Theo Boutique

I love finding online shops and boutiques

that inspire the party-planning side of my life.

I am a firm believer that it is the little details and extra effort

that turn an average party into a beautiful event.

And with places like Theo Boutique,

you can find the most beautiful additions that do just that.

Here are a few of my favorites from the site,

plus a tablescape that I am simply dying over.

 

27 Week Update

How Far Along:
  27 Weeks

Size of the Baby:

She is now about 14.5 inches.

Maternity Clothes:

I just noticed that Ross has a Maternity section... woohoo!

Weight gain:

Gained a pound over the last week, so now I'm up 19lbs.

Sleep:

Definitely feeling more tired throughout the day,

but I haven't noticed any changes in my sleeping in the past week.

Best Moment of the Week:

I found the cutest Aden+Anais Sleep Sac at TJ Max!

I just love that store.

 

Movement:

I can almost put a pattern to her daily movement.

She seems to be most awake and active

 early in the mornings, around 3-4pm, and around 9pm at night.

Food Cravings:

Sunday morning I woke up and instantly wanted French Toast.

I could even taste the flavor in my mouth as I was lying in bed.

So naturally, I made Micah run to the grocery and buy the ingredients. :)

Gender:

Baby Girl.

Belly Button in or out:

Even though the sweater I am wearing in the picture above

looks like my belly button has popped out..

My belly button is still in and has not popped out yet.

Wedding ring on or off:

On

Anything making you queasy or sick:

Nope

What I miss:

I miss being able to walk from the YWAM office to my house

or climbing up stairs (even when there are only 5 steps)

without being out of breath by the end.

What I am looking forward to:

#1 on my list of excitement is still looking forward to my baby shower!

Only 11 days away... which reminds me, I should start looking for a cute dress to wear.

Nursery:

Micah has started putting up some shelving that he has made for the nursery.

I can't wait to show you pictures of the final project.

 

Ways to Relax:

I am thinking of learning how to knit.

I find that the patterns are so much more beautiful and clean compared to crocheting.

So, I plan on teaching myself (hopefully) via youtube.

Spring Cleaning...or um...decorating.

Spring-time is here and whenever Spring rolls around

I always get an itch to (no, not clean) but redecorate.

After the long Winter months of being couped up in the house,

I begin to over analyze every decorating decision I have made.

Thus, by the Spring, I am so ready for change

that I seriously have to hold myself back

from spending all my money on new and bright items.

For example, yesterday I stumbled upon the Orla Kiely website

and found so so so many things that would brighten up my home...

1. A bright and cheery throw rug that would match my sofa perfectly

(and brighten up the bad decision I made 5 years ago

when I decided that a RED sofa would be awesome.

5 years later = not so awesome). 

2. Also, a few pillows to brighten up... well, lets just call the sofa "big red".

3. I just love those canisters! So bright and spring-y...

and you can never have enough canisters in my opinion.

4. Pot holders to match too. You can never have enough of those either.

5. And don't forget the coffee mugs.

Drinking my morning (decaf) joe out of those

would definitely put a smile on my face. 

Banana Cake with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

When I first started blogging (in the pre-pinterest days),

I was addicted to Food Blogs.

Daily, I would stalk my favorite sites

to see what they were up to and what they were creating.

If I found something that looked or sounded good,

I would copy that recipe into a file

and save it on my computer for future meal inspiration.

This went on for a very VERY long time.

So long that I now literally have hundreds of recipes

just sitting on my computer waiting to be tried.

I guess you could have called me a recipe hoarder.

I had great intentions to try all of the recipes I saved, 

but year after year they remained untouched... until Monday.

This past Monday I was determined to get on my computer,

search my "Foods To Try" file and actually MAKE SOMETHING!

And boy am I happy I did, because this Banana Espresso Cake recipe it delicious.

Plus, there is not that much sugar in it (if you ignore the frosting).

Win Win in my opinion.

Banana Cake

2 eggs

4 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 very ripe banana

5 tbsp coconut oil (melted so that it's liquid)

1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp espresso (or strong coffee)

1 block of cream cheese

3 tsp espresso (or strong coffee)

4 tbsp honey

pinch of salt

1 cup powder sugar (this is an apx.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9' round baking dish and set aside.

2. Beat together the eggs, brown sugar, and banana for about 10 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add the oil and beat another 2 minutes.

4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter then fold in using a spatula. Add the espresso gradually as you fold in the dry ingredients.

5. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for about 15-17 minutes.

6. Turn onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

7. To make the frosting, whip the cream cheese, espresso, honey, salt and powder sugar together until light and fluffy. A note about the powder sugar... I always add about 2 tbsp at a time when whipping the powder sugar into the frosting mix, stopping to taste the sweetness in between. That way I know when it is just sweet enough to my taste buds. Also, if you wanted to keep the sugar content down in this dessert, you could always just add more honey and less powder sugar.

8. Frost the cake and devour!

Emma Block Illustrations - Style Icons

Do you ever watch old films and think to yourself...

"these ladies really know how to put themselves together"

or...

"man, I wish I had style like that"

I say that to myself every time.

Well, fear no more because today, I have the cutest style illustrations to show you.

These lovely portraits of classic beauties are created by  Emma Block

and I would just love to have one hanging in my house one day.

 

26 Week Update

Okay, first things first, I have changed my clothes since the last prego update (I swear!).

Secondly, I totally forgot to blog last weeks update.

I blame it on the pregnancy brain syndrome...

lets just go ahead and blame everything on pregnancy brain from this point on.

Phew, now that I got those off my little blogging chest, here's my update!

 

How Far Along:
  26 Weeks

Size of the Baby:

  Baby is about the size of a large zucchini and weighs apx 2lbs.

Maternity Clothes:

This week, I realized that stretchy Maxi skirts are the BEST THING EVER!

I even bought the cutest blue and white stripped maternity skirt at Target.

(see picture below)

Weight gain:

I'm now up a total of 18lbs.

Sleep:

I am beginning to wonder how both Micah and I

are going to fit on our queen bed in a few months.

I can tend to be a bit of a bed hog these days.

Best Moment of the Week:

My diaper bag came in the mail!!!

Movement:

Both Micah and I are now definitely seeing (and feeling) our little girl move around in there.

It is the weirdest and most amazing thing to see my belly

move around and contort into odd shapes with every little kick and jab she makes.

Food Cravings:

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Gender:

Baby Girl.

Belly Button in or out:

In 

Wedding ring on or off:

On

Anything making you queasy or sick:

Nope

What I miss:

I miss not having to generously slather coconut oil all over my belly daily.

I do love the stuff, but at times I worry that I smell like coconut cooking oil. Ha!

What I am looking forward to:

My Baby Shower that is on the 27th of April!

I am so thankful to my friends here for throwing me a party.

Nursery:

I'm almost finished with my handmade crib mobile.

(I'll post pictures soon).

Ways to Relax:

After (finally) watching Les Miserables, I am bound and determined to finish reading the book.

I've completed 350 pages already, now just 350 more to go!

Woodblock Printed Pillows

I just love these little pillow animals created by Laura Frisk.
I love them so much I even have one of them on Baby Girl's Amazon Registry.

Speaking of Baby Girl,
my to-do list today involves making a mobile.
Have you ever checked out the price on those things?!?
Ridiculously way too expensive for the cute ones, in my opinion.
So I'm going with a homemade version inspired from Pinterest.

Wish me luck!

24 Week Update

How Far Along:
  24 Weeks

Size of the Baby:

  Baby is about 10-12 inches.

Maternity Clothes:

Nothing new this week...

I'm still trying to squeeze into my early pregnancy clothing.

Weight gain:

I'm up 15lbs from my pre-prego weight!

On a side note, here's a conversation between Micah and I recently...

Micah: "you look bigger."

Me: (stare blankly at him)

Micah: "well, I'm just saying."

Me:  (laughing) "yes, that is the whole point of growing a baby inside of you,

you generally get bigger."

Sleep:

Same old same old.

I'm beginning to realize that my lack of sleep for the next 18+ years

is now coming into effect.

Best Moment of the Week:

Micah finished the changing table!

Movement:

Still feeling little kicks and jabs here and there.

Food Cravings:

Orange juice has been amazing in the mornings

(and I've never been an fan of orange juice till now).

Gender:

Baby Girl.

Belly Button in or out:

In 

Wedding ring on or off:

On

Anything making you queasy or sick:

Nope

What I miss:

Being able to vacuum my house

without feeling like I need to take a nap afterwards. :/

What I am looking forward to:

Getting to dress my little girl up in all the cute outfits I've been given.

Nursery:

Micah finished the changing table

and I started to add little things here and there to it.

Ways to Relax:

I caught up on one of my favorite TV shows... Grimm!

My Week in Instagrams

 

Happy Saturday!

I hope you have a relaxing weekend.

Micah is almost done with refinishing our nursery changing table,

so I'm hoping for some inspiration and energy this weekend.

Because once the changing table is finished,

it's my job to figure out where it goes and to decorate accordingly.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Don't you just love it when you actually find a good recipe on Pinterest.

I like to call those recipes "keepers".

And if you spend any amount of time on Pinterest,

you know that good recipes can be somewhat hard to fine...

We do all have different tastes, right?

I found this recipe the other day

and happened to have a half carton of Ricotta Cheese in my fridge

just waiting to be used soon, or else it was going to spoil.

So I though I might as well try out the recipe...

and I'm so glad that I did!

This recipe is so good

that I've made them twice this week already.

As promised (if you follow my instagram),

Here is the recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes  

Adapted from: Sugar and Charm  

1 1/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar 

1 cup milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 

1 tablespoon lemon zest 

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, white sugar and salt in a bowl.

 

2. In a large bowl, combine the milk, egg, melted butter, vanilla, lemon juice and zest and whisk to mix. Add in the ricotta cheese and continue to mix.

 

3. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just incorporated. Do not over mix or you will get tough pancakes!

 

4. Over medium heat, melt some coconut oil (or butter). Add in 1/4 cup of the batter (spreading out a bit to make sure the pancake is even and the center gets done along with the edges) and let it become a nice golden brown before flipping. These will take slightly longer to cook than a normal pancake, but make sure to watch them so they don't burn.

Crochet Baby Blanket

It's finished!

Well, I still need to sew in some loose strands,

but for the most part... It's finished!!!

My year long process of crocheting a baby blanket is done

and I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out.

I hope Baby Girl loves it and keeps it forever.

I still have my crocheted baby blanket from when I was a baby

and Micah still has his too.

So, hopefully this one will withstand the test of time

(and withstand all the tugs, spills, and accidents)! :) 

If you want to make this crochet granny square blanket too,

you can check out this YouTube video...

It's where I got my inspiration.

Ash & Anchor

Happy First Day of Spring!

I envy those of you who live in warmer climates.

Places where right now the sun is shining,

coaxing all of your spring tulips and daffodils to bloom.

Places where you are wearing your spring dresses and ballet flats...

and maybe pairing your outfit with a cute scarf like these from Ash & Anchor.

And adding a bit more to the outfit
with one of these Rose Talisman necklaces...

Here in Montana, I at least attempted to wear a dress.
But due to the 39 degree weather and the rain, I had to pair my dress with
my Hunter Wellies, thick leggings, a sweater, and a scarf.

Implement

I love it when I have friends and family that are super talented and artistic.

Selfishly I love it because I get to do posts like this and say: "Oh! Look who I'm related to!"

And un-selfishly because it's so wonderful to see people I love

succeed in what they are so talented in.

My brother and sister in law, Luke and Whitney, both design and build for Implement

and along with the owner Jonathan Curtis,
they seriously come up with some amazing items.

So amazing, that Implement has been featured...

here and here and here and here.

And guess what is even more amazing (for you!!!)?

For the rest of the month of March and all through April,

Implement is offering a 15% discount off all full price items

for all you readers of Wuthering Iris!

All you have to do is type in the code 15OFF

in the discount section during check out.

So head on over and take a look at all their amazing items!

Here are a few of my favorites...

23 Week Update

How Far Along:
  23 Weeks

Size of the Baby:

  Baby is the size of a Grapefruit!

Maternity Clothes:

Nothing new this week.

But I'm sad that I am at the point where this early pregnancy dress

is just a bit too short in the front.

Weight gain:

I'm up a total of 14.6 lbs!

Sleep:

Well, I'm noticing a pattern where sleep is great one week,

and the next week not so great.

This whole week I've had to get up at least 4 times a night to pee,

plus by 6am each morning my legs are aching so bad

that it's either sleep through the pain or just get up.

(I usually just force myself to sleep through the pain).

Best Moment of the Week:

Micah and I went to Target to register!!

 

Movement:

At my last midwife appointment I found out something

that explains why I can feel movement but not a ton of it.

Here's how the conversation went...

 

Midwife (as she is measuring my stomach): "Did you feel that?!"

 Me: "No."

(a few seconds later)

Midwife: "You had to have just felt that! I saw your stomach just move!"

Me: "Nope. Nothing."

Midwife: "Hummm. Let me check something."

(midwife then looks at my chart)

Midwife: "Oh! Well, that explains it. You have an anterior placenta."

Me: "A what?" (my inner thoughts: "Oh Lord please, not another complication.")

Midwife: "Totally fine and normal,

your placenta is just at the front of your uterus instead of at the back.

So it will just take a bit longer (and harder kicks)

for you to really start to feel movement a lot".

Me: "Lovely." :(

Food Cravings:

Nope.

But my lunch and dinner appitite is out of control!

Gender:

Baby Girl.

Belly Button in or out:

In 

 

Wedding ring on or off:

On

Anything making you queasy or sick:

Nope

What I miss:

Sleeping on my back.

What I am looking forward to:

To be honest, this pregnancy acne is one of the most frustrating things.

I can't wait till that goes away after birth, or I keep hoping it will go away before.

Any natural recommendations?

Nursery:

It's coming along.

Since all the walls are white (and I love white walls)

I needed to find a way to bring in some color.

So, going with our Peter Rabbit theme,

I sketched a huge tree on one of the walls.

Now all I need to do is find someone to paint it for me.

 

Ways to Relax:

This week I was completely wrapped up in this book!

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Even though I woke up this morning

to a blanket of fresh snow on the ground...

it still didn't deter me from having

Banana Huckleberry Pancakes for breakfast!

Happy Sunday

My Week in Instagrams

I hope you are having a nice and relaxing Saturday.

I am spending my day reading...

because I CAN'T put this book down!!!

For Book Club (for the month of April... yes, I'm a bit ahead of the group)

we are reading The Devil in the White City

and it has quickly drawn me in and not let me go.

I guess that's a sign of a good book, right?

It's not a book for the faint at heart though,

it is partly a non-fiction about a serial killer in the 1890's,

but if your like me and your able to sleep soundly at night

after watching a scary movie,

 then you'll be fine...

or at least I say that now.

I've only read a little over half of the book,

I could completely change my opinion

and be scared out of my wits by the end. :)

Follow Wuthering Iris on Bloglovin

In case you haven't heard the news already, Google reader is shutting down on July 1st.

So if you happen to follow this blog via Google,

now might be a good time to switch to something different.

I personally love Bloglovin and use it to keep track of the blogs I love to read.

So I recommend it!

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons

Two kinds of food always remind me of my mother...
Coconuts and Raspberries.
So when I saw this recipe in this months Martha Stewart Magazine
I knew I would have to try it right away,
because I too, love coconuts and raspberries.

And not only was this super easy to make, and quite quick,
you can really taste the flavors of both the sweet coconut and the tart raspberries!

Enjoy this delicious treat!

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons

Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 cups dried sweetened coconut flakes

3 tbsp sugar

1 egg white

pinch of salt

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

6 oz semi sweet chocolate

2 tsp coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine coconut, sugar, egg white, and salt in a food processor and pulse till just combined.

3. Add raspberries and mix until combined (don't over mix).

4. Scoop mounds of coconut mixture (about a tablespoon size) onto a lined baking sheet. 

5. Bake until macaroons are lightly golden on top, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool.

6. To make the chocolate dip, place chocolate in a bowl (or double boiler) and set over a saucepan of simmering water.

7. Stir chocolate until it's fully melted, then add the coconut oil, stirring until combined. Remove from heat.

8. Dip the bottom of the cooled macaroons into the chocolate then let dry on wax paper.

9. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes until the chocolate is firm.

 

Seventh Tree Soaps

Oh today has been a dreary day.
Unlike the warmer sunny days we have been having as of late,
today it has both snowed and rained,
and stayed around 40 degrees outside.
Such a day calls for some snuggles next to the fire with a good book.
Or maybe a warm bath (with a good book).
Speaking of baths, I would love to add a few of these
adorable soaps from Seventh Tree Soaps to my bath-time routine.
Though, knowing myself, I would probably think they were way to cute to actually use
and the little owl would just sit on a shelf in my bathroom.
 

22 Week Update

How Far Along:
  22 Weeks

Size of the Baby:

  Baby is the size of a Papaya!

Maternity Clothes:

Thanks to my friend Ruthie,

I now have a pair of maternity jeans that actually look good!!

Weight gain:

Still at the 12lb weight gain marker.

Sleep:

Micah was on a missions trip in Mexico all week,

so I got our queen size bed all to myself...

it was glorious!

I missed Micah terribly, but slept great.

Best Moment of the Week:

Micah brought back the cutest baby dress from Mexico.

I can't wait till she can wear it!

 

Movement:

She's still kicking around in there,

but I seem to notice it more at night (and in the middle of the night).

This little girl has already got her days and nights mixed up!

Food Cravings:

No specific cravings...

I'm just hungry ALL THE TIME!

Gender:

Baby Girl.

Belly Button in or out:

In 

 

Wedding ring on or off:

On

Anything making you queasy or sick:

Nope

What I miss:

There are a few things...

Coffee is still high on my list,

but I also miss being able to play

and run around with Silas in the backyard.

What I am looking forward to:

I'm looking forward to hitting the 37 week marker and being considered "full term".

I know I still have a ways to go, but at times I still worry a lot 

that something will go wrong again with the pregnancy.

I just want to hit that marker so some of my worry will go away.

Nursery:

I finally finished my year long crochet baby blanket project!

I'll post pictures soon.

 

Ways to Relax:

While Micah was gone in Mexico, I was able to do a lot of crocheting.

I made a baby sweater, a baby hat, and baby leggings.

I also have read through book 3 in the Anne of Green Gables series...

only 3 more books to go.