Fancy Schmancy Lens

I am SUPER excited that I have a fun, new lens to play with and take even more pictures! YAY!  And even better, is barely used (like 500 pics maybe) and I got it on eBay for like half the retail price.  Nice!  I wanted to play with it a little Friday night after I discovered that it had arrived.  Here are some comparison pics between the lens the camera came with and my new lens....

Old Lens - Zoomed Out

 Old Lens - Zoomed In

 New Lens - Zoomed Out

 New Lens - Zoomed In

I am so, so excited to have a lens that allows me to get even closer to objects!  I was standing in the same place across the kitchen taking these pictures, so it definitely is a good indication of the difference in zoom.  It seems that zoomed in on the old lens is similar to the zoomed out on the new one! Love it!

The next morning, I, of course, was eager to play with it again.  Here are a few pics of Katie from across the room - she was about to eat breakfast!  I love that I can get her face and not actually be in her face! 

 A little blurry because she is always in motion, but love that smile!!

I can't wait to really use this lens! Wonder who will let me take pictures next?? I think I may try to take some of Katie and our neighbor Stella in their matching Little Honeybee outfits sometime this afternoon - should be fun!

Friday Funday

Yesterday, we headed to our local science center for the first time - and we met some friends there!  I had bought a membership last fall because they were half off - can't beat that!  And when we got there, my friend and her two boys got in for free with my family membership! Added bonus! 

I also want to mention that Katie went....wait for it....wearing BIG GIRLPANTIES!!! Yep, she's doing pretty well with that whole thing - and she actually asks to wear them now!  We did go to the bathroom about 5 times while we were there, but she did great! YAY!

I was a little uncertain as to if they would have activities that would be appropriate for Katie and my friend's oldest (a few months older than Katie), but they had a BLAST!!  Some of the activities were a bit advanced, but they enjoyed trying to figure it out and putting their own spin on it! :)  I actually took my nice camera (as opposed to relying on my iPhone camera, which I am way guilty of as of lately), so here are some pics of our adventure!

 {look at that intense concentration!}

{she loved all of the computer screens}

 

 {I know this picture is blurry, but I have a story...I thought she would love seeing a big tooth to brush because she loves brushing her teeth.  When I told her what it was, she tried to brush her own teeth with that huge brush...oh my}

 {Katie and my friend's oldest son playing on a big machine - not sure they knew what it was for, but they loved pressing the buttons!}

 {...and Katie playing with the younger of the brothers!  He turns 1 today!}

 {In a different section, they had this water table where you could set up veins and arteries and see how blood and oxygen flow!  Katie thought it was just a water table and LOVED it!}

 {I'm pretty sure she could have played on the water table for hours...}

 {they also had an ambulance set up for kids to explore!  Katie just loved sitting in the chairs and pretending to drive!  This was as close to a smile we got...}

 {And back to the water table we went...}

 {She took something to the top to watch it go all the way to the bottom - I love her trying to see it!}

 {Crazy driver coming through!!}

 {Katie & Bode...they could totally pass for siblings, don't you think?? They were loving the ambulance!}

{They also loved this - there were levers to operate each huge finger to hit the big ball with!  I think this one could've been my favorite...}

Hope you have a great weekend!

Foodie Friday: Pinterest Edition

First of all, I am LOVING Pinterest!! There are endless possibilities there!  And I especially love seeing new recipes on there that I am just dying to try.  Two of these dishes I am going to have on here are ones I actually made last week, but they are definitely worth trying!  They were delicious - and SO easy!  Right up my alley!  

Last week, I made Twice Baked Potato Casserole - the recipe can be found HERE.  It was YUMMY! I had to change the recipe just a little because I didn't cut up enough potatoes, so I just did one layer as opposed to two.  And I was a little confused as to if the potatoes needed to be cooked before baking or not, so I played it safe and boiled them first.  Looking back, I do think that was the right call!

 During the same meal, I made Sour Creme Chicken - YUM!  And ridiculously easy.  The recipe for this dish can be found HERE.  Again, super easy to make!  I'd definitely make it again!

 This was my plate before I ate the meal - we obviously had a salad as well.  And sorry for the poor picture quality - this momma was hungry!!

 And for dessert, I made these cupcakes - they have marshmallow-y/vanilla filling...YUM! And again, super easy! They are just a boxed mix you can find your local baking aisle.  I think they are called Fillables, but I could have easily made that up :)

 Earlier this week, I made Pesto Chicken.  The easiest dish ever - and the chicken was so tender and amazing.  The recipe can be found HERE - totally foolproof dish for sure!  I served it with homemade sweet potato fries (served with a sauce made of one part horseradish-wasabi sauce and two parts light mayo)!  It is making my mouth water just thinking about it!!

I hope these recipes offer some ideas for the next time you can't decide what to make - I would make any of these again!  You can't go wrong!  Happy Friday!

Nursery Furniture Shopping

This past Sunday we started looking at some baby furniture - pretty fun to look at and really try to picture it in the future baby's room!  The store where we bought the furniture for Katie's room has a "Once a Trimester" sale that is typically their best prices on their furniture.  Katie was excited to look at furniture for the baby's room too!  She also loved finding all of the stuffed animals and holding onto them as she ran around!

 Whenever we stopped to look at a crib, she stepped onto it so she could really get a feel for it - as seen here.  So funny! 

 I think this was our favorite line of furniture - isn't this crib pretty? It is the same brand as the furniture that Katie has and we like how nicely that has held up.  The only problem with this brand is that they don't make bookcases anymore.  I had this vision of a crib, dresser, and bookcase (like Katie had)...and all they do is sell the hutch to go on the dresser.  I can see where that might make it more difficult to use the dresser as a changing table, too.  And since this line wouldn't be available until March, it could be April or early May when it comes in.  Since I'm not due until later in June, that could work, but I'd really like to be able to work on the nursery!

 And I spotted this baby boy bedding.  I like the colors and the transportation theme - I think it is more subtle with the theme than some are!

We have until the end of the month to take advantage of the sale prices, so we will see if we go ahead and order or not!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!! It's that time again - yep, time for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Here are a few things I am loving today....

I'm LOVING the way Katie colors - she sticks her pinky out!  So proper, right!? HA! 

I'm LOVING this new lens I bought from eBay! It has only been used for about 500 pictures (according to the seller) and I got it for less than half of it's retail value!  It is a Pentax DA-L 55-300mm f/4 - 5.8 ED DAL Lens.  Not sure what that means.  I just know I'm thrilled! It should be here later this week!

I'm LOVING this dog! Isn't is ADORABLE!! It is a full-grown Golden Cocker Retriever.  I want one like majorly - not necessarily right this minute, but eventually :) It is like it stays looking like a Golden Retriever pup forever.  Adorable.  I found it here.

I'm LOVING all of the wonderful recipes I have found on Pinterest!  I have actually started trying a few, so stay tuned for more on that in this Friday's edition of Foodie Fridays!

I'm LOVING this idea for a window seat!  I think I want one of these in our master bedroom - we have a "sitting area" and I think having a window seat would be so neat!

I'm LOVING this idea for dying Easter eggs!  Use Kool-Aid .... novel concept, huh!  I found this on Pinterest as well...and it makes total sense.  Think we may try this method this year!  Look at all those pretty colors!

And of course, I'm LOVING this sweet girl (even though she has been acting like a two year old the last few days)!  She looks so grown up today with her puffer vest on! ... AND....

 ...she ASKED to wear big girl panties today!  I'm definitely LOVING that!! She has had lots of days of zero or just one accident with Pull-Ups on, so I am hoping that we are turning a corner!  Also, isn't her hair getting so long? Wondering if I should let it keep growing or get a little trim - I just love it!

What are you loving today?? Wanna link up? Go HeRe!

Art With Cee Cee

Yesterday we headed to my mom's house to let Katie do some art with her!  It is always a real treat for Katie to get to go do art AT Cee Cee's house - she loves to be creative!  When we got there, she was thrilled to see a GIANT box - she took all the paper out and colored the outside.  She said it was going to be her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse TV (quite the imagination, huh!).  And then she turned it over and sat in it and colored a bunch.  Please excuse the blur of her hand...she was an artist at work :)

 While Cee Cee got some lunch ready, she gave Katie a deck of Go Fish cards and asked her to match up the numbers.  Katie quickly figured out the backs were all the same, so she decided to "match them up" according to what was on the back.  Pretty smart if you ask me!

 And then she did blocks and made block necklaces.  Please pardon the lack of makeup and quality of picture.  I think it is definitely time for me to invest in some wrinkle repair lotion.  For more on that, visit my friend Melinda's post from today.  Here is me with my girl and our necklaces.  Cute!

Katie asks to do art at Cee Cee's house at least 3 times a week, so this was so fun for her!  And it let me sit back and relax just a little bit too - no complaints from me!!

Mommas...A Little Sleep Help, Please!

Katie has always been a great sleeper - like from day one.  She started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks.  And she would go to sleep, sleep all night, and still take a wonderful nap.  Then, around Thanksgiving (as in a couple of months ago), we made the big girl bed transition.  Everything started off as expected - she was testing her limits and figuring things out.

I also think the excitement of Christmastime made it hard for her to go to sleep.  Or maybe I'm just full of excuses.  Anyways, here is the problem...Katie has been taking like 2 to 3 hours to fall asleep!  Most of the time she will just lay there and talk and sing.  Sometimes she gets up and gets books and brings them in bed (like last night) or goes to get her harmonica and plays it in bed (like Friday night).  If we go in, she says she needs to go potty - and she always goes.  So I have a hard time saying no (especially since we are still working on the potty training thing).  But good GRIEF...something's gotta give!  I am so ready for her to go to sleep when it is bedtime!  Momma needs to get some sleep too! 

Last week, Brad was out of town Monday through Thursday.  When it came time for Katie's bedtime, we did our normal routine (bath, get ready for bed, read a book, say prayers, give kisses).  And I try to tell her that if she stays in bed, we will do ----- tomorrow (do stickers, go get ice cream, go to Cee Cee's house, play with Stella, etc - it is typically something that we will likely do, but I want to entice her to   stay in bed).  I don't know if that's a good idea or not - the verdict is out as to if it is working.  But when Brad was gone, Katie was asleep within 10-15 minutes.  And she didn't get out of bed until around 8 the next morning!  That is PRECISELY what I want!

But why isn't she doing it?!?  Mommas - do you have any suggestions?  We do leave a light on in her bathroom - we were doing the light over her sink area (closer to her bed) and thought that was keeping her awake.  So now we do the one over the tub so it isn't as bright in her room.  We also use that as a threat if we have to go in there ... "If I have to come back in here, the light goes off!!"  That typically works because she doesn't want to be in the dark.

If she's just in bed singing and talking, do we still just leave her?  Even if it is 10:30 and we are ready to go to sleep?  We have been going in and re-tucking her in (which typically means a trip to the potty) - not sure if we should do that or not.

And obviously if she is up, we go in there and get onto her about being out of bed (which, again, typically leads to a potty stop).  A lot of times she will go to sleep after going potty, but not all the time.

Could she just be a night owl all of a sudden? And she does still take a nap - and I was hoping she would until she turns 10.  At naptime, there is no issue - she goes right to sleep.  I would prefer she not give up naptime for a little while, especially with  baby #2 on the way. 

I've also tried to make it a point to do things in the afternoon to wear her out.  The thinking there is that if she has been super busy, she will be zonked at night.  That typically has not worked.  FRUSTRATING!

Any help out there is appreciated! :) THANKS!

Weekend Randoms

I had a few pictures from this weekend so far - I decided to just do one post inclusive of all of them! Yesterday, we did a whole lot of nothing.  The highlight was an impromptu date night for me and Brad!  We ate dinner at one of our favorite places in downtown Franklin and then we were going to go see a movie.  As usual, we got to the theater and the movie sold out just minutes before we got to the ticket window.  So what did we do instead? What we always do! Go to Target!  We just walked around and I bought a book so I can do a Pinterest-inspired idea. 

This was Katie as we were getting ready.  See? She's still in jammies - shows how relaxing our day was!  I think this is hilarious - she's wearing some of my heels (low heels) and using a shopping bag as a purse.  Oh dear.

 This morning, we overslept for the church service we typically go to, so we decided to go to late service.  Here is Miss Priss in the car on the way.  So coordinated!

 And yesterday, I just felt like my belly was huge.  I had Brad take my picture before we left for dinner last night.  Seeing this picture makes it looks a little less big than I thought, but I definitely feel like I've grown.  I am 17 weeks in this picture.  And I was excited to get all of my maternity things out this week - hooray for pants other than jeans!  And for shirts other than the same rotation of the 4 I grabbed out a few weeks ago!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I know we will :)