The fastest January ever

If I had the time or energy or brain-power these days to write regular blog posts, I would have told you about a lot of things that happened in January. Believe it or not, things happened besides the birth of my son (and that in itself is a weird sentence to write!). The baby was born at the beginning of the month, and plenty happened after that. Let's see...

The week the baby was born was also the week of my birthday! We took a trip to Target (big deal!) and I cashed in my birthday reward from Starbucks (venti - win, decaf - sad) and then celebrated with pizza, salad, and ice cream cake with my family and some friends. I finished the night cuddling with a very snuggly newborn. It was wonderful. It took me until last week to realize that I turned 29 - I never really had time to process that or the fact that I will turn 30 next year!! Yikes. I'm already planning a joint birthday party for me and the baby - perhaps a walking and wine theme, anyone? Sounds good to me!

My poor cat with psychological issues, my "original baby," developed an ear infection and then an ear hematoma (it's gross, don't google it!), and had to have surgery and stay the night at the vet. He is currently wearing an "Elizabethan" collar for another week and it's likely that all the work we've done to normalize him and get him to trust and love us over the last few years will be completely undone by the combination of bringing a baby home and having surgery. Sigh. 

C and I had our first date since the baby was born! Last weekend, we went to visit my in-laws, and we decided to get takeout for dinner. We bravely left the baby with his grandparents (who were MORE than happy to let that happen), and enjoyed an hour of alone time with beers and an appetizer while waiting for our dinner order to be prepared. It was a little bit horrible and a lot wonderful. We definitely needed the time to recharge our "couple" batteries! 

My mom came to help out while she had some snow days, and over the course of two days, she insisted that I not only shower, but go get a pedicure and dye my hair. (Not in a mean way, of course - just in the "you need to take care of you" way.) I am now rocking some freshly painted tootsies, and I've hidden all my gray hairs for at least a couple of weeks. It was very refreshing!

We survived the Blizzard of 2016. Winter Storm Jonas dumped over a foot of snow in our area, and more than two feet in other places! The area essentially shut down for a week, believe it or not. The baby could not have cared less about his first experience with snow. Poor C had to do all our shoveling on his own, as my C-section recovery kept me from being able to help. Obviously, I felt horrible about that... We cooked a lot, watched a lot of Netflix, and snuggled a lot. It was also really nice when the world started turning again and we were able to get back to real life!

As per usual for Virginia, we followed a blizzard with a couple of days of 60 degree weather. I took advantage by getting out the stroller and going for a couple of walks around the block. Fresh air for the baby (and me) and a little very, very light exercise for me - much needed all around. I won't be cleared to exercise for at least 3 more weeks and it's kind of making me crazy. I am antsy to get moving again. I'm not sure how I'm going to work going to the actual gym into life right now (it's 20 minutes away with traffic, so an hour workout actually takes almost 2 hours... Don't think I have time for that at the moment!) so I am already trying to plan some at-home workouts and highly anticipate getting back to running. It's been a long time!!

Needless to say, January was gone in the blink of an eye. So many fun things happened, and it was an adventure to experience them with a newborn! We are slowly acclimating to life as a party of three. It's a little overwhelming, but gets better every day. I'm hoping that February will bring us a bit more normalcy and routine (and maybe a smidge more sleep) as we continue adjusting. We've got a few fun things planned, and I can't wait!

Thanksgiving 2015

Hello out there! Everyone coming out of their turkey comas and ready to tackle Monday? No? OK, cool. I'd appreciate another day or two of laziness, personally... c'est la vie.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you did, too! A few months ago, when we were trying to nail down T-day plans, I decided that I was not going to travel anywhere (regardless of the fact that family is just an hour away), was going to have dinner at my house, and that anyone who wanted to join us, could. Luckily, our families were totally fine with that "mandate," and everyone came on down to our house! Just the way I like it.

I worked from home on Wednesday, and made a batch of buffalo chicken in the crockpot for easy tacos while we watched the Caps game. My parents arrived just in time for dinner, and after eating, my mom and I settled in for pie night. We made just three pies (some years, we are making 6 or 8!), but they turned out beautifully. C prepped a few of our side dishes that could be done in advance, and we called it a day.

Thursday was absolutely beautiful - sunny, warm, happy. In addition to Thanksgiving, it was my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! We celebrated with crockpot breakfast casserole and mimosas (I am SO CLOSE to getting to join the fun again) while watching the parade. C got the turkey into the oven 20 minutes ahead of "schedule" and we were well on our way to a successful day. C's parents and sister and brother-in-law (K&B) joined us (with our niece - she is getting so big!) mid-morning, and we finished watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while doing a little cooking here and there. We truly kept the menu low-key, and the prep work C did Wednesday night made it even easier.

After the parade was over, my mom and I headed out for a long pre-turkey walk, along with K&B and their dog. We went over to the battlefield trail that I love, and ended up doing a (very, very slow) almost 5 miles! That was more than enough for this huffing-and-puffing pregnant lady. It felt good to move, but I definitely paid for it by way of back pain later in the day. Boo.

We got home, got cleaned up, and finished the last few sides before sitting down to a fantastic feast. I know I've already said it, but I really do love Thanksgiving! It makes me so happy to have a house full of people, with lots of chatter and food smells all day. It fills my little cup right up.

Dinner was followed by football watching and pie before C's family headed home, and we settled in with my parents to watch a movie.

The rest of the weekend was a mix of relaxing and busy - we spent Friday mostly doing nothing but getting the house back in order and watching Netflix, then on Saturday morning I went grocery shopping super early and got a pot of chili cooking in time for a 12 PM kickoff of the VT vs. UVA game. Stephanie was in town visiting family for the holiday, so her, her husband, and the baby came over to watch the game with us. Not only did we get to see a VT victory (12 years in a row!), but we got lots of baby play time, too. So fun!

Saturday night and Sunday morning, I prepped a huge batch of freezer meals for after the baby comes. I will go into more detail later, but needless to say, we will not starve once we are a family of three. Also, my freezer space is totally maxed out - and I have two freezers!

C put up the Christmas tree while I finished the meal prep, and we started getting out some of our holiday decorations. We are keeping it simple this year because otherwise I am afraid we will have decorations up until April! I make no guarantees about my ability to un-decorate the house once a newborn is involved. We do have a few things out, though, and I will add a few more items in the coming weeks. I adore this time of year and can't help but want to have the house reflect all the cheer! We will decorate the tree later this week - for now, we are just letting the cats get readjusted. They are settling in nicely... until the ornaments come out!

I braved the cold and rain to run a few errands I'd been putting off all weekend, and C made us turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwiches for dinner. They were a delicious, fresher use for leftovers that can seem very heavy, and they hit the spot. We are slowly making our way through the piles of leftovers we ended up with... A few more days and we will be good to go! I should have done a better job of sending the family home with food, but I did not, and the majority of it ended up in our fridge. Luckily, it's delicious, and it's a great way to extend the holiday just a little longer. Until the next one!

All-You-Can-Carry Pumpkins

On Friday night, we met up with my sister and brother-in-law for a trip to the pumpkin patch. Belvedere Plantation is a few minutes from our house, and well-known in the area for it's pumpkins, hay rides, and other fun fall activities. It had been years since I'd been there - I have memories of a trip with a church youth group, probably from middle school, when it was cool to do stuff like that with your friends. Wouldn't you know I was back at almost 30 years old, and we had probably just as good a time as I did when I was 12!

I was mind-boggled to learn two things: my brother-in-law had never eaten a funnel cake, and my husband had (as far as he knows) never been to a pumpkin patch. WHAT?! I was pleased we were able to right both of those wrongs in one trip. I can't wait to bring our little pumpkin back next fall! I am already excited for the memories we will make and family traditions like visiting the pumpkin patch. It's going to be so much fun!

While the non-pregnant contingent of our group raced tractors and swung from a rope into the hay-filled barn, I was on a mission to get a funnel cake. Don't stand between me and my desserts right now - things might get serious. At this particular funnel cake stand, cinnamon sugar was offered as a topping for your piping hot fried dough... of course I went for it, and my funnel-cake eating may never be the same. Delicious!! Plain ol' powdered sugar will never cut it again.

Belvedere offers a great deal on pumpkins: all-you-can-carry for $29.99. You better believe my sister and I loaded the boys up with as many pumpkins as possible, and they each stood in front of the cashier for the requisite 3 seconds. It was a little wobbly, needless to say, but they were both successful, and we walked out with more pumpkins than we could possibly need. I love decorating my porch with pumpkins in the fall - now I just need a mum or two to balance it out.

Like I said on instagram... one of these pumpkins is not like the other!

Travel Tales: Rodanthe, NC

We spent last week in Rodanthe, NC, with C's family for our annual beach trip. It was a really relaxing week, and we had such a nice time. Given all the shark-related incidents lately, I didn't want a whole lot to do with the beach itself (but then, I never really do) but I was perfectly happy to spend my time in the pool and in the air conditioning!

In the past, it's seemed like there have been many more "activities" with the family throughout the week, but this year, with three little ones and two more on the way, there was much more downtime and relaxation. Totally fine by me! A week of decompression was just what the doctor ordered, and we took full advantage of the plan to have no plans.

Mostly, that meant reading (finished this and this), napping, late lunches, puzzles, and floating in the pool. That is my kind of vacation! We stayed at the same house that we stayed at two years ago, and it was kind of funny to be back and see everything the same. We had breakfast two different mornings at one of our favorite local joints, Atlantic Coast Cafe, and of course the whole family went to Top Dog for our annual lunch. Traditions that involve food are my favorite.

As if vacation wasn't enough fun, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday while we were there, and I took advantage of the opportunity to make dessert... yellow cake with whipped cream and berries was so refreshing and delicious.

One morning, we went fishing at the Rodanthe Pier. This mostly involved C fishing and me watching, but I did manage to accidentally catch a fish. How is that possible? Well, I was posing with the fishing pole so C could take my picture like I was really doing something... and next thing I know, there was a fish tugging on the line!! NOT how I planned it... oops! C also "caught" a stingray, which was the craziest thing - more like, it was HUGE and it caught him, because it was way stronger than he was! I caught a glimpse of it flying through the water and it was massive. It took his line almost all the way out and then snapped it, and got away with his hooks and anchor and everything else on the line. I've never seen anything like it! That was enough adventure for one day, by far.

Another day, C and I went for a drive and ended up all the way down at Hatteras, so we had lunch at The Billfish, which we discovered last year, and went shopping for some souvenirs. It is always nice to spend a little one-on-one time with just the two of us when we are spending the week in a house with 15 people. We needed some time away! A lunch date was a great way to spend the afternoon.

C and I spent a lot of time with our niece, "practicing" - in fact, C, changed his very first diaper, ever. Makin' moves! We really could not stop looking at each other and thinking / saying, "this time next year, we will have a 7-month-old baby!!" It doesn't seem possible. Crazy to think this was our last summer vacation as the two of us, and that next year we will be a party of three! It will be here before we know it, and vacations will never be the same, will they? At least next year I will be able to enjoy an adult beverage while beaching - this year was a little DRY (puns... ha).

Overall, we had an amazing time, and we capped off our trip with a stop to Morris Farms for farm-fresh tomatoes and peaches, which I've been enjoying for breakfast, lunch, and dinner this year. Really good produce is just that - really good. Such a delicious souvenir to bring home and keep the vacation-vibe going. I loved our trip and the beach is one of my happy places, but I have to admit, sleeping in my own bed on Saturday night sure felt good. There is no place like home!

4th of July at the Lake!

We had such a fun 4th of July weekend... so much fun, in fact, that we extended it extra long!

Happy 4th of July - from the three of us!

Our regular plans for the 4th were not to be this year - usually, C's parents have a huge shin-dig at their house, complete with pool party and water balloon fight, but they decided this year that they weren't able to do it. No worries - we moved the party to the lake!

My favorite place <3

We packed several of our favorite couple-friends into my parents' lake house for the weekend, along with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law, C and I headed down to the house on Thursday night to meet up with my parents, and everyone else came down on Friday afternoon. We got so lucky with the weather - it was overcast with some rain on Friday and Sunday, but Saturday was sunny and perfect. What more could you want?

The whole crew! Dogs included, kind of.

C got a smoker for his birthday, so for our patriotic feast, he and his friends smoked ribs and chicken wings, which we paired with baked beans and macaroni and cheese. Is there anything better than the smell of hickory smoke alllll daaayyyyy long? I think not.

Men at work

We spent the weekend playing corn hole, floating in the lake and jumping off the dock (not this girl, ever), laughing our way through a few hilarious rounds of Cards Against Humanity, and SUPing around the cove. My sister just got this stand up paddle board as a gift for her husband, and we all put it to good use! It was ultimately determined that the girls are far better at using the SUP than the boys are... we all managed to stay standing while they all ended up in the lake. Winning!

C and my dad put on a fireworks show down by the water once it got dark. There were fireworks being set off all around the lake, and listening to the booms echo down the water was kind of amazing. We couldn't really see any except our own, but we had a soundtrack going the whole time.

My aunt and uncle flew in from California on Saturday night to spend the week at the lake with my parents. C and I planned to head home on Sunday with the rest of the crew, but we made the executive decision to stick around one more night and visit. I'm so glad that we did! There was enough sunshine on Sunday to take a long boat ride to get lunch at one of our favorite lake restaurants, and I managed to get my first sunburn of the season. Whoops. We rounded out the day with dinner at some family friends' house and watching the USA crush Japan in the World Cup final - does it GET any more American??

Freshly painted boat-house doors! USA!

I was bummed to have to head home on Monday afternoon, that's for sure - I would have loved to spend the rest of the week with the fam hanging around the lake. Not in the cards this time, but it was definitely wonderful to get to spend several full days relaxing and visiting with friends. It was a great way to spend the 4th of July!

The Best Kind of Weekend-ing

First weekend in May come and gone... Wow! We had the kind of weekend that is busy but relaxing at the same time - felt like a lot was going on, but it was quality time with friends and family, which always refreshes me. It also means I don't take many pictures. I am trying to be fully present wherever I am!

On Friday, C and I went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron - C has been anxiously awaiting the release of this movie for months, so of course we had to see it the day it came out! It turned out to be a pretty good movie, and I was actually able to follow the story line amidst all the action! That is not always the case for me with these superhero movies... PS - was anybody else surprised to see Baby Olsen as the Scarlet Witch in this movie?? I totally missed that casting announcement, but I liked it. She's good!

We were up bright and early to clean the house and run errands on Saturday morning before a 12:30 puck drop for the  Caps game. It was my mom's birthday, so my parents came down to watch the game and celebrate. Unfortunately, the Caps didn't see fit to get a win for the occasion - booooo. Post-game, my mom and I headed to the mall to cash in a B&BW coupon & take advantage of the 2-for-$24 candle sale - happy birthday, indeed! We rounded out the evening with a DIY salad bar and strawberry parfaits for dessert while watching The Judge - I wasn't expecting that movie to be such a tear-jerker! 

Sunday was spent visiting another new-to-us winery: The Winery at Bull Run in Centreville, VA. We met up with my friend, Michelle, and her husband, and took advantage of the fact that they are wine club members for some free tastings. Wine tastings = good, free wine tastings = REALLY good!

It was a gorgeous day, and the place was packed - but Michelle grabbed us a great table right in the middle of everything. A pitcher of sangria and a picnic lunch were the perfect way to spend the afternoon. And I managed to keep myself from getting a sunburn! Definite win. 

I really loved this winery - definitely recommend a visit f you are in the area! They completely embrace the historical elements of their location (right next door to a Civil War battlefield), and have a beautiful set-up with plenty of picnic tables, as well as a large indoor tasting room. The parking lot was jam packed, but we never felt crowded within the winery itself. Lots of space to spread out. Also loved the fact that they have two clearly defined areas to hang out: one side for families with kids, and another for just visitors 21+. I've never seen it done that way, but I thought it was a great way to make everyone happy and comfortable. We didn't end up buying any wine to take home, but we will definitely go back for another visit. 

It feels like we jumped straight from winter to summer around here - it was in the 80s yesterday, and is supposed to stay that way all week! I definitely didn't mind the sunshine and warmth, but I'm hoping the humidity stays away, at least for a few more weeks! I need a couple of weekends where it is still bearable to be outdoors. There is nothing I enjoy more than some laid-back time with the people I love most, though, and this was weekend was such a great example of that. I know the official start to summer isn't until Memorial Day, but this weekend almost felt like it could have been it. We'll be sweating our buns off and hiding in air conditioned places before we know it.

How was your weekend? Anything fun planned for this week? 

The Best Way to Wait for Baby

The day that my sister-in-law went into labor, I had plans to spend the afternoon at a winery with my parents. I knew my choices: go sit at the hospital for hours just waiting, or spend my hours in the beautiful sunshine, enjoying some wine and some family time. Please tell me you know what I picked.

The winery was just 30 minutes from the hospital where my niece was being delivered, so I told C that I'd check in with him throughout the day and to call me when the activity started. Then, my mom, dad, and I hit the road! We stopped to gather a picnic of sorts at at farmer's market then made our way to the winery.

Pearmund Cellars is located in Broad Run, Virginia, and is tucked away down a winding dirt road. The tasting room and barrel cellar are very pretty, but the grounds are the star of this winery. They have a large outdoor patio with lots of tables and chairs, and dogs are welcome to enjoy the fun, too! There are several fire pits, as well as picnic tables and corn hole boards for general enjoyment.

A standard wine tasting at Pearmund is quite affordable at $10 / each, and includes a wide variety of wines (I think we tasted 10?) The woman conducting our tasting was very knowledgeable and friendly, and she knew the answers to just about all our questions. We had a nice time sampling the selection, then picked a few to purchase before heading outside to settle at a table.

I greatly enjoyed soaking up the Vitamin D on the patio with my mom and dad, sipping some wine and people-watching. By the time C called to say that the baby was actually on her way, I'd gotten sufficiently burnt (even sitting in the shade most of the day!) and was ready to go join the family and welcome the new addition. It was such a nice way to spend a Sunday, and way more fun than sitting in the hospital all day. I considered it quite a success!

I picked up a gift for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law
to celebrate the birth day of their first baby!
Tucked into my purse for the hospital :)

The Fog is Lifting - Friday Link-Ups

I always get into a general funk for the first two weeks of April, and you may have noticed via my lack of posting (or, let's be real, probably didn't notice). The thing is, as my brain gets heavy with sad thoughts, I feel less and less inclined to write happy, frivolous posts - it just doesn't feel true to myself. Better to sit in silence than cover it up with words I don't mean or don't care about.

Ultimately, the fog starts to lift the day after the 16th, usually. It almost always feels like a literal weight has lifted. I don't know why, but the sense of foreboding and sadness begins to dissipate as soon as that awful day is gone. Maybe it's all in my head...

Things are a little different this year, because in addition to the anniversary of April 16, we are missing my grandma and grandpa, too. This was an especially hard time for my family last year, and it's incredibly hard to believe an entire year has gone by since they both passed. We were all in such a haze of emotions last spring, it's almost like that whole part of year went by without us noticing. It's been hard to catch up.

All that said, I am still so happy about the birth of our niece last Sunday - and I'm looking forward to her being a little shining, bright spot in the years to come during what is always a very sad month for me. I am trying not to dwell on it too much, but I do think it's more than a coincidence that her birth came so closely to a few dates that I associate with so much death. The circle of life and all that, right? Thank you all so much for your sweet words on my Monday post, and your kindness yesterday, as well. It means a lot!

Today is a beautiful, brilliant day in DC, and I am hoping to get outside around lunchtime to get a little Vitamin D. The sunshine certainly does me good. I'll leave you with five thoughts for this Friday...

1 // Yesterday was taco night in our house (because tacos make me happy) and I attempted to make my mom's famous Spanish rice for the first time ever. I am thrilled to report that I was successful - and it was DELICIOUS. Winner, winner, chicken taco dinner.

2 // How gorgeous is this blouse that Kristen linked to this morning? I cannot afford such things, but dang is it pretty.

3 // We have not yet had time this spring to address the jungle that is our yard, so that is on deck for tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be sunny and 80 tomorrow - I have a date with a lawnmower and some sunscreen. Here's hoping we can tame the beast!

4 // I read this article by Kristina Anderson yesterday discussing how to honor the anniversary of a tragedy, and it really resonated with me. Everyone remembers / honors / handles it differently. There is generally no wrong way. That was reassuring to me.

5 // let's make this a two-fer and throw in a little can't live without... I present to you the best travel mug ever. This baby comes with me to work every day, carrying the liquid gold coffee that I need to be a functioning human. It is not cute, it is not pretty, but it is legit. No travel mug I've ever used before is so good at keeping hot liquid hot AND it's totally spill-proof (as long as I remember to close the top!) I once forgot my coffee at home on the counter and found it 12 hours later....... still warm. Not lying. I will never own another!

Happy Friday, friends. Have a wonderful weekend.

linking up with stephanie, cait, and laura

linking up with the five on friday girls:  Darci, Christina, April,and Natasha

linking up with karli and amy