Home Sweet Home//Sophia's First

A quick post after a few weeks in hiding. It's been a stressful few weeks but times are looking up and decisions have been made. Plus we have lots of exciting times ahead! October is right around the corner and its my favorite month, I love Halloween. Grandma Oonagh is coming to visit us all the way from Australia in October!!! Then we go to Ireland in November to visit Grandad Oli!! We are very excited indeed for the next two months, then it's Christmas Time! 

A few photos of our home for the last three and a half years, this was Sophia's first home, where she was conceived, where my water broke and where I tried for 23 hours to have her but she had other plans in mind. It is where we brought her home to and it will always be her first home. 

NFL Kickoff//

Yesterday was the kickoff to football season and I love some football! I'm a New York Giants fan, last year I was chosen to be the Giants style ambassador. The picked one fan from each NFL team, flew them to New York City, where we stayed at the Marriott in Times Square for three nights had a photo shoot for us, party and Q&A with the commissioner of the NFL and NFL legends. It was an incredible experience to say the least. 

I was 6 weeks pregnant at the time, I was tired, sick but still had a great time. I had my turn off episode from social media so I never blogged about it, a year later is the perfect time to post the photos from the photo shoot. I had my own stylist, hair and make up person! I wouldn't mind having them around every day of my life! 

Congrats to the Denver Broncos on their victory against the Baltimore Ravens last night! We are Manning Brothers fan in the Crowne home!!

                                                          Happy Weekend!

The Giants gear is all by Nike, the stud jacket is DVF, the peplum is Zara and leggings Nike. 

Summer Squash//

I love going to the farmers market on Saturdays and getting fresh produce from our local farmers. We went on Saturday and got a bunch of vegetables and fruit for the week. I usually buy vegetables that Im familiar with, but last Saturday I bought a summer squash, a vegetable I had never tasted. I made a vegetable soup and threw some summer squash in it, it was delicious. So this Saturday I got two, made the same soup, froze it and wanted to make something different with the other one. I looked on the Internet for some ideas and came across a potato and squash gratin! I didn't have all the ingredients for  the one I liked, so I improvised a little with what I had. I made a potato and summer squash gratin with mozzarella and tomato sauce, it was sooo good! I forgot to take a picture of the end result, I was starving and just wanted it in ma belly!!

                             Here's my summer squash Italian gratin recipe:

Ingredients:

Summer Squash ( I used one big one, use as many as you need)

Potatoes ( I used one big one, use as many as you need)

Fresh Mozarella 

Tomato Sauce ( I used a half a can of diced tomatoes)

Salt and pepper

Set the oven to 400. 

You will need a casserole dish, slice the potato and squash in thin slices. Make a layer with the potatoes and squash (see picture). Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the tomato sauce, then the fresh mozzarella. Make another layer of potatoes and squash and repeat the process of sauce and cheese. Top off with potatoes and squash and season with salt and pepper. 

Put the dish in the oven covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and let it sit for another 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!!

For my daughter//

Its been a few days since I've blogged, it's hard when you have a 4 month old who fights her sleep, barely ever naps and wants to cuddle mommy all day long! But I don't mind, I love cuddling you and if its all day long, even better. Our days consist of sleeping all morning, getting out of bed around noon, playing in bed, cuddles, walks around the neighborhood, cuddles, playing in bed, cuddles, bath time, playing in bed, cuddles, laying in bed while cuddling and finally you falls asleep while nursing around midnight. In between all those cuddles I nurse you, find time to eat and clean the apartment. It's a full time job being a mommy, and the most rewarding job, wouldn't trade it for the world! 

You are 4 months and almost sitting up on your own. You are not a pro yet and don't have complete balance but you sit up for a few seconds and with the boppy pillow you sit up just fine. It's incredible to watch you grow, every smile, every face and every movement is simply the most beautiful thing in my life. The other day you slapped me in the face and I laughed histericaly and called your daddy to tell him. It's the simple things that fill my life with happiness now that you are in it. I love every waking moment next to you, when I look over and you have a big smile on your pretty face. I change your diaper early in the morning, some mornings you wake up really hungry and cry on the way to the changing table, but when I put you down I talk to you and then you give me a big smile! I love those moments, but my favorite moments, are when we go to bed and you latch on to me, to nurse. They are such tender moments, and when I look in your eyes looking at me, my heart melts. I love you with all of my being, love your face, your hair, your smile, your hands, love your everything Sophia Harper. You also have the cutest yawns, since you were a newborn you have been making the noisiest yawns I've ever heard! LOl, it's like you are so stressed and had a tough day at the baby office. Every moment with you gets better each and every day, I'm taking it day by day, but I look forward to your kisses, hugs and when you call out for me, mommy!!!

I write this while you are asleep next to me, you fell asleep at around 1am. It's raining out. As I hear the rain fall, I pray to God that he watches over you and sends his blessings our way, that he keeps you healthy, good hearted and out of trouble. I trust you God! Amen

       2 Days Late, But...

Be Good to All of Us, that is my wish. 

DIY//Tassel Garland

Happy Friday!

So I started planning Sophia's First Birthday Party, 8 months in advance, that should leave me enough time to throw her a fabulous party! While looking for inspiration I must have seen 100 tassel garlands, and I'm in love with every single one of them. They can be very pricey tho, so I looked some more and found different blogs with DIY tassel garlands! And what do you know, I had some extra tissue paper, scissors, ribbon and tape, so decided to make my own! 

You will need:

Tissue paper// One sheet equals one tassel. 

Ribbon// To hang the tassels. 

Tape// To Tape down the tassels on the ribbon. 

Scissors// To cut the tissue paper. 

Step One: Fold the tissue paper in half, then sideways. Start cutting strings leaving about an inch from the top. 

Step Two: Open up the tissue paper and start rolling it up. 

Step Three: Once you have rolled the tissue paper fold it in half to make the tassel. 

Step Four: Start putting the tassels on the ribbon and tape them around to hold in place. 

Four simple steps to make a beautiful garland that you can hang anywhere. I hung it on Sophia's crib, I think it looks awesome! 

Not bad for my first one, next one will be sleeker, these tissue papers I've had for like ever in my closet, but they sure came in handy! 

Baby Fall Wishlist//

1.Gap Stripe Legging

2.Gap Ribbed Cat Hat

3.Carter's Stretch Fleece Hoodie

4.Old Navy Halloween One Piece

5.Knotty Tots Watermelon Moccasins
6.Carter's Chambray Dot Tunic
7.Vans Checkerboard Slip-ons
8.Carter's Striped Socks

I love fall! This is what I'm obsessing over for Sophia, daddy won't you buy your baby girl one of these!? :)

                                                               Happy Wednesday!

Fab Monday//

I love spontaneous adventures, yesterday we had one of them. We got out of bed around 1:20 pm (we sleep late!) and said let's go to the beach! It wasn't exactly a beach day, the sun was not completely out and there were clouds about but we hadn't been to the beach this summer and wanted to ate Sophia before it was too late. We got our bags together, got the stroller packed and off we went. 

As soon as we got to the beach the sun came out! It was pretty perfect, we stayed for about an hour, Sophia loved it, she smiled the whole time! After we went for dinner at a local spot called Lola's, I had a clam bake and OMG, it was perfect! 

We got home around 7:30, gave Sophia a bath, I watched my new fave, Devious maids, then P went to the taco truck and we had mexican with one Corona for me as a late snack. Then it was off to bed, perfect Monday with the fam! 

4 Month//

My baby girl is 4 months today!

It's crazy how fast time flies, it cliche but so true. It seems like yesterday we brought her home. 

Sophia, mommy loves you unconditionally now and forever. You are 4 months old today, one day you will be 14, but in my eyes you will still be my 4 month old baby, and don't forget we pinky swore that we will be best friends forever! 

Thrifted//

Thought I would share with you my finds at the thrift store today. I've loved thrift shopping since I can remember. The first big purchase was when I was 15 years old, I found this beautiful long wool coat in gray. I wish I had photos of it, I don't even know where it went, well it's rained a while since then. The point is I love thrifting, and today we ended up at our local thrift store and I found a couple of things for the fall/winter season that I'm excited about. 

This is a mens Oscar de la Renta sweater, Im into oversized clothes lately so this is perfect!

It was $5!

                                                  Banana Republic cashmere for $5!!!

                                                          Rampage jacket for $5!!

          Putting together my fall/winter wardrobe with this prices is great!! Can't wait to go back!

Pregnancy Reads//

One of the first things I wanted to do when I found out I was pregnant was read a pregnancy book. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here, most first timers want to know what to expect. A perfect read would be what to expect when your expecting, but it's not the one I chose. I remember leaving the doctors  office and running to the book store to buy my first pregnancy book!

When you get pregnant your body goes thru so many changes, hormones go all over the place and you really don't know what your experience will be like. I don't think anyone can prepare you for what's in store for you, but I think everyone can relate that reading others experiences and professional insight can put you at ease for what is about to happen in the next 40 weeks. 

Here are the books I read that helped me prepare to welcome baby! 

                              I'm a fan, so this is the first fun book I read. Find it here.

I wanted a home birth, so a friend sent me this and Spiritual Midwifery, very interesting books. Get it here.

                                                                      Find it here.

Vaccination is a very important topic for me, currently reading this very informative book. Get yours here.

                                                               Happy Week!!

Currently Obsessed //

Hey Ya'll, just wanted to share some things I'm currently obsessing over. The biggest obsession which I'm now watching on You Tube is Big Brother 12, after getting hooked on this seasons BB 15, I had to watch a marathon of another season, I'm obsessed! 

It's been a quiet Saturday, went to brunch in the neighborhood earlier and Sophia is now asleep in my arms while I type this. P is working tonight so is Sophia, mommy and Big Brother for a wild Saturday night in! 

 

Happy Weekend!                                                         

                                                               Currently obsessed:

Long Island City Piers and this view of Manhattan. We've come here a lot this summer, we love it!

                Taking Sophia to the playgrounds in the neighborhood. It's a mommy thing!

       Beer!!! Since I'm nursing I can't go crazy, but one beer here and there is what I'm craving lately. 

I love me some falafels! I've had a pescetarian diet for a couple of weeks, will be trying to make these babies soon! 

Big City, Little Space// Sophia's Nursery Nook

As you know,we live in a tiny apartment and we needed to make room for baby. We were looking to move but decided to stay in this apartment to save money and hopefully buy a house sometime in the next year or so. We have lived in this apartment for 3 years and is our home, Sophia's first home! Once we had decided to stay put, we reorganized and redecorated our tiny apartment. Painted our living room white from orange to make it seem more spacious. We threw out our TV stand, took out my dresser from the bedroom and put it in the living room to replace the TV stand. We now had room for a nursery nook in our bedroom!!  My grandmother got us a mini crib that fit perfectly in our space, then we got a dresser and a standing shelf to organize her little things. 

It's easy too make room when you need to, rearranging furniture, painting and adding mirrors will make a room look bigger. It's worked for us and I'm pretty proud of her first little nursery nook, it's still a work in progress, looking to add the alphabet somewhere. I've sang the alphabet song to Sophia since the day she was born, just because I didn't know many nursery rhymes and she loves it! 

Some pics of her little space! 

I made the garland, and cut out the heart shaped felt, hung one of my favorite dresses, (the first dress her daddy picked out for her) and added lots of boxes where I could organize diapers, blankets, towels, etc. I didn't want the traditional pink girls room, although I ended up getting lots of pink stuff, it doesn't feel very traditional to me and I love it!