Pictures of my niece...

A few weeks ago, I took some pictures of my 2 year old niece, Corinne, so that I could experiment with my camera I got a few months ago. I am ashamed that I haven't really taken the time to do so as much as I would have liked, but my sister has a baby due in a few short weeks, so hopefully I'll get to take some then, too! Here are a few of my faves:

Corinne was quacking at the baby ducks that were at the pond. She was far more interested in following them around than she was posing for a picture.

Getting a 2 year old to sit still was quite the task. Ice cream helped!

She loved sharing her ice cream.

I just love little feet!

Such a cutie!

I MUST have this.

I do quite a few home projects around the house, and I can NEVER seem to find Jon's power tools. A while ago, we were at Lowes and I asked a guy in the power tools section if they carried pink power tools. He laughed and replied "No, but we have green!" and continued to laugh as he walked away. I didn't think my question was that funny, personally.
Anywhoo, I'm still searching for some pink power tools. Jon wouldn't be caught dead using them, which is 86% of the reason I really want it. How cute is this set? Complete with its own carrying case and pink goggles! I could probably put little rhinestones all over it too, ensuring my husband would steer clear. What do you think? I think I need it.

Right on.

Today was Jon's birthday, and although our weekend was fairly uneventful, he wanted it that way. We spent the weekend lounging around, neglecting chores and work, and simply enjoyed each other's company- something we haven't had the opportunity to do lately. Last night, I treated him to a birthday dinner of his choice, P.F Changs. I handed it to him; it was a excellent choice (even though I'm not big on Chinese food) and the best meal we've had in quite some time! Our waiter was great and suggested some good dishes. At the end of our meal, he brought our tab, and a few fortune cookies (which, for the record, I think are pretty gross). But I opened the cookie, as I always do, and the fortune read this:



I couldn't believe how right on this little fortune was. I smiled, and stowed it in my wallet, saving it to put in a baby book someday.

My diet, illustrated.

Hey, they make a great team.

Getting excited!

Today my sister-in-law went to Babies R' Us with me to get registered. Can we say overwhelming? I mean, how the heck am I supposed to know what boob pump to get? Or if my baby's bottom will prefer wipes that are organic? have aloe? vitamin E? soothing lavender? Far too many choices, if you ask me. But picking all the stuff out was fun, and just another reminder that the stork will be dropping off our boy soon! (too bad it only works like that in cartoons, eh?)
Anyway, in the next few weeks I'll begin nursery preparation, and I really like this picture I found from Rate My Space.

I love how clean and simple it is, so I'll be leaning toward something like it. I also got this little mobile (by Wendy Bellissimo) the other day, and it will be the basis for color inspiration as well as the safari animal paintings I'll be doing for the nursery.

My love/hate relationship with Dillon's (the grocery store).

Can I vent?
Let me just preface by saying that I hate to grocery shop. More importantly, I hate grocery shopping at Wal-mart, even though the have the cheapest groceries. Because of Wal-mart's inconvenient location in route to my house, the ghetto-ness of the people who shop there, and the lack or service/help when you need it, I usually will bypass Walmart and head for Dillons.
So, Dillons... while it seems I can rack up a $75 grocery bill in just 10 minutes, I prefer to shop at their quieter, cleaner facilities. I love the fact that if I have a unlocated ingredient on my list, there is someone around to point me into the right direction. And there are an abundance shaggy-haired highschool boys who are always eager to take my groceries to my car for me. AND there is parking for expectant mothers (though I have yet to park there). But, on 3 separate occasions, I have gotten home without all of my groceries. This last occurence happened just the other day- I bought a bunch of stuff, got home, put all my groceries away, and that was that. In the process of making hummus yesterday, I realized my pita bread was NOWHERE to be found. Neither were my bagels. I searched high and low, in my car, in the kitchen, NADA. So I dug the receipt out of the trash, marched to Dillons, and got what I paid for. And that was that.
Fast foward to this morning. I always have yogurt on my way to work (or first thing when I get there), so I opened up my fridge and the yogurt I bought didn't make it home either. Yet, I failed to realize this last night when I was at Dillons getting the other things that didn't get home with me. I look on the receipt to make sure I had actually purchased the yogurt, and sure enough, 6 little cartons of Yoplait yogurt. Missing from my fridge.
So yeah, I'm a little peeved. Yet I don't think $3 dollars worth of yogurt warrants another trip to Dillons-the 4th trip in 4 days. So I'll sit here, wondering why one of those shaggy haired boys couldn't have run after me in the parking lot to deliver my purchased-left-behind goods. I suppose I can't rely on their attentiveness, and I'll have to start double checking before I leave the pay stand.
Vent, over.

Ahhh, 4th of July...

...my absolute favorite holiday. And, thanks to my pyro-happy neighborhood, it's celebrated all week with the smell and sight of fireworks that blast in the sky. Don't get me wrong, I love ANY holiday associated with eating, drinking and gathering (and heck, who doesn't love a 3 day weekend?), but there's something about the 4th of July that I just love. To start the celebration, I made these little cupcakes to take to work.


Don't kid yourself. You know you're craving a cupcake.