2012 Yearbook

Since I started my blog I would print out all of my blog posts into a book at the end of the year. The past 2 years it became really difficult though because I had so many posts and pictures. I ended up having to split the year into 2 books. This year I decided to try something different. I didn't need a record of every post, but I still wanted a record of all of the big things that happened during the year.

I saw Shutterfly had a family yearbook photo book and I thought it would be a great fit for what I was looking for. The book came pre-loaded with great page ideas and lots of embellishments to add to the pages. I just love how it came out. My book ended up being 90 pages, it was a big year obviously! Here are some pictures of just a few of pages. If you'd like to see the full photo book, you can look at it by clicking here. I've already started our 2013 yearbook and will continue to work on it through out the year instead of doing it all at the end of the year like I did this time!

Wordless Wednesday: Mmm...noodles!

Our week in pictures: 1/15 - 1/21

Tuesday, January 15: I packed up Ethan's 9 month and 6 - 12 month clothes. On to 12 and 12 - 18 month clothes for our big boy!

Wednesday, January 16: I spent a few hours learning HTML code on Wednesday night upgrading our blog to an all new design I put together, I'm excited with how it came out!

Thursday, January 17: My sweet boy cuddling his blanket at night!

Friday, January 18: It's looking very lovey dovey around here!

Saturday, January 19: I love Citrus Lane box delivery days; I'm loving that penguin lunch box!

Sunday, January 20: A yummy Sunday dinner - bbq pork tenderloin, grilled zucchini and cheesy potatoes, yum!

Monday, January 21: Now that we know we are going to Florida for vacation, I'm stocking up on fun, warm weather items for Ethan. He's going to be the best dressed little man in Naples!

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty low-key, boring weekend. On Friday I had a great day just hanging out and playing with Ethan. I finally got out his new ball pit we got him for Christmas and he loved it! He played in it all weekend long.

While Ethan took his morning nap I worked on putting up our Valentine's decorations. I didn't put them up last year because we were on vacation during Valentine's Day so it was fun to put them up since I hadn't seen everything in a couple of years. I have a full post on all of the decorations scheduled later this week.

Friday night we had dinner with Michael's parents and Rich. After dinner we just came home, put little man to bed and then relaxed.

Saturday we didn't really do much, we played with Ethan and hung out around the house. Saturday night we went and had dinner with Rich since Tif and the kids are in Florida. After dinner we came home and put Ethan to bed.

On Sunday we just spent the day around the house again since it was freezing out. Michael did some work, I did laundry and some other things around the house. We watched football in the afternoon and then I made a Sunday dinner of barbecue pork tenderloin, grilled zucchini and cheesy potatoes. It was yummy.

I hope all of you had a relaxing weekend as well and have a great week ahead!

2013 Moments Jar

Michael actually shared this idea with me a couple months ago from one of the blogs he reads. I have seen this on Pinterest as well.

You take a jar and when something good happens during the year, you write it down on a piece of paper, date it, fold it up and put it in the jar. Then on New Year's Eve you open the jar and read through all of the fun and surprising things that happened throughout the past year. I thought it was a really cool idea since so often we concentrate on the big things and forget the small little moments we should celebrate.

I bought the jar at Hobby Lobby and then I used my Silhouette cutter to make a cute chalkboard tag for the front. We've already had several moments to add to the jar too. I can't wait to read them all at the end of the year!

New Recipe: Skinny Cheeseburger Wraps

I found this recipe on Pinterest and the comments were so good I knew I had to try them. The only major thing I changed is, I used ground turkey rather than ground beef to make them even lower in calories. The ground beef version has 329 calories a wrap, so the ground turkey version is around 300 calories. These were so good and it makes a lot so you can save the meat mixture for additional lunches and dinners. The only thing I would change would be to omit the lettuce next time; warm lettuce is a little funky. 

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp dried onion

salt and pepper to taste

Low-fat tortillas

Slices of colby jack or cheddar cheese

Sliced tomatoes 

Lettuce

Additional ketchup and mustard

Directions

1. Saute ground turkey until almost cooked. Break turkey up as it cooks. Drain when cooked.

2. Add worcestershire, ketchup, dried onion, salt and pepper to the turkey. Mix together until thoroughly combined.

3. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from heat.

4. In the center of the wrap, place a slice of cheese and top with 1/2 cup of the meat mixture. Drizzle with ketchup and mustard. Add tomato and lettuce if desired. Heat up counter top grill or panini press.

5. Roll the wrap and place seam side down on preheated grill/press. Heat for 2-3 minutes.

6. Cut in half and enjoy!

First Family Vacation Destination

This week we finally decided where we are going to take our first family vacation in 2013!

The funny thing is we've been there as a family before, except Ethan was still in my belly!

We are going to Naples & Marco Island Florida! We went there last February for one last trip pre-Ethan. We loved it, it's relaxing, the weather is amazing and there's great beaches, pools, shopping, restaurants and more! We thought it would be great with Ethan too since he'll only be 1. I can't wait to bring him to the beach for the first time!

I have to go down to Orlando for a work conference and we're going to Disney World next year so we wanted to do something more low key. Naples is only a 3 hour drive away so we are going to head there after my work conference. My cousin and her husband have a beautiful new townhouse down there that they are so generously letting us stay in.

This is the view right outside the townhouse. We share this great pool with only 3 other units. There's also an amazing main pool as well.

I'm looking forward to lots of sun, sand and pool time. There are some other fun things I can't wait to do with Ethan too. They have a great zoo where you can feed the giraffes. They also just opened up a brand new children's museum last year that looks amazing!

We can't wait! Let the countdown begin - only 111 more days!

Wordless Wednesday: Fun at the doctor's office!

Our week in pictures: 1/8 - 1/14

Tuesday, January 8: I caught this sweet moment before leaving for work in the morning between my two boys. I just love that they love each other!

Wednesday, January 9: I got this super cute tote to store my new Silhouette craft cutter!

Thursday, January 10: Mmmm, frozen foot!

Friday, January 11: We had dinner at Benihana with Michael's family.

Saturday, January 12: We got a walk in since it was 50 degrees out!

Sunday, January 13: My newly crafted Valentine's Day wreath!

Monday, January 14: I ordered these necklaces holders from Very Jane a few weeks ago and I finally got them. I love having some of my necklaces on display in our closet!