Entertaining: Mother's Day Dinner Party

            Hi Everyone! I hope you are all having a great week! I wanted to pop on and share the fun Mother's Day dinner I hosted with several of my friends last week. There were 7 of us total and we thought it would be fun to get together for Mother's Day and also do a "favorite things" party. I have never been to a favorite things party and it was so much fun! Everyone bought "2" of their favorite things they enjoy such as something to cook with, makeup, hair products, books, etc. The sky is the limit and then you draw names and each person goes home with "2" new favorite things. It was a lot of fun!

          On the menu for dinner was a Mexican spread that I put together. We had a taco bar, Mexican layer dip, and a black bean & corn dip. For dessert, I made everyone their own personal bundt cake to take home or for dessert. I hope you enjoy this post and thank you for stopping by! Here are the dip recipes from the night and a little about my Mexican menu!

Dinner Menu:

Taco Bar:  Beef tacos & shredded chicken tacos with toppings 

Chips & Queso with Salsa 

Mexican Layer Dip: Which has a refried beans layer, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa with toppings

Black Bean & Corn Dip: It's a great cold but light summer Mexican dip which is always a crowd pleaser

Dessert: 

French Vanilla Almond Mini Bundt Cakes with a chocolate buttercream 

Tablesetting: 

Pink & White theme with pops of color & flowers from our rose bush

Mexican Layer Dip Recipe:

Ingredients:

-1 can of refried beans

-1 taco seasoning packet

-1 8 oz package of cream cheese 

-1 medium size container of sour cream

-1 medium size container purchased or homemade guacamole

-1 medium size container purchase or homemade salsa

Toppings of your choice: I used black olives, shredded mild cheddar cheese,  & cilantro 

Details:

-combine the taco seasoning, cream cheese, and refried beans and place in the bottom layer of your dish or trifle dish

-next, layer on the sour cream

-then, layer on the guacamole & salsa

-then, add your toppings 

-serve with tortilla chips 

Black Bean & Corn Dip Recipe: 

Ingredients:

(I doubled this recipe for a larger mixture)

-1 can of black beans rinsed and drained 

-1 can of sweet corn drained 

-1 green pepper chopped

-1 red onion chopped

-2 roma tomatoes chopped

-1 small bunch of cilantro 

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-salt & pepper to taste

-1 juice of a lime 

Details:

-start by adding in your beans & corn to medium size serving bowl

-chop up your red onion, green pepper, roma tomatoes, and cilantro

-add everything to serving bowl 

-then add in you olive oil, salt & pepper, and lime juice and mix well with spoon

-I placed this in the refrigerator for 2 hours for the lime juice to soak in but you can serve immediately as well either way 

-serve with tortilla chips 

3 Months with Rush Atlas

                  Hi everyone! It has been a bit since I have written a full post and what a better way to start back up with a sweet 3 month post about Rush. I can't believe he is 3 months already!! He will actually be 4 months next week on May 21st! Time is really flying by and we are enjoying every bit of it with him.  I just celebrated my first Mother's Day with him this past Sunday and we had so much fun with church, lunch, and ice cream! A little re-cap,  month 2 was definitely hard for us. Rush got RSV for about 2 weeks, wasn't sleeping, very gassy etc etc  A lot of adjusting still and a lot of getting use to each other and trying to figure out what works best for him.  Month 3 has been so much fun and we are really starting to see the start of his personality. 

               He is a talker!! He is definitely going to be like his mother in that aspect haha! He is talking, playing, starting to grab toys, sitting up in his sit me up seat, and smiling/laughing. It has been so much fun and we are really enjoying his age right now. The newborn stage was hard for us and I know we will love every bit of whats ahead. He has upgraded to his big boy bath in the bath tub and that has been fun. He loves bath time and splashing his feet in the water. This past week though, we have had a heck of a time with two teeth coming in! We couldn't believe it. Getting 2 teeth at 3 months is not what we were prepared for haha! I honestly didn't ask the pediatrician any questions or read up on teething at all because I didn't expect it for awhile. Well, anyways he has had a rough week with teething but we are starting to see the end of it. I can't wait to see the second tooth come completely in because the first one is absolutely adorable :) Here are a few things about Rush at 3 months :)

Likes: Bath time, loud toys, his swing, mickey's clubhouse 

Dislikes: Sleeping (fights it), his car seat, being hot

Age: 3 months

Thank you all for stopping by!  I will be back for more of Rush Atlas at 4 months as well :) xo Tesla 

Introducing Rush Atlas Draffin: Newborn Family Pictures

                 Hello my friends! Long time no talk huh!? Boy oh Boy has it been a whirlwind since my last blog post from early January, posting Rush's sweet baby nursery and anticipating his arrival in late January. A lot has change for the better but it sure hasn't been an easy journey since he came into this world! Rush Atlas came into our lives on January 21st at 6:30 pm and he weighed 7 lbs and 4 oz. My delivery story definitely isn't a normal one and things didn't happen like you see in the movies where everything goes perfectly smooth but I know my birth story happened for a reason (sometimes thats hard to understand) but it made me stronger in a sense and God carried us through. Rush also came along way from being in the NICU for 6 days and then being able to come home. We are so thankful it was only 6 days and things could have always been a lot worse but were so glad things worked out.

                   My recovery was also rough and took some true patience and time to heal but again, it made me stronger and I know it happened for a reason. Once home from the hospital, my mom was home to greet us and stay with us for several weeks which was wonderful and so helpful as we adjust to having a new family member in the home. Not only was an adjustment for us but it was for Paw haha! He didn't understand for weeks, would bark every time the baby cried, thought the nursery was his, thought the babies toys were his haha! Let's just say it's been an adjustment for all of us. Shortly after my mom had to head back home to help Mam for her surgery, Reed's mom Barbara was able to come and help us as well (again so helpful)! With a lack of sleep, recovery, and trying to adjust to it all I can't thank our mom's and families enough for all of their help that's for sure. My first week at home by myself was going good until Reed's voice went out and he started a cold, and then Rush got RSV which was so hard to see a newborn sick anyways and then I got ahold of it right after; but, we made it through and they both have been doing much better thank goodness.

                 Our first couple of months home with Rush definitely haven't been easy but I have never had so much fun. Reed and I are enjoying seeing him start to smile and laugh and enjoying all the cuddles and play time. Life sure has changed but in the best way possible. We are so thankful to hopefully be on the mend and enjoying our time together as a new family of 4 (counting paw of course) :) I hope to share more each month about what Rush is up to and share some family photos. Below, are our first family photos/newborn photos. We worked with April Milan with April Milam Photography here in Spring Hill. She is wonderful and a great photographer to work with in our area. We couldn't be more pleased and in love with the pictures she took for us. She came to our home and we loved every second of it. Her website is  April Milam Website  if you ever need a photographer in the Spring Hill/ Franklin/ Nashville area. We took and received back over 90 photos but here are a few of our favorites. Thank you again April!

I hope you all are doing well and I hope you enjoy these photos of our little family! Thanks for reading and stopping by! xo Tesla

Home decor: Baby Rush's Nursery

                   Hi Everyone! Happy Friday! Happy New year! Happy January and for us happy baby month! A lot going on around here and I wanted to pop in and share baby Rush's sweet nursery that we can't wait to see him in very soon. I am writing this today as I am 39 weeks pregnant! The nesting has been real, since every square inch of our house is organized, cleaned, dusted, and so on. It probably won't look like this for long, but hey thats okay! We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little man and we can hardly wait to meet him for the first time. 

                  Putting together his nursery has probably been my favorite thing (besides his baby kicks) of my third trimester and entering the home stretch. I can't believe we are one week away from our due date, it is really hard to believe and has gone so fast. I have been feeling great the entire third trimester and I am so so thankful for that as I have been told horror stories from others of their their trimester haha! I consider myself lucky for now but who knows if the next (if there is one) pregnancy will be so I should probably keep my mouth shut ha! 

                All in all, I have been slowly but surely preparing for the arrival of baby Rush and getting our house in order as well. I have enjoyed this time at home so much and I am so thankful for it. Reed has enjoyed me being home I think as well, since I have cooked and baked more than I have in my entire life haha! He finally told me in January "you have to stop baking for me" haha! I didn't think I would ever hear those words out of his mouth but I told him I would take a break just for him :)  Even though, I can't promise how long it will last ha! Anyways, here are pictures of Rush's nursery and some special pieces about each picture as well. All I see from other nurseries is a neutral palette or white nursery and I really wanted to use some color in his room. I loved the grayish/blue wall that my dad painted as an accent wall and loved using gray and other colors to brighten up the space. The walls are pretty simple right now as I want to eventually save that wall for a sweet gallery of newborn pictures or family pictures. But for now, we kept it plain and simple :) I hope you enjoy these pictures! Have a great day and weekend and hope to see you all again soon! Thanks for stopping by xo Tesla

We love this part of his room. The book shelf has a lot of special meaning to us. 

Bookshelf: My dad found the book shelf for us and painted it blue to match the accent wall in his room. 

John Deer toy: Was given to Rush as a shower gift from my Papa

Picture in picture frame: Is of my Papa, his dad, and his grandpa Rush 

Glass Atlas Jar: Came from my mom and dad as they found this vintage jar that has "Atlas" which is the babies middle name 

Piggy bank: Is his first piggy bank from my mom and dad

Toys: These were all gifts from our shower 

Vintage airplanes: These were actually all of Reed's airplanes that Ken and Barbara saved for him from when he was little 

Army green canon: Was made by Reed's granddaddy for Reed when he was younger

We love this bookshelf and love the meaning to each piece! We have received so many sweet toys and special stuffed animals from so many special people. We are so thankful!

Baby Rush's book shelf wall! Reed made the shelves,  and my dad painted the shelves. Then, I painted the letters for his name and we added in a lot of great books that we were gifted by our wonderful family and friends. 

We have collected quite the book collection for baby Rush and I added in this vintage airplane that I found at Hobby Lobby to his bookshelf and added this compass inspired knob as well.

Changing table necessities! 

This sweet little airplane mobile we recently put up and came from our good friend Kayla :)

The crib was actually our first purchase for the nursery. We wanted simple and grey. Mam and Papa gifted us this beautiful Amish rocker for Christmas and we love it for the nursery! Barbara (Reed's mom) made the airplane curtains for his room and did such a good job on them!

I love these airplane hooks that my cousin Tabbi got him for our baby shower! This sweet little outfit is actually Reed's when he was little!

This was my little rocking chair when I was little! I draped a sweet blanket that my Aunt Carri had made for him with the tiny little white booties we surprised my in-laws with when we announced I was pregnant and Barbara embroidered his initials on the booties!

Christmas Cookie & Cocoa Party

              Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! I can't believe we are now 1 week away from Christmas! I am so excited!! I wanted to share a fun and festive party I hosted last week that was full of friendship, fun, and festive treats. I had my girlfriends over from our community group last week for a cookie & cocoa party at our house. We had such a good time (even though we were on a sugar high) haha! It was a lot of fun to have them over and spend time with them while enjoying some holiday treats. 

              I made hot chocolate in a crock pot including a dairy free hot chocolate as well since of my friends doesn't eat/drink dairy. The cookies that I made included a sugar cookie, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip, chocolate ritz crackers, and I purchased gingerbread men and peppermint pretzels from Trader Joe's to add to the cookie tray. I added in some mini candy canes as well. For a salty treat, I made a big batch of holiday party mix (which is always a crowd pleaser) and bought some whipped feta and roasted pepper dip from kroger as a nice salty treat. The girls brought some more cheese & crackers and a few other salty treats as well to balance out the sugar. We had a great time catching up, sharing stories, and enjoying a Christmas night together. I already can't wait to host another one next year :) I hope you enjoy this post and hope this inspires you to create your own Christmas party or cocoa bar. Have a great week and enjoy all the fun moments before and during Christmas! xoxo Tesla