makeover!

Did you notice? My blog got a makeover!

It has almost been a whole year now since I started this blog, so I thought it was a good time to redesign it a little. I kept the same colors and background, so it still has the same look and feel. The header should alternate between 4 different pictures and layouts every time you refresh the page. We are still working out a few kinks, so hopefully it worked well for you. :)

***For my actual blogger anniversary (a.k.a. "blogger-versary") in December, I am going to celebrate by doing my first ever give-away! It's gonna be good, so keep an eye out for it!***

thankful

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, I am getting more and more excited to see my sister and her family, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, parents, and more through the week. I haven't seen my sister in a year and a half. I can't believe it! We talk on the phone a couple times a week, so it doesn't seem like it's been quite as long as it really has. Needless to say, I have many things to be thankful for, and it's going to be a great week visiting with everyone.

I can't help but constantly remember what all we were giving thanks for last year. I has 9 weeks pregnant, and we chose Thanksgiving Day as the day we told all of our extended family our big news! We were so thankful to be pregnant, and to be expecting 4 babies, and we were all looking forward to what next year would bring. Josh and I imagined that we would be hauling our 4 six month old babies and all their things to this year's Thanksgiving dinner.

Life is really different today than what we thought it would be. I still have plenty to be thankful for, and am going to try to focus on the happy things instead of dwelling on what could have been. We have a busy weekend and week planned of lots of fun with the family. I'll be posting pictures of just some of the things that I am thankful for throughout the week.

My blogger buddy, Holly, recently sent me this picture she took of the fall leaves with Heidi, Lily, Paige, and Rylan's name on it. I love it and plan to frame it! Thanks again Holly! As you know, I am so thankful for anything that reminds me of my "Beans"!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

leftovers again??

Tonight's dinner was so easy, delicious, and I had everything I needed for it in my fridge! Allison made a version of a frittata this last night, and it sparked my interest. I had heard the word "frittata" before, but never really knew that it was. Well, it turns out it's basically an omelet that you throw just about anything into. You cook the bottom of it on the stove for a few minutes, and then pop it in the oven to broil the top for a few more minutes.

I made my frittata out of the leftovers from last night's dinner - Meatballs with cream of mushroom soup and egg noodles (another easy and yummy recipe).

The ingredients to my frittata were:

3 eggs, scrambled

a splash of milk

chopped red onions

chopped parsley

chopped up leftover meatballs and egg noodles

mozzarella cheese

salt & pepper

The finished product!

I'm going to make this more often. I hate wasting leftovers, and this is a great way to use them up without feeling like you're having the same thing for dinner two nights in a row. Thanks for the great idea, AllyRD!

Happy (almost) Friday Everyone!

gift for the green beans

Look at what I got in the mail today!

My Blogger buddy, Ann Marie, and Sarah Warden (the maker of these cool hand painted tiles) sent this to me! I love anything that reminds me of my Beans. This is especially cool because I love the colors and it's totally unique! It made my day when I came across this as I was sorting through the mail.

I found the perfect place to put the tile. It's on the hall table right by my front door for my guests and us to see every time we walk by.

Thank you Ann Marie and Sarah! I love it!

1 step forward, 2 steps back

I know you're probably sick of hearing about this, and frankly I am sick of thinking about this. I just wanted to point out that one year ago today, I was given this amazing, life changing picture...

My Blogger friend, Erika, explained it perfectly... I subconsciously always know how long it's been since I reached one of these pregnancy milestones, but it's not like I am really counting the days. Do you know what I mean? This morning, I just woke up, and noticed that it was November 3rd (which is also my half birthday!) and quickly remembered this day one year ago. I remember it like it was just one month ago.

I'm tired of this always being on my mind. As much as I say that isn't, it still IS. I want it to go away, but I am afraid of forgetting about my babies. I am looking forward to New Years so much. It will be another big step towards having this behind me. I feel like I have been making leaps and bounds in my recovery lately, but every once in awhile I feel like I am pulled right back to where I used to be. *sigh*

Halloween Weekend

This Halloween weekend was a busy one!

It started out with pumpkin carving at the Pernecky's on Friday night. I was feeling festive, so I made a finger-food version of caramel apples to have to snack on. The apple slices weren't the easiest to cover in caramel, but they still tasted great!

I used a pumpkin carving kit for the first time, and stenciled out my pumpkin design. As a kid, we'd always just hack into our pumpkins with random kitchen knifes, so this was a fun change.

Look at how excited we were!

Here are all our pumpkins! (From left to right) Josh did the first two, mine is next, then Ally's, Matt & Kelly's, and then Mike's.

Saturday, we spent the whole day at Ikea, but that story will have to be explained in an entirely different post! :) On Halloween evening, Josh and I set up a table and chairs, candy, drinks, music and pumpkins on our driveway. We sat outside all evening passing out candy and visiting with neighbors. It was a fun tradition to start in our new neighborhood.

Everyone had a great time, including my little trick-or-treaters, Seven and Romie!

Seven was a Cowgirl

Romie was a Pumpkin (with attitude)

Happy Halloween Everyone!