Recipe posts have been MIA lately, don’t know why? You must have missed this post.

With Mason I craved sweets like a manic. With this baby not as much but baking is still very calming for me and I love making stuff that B and Mase enjoy so when my July Moms group started talking about Banana bread, I started thinking about how I need to get some Bananas and then fate stepped in. Two days after talking about Banana Bread in my July 2012 Moms group My neighbor who works at a local school stopped by with a bag full of over ripe bananas that the school was throwing away (don’t even get me started on the fact that they through away the over ripe bananas instead of doing something like making banana bread or donating to a local food shelter). Any way, that was that, it was FATE for me to make Banana Bread!

I switched things up to make *my perfect banana bread* of course!

The first step is to take 6 over ripe bananas and mash them:

Next combine 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup shortening in a large bowl.

Add each egg one at a time beating after each addition!

After adding each egg one at a time add the two tablespoons of mayonnaise and combine

Then add one tablespoon of vanilla!

In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Mix the dry ingredients together and then slowly add it to the banana mixture

Then get the cutest toddler you know to help you mix in the chocolate chips!

I wanted to make both bread and muffins so I greased a loaf pan AND a muffin pan and added batter to both

Pop in the oven at 350 degrees for 50-75 minutes for the loaf pan and 20-25 minutes for the muffins!

To check if it’s done insert a tooth pick into the middle, if it comes out clean you’re good to go!

They were SO yummy, Mason and B were huge fans too!

He’s Not Lion! That much I can promise you!

Baby #2 is due in July of 2012!!!

How cute is that shirt?! As soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for Mason. He is the king of this household and his first animal sound was a lion roaring so I knew it was beyond perfect! It’s from Etsy, the shop is Heather Roger’s Designs. She has the cutest pregnancy announcement shirts for siblings! Right now she has some adorable seasonal shirts for sale too! I want it all

The title of this post was almost Jinxed! Why? Because I wrote TWO posts in the couple of months before I got pregnant about how B and I were not ready to have another. You can laugh at me about that here and here. The 2nd one is especially funny because I was pregnant and didn’t know it yet! Good times.

Okay so let’s see. I had an early dating sonogram that put me at July 20th. According to online calculators and the first day of my last period my EDD is July 23rd. According to one of my Midwives wheels my EDD is July 26th. I however think that’s a little too late for various reasons the main one being I’m pretty positive of the date “it” happened and since conception should have been too far behind that I’m going with closer to a July 20th-July 23rd range.

But for the sake of keeping on track with my Midwife Rugrat #2s EDD is July 26th 2012. Rugrat will be almost exactly 2 1/2 years younger than Mason. I think it’s the perfect age gap!

With an EDD of July 26th that puts me at 16 Weeks 2 days today!

I have SO much catching up to do for you guys! I’ve been doing a bunch of old wives tales to determine the gender AND I even did Intelligender. I will have a review and giveaway for Intelligender up ASAP. And every week I will cover a different old wives tale BUT be prepared you won’t know the answer in just four short weeks instead you will find out in July because this time around we are

What else is different this time around?

I’m ditching my OBs and going with a midwife. I’ll also be delivering at her Birth Center NOT at the hospital. More on that topic in a later post!

And now I’ll leave you with a “bump” picture. With clothes on, especially maternity clothes a bump is visible. With my clothes off I’d call it more of a blump. Or probably even fat lol. But even so, here’s a picture taken today!

24 weeks to go!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Jars of varying sizes
• Mod Podge
• Red and White Tissue Paper (I got Valentine themed tissue paper at Dollar Tree)
• Heart Shape or the ability to cut a heart
• Paintbrush (not pictured)
• Scissors (not pictured)

This project can not be any easier and Mason loved “painting” with the glue.

Tear your tissue paper into pieces

Then cut out your heart shapes so that everything is ready!

Using your paint brush brush a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the jar where you want to put the tissue paper. Place the tissue paper on the glue and paint another thin layer over the top. I found that if I painted the bottom with glue, then placed the tissue paper and painted over it again it helped the tissue paper not get too bunched up and crinkled.

Repeat until the entire jar is covered with the tissue paper. Then move onto your next jar and switch the colors. White on the bottom red hearts on top.

Let each dry a little before placing the hearts on top.

Once you have all your hearts where you want them let them dry completely. Once they are dry you can place tea lights inside of them!

Aren’t they adorable?! I keep them in the center of my kitchen table and I’ll bust them out next year. I’m thinking about making some more for different areas of the house. Easy and cute. You can’t beat that!

Later that night we let him open the rest of his presents!

He got a guitar from Target, a Step 2 Grill and a Melissa and Doug Shapes puzzle. He loves every single last thing, especially the guitar as you can see!

We also sang him Happy Birthday again at dinner!

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I can’t believe another year has come and gone.

Here’s to the next one! It’s going to be a big one for Mason and our family!

We rented a room at a local community center and decorated it with our Firetruck decorations. I printed out coloring pages that related to fire trucks for the kids to color, blew up balloons for them to kick around and let them decorate cupcakes since it was such a huge hit last year!

Mason was absolutely adorable while we were getting ready. We would say to him Mason your birthday party is today and he would say. “Me? Party?” SO cute.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Just like last year the cupcake decorating was a hit! Mason’s firetruck shirt was too cute to mess up so I took it off for the cupcake decorating!

He liked the cupcake but he really liked the sprinkles!

After cupcake decorating we sang Happy Birthday to him! He loved it and he blew out the candle all on his own!

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Don’t you just love his shirt? I got it from Caleb’s Closet Becki, the Mom behind Caleb’s Closet cut ever piece of fabric herself and I was absolutely thrilled with how it came out!

After singing Happy Birthday it was time to open the gifts. Mason was so excited to do this! His friend K who’s behind him was SO adorable. He said kept looking at the cards to make sure that they all said Mason, ya know just in case one said K and was for him. So funny and adorable. He cracks me and B up!

See that Fisher Price Drill that’s in the background? Mason is obsessed with it. We had to pretty much force him to open his other gifts. At one point I was trying to entice him with the next present so I started to open it. When he realized it was a book from just the one side being open he said “NO BOOK” shoved it out of the way and lunged for his drill. So if you want to make a two year old little boy happy get him the Fisher Price Drill.

After presents we made sure to snap some pictures of Mommy, Daddy and Mason.

Before we knew it the party was over and it was time to pack up and head home! I was EXHAUSTED from all the festivities so instead of making eggplant parm like I had planned on doing (it’s my favorite food and usually my birthday dinner) we ordered Chinese food and just hung out for the rest of the day! I also made sure that I took some pictures of Mason in his Birthday shirt from last year since it was the last day he would be one! What a difference a year makes! So as not to overload anyone with pictures. I’ll share some pictures of his actual birthday tomorrow!

I can’t believe how quickly January has gone. I turned 25 and then the very next day Mason turned two and then before I knew it, it was February. Where does the time go? Last weekend I went shopping with B’s Mom and we stopped in at Target. I love looking around especially at their holiday stuff and of course they had a ton of Valentine’s Day stuff out! I’m obsessed with all their Valentine’s day baking supplies, I found them on Amazon too and I just had to share, it’s one of the easiest ways to get into the holiday spirit. And because most of it is hearts these baking pans and supplies more than any other holiday can be used through out the year. Here are some of my favorites. As always click the link to find the source/where you can buy!

Heart Donut Pan

Ah! I just love Valentine’s Day themed bake ware! I want it all but I’m pretty sure if I came home with all B would kill me! I especially love the donut pan and the mini heart pan (pictured last). I can picture doing super cute things for Valentine’s Day for Mason and the mini portion makes it even better for Mason (and my behind).

Here are some things I live by that can help you save money too and not just at the grocery store!

Shop Your Local Consignment Stores and Thrift Stores–I know what some of you may be saying. EW, USED?! Not for me or my family but GUESS WHAT?! I have found A TON of brand spanking new items for both myself and my family especially at consignment stores.

Consign–Don’t just shop at consignment stores consign your clothes! At the beginning of every season (or even better a little before) go through your clothes, figure out what you need and what you don’t need and then consign what you don’t need. It’s a great way to earn some money, at most places you get half of what your item sold for. You can usually cash it in for store credit or cash in hand. Consigning not your thing? Do a blog sale or try Craigslist or Ebay.

Search for coupons online whether you’re shopping online or going to the store–I like shopping online to a certain extent but very rarely buy clothes online. Why? Because I’m short and large chested this means that every single thing I buy has the potential to drastically fit me differently so it’s always a must for me to try things on. Sometimes I’ll notice that there is a sale online but when I go to the store it’s not on sale. So I try on the clothes figure out what I want and then order online. Another option is to look for coupons online. Today I went to Target, I knew I had to buy in store because our event is Saturday so there was no time for shipping so I searched online for target coupon codes and sure enough there were plenty!  I picked and choose what I needed and was on my way.

Shop out of Season–This often means buying what you need for next year this year but it’s a great way to save money! Shop the clearance racks you’d be surprised at what you can find and combined with a coupon you can often pay next for nothing even on clothes. Target is one store I know that has coupon codes. Shopping out of season for kids often involves guessing what size your child will be the following year, I KNOW that can be hard, it’s something I struggle with BUT worst comes to worst you can gift the items, consign them or sell it online to make your money back!

Sign up for your Favorite Stores Newsletters or Follow them on their social media–I set up a separate email account for this so my email doesn’t get clogged with too many store promotions. When I need a coupon for a specific store I sign into the email account and see what’s going on. I often find out about sales and coupons this way that may not be available to people who don’t subscribe.

and one bonus option:

Mobile Coupons–My very favorite stores get the special privilege of having access to my phone number. Each week I get exclusive coupons! I love it!

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What do you guys think!?

We rented a room in the local rec center. It’ll have tables and chairs and I think even a sink which will come in handy. We rented it for 2 hrs! So here’s the problem WHAT THE HECK am I going to do with 7 kids from 2-7? So far I have two ideas:

Cupcake Decorating (this seemed to be a huge hit last year)

Printing out Fire Truck related coloring pages and letting them color

BUT

what else!? Please tell me you guys have some ideas! I’m begging you!

Oh AND Food!

What should I serve? I know I’ll be making cupcakes and maybe a smash cake but what else?!!? Since it’s from 2-4 I feel like I absolutely have to have more than desserts!

Thoughts?!

It’s time for another ABE! What’s that mean you have from NOW until the 28th to enter 60 giveaways valued at over $100 dollars! YES, EVERY SINGLE package is valued at $100 OR over! Take mine for example. I’m giving away an amazing steam mop. A Kalorik Steam Mop to be exact!

If you’ve been around for a while you know that I LOVE Kalorik products! We own their Food Processor, Toaster Oven and Food Slicer. We love every single one. I’ve been using my Toaster Oven every day at least once a day for a year and everything is still in perfect condition and still really easy to clean! Because I love my current Kalorik products I had high expectations for my steam mop and YAY it did NOT disappoint! It’s valued at $199.99 and worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY! HINT HINT: Right now it’s on sale for an AMAZING price!

As soon as it came to the door we opened it up, we wanted to use it right away!

It was so easy to put together and comes with two reusable pads. It also comes with a piece to use it on the carpet (the white plastic triangle on the left). I had no idea you could use it on the carpet so that was a pleasant surprise especially since our carpet has taken a beating since getting a dog and having Mason.

Once you put it together you plug it in give it 30 seconds and it’s ready to use. I couldn’t believe how well it worked, the dirt came right up. I was kind of grossed out actually. I’ve been steam moping twice a week because of that, I never realized how much dirt our floors pick up!

Are you excited to have your floors all sparkly clean!? You can enter using the super easy Rafflecopter form. Mandatory Entry is leaving a comment saying why you’re so excited to win! When you’re done entering here go visit the rest of the blogs and enter your little heart out!

a Rafflecopter giveaway