clothes and size 5 diapers. I feel like every day you've grown another rich and learned a new phrase or sentence. 

You are very adventurous - running, galloping, climbing and swinging.

You're a solid 31 pounds and at least 32 inches tall - topping all the growth charts. You're wearing 2T clothes and size 5 diapers. I feel like every day you've grown another rich and learned a new phrase or sentence. 

You love to eat! Avocados, bananas, yo-yo, apples and applesauce, green beans, peppers, strawberries, melons, CHEESE, pork, chicken, chips, Cheetos, veggie straws, peanut butter crackers, goldfish, pouches, fig bars, cereal, oatmeal, hot dogs, waffles, toast w/jelly. I could go on and on... but you are usually open to trying anything and really love "dips" - ranch, ketchup, etc.

You've learned how to get your own water from the fridge and are pretty good with a regular cup (most of the time). You also have learned to blow your nose - it's so precious.

You're in the bath around 6:30/6:45 on a typical night followed by PJs, hair drying and Wheel of Fortune. Yes, we are regular wheel watchers now. You love it - it's hilarious when she starts asking for it after dinner. You also have to have your warm milk in a cup while you watch "Wheel."

We brush teeth sometime after Wheel - sometimes it's 7:30, sometimes 8, 8:15, 8:30 these days. Then it's a couple books in your room and songs while momma rocks you to "almost sleep." Some nights you ask for your crib and want to stretch out, otehrtimes you just wanna snuggle with mom. Which I certainly don't mind these days. Soaking up every once of this precious time with my baby girl.

We love you baby girl! 

xo, Momma 

_________________

One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve

A typical day with a 13 mo old  //  14 & 15 months  //  16 & 17 months // 19 months // 20 months

Junkin Reno: Bonus Room/Den Demo

House updates! J and a friend tackled the bonus room/den this weekend that needed a lot of TLC. Fist task - removing a full wall of shelves that was previously in the room. Taking down the shelves was easy, but removing the tall brackets from the wall - another story.  All of the screws needed to be hand spun out, since they were covered with a couple layers of nice white paint. It was a fun little chore, but they got done in a couple hours work.

Annalee on closing day in the bonus room. The before.

The progress.

We also removed two benches that had been added beside the fireplace. A little bit of masonry work will need to be done to patch the leftover holes in the fireplace. 

We also ripped out the old dingy carpet and padding and prepped the ground for new carpet.

So, what's our plan for this room?

We aren't quite certain what it's  going to be used for. Most likely a den/playroom casual hangout space. It's right off the dining room and back porch and has a ton of great windows. We're pretty sure the previous owners used it as a sunroom of sorts. There are a ton of hooks in the ceiling from hanging plants and lots of circles where I'm sure plants sat on the old benches by the windows.

We love the brick fireplace and plan to have it restored to working order next fall. It needs a nice coat of white paint and a new mantle piece, but otherwise it's got great character. I've never had a fireplace in a home we owned - and now we have two! We're still debating whether to make one a gas burning and one a wood burning - or leave them both wood burning. We love a real wood fire, but at the same time, it might be nice to have the option of a gas burning for those cold winter week-nights when we want a quick fire.

We'll be painting the walls a light gray, and removing the wooden blinds. Our plan for now is to install all-white floor to ceiling curtain panels, but no blinds. Keep it open, airy and casual.

After lots of online research for white curtains that won't break the bank, I found Kellynan's Blog and was sold on the Ikea Ritva curtains. With 7 windows, the $$$'s add up quick when you start looking at window treatments.

This is a glimpse at Kelleynan's home - the curtains work perfect!

via.

This is also our inspiration for the mantle. 

Lots of other house updates in progress. Up next, kitchen planning!

Junkin Reno: Master Bath Vanity

So many options.... help me narrow it down!

We know we want to go with a gray color, double sink- stand alone vanity. The options are endless though and I'm trying to narrow it down. Our top 3 at the moment are below.

Option #1 Abbey

Option #2 Bella

Option #3 Elizabeth

What's your vote?

Baby Lyons # 2 | Weeks 22-24

How Far Along? 22 weeks

Size of Baby: A Butternut squash - 1 lb, 8 inches long. 

Gender: Waiting for our little surprise in July!

Weight Gain: Up 15 lbs from my starting weight (from my last check-up at 20 weeks)

Maternity Clothes: For sure. I packed up all my dresses that no longer fit, skirts, jeans and dress pants. No use in staring at a full closet when I won't be able to wear it. Plus, it's getting us started on the moving process. Unpacked some of my spring dresses that are nice and flowy, and those work great with the belly!

Nursery: We are still not sure what to do with Annalee and moving her into a big girl bed, so the baby can have her crib. We are hoping to move her for her birthday - which is about a month before the big move, to hopefully get her used to a new bed before it's in a brand new room as well. We also started a registry for little things we are starting to need for the new babe - including a couple new additions to the nursery. 

Movement: Lots of lots of moving! It's so cool. I really never felt much with Annalee, since my placenta was anterior. It's the best feeling!  

Symptoms: Not sleeping great. But I think that's more so to do with all the excitement over the house. Otherwise, feeling good. Bloody noses have been common, and pains when I move to quick or pick up Annalee at the wrong angle. 

Sleep: Up a couple times each night. Using a pillow to prop up the belly, which helps. 

Workouts: Lots of walking and working in the yard, plus after two days of wallpaper removal, my upper body has gotten quite the workout. 

Cravings: Cheese and crackers, oreos, chips, fro-yo, pickles, peanut butter on crackers, bananas, rice cakes, etc. Loving fruit and fig bars for snacks. A little but of naseua this week, I think from having a tunafish salad for lunch two days in a row.... going to steer clear for now. 

What I Miss: Nothing at the moment. 

Best Moment This Week: Closing on our new house!!! 

Looking Forward To: All the work to be done on our new house, and getting your sweet lil nursery put together!

Pregnant with Annalee at 22 weeks. 

_______

How Far Along?  23 weeks

Size of Baby:  A grapefruit, 1.2 pounds, 8 inches long

Gender: Keeping it a surprise, but if this lil one is a girl I will be shocked. It's been such a different pregnancy than with Annalee

Weight Gain:  Up 15 pounds at my last check up.

Maternity Clothes:  You bet! I am carrying this baby so different... the belly feels huge! 

Nursery: Under renovation at the moment!

Movement: Lots of lots!! This has been probably the biggest change from my last pregnancy. I didn't feel Annalee much at all and this baby is certainly on the move and has been from the very start. I get lots of kicks, squirms and flutters all day! I'm also pretty sure the baby has moved - he or she was nestled in with their head under my ribs, but I can tell they have turned... maybe sideways? The belly is certainly a different shape this week. 

Symptoms: Bloddy noses have started - mostly in the morning. Head congestion and aches while sleeping. I swear there are some feet or something under my left rib cage bc it is killing me! 

Sleep: Good nights and sleepless nights... again, my left ribs have been a pain - or in pain. 

Workouts: Walks with Annalee, working in the yard and around the house. Peeling wallpaper was quite a workout for the upper body last week. 

Cravings: Gatorade. Cheetos. Subway hot Italian sub - I think I had three this week. Oops!

What I Miss: With this beautiful weather.. cocktails on the porch!

Best Moment This Week: Booking flights for our early (and only) summer vacation to Tampa and Siesta Key. Also was excited that GranDe will be back for a visit in May, for big sisters birthday and to help start packing. 

Looking Forward To: A beautiful spring holy week ahead. My doctor check-up on Wednesday to hear your sweet lil heartbeat. Easter with our little family of three next weekend, and lots of time spent outdoors and working on our new house. 

Pregnant with Annalee at 23 weeks. 

__________

How Far Along?  24 weeks

Size of Baby:  An ear of corn, 1.5 pounds, 8.5 inches long

Gender: It's a toss up!

Weight Gain: Up 14 pounds total. Which is down from my last visit - but the doc didn't seem phased by it. We also have two offices, so the scales are slightly different. But - you can certainly tell that baby is growing!

Maternity Clothes:  Unpacked all my maternity clothes on Sunday and packed away all the clothes that don't currently fit over the belly. It's so nice to look at a closet full of clothes that I can actually wear! Lots of dresses in the mix, a couple long skirts and flowey tops. One new purchase may be some white maternity jeans. 

Nursery: under construction. Well, sorta. 

Movement: So much! It's just the best feeling. You can tell that baby is laying on my right side of the belly... lots of kicks and nudges on that side. 

Symptoms: Heaviness in my legs/feet. Occasional pain under my left rib cage. 

Sleep: Sleeping ok. Up at least once a night to pee. J was traveling for work a couple nights and I never sleep as good with him away. Annalee has been sleeping until 7/7:30, which has been heavenly! 

Workouts: Trying to get out and walk every day at some point. The weather has been gorgeous! However, I have had to slow my pace so I can make it more than a couple blocks. Walking home from walk is certainly a workout... and it's less than a mile, y'all! I remember feeling this same way in April pregnant with Annalee... but at that point I only had a month to go... hmmm.... not sure how I'm going to make it to July. Eeeekk!!

Cravings: Easter candy! Ice cream. Chipped ice. 

What I Miss: Being able to sit at my desk without bumping the belly. Running and walking without getting winded. 

Best Moment This Week: Hearing that sweet lil heartbeat!! Doc thinks that baby may be head down now, since the heartbeat was tracking so low. I can tell he or she has moved, but  I know we still have lots of time.

Looking Forward To: Easter Sunday with our sweet lil fam!

Lex Lyons Cub #2  Announcement | Weeks 10-16 | Weeks 19 & 20

Easter 2017

We had a super low-key Easter weekend. Complete with a fish fry Friday night and toddler playtime.

The kiddies loved the homemade pops! We love our Nuby Frozen Pop Tray.

We had final layout design meeting with our contractor on Saturday. Excited to share layouts soon. We spent the rest of Saturday outside - on the playground, hunting eggs and on a long walk around town.

I made a delicious Apple Broccoli Salad for dinner Saturday night and Easter brunch.

 
Sunday we woke early to Miss Annalee. Who - when she realized it was Easter Sunday and the bunny had come to see her, got super nervous and hid in the hallway until we had to drag her out. She then proceeded to cling to Jesse's neck for a solid 15 minutes hiding her face - smiling- but acting like she was scared. It was precious... but also too funny. Daddy certainly didn't mind the early morning snuggles.

Annalee's goodies from the bunny... and friends. 

We opened Easter baskets and enjoyed a delicious casserole and biscuits for breakfast, before getting dressed for mass. We made it to mass early and were able to snag a seat in the balcony. Thank goodness for this momma's feet - standing for a solid hour would have been tough.

Annalee wore her Easter bonnet almost the whole service and even after mass for a little egg hunt in the backyard.

We soon retired indoors for our second brunch of the day and afternoon naps. After nap time we enjoyed a little Easter lunch - ham and rolls with broccoli salad and fruit. And then, Annalee discovered the pool from GranDe and we had to "suit up" and check it out.

She played and played and played, until a little rain shower sent us indoors.We decided to take a stab at dying Easter eggs. Y'all, let me just say that dying eggs with a pretty over-tired 1 year old is not for the faint of heart. HA! We dyed 6 eggs and called it a day. It was just enough to get a couple pics and not give daddy a heart attack.

Did I mention her awesome basketball goal from Gramma??  

We enjoyed a little porch sitting after bedtime for Annalee and then threw together a nice little Easter dinner... ham, honey-balsamic glazed carrots w feta, and roasted new potatoes. Not too shabby for an un-planned Easter dinner.

It was a perfect day spent here at Moore street. Soaking up the time we have left to enjoy our little bungalow as a family of three. :)

Happy Easter friends!!

Naman's Bacon Cheese Ring

My favorite thing we served at our wedding was hands down Naman's Bacon Cheese Ring. The West Indies salad was pretty tasty - a close second, really. But this. This is hard to beat.

My best friends mom stalked down a lil old lady from Naman's and had them write down the recipe ... or so the story goes. But she passed it along to me, by virtue of this hand-written note. 

I made it last weekend for our friends' Master's crawfish boil and it a hit!! I wanted to share the recipe here, in a little easier to read format. 

2 blocks sharp cheddar cheese

1 block white sharp cheddar cheese

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 lb. bacon, crumbled 

1 cup mayo

1 tsp red pepper (we used cayenne)

1 cup pecan pieces

Cook Bacon. Crumble and set aside. Shred cheese, chop onions and pecans. Mix all ingredients together, reserving 1/2 cup pecans for topping. Spray bunt pan or line with plastic wrap to avoid sticking. Line bottom of pan with pecans and layer the cheese filling on top. Let sit overnight for best turnout. 

Top with raspberry preserves and serve with Ritz crackers. 

Enjoy!

Junkin Reno: Demo Day!

House updates!! We are making all kinds of progress. The real demo "day" lasted about a week... and is still on-going. Not sure how HGTV's Fixer-Upper gets it done in a day. But our crew has been working all week - maybe not 24 hours a day - but they are certainly making progress. 

The kitchen demo is completely done. They ran into one little snafu and found more asbestos tile under the current kitchen flooring - so one day was spent on remediation - but glad its done. And really, easy fix in the grand scheme of things. 

They opened up the kitchen to the dining area. In the end it will be more open, but anything structural had to stay put for now. Or just until they can place in a new beam.

They also opened up the dining area into the living room. It already makes a huge difference. This one will stay pretty close to this footprint - with a large cased opening to set apart the dining and living areas. 

Did I mention that we inherited a piano with the house?  Sweet deal, huh?  Not sure where it's going to go... but in the meantime, it's just hanging out in the middle of the demo. 

Habitat came by on Monday and picked up all the appliances, sinks, and toilets from the current kitchen and baths. I was happy to be able to donate what we could and also happy have those out of the way.

One item still hanging out on the front lawn... the tub from the master bath. ha! I'm sure our neighbors love us at the moment. 

All of the master bathroom demo is complete - with the exception of some structural things in the soon-to-be master bath and closet. You can currently see from the kitchen all the way through to the attic at the moment. It's sorta crazy. 

Kitchen ceiling through the master bath to the attic...

Other baths in progress. Jack and Jill below... that lil insert to the left is where the current sink was. It is a linen closet in the hallway that will be gone soon to create more space in the bathroom for an actual vanity. 

And this is the cute lil square tub we are keeping... with new hardware of course.

This was an interesting find. This is the main level bathroom, behind the mirror.

It's the back of the fireplace in the living room. 

Once was a shower. 

I guess that's all the updates at the moment. 

Termites are all cleaned up from the porch too. They did that last week before demo got started. 

It's almost time to start picking out paint colors and fixtures. My head is already swimming!