Last Baby Shower + Onesie Making Party!

It's safe to say that Aiden and I are officially spoiled rotten. This weekend my Aunt Lynda threw me the sweetest shower. My dear cousins, sister, grandma and Aunt all traveled to Ohio to celebrate baby Aiden. (We missed you Aunt Kathy and Tess!)

Clothespins and onesies, could it be any cuter?

She reserved the most adorable room ever at one of my favorite restaurants, Grand Finale. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together, talked baby and wedding since my cousin Shirley is recently engaged and as usual we laughed A LOT.

37 weeks and counting...

As if my Aunt didn't do enough, she made me handmade thank you notes too!

I need to find this onesie diecut, cutest thing ever!

I opened presents and we took pictures at every possible second. We are a picture loving family! Also notice all the curly hair...

Mom, Me, Sweet Mimi

Almost all the girl cousins...missed you Tess!

4 generations picture

My cousin Carmen is pregnant too! So fun to talk baby everything!

After our photo shoot everyone came back to my house where they continued to spoil me by whipping out the cutest fabric, iron on adhesives, decals and onesies of all different sizes so that we could all make onesies for Aiden. We are a very crafty family and always love doing projects together so this was a perfect way to end our time together. Crafting and did I mention cupcakes?

Everyone hard at work and loving it.

Oh my gosh I have one talented family. The onesies they made are cuter than many I've seen in stores. I can't even begin to pick a favorite and will be snapping pictures of Aiden in every single outfit! It was so good to be with my family. I love them more than words can express and am so thankful for each one of them.

Seriously look at the cuteness of the onesies hanging up. I still can't manage to take them down!

Tried and True Freezer Meals for New Moms {Part 2}

Today I'm sharing two more Tried & True Freezer meals: Goulash and Potato Soup. The ingredients for both these meals (not including the disposable tins) was $24.02 and both meals were delicious. First up...Goulash. I had never made or eaten Goulash before, but all the ingredients sounded great. It's basically Chef Boyardee for grown ups. Yum.

Goulash

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 can tomato soup
6 oz. can tomato paste
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 can corn (15 oz.)
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder
2 cups shredded cheese

Instructions:
Brown Ground beef with onion powder and garlic powder. The smell from this is just amazing. Drain.
Cook noodles according to package directions, drain.
In a large bowl mix tomato soup, tomato paste, Italian Seasoning, noodles, corn and ground beef. Stir.

 Transfer to 9x9 disposable tin and top with cheese.
Cover dish with 2 layers of aluminum foil then label the dish with the following information making it easier when you get it out to bake later:
-Goulash
-Date assembled
-Cooking instructions: Thaw and Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Next up, Potato Soup. The easiest of all the freezer meals I've made and one I will be making frequently both before and after baby comes.

Potato Soup

Ingredients:

30 oz. bag frozen, shredded hashbrowns

32 oz. container of Chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onion chopped

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

8 oz cream cheese (this will be added at the time you actually make the meal, but cream cheese lasts a long time so go ahead and buy it now if you want to make sure to have it when you make this meal!)

Instructions:

Double up a large freezer bag then combine all ingredients EXCEPT cream cheese. Label with the following:

-Potato soup

-Thaw soup and place in crock pot

-Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours

-1 hour before serving add in cream cheese, allow to heat through until melted

-Garnish with cheese, bacon, green onions, sour cream

Click here for 2 more tried and true freezer meals!

Renner Rewind

<< So life has been a whirlwind lately between baby showers, packing my hospital bag (AH!), preparing for my sister in law's wedding, Drew officiating weddings (that's right folks) and assembling baby items I have not had a spare second to blog besides my bump posts. I hate missing out on your lives and hope to get back to reading your blogs soon, but in the mean time here's a little rewind of what's been happening in the Renner house <<

Drew officiated his first wedding. For real. He got ordained to do his sister's wedding and a friend of ours asked him to do his too. He did a fantastic job then we enjoyed a rooftop reception complete with Cincinnati favorite foods for dinner. Yes please.

We took an all day child birth class and I got antsy and started packing my hospital bags that night. These ladies have very helpful posts on what to pack if you are interested. See here and here.

My work threw me a sweet shower. I've only been there for 4 months and have felt so loved and supported. I could not have asked God to pick a better spot for me. He is so faithful. One of my coworkers had this onesie made for me. It's a spin on our church's motto and logo.

I went to a lake house for an overnight work retreat and enjoyed a hike (8 months pregnant and still hiking), an amazing bonfire and delicious Amish baked goods.

My sister came in to town and has been assembling baby accessories like crazy. The bouncer, swing, Rock N Play and high chair are all up and out. It's so fun to see baby things take over the living room. My sister is very good at putting things together and I'm not so she made me sit on the couch and watch Harry Potter (for the first time) while she assembled away! I love her!

So it's safe to say nesting is in full force...Sawyer is "nesting" too in case you were wondering. Haha.

Pregnancy Files {The Bump Week 35}

Western Plaid Shirt Dress from Gap: Now on sale! Found here

{I'm behind again on these posts, but trying to squeeze them all in before Aiden comes!}

Best moment this week: Getting maternity pictures taken! The talented Jax took our pictures at a local park and I could NOT be happier with how they turned out. The look and feel of the pictures are exactly what I wanted. Check out her photography Facebook page here and book her immediately if you need a photographer!

Food cravings: It is much easier to fill me up these days. My usual Chipotle order is being minimized, which is probably a good thing.

Movement: Still moving around in there and still feeling him hiccup around the same time each late afternoon. So cute.

Symptoms: Big as a coconut and it's starting to take a toll on my back. 

Nursery: Drew hung our spice racks turned book shelves and I've had fun organizing all the cute little board books to go in them. The nursery has taken a back seat this week and I have a few projects I'd still like to do before Aiden gets here, but I'm not sure that will happen at this point. We shall see...

Prayer for Baby:
Dear Aiden,
Your Dad and I took a class on childbirth together this week. It did not make me nervous, but more excited for this whole process. I am getting so anxious to meet you and hold you. I had in my mind you would be making a late appearance, but now I'm feeling we might get to meet you before your due date. If you could just wait until after this weekend so your Dad can marry your Aunt Carly and Uncle Josh we would all appreciate it.
Love,
Your Mama

Dear Lord,
Being the worrier that I am I thought I would be more anxious about labor and delivery, but I'm just not. Thank you for giving me peace. Help me continue to be calm about this and not get worked up. Be with the doctors and nurses who will be helping me at the hospital whenever that day may come. We trust you completely for provision.
Amen. 

Philippians 4:6-8
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

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Pregnancy Files {The Bump Week 34}

Best moment this week: Hands down the best moment of the week was my baby shower thrown by my dear friend Bekah and her mom. It was just gorgeous. You can see the details in this post. So many friends traveled in to celebrate the day with me and a few of them spent the weekend at my house. It was so good seeing so many people I love in the same room.

Food cravings: At my shower my friend asked Drew a few questions about my pregnancy so far and the one thing he did say is that our usual Chipotle Monday has now turned into Chipotle Tuesday and Chipotle Wednesday. Haha. Poor guy is never going to want to eat another Chipotle item in his life.

Movement: Hiccups are still my favorite and watching my belly shake around like tickle me Elmo is pretty crazy too.

Symptoms: I really don't enjoy how clumsy I am right now especially since dropping things means bending down and picking them up. Not my favorite thing right now.

Nursery: A lot of nesting happened this week. I cleared out drawers in the kitchen for baby items and organized some of my gifts from my shower.

Prayer for Baby:
Dear Aiden,
I love knowing that you can now recognize and react to simple songs. My grandma used to sing You are My Sunshine to me when I was little so I started singing it to you. Your name means "little fire" so I thought this song was perfect. I hope you can learn to recognize it when you are born.
Love,
Your Mama

Dear Lord,
Thank you for the many ways you have allowed others to love on me this week. This season has had its ups and its downs, but the amount of support and love I have felt from you and from others has been so encouraging and uplifting. I'm so thankful. Continue to watch over Aiden. Help him grow to be a light for you.
Amen. 

Matthew 5:16
"...Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

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Showered with love {Khaki and Navy baby shower}

Throughout this pregnancy one thing is for certain...I am surrounded with some incredible people. I have already been showered with so much love and I am completely overwhelmed. I tear up just thinking about all the sweet things that have been done to prepare Drew and I for little Aiden.

My dear friend Bekah and her mom hosted a shower for me on Saturday and every single detail was perfection. They used the colors of my nursery as inspiration and tied in elements of my favorite season, Fall. Here is my afternoon in pictures...

My sweet college friends who all traveled to celebrate with me!

These 2 have been my go to girls for registering advice. Such beautiful mamas!

Newlywed on one side, mamas on the other.

Best friends since Elementary school. Excited to share this journey together!

My sweet friend Ali made the trip to come to my shower too and is responsible for taking many of these pictures.

My fellow cat lover on the far left. Her present to me and Aiden was a collection of the cutest cat books ever.

I'm in love with this cake and that painted pumpkin with an A for Aiden.

My dear small group girls. So thankful for each one of them!

My pretty mama and I.

So thankful for these two ladies. The most detail oriented and thoughtful hostesses ever!