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Our first home holds so many memories.  The home we moved in together after we were married.  The home where we learned to be husband and wife.  The home where we welcomed Mia. The home that held parties, whiskey fires, showers, and happy hours.  The home where we bought Ethan home from the hospital.  The home where we learned to be parents.  The home that held us through many late nights.  So many memories are wrapped in these walls and I can't help but get emotional to think about moving. 

After our first open house last Sunday, we got an offer. After going back and forth a couple of times, we accepted the buyers contract and that was it. Of course, we have inspections and appraisals so the deal isn't completely finalized but it is getting close. We still have other agents and prospective buyers coming in just in case. And now, we need to find somewhere to live! We have mixed emotions about leaving and moving on.  We know we will make new memories in our new house, but for now, we're enjoying this last month in a home that is so very special to us.

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Yummy Pinterest Finds

I'm always on the look out for new crockpot recipes.  They need to be easy and "healthy".  We have tried a few really good ones lately so I thought I'd share!

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas-  Super easy and really good!  We love fajitas and honestly, they aren't hard to begin with.  But it was awesome to be able to cut up the peppers and onions on Sunday and put it all in the crockpot on Monday morning.  I didn't think ahead enough to thaw the chicken and cut it into strips so I ended up putting it in frozen. 

Crockpot Chicken Marsala-  I had a bunch of portobello mushrooms that I needed to use and this recipe was perfect.  Again, I'm lazy and didn't thaw and cut the chicken ahead of time.  That means that I ended up with a lot of chunky and shredding chicken pieces.  Still yummy though!  I served the chicken over whole-wheat angel hair pasta.  Only thing I would change is to double the sauce.

Crockpot Turkey Meatballs- Easy and great!  These are from my favorite website, SkinnyTaste.  You can eat them alone with sauce and cheese or over pasta.

Skinny Chicken Enchiladas- Ok, this isn't a crockpot recipe but it was really simple.  I prepared it the night before and put it in the fridge overnight.  When I got home, I popped it in the oven and it was DELISH!  I added a can of corn and a can of black beans.  YUM!  I also made this for a friend that was sick and unable to cook so it is a great "casserole-type" dish to bring to friends that are new moms, too.

Those are my latest Pinterest finds.  Please link any recipes that you are digging right now, too!  Thanks!

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Goodnight Moon

Ethan starred in a Goodnight Moon-inspired photo shoot from the creative, genius mind of our dear friend and photographer, Cheryl. 


In the great green room, there was a telephone, and a red balloon, and a picture of-

The cow jumping over the moon

And there were three little bears sitting on chairs

And two little kittens and a pair of mittens

And a toyhouse and a young mouse

And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush

And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"

Goodnight room, goodnight moon, goodnight cow jumping over the moon

Goodnight light and the red balloon, goodnight bears, goodnight chairs

Goodnight kittens, goodnight mittens, goodnight clocks, and goodnight socks

Goodnight little house and goodnight little mouse

Goodnight comb and goodnight brush, goodnight nobody, goodnight mush

And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"

Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere


And of course, a few extra favorites:

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Mish Mash

Oh man...I hate that such a negative post has been looming on my blog over almost 2 months!  Time to change that and include a quick update on what's going on in our lives.  Such a busy time for this little family!

Ethan
Man, this kid is growing so fast.  He is at such an awesome age (16 months) and he really is so so smart.  He has TONS of words and new this week:  bubbles, outside, balloon, and yummy.  Our Parents as Teachers Educator came over and confirmed that Ethan is as much as a genius that we expected :)  (Don't all parents think their child is the smartest and cutest on the planet?!)  Life with him is just so amazing right now.  I'm not coming down from this "Mommy High" anytime soon!  I just gobble up every minute with him that I can and love every second.


Mike
Oh, my poor husband.  He has been working so sooooo sooo hard lately.  He has been burning the candle from both ends for awhile now and today marks the start of his crazy wedding season.  Pretty much from now to November, he will be shooting weddings and sessions every day of every weekend.  He has been working all day at his full time job, then he comes home to work on getting our house ready to go on the market, and then stays up late with those projects or works on his photography.  He has done such INCREDIBLE work around the house by fixing every little issue that has come up, painting, landscaping, and our house looks great!  I don't know how he balances all of his work, our house, and being such an awesome daddy and husband. 


The House
Our house will officially be on the market next Sunday and we will have our first open house.  I can't believe this is happening.  The POD will be picked up on Tuesday, the photographer will come on Wednesday, we will have a garage sale on Saturday, and then open house on Sunday.  Pretty incredible!  As I have mentioned before, leaving our "small town" Kirkwood will be very hard.  But we are excited about a couple of bigger homes that we have found that are closer to our parents and my work.  We know it will be a sad transition but one that is necessary for our family.  (The picture below was on our first day in our home in 2008.)


Running
Ohhhh, running.  Training for the half marathon was going really well.  UNTIL a few weeks ago.  After I ran, I had a lot of aching pain in my right knee.  I gave it a rest and tried again the next week.  Same thing and I was barely able to walk for 24 hours.  I iced it and took ibuprofen and it the pain went away quickly.  I decided to give it one last shot today.  My sister and I were attempting 7 miles in Forest Park (and in the back of my head, I knew my knee wasn't going to make it.)  It started aching at 1.7 miles but I wanted to try to get a bit further.  I had to stop at about 3.2 miles because of shooting pain.  I am so disappointed.  I've never had knee pain and I've been running off and on for about 4 years.  I'm going to my chiropractor on Monday (he also specializes in sports medicine) to see if this is the end of running for me.  I have a feeling that it is.  I cried when I had to stop and my sister had to finish the run without me.  I could have done it.  The rest of my body and my mind could have done it.  Why why why is my knee failing me now :( 
*I've decided to describe the pain since I have a lot of runners that read and comment!  Help me out, ladies.  The pain starts a couple of miles in.  It is the outside of my right kneecap.  It generally aches and today was the first day with shooting pain.  When I get home and rest, it starts to feel stiff and it very painful to bend it.  It is especially painful to go downstairs, but it is ok to go up.  I can bend my knee when pulling it forward (like at a 90 degree angle) but it really hurts when I bend it backwards (like to kick my tush).  The pain lasts about 24-48 hours and then completely vanishes until my next run.

Weight Loss
I think I have gotten the most comments when I post about weigh loss and my body image issues.  I started trying to lose the baby weight when Ethan was about 8 months old.  (I realized the 9 months on, 9 months off thing was just around the corner.)  I started in February and by March, I was sad and frustrated.  But I didn't give up.  This summer, I took a stroller fit class and started training for this 1/2 marathon.  I got on the scale last weekend and it showed that I have lost 15 pounds since I started trying in February!  It's awesome to FINALLY (after over a year) fit back into my prebaby clothes and feel OK about my appearance.  I like having my confidence back and it feels great to have people tell you that you look good.  I am my sister's Maid of Honor (I hope she doesn't call me the Matron of Honor...that sounds old) in June and I'd love to lose 10 more pounds by then. 

Baby Fever
Of course, I have waves of it but it's pretty much been at bay for a couple of months.  I am just totally enjoying Ethan and everything life is offering us right now so we aren't there yet.  We want to move and get into the next year before we start entertaining the idea of #2.  Also, Ethan is just so perfect and it scares me to think about what #2 could bring...don't they say if you have a great first kiddo that your second will surely be a terror?  Haha :)  (Or vice vera, of course!)

Congrats if you made it to the end.  That is what has been going on in our lives and the reason that I haven't been able to blog as often as I'd like.  Summer and Fall in St. Louis are my favorite seasons with so much to do.  Last night, we did the Balloon Glow in Forest Park and today enjoyed the Green Tree Festival's parade and will go the craft fair after naptime.  Love this time of the year and this weather!   Hope you are enjoying it too!  Happy Weekend!  XOXO

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