week 29: home sweet homa.

it's baby shower week!  blakey & i headed home for a few days with family & friends, a 30th birthday party, our big truck baby party, & our baby shower!  it was so nice to be in oklahoma & eat at our favorite places & lay out by the pool & do a little shopping & celebrate miss nora belle.

julie & benny boo & little man were in town for the week too, which was incredible!  malcolm & i built a lot of tracks & played choo choo.  & he got to ride an amazing john deere tractor!  so cool, little man.

{grandpa, benny boo, & little man's pool day}

{we just had to take the 

7-months pregnant vs not pregnant 

baby bump pic}

{tanky was a little out of it after a procedure}

& my dearest friend, cari, turned THIRTY!!!  we celebrated with a party on the rooftop patio at packard's in okc.  oh my gosh, this place is awesome!  & it's two blocks from our old loft.  an evening under the stars with a great view of downtown, so many wonderful people, celebrating an amazing friend.  happy birthday to you, cari marie!!

{so excited for baby cohen & miss nora belle to be best friends.}

{my love!}

love love,

kjp.

week 24: fireworks!

happy fourth of july & happy 24 weeks!  this nora belly is growing bigger each & every day.  i am feeling her kick more & more, which is just as neat as it was the first time around.  she likes to party after i eat & just about anytime i actually sit down & rest.  it's so nice to know she's having a fun time in there.

blakey & i headed home to celebrate the fourth of july in oooooooklahoma!  the entire porter clan was there, including the adorable baby brooks.  we were so excited to finally meet the little man.  he's so long & skinny & happy to sleep most of the day.  & he has the most adorable little smile.  we are so excited to watch you grow, brooks wilson!

we also got to celebrate the fourth with caric & their little baby caric, coming january 2015!!  our little ones are going to be best of friends.  i cannot wait.

to celebrate parent-style, all four of us cooked up an incredible holiday feast - brats & sauerkraut & grilled corn & avocado salad & brown butter rice krispie treats!  it was oh so nice to spend the day with our wonderful friends.

& we bought a new car!  my first mom car.  can't you see me running around with all of the kiddos in this gem?  can't wait :)

love love,
kjp.

celebrating america with a feast!

happy birthday, america!!  we hope you & your loved ones had a fabulous weekend celebrating this great country.  blakey & i celebrated in our favorite way, we ate!  we cooked & ate some fantastic food.    it really was a lovely four days off of work for me & four days of great food & fun for us.  first up, our holiday meal!

what better way to start any celebration than with bubbly!  & for an american party, red bubbly!  we discovered our favorite liquor store in birmy carries our favorite summer sparkling wine - lambrusco grasparossa di castelvetro.

for our appetizer, blakey requested jalapeno poppers!  easy & delicious - my favorite kind of food.

bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers

10ish jalapenos, halved & cleaned of seeds

8oz light cream cheese, room temp

a bit of shredded cheddar cheese

10ish sliced of uncooked bacon {or however many jalapeños you have}, cut in half

1. stuff the jalapeno half with softened cream cheese, filled straight across.  sprinkle each with a little cheddar cheese.  wrap each stuffed jalapeno with one half piece of bacon & secure with a toothpick or two.

2. bake at 400 for 20 minutes & then check on your poppers.  your pepper & stuffing should be hot but your bacon likely still needs more time, so broil for about 5 more minutes until the bacon is fully cooked.  enjoy!

we continued with our fourth of july tradition & made the pioneer woman's spicy dr pepper pulled pork!  oooh, we love this pork.  but you are probably fully aware of that by now.  i did make it a little bit differently this time, adding an extra onion & two bell peppers in the dutch oven from the beginning.  it was nice to have a little more vegetable in the mix.  delicious!

for some strange reason, i always want mexican food &/or beverage on the fourth.  maybe because it's summery?  i have no idea.  but i was craving my mexican corn salad, so that stared as our feast's side dish.  yum.

& dessert?  blue bell's rockslide brownie ice cream topped with fresh blackberries!  amazing.  & we pretended the fruit made it healthy :)

{how every morning over my break began - 

tanky & green man playing in the rain

while i hid in the corner on our patio out of the rain

with a cup of coffee & a fantastic book in hand.

loved it.}

love love,

kjp.

#sparkle into 2013!!!

#sparkleinto2013, our beyond fabulous new years eve party, was a gigantic success!!  it was a blast to plan & cook & decorate & create with my dear cari.  & even more fun to dress up & celebrate the new year all night with our friends!

so, without further ado, please enjoy #sparkleinto2013:

{video courtesy of: grey stripes creative // m.press}

{the original video can be found on HERE}

{pretty much sums it up}

{let craft time begin!}

our dinner table was gorgeous!  black table cloth, gold chargers, mini champagne bottles with black & white paper straws & pink ribbon, vases with gold sparkles, name plates & coasters in the #sparkle theme...

& the food was divine!  we had a skewer theme for the evening, which made every little bite quite festive, including our mini rock candy champagne!

{savory herb-stuffed mushrooms}

{pork belly sliders & prosciutto wrapped figs}

{& pink champagne truffles!}

{mustaches!}

{it was a bow tie kind of evening}

{playin cups o' flip}

{3...2...1...}

{happy new years, y'all!}

love love,

kjp.