It’s going to be this little girl and her little brother and us. A family of four. Pretty special if you ask me.

Awww, here we are, a few pics of Ashton’s nursery…just about complete. I need to add a few decorations, a lamp, tie backs for the curtains and it should be pretty much ready!! Yay . And, wow, just in time.  I love how the blues turned out…you can see them best in the third picture down since the crib and rocker cover the dark blue in the first two shots. These colors turned out just right…very fresh and clean and classic. His blankies are all washed and folded, clothes labeled and hung, diaper bag packed for the hospital, and bassinet bumper and sheets clean and in the cradle.

 And now for a few of my wiser food choices for today . A nice smooth, refreshing breakfast sounded perfect this morning, so I blended up a smoothie made with frozen bananas, peanut butter, ice, and skim milk. It was so stinkin’ good! Normally I like my smoothies thick and almost spoon-worthy, but this morning I wanted something more thirst quenching with lots of good ice and cold milk.

Emma loved it too…

 …and wanted more!!

Lunch…fresh greens with cuke, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, shaved ham (not shown), and light champagne dressing (so good! but it has MSG in it, so I feel so torn!!!). I also had a slice of toast with peanut butter and a nectarine. Must be a peanut butter kind of day . Steve and I just finished the newest episode of DesignStar and are a little upset that Emily is still in the top three and Courtland was kicked off! Bummer. Not sure what we’re going to do with the rest of the evening…probably finish packing for the hospital I am finishing my 37th week of pregnancy and feeling very ready!!!

So lately I’ve really been good about eating lots of fresh salads and fruit, but at the same time I have been undermining my heathy habits with a lot of feel-good junk. Grabbing cookies or chips or frozen burritos a bit too often simply because they are there and well, they are just there and sound good for the instant. What’s funny, though, is that at the same time I am reaching for these things my body is actually craving something fresher and healthier, but it’s just been too easy to go for the junk (even what little I have kept around!!). So weird to be thinking on one hand: ”you know I don’t really want or crave this but I’m going to eat it anyway.” On the contrary, when I eat a nice balanced meal packed with nutrients. My head and body feel great when I’m done. I feel alert, energetic, and ready to go. I am really going to work on making food choices that will benefit my day not just for hte moment, but for the morning, afternoon, or evening. In the end when I make wise food choices I feel stronger and empowered to follow those small decisions with bigger more important decisions in my day or week.

Afterall, foods like these…

…make me feel my best, so that is what I need to be putting in my body 85% of the time. The other 15% can be fun food all the way…hello cookies ! So, I’m challenging myself to start making better food choices the majority of the time; to be willing to say “no” to myself; and to strike a better balance. Care to join me? It looks pretty delicious don’t you think?!

Fresh Summer Salads (love the mixed spring greens from Carrie’s garden (mom-in-law)!! So delish!

These awesome girls…girlfriends from Thurs morning b-study who bless my socks off.
Whole front row was preggers when we snapped this shot!! (front: Rachel, Jill, me/back: Sarah, Becca)

Dates with my sweet hubbie.

 A freshly painted nursery…it’s all filled up now, but this is how it looked post-paint.

Iced Vanilla Lattes…loving my espresso machine.

Went to the pool this afternoon with Sarah, Pauline, and all the kiddos. It was a gorgeous day, around 95 degrees and perfect for hanging out in the cool pool chatting and getting a little tan in!! My to-do list has been looming over me the last few weeks with all the baby and house projects, so it’s been nice to get away on days like this and outings with girlfriends to just remove myself from my self-induced task master mindset and enjoy the summer. Do you ever feel that way, where sometimes you just really need to leave home to free your head and feel truly relax? I think it should be dubbed keeper of the home sydrome. Speaking of relaxing, Steve and I have gotten into watching episodes of HGTV Next DesignStar online. Fun to have a show that is somewhat inspiring and isn’t geared just for guys or girls. Most of the shows I’m into aren’t really guy kind of shows, so nice to stumble on something we can both enjoy together!! Lately we’ve been getting all curled up in bed and watching two episodes after Emma is all tucked in. Well off to scrub our shower…okay that sounds random, but we just caulked, applied touch-up grout, and resealed it over the last few days, so tomorrow is the big day we get to USE IT!! And I want it to be squeaky clean!! It was clean before we did all that, but our shoes have made little footprints all over the floor now …so that’s what I’m going to go clean. Tomorrow should be a great day, 1) shower 2) breakfast and coffee time at Sarahs 3) ultrasound (more on that later) and 4) baking. Have a great night!  

Steve and I made a delicious meal tonight of steak with a special rub, fresh corn on the cob, green salad with a new Champagne dressing (Girard’s…so tasty!), and cornbread with butter and honey. It was SOOOOO good!!! Now we are trying to get Emma down so we can have a little time to ourselves to hit the hot tub. (FYI…we keep it below 100 when I’m pregnant, tonight it’s like 97 degrees since it’s a tad muggy out. Completely safe when the temp is controlled.) Have a great Sunday night!! 

Back to the moment, we had a lovely evening  last night with my cousin Brian, his wife Michelle and their three sweet and spunky girls Katherine, Thea, and Zoe. I love hosting. It’s fun to plan a menu and have motivation to get your place all spiffed up. I fixed grilled chicken; basil, tomato, and fresh mozzarella pasta salad; green salad; buttered french bread; and corn on the cob. For dessert my mom brought her amazing jumbleberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream and flourless chocolate cookies for the kids. It was a nice summer spread and I’m glad everything turned out ! Fun to try a new pasta salad too!! I love the combination of cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and real mozzarella pearls together, so delicous. I also like to mix up the pasta noodles so there are a couple fun shapes (say gemelli and radiatore) …makes for a more interesting dish.

I think the most important rule to hosting is to spread out your to-do list. As in don’t try to do it all in 1 or 2 days, but spread things out over the week. For instance, if you mop and plan the menu one day, you can clean a couple bathrooms and vacuum another day; plan grocery shopping and food prep for another day; and designate laundry, bed making, and towel and toiletry stocking the next. I feel like I always learn a lot about our hosting capabilities when we have overnight guests. It brings your attention to the things that would be helpful to have on hand. I made a little list this morning of items that would be good to pick up at some point to better host family and friends. These include:

• a couple more ice cube trays (that or get our ice maker working!!)
• A bread basket
• Cake Cutter
• Large Salad Bowl
• 2 extra pillows (steve and I are so bad, we both sleep with two and get sore if we only have one!!)
• a couple of warm blankets to add to guest beds
• a full or queen-sized down insert for our two queen duvets.

I’m not going to go run out and get all of these things in one trip, but being mindful of what we need, I can keep my eye on sales racks and at yard sales to find these items and fill in the gaps.

Steve has been really into french toast lately, so we make it somewhat often for dinner. I love to use real grainy, hearty breads, such as the sprouted wheat bread our Costco carries. It is a great toast bread, but can be a little dry for sandwiches, so it makes perfect french toast because it can absorb a lot of good liquid and still hold up. I normally put –> 2 eggs + 1 cup of skim milk + a heaping Tb of Vanilla + a few big dashes of cinnamon –>into an 8×8 pan. I make sure to cook it quite a while so that all that good liquid cooks right into the toast. I have often had a hard time figuring out somewhat healthy sides to go with breakfasts dinners (pancakes, etc…). Scrambled eggs are always good, but with french toast I always add quite a bit of egg to the toast itself, so instead we often serve a little dish of cottage cheese or yogurt drizzled with agave nectar and fresh berries and a side of honey roasted turkey (I brown it in a pan until sizzling). This way you are adding a lean protein plus calcium and antioxidants from the berries. Good stuff .

Speaking of breakfasts, here are pictures from our lovely brunch at The Saratoga Inn.

Soaked Granola with Strawberries + yummy coffee with cream!!

Yesterday was all in all a really great birthday. I woke up in the morning with the sunniest outlook on life. It’s fun on your birthday because it’s the one day all year when it’s all about you. I got to sit and savor the still before Emma woke up just thinking about what I felt like doing today. For once I didn’t jump right into my to-do list or daily chores, but prioritized the *fun* things first. Thankfully I did lots of cleaning, unpacking and laundry on Monday, so I was able to just enjoy the fruits of my labor because everything was pretty well tidied!! Steve had given me a few of his gifties the night before, so I got to enjoy puttering around with them. One of the presents included the 3 trendy patterned binders above!! Gotta love it!! I’m so into organizing and lists and all that good stuff, so this was the PERFECT gift for me. He also got me an espresso thermometer and tamper, a new stainless steel set of measuring cups, a mag subscription, a great pair of Nike headphones designed to stay put while running, and…he chipped in with my mom-in-law to get me the most stylish diaper bag ever !!! Pretty sweet huh!

So here is the little desk I set up in our bedroom during my birthday becasue I have been itching for a work surface upstairs (since my work space moved downstairs to make room for little Ashton) to write cards, do projects, pay bills, blog, etc… Here is what I came up with…I’m loving it.

 More fun gifts from my sis-in-laws, Andrea’s mom, and my girlfriend Sarah…steaming pitcher, gift cards to starbucks, bath and body works, and Target, and this adorable toiletry tote!!!

 The day was so much fun…(more update on that later)…Kinda wish my birthday could keep on going. Darn.

This was quite a weekend!! We got packed up on Wed and Thursday and headed over to Whidbey Island for the 4^th of July weekend. It was sweet to be just the three of us for a night and day. Emma, Steve, and I stayed in an adorable little inn called the Saratoga Inn in Langley on Thursday night. It was a beautiful, cozy little bed and breakfast with a perfect view of the Puget Sound. It really had every kind of accommodation you could hope for—a lovely gourmet breakfast, comfy bed with adorable room decore, fresh ice and cold drinks, friendly staff, and an idealic location…walking distance to the water and all the shops in downtown Langley. I give it a 5 star!!!    

Breakfast was a huge treat!!! The coffee was awesome! Hot and perfectly brewed with fresh cream and sugar. They had tiers of banana chocolate chip muffins, a large fruit platter with pineapple, grapes, melon, cherries…fresh crepes with cold whipped cream and peach, raspberry, toasted almond, and cinnamon filling, and soaked granola with strawberries and raisins. They also had these delicious Mexican poached eggs that were served with a special sauce, homemade guacamole and salsa, and warm corn tortillas. Wow. I could get used to this!! We tried a little of everything and it was ALL very tasty!!! I wish breakfast looked like this every morning…what a treat!! I ate breakfast with my coffee and fresh orange juice at this adorable little pedestal table with a lamp and comfy wicker chairs…I may have to incorporate this idea at home, I loved it so much!! 

  Emma LOVED the beach ! 

Wow, I feel like my life is in a little bit of Baby Mania right now preparing for Ashton’s arrival!! That’s right, we decided on his name–Ashton James Colyar. I’ve been busy looking at crib sets online, making lists of much needed baby items, checking out paint colors for the nursery, and registering at Target of course !! I really feel like we’re making some progress though!! And it feels soooo good. We decided on our crib bedding set yesterday and got it all ordered. We found a beautiful crib skirt and matching fitted sheet from Pottery Barn on a great sale!! And bought a matching Koala Baby Powder Blue Bumper from Baby’s R’ Us to match…it’s really cute and fresh and classy. Can’t wait for it to get here in the mail so I have a little more to work with for coordinating window treatments, rugs, storage baskets, etc…I decided against the classic crib set because the quilts that come with most sets are pretty much unusable. They are stiff and too heavy to cover an infant safely, though great for a play mat…but there are so many great activity mats with hanging toys, that I didn’t really use Emma’s quilt at all!! Also Carrie, Ashton’s Grandma is making him a nice soft, gorgeous quilt that he’ll be able to use…So I figured, why not piece together separates and save like half the price of a crib set?! Well, easier said than done. It took a lot of time to find something that I really liked that was affordable and that matched with the other pieces. But I think I was successful. We’ll see when it gets here!!

It’s been a whirlwind of summer activity around here too! This weekend was the first gorgeous, cloudless, blue sky weather that we’ve had yet and it felt amazing to soak in lots and lots of sun and kick-off the first summer BBQs and days at the park. Saturday we had a BBQ at a friend’s house, who is part of our life group. The BBQ was a blast, great food, lots of volleyball, a chance to catch up with the girls, and lots of play time for the kids. Thank you to Chrissy and Mike for hosting us! Their yard looked beautiful!! I forgot to take pictures at that event, but did bring my camera for a birthday at the park the following day. Emma got to help her little friend Jonah celebrate his second birthday complete with dinosaur cake and good food!! We let the kids play in the water for a while. Emma also got to play with her friend Sophia that weekend in her deluxe kiddy pool while us Moms chatted away. I love summer…and I don’t think it’s even officially begun!!