Here's a little known fact:  If you search "free printables" on Pinterest or Google, you will find a plethora of websites that offer free printable artwork.  Free.  All you have to do is download it and print it yourself. 

I found a lot of artwork for the nursery this way, printing it on cardstock and framing it.

Popsicles

Vintage Carnival

Initial // Giraffe // ABC

Flamingos

All frames I used are from Walmart. 

Here and here are more great sources for free printables.

The nursery is almost complete.  I wanted to get everything done early so that I could spend the summer with Katherine and not working on the nursery décor.  It's also very satisfying knowing that the baby's room is almost complete this early in the game. 

Bring on the summer!  Because at the end of it, we'll have another baby girl to love. 

It's been almost a whole month since I posted anything to the blog.  I apologize.  Here are some random thoughts for your reading enjoyment.

I keep saying it but this second pregnancy has been something special.  I was watching What To Expect When You're Expecting the other night and this pregnancy, I can really relate to Elizabeth Banks' character aka Wendy Cooper.  I want so badly to be that glowing pregnant woman who doesn't look or feel pregnant, but honestly, I look and feel like crap.  I'm not looking that hot these days.  Just ask a certain family member who will remain nameless. 

On the plus side, I watched Mom's Night Out which brought me out of my uncomfortable pregnant funk.  This is temporary and I'm so blessed to be pregnant with a healthy baby, and for that I am grateful.    

I'm not sure I've mentioned it on the blog yet, but we're having another girl!  How's that for a big fancy, Pinteresty reveal?  I shared our nursery "progress" on IG stories last week.  It's slowly coming together for baby girl number 2.  Katherine is so excited to have a sister!  After all, Princess Elena has a little sister, so it can't be that bad. 

"Are you anxious about baby number 2?"  No, I'm anxious about the PLL series finale.  Only weeks away I've already been reading up on the latest finale theories, which isn't anything new for me.  I've been pouring over PLL theories for years.  Am I too old to be watching this show?  Probably.  Do I care?  No. 

I recently read on The Zoe Report that Forever 21 has a line of bridesmaid dresses for under $100.  This could be genius for upcoming weddings because the dresses are actually cute and really could "be worn again."  I would only be hesitant because, after all, it is Forever 21.  Sometimes the clothes there are not actually wearable more than once.  Sure, they're good for a fun night out or a one time edgy, trendy look.  But once you've washed it, it's done. 

Speaking of clothes, I love this article on favorite teen brands from the past.  My, how things have changed. 

For more updates on life or whatever, head on over to my IG, where I update slightly more often....

We're officially on the tail end of a Jason-less week over here, and I don't know how single parents do it.  It's probably just the pregnancy exhaustion, but I cannot go another day flying solo. 

Luckily most of the week was perfect weather, so letting Katherine run off her energy outside worked like a charm. 

We managed to make it through the week with minimal tears from either of us.  Here's how most of our week went down:

{Tracking daddy's flight out of town with wonder and sadness.}

{We headed out for frozen yogurt one afternoon.}

{That same day, our neighbor, who is moving, gifted us with lots of fun toys.}

{Another day, we did a little shopping and spent all of our piggy bank money.}

{I can't forget to mention our "girls' day out lunch."}

{And finally, we prepared for daddy's return home.}

This girl missed her daddy something fierce.  We're both so glad to have him home again in a few hours.  Jason has gone on work trips before, but never for this long or this far away from home.  His wifi and phone service weren't great, so we didn't get to FaceTime or talk to him on the phone very often.  This made for a very grumpy four-year-old.  Luckily, the new toys (free and piggy bank purchased) helped keep her mind off of missing daddy.  Towards the end of the week, I officially gave up and I haven't cooked a thing since Wednesday.  We've ordered out every meal.   

We're both counting down the minutes until it's time to head to the airport to pick up Jason. 

On a slightly different topic, is anyone else loving the new Victoria Beckham line at Target?  Love.  I'm also loving all of the spring clothes out for the season.  Too bad, I can't fit into any of them this year. 

Just like any other holiday, the week following is always rough.  We're coming off of a major sugar high this week, not to mention this second pregnancy has me feeling less than stellar.  Soooooooo tired.  And big. 

Easter morning we opened our Easter basket brought by that famous bunny, followed by a Pinterest fail bunny pancake breakfast. 




Katherine picked out her own Easter dress this year with matching bunny purse.  She chose her own shoes to go with her ensemble.  To my surprise, she wore that white dress all day long and it was still white and clean at the end of the day. 


We headed to church, then to my parents' house for lunch and more egg hunting.  In my current condition, I was not going to a) cook Easter lunch, or b) host Easter lunch.  I barely got through Easter lunch without passing out.  I did provide the cheesy potato casserole though.



Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  It's up there with Christmas, actually, and it's becoming a favorite for Katherine as well.  Although as soon as Easter was over, she started planning her Halloween costume.  She is my child after all. 

 

We headed out to our local Easter egg hunt last weekend, and Katherine completely surprised us with her eagerness and determination "on the battlefield."  She is usually very reserved and timid when it comes to big groups of kids fighting over an object, but this year when the horn sounded, she raced forward, filling her basket with eggs at record speed.  We were so stunned that we barely got any photos of her, and we got no video at all. 

This kid was determined to get her eggs, but once her basket was full she proudly backed away and let the other kids gather their own eggs.  Such a good sport. 













I love this time of year, and Katherine's enthusiasm with the holiday makes it all that much better. 

We've been in our new house for almost a year now, and I'm finally ready to share the details of our "Cardinal Basement."  This finished basement was a major selling point for us on this house, and because Jason is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, this was the perfect "man cave" for him. 

The previous owners designed this basement so we really can't take credit for any of the design details.  They also had way more Cardinals memorabilia (and much more expensive/cool items than we have).  We were lucky enough for them to leave their Cardinals Fatheads on the walls. 

We simply put our own small touches (like furniture and our sad collection of Cardinals gear) to make this the perfect family room.  There's still work to be done, like more/better bar stools and deciding what can go in the empty space by "Yadi."  The walls could use some more pictures too. 

Without making this post more wordy than it needs to be, I give you "The Cardinal Basement":








See the rest of our finished basement here and here. 



UPDATE:
Since writing this post, we saw a super affordable 7 foot trampoline during a trip to Sam's Club.  We decided this would be a good investment and it would give Katherine something to do during the cold/rainy days when she can't go outside. 

Behold, the newest addition to the basement:

I'm excited to finally share the details of Katherine's 4th birthday party from last weekend.  She requested an Elena of Avalor party, so I went all out with a taco bar, chips with homemade guacamole, salsa, and pico de gallo, and a make-your-own-margarita bar. 

Katherine had a four layer homemade birthday cake and cupcakes, and Elena decorations galore (thanks to Party City).

{Elena cupcake toppers}

{Katherine's birthday shirt}

Oh how I love throwing a birthday party, but boy was I tired after this one was over.  I would like to give a BIG thank you to everyone who came to celebrate our four-year-old!  She had a ball and I hope everyone else did too. 

Recipes: guacamole, pico del gallo, watermelon pico de gallo, salsa (old recipe, but similar here)


(Links to Katherine's 1st birthday, 2nd birthday, and 3rd birthday)