A Bit of This & That

Is it just me, or is anyone else's house in total disarray this time of year? A corner in our master bedroom has turned into my giftwrapping station and thus, it looks like a bomb went off in that corner of the room. Gifts and ribbons....wrapping paper and scotch tape....cards and gift boxes....tissue paper and gifts tags....and a partridge in a pear tree. I wish I could just make that area of our room invisible. It gives me a bit of anxiety waking up and seeing all that hoopla first thing in the morning {!} but until I finish up all the giftwrapping that needs to be done, it will remain as is. If only there really were such things as elfs {there's no children reading this right?}.

Some rolls of wrapping paper that needs to be wrapped around some gifts!....

I wish that I could just snap my fingers, and all the gifts were beautifully wrapped like these.

It will probably come as no surprise to many of you that my mom is going way overboard with the giftgiving when it comes to Ilah this Christmas. I went to her house and you would think she had 10 grandchildren that she was buying gifts for. I know my mom is extra joyful this Christmas to have a grandbaby to buy for so the spoiling is something that is hard for her to resist. Speaking of not being able to resist, Ilah even got one of her Christmas gifts early. A talking Dora doll. It's SO cute!....

Thus, it seemed fitting that when I saw this shirt at Old Navy, I just had to buy it....

With Ilah being an early walker {at 9 mo, 1 wk}, I'm always on the hunt for good walking shoes for her. Robeez is one of the best, if not the best, brand of shoes to go on little feet of walking wee ones. I intended to buy a few pairs a few weeks ago and happened to come across this darling pair at Ross last week....

I totally scored with them being in Ilah's size {a 5}.

Are they not totally cute?!


Perfect for this time of year!


They are SO soft and SO warm on the inside!

If you're familiar with Robeez than you know they can be pricey. I got these pair at ROSS for just $12.99!....


Speaking of warm and comfy, I love seeing my girl all cozy in her fleece jammies!....


I got some new kitchen rugs recently {at Target} and I'm still up in the air as to whether I like them or not. I'm leaning more towards no.

The time has come to transition Ilah from bottles to sippy cups. She has been drinking water out of a sippy cup since she was about 7 months old. Since she is so into Mickey Mouse/Minnie Mouse these days, I picked up a few sippy cups for her, with Minnie on them, while we were out at Khols today....


Tonight for dinner I made a dish that has been passed down three generations - spanish fiesta. It pretty much like an enchilada casserole.

After Ilah went down for the night {7 p.m.}, the hubs and I ate dinner and watched an episode of House Hunters International. We just LOVE those shows. Then we took to our computers. I'm on the hunt for a good red velvet recipe and took to google to find one! If you know of one, please feel free to send it my way! : )


I had a coupon for Nonni's Biscotti and thought I would give them a try. So while I was out shopping this week, I picked up a box. So glad I did! They are SO GOOD!!....


I have been needing a new diaper bag for some time now. The first one I had literally started coming a part at the seams. I had a a spare bag that I was using until I got around to buying a new one, but I couldn't even zip it because of all the stuff that seemed to be overflowing out of it. So while I was at Ross this week {yep, I love that store}, I spotted this tote bag in the purse/travel bag section. It's by Kathy Van Zeeland and it is PERFECT!!!

An amazing bag, at an amazing price!.....

My mom knew that I needed a new diaper bag and when I told her that I had bought one, she sort of stuttered as she inquired about where I got it and if it was everything I wanted. Right then I knew that she had already bought me one for Christmas. She's the best. So we compared bags and mine was definitely the keeper. And although I am using it before Christmas, she has made my new diaper bag a gift from her : )

Even thought this bag was not designed as a "diaper bag", it is the ideal one! There are even side pockets that can fit both a bottle and a sippy cup in the same pocket.....


The inside is lined in pink! I just LOVE it!!!....

And it has 3 separate compartments - and within each compartment are separate sections. Along with front and back zippered pockets too! It seriously couldn't be more perfect!....

I just love the style too!

Because my husband and I are always doing for eachother throughout the year, we won't be exchanging gifts for Christmas. Anyone else doing the same? There's nothing that we need so why buy things just because it's Christmas? Throughout the year, if there is anything that we want, if it is within reason, we just go ahead and buy it. The bigger things we save up for. Naturally Ilah will have things under the tree that she will be blessed with {through us from Jesus}, and we can't wait to relish in Christmas day with our little girl!