Nursery Dreamin’

After the ultrasound tech said, “Yup, that’s a boy.” — and confirmed that little Elliott’s brain, spine and even lips were all on the path to healthy baby (yay!!) — my mind turned toward more pressing matters: nursery plans!

I’m not much into themes, but if I had to pick one, I’d go for Happy Baby! I want the colors to be bright, cheerful and hopefully not too difficult to transition to a “bigger boy” look.

We don’t have a lot yet, but here are the bare bones pieces.

Here’s the guest room as a guest room.

Here’s the crib. Ike actually slept in there when he was a baby, isn’t that sweet?

Current plans:

• First step, turn the bed for a “day bed” look. I’ll find a coordinating blanket and bright pillows so it will go with the “Happy Baby” flow. I’m not ready to lose my guest room space. Elliott’s small so I doubt he’ll mind.

• • May have to remove the big book shelf after we get the crib, dresser and a rocker in there. But don’t get the wrong idea, I want him to have tons of books!

  • I’ll be on the lookout for a dresser/changing table. Love the idea of a multi-tasking piece he can grow into. (Thanks to Amber for guidance on that one)

  • I want to paint the crib white. I think that will update the look and brighten the space in general. And by I, I mean, that’ll be a fun weekend project for Ike. 😉

  • I’d love for Kathy, Ike’s mom, to make a quilt for his bedding.

  • And with all my recent curtain success, I’m sure my mom and I will have good luck finding more curtain fabric out there.

  • I’ve commissioned Katie, Ike’s sister, to work on some custom art for the walls.

  • For now, I’m thinking I’ll keep things simple and leave the walls the color they are. With bright pillows and bedding I don’t think I’ll need bright walls as well.

  • Oh…and we need to clean out his closet.

  

  And now, here’s what you actually want to see. Color palette inspiration. BIG surprise, I’m attracted to greens again. But in addition to white, I’m feeling the urge to add some orange in there.

   

What’d you think?? Am I achieving happy baby here? (All courtesy of Houzz, best decor app EVER).

Here’s me at 21 weeks. Can you see him now? Really it depends on what I wear, but as of yesterday, I have no pants I can zip all the way (TMI? idk). So with slightly over 10 pounds gained (ok, 10-12!), I definitely feel bigger.

As always, I DEMAND you have a delightful weekend! I’m walking a 5K on Saturday and going to a good old-fashioned church potluck (so a calorie wash) on Sunday, be jealous.

Until next time!

Just Plain Good Carrot Cake

I’ve recently discovered that baking may just be my love language. Not only is baking cathartic, it also produces a delicious, sharable treat (aka a win win). Last Sunday, I showed my love to my father-in-law with an early Father’s Day present: Carrot Cake.

As the title suggests, this is a no frills (e.g. no nuts, no raisins, no other stuff that ruins cakes) recipe. The proportions of ingredients are even simple. No 3/4 cups or 1/8 teaspoons of anything. Just a cup of this and a cup of that. I love it.

It also works perfectly for Ike’s dad, who favors cookies in packages labeled “Cookies.” Get to know your audience, people!

Don’t get the wrong idea — this cream cheese icing-topped creation is unassuming, yes, but also truly decadent. Make a cup of hot coffee or grab a frosty cup of milk and eat it right out of the oven.

First, I need to give credit where credit is due. I got this recipe from my mom who got it from this old-school Better Homes & Gardens greatest hits-type book.

The Prep:

• Grease you desired pans. You can make this a 2-layer cake, but I’ve found nothing makes me more nervous than getting cakes out of pans (I know, I need to get out more). Plus, I like to ice this one while it’s hot, so I always go with a 13×9” sheet cake.

• Pre-heat the oven to 325.

1. Gather The Dry 6: (could be a rad group of villains in a novel, maybe?)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cinnamon

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Yes, it is really that easy.

3. Gather the second wave of ingredients.

• 3 cups shredded carrots

• 1 cup cooking oil

• 4 eggs

4. Mix them in with the dry 6. When combined, keep mixing about 2 minutes more on medium.

Love my KitchenAid! One of the best Christmas presents ever!

Carrot Tips

This may sound dumb, but I’ve found that 3 cups of whole baby carrots actually equals 3 cups of shredded baby carrots. I don’t know why I would think shredding would make it more or less, BUT I was an English major, right? (bum dum crash)

And in other carrot news, I always use my food processor to achieve finely shredded status. Remember I’m anti-chunky cake.

5. Now, just fold batter into greased pan of your choice.

6. Recipe suggests baking for 50-60 minutes. I usually set my timer for 40 or so and start checking. Nothing is more sad than a dry, over-baked cake (yes, I know that I need more hobbies).

7. Meanwhile make the cream cheese frosting. Don’t skip this step or you will regret it for-ev-er.

I seriously thought I had blogged cream cheese icing before, since it’s such an important fixture in my life and all. But alas, I can’t find my version of it, so here’s the Better Homes & Gardens recipe for you.

6. Now, all that’s left for you to do? Get the cake out of the oven when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Then Ice, Ice Baby.

8. Enjoy with friends and family!

Have a sweet-treat filled weekend! See ya soon.

Havingababyit’sa…

You’re right. If you are lucky enough to be friends with my (adorably excited) husband, you already know. Baby Peters is a ……….

Dramatic Pause for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to be on the Ike Peters train………

We tried to “trick” people with pink icing, not sure if it worked, but it was fun to try!

Yes, those cookies do say boy.

I realize my makeshift cookie creation may not become a pinterest sensation, but they were made with love (blah, blah) AND they tasted delicious.

I admit I didn’t really understand gender reveal parties. Why have them? What are people supposed to say? Boooo, it’s a boy? Aren’t they supposed to be excited no matter what? Then why? Why do people have them? (short sample of my stream of consciousness about a week ago).

Tried to make the table fancy!

After hosting a low-key event of my own, I’ve decided that they are roughly equivalent to engagement parties. In other words, just a time to celebrate an exciting event in your friends’ lives. Without presents and with plenty of sweet treats. (aka, my kind of gathering!).

So no, I don’t love dramatic surprises or being the center of attention, but I did love celebrating my baby boy with my friends. I’d do it again with baby #2 (no, we’re not having twins).

I let Ike make the creamer labels, isn’t he cute?

Here’s part 2 of my (stolen thunder, thanks again, Ike:) announcement. His name. After the doctor saw baby’s “3rd leg” (lol), Ike and I immediately started brainstorming. The name we had decided on pre-ultrasound? Finn.

Why? It sounded cool. I bounced it off some co-workers and one girl said, “Oh, like from Glee.” WAIT a minute! That gave both Ike and I pause. Sure, my name was inspired by Dynasty’s antagonist, so in 27 years no one would remember our kid was named after Glee.

But it reminded both of us that maybe we hadn’t thought this through. Thus, back to the drawing board.

Our new criteria:

1. The name had to have meaning

2. The name couldn’t be on recent top 100 names lists

3. The name needed to sound good and not spell anything weird with the middle name Edward

After narrowing it down we finally found one that fit all 3. Ok, we’ll do a quick drumroll again…

Sigh, yes. The cookies say Elliott. Do you get the clue?*

Meaning

The meaning for this name is twofold for the the Peters family.

A) Growing up (and probably forever), Ike’s favorite movie was/is E.T. Like he has threatened to get an E.T./Elliott flying over the moon tattoo on his chest. That is devotion. As far as characters go, Elliott’s not so bad. Other than his love of Reese’s Pieces, he also thirsts for deeper relationships in the midst of growing up.

*Ding ding! That’s why I made these amazing double chocolate chunk Reese’s Pieces cookies.

My first Picky Palate recipe, I was very impressed. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, this is a must-try!

B) This next discovery pushed this name from the maaaaaybe pile, into the it’s perfect pile instantly. Of Hebrew origin, Elliott means: Lord my God.

So, not only is Elliott inspired by my movie-loving husband’s all-time favorite movie, but it more importantly means all that we hope for the little guy. That he will grow up to know the Lord his God. Perfect? I think so.

Popularity

Although Elliott (2 t’s, sorry, little one, we’ve strapped you with saying that for the rest of your life), is climbing the name popularity charts, it has never cracked the top 100 in the last 200 years. He may meet an Elliott or 2 along the way, but I don’t think he’ll have one in his class every year. I hope.

General Flow

 And lastly, we wanted to honor our fathers with baby’s middle name. For a girl, we would/will go with Stacy for Ike’s dad (sorry, yes, we are girl-ifying it). So for a boy we are going with Edward for my dad, NOT from Twilight.

Elliott Edward seems to have a nice ring to us. If you don’t think so — keep it to yourself, we’re committed.

That is quite enough for this morning. I demand you have a wonderful weekend! See ya soon!