Five on Friday :: Freezer Meals, Baby Prep, Christmas {Gasp} and Drugstore Finds

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm officially 35 weeks as of yesterday and will have this baby by 39 weeks so that means we are at the 4 week countdown!  My family including Jason are all convinced that Colin will make an earlier surprise appearance due to the simple fact that I'm HUGE and I don't think they can fathom me getting much bigger.  You never know, but my doctor doesn't seem convinced that will be the case.  Since I was induced the first time around and then rushed to an emergency c-section, I never had that "water break, labor pains or tons of contractions moment."  I really don't know what to expect if that does happen!

Until then, I'm preparing our home, hearts and minds as much as one can and enjoying our last few weeks with an only child. 

Now let's get to some Friday Five!

ONE - Freezer Meals

One of the things I found to be the hardest when Jack was born was food.  We all still needed to eat, but it was sometimes stressful to find time to eat (Jack was a constant nurser), much less prepare an entire meal for me and Jason - especially around dinner time when Jack was the fussiest.  I was lucky enough to have my mom make tons of dinners for us plus friends brought some too, but I don't want to count on this assistance every single night!

My hope is that in the coming weeks I can find some time to make a handful of freezer meals on those days when I just can't get it together.  How easy is it to pop a freezer meal in the crockpot or oven and voila...home-cooked meal!   I'm linking some of the meals I plan to make, but please let me know if you have any other suggestions...and no, while these meals are not waistline friendly they will do their job in that first month when we are in survival mode...I'll worry about diets another time!  You can always throw a salad or some fresh fruit with any of these meals and feel a little better about what you're serving your family!

You can also follow my Slow Cooker/Freezer Meal Pinterest Board.

Baked Ziti

Cranberry Chicken

French Dip Sandwiches

King Ranch Chicken

Hawaiian Meatballs

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Breakfast Burritos

Non-Freezer Meals That I Plan to Have on Hand:

Lactation Cookies

Energy Balls

TWO - Gift Basket for L&D Nurses

When Jack was born I took lots of time and made cute little gift bags to take to the hospital for the L&D nurses.  This time around I'd like to do something for them as they SO deserve it, but don't want to spend a ton of money {or time} preparing it as I'm starting to slow down!

What did you do if anything?  I've thought about just ordering a tray of cookies from Jason's Deli or somewhere near the hospital or having some cute sugar cookies custom made (if time allows). Any nurses out there want to weight in on things you like vs. hate to receive from patients?




THREE - Infant Carrier

I totally stripped our infant carrier {Chicco Keyfit 30} this week to wash everything.  Considering Jack was in it just about everyday when he was an infant it is still in awesome shape and barely looks used.  I can't say enough good things about the Chicco Keyfit and Chicco Caddy Stroller Frame by the way if you are in the market.  I used this YouTube tutorial to help me strip everything off correctly...and then this video to get it back on!  I'm sure I could have figured it out on my own, but this saved me lots of time.

Once I installed it into my car I realized that soon I am going to need a larger car!  But that's a worry for another day...


FOUR - Christmas Decor

I did something this week that I swore I would never do.  I not only thought about, but ordered Christmas decor before Halloween!  Growing up I was always adamant about not thinking about an upcoming holiday until you are done with the other.  First is Halloween so no Thanksgiving talk; then it's Thanksgiving so no Christmas talk, etc.  But I've also come to learn as an adult {mostly as a parent} that one must plan way ahead in order to be on the ball with sales, sellouts and wait lists.  Yes, I had to line up a company to hang our Christmas lights this year back in July as we missed the window the past two years!

Anyway, this week I bit the bullet and ordered Colin his Christmas stocking to match ours from Ballard Designs when I received a catalog in the mail and realized they were on sale now for ordering so early.  Had to get him a matching stocking hanger too - also on sale now!  


FIVE - Drugstore Finds

I'm no beauty blogger, but wear makeup everyday...even if it's just a little concealer, blush and lipstick on the weekends so I consider myself worthy of letting you in on a fantastic drugstore dupe!

The Maybelline Fit Me Concealer ($6.99) is an excellent dupe for the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer ($29).  Just for comparison, I wear Sand in the Maybelline version and Custard in NARS.  I own both and have actually been grabbing for the Maybelline version as it goes on a little smoother and lasts a bit longer in my opinion.    

I've also have the NYX Butter Gloss ($4.99) in Red Velvet on heavy rotation these days to transition my makeup to a more fall-ish look.  I love the Butter Gloss line because they are so easy to wear everyday - even in the more bold colors.  I found this particular color at Target, but you can find these typically at any CVS, Walgreens or Grocery store. 

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 SCARF SWAPPERS!!!  Just a reminder that you need to have your scarf for your partner purchased and shipped by this Tuesday, 10/6.  So that means if you haven't found that perfect scarf yet, I'm officially putting it on your to-do list this weekend!  I have some of my favorite scarves linked on this post if you need ideas.  Nordstrom has SOOOO many great ones available at and under your $35 price limit and I've also spied great finds at Target and Loft.  I've heard Forever 21 has some great blanket scarves in stores too.  

Basically, you shouldn't have any trouble...Happy swapping! 

Step 1:  Leave a comment below with your name, email, blog link (if applicable) and any other social media handles you would like to share for your partner to get to know you with by Wednesday, 9/16 (one week from today). 

Step 2:  Partners will be posted on this blog on Friday, 9/18

Step 3:  Reach out to your partner via email and follow their blog and social media accounts to get to know each other and get an idea for what type of scarf they might like or opt to totally surprise each other!  You have a little over two weeks to shop for a scarf and send it their way.  If you don't hear from your partner by Tuesday, 9/22, please let me know via email so we can match you with someone else...I promise no one will be left behind!  perfectcatchblog {at} gmail {dot} com

Step 4:  Get the scarf in the mail to your partner by Tuesday, October 6
Step 5:  Come back here to The Perfect Catch Blog on Thursday, 10/15 and link-up to reveal your new scarf and see what everyone else received...this is my favorite part!  Also join us on Instagram using #2015fallscarfswap.  This part is optional, but oh so fun!

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Linking up: