The Cost of a Baby - Budget Goals

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Like everything else in our life, we are planning to keep this baby as frugal as possible. For the last couple years, I have been working on an Amazon Wish List where I would collect products I liked for our theoretical, future baby. So when I found out Minion was on the way, I reevaluated that list and narrowed it down to what we absolutely would need versus what would just be nice.

How to Repair Old Cherished Stuffed Animals

Before I was born, my parents were given a stuffed koala bear at my baby shower. That became my first stuffed animal and I eventually named him "Koala" (very original, I know). My earliest memories include Koala and he went everywhere with me. As a lonely only, Koala was my inseparable buddy. Where I went, he had to go too. I would even take him on family vacations and there was one unfortunate year where he got left at my grandparent's house 500 miles away. I remember being completely distraught until he made it home in the mail.

Since Koala was so important to me, he is the only stuffed animal for my childhood that survived staying on my bed well into adulthood. When Luke and I got married, he ended up relocating to our guest bed but he was still out. And then we brought home Miss B. Despite her sweetness and adorability, that little girl loved some buttons and high heels in her puppyhood (and sometimes now too). Well one day while left unsupervised she snuck into the guest room and had her way with Koala's nose.

Purchase History: July 22

Borderlands {July 26}

Breaking News!!! & a To Do List

Well I guess it's not so breaking since Instagram and most our friends have known for a few days, but... We're having a Baby!
For now, we are calling our little bundle of joy, Minion. Which seems to be a huge hit :)
I had my first prenatal visit with our Midwife yesterday and everything is looking good. My next visit is in 6 weeks and we will get to hear the heartbeat!!!

Purchase History: July 15

Borderlands {July 19}

Art Love - July 18

A little late but here is what I fell in love with on Etsy today :)

'Art Love - 7/18/13' by mismikado

Home by the Mountains // A6 ... essillustratio... $2.5	Paris illustration - Paris r... tubidu $20	SALE 20% OFF "Let's... BurnsidesManor $18	Tribal Feather Illustration ... LilbobArtAndDe... $20
Fashion Illustration Print, ... anumt $25	Umbrella Girl - Pen and Ink ... hellosmallworl... $18	Fashion Illustration print &... EmilyBrickel $20	Watercolor Fashion Illustrat... SketchesbyKate $20
Typography Hummingbird Art P... ContemporaryEa... $15	Typographic Print, Digital P... ParadaCreation... $19	London - Original Photograph... TheBellaPrintS... $15	Childrens Bathroom Decor, Fu... LisaRussoFineA... $30
Arise and Shine Forth - Quot... SpoonLily $8	Oh The Places You'll Go ... EruptPrints $35	Wild Thing - A4 Art Print - ... timeasley $18	Shine on, typographic print,... CarlChristense... $30

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Easy Sausage Jambalaya

A go-to dinner for our family is Jambalaya. It's so easy to make and always delicious. What I especially love about this recipe, is how easy it is since it only calls for a handful of ingredients.
As I was making it tonight, I decided to share my recipe with you all...

Attempts in Fighting Chub-Rub

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If you are lady with skinny thighs that have a gap between them, then this post will not be applicable to you nor will you be able to relate to it. But if you are like me, then your thighs like each other so much that they rarely separate. In fact, no matter how skinny I have ever been, my thighs have always been BFFs. Because of this, I daily suffer from a phenomena known as chub-rub.

Purchase History: Week of July 8

Weekly Intentions: July 14

So I knew I was being ambitious last week with our 3-day District Convention closing out the weekend. But I am not terribly disappointed in what I didn't do on my list, because I still feel like I accomplished a lot.
Here's what got done on this list:

Borderlands {July 12}

Art Love - Week of July 8

I missed working on this series while we were out of town. But now that we are back I am so excited to start it back up. Please note that it has moved to a new day and will be posting on Thursdays from here on out :)

'Art Love - July 8' by mismikado

A Perfect Mess 8x10 belafontesbuns... $40	watercolor portrait painting... SneddonStudios $30	watercolor Portrait painting... rachelleleving... $16	Fashion Print of Watercolour... silverridgestu... $35
Lion Watercolor Painting Gic... ABitofWhimsyAr... $30	Watercolor Painting, Origina... WoodPigeon $42	Baby Fox Watercolor Painting... SusanWindsor $18	The Silence of Snow ORIGINAL... TheVoyagers $850
Violet Alliums- Landscape pa... Ireart $19	Handmade Watercolor Painting... YaoChengDesign $20	Buy 2 Get 1 FREE -- Watercol... PopwheelArt $20	Dark German Fairy Tale Art -... missquitecontr... $30
Peacock Girl watercolor pa... SlaviART $25	40% Off Sale - Feather Water... MaiAutumn $25.2	16 x 20 Original chevron wat... sweetmagoo $95	Map of the world ART PRINT 1... PortLove $45

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7 Rules to Packing Light on Extended Trips

Just a few days ago, I came across this Packing Guide on Pinterest. I was so bummed I didn't find it before our trip because that would have really helped me pick out what to pack. As it was, we packed and unpacked at least 6 times to fit within the 26 lb carry-on limit we had. I ended up packing very light and had I had a better idea of the weather in Latvia, I could have swapped some of the warmer stuff I took for lighter, cooler items.

Anywho, I definitely plan on using this guide for all future packing. As I read through it, I was able to summarize it into the following rules...

My Last 10 Pins

I had seen this post idea around the blogosphere and decided I wanted to take a stab at it myself :) So here is what has been catching my eye on Pinterest...

{1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.}

Purchase History: Week of July 1

Weekly Intentions: July 7

It has been a long, long time since my last Weekly Intentions post. And while they were a bit of a fail last time, I really miss having a centralized spot listing the things I hope to accomplish each week. So I am gonna give it another shot...

Borderlands {July 5}

Sponsored Post: U by Kotex {Warning! this may get a little TMI}

As my title suggests, this post might get a little TMI or make some feel uncomfortable. So if you are my father-in-law, you can stop reading now :) (Love you, JD!) But if you are a lady between the ages of 10-45, then this post is for you!

Purchase History: Week of June 24

Our last days in Europe, meant snagging some items for my personal collection. I love birds especially porcelain ones, so when the hubs saw this one at Rundale Palace, he knew I had to have it :) Also I have been looking for some tasteful maxi dresses for summer so I couldn't pass up on this incredible deal from Deals Genius.

 This includes all clothing, accessories, home decór, craft supplies, make-up etc. This list does not include food, toiletries, household cleaning supplies, gifts, items for Luke, bills, fees for personal services, travel expenses or business expenses.