Friday Fashion Diaries

'ELLO! (Said in a British accent)

Happy Friday!

I've been doing some prioritizing in my life lately, and the good old bloggity blog isn't on the top of my priorities list, but I'm tryin to get a few posts in here and there. 

I skipped FFD last week, so this week I'm throwin in some outfits from the past few weeks. :)

Hat

Similar Beatles shirt here

Jeans: I can't find colored jeans on sale right now, but here are some red jean shorts

Infant Converse

(I always find great prices on Converse at the outlet store!)

Hat

Onesie

Hat

I can't find this exact outfit, but Target has tons of Harajuku mini here. 

Hat

I can't find any of Babies R Us' swimwear online, but these trunks are Heidi Klum's brand and the rash guard is just the generic Babies R Us brand. 

Most of this outfit was older/thrifted/bought last season, but check out these red overalls from Gap...CUTE!

Rash Guard

I have found that it can be difficult to find cute swimwear for boys! :/ 

There are cute little girl bathing suits everywhere, but it's more slim pickins for the fellas.

However, with that being said, I'm really loving the boy swim selection over at Gap and Oshkosh right now!

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Meal Planning Monday

Happy Monday!

I don't know how the weather is in your neck of the woods, but it's a bit overcast and rainy on the sunny island of Oahu today...And I'm very thankful for it! We rarely get overcast days, and it's a nice break from the heat we've been getting lately. 

It's nearly noon (Liam slept til 9:30 today...???) and we are all still in jammies! Even though I've been working all morning on some custom design projects that have a tight deadline, it's still been a nice, lazy start to our week. 

Here's what's on our menu for the week!

There are a few things that we were 'supposed' to have a few weeks ago and for whatever reason we didn't. I still have all the ingredients, so I added them back and hopefully we'll get to them this week. 

Beef tips & mashed potatoes

I've never made this, but my gosh it looks hearty and delicious!! While it's not 'technically' a crock-pot meal, I think it would work in the crock pot just as well. 

Beef and Bean enchiladas

So I was at the grocery store last week and the lean ground beef was MAJORLY marked down... Like $1.50 a pound or something? So I bought at least 8 pounds, and now I'm looking for lots of yummy recipes that use ground beef. This was one I found that looks yummy!

Southern style chicken nuggets

One of those things we were supposed to have a few weeks ago. You're supposed to marinate the chicken like, overnight. Is it just me? Do you always forget to marinate too? SO hopefully I'll remember the night before this time!

Zucchini Beef Skillet

A tried and true now! I make this pretty regularly. It's easy, and chock full of fresh veggies. AND my husband loves it too?? SIGN ME UP!\

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Another meal that I was going to make a few weeks ago but didn't get to. I raaaved about these sandwiches because...well, if you've never had one, you just HAVE TO!!!

8 months old!

Another month has come and gone, and once again, I feel as if I blinked....

Weight: 17 pounds, 12 ounces 

(Liam has actually lost a little weight since he started crawling full force!)

Height: 27.5 inches 

Clothing size: 6-9 & 9... 12 months for PJ's

Shoe Size: 3

Diaper size: 3 

Feeding: I still haven't really found a food that Liam dislikes! He's tried lots of new things this month...new purees, and we've introduced lots and lots of finger foods. 

A typical day now goes like this:

He's still nursing, so first thing in the morning, he nurses for about 15-20 min. 

About an hour later, some oatmeal mixed with fruit, and maybe some cheerios.

After his morning nap, he nurses again (15-20) and then I'll usually give some type of snack-- usually just a small little finger food. I haven't really introduced solids for lunch yet, but some days, if I feel like he's acting really hungry, I'll give him a puree an hour or so after he nurses. 

After his afternoon nap, he'll nurse for maybe 10 minutes, and then an hour or so later, it's dinner time. I have started giving him cut-up veggies, cheese, deli meat, diced peaches/pears, bread, etc. Sometimes, he'll get some of what we've having. If I feel like he didn't eat a lot of it, I'll feed him a puree, too.
Then he nurses before bed time for 15-20 minutes.

Sleep: Every time we get into a good sleep routine, it changes!! We grew more teeth this month, so for the most part, he woke up about once a night. I think he was just uncomfortable and couldn't put himself back to sleep, mostly. I usually just nurse him for 10 minutes and he goes right back to sleep, and thankfully, so do I!

Naps have been a little easier this month, aside from a few rough days. He's actually started taking longer naps... (3 hours some days!!) which is unheard of for Liam! Up until now, he's never been a long napper. Anyway, I attribute it to growing, and I'll gladly embrace it! He usually takes two naps a day, the first one being 2-2.5 hours, the second one is always a little shorter. 

Milestones: Man.. SUCH a big month for milestones!! If you read my 7 month post, you'll see that he was 'mobile'... scooting, dragging, army crawling, etc., but not full on crawling on all fours. A few days after he turned 7 months, he just figured it out and hasn't stopped since!! Crawling EVERYwhere. And he's gotten FAST!!

(The dog food is his FAVORITE thing to play with/eat....)

He started standing in his crib a while ago, but around the same time he started crawling, he also started pulling up on everything. He just wants to crawl, crawl, crawl & stand, stand, stand!

He also figured out... completely on his own... how to climb the stairs... ????

So yeah, it's gate city in our house!

We've also grown two more teeth this past month (for a grand total of FOUR!) and almost learned to say 'mama'!! I'd say it was a very productive month.

Adventures: We didn't do anything huge this month, other than the typical beach trips & lots of playdates with other babes! Liam definitely got all his 'adventurousness' out by exploring every nook and cranny of the house.

Oh! But he did get to experience his first carnival, where he rode the carousel, went to the petting zoo, and watched a fun circus show. He loved every bit of it!

 Mommy and Daddy could not get through the month without: 

My gosh, those gates!! Lots of patience and energy, because we've been doing a lot of chasing!

And just for fun...

(He has definitely outgrown the blanket I used to take his photos on!)

Meal Planning Monday

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend / Father's Day was great!

My husband is on a new shift at work, so he had to work this weekend, but thankfully he got to come home early and we had a nice Father's Day dinner!

Since I didn't post last Monday, I wanted to share a couple of things I made this past week that we loved:

1. Chicken Ranch Burgers

Yummy and Yummy! SOO good! I did this in my broiler,  and used light ranch to make it even 'healthier'.  I always recommend not getting cheap buns when you do a meal like this, because to me, the bun makes a huge difference! We always get the big, fluffy potato buns. I served this with sweet potato fries (of course!)

2. Grilled Buffalo Chicken

If you like buffalo sauce, it's a must try! I used a few breasts and some legs, and we used our gas grill for these. I served it with some grilled corn on the cob, sweet tea, and we ate in the yard, tiki torches burning. Can we say summer?

This is what's on the menu for this week:

Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

I've made a similar recipe that used to be on the back of  a Campbell's Soup can, but this one looks even more fresh & yummy!

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches:

UM, YES please. These look not only super delicious, but also super easy!

I'm also planning on ... (Drumroll, please...) making my own BBQ Sauce!!

The website raaaves about this sauce, so I figured, why not!?

KC Style BBQ Sauce

Pizza Pasta Bake

Looks like such a man's meal! My husband loves pizza, and loves pizza with a lot of meat, so I'm sure this will be a homerun. 

Shake & Bake Pork Chops

No recipe really necessary here. I always get the boneless pork loin chops, and Kraft makes this new 'Shake & Bake Kit' that's in the shredded cheese section. Delish!

Garlic Pesto Chicken

I've never really made anything with pesto, but this looks really, really good!

Have a great week, friends!

xox

Friday Fashion Diaries

Man I have NOT had time to blog lately! 

But it's Friday, and I [MAYbe] have 15 minutes. And Liam had SOOO many cute outfits this week :)

[Edit...15 minutes later...Liam is crying in his crib and I have to get him ready for a Dr's appt., so no time to link anything. If you have questions, just ask!]

Hat: Old Navy

Onesie: Old Navy

Bandana Bib: Handmade, available at my IG shop, @thedappermister

Hat: Old Navy

Onesie: Koala Kids Brand

Suspender Shorts: H&M

Hat: Children's Place

Shirt: H&M

Skinny Jeans: Old Navy (technically 'girls jeans'...shhhhh)

Shoes: Local kids consignment shop

Hat: Old Navy

Bandana Bib: Same as above

Button Shirt: H&M

Chambray Pants/Shorts: Old Navy

Converse: Anywhere that sells Converse!
(Side note-- I see a lot of people selling old Converse on IG.... Well, honestly, I actually find them a lot of times at the outlet Converse store for about the same price!)

Onesie & Pants--Handmade by me

Onesie for sale on at my IG shop--I'll be adding the pants there soon!

@thedappermister

Have a great weekend guys!!

Meal Planning Monday

Getting this in late, but I'm gettin it in! Today was busy! I spent several hours working on a 'top-secret' father's day gift that I'm sooo excited about. 

And theeenn I made some homemade salsa and homemade guacamole to go with tonight's dinner...another thing I'm super stoked for. 

(Hubby was off today so he and Liam when on a little boy's afternoon out and gave me lots of free time. IT. WAS. AWESOME!)

Anyway.

Dinner this week!

Enchilada Pasta Casserole

Ok so one of my bestest blogger buddies Tessa (http://www.bedtimechronicles.com) introduced me to this AMAZING casserole. Made it once...didn't have nearly enough leftovers. The hubby raved about it, and I loved it just as much!

Here is the salsa recipe I used for tonight. (I've already tasted it. YUMMY!)

As far as guacamole, I've been making it so long that I just do it to taste. Usually just throw in some sea salt, garlic, and lime juice until it tastes good!

Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles

This looks way too delicious not to try!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is SO easy. (And lean, too!) For this one, all I do is marinate it with a seasoning packet (I get the McCormick grill mates, super yummy!) and if we feel like firing up the grill, we'll grill it. If not, I use the good ole broiler!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I could LIVE on Chick-Fil-A everything, but to get to one I'd have to Kayak the Pacific. These look pretty legit like a copycat Chick-Fil-A version...we shall see!

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

I guess I didn't think we had enough pasta on the menu this week. 

To make my pasta dishes more 'healthy', I always get wheat pasta if it's available.