Such is the life of a parent

For about a week and a half or so Kenley has decided to start waking up at 5:45 am. On the dot. Every morning. I'm so exhausted. By the time she takes her morning nap I either can't go back to sleep, or there's just too much to try and do while she's sleeping.

I know this comes with the territory of being a parent, so I can't really complain...but I'm so tired. I wish she'd go back to waking up at 7.

We're at the beach!!!!!

I'm sitting here typing this in Destin, FL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!! I'll do a longer beach post but I just had to share this video from yesterday. It was Kenley's FIRST time to walk in the sand. She wasn't to sure about it at first but by the end of the day...she loved it!!!

Here she is later in the day playing in the sand!!

Wishlist Wednesday

So one of the blogs I follow has a "Wishlist Wednesday" and I thought I'd play along. If I had a genie or endless amounts of money...these are some things I'd love to get:




I so desperately want to build an arbor over our patio. I would love to hang twinkle lights from it and have a few potted plants to decorate. We would love to work on our backyard b/c it's a disaster (thanks dogs) and this would be so beautiful back there.




I really need some storage/organization in my office and I'd love to get something like this.





This is such a silly wish but I LOVE this place setting. I've been drooling over it for a couple of years now and I still adore it. Maybe Santa will bring it to me :o)




I LOVE this patio set. I'd love to get this for the backyard and sit and watch Kenley play.




This is the ultimate wish. I would LOVE to have this for Kenley (and future little Southerns) to play on. Maybe one day...


What are 5 things that are on your wishlist??

Wanna-be Chicken Pesto Pasta

So in my group of friends & Sunday School, there is a recipe that we all LOVE - chicken pesto pasta. Whenever someone has a baby, our friend A makes her chicken pesto pasta and it's FAMOUS!!! It's possibly one of the best things I've ever eaten...the problem is it's her secret recipe.

In our efforts to be able to recreate the chicken pesto pasta, a few of us have been trying out different recipes we've found online. I've found one that's really good...not quite as good as A's, but it'll do until we have baby #2!!

So here it is...the REALLY GOOD 'wanna-be CPP'

Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta

Photo courtesy of http://www.thedeliciouslife.com/2005/06/pesto-control-grilled-chicken-pesto/

Ingredients

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 3 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (I don't add this to mine)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups heavy cream (we usually just use half & half)
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons basil pesto
• shredded parmesan cheese (to garnish)

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package. Drain and set aside.
2. In large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter and the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Brown chicken breasts on both sides until nicely golden and cooked through, about 8-9 minutes each side. Remove from pan and cut into 1/2 pieces.
4. Pour out drippings from pan but don't wipe the pan out. In the same pan, melt 1/4 cup butter on medium heat. Add the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and dash of white pepper. Cook 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently. Slowly stir in the Parmesan cheese into a creamy mixture, stirring constantly. Stir in the pesto sauce and cook for about 5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the chicken pieces for about 3 minutes.
5. Serve chicken and sauce over the hot noodles.
6. Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper (optional).

Recipe courtesy of http://www.recipezaar.com/Creamy-Chicken-Pesto-Pasta-157610

Monday Memories

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize." Clairee Belcher, Steel Magnolias







Girl's Best Friend:

Fixin for Less - Pillow Project

Ok so just because we're in a recession does not mean you can't redecorate and make changes around you house...you just have to be smart and thrifty!!!

I'm hoping to do several of these "Fixing for less" as I try to do some updating around the house.

First start...the sofa throw pillows. We were given this sofa by some friends who were getting married and had a newer, better sofa. We gladly accepted their generous offer!!! The sofa came with 4 throw pillows and at the time, they were great.

After a couple of years and washes...they were faded and misshaped. I've been looking for MONTHS for new pillows and haven't found anything I A) love or B) want to spend the money on. The few that I have seen that are great prices are dry clean only. Um hello...I have a kid and 3 dogs. These is a washing machine house!

At a shopping trip to Hancock's recently I found a fabric remnant that I thought might work. Today I made the 2 pillows and stuffed them with the fluff from the old ones. This project cost me a whopping $4!!! You can't beat that!!!

The trick to fixin for less is reusing what you already have and shopping smart. I could have bought pillow inserts but I would have spent at least $35 just on the inserts. The old fluff worked just fine. I want to do some more and plan to look at yard sales for old pillows...the fabric may be old and ugly but the fluff is still good!!

Here's a couple of pictures of the pillow project:

Before...see how the corners are all bent and the fabric is faded. Plus My colors are changing from reds to blues. It was time for something new.


Here is it!!! I just LOVE this fabric!! The blue in the flowers matches the blue drapes perfectly!! I'm just so happy with how these turned out!!

Kenley's First Birthday Party (some pictures!!!!)

Kenley's birthday party was on June 13th. I'm a little late posting pictures b/c I'm still working on editing all the pictures...there are a lot and they're all so good!!! :o)

Some dear friends of ours took the pictures for us. They are professional photographers here in town and have captured every special moment in our lives since Jonathan and I got engaged. I cried the first time I started looking through the pictures because they did such an amazing job. They caught so many precious moments that I will remember and cherish forever...and Kenley will too!!! Also...just 2 days after Kenley's party...they welcomed their own precious angel to the world!!! Such a fun time!

So here are some of the pictures, I won't try to upload all of them...there's over 400!!! These are mostly just details of the lady bug theme. We call her our Doodle Bug so the ladybugs were fitting!


Here is her precious invitation! I bought the lady bug graphic on istockphoto and based the whole theme for the party around that. I LOOOOVE those lady bugs!!!


Family shot! Notice her ladybug dress!!


Like her bows?? I made those for her and I love how they turned outl!!


Playing on her new chair!!!


She's such a big girl!!


Her colors were pink and green


Her smash cake that I made...didn't turn out quite like I planned...there was drama getting the cakes done involving power outages and humidity and a time crunch...but they turned out beautifully!


I went to Party City to get a few balloons and saw this...I LOVED it and she get really excited when she saw it :o)


Her birthday banner that I made...notice the ladybugs on the ends :O)


I made several of these to decorate the room with


Party favors for the kids


pink and green plates and bowls


I designed and made these stickers for the grown up favors. I think they turned out so cute!!! The original plan was to make sugar cookies and decorate ladybugs on them but b/c of the cake fiasco mentioned earlier...we didn't have time. Family was stuffing these bags as guests were walking in!


Here is a picture of the sticker :o)


The fondant "Doodle Bugs" on top of her cake!! I think these guys turned out so cute!! It was my first time to work with fondant and it was so fun!!!


A fun shot of her amazing cake!!! I had to decorate with the fondant in quite a hurry. My mom and sister were rolling the balls while I was mixing colors and cutting stripes and circles!


Another shot of the cakes