Halloween Weekend, Life around the House, and Pregnancy

I have big plans this weekend. It’s time to bring down the winter boxes from the attic and start decorating! One thing I love to do in November is decorate the house for winter, not Christmas just yet. I like to set up all my trees and garland without adding the ornaments or Christmas-specific pieces. Once Thanksgiving is over, I’ll bring out the Christmas touches. I just love how warm and cozy everything feels with the lights up. It made hosting Thanksgiving dinner last year so beautiful.

With that being said, I needed to get this recap blog up before I accidentally mix Halloween with holiday decorating. Plus, I’ve been waking up at 2:30 every morning and hopping on the computer to work since I’ve officially given up on fighting pregnancy insomnia. Technically, I still manage to get decent sleep because when I put my toddler down each night, I usually fall asleep in his bed around 7:30 before sneaking back to my room later. I’m all over the place these days, so I might as well be productive in the middle of it all!

I’m dreading my glucose test today. It’s not even the taste of the drink, it’s the idea of chugging 50 grams of sugar in five minutes. I can’t help but think I’d rather have a piece of cake instead, haha. But honestly, sugar has made me feel pretty gross this pregnancy. If I’m around dessert, I’ll take a few bites, but I’ve definitely been more of a savory girl this time around. Wish me luck!

Last week was full-on Halloween mode! We had trunk-or-treats, Halloween carnivals at school, and then the grand finale, Halloween night!

The weather was rainy and cold all week (luckily not on Halloween!), but it definitely put me in the fall mood. On Tuesday, I volunteered at my son’s Halloween carnival, which is always one of my favorite school events of the year. The kids are so adorable in their costumes, and they have the best time playing all the games. My little one was thrilled to wear his pirate costume! I’ll be sharing a blog soon on how to DIY it (you can check out his previous costumes here!) just in case you have a little pirate lover too!

Cold and rainy days had us doing lots of indoor activities. I’ve said it a million times, but my son loves LEGOs, so a quick trip to Target for an hour of LEGO building always helps with those afternoon zoomies. We also made some polymer clay magnets, which are so much fun! I even got my mom hooked on the clay. Just wait until you see what she’s made for ornaments this year. She’s SO good at it! She’s currently working on a Little Bear series for my son since he loves that show, and it’s nearly impossible to find character items for it these days because it’s so old.

And when we ran out of activities, it was time to share a bowl of pumpkin spice Cheerios with Trader Joe’s maple marshmallows and watch The Grinch.

I think the pregnancy impulse to organize everything before the baby comes has finally hit me. Instead of doing the work I should be doing, I’ve been gutting out drawers and closets, buying way too many organizers, and trying to get everything in order. The problem I’m running into now is figuring out how to organize all the bins of boy clothes stacked up in the spare bedroom for the new baby. Just thinking about it feels exhausting…

Lately, dinners have mostly consisted of Ilios, especially when their delicious Brussels sprouts are the vegetable of the week. They seriously make the best ones! Plus, I know it’s a guaranteed meal my son will actually eat. I need to get back to cooking again, but it’s also good to give it a rest for a week. I’m pregnant, so I get to make up the excuses!

On Wednesday, I had a little date with one of my good friends. We started with a shopping trip to Trader Joe’s and then headed over to The Bowl in Ballantyne for some food! We tried Pop-Up Bagels, grabbed decaf cappuccino from FlyKidFly, and had the fall harvest salad bowls at Flower Child. That salad was so good and kept me full for like 24 hours! Highly recommend getting the dressing on the side.

When I picked my son up from school, he immediately asked for his favorite hot cocoa. He loves making it with the machine! We foam whole milk, mix in Orgain protein powder and cocoa powder, and then we top it with sprinkles and marshmallows.

Like I mentioned in my last recap, I’ve been loving these easy-to-make salmon bowls lately. I’m copying and pasting what I wrote last week so you can see just how simple this recipe is:

I air-fry the salmon after seasoning it with soy sauce, honey, Everything But the Bagel seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, dill, and a drizzle of avocado oil around the edges. I pair it with steamed rice and steamed green beans, which I finish with a little soy sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper. It’s so simple, healthy, and so good! The entire dish takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.

And of course, my family practically lives off the sourdough bread I make every weekend. I usually bake it on Friday or Saturday (I currently have my starter on the rise!) and once it’s cooled, I slice it and store it in the freezer for the week. It’s so good straight from the freezer into the toaster oven. I like mine with a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

On Thursday night, we went out for a Halloween walk around the neighborhood. The weather was perfect, and it was so fun seeing all the decorations our neighbors put up. On Halloween night, it’s nearly impossible to walk down the streets comfortably because of how many people are out, it gets crazy in our neighborhood! I’ll insert a video in the blog so you can see it!

School was out for Halloween, so we spent the day running errands, had a park date, did a little cooking and meal prep, and then headed to the library to return our Halloween books and pick up some new ones!

I kept dinner simple since our friends were coming over to trick-or-treat with us. I put a pot roast in the Dutch oven early that morning and threw together a quick salad before they arrived. I also set out some fruit and easy finger foods for the kids!

The kids were so excited to get their costumes on and head out to trick-or-treat. It’s always been fun in previous years, but this was the first year it really clicked for them what trick-or-treating is all about!

I can’t get over how special our neighbors make Halloween for the kids. There are over a thousand houses with the most incredible decorations, some are completely over-the-top and so much fun! What a dream it must be to trick-or-treat here as a kid. Some neighbors handed out full-sized candy bars, donuts, jello shots for the adults, and even hosted green foam parties after the night was over!

After a full day of toddler mom life (while pregnant!) and walking a few miles around the neighborhood, I completely crashed when we got back home. I took a hot shower, put my back on the heated blanket, and drifted away! But being that tired and sore was completely worth it.

I was struggling the next morning after such an exhausting week. Getting up at 3 a.m. every day to work on the blog, chasing a toddler through all our activities, juggling holiday prep, dinners, and keeping the house in order…it finally caught up with me. I was completely wiped out! But of course, I had three birthday parties to attend that day, so I chugged the coffee, and tried to rally. No one prepares you for how much energy this stage of life really takes, lol.

Still soaking in the final dahlias of the season as the weather gets colder!

One of my favorite lunches lately has been two over-medium eggs, maple sausage, and sourdough avocado toast! It’s sooo good and so filling!

Saturday was the longest day ever! We made a trip to Target to grab gifts and then headed out for a full day of birthday parties. My son had so much fun celebrating his friends! By the time 6 p.m. rolled around, we were finally done, and we stopped at Whit’s Frozen Custard for my husband’s “Saturday sweet treat.” They have the best Buckeye Brownie custard cookie sandwiches.

After being on birthday duty all day, I was so excited to have my entire Sunday to myself!

After church on Sunday morning, I spent my entire day working on the blog, lounging on the couch, and doing absolutely nothing but resting. I did, however, spend the whole morning mourning the end of Desperate Housewives after finishing the final episode. It’s probably one of the best shows I’ve ever watched, and I felt so sad when it ended. I’m honestly tempted to start it all over again. I don’t know what show could possibly fill that void. I’ve never cried over a show before, but this one got me!

My husband and son spent the entire day at Carowinds, and when they got back, they picked me up so we could head to Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops for our annual photos with Santa! This is our fourth year doing it, and I love turning all the photos into ornaments. My son is absolutely obsessed with Santa and Christmas, so this visit was extra magical for him.

And of course, Ilios was on the dinner plans! As I’m fasting for my glucose test, these food photos are making me so hungry. This was probably a bad idea, haha.

He convinced me to let him make a hot cocoa before school since he finished his full plate of breakfast (that kid is such a loyal breakfast eater!).

We’ve been LIVING on these smoothies every morning for breakfast.

Our go-to smoothie has organic mixed frozen berries (I get them at Costco!), organic whole milk, a few scoops of Greek yogurt, local honey, ½ serving of organic Orgain protein powder (it makes it so creamy and delicious!), juice from half a lemon, one serving of kids’ elderberry juice, ½ banana, and sometimes a few egg whites for extra protein. He usually has half of the smoothie for breakfast with his waffle and peanut butter, and the other half with dinner later in the day.

After school, we made some protein bites for snacking—my son loves these and had so much fun helping!

Also, have you ever heard of Malt-O-Meal? I know it’s more of a Midwestern thing, and I can’t find it anywhere in the South. I have to order the chocolate one from Amazon, but it’s so good! I used to eat it all the time as a kid with marshmallows and chocolate chips. It’s also perfect during pregnancy since it’s packed with iron and folate!

On Wednesday, I did a fun pottery class with some friends. I can’t believe it took me this long to try one. I had so much fun! Now I’m a little worried I might start researching a new hobby… I seriously cannot add another thing to the list, lol.

We made Christmas tree cones, and I’m planning to put a little battery-operated candle underneath each one for a cozy glow. I’m going back next week to paint mine and plan to make the garland gold! I love how it turned out.

Now, I just hope it stays together while being fired! Fingers crossed.

That afternoon, we headed to the park for three hours! The weather was amazing, and once my son gets into the groove of playing with friends, I just let him go. The afternoons are so beautiful this time of year.

That evening, it was time for his first big boy haircut at the barbershop his daddy goes to, and he did so well!

I haven’t had Starbucks in a while, but when the holiday drinks come out, I get so excited to order my favorite, the Peppermint Mocha! We were heading to a friend’s house to sit outside and let the kids play, so I thought it would be the perfect cozy treat to sip on. I ordered a decaf cappuccino with whole milk, one pump of peppermint, and one pump of mocha YUM!

I just ordered a few things so I can start making my own healthier version at home! I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I told myself it’s the last time I’m going to Ilios for dinner this month, lol but I’ve been loving their chickpea salad so much that I’m running to the store today to grab everything I need to make my own version! If it’s good I’ll share the recipe.

I hope you all enjoyed this recap! I’m really hoping to keep them more regular, and a bit shorter, moving forward. That last one felt like it covered an entire year, haha!

Do you have your holiday decorations up yet?