white painted floors...

as you may recall, a few months ago i was drooling over some white walls. well the mr has put a veto on that idea, which is a bummer, but marriage is all about compromise, right? so anywho, i've focused my white obsession onto floors now. lets see if we can get him on board for this one...

 all of these images were found simply by searching "white painted floors" on pinterest. go ahead, see for yourself and get your drool on!

weekly bean update

no change in the fruit baby this week, but here's a belly shot for ya!

this little gal has hit her stride this week! there is a noticeable difference in the width of my midsection if i'm not mistaken, and my lower back is starting to notice it too! the past two days i've woken up feeling a bit like an old lady, but i think that just means i really need to step up my prenatal yoga game. more stretching and strengthening exercises are just what the doctor ordered!

let me also just take a minute to tell you about the jeans i'm wearing in this here photo. you can't really see them, but they deserve mentioning none the less. did you know that on forever 21's website there is a maternity section?!?! i have refused to spend any serious amount of money on maternity clothes, but i was missing jeans like crazy, and no way could i survive the fall/winter season without them. so i was giddy when i saw these bad boys for just 14 bucks on their site. they seem to be sold out of them right now, but if they come back in i highly recommend them! they're a super stretchy skinny jean, and they're uber comfy to boot!

hope you all have a great weekend friends. the mr and i are off to dinner tonight with some of our newly parenting friends, and it was pregnant ladies choice on where to eat, so vietnamese is what's on the menu! i might be a bit excited about it :)

annual beach trip pics

 and finally back home with our pups...

nothing quite like a little beach getaway to clear out the cobwebs and freshen up the mind! this years trip was a bit calmer then some of the past trips, which was just fine by this preggo! it was chilly most days, and pretty down right freezing the first day, but that just gave me plenty of time to catch up on pregnancy books, eat lots of delicious treats, and kick it with my feet up for much of the day. no complaints here, really! there were some glorious sunny times mixed in too, which led to morning beach walks, and an italian ice so yummy that i'll be thinking about it until next year.

it's time to get back into the swing of things here on the homefront though. i missed our pups like crazy and i'm now ready to start prepping the ol' etsy shop for the christmas rush ahead. one can never start too early on that, especially when someone will be 9 months pregnant come christmas time. should be an interesting holiday season this year!

so happy to be back!

beach bummin' it!

it's that time of year again friends! the mr and i are off to the beach to meet up with 30 or so of our closest friends. it's an annual tradition and i am so very much looking forward to kicking up these preggo feet, lounging around, and doing absolutely nothing!

so i'll see you in a few days... have a great weekend!!!

weekly bean update

24 weeks and moving right along! let me just preface this post by saying technically this weeks fruit baby should have been a papaya, but i was having a heck of a time finding a large papaya this time of year for some reason. so i saw on another fruit baby chart that little miss penny is also the size of a spaghetti squash... that i could easily find! 

in addition, the updates will now be in 3 week increments from here on out. so this here squash is for weeks 21-24. i just can't believe how fast it's going now!

THE STATS...

HOW FAR ALONG- 24 weeks today! that's 6 months folks... WOOHOO!

SIZE OF BABY- 1.25lb and 12.5in (my squash is a little on the short side)

MATERNITY CLOTHES?- pants, for sure! i'm still lucky enough though to be able to wear a lot of my pre-preggo dresses thankfully, and now that it's getting on to cardigan weather i'm becoming much more of a happier camper too!

STRETCH MARKS?- nope! it's getting to the point though where i now knock on wood whenever i have to answer this question. 

SLEEP?- sleep has been a bit of a bastard to me lately. i'm tossing and turning a whole lot more then i used to, but i always fall back to sleep rather quickly. it's definitely getting harder to stay comfortable though. 

FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- oh yes indeed! penny has figured out the joys of kicking my bladder recently. so that's fun. all of a sudden i'll have the extreme urge to pee, and then just like that it passes. this little lady probably thinks she's quite funny in there!

ANY CRAVINGS?- nothing too strong... though the thought of an ice cream sundae is never far from my mind!

ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- nope... and i even got over my broccoli aversion finally! i actually had some in a stir fry for lunch today. so glad that didn't stick around!

VISIBLE BUMP?- yup yup! now other people can tell that i'm actually pregnant too... not just fat :) that's certainly a good thing!

BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- still in, but it's getting quite stretched out as of lately

STILL WEARING RINGS?- still on!

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- being able to now watch penny move from the outside. i'll just lay down and stare at my belly and watch her poke around in there. it's probably my favorite thing to do now. she's such an active little gal!

WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- being so very hungry last night, but too damn tired to do anything about it. i could hardly peel myself off the couch to make something to eat. evan kept offering to make something for me, but i couldn't think of a single thing i wanted. note to self... don't let yourself get to that extreme hunger point again. it does not make for a happy you! 

bits & pieces...

 just a few peeks at our weekend...

 1- morning belly rubs for mirabelle

2- lunch

3- squirrel hanging in the sink

4- my current favorite sweet snack. trader joe's cat cookies!

5- afternoon walks with barkley

6- backyard sunset with my lady

7- HUGE pot-o-veggie soup!

8- cooling the pups in the creek after some serious dog park time

9- banana muffins for our bellies 

10- sweetest doggies ever!

11- comfortable birth? yes please!

12- someone's always stealing my pregnancy pillow!

thanks to miss james for the bits & pieces idea... love it!

vegan ice cream cake

i've had some questions about the making of evan's vegan ice cream birthday cake, so i thought i would just go ahead and share the recipe here. it's really so super easy, it just takes a little bit of patience, and maybe a dash of restraint as it's pretty tough not eating the ice cream as you're making it!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED...

1- spring form cake pan

1- gallon of ice cream, or 2 half gallons if you'd like 2 different flavors

1- package of oreo cookies

1/2 cup vegan butter (i used earth balance)

1- bottle of magic shell, we used the reese's one cause it's super delicious!

1- large ziploc freezer bag

TO MAKE THE CRUST AND MIDDLE LAYER-

put all oreos into the ziploc bag and mash the heck out of them! you want a very crumbly consistency here. the crumbier the better! next melt the butter and dump it over the oreos in a large bowl. mix it all up so that everything is coated. there ya go, the crust is made!

THE ASSEMBLING-

take half of the oreo mixture and press it into the bottom of the spring form pan. try to get it as even as possible. finger tips work best here folks! now stick the pan in the freezer for about 30 mins to harden. while waiting on this, take your ice cream out of the freezer to soften. if you're using 2 different flavors you only need to take one out now.

remove pan from freezer and dump your first flavor of ice cream (or just half of the gallon if you're using a single flavor) over the oreos. spread out as evenly as possible and stick it back in the freezer. freeze for 45 mins to an hour.

remove pan from freezer and dump the rest of the oreo mixture in. spread evenly, and yup, you guessed it, stick it back in the freezer. this time for about 30-40 mins. take your second ice cream flavor out now to start softening.

remove pan from freezer, add your second flavor of ice cream (or the rest of your gallon), and spread evenly. put back in the freezer for 45 mins to an hour.

remove pan from freezer. run a knife all along the inside edge of your pan to release the ice cream from the sides. unlatch your spring form and remove it, while leaving the cake on the bottom piece. grab your bottle of magic shell and get messy! i dripped it all in one direction first, and then crossed in the other direction. i also made sure to get it to drip down the sides too. do this on a large piece of wax paper, or tin foil so that you won't care about it dripping everywhere. then stick it on back in the freezer!

freeze for at least another hour, a minimum of 2 hours is probably best though.

lastly, cut it up and enjoy the heck out of it!

side notes- if you're impatient like me, you can microwave your ice cream for a few seconds to soften it up. this makes for easier spreading if it hasn't softened enough sitting out. i used trader joe's cherry chocolate chip for the bottom layer, and vanilla on the top. this was a delicious combo! i've also done it with the cherry on the bottom and chocolate on the top and that was super yummer too!

evan's birthday bonanza!

evan and our friend steph have birthdays that are 2 days apart, so each year we throw a dual celebration in honor of two of the most fabulous people in the world! the party always has some sort of ridiculous, non-sensical theme, and this year was no different.

here are some pics from this years zombie/disney/superhero bash!

the day was started with a serious breakfast of tofu scramble & cinnamon rolls. we needed our energy!

the birthday kids...

the bounce house!

my costume... preggo zombie

some thought this may have been in poor taste. psssh... what do they know!

taking a bouncing breather...

there may have been some roof dives into the bounce house...

snazzy superheros!

captain america was no match for spiderman!

party favors!

preggo zombie hanging with zombie amy winehouse

oh yes, there were wholesome lawn games too!

and a snow-cone machine!

mmmmmm...

birthday boy!

and we ended the night with a homemade (by me!) vegan ice cream cake. not to toot my own horn or anything, but goooood lord was it delicious!

happy birthday again evan & steph. your the best hubs, and the best bud, a gal could ask for :)

hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!