Christmas List!

Seeing as though we're almost to the big day, here is my Christmas wish list... if not for Christmas, I will find a way to get these items throughout the year... because Christmas isn't about blowing away all your money, lets spend it with good people and find good sales after the day. Here we go...

 

- Since we go the Bob stroller, I'm wanting to keep the boogie warm with this awesome Bob Warm Fuzzy.

- To keep the house hospitable and friendly, always have nice soap and lotion for a guest! Wanting to keep this in the new powder room!

-This one is for me...  a beautiful necklace with my Conor's first initial. Its lovely and simple and a super cool design for the holidays and for everyday wearing. I saw this designer on Author, Emily Giffin's facebook page.

-This is also for Conor, a cool big stuffed animal that I think would be a fun stuffed animal for him until he's a big kid, the Blabla Doll.

-The last awesome gift is a Fitbit Flex to track your fitness and your sleep pattern. I would be interested to see how the sleep monitor works out being that I get up one or two times a night to take care of Conor. This would be a really neat gift for anyone really!

 

Check it out, hope you all find great deals online, JCrew has 30% off, Old Navy is awesome deals, some things are 50% off too (lots of glitter and sparkle goin' on in that store...just make sure to try things on first, the sewing and sizing can be a little wonk).

Cheers!!

Remembering Italy

While I was cleaning up the kitchen tonight I was remembering our Italy trip we took in Sept 2012. We bought two clay tiles with small paintings on them in Florence and they are propped up in the window over our sink. This is the artist, Ariann Farinelli's website: Arianna Decorazioni. They are the most beautiful paintings. I almost want to order a big painting for our new guest bedroom. 

Check it out!

movin on up, to the east side...

That's right you heard it, we're movin' to the East Coast! I couldn't be more excited for this next new chapter. There are so many things I want to do when we get there! We also got a call this morning from our realtor that our offer on the house was accepted! I cant believe we bought a house! No more renting an apt or a house. We get to paint our walls, rip out carpet and pick out our favorite color of hardwood floors... granted this comes with a lot of moolah spending, its stuff that's ours, not borrowed.  We have to do a lot of packing coming up so I didn't put too much effort into the Christmas tree this year, there are maybe 20 ornaments on it, it literally took about 30 min to put together, string lights and hang ornaments. Keep it simple, stupid.

As for Conor, he turned 4 months old on Dec. 8th and weighs 17lbs 8oz and is 25-7/8" long. I couldn't be prouder! Although its so awesome he's getting so big, I had a bone density scan to investigate my potentially broke rib (which I also found out wasn't broken) and it turns out I have bone thinning in my spine!! Of all the places... So now I need to take caltrate and vit d supplements and drink a glass of Silk Almond milk before bed bc its packed with calcium and it helps keep up the breast milk supply. That's just one more thing I have to think about. Better to know and take care of myself now and avoid big problems when I'm old and gray.

  I did just get my package of clothes I bought on Black Friday and got a few great onesies for Conor crazy on sale from Old Navy but that store can be so jacked up sometimes! I bought two pants for me and both were sewn badly and were huge! They will be returned today.

 

i leave you with some bloopers of Conor's Christmas pictures

 

It's the Holiday Season...

This holiday season has kicked off to a sick husband and a lot of traveling. That's the one thing that ends up wearing me down at the end of the holidays, travel. It's going to be a whole knew ball game this year with Conor baby. We made it thru Thanksgiving, and now we're about to do some flying to find a new house and pay visit for Christmas. 

A four month old on a plane will be entertaining, I'm sure.  

Since it is the holidays season, I've been bombarded with catalogues and magazines. One of which I love because its trendy and has fairly traditional furnishings, but is always really affordable is Home Decorators Collection.  We really are lacking furniture for a dining room; we actually don't have any dining room furn. Here are a few items I'm in love with for our new house in the dining room...

 Manor Buffet, Aldridge dining table, Parsons Camelback chair

I'm going for the whole French country/neutral decor look with a few accent colors. I can't wait to see what our new house looks like so we can move in all of our stuff and make it a home. 

It's time to eat!

Hello Thanksgiving week!!  It's a wonderful week because its cold, and windy and totally feeling like the holidays! I've got my west elm felt garland on the fireplace and the thought of putting up the Christmas tree is totally in the front of my brain, but hasn't quite made it out of the box yet. 

I'm bringing the snack food this Thanksgiving so that means chex mix, trail mix (both on the easy route, bought from SamsClub) and pecan stuffed dates covered in powdered sugar. I used to make them every thanksgiving with my family and my sister would make her baked almond Brussel sprouts. It's currently sleeting out so hopefully this doesn't mess up our travel plans. 

This past weekend we took Conor to see Santa... Cutest baby ever, he was super chill and so easy going.  He was so relaxed he yawned right there on santas lap. 

Baby sweatsuit

Hope everyone has a sweet and full Thankgiving, enjoy your families and friends and remember to know when to stop eating! 

Xoxo -L

Gold in Design

I've been noticing a pretty awesome new trend going through home decor and fashion. It's going GOLD! Who would have thought we're all embracing the yellow metal. I remember I wouldn't touch gold jewelry 10yrs ago. But now, it all okie dokie. Here are some awesome gold finds...

-This Gold giraffe  is exactly my inspiration for our next baby room! It's going to be creamy and smooth, with gold accents. That is hoping in the next few yrs we would have a baby girl! I have placed a few pictures for inspiration on my Pinterest board.

-The walls are also important, this Dot wallpaper is especially cute for a baby room, 

or a kid play room!

-if you want a super spruced up holiday party with a sparkly table, put these Forks and knives down. Gold flatware is a great way to add some punch to a Christmas party.
-...and lastly a really cute stocking stuffer or sweet way to send out a Christmas photos...these note cards stick with the gold dot theme.

Find a few cool gold pieces to scatter around the house. Look for glitter gold candle sticks or gold sparkly ornaments for your tree. It's time to get festive y'all! 

2nd Day Things

For this new week it all revolves around baby boy. I just bought a BOB Revolution jogging stroller and found there are all kinds of accessories that you can get to go with it. I'm adding them to my Pinterest board, Christmas List so I don't forget the cool things I find. I seem to not remember much of anything these days unless I write them down or tell someone about it. So... here we go with our Tuesday awesomeness...
 - The best thing about cold weather is the clothes (awesome boots and tights!!). Its tricky when it comes to dressing a baby...Conor happens to have extra chubby legs/ankles, so I went to Walmart and got baby boy some ankle socks that aren't tight! They're super cute and don't cut into his legs.
 -The next best thing about it finally being cold out is staying indoors and feeling toasty! I've used my Keurig more in the past month than I have in a year! I've gotten super into Chai Latte's and decaf Hazelnut coffee, although the only thing that makes coffee amazing is the creamer that goes in it... I saw an ad for
Egg Nog Latte creamer and have to try it! I need to save some bucks at Starbucks, $4 pumpkin spice latte's are kind of ridiculous even though they are AMAZING! So I'll try this creamer instead :o)

 - This weekend I'm looking forward to going to Austin for the guys Alumni Soccer game, and will be dressing baby in his UT onesies. He wears one every Saturday for a game.

I hope everyone enjoys the "arctic blast" that's blowing through the city. Its gonna be a cold one!



Keeping it Clean

Our house (which we are renting) is going to be up for sale soon! We are actually scheduled to have a showing this Wednesday so I need to clean out the crap so my landlord can sell this sucker. This showing is huge motivation to throw stuff out! Tonight I went through all of our piles of old mail in our kitchen and found a huge stack of last yrs Christmas cards, a color photo copy of our marriage lisence and my birth certificate, of all things! I also managed to spill about a shots worth of my husbands bottle of whiskey (oops!) while cleaning! Who ever thought a loose cork was a reasonable way to lock in liquid! (This was great bc I got to clean the counter tops too!) Getting rid of the crap really makes for a good looking house! Here are the things to go by to clean out the crap...

-Throw out old -and new- mail. If its over a yr old and never even been opened... Open it up! Then decide if its worth keeping. If so, scan it and toss the paper.

-Magazines can be the death of a clean space. If they're over a month old, toss them! Especially around the holidays, just get rid of them! 

-If it's in the corner (of your counter top, the room, a shelf) decide if its worth keeping, and find a meaningful place for it. Stuff in the corners weigh down a room and makes it feel full and crowded... no one puts Baby in the corner! 

-The living room coffee table can be a breeding ground for junk! Keep that table clean... The remote  and a stack of coasters should be the only things on the coffee table.

I've noticed now that we are getting an influx of toys and gadgets for the baby that our house is becoming a suffocating environment for me... It's too much "stuff" so it's necessary for me to clear out the crap! 

Happy cleaning!

2nd Day Things...

I am making a list of awesome things I have discovered since staying at home in my new mom role and since Tuesdays are so great and the second day of the week (...and the day after a dreaded Monday) lets start the list...

1. Christmas is around the corner and Thanksgiving is that much closer! Get started sprucing up the house with awesome decorations from West Elm, I've already hung a strand of felt knot garland from the mantel... I plan on putting big burlap bows on both ends at Christmas time!
   
2. Dump Cake! Gots to have a Dump Cake around the holidays. I learned this recipe from my Mom and was my go-to cake recipe in college; It just so happens to be the best and easiest cake bake. (1) can cherry pie filling, (1) can chunk pineapple, and a white or yellow box cake mix prepared the same way you would to make the cake. Mix it all together and its crazy amazing!
3. The Bob Revolution jogging stroller. I haven't yet bought it, but I polled to see what is the best jogging stroller and everyone unanimously said this was the one to get. I tried jogging yesterday (with my Graco Click Connect stroller) for maybe the 3rd time since baby was born and it was such an amazing feeling to sprint up hills and push him at the same time. It was a full body workout. Cant wait to get the jogger!
4. Gift Time! Whether its for your self or to give as a present, I just ordered for myself a new ipad case and got it monogrammed with my initials. You can pick the thread color and the font! Super cute and necessary to protect your prized electronics! West Elm really is awesome this year with home décor, furnishings and gifts!

Ps- While cleaning out my desk at work, I found a $5 Starbucks gift card which means I will definitely be stopping by to get a red cup filled with holiday good-ness aka pumpkin spiced latte (decaf/no whipped cream)

:o) Cheers!

Its Fall Time!

Happy November 1st everyone!

We made it to Fall, and its finally starting to cool off. This morning I woke up thinking Conor was ready to get up too, but he kept snoozin' so I made some oatmeal (with honey and cinnamon of course) and turned on the fire in the living room to warm up the house. It was the best feeling to turn on the fire and get toasty - even though it was only mid 50's outside.

Last night we made our favorite Texas Chili for dinner with Bisquick drop biscuits, so amazing. I had a huge bowl of candy ready to go but not a single Trick-or-Treater came! Last yr we got one! I couldn't believe it, we even have kids who live in our neighborhood. I even replaced our front door light with a stained glass bulb to throw different colors of light for the kids, would have been super cool if there were trick or treaters... oh well, maybe next year.



 

Conor's First Halloween
 

Hope everyone enjoyed the night with all the kiddo's! Cant wait to dress up our baby boy next yr when he'll be walking from house to house to get candy!

Big Changes are a Comin'

We have a lot of changes happening around this house! For starters I decided to stay home with our baby for a few more months! I'm super excited about it, it's just a few months that I'll never get back if I don't take advantage of it now. Baby boy is starting to do so many new things now. He has discovered the tv and actually watches it! The iPhone and iPad are also really exciting to him. I'm blown away that an almost 3 month old is fascinated with a cell phone. I think it's more about the light and the scrolling screen than anything. He's holding up his head and can go from his back to a seated position and then to standing!! (all with the help of us holding his hands, but still... that's amazing!)

Conor's first visit to a Pumpkin Patch

 The next exciting change is the potential to move to another state! I'm so excited about the places our little family is going, and where we may magically end up. For now we're doing all the things necessary to make Conor's first few months well documented and taking lots of embarrassing pictures to put in the slide show at his rehearsal dinner before his wedding day ;o)

Halloween & Pumpkins

This is the best time of year! The weather is finally starting to change, the humidity is a bit less and every day seems a little more festive! We took a trip to visit my brother in Austin in which my sister from Atlanta was in town too, for the Austin City Limit music fest. While we were there we went to see my brother at his crossfit workout. We stayed for the night and then took off to Temple to visit my M&F in law. The weekend was great until halfway thru Friday I started to have some severe boob pain, so that next morning at 5am we took a trip to the ER, 3hrs later I got an antibiotic for mastitis. It was insanely painful. I had some serious cold chills and sweats so I was pretty sure there was an infection that needed some medical attention. I just finished 10 days of antibiotics and feel pretty normal now, back to the same ol' routine.

We had plans to visit a pumpkin patch that Sunday with some friends for baby Conor but he turned out to have a head cold! He still sounds like a snorty bull dog but is so much less snotty. We did a quick buy for a Crane humidifier and a Nose Frida to suck out the snot (so fun, let me tell ya).

Crossfit Central gym

Pumpkin Pants

Hopefully we'll get to take a trip to see pumpkins with baby boy, if not you know i'll be putting together a pumpkin patch photo session in my house! 

Post Baby Body

Gaining weight is part of the getting pregnant game, I knew it would happen but I was totally blown away with how far you can get in to a pregnancy and not gain much weight ( I only gained 9lbs at 20 weeks)... And then you hit a turning point and you literally just pack on the pounds. Right after I hit the third trimester I gained around 6-8lbs every two weeks for about a month (- again, blown away). I would almost get mad at the nurse adjusting the scale at my dr appointments bc my weight was literally leaping across the scale in the heavier direction. My OB didn't want me to gain more than 25-35lbs and I balanced out at 32lbs total because I lost a few pounds towards the end (I literally couldn't breath and eat at the same time, I was that big.)

Baby was 8lbs 7oz at birth and I was 151 pounds on delivery day.  The goal weight now is 115lbs (I was 119lbs at 7 weeks pregnant.) And today im 126lbs! woohoo!

I finally bought a scale with the intention of keeping track of baby's weight gain, but I figured I can keep track of my weight too. I'm slowly getting back into a small workout routine. Basically taking walks in the morning and doing lunges and leg lifts, all while pushing the stroller. Every day I feel like very little changes are happening and that's good enough for now.

Before and After Baby Boy

During the Day with Baby

What is it I do all day long? Well, I've just gotten down a semi-good routine of how to go about the day, and keep me and the baby happy... as well as fitting in must-do important things like dr appt's or grocery shopping. I have to think about this stuff a day in advance so im prepared. We start out by waking up around 5 or 6am for a baby breakfast feeding that usually lasts about an hour. I call nursing Breakfast, lunch or Dinner. (Nursing sounds so graphic. His diapers are also his Shorts. Rarely are they a diaper, they are shorts.) I hope that after eating baby gets a little tired so I can put him in the car seat and we can get out of the house for a walk around the neighborhood. For now this is my only form of exercise for the day which is fine b/c I'm still feeling a little sore from the delivery (6 weeks recovery, my bew-ttocks!). I just got cleared to exercise by I have numbness on my right hip and possibly a cracked tail bone, got a neurologist apt coming up to get it checked out. Before we get out the door I make oatmeal with slices of banana in a to-go bowl and put in the holder of the stroller so I can get in breakfast while walking, all while also holding the leash of our precious baby Maltese, Maddie, b/c I cant leave her inside while we go walking - cant trade one baby for another.  This all sounds so simple, but mornings are kind of a toss up. I get thrown curve balls ever so often (a blow-out diaper which usually means a emergency bath for baby), and then I get a shower when there's time... hopefully before 9 or 10am. Most of the day is all about getting baby fed before he starts screamin', and at least two naps. I keep reading how a baby who naps well, will sleep really well at night time so getting two naps in during the day makes him pretty happy. We just got him to a 5hr stretch, but that only happened one time. I'm happy with 4 for now really. :o)


one month
 Glider, Elephant, Baby Throw
 

One Month Old Conor

 

We had a baby!

Well on August 8 I was induced and after 2 hours of pushing like a crazy lady, we had our big baby boy! Conor Patrick was born at 7:42pm on a Thursday, weighing 8lbs 6oz. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Marc was my coach and left leg holder, he was amazing. I kept thinking about how Conor would come out, and I was just hoping I could get him out. I didn't know my body could do what it did to get him into the world. They put a mirror down there, kinda wished they hadn't. It's unreal what that area looks like when delivering a baby. It's all very real! We couldn't be happier to have this cuddle bug, the best thing my husband and I have ever done together.  He's 5 weeks old as of yesterday and it's like the first 3 weeks never happened. I almost don't even remember it.

38 Weeks... Still Cookin!

We are at 38 weeks today!! So excited to soon meet out little guy. I have a feeling he's going to be super plump, or really long and lean. It could go either way. For whatever reason im most excited to see his little feet. I cant wait to see if they're long and thin like Marc's foot, or if they're wide and short like mine. I feel like its the way you see if your puppy will be a big dog or not, by the size of his paws... but im not sure that works the same way with human/baby feet. Im quite impressed with how smooth this whole baby making/growing process has gone though. I've not had to be wisked off to the ER for an emergency contraction, or sever swelling, or crazy bad heart burn. Im still wearing my rings, havent gone a day without them. Im still wearing regular shoes and socks, and i still only have 1 chin! :o) although, aside from the chin joke, i have gained more weight than my OB wanted me too.. i've gone 1lb over so far. Hopefully that means the baby is coming soon.


Lace Maternity Top

Maternity Photography: Momma's Gonna Snap Photography

How far along? 38 weeks
Total weight gain:  35lbs.
Maternity clothes? yes definetly!
Stretch marks? None yet... but my belly button is as thin as its ever been.
Sleep: Its getting more painful. My hips are starting to get really lose and they twist some so they cramp up really badly, which means i then flip over to my back where I then feel like im being smothered in my own body and cant breath. Its all too interesting to just talk about. I wish everyone got to experience this phenomenon.
Best moment this week: People look at me now like im a ticking time bomb, like any minute im going to shky rocket a baby right out of me... but thats a good thing, b/c that means its time for him to come out and im ok with that.
Miss Anything? spooning my husband, im stuck in one position at night and its in a fortress of pillows that make it extremely difficult for me to move or even get out of bed.
Movement: all the dang time. He doesnt like it when i switch from my left side to my right side when i sleep b/c he kicks like crazy in a new position. Started hiccups last week so that little tiny thump is super cute!
Food cravings: sweet stuff, smoothies and anything creamy or frothy. icing is pretty awesome, so is nutella!!
Anything making you queasy or sick: chicken is the worst looking, smelling thing in the world. theres a mcdonalds commercial of a guy eating a chicken wrap, i have to turn the channel!
Gender: BOY!
Labor Signs: braxton hicks are pretty regular. My OB keeps telling me to drink water but i do drink my 64oz jug every day, so im not sure how much more water i can drink!
Symptoms: other than a big braxton hicks, thats about it...
Belly Button in or out? IN! Its stretched so thin though, im not sure there is anything to pop out!
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Pretty happy, except when its time to hustle or move fast...
Looking forward to: Week 39... which means its time for him to come out!!

We're Pregnant!

I decided now is the best time than ever to update the blog, so i will have something to keep me going on maternity leave... (i image i'll have plenty to do on materntiy leave, but i cant nap every single time the baby naps, can i!?) Here are the stats and info! We found out we were pregnant over thanksgiving at my parents house in VA. I told my mom to get me a pregnancy test two days after we got in town. I took the one test and it was positive in no time! We were still a week away from missing a period too. I couldnt believe it, but i was so happy to see that "it worked!" I am still kind of blown away at how the human body knows exactly what to do, when you tell it to do something, haha. So, here we are, just starting the 3rd trimester and going strong. I'll post some pictures soon.

How far along? 28.5 weeks

Total weight gain: up 21 lbs.

Maternity clothes? yes definetly!

Stretch marks? none yet... although you can see my skin stretch, like its a blown up balloon!

Sleep: doing ok with my full body boppy and a pillow between my knees, but flipping sides is hard to do. hands fall asleep, left shoulder is super sore... and i have a hard time breathing when i wake up to find myself on my back, which im not supposed to be.

Best moment this week: a stranger told me i look "perfectly pregnant", it was nice to hear im not "so big" all the time!

Miss Anything? a cold beer (rootbeer seems to suffice) and going running and feeling the intensity of a good sweaty workout.

Movement: all the dang time. He doesnt like it when i switch from my left side to my right side when i sleep b/c he kicks like crazy in a new position. Started hiccups last week so that little tiny thump is super cute!

Food cravings: sweet stuff, smoothies and anything creamy or frothy. icing is pretty awesome, so is nutella!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: chicken is the worst looking, smelling thing in the world. theres a mcdonalds commercial of a guy eating a chicken wrap, i have to turn the channel!

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: braxton hicks are pretty regular. My OB keeps telling me to drink water but i do drink my 64oz jug every day, so im not sure how much more water i can drink!

Symptoms: other than a big braxton hicks, thats about it...

Belly Button in or out? IN! Its stretched so thin though, im not sure there is anything to pop out!

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and feeling good about having a little guy, i cant wait to kiss his feet!

Looking forward to: our 34 week appt. we find out if we need a C section or can have him naturally!