Happy Halloween

It's Halloween, YAY! We are taking Ella trick or treating around our block and I can't wait! Did you hear that? I said around our block! How exciting is it to live in an actual neighborhood?!? Afterwards we are going to a local Halloween event in town with friends, and chances are good that this MaMa and Dada will be ending the night at World of Beer. Yippeeeee, can't wait to get home from work and get my girl dressed up in her costume!

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This made me giggle!
Have a Happy and Safe Halloween Friends!!!

Ella's First Birthday Party

My girl is one....ONE (as of two months ago)! Wow, so I'm a little late posting party pics AND I still never did a one year update for her...slacker! I need to share her party with you all regardless of the fact that it was forever ago. My blog would be incomplete without posting about such a special day. We held it in the beautiful clubhouse of our new community. I've got to say it was pretty close to perfect. I'm so grateful for everyone who helped us pull it together! Lots of family and friends, lots of food and lots of fun. What more could you ask for really? This is one incredibly loved little girl! How lucky is she, and how lucky are we to have her in our lives?! Here is a glimpse of her special day.

She arrived to the party in style! Daddy pushed her in on her brand new tricycle!

I decided to get crafty and attempt the high chair tutu myself!

She got this ukulele from Uncle Peter!

How incredible is this cake that my Aunt Sherry made her?!?!?!

Not only was it gorgeous....it was delicious too! That's coming from someone who isn't a fan of cake!

For more photos of Ella's fun day courtesy of our friend Bobby, click HERE and HERE!

What's cooking this week?

There were a lot of high points and low points this past week! Let's start with the highs. Ella's top teeth finally poked through, I discovered an amazing new way to use canned pumpkin and I was able to renew my love of being a school counselor by going to the Florida School Counselor Association Convention in Orlando for a few days. The lows.....a wonderful teacher who has worked at my school for the past 35 years and I've head the pleasure of working with for 5 passed away earlier this week. TERRIBLE! My heart is just breaking for her family, my co-workers and of course our students. Tomorrow I'll be attending her service which is why the meal plan is ready to go already. 

Sunday: Blackberry Turkey Brie Paninis with a spinach salad
Tuesday: Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder
Wednesday: Pulled Pork with Baked Acorn Squash
Thursday: Tacos

The convention was truly wonderful! It was a great way to switch gears after the tragedy we faced earlier in the week. The hardest part was being away from my sweet girl for three days of course! Being that I've never even been away from her for one, it was a pretty big down side. She came running up with a huge smile and gave me the best greeting when I walked in the door late this afternoon. I don't think I stopped hugging her until it was time to put her in to bed!

Happy Weekend!

What's cooking this week?

This past week has been AWFUL! We have finally experienced our first entire-family sickness. It was bound to happen sooner or later, right? I took Ella to the Pediatrician on Tuesday....it was viral so we had to just wait it out. If you've ever tried taking care of a sick kid when you were sick yourself, then you know it's not fun. Hubby and I made it through relying solely on teamwork (we rocked it)! Now the whole family is on the mend just in time to enjoy this beautiful weekend!

Tonight: Stove Top Turkey Meatloaf and lemon garlic green beans
Tuesday: Pasta with Pumpkin Cream Sauce
Wednesday: Loaded Veggie Pizza (yet again, another meal I didn't get to last week)

Yesterday we set up Ella's new inflatable tiger pool. I'd say she enjoyed it....

Afterwards, this Mamma went and got a new look. So far, I'm loving the bangs! We'll see how long this lasts.

Last night we scouted out Target and a few other places for some new furniture. I'm looking for a new media console and an entryway table and I'm being SUPER picky! I can't describe exactly what I'm looking for but I'll let you all know when I find it! 

We've got a busy week coming up, on Thursday I'll be heading down to Orlando for the Florida School Counselor Association Convention (that explains my measly weekly meal plan). I've been wanting to go to this for years, I'm psyched to finally have the opportunity. This will be the longest I'll be away from my little nugget though so I'm not thrilled about that, but overall I'm pretty excited. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week ahead! 

What's cooking this week?

Hey there! A late night post, it's obviously not my usual Sunday! It's been a fun and spontaneous weekend over here. Hubs is not typically one for impromptu plans but I managed to convince him to drive down to South Florida to spend the weekend with family before heading back up to a first birthday party in Melbourne. We've been all over, we're exhausted but it was a great weekend!

Tuesday: Butternut Squash Soup (never quite got to it last week) and rotisserie chicken
Wednesday: Italian Sausage and Peppers
Thursday: Southwest Turkey Burgers

Friday: Loaded Veggie Pizza

Saturday morning we left around 10 AM and got to my aunt and uncle's house around 2ish to spend a nice lazy afternoon and evening with them. Honestly that's my favorite thing to do when we go down there. We just hung out, chased the baby around and threw some burgers on the grill. After the baby went to bed we played charades with my cousins...we've never really grown up, it's the best! This morning we were up and out early to make it to Sawyer's first birthday party (my longest best friend Jaime's son). Baby Girl had a blast, she was a little party animal. She enjoyed playing with all of Sawyers toys, and even tested out some of his new ones too. 

Considering what a whirlwind weekend it's been our little lady was such a trooper even on all the long car rides. Unfortunately things took a turn when she started running a slight fever towards the end of the party. At first I thought it was all teething related because her top 4 teeth are going to break through at any moment, but now I'm thinking it's likely more than that. Just before bed I took her temperature.... 101.5, poor girl! She went from party animal to a little sicky SO suddenly, I knew something was up when she gave me that glassy-eyed look. We've been giving her extra love and lots of snuggles, I hope she kicks this thing ASAP! Looks like she will be staying home with Daddy tomorrow and this Mamma will be taking a half day when he has to go in to work. Teamwork! I better get to sleep, 5:30 comes quick...and who knows if my girl will sleep through the night, she's been very restless! Goodnight, I hope you all had a great weekend!

A Mommy App

Yippeeeee! Today is the long awaited release date for A Mommy App! This day has been a long time coming! When my girl Tiffany filled me in on the deets a few months ago I was psyched for it! This all inclusive app for Mamma's seems to have it all. It's only 99 cents and available for downoad for iPhone (today) and Android (available this weekend). Sweet!

There's an entire community for Moms and Moms-to-be called "The Mommy Glow". I'm most excited for the fact that I could individualize Ella's own little profile and track all of her milestones on here. You could also log in your appointments, take a quiz, and use the soothing sounds feature to get in a little relaxation if you could spare 5 minutes for yourself. What mom doesn't need a little time for herself to de-stress even if it's for only a few minutes!? Count me in! There is also a feature where you could browse blogs and shops (there's a chance you just might see some familiar faces in there, just saying)! 

Anyone want to guess what I'll be doing as soon as it's available for Android this weekend? Yep, I'm totally wishing I had my iPhone still right about now, HA! Check it out and let me know what you think! Be sure to follow A Mommy App on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and spread the word with the hashtag... #amommyapp and #themommyglow! 

Let's Be Halloweeny!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I love Fall and getting into the Halloween spirit. On Saturday we went to a local farm to do a little pumpkin picking with some friends. Turns out the patch wasn't "ready" (oh New York how I miss your real pumpkin patches) so we will take a raincheck on that. My fingers are crossed that we can find something around here that resembles a patch, otherwise we'll be "picking" a pumpkin out of a bin at Publix. There was still lots of animals to see and a hayride where we got up close and personal with lots and lots of moo-cows. We ended the day by taking a walk to the park up the street. Ella had a blast...as you can see, so did Hubs and I! 

What's cooking this week?

Morning! I did my meal planning last night so it's one less thing on my to-do list. Basically all day today I'll be on thank you card duty. We waited for Ella's one year photos to order the thank you's for her party. It was worth the wait too, I love how they came out! Here is this weeks list of yumminess....

Tonight: Healthy Peach BBQ Pulled Chicken with roasted sweet potatoes
Tuesday: Crockpot White Chicken Chili
Wednesday: Butternut Squash Soup and steak for Hubs
Thursday: Tacos

Friday: Pasta with Pumpkin Cream Sauce 

If tonight's dinner looks a little familiar it's because I had it planned for last week and didn't quite get to it. That happens, a lot! You can only plan so much, which is why I often put something towards the end of the week that can wait a few extra days juuuuuuust in case it gets bumped further into the week. So I guess I try to plan for a potential "plan B" but that's where it ends I promise. 

We are in Fall mode over here, as much as you can possibly be when it still feels like summer outside. Confession....I LOVE Fall! I mean, I love living in Florida. The warmth, sunshine, palm trees...all of that is amazing...but I do love this time of year up north when you can feel the drastic change of season just a tiny bit more (ya think!?). Hoodie weather doesn't happen here for a while however there are some changes happening if you really pay attention. The humidity factor is becoming less and less of an issue which is major for me (and my hair)! 

We've learned to really play up everything "Halloweeny" at this time of year to help us get in the spirit. It may be cliché, but yes that includes everything "pumpkin spice"! The house is surrounded by mums, and pretty soon when I finish making breakfast it will smell like pumpkin spice goodness inside, yum! I think Ella will love these too!

{CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE}

This Sunday is getting off to a pretty good start! Later I plan to dig out season 8 of Friends so that I could watch the Halloween party episode. It's all part of getting into "Fall-Mode". 

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Hope you all enjoy your day!