Play Kitchen Sneak Peek

I've been wanting to share the play kitchen Cameron built for Stella, but I want  to put all the finishing touches on it before I do. We've got a lot of projects going on right now:  Spring cleaning/organizing (we want to be done by spring, so we can just maintain and enjoy the sunshine), prepping the garden, and a family brunch I'm hosting next week, so....the kitchen is taking the back seat.

This is the project we were supposed to start in September 2010 to have it ready for Christmas morning. It didn't get started until 2 days before Christmas, so we only have the bare bones  so far. The plans are from the amazing Ana White. Because of the time crunch, we didn't tweak the design for our taste like I originally wanted, but it's still so cute and Stella loves it.

 The dog bowl is eventually going to be the sink. Oh! The paint was only $5! Thank you oops section.

The wooden cutting food from Melissa & Doug. 

My hope is that our result is eventually something like this beauty from Kirsten at Crafting Chicks:

Here are her details about her play kitchen building adventures.

I know we're crazy. Okay I'm crazy, and my poor husband spent late nights out in the cold building this thing, but he will admit it's not all my fault that we didn't get it done in advance and on time. It was so important to me for her to walk out on Christmas morning and see the beautiful gift her daddy built just for her. For her birthday, my dad built her a toddler size picnic table. Trying to start traditions! It was worth the craziness. Especially when I'm working in the kitchen and she goes over to work in hers.

I'll be sure to update on our progress!

Maternity Photo Series Debut

While pregnant with Stella I took pictures to track my growing baby bump. I didn't get really into it because I hated getting pictures taken of myself. My hair was at an awkward length due to growing it out. It took forever for me to actually start showing because I'm not super tiny. My whole belly was plagued with stretch marks halfway through. I also lost any sense of style. I hated dressing myself. I wouldn't look in the mirror....it was horrible. When my wedding photographer showed up at my door to do a maternity shoot and was shocked. I had no make up on, my hair was pulled back into a mess, and I may as well have been wearing dirty rags.

This time, things are going to be different. My pessimist, depressed side tends to get more extreme than most while I'm growing a human. It's extremely hard for me to deal with gaining weight. The last thing I need are bigger boobs, butt, and hips. I have to learn to deal, so I'm going to force myself to do a simple photo shoot every week as I expand. Hair, make-up, wardrobe - the works! Cameron will be my photographer and Stella my adorable sidekick. I've been perusing thrift stores and clearance racks looking for treasures I can turn into maternity wear to prove you can be a hot mama on a super tight budget

My inspiration for this project came from Bleubird Vintage, one of my favorite blogs. Here is her set of photos and letters to their baby bird. We are no where near as talented as Miss James and her beau, but we're just happy to be able to provide ourselves and our little canaries with memories of our anticipation for their arrival.

Without further ado, the bump:

Not much to see so far

 Stella wanted to see what was going on under there.

 My apple!!

We were taking these just for fun. Trying to get Stella to give baby kisses.

Dear Canary Number Two,

I'm so excited about these next few months of having you all to myself! When your big sister was itty bitty she would coo all the time. It sounded like she was singing to me, so I started calling her my coo coo canary. You might have a different pet name, but for now you will also be a canary. I'm sure you can hear your sister all day keeping things exciting. I can' wait until we can feel and see you move so she realizes you are there. We heard your heartbeat for the first time last week, and it was perfect.

Love you!
Momma

Finding a balance

This crunchy mama is getting tired of going to the grocery store.
I got out of habit ordering from my produce buying club during the holidays (where I get my milk, eggs, and produce) so I have been doing a lot more shopping at Publix. Sometimes I just feel so defeated. I know I would save so much time and money if I just ordered a portion of a grass fed cow and organic grains in bulk, but needing the money up front makes it impossible right now. I get so mad when I'm trying to decide what to buy. Why isn't beef, that was raised the way God intended, available and affordable for everyone buy?

I'm going to admit it here - Buying local and choosing the right food for my family is not always easy. There are systems that are making it easier: buying clubs, co-ops, CSA's are popping up and making organic, locally raised meat, dairy, and produce more accessible and in some cases affordable. Some days I just envy the ignorant.

We started baby step 3 of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University this month.(save 6 months living expenses) This is what is making it so difficult. I'm trying to feed my family naturally on a very small amount of money. We started budgeting again and when I set the monthly grocery budget I made it really low to challenge ourselves. I'm finding it impossible to meet. I've cut out everything I can think of. I thought about doing coupons but many of the coupons are for prepackage  items I refuse to have in our diet. There are a few I can use but nothing like the $100 of groceries for $20 stories I see.

I see the extra money we spend on better ingredients as health insurance and an investment in the future existence of natural foods, so I know I should just increase my food budget and order the bulk items I know will save us money in the long run. Every day without fast food, soda, and other junk is a good day, but we have to maintain the next level at some point. While I'm grocery shopping it's like I have a mini Dave Ramsey on one shoulder and a natural food advocate on the other bickering at me; each one trying to get their way. I need to find a way to make them friends and respect each other.