house shopping.

A few gems I have come across while house shopping online.

1. The entire house is painted like this....




2. Asking price- offers over $700,000 for THIS lounge/family room.... hummm...



3. These people must have forgotten that pictures were being taken on this day because they left EVERYTHING THEY OWN in this room.



4. Shiny blue kitchen anyone??




5. And for one my very favourites, this 70's inspired beauty. The bathroom....



And the kitchen.... all for only $700,000 (WHAT?!?!).



Now do you see what I am dealing with people. This whole house shopping situation is proving to be very entertaining!!

boys.

My BFF (who is also having a little boy in just a couple of months) posted this article on facebook and it made me laugh. Out loud. So I thought I would share it with you along with a few pictures of my three boys. Come November we will be adding a 4th and so I might as well prepare myself as best as possible. But to be honest, I can't wait!!!

20 Things Nobody Told Me About Little Boys- by Amy Corbett Storch

1. You will spend a crazy amount of time clipping their weed-like fingernails, even though your own nails don't grow worth a damn.

2. They will also probably have nicer eyelashes than you.

3. Little-boy funk-smell kicks in sometime around age 3.



4. It smells like a combination of feet and maple syrup.

5. You will totally get peed on. In the face, directly, at least once.

6. I also do not suggest painting the walls immediately around changing tables or toilets with a flat finish. Go with eggshell or satin, or else just thumbtack up some freaking towels.

7. Those little PeePee TeePee things do not work, unless you care to see just how far your son's urine can propel a tiny, soggy cone of fabric across the room.

8. All that said, a lot of times they just manage to pee right on their own heads. Memorize their shocked expression when it happens, because hiiiiiiiiiilarious.



9. Boners.

10. Yeast infections are not just for girls.

11. EW.

12. The instinct to turn random objects into guns/blasters/lasers/phasers/swords/lightsabers/arrows/cannons/etc. is something they are born with. Don't worry about it too much.

13. Buy helmets, though.

14. Remember that one mean little girl in first grade who would randomly announce that she wasn't your friend any more; she was someone ELSE'S friend now and you couldn't be friends with either of them because she said so and made you cry but then the very next day the rules were all completely different?

15. There are mean little boys like that, too.



16. The good news is that once you're a grown-up you realize it's perfectly okay to think that they're annoying little sh*ts and tell their moms on them when they color on your walls with markers.

17. Even after many mature, frank discussions about body parts and the differences between boys and girls, you will definitely be asked -- loudly and publicly -- about your own lack of a penis and whether or not you pee out your butt.

18. At some point, you'll have to sack up and send them into the mens' room by themselves. This is both amazing and terrible.

19. Wearing a dress makes you look beautiful, Mommy. A single sequin on your shirt or a sparkly necklace earns you an upgrade to princess. Your hair looks gweat. Your hugs are nice. Your cuddles are the best. I wuv you, Mommy.

20. Ugh, they are so awesome, it hurts.

my so called life.

Firstly, remember that show? My So-Called Life. I was a little young for it, but I clearly remember my older sister watching it and me thinking that she was just like Claire Danes with the dramas of high school boyfriends and sneaky neighbourhood parties. This also brings back memories of me sneaking in to said older sister's bedroom to listen to her Weezer and Cranberries CDs when she wasn’t home. So I wanted to be just like her, no biggie! 

But this post isn’t about my sister or awesome 90’s music, it is about random things and thoughts. That’s all :)

• If you didn’t know already, we have the sweetest cat in the world. He isn’t very smart, but that Toby- he loves him some cuddles! Every night as we sit and veg on the couch, Toby climbs up into one of our laps and makes himself as comfortable as possible. And every night after about 10 minutes of holding him, Max begs me to take a picture of him and his sleeping cat. Every. Night. Same cat. Same couch. Same crazy husband. I must have 12 pictures of Max and Toby curled up on the couch from various days over the last few weeks.

**************************************************************

• We are currently house shopping and let me tell you, it ain’t that great!  I always imagined house shopping would be this great experience where you were picked up my an extremely nice lady in a beautifully clean BMW and driven around to dozens of dreams houses. All within your budget. All satisfying your wish list. All with beautiful clean floors and the smell of fresh baked cookies wafting through the air. Man was I wrong! I spend hours every week (with the help and keen eye of my friend Peggy) looking at overpriced, dirty, old, disgusting houses on realestate.com. Really, it is like you are getting a really bad sneak peek into the homes of people who think that it is okay to live in filth and that other people want to spend a bajillion dollars on thie house just so that they can move in and spend another bajillion dollars on a professional cleaner, a bathroom and kitchen renovation and 12 coats of paint. Come on people, help a sista’ out!

*********************************************************************

• I have decided that this week/weekend I am going to try out a few ideas I have seen floating around on Pinterest.

1. Nail Art: Now I am not usually one to have my nails painted but I thought this looked really fun. I am sure it will turn out looking NOTHING like this, but I am going to give it a red hot try. Wish me luck.

source

2. Pillow Cover: I’ve got these two pillows that have been sitting in our linen closet for about a year and a half now. They currently match nothing in our house so I thought I would give this no-sew pillow cover a try. I have some random fabric laying around that I will try this with first and if all goes well, I can go out and get something that actually matches our house.

source

3. Coloured Keys: Okay, so I think I only have two keys on my key ring so I am not sure this is something that I really need to do but I thought it was a really cute, cheap way to make your keys easier to find without making it really obvious what each key goes to.

source

4. Custom iphone Case: I mean really, what a great idea! I have been looking for a clear case ever since I saaw this a few months ago and have had no luck. However, I WILL find one this week and I WILL make a few of these using random scrapbook paper I have around the house.

source

5. Headband Braid: This is cute so I think I might try it. Of course, this girl has really nice hair so I am sure it won’t look exactly like this on me. [ps. I am currently growing out my natural colour which is why my hair is looking even more mankie than normal. I am about 6 months in and I am wondering how much longer I will last before I go and get it done….]

source

*******************************************************************

Well, I guess that is about it for today. Happy Monday friends!



spinach and artichoke dip.

I originally wanted to make these cute little spinach and artichoke bites I found on (where else) Pinterest. They are so cute and looked like the perfect little finger food for our party. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find wonton wrappers in our local grocery store (not sure if we even have them here in Australia...) so I decided to try it with rice paper instead. I'll go ahead and end your suspense by letting you know that rice paper doesn't NOT work so just ignore them in the photo below.

I would say that spinach dip is one, if not THE number one, of the most popular dips seen at parties in the United States. During college we would make spin dip for pretty much every occasion. Watching American Idol... let's make spin dip! Having a Halloween Party... let's make spin dip! Sitting around drinking cans of Natty Light... let's make two servings spin dip! And yes, CK, you make the best spin dip :)

However, I quickly found out that this particular dip is a bit of an unknown secret here in Oz. As in, the most amazing secret they never knew they were missing!!



There are probably a dozen ways you can make this dip, but here is the one that I used last weekend.

The Key Players:

• 1 tub softened cream cheese
• 1 box of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
• half a jar of marinated artichokes (drained and chopped)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup mayo
• salt and pepper
• 1 clove of minced garlic

Basically, mix everything together, dump it in an oven proof dish and chuck it in the oven. BAM! It is that easy.



Heat it in the oven until it is bubbly and golden brown on the top.



Serve with corn chips or fresh bread.

I think it is safe to say that the Aussies enjoyed this dip because it was one of the first things to disappear. Now that I know it is a crowd pleaser, I believe it will be making an appearance a bit more often.

Happy cooking... and eating friends :)

caprese salad bites.

For our party last weekend I decided to try out a few new appetizer recipes on our unsuspecting guests. I have already written about the sweet potato bites (which, btw, were a huge success so make sure you give those puppies a try!) and chicken salad so I thought I would share a few of the other (VERY EASY) things I made.
I love the combination of tomato and basil. In a salad. On a stick. Baked on to a cracker. Simmered in to a soup... Just love it!

I made caprese salad sticks last year for Thomas' surprise party and decided to change it up a bit this time when I found this idea on Pinterest.

(salad sticks circa 2011)


Same ingredients... different shape :)

What you need:
- Fresh Basil
- Two containers of Cherry Tomatoes
- Mini Bocconcini (what I would refer to as buffalo mozzarella back in the states)
- Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing



Wash and cut the tops off of your cherry tomatoes. Gently squeeze out the seeds and juice in to a seperate bowl.



Rip basil leaves in to smaller pieces and cut mini bocconicni in to quarters.  Assemble- tomato, basil, cheese!



Drizzle dressing over the top...



and ENJOY!



The only fault I have for these little guys is that they don't really stand up straight once you get a bunch of them on a platter. I decided to use this smaller round dish so I could squish them all in so they wouldn't fall over. It worked perfectly and they were very yummy!

gender reveal party revealed.

Yesterday was the big day. The day we tallied the votes and revealed the gender of this little bean growing in my belly.



It was a pink and blue "Cast Your Vote" theme where everyone was asked to wear either pink or blue based on what they thought we were going to have.



We had a tally board where people were able to write their name and "cast their vote". Even Toby was excited to vote!

The first voters to the poll...



The food table almost finished.



We had a candy bar with pink, blue and white candy for the winning group (or anyone who felt like a lolly).



Goodie bags for the candy.



And the most important part... the food! We had a little variety of finger foods like these caprese salad bites.



Devilled Eggs.



Pink and Blue Cupcakes.



Chicken Salad Croissants.



Fresh Fruit.



Sweet Potato Bites.



Lemonade.



And Spinach and Artichoke Dip (which, by the way, is not a common food here in Oz... and it was a big hit- wish I had made this sooner!).



Me doing some really weird pose... I am not sure what I was trying to do here but I feel like I look a little like a crazy fat lady. Funny enough to share I thought :)



After everyone arrived (both our Australian guests and online family and friends) we tallied the votes and prepared for the big reveal.


(me showing the people online the tally board)

And after weeks of guessing and dreaming and thinking and talking about this little baby, the time was finally here when we would actually find out. We were both so excited to finally know but strangely a little nervous as well. Just that feeling of anticipation I guess! They only thing between us and knowing our baby's gender was one little strip of tape... ahhh!!!



1...2...3... OPEN! 






















And out popped a whole box of BLUE balloons!!!  IT'S A BOY!!!!



So excited!!!



So there you have it friends- baby de Baugy is officially a BOY and we couldn't be more excited about it :)



A special thanks to my great friend, Alyce for taking all of the photos of the balloon release photos.  They turned out amazing and really captured the moment perfectly. THANK YOU!!!

Now if you will excuse me- I am off to buy my very first baby boy outfit!

sneak peak.

A little sneak peak into our upcoming gender reveal....

First up, finding the perfect box for our balloons. Appliance store recycle bin here we come!



It has been raining for days now and if you know anything about rain and cardboard, this little job wasn't so easy.



So into the dumpster went my husband. What a good sport :)



Success!!



The end product.



Along with this giant box, there has been a pink and blue explosion in our guest room....






And for the rest, well you will just have to wait until Saturday to see :)

Belly update at 18 weeks, 6 days: