sunny afternoons and flatbread pizza

As I type this post, my wind chimes are chiming violently and the sky is a dark shade of grey. A far cry from the warm sunny days we had last week! 

Friday Steve was trying to get some plumbing projects done in the house, so Riggs, Tutka and I headed just down the Old Glenn to the Knik River to play outside. It was a beautiful day, a little chilly in the shade but in the warmth of the sun it was a perfect 'spring' day (in Alaska). We walked all around the river bed in the snow, throwing the ball for Tutka and letting Riggs explore whichever way he chose to go. 

We eventually meandered our way up to the old steel structure bridge. Riggs was so excited to cross it - my heart was beating a little crazy though since there weren't any edges. I watched Riggs like a hawk when he wasn't holding my hand. It was a long drop down to the river!

I wore this old flannel of Steve that was shrunk a while ago.

It basically still looked like a tent on me, but that's ok.

at least I was warm and my belly wasn't hanging out haha

When we got home it was time to think about dinner, and pizza was at the top of my list. Steve had made some amazing flatbread pizzas earlier in the week, so I decided to make some of my own.

These are seriously so good and easy, and the options for toppings and sauces are basically endless. We used a sweet & sour chili sauce, then topped them with cheddar & mozzarella cheese, pineapple, chicken and green onions. Soooo yummy!

Flatbread Pizza with Sweet Red Chili Sauce & Pineapple

greek flatbread (I used whole wheat)
sweet & spicy chili sauce
crushed pineapple
chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite size pieces (we used one large breast for three pizzas)
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded or 'torn' mozzarella cheese
green onion for garnish

preheat oven to 425 degrees F. place flatbread on baking sheet (however many you need for your family, we only needed three to share between Steve, Riggs and I). coat liberally with sauce, then add a thin layer of cheese. top with pineapple, chicken and the white part of the green onion stalk, chopped (optional). then top with more cheese and sprinkle green onions on top. bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just starting to brown and cheese is completely melted. devour.

six months hurray!

Ok, first of all, I apologize for my face in that picture. It's just I look in the mirror and I can't help but think woah, I'm getting really pregnant! I took those pictures after working out with Riggs (you may have seen my instagram post about it) and I think I was expecting to see my not pregnant self or something...

How Far Along? 24 weeks

Size of Baby: an ear of corn (just over a pound - 4oz more than last week - and almost a foot long)

Gender: Sweet baby girl :)

Weight Gain: 15 pounds.

Nursery: Check out my idea board on Pinterest here. Last week I wrote: "Hoping to post my shared-nursery inspiration by the end of next week." Well, that didn't happen haha. I'll keep working to get it done soon! But at this rate I'll be lucky to pick a paint color by the end of the month.

I'm being a big baby and wishing we had another bedroom to decorate just for baby girl. I am in love with pink right now and ever since seeing a blog-friend's freshly painted girls room I've been slightly obsessed. And it's sort of caused a mental roadblock as far as how to decorate the one room that I do have.

I did get the fabric I needed to finish baby girls quilt and have most of it cut out and ready to sew. Our quick trip to Homer sort of put that on hold for a few days but I'm hoping to finish the quilt top this weekend. I'll share pictures when I finally do get it done.

Movement: Her kicks are getting strong enough to easily see from the outside. I love to just sit back and watch her go when she's having an especially active moment. My favorite part of pregnancy hands down is getting to feel those movements. 

Symptoms: The usual, haha. I actually feel pretty dang good and I'm very thankful to be so healthy and happy. I feel like my belly has grown a lot this week and it's really obvious I'm pregnant now. I especially notice a difference from the front:

not sure what's with the creepy faces I make while trying to get a good selfie.

anyone else have selfie-face-problems? I should just get Steve to take my pictures for me

but I feel bad making him take a million until I'm satisfied with one or two.

Sleep: Sleeping great still. It's amazing how stiff I feel in the morning after sleeping on my left side the entire night, but it wears off quickly.

Cravings: Still craving sweets. I doubt that will change anytime soon haha.

What I Miss: Being able to sleep/lay on my stomach. 

Best Moment This Week: Meeting our sweet new niece in Homer. She is such a perfect little wood sprite and I'm so happy for my brother and sister-in-law. Holding that warm little body definitely made me even more anxious to hold my own baby girl!

Looking Forward To: My midwife appointment next week. Except I think I'll be moving to appointments every two weeks after that, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. How is this pregnancy going by so quickly?

friday favorites

This was such a fun week and with the downtime I had on our trip and during the drive I spent a lot of time thinking about my blog. I've really been posting less than I want to, and this week I decided to make it a serious goal to try and change that!

I find that link-ups are a great tool for posting during the week even when you don't feel like you have anything to share. I love this friday link up (a mix of Friday Favorites and Five on Friday) and am thrilled to have my act together enough to be joining up this week.

ONE | these gorgeous flowers. aren't they just dreamy? I am living in spring in my head, heart and soul right now and I can almost smell spring when I look at this bouquet. 

TWO | this perfect old farmhouse. I love everything about it - the front door with the window above it, the wrap around porch, the black shutters. I'd add more flowers in front, I think. 

 THREE | this sweet cottage kitchen. white, mint and blush are really speaking to me right now.

FOUR | this pastel nursery. loving the white furniture, mint walls, and the sweet colorful changing pad and crib skirt.

FIVE | these powerful words from Laura Ingalls Wilder. I need to print this out, frame it and hang it in my room.

roadtrip | part two: beach combing

After getting to Homer late and meeting our sweet new niece, we all crashed for the night. After a fun morning hanging out and soaking up those new baby snuggles, we needed to give mama and baby some quiet time. It was another warm, sunny day so we headed down to Bishop's Beach for some exploring. 

Bishop's Beach is such a fun place for kids and you can walk on and on in both directions for quite a while. We even lived in a little beach shack/cabin right up from the beach the summer before we moved back to Anchorage. And the best part is that Two Sisters Bakery (our favorite yum) is right up the street. I worked there when I lived in Homer and it's just such a fun place to see old friends and kick back for an hour or two. Riggs loves playing in their little yard, which they have set up for kids with lots of toys and plenty of seating for moms and dads (read this great article about Homer and especially Two Sisters if you have a minute).

he clung to that sea shell for dear life for about 3.5 minutes, then threw it in the ocean. silly boy

looking out across the bay to where Oma and Opa live

can't wait to visit Little Tutka soon (the bay not our dog, who isn't little but is named after Steve's childhood home)

We walked back up towards the Bakery and took the Slough trail to get there. Riggs really wanted to walk on the boardwalk, he loved 'racing' up and down in front of me as fast as he could. I was just thankful he didn't trip over his boots (which he has been known to do ha) and fall head first into the stinky muck that is the slough this time of year.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of the cinnamon roll I devoured ate at Two Sisters, but alas, I was much more interested in eating it than photographing it. Next time maybe? Or even better yet, go to Homer yourself and have one! You won't regret it :)

thank you for following along with me!

I now have 100 followers on bloglovin' and I'm pretty excited about it! Thanks so much for following along with me and taking the time to read my blog. Every comment and 'like' truly brightens my day and makes my heart happy. 

Isn't the blogging community just wonderful? I think you other ladies are definitely my favorite part of blogging, and why I keep doing it even when I'm feeling really unmotivated and uninspired. I'm so thankful for all the wonderful friends I've 'met' during the last year and can't wait to continue sharing our thoughts and snapshots from our lives with each other.

If you don't follow along on bloglovin', click on |this link| to head over and follow along with me! Bloglovin' even has an iphone app so you can scroll through and read your favorite blogs (at night when you can't sleep if you're like me). And be sure to leave me a link to follow your blog if you've been following along quietly with me and haven't introduced yourself yet! 

Yay for new friends!

roadtrip | part one

First of all, let me just wish everyone a HAPPY MARCH! I just can't believe it's here already...2014 is flying by so far! 

I've been MIA for the last couple of days because of a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Homer. Sunday morning we were getting ready for church when Steve got a call from his brother; our new niece was here! I was dying from excitement and starting running around the house getting all our stuff packed up to head down to Homer. 

Everything just sort of fell into place, which was great. They had room at the kennel for Tutka (they love him at this specific kennel and always seem to be able to squeeze him in), it wasn't forecast to be cold so we could easily leave the chickens without worrying, and we even had great luck getting in and out of Costco on Sunday (I don't know about where you live, but Sunday at 12noon is the busiest time of the week hands down at our Costco). 

Once we hit the road headed down Turnagain Arm, we were just in awe of what a beautiful day it was. We stopped just before Beluga Point to take some pictures, and just as we were about to leave happened to run into another photographer who took a family picture for us. I'm in love with how these pictures turned out, especially for an impromptu shoot, haha. 

[ps it's actually illegal to take pictures on the tracks. oops]

[two most handsome faces ever...swoon]

Riggs was in his favorite outfit of late: sweater | leggings old, similar here | moccs 

[ps not my favorite picture of myself but still nice having a picture of all of us]

I checked into foursquare and a few minutes later got a call from my Aunt Connie that she was at Beluga Point too! It was so exciting! We switched parking lots to where she was (we had actually been across the highway right before Beluga Point) and had fun chatting with her (and taking more pictures haha) for a few minutes. It was good for Riggs to get out and stretch his legs before the 4+ hours we had left in the truck.

It was such a gorgeous day, it definitely made it feel like spring is on the way (as I type this it's snowing heavily outside, probably just to contradict me! haha). We stopped four or five times along the drive just to jump out and take pictures. There were just so many too-beautiful-to-pass-up views along the way.

If any of you non-Alaskans ever make it up here, taking a drive down Turnagain Arm (and all the way down the highway to Homer!) is a must - year round it is just breathtaking.

We all needed to get out and stretch our legs (and this pregnant lady needed a potty break) after about an hour so we stopped at Cooper Landing and walked down to the river. Riggs loved throwing rocks in and getting as close to the edge as he could get without actually getting his feet wet.

I did have a "Don't let his feet get wet, those are $60 shoes!" moment after which Steve looks at me skeptically and said "Did you really pay $60 for some moccasins?" haha. Some really really cute moccasins!! I actually got them used from an instagram shop, but I wouldn't hesitate to spend the full price for them, they are so durable and adorable and I love supporting a mama-run business. I definitely see some girly colored pairs in the future for new baby. Anyway I guess next time I'll grab the xtratufs from the truck.

 [I went a little camera crazy but seriously, he was too cute not to take a million pictures]

The sun was setting just as we were getting close to Homer and the views were just unreal. We made it to the turnout just in time to catch the sun before it slipped behind the mountains:

We've driven back and forth to Homer so many time but this was definitely one of the best trips ever. All three of us enjoyed both the driving and the stops to get out, play and enjoy the beautiful state we are blessed to live in.

Stay tuned for more pictures from our days in Homer and most importantly, the new baby pictures.