Thank you Pinterest for adding to my constant craving for apples. I guess I could be craving worse things than apples, right? Loving these crunchy and sweet apple treats. Rowan even loves them too!

1. Cut
2. Spread
3. Dip
4. Eat

The End

Full Disclosure: There was a whole lot of nutella eating during the making of this post ; )

I have struggled every since Rowan become mobile to find the balance between style and real life when it comes to decorating our place. I have showed you pictures of our bedroom (see all pictures here)…http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/5390235309/

and Rowan’s room (see all pictures here)…http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7681491898/

…but never our real living space, because I was never satisfied. I always thought I would do more and then show you all. Truth is there just wasn’t much more I could do at this stage with her. She climbs on everything, gets into everything and pretty much can open any drawer, cabinet or cupboard we have. She is a little monkey to say the least. I decided I would just show you exactly the way it is. It may not be Design Sponge house tour quality but it is our life with our almost 2 year old. I think it is crazy when I see all the house pictures on pinterest of people with “kids”. All I am thinking is my kid would break that glass vase with the small trinkets in 2 seconds.

Our couch is durable, wipeable and hides stains. We have duck tape across our filing cabinet so she can’t get in. We have a gate across our kitchen to keep her from the stove, knives etc… We have a parking lot of strollers in the corner. There is a potty in our living room. There is absolutely nothing in the bottom of our shelves (there was stuff at one time but after a million “don’t touch that please” I just decided it wasn’t worth it). There are empty end tables and coffee table. My plants are high out of reach. The floor is usually covered with a million toys and books that I scramble to put away each day at 4:45 before Kev comes home. We move from this Loft apartment in 30 days and although I am itching to get out of here, it will be a bitter sweet day when we have to say goodbye.

WORKING ON: We are having a really casual Olympic Ceremony party tonight with friends. I made a bunch of flag banners yesterday and also drew a fun new chalkboard design on our chalkboard. I love themed parties and well, I also LOVE the Olympics. Like I really, really love the Olympics. I always get so choked up watching them. It’s just so crazy to me that the world comes together over this event. Crazy, huh? We are suppose to dress up in colors of our favorite country. You can bet Rowan and I will be sporting all the Canadian gear we have.

THINKING ABOUT: I have been thinking a lot about Rowan lately. How these are our last few months with just her. I am excited to be adding to our family, but I am trying to cherish this special time with her as well. She is getting so, so big and I don’t want to take for granted these last few months. We have a lot of big things coming up before the baby comes and I don’t want to lose sight on really focusing on the little time we have left as just Rowan and Mommy during the day.

ANTICIPATING: WE FIND OUT THE SEX OF THE BABY ON MONDAY!! Holy Cow that came up fast. We went back and forth whether we would find out or not. We found out with Rowan but with all the baby gear already we saw the fun in waiting. We decided we would get one ultrasound and if the baby was cooperating we would find out and if not then we would wait.

LISTENING TO: The newest Regina Spektor. It is grey and rainy out, we are still in our pjs and it’s the perfect soundtrack for our morning.

EATING: I can’t seem to get enough pasta lately. It is such a comfort food for me. I could eat it everyday (I wish I actually could). I also can’t seem to eat enough green apples and I usually never drink juice, but all I want all the time is really cold juice or ice tea.

THANKFUL FOR: The steps we are taking with Rowan in potty training and sleeping. I feel like we woke up this morning and had some huge wins. After a pretty defeating week with it all, last night and this morning was what we all needed to boost some confidence. I know we aren’t 100% there yet, but Rowan slept through the night in her bed and has not had one accident all morning. She even went poop in her potty this morning for the first time (sorry I know that is TMI but we were really excited over here!!).

PLANNING FOR: This week brought the official news we got our house!!! We had an offer accepted at the beginning of the month, but we were waiting for the house inspection, mortgage applications, etc… to be cleared before getting all excited. We close on August 30th and it feels like an eternity away. I want to move now. I hate waiting, but we have a lot of planning, packing and moving to do this month. How exciting!!

Happy Weekend Guys!!

*Big huge thank you to Danielle for always writing these posts. I love them every time she does them and they inspired this post.

This story starts long before the beginning of this week, but I’ll mostly talk about our ups & downs from Sunday on. As we showed you in the video a few weeks back, Rowan knows how to climb out of her crib. We knew we’d have to get her a bed, but she was so good at climbing out of it we held off for a while. Her sleep changed dramatically after she knew she could get out. Naps become 45mins tops and we got into a bad habit of letting her crawl into bed with us every morning at 4:45am when she would come into our room. By the end of last week naps had become impossible. Anytime she woke up she would climbed out of her crib instead of falling back asleep like she use to. Then Sunday afternoon happened…

Sunday we teamed up and worked hard at getting her asleep. When we finally did, we left her room to go eat some lunch. About 30 mins later we heard the worst thump followed by screaming crying. We ran into her room to find her laying on the floor with her foot stuck in the railing of the bed. Shame, shame, on us for thinking this wouldn’t happen. I completely freaked and burst into tears because I thought her leg was broken. She was fine. Startled but fine. We instantly were in a No More Crib mode. After that I was never putting her back in there.

Sunday night she slept on her crib mattress on the floor. It did not go well. Well, I mean we all made it through the night, but Kev and I both ended up sleeping on the hard wood floor next to her from about 4:30am on. She likes the idea of it. We talk it up all day long, “Yay! Rowan it’s your big girl bed!!”. When it comes to sleeping though, she doesn’t want to be there alone. As of now, we have to lay there with her to fall asleep and if (I mean when) she wakes up in the middle of the night, we have to do it all over again (usually multiple times).

I am hoping that each day that passes will become easier and easier and she will slowly learn to fall back asleep on her own. We ended up getting her a full bed instead of a toddler bed or a twin. Toddler beds seem silly to me because it’s one more stepping stone to buy. I don’t want to have to buy yet another bed a year later. We figure in the course of her kid life, I am sure there will be plenty of nights where she is sick, scared, etc… that we will have to be in bed with her. At least there is space for us now with a full. Plus, I kind of fell head over heels in love with this vintage bed frame from the Habitat Restore. I can’t wait to decorate her new big girl room in the new house soon. You can see pictures of her room when we just had the crib in there here.

I am really hoping we can see the light at the end of this sleepless tunnel soon (we are all very tired)…

p.s. It is pretty dang cute getting to sleep with her at night though.

Did you know you get to take an extra 30% off sale items at Madewell at the moment (use code LOVEIT- not sure how long it lasts?). Ahhh! I can’t help but fill my cart with outfits. I normally can’t afford lots of stuff from there but when it’s on sale that is another story.

Here are some outfits I wish would fit around my expanding waist (worst stage of pregnancy)…

Summer Date Night: Top | Skirt | Heels
Family BBQ: Tank | Shorts | Sandals
Saturday Errands: Blouse | Skirt | Sandals
Girls Night Out: Top | Shorts | Wedges

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7610225128/Cakies: I think Rubyellen is one of my favorite Mom’s on the internet. I love her spirit and general outlook on family, motherhood and also fun. They seem like they have a lot of fun and adventures in their family and I really like that. I am constantly drawn back by the amazing and original content that she creates for her blog (with four kiddos even!). I think she is also part time superhero. It is just an amazing, amazing blog!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7610224694/Late Afternoon: Want a blog that is drop dead gorgeous to look at? Liz is a beautiful girl who wears beautiful clothes. I don’t really read a whole lot of straight fashion blogs anymore but Late Afternoon is one I can’t stop looking at. Her outfits are just so dreamy. Liz is also super sweet in person, I had the pleasure of brunching with her and the rest of the Ruche gang last February. Liz’s outfits will definitely keep you inspired to try new things.

Wow! Thank you for all the love yesterday!! We are overwhelmed with all the support and couldn’t be happier to finally share the news with you all. I will say, it was nice to have a little secret though for a while. Something that we could just share with family and friends.

I will be 17 weeks at the end of this week. We are going strong in the 2nd trimester. I have finally started feeling a tad bit better in the last few days. I had a rough few months. I had a relatively easy first couple weeks of being pregnant and then around 9 weeks it was downhill from there. I feel like there are 2 kinds of ladies in the first trimester. The ones that throw up a lot and can’t look at anything to eat and the ones that have to stuff their face every 2 seconds to stop from feeling sick. I am a stuff your face kind of girl. If I didn’t eat constantly I thought I was going to hurl. The only thing that really got me through a lot of it was running. The days I would go running were always my best days. My midwife said it was totally ok for me to keep it up so I was very proud when we ran the half marathon a few weeks back. 13 miles on 13 weeks. I have definitely tapered back milage a lot since then but working out is still something that makes me feel my best.

Being pregnant with a toddler is probably one of the hardest things ever. I thought it was bad when it was just myself last time. Ha! Funny how perspective changes. I am sure if and when we are ever pregnant with a 3rd I will think that is the hardest thing ever. I will look back at being pregnant with a toddler as a joke. There is just no time to be tired or not feel good. You kind of have to suck it up and put on a good momma face and go play with your full of life little one. It helps having an amazingly supportive husband that will let you rest when he gets home from work though. I am looking forward to getting more energy back soon.

We really are just so excited to grow our little family. To become a family of 4. We watch Rowan play with other kids and feel so much joy to be able to give her a brother or sister to play with.

OUTFIT DETAILS:
(on Jen)
Yellow Lace Top: Forever 21 (similar)
Petticoat Skirt: Modcloth (c/o a very long time ago)
T-Strap Wedges: Banana Republic
Necklace: c/o Modcloth

(on Rowan)
Dress: Vintage (from a friend)
Socks: Carters
Shoes: Vans

(on Kev)
Shorts:Rip Curl
Shirt: RVCA
Shoes: Vans

This is probably going to be one of my most favorite posts ever. I couldn’t narrow down the pictures so get ready for a butt load of them! Yesterday, my friends Ricky, Lacey and myself ran the Color Me Rad race in Boston. In all honesty it is not much of a race or a run but I didn’t expect it to be. The point of it is obviously to get pummeled with color and just have a good time. We made a team name, painted team t-shirts and well, went all out. How could you not? Being a crazy person just seemed way more fun…

(thanks to Kev for taking these awesome photos)
Go Team Tighty Whities!!

p.s. it’s a lot more fun than you think taking a big handful of colored cornstarch and nailing someone in the face. haha.

This week was a tough one. Rowan has been getting up at the crack of dawn for some reason and has been taking 45 mins naps. It has left everyone in the our house tried and cranky. The days have felt very long and a little bit lonely. I am super excited to go visit my parents this weekend, celebrate our best friends baby shower and run the Color Me Rad race in Boston. Nothing like a jam packed weekend to turn around a somewhat blah week. Also, a little retail therapy never hurt either. This week I was hitting up all the online sales everywhere. Summer may have just begun, but that means everything summer related is on sale in stores. Heck yeah!

Here are my favorites from around the internet this week (kinda wish I was wearing that fringe cardigan and neon pink sweats right now)…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7568344174/ 1. Fringe Cardigan | 2. Hansel from Basel Socks | 3. Neon Sandals | 4. Neon Pink Sweats | 5. Modcloth Dress | 6. Striped Tee | 7. Blue Sandals | 8. Dessert Dress | 9. Amazing One Piece | 10. Over the Shoulder Bag | 11. Sunglasses | 12. Cat Tin Poster

1. Madewell and asos have some crazy awesome sale items. Too many to even put in my collage. I kind of want everything, especially everything from Madewell.

2. Loved this post from Danielle. It’s funny how giving birth really does put your body image into perspective.

3. So happy for Katie and her family. Welcome to the world little Phoebe Sue!

4. Obsessed with Kale? This pesto looks amazing!!

5. Sweet Melissa! This had me cracking up. I know we are there very soon…

6. This picture and post are too cute for words.

7. I am pretty much in love with Amanda. Love following their adventures through Europe!

8. A beautiful day at the pool. Love Jess and her family!

9. This coat better get in my closet for Fall. It is pretty amazing (and on sale!)

Happy Weekend!!
xoxo

I am going to start posting some pictures from our vacation over the next week. We are very lucky to have my parents own a house in FL right on the water. It is a such a great vacation spot for us. Let’s face it, staying in a hotel with a kid pretty much sucks. So, being able to stay in a house that you feel super at home in and be on the water is pretty dang awesome. Florida was so hot. Omgosh! So hot! Our favorite thing to do in the evening was to head to the beach. The sun was low, the air was warm and the crowds had left. Those nights were some of my favorite times on vacation…

note: my bathing suit is just mixed matched pieces I picked up at Target this year. I did however just got the most amazing suit from jcrew yesterday. I am in love!

Ok, so this photo was taken about a month ago. I just never got around to posting it. One of my favorite parts of summer is when it’s cool enough in the evening to wear a layer or two. I love being half summer, half fall. Kev and I went on a date the other night and ended up sitting on a boat dock watching random fireworks (it was awesome). The air was cool but still sort of humid. I felt so cozy to put on the extra layer yet still have bare legs. My favorite!

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Vest: Thrifted
Cashmere cardigan: J.Crew
Striped Sleeveless Blouse: J.Crew (similar)
Cut Offs: Old Navy
Polka Dot Flats: Forever 21 (similar)

I have never made banana bread before, but the other night at like 11pm I decided my sad old bananas needed to go out in style rather than get thrown in the trash. I put on The Greatest by Cat Power (one of my favorite cds) and started baking. I kind of mashed together a bunch of recipes to make one I thought would be good. It came out GREAT! We pretty much ate the whole thing in one day. Whoops.

Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup apple sauce
3 mashed overly ripe bananas
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Big handful of Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (optional- I just sprinkled mine on top)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray one 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.
2. Blend together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, applesauce and bananas.
3. Sift together the sugars, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir. Mix well. Add Chocolate chips.
4. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes.

My favorite way to eat Banana bread is toasted with a little butter…

Wow. I think every week should have a day off in the middle. Kev, Rowan and I are off to Massachusetts this weekend. We are excited for some time away at our parent’s houses and I am super excited about being able to go on a date tomorrow night to go see Moonrise Kingdom!!!

I’ve been doing lots of online browsing/shopping lately (isn’t that the easiest way with kids around?) I seem to fill my carts full of yellow items. There is something so pretty and summery about sunkissed skin and that bright yellow color. I love it!

Here are my favorites items from around the internet this week…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7514674898/

1. Did you know Ruche launched a baby collection this week? It is so dang adorable. The founder Mai is pregnant too!! Congrats guys.

2. oh boy my knees buckle over these shoes. *swoon.

3. Such a Mommy crush on Natalie. Wish we could have playdates with our littles.

4. DIY Paint Chip Animals. So cute!

5. I don’t even come close to having any reason to dress up like Blair but boy oh boy I love this skirt.

6. This DIY totally rocked my socks off!

7. Have you seen Mandi’s new blog? So good! I can’t wait to follow along.

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

For everyone who celebrated, I hope you had a great 4th yesterday. Our day was super laid back and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Friends, food, giant fountains and fireworks. I didn’t end up taking a ton of photos, but here are a few (I mean a million) of Rowan. She stole the show all day anyways…

Let’s just say Rowan + the fountains at SUNY Albany are a match made in heaven.

Kev and I have laid in bed every night for the past week talking about how different Rowan is all the sudden. I feel like she woke up last week and was no longer a baby. We’ve seen her becoming more and more independant over the last few months, but this week has been above and beyond. I almost don’t even know what to do with it all. As there has been a steady climb in independence, there has also been a steady decline in wanting to listen or follow directions. She is little miss attitude all the sudden with this new found “I can do all this stuff on my own now.” We trying very hard to find that delicate balance of structure and discipline but also giving her some freedom to stretch her wings a little bit.

She came home from her time away at Grammy’s and all the sudden could climb out of her crib?!?!? It was a little crazy the first morning waking up to her standing right next to our bed. She gets so proud of herself. Time for a big girl bed I guess! You know that moment as a parent when you are encouraging your kid to something you know you shouldn’t, but you can’t help it because it is so dang cute? haha. That is Kev and I all the time…

Rowan has decided she no longer needs to sit in a highchair. She eats all her meals at her table and chairs now. Except she always wants someone to sit with her. I eat most of my meals a foot off the ground as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7486423876/

We have started the whole potty training thing (slowly), but we are trying to only wear underwear when we are at home. We keep the potty in the middle of the living room and remind her like every 5 mins that it is there. She has gone quite a few times in the potty. She has also gone quite a few times all over the floor. I know this one will be a journey…http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7486424424/

Rowan has also started knowing exactly what she does and does not want to wear. Most days it is still mommy’s choice (forced or not), but with a Saturday morning at home this weekend we let her be the one who decided. Yep, its 90 degrees out and she was dead set on wearing her winter hat out. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7486425882/

I am always so amazed with what each stage brings. This stage has been a joy to watch so far (of course with a little stress on the side) but watching Rowan growing up and doing things on her own makes us pretty proud. What a good, sweet, spirited little girl she is becoming.

p.s. Just wanted to say a big huge THANK YOU for all the sweet comments, emails and tweets last week about my post. The readers of this blog are by far the most amazing group of ladies ever. You have warmed me heart. It really means the world. Thank you.