11 Months

Ella is pulling herself up and exploring constantly. 

Basically sums up her 11th month! 

One "nice" one for Gram! 

Downstairs Bathroom

Our downstairs bathroom redo wraps up our current house projects. This redo packs the biggest punch, and brings some flare to the downstairs! 

Before: 

When josh took off the mirror we found this: 

A close up on the awesomeness that was the old wallpaper: 

After: 

New (non wood) toilet seat: 

New brushed silver fixtures: 

Vanity: 

"Adorable mirror...coming soon to a bathroom near you" a place holder until my father-in-law can find the perfect mirror. 

A more complete picture of the striped accent wall (thanks to Josh for letting me try stripes). 

We also painted the cabinets white and added new hinges. 

Before: 

After: 

I painted the old knobs with rustoleum. 

Baby Dance Party

Love my tiny dancer!

Family Room

The living room is all set up now! We haven't hung anything on the walls yet;we are waiting to make picture holes in the wall until we have purchased our new couch and arranged the room again.   

This is the view looking into the room right after you walk through the front door. 

Here is the couch in front of our large window. (And diaper storage under the couch). 

Ella's own personal toy world and our leather chair. 

The TV corner. You can see the entry way and into the kitchen to help you get your barring. 

Soup #3 - Zuppa Tuscana

This awesome recipe was shared with me by the fabulous Khanh! Thanks!

Ingredients: 

1 pound Spicy Breakfast Sausage
1 whole Red onion; Medium, Diced
3 cloves Garlic; Minced
2 whole Medium Potatoes; thickly sliced and then cut into quarters
6-8 cups Warm Water
3 cubes Chicken bouillon cubes
2 1/2 cups Kale; Stems removed and ripped into bite sized pieces
1 cup Heavy cream

Directions: 

Crumble sausage into a large pot and heat over medium-high heat until cooked through. Drain oil from the pan. Chop onions add to the the pot. Reduce heat to medium and cook until onions are clear. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add 6 cups warm water, bouillon cubes and potatoes to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes are almost done. Taste and add more water if too salty.

Add kale, sausage, and heavy cream. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve with shaved Parmesan cheese on top.

Outside Adventure

Dirty toes, mud under her nails, grass stained knees and endless giggles.

New rule: no yard work with little miss curious when I'm the only one home. 

 Post mud wrestling bath hair. 

Hair Bows

It's official, mommy likes hair bows WAY more than Ella does.