Wednesday Love!

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a great week! It's been H-O-T here lately and I am ready for a break from this weather. Here's what I'm loving this week!

1) Emi Jay hair ties. I've heard about these and seen them around, but didn't understand the appeal until recently. They don't dent your hair, look sophisticated and cute (in your hair or on your wrist) and come in a plethora of colors! I'll definitely be ordering some more.

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2) This recipe. I made it Sunday night for the first time and it was a huge hit. I subbed out ground turkey and broccoli for the ham and zucchini and made them bigger, as I didn't have a mini muffin tin and they were great! Michael and I both happily ate the leftovers for lunch on Monday, too!

3)  The Fifty Shades of Grey books. I know, I know. I got sucked in because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about and while the writing is terrible and there are an awful lot of sex scenes, I was intrigued by the storyline and finished the first book in less than two days. I am now shamefully reading  book two. 

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What are you loving this week? Have you read Fifty Shades yet? Go link up with Jamie and let everyone know!

Emmie - 5 Months

Emmie-

Somehow you are 5 months old now. I cannot believe how quickly this is going by! I've said it before, but each month, I think, "This is my favorite age," so I'm sure it will continue to be that way. It is such a joy to watch you grow and discover the world around you and I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to be home with you while you do so. 

You continue to be the happiest, sweetest girl. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that you are "the happiest baby," I'd be very rich! You LOVE seeing new people and places and having others talk to you. I can already tell that you are going to have the best personality and I love watching it develop!

Here are some highlights from this month:

Loves: The dogs (My goodness, you LOVE those puppies! You could be crying your eyes out and the minute you see them, you start to smile and laugh!), eating, Sophie the Giraffe, going on walks/runs, grabbing your feet & toes, being outside.

Eating: Still nursing 5 times per day and now eating solids 2 times per day, once in the morning and once in the evening. So far, you've tried bananas, avocado, apples, pears, sweet potatoes and squash. You're still wary of anything that's not mixed with breastmilk & cereal, but I would like to start Baby Led Weaning at 6 months, so hopefully that will change!

Sleeping:  We are back to sleeping well! You are sleeping about 11 hours per night (going to bed at 7:30 and getting up at 6:30-7:00) and taking 3 naps per day. I think the sunlight streaming into your room in the mornings is contributing to your early wake up time, though, so I hope to remedy that soon with some blackout curtains!

Clothes: All 3-6 month/6 month clothing and now size 2 diapers! 

Firsts: First time eating real food,  first time rolling from back to tummy (you've been rolling from tummy to back since month 2),  first time drinking from a sippy cup, first time staying in the nursery at the gym, first time swimming.

Some recent pictures:

Now, on to month 6. I can't believe it!!

WILW

Happy Wednesday, everyone! How about another round of What I'm Loving Wednesday? Why not! Here's what's been making me smile this week!

1) Target dresses! I got these two recently and just love, love, love them.

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2) This book. It's our most recent book club pick and it's really good. I find myself avoiding finishing it because I don't want it to be over!

3) Upcoming travels. My stepmom and I just booked our flights this evening to go visit my sister-in-law and nephew in Atlanta in August and I'm so excited. It's been way too long and I'm looking forward to a relaxing trip! It will also be Emmie's first time flying!

4) Pedicures! I got my first one since Emmie was born the other day, and I had forgotten how relaxing they are. My feet feel (and look) so much better!

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I wound up going with this color-Essie's Dive Bar, but it's a little darker than I expected. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back and get another pedicure soon, right?!

What are you loving this week? 

Mexican Food, Cookouts and Father's Day

Mexican food, cookouts and Father's Day...those about sum up our weekend. Well, not entirely, but close. We had a wonderful, relaxing weekend and I'm sad that it went by so quickly.

Friday night we stayed in and had some friends over to grill out. We had burgers, salad and oven roasted potatoes...yum! Saturday, we got up, did some things around the house and then went to lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Deli Mexicana. It was so good! I got their red snapper salad (pictured below) and it was incredible. Light, fresh and delicious (and I didn't even have to leave feeling guilty for eating heavy Mexican food)!

Saturday afternoon, we attended a "Stock the Pool" party hosted by some good friends of ours. They just moved to a fabulous new house and invited everyone over to break in/stock the pool. It was a little overcast, so the water was too chilly for Emmie to enjoy it, but it was loads of fun nonetheless! I made my own version of Emily's vegetable quinoa salad (I subbed out edamame for the peas) and it was a huge hit! It was my first experience cooking with miso. Now I have a whole tub of white miso that I'm going to have to figure out a use for, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

(I forgot to take a photo of the finished product, but here are the veggies sauteeing for the salad)

Sunday was Michael's first Father's Day and it was perfect! Emmie got up early, but wound up taking a 2.5 hour morning nap (I think the pool partying wore her out!), which means Mom and Dad also took a 2.5 hour morning nap! What a perfect Father's Day gift! After she woke up and ate, we headed to brunch at Celtic Crossing. We have fallen in love with their omelets (veggie for me, Irish for Michael) and the live music they have each Sunday. 

(We entertained ourselves while we waited on our food by having a mini photo shoot with Emmie. I am obsessed with her outfit!) 

After lunch, we ran to Target, Garden Ridge and Home Depot so we could wrap up our latest house project...the sunroom (post on that to come this week!). 

(This photo is actually from Friday, but look who's sitting up in the basket like a big girl. Jeez. Where is the time going??)

We headed home to do some work and let Emmie nap, then headed back out for our second Father's Day meal of the day and second Mexican meal of weekend. El Porton on Sunday evenings is quickly becoming a weekly tradition for us. They have a huge patio, it's super kid friendly and it's pretty inexpensive. Oh, and the margaritas are awesome. While we enjoyed our food/drink, we let Emmie experiment with a sippy cup. She liked it!

We wrapped up the weekend by relaxing on the couch and getting in bed early. Not a bad weekend if you ask me!

How was everyone else's weekend?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone's week is going well. It's been a while, so I've decided to link up with Jamie to share what I'm loving this lately.

1) Our new Tervis Tumblers! We've always had a couple of Memphis Tigers ones, but I've always wanted a set of monogrammed ones. I love them! They really are the best "glasses" for everyday, casual use.

Here's a crappy iPhone photo of one of them. 

2) This pinterest recipe. I've been subbing out laughing cow cheese for the cream cheese and have had it for lunch nearly every day for the past week. It is delicious, filling and pretty healthy! 

3) Running! I've finally gotten back into the swing of things since Emmie was born and have been running a lot. We did the Harbortown 5K a couple of weeks ago, the Gibson this weekend and are signed up for LuvMud, which is in a week and a half. I had forgotten how much I enjoy running and races! 

Our little family after the Gibson 5K.

4) My new iPhone! I'd been using the 3 for a couple of years and was due for an upgrade, so I got the 4. The upgrades are nice and the camera is great. I love that the face is white, too! 

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What are you loving lately? 

West Elm Love

As I mentioned in my previous post, we recently moved to a new house. With the new house comes new rooms to decorate, so I've been picking up a few things here and there in an attempt to slowly furnish the additional rooms we've acquired, and have been loving some West Elm lately. We have an outlet here in Memphis that is connected to the Pottery Barn outlet, so it's like a little piece of decorating heaven! Here are a few of the things I've picked up lately (all at awesome prices, too!):

These silk pillows match our den perfectly. I love the pattern!

Curtains for the den. I got these for only $24.99 per panel.

A new dining table! It has a small scratch on the underside of it, so it was marked to half off. 

And finally...a new living room rug. I wasn't planning on buying it the day I went in there, but it was the only one they had and on clearance for 60% off. 

I'm thinking I am going to paint the walls a soft, muted yellow to add a pop of color to the room. They are currently a light grey, and while I like it, I think the grey walls plus grey rug plus cream couch are a little too monochromatic. What do you think about yellow walls? I'm leaning toward something like 

this:

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