Coco's new pad

One bonus of our new apartment is that he gets his very own play space. His own place to sleep, his own place to retreat to. (our own place to throw all his toys!)

I wanted his room to be fun, colorful and most of all, affordable. We found a couple things at Ikea and went from there.

Here is his room.

This is the hallway to Cohen's room. To the right is our bathroom and the double doors on the left hide our laundry room. This is "Phase II" of our apartment complex, so it's built all 'lofty'. Lofty is a fancy term "no doors". Yea... It's all that was available and we needed to move. Anyways, we hung two noise canceling, black out curtains at his entrance. It's worked out nicely so far. 

Here's the view walking in. The wall color isn't really that powdery, but the light coming in the window is toying with it. 

Ikea table and chairs, Ikea rug and abacus. The soft ABC flash cards were made by our friend Chelsea! Cohen loves to tote these around!

I loved this whimsical canopy when I saw it and it inspired the room. I got the wall color from one of the pennants. I want to make it into a reading corner when he gets a little bigger.

These were the aqua colored, glittery letters we used at Coco's birthday party. We sanded off the glitter and painted them red! I think they turned out great! I got them at Hobby Lobby originally.

This is his book shelf, with bunches of fun books and random items. That's the growth chart Ashley gave Cohen! Goes perfect in his new room.

That cross-stitch was hand made by my cousin Roland. Isn't it the sweetest thing? Those cute letter blocks are from my sweet friend Suzanne at work. And Aunt Myra is to thank for the Very Hungry Caterpillar. :)

I got this idea from pinterest.. (where else?) I found these alphabet flash cards at Barnes and Noble for around 10 dollars. And I already had the twine and clothespins. 

Here's a close up. I just love this wall. Cohen loves for us to sing the ABC's to him, so I know he's going to love learning what each letter looks and sounds like with these flash cards! And they're super fun and cute!

We put his trucks and legos in his closet and what does he play with? The swiffer duster. :) Never fails! But seriously, he likes to go in there and play. 

Our big boy! Almost 30 inches tall! 

So, while we purchased a few new items, most of these things were pieces we already had! And we just finally got to use them in his bigger space. We're so happy with the outcome, we can't wait to watch him play and grow in there. 

Insta-Friday

Well, it's Friday again.. (or what's left of it.) I have a few Instagram photos for you to feast on. We've been moving this whole week, so this is the first time I've even gotten a chance to sit down and blog. Here you go!

Another project for Cohen's room! Stay tuned for the post covering his new room.

This was before we bought groceries.. The three of us had a bed & breakfast date with donuts!

Crazy bedhead resting on Mama and Daddy's headboard.

Cohen's Granna gave him her old deactivated phone and let me tell you.. he acts like it has always been his. He carries it everywhere. Holds it up to his mouth like he's talking to someone.. :) Pretty cute. I'm just waiting on it to end up in the toilet. :-/

Is he the cutest or what? He was eating Pei Wei... loves their fried rice just like mama!

Mama and Daddy had a pancake war this morning. Mama used no oil in the pan, daddy used melted butter. I must say, we tied. :)

Love doing Insta-Friday! These are the pictures I take when the moment is just perfect and the camera is no where in sight. 

Insta-Friday

Ready for the Miranda's week in photos? I've got 6 for ya this week! Enjoy.

Cohen has a bazillion of these little balls that go to various toys. Half of my day is spent chasing him around and taking these away. I caught him here. And please ignore the huge mess, we are moving in two days. 

This is a little sneak peek of Cohen's new room. We are SO excited to get him into his own big boy room!

Here, I let Cohen run around for a few minutes without his diaper. It's good for the hiney. He ran off towards the bathroom where daddy was getting ready. And next thing I know, Hector is yelling for me to come in there. Cohen had peed.. right next to the toilet! I think he was aiming for it! :) Sweet boy.

We went to see Granna and Pops for a day and Pops got to give Cohen his morning bottle! 

We had to take Cohen into the doctor on Wednesday to check on his eye. It was weepy and swollen and looked bruised. So he got some antibiotic drops.. it's looking better, so I suppose it was a little infection. He certainly didn't act sick.

And last, this is another little project for Cohen's room. We had glittery, turquoise letters for Cohen's birthday party, and I wanted to reuse them in his room, so we sanded the glitter off and I painted them red. Gonna look so cute! 

Insta-Friday

Ready for our week in photos? I was sick for two of my days off, so these are kinda lumped a little later in the week.

Enjoy!

1) Hector wanted Cohen to experience chocolate milk, so they shared a glass. Two straws and all!
2) Cohen rode the dolphin at the park.. He wasn't the biggest fan yet.
3) Daddy and Cohen got to pose by a railroad car at the park!
4) What a pretty park we found!
5) Cohen unraveled the toilet paper. Again. :-/
6) Swingin!!!! Weeee!
7) We're couponing!! Ready to save some money!
8) P-Land is getting a Starbucks..brewing station:)

What's Cookin' Wednesday *Bonus Recipe*

Ok, I felt bad that I gave you a recipe that a) I've already done on the blog and b) flopped miserably this time around. So, I've decided to include today's crock pot meal for your culinary fancy.

I made beef stew today! Very simple.

Gather up a few of your favorite veggies.. carrots and potatoes for us. I put in some LARGE leek slices for Hector and so I could pick around them.

I cut up my own beef roast, it was manager's special at Kroger. You need about 2 pounds. 

Toss it with salt, pepper and flour. Then brown it in a pan with vegetable oil.

Just brown it! Don't cook it! :)

While meat was browning, I put 2 cups of beef stock, 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup of red wine (we had open and on hand) into the crock pot.. Oh, and this handy beef stew seasoning mix. ;)

I put it on high, since it was already 1 pm when I was putting this together.

Chop up the veggies. I had too much potato... I get it.

.

.

5 hours later:

Yummy beef stew!

It was so tasty! I feel like it was too easy? Did I leave something out? We just ate it with rolls. Coco even loved it. 

What do you put in your beef stew?

:)

What's Cookin' Wednesday

Sorry this is a day late, guys... life got in the way.

Yesterday I wanted to make some cookies to take to our community group dinner.

I remembered back to these cookies.

Yes. These were the ones I'd decided on. Straight from the KitchenAid cookbook that comes with the mixer. They were divine last time I made them. Why not attempt again, and cheat a little on my recipe for this week?

Ingredients:
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown sugar
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
3 Cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 bag)

Cream sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs together.

Slowly add in the flour, baking soda and salt, slowly over 2 minutes.

Resist the urge to bail on the cookies and eat all of this dough.

Add in the chocolate chips with mixer on "stir" for 15 seconds.

Dollop rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Out pop cookies!

So, I'm not sure what happened to mine. They turned out verrry crispy. I think problem #1 was that I made them too large. #2, because they were so large, I kept taking them out of the oven, deciding they were still raw, and putting them back in. I read that maybe I stirred the dough too much? I dunno. I was SO disappointed in these cookies. I nearly didn't take them, but I figured I had to have something to show for being 25 minutes late to dinner. (flour fiasco..don't ask) I just remember them being fluffy mounds of chocolatey Heaven last time. 


I did reheat one tonight and it was pretty decent. A little chewy, but decent. :) Any suggestions?
Happy baking!

Super Bowl Sunday!

So, I worked on Sunday, but got PTO at 3 o'clock! Nice when that happens. I signed up for it, hoping I'd get it since it was Super Bowl Sunday. The Rays were hosting a football get together, and I wanted us to go.

I didn't really care about the "game" part.. but I love parties with friends. But, ironically, my half time score bet AND final score bet were the closest! :)

My contribution to the party (the price you pay for working right before) *Thanks Kroger*

Me and Jackie

Hector, Tyler, Maggie and Patrick

Coco and Daddy holding hands :) :)

Had to post this picture of PK playing with Maggie in her princess tent. Does he fit? 

Thank you so much, Jackie and Patrick, for having us over! We LOVED the food and fellowship. Those BBQ sliders were delicious! 

Go Giants! (I just had to ask Hector to remind me who won..)