my how our weekends have changed...

Five years ago, our weekends looked quite different.  Friday night meant leaving work and driving to Williamsport.  It meant starting to pre-game for the bar at 8pm while we got ready.  It meant leaving the house for the bar at 10pm. It meant $1 shots, $2 Bud Lights and $5 pitchers of rum & coke. Saturday meant morning gym trips to sweat out the hangover and all day lifetime movie/SVU marathons, unless it was nice outside in which case it meant day drinking and watching the boys play wiffleball.  Saturday night meant another liver destroying evening at the Cell Block.  Now, it's hard to even think about the Cell Block without feeling like I might be sick. Sundays were spent recovering from the weekend.  Five years ago, Sunday nights meant going to bed early to prepare for classes the next day or, in my case, driving home from Lycoming and getting ready for another work week.  Yep, saying "life was so different five years ago" seems like an understatement.

Now, I cannot imagine staying up until 10pm on a Friday night.  Now, weekends are spent doing grown-up things and family things.  And I love it. This past weekend was a big weekend in terms of being grown-ups, homeowners and parents.  Friday night, we put the baby to bed and then Brandon and I spent the night cleaning out the basement for Natalie's playroom.  What had once been a gym area was turning into a place where our daughter can play. We had a successful clean up session and we were still in bed by 10pm. Love it. 

...some things don't change :)

before...

Saturday we went out and got a cube organizer from Target and some baskets to go with it.  We went to HomeGoods as I had seen a really cute little teepee there that I thought would perfectly round out her play room.  Unfortunately, someone else thought it was adorable and got it for themselves.  I was totally bummed.  I went online in the middle of HomeGoods and wanted to find a back-up plan. I was upset and needed an immediate replacement to feel better and fill that place in the room.  Land of Nod had an adorable canopy that I thought would do just the trick.  Brandon was convinced that he could make it himself and I decided to see how it played out.  We did some research and Sunday was spent getting the supplies and finishing up the playroom.  I have to say, I am slightly obsessed with the way it turned out.  I am especially obsessed with the canopy that my husband made for Natalie.  We spent less money on the cubes, rug and our homemade canopy than we would have on the canopy from Land of Nod.  Yep, my husby is friggin awesome :)

...after

the loves of my life :)

While Sunday night still means getting ready for work the next day, it also means bath time for my little sweet pea...

And I can't think of a better way to close out my weekends.

Easter Sunday with the Family

Unexpectedly, I found myself really looking forward to Easter this year for so many reasons.  It is Natalie's first Easter which meant her first Easter basket.  It meant a reason to have a nice sit down dinner with family. And to top it off, the weather forecast for the week said it was supposed to be a gorgeous day.  What was not to get excited about?

I started a few weeks in advance putting together Natalie's Easter basket.  I wanted to do something for her first Easter, but I didn't want to go overboard.  After all, she is five months old and the Easter bunny doesn't have a sleigh, if you get what I mean.  She doesn't really need anything so I wanted to get a few fun little things.  I went to Target with my mom and found adorable little felt bunny baskets in the $1 section.  It was small and it was perfect.  Also in the $1 section, I found cute little baby stockings.  Perfect for her basket.  We went to the small human section and I found some adorable pastel colored bows - another perfect find. Then I grabbed a little Carter's Easter bib and a sun hat and her basket was complete.  So I thought.  I remembered seeing an adorable ballerina doll wearing a peach colored leotard and tutu on the Carter's website and that sparked an idea.  So to finish off her basket, I got her the doll and a book.  I wanted a book about a ballerina, but couldn't find one at Target so I went with the book "The Crown on your Head" which I think was an even better fit.  It was the icing on the cake.  I am in love with how it turned out.

As I mentioned, Easter meant having a nice sit down dinner with family. Dinner started out small: just Brandon, Natalie, Lori and me.  Then it made more sense for Gary (my father-in-law) to bring Lori to our house on Sunday instead of Saturday so we could all celebrate Easter together.  So then it became Brandon, Natalie, Lori, Gary, Evan and me.  I figured if we were going to have a nice family dinner, why not make it the whole family so I invited my sister and her husband and they brought my nephew Tim (who is thankfully still in their custody).  Next thing I know, I basically am having a mini-Thanksgiving dinner at my house and I couldn't have been more excited.  I love cooking for large groups.  It brings me so much joy, probably because it requires so much planning and Lord knows I love planning.  

Easter morning was perfect.  I woke up and grabbed a quick shower.  And then I got to enjoy a cup of coffee with Brandon while Natalie slept.  We had the ham in the smoker, the champagne chilling in the fridge for mimosas and the Easter baskets perfectly placed on the kitchen table.  Things were simply falling into place.  Natalie finally woke up and we got her dressed.  Pretty soon after that, family started arriving and we popped the bubbly.  It was a really nice morning.  Dinner ended up being more like lunch since Gary and Evan still had to make the trek back to Jersey.  We had a delicious smoked ham, bacon wrapped asparagus, oven roasted potatoes, coleslaw and a salad with tomatoes, basil and corn. Yum!  After lunch, Timmy had his first Easter egg hunt and he was so excited.  It was so rewarding to see him run around our backyard with a huge smile while looking for Easter eggs.  I cannot wait until Natalie is old enough to play along!

All in all, it was a really nice day.  It was simple and sweet and full of firsts, the way a holiday should be.  While I loved Natalie's first Easter, I have to say I am really looking forward to her second and third ones more :) 

Five Month Favorites!

1. Disney Castle Teether.  When Gary and Lori bought this for Natalie for Christmas I thought it would be an eternity before I needed it, but I was wrong.  She has been playing with it for a couple months now, but lately she has taken a very serious interest in it.  They are a good size but not too big - easy to find when she throws them... which is one of her new favorite things - seeing just how far across the room she can throw things.  Brandon and I are too impressed with her strength to be upset haha

2. Boat shoes.  Those aren't her exact baby boat shoes, but they are close enough. I am in love with them.  You can see hers in the pictures we took with Stacey Gillin Photography.  I looked high and low for a simple shoe that would match most things she wears and then I found it, at babies r us, in the little boys section. Whatever.  All the shoes I could find for little girls were pink or glittery or had huge bows and/or flowers.  While those are adorable, I needed something I could put her in when she wears shorts and a t-shirt. They are a really great every day shoe for the little miss.

3. Fisher Price Superstar Step n' Play Piano.  My mom and I found this gem at a consignment shop in Florida.  I needed something that Natalie could play in for the week because after our first full day in Florida with my parents, I realized just how much time she spends in her bouncer at home and it was crazy.  The step n' play kept her entertained and contained.  It made evenings more enjoyable because she had somewhere safe to play and Natalie seemed to really enjoy it.  She was able to move back and forth along the piano keys and by the end of the week she was really good and spinning the chair around.  I was quite impressed by how strong Natalie is!

4, 5, 6. Easter Basket goodies :)  While I will write all about Easter on Sunday night (maybe Monday morning), I did want to have these things on my monthly favorites because I am in love.  I went to Target with my mom while she was in town to find a little something special for Natalie's first Easter.  I had given it a lot of thought and felt it was important that her parents do something special for her.  In the $1 section, I found the most adorable felt bunny baskets.  (The one pictured above is not quite the same as Natalie's but close enough.)  I knew that I wanted to get her little bows, an Easter bib and a few other little things (but not choking hazard little things).  The little felt basket was the perfect size for what I wanted to do.  The bows and bib pictured above are the ones that I ended up getting for Natalie's Easter basket and I am in love with how it turned out.

Five Months!

I feel like each month I say just about the same thing regarding Natalie. Each month I write that I cannot believe how fast time is flying and how much is she learning and growing. I say that I cannot wait to see what the next month brings and the reality is, I can't.  She is so smart and so funny.  She is so sweet and just so dang lovable. The time is moving so quickly and it is so crazy to look back and the monthly pictures and see just how much she is growing and changing.  It's happening before my eyes and I am so scared that if I blink, then I will miss something.  Therefore, I have decided to start doing these monthly posts much like I did my pregnancy posts.  Let's see how this goes :)

Age: 5 months

Weight: While at my parents house, I stood on the scale and weighed myself (and I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight! Now if only my clothes fit like they did pre-pregnancy...) and then I had my mom hand me Natalie and I weighed myself again.  The little chunk is 18lbs.  However, I did read that she would double in weight by time she is five months so she is right where she needs to be and I am one proud mama.

Foods: We have started giving her rice cereal or baby oatmeal consistently.  We try to do it breakfast and lunch and then at dinner throw in some baby food.  We try on the spoon at first and then when that goes over like a fart in church, we dump it in the bottle.  I figure as long as we're trying, then eventually she'll get it.  In the mean time, it's important to me that she gets the food in her and tries new things one way or the other. (Yes, I too have read that you shouldn't give babies cereal in a bottle.  I have also read that wine and tuna during pregnancy will lead to autism and we all know my stance on that.)  So far the little miss has had grits, sweet potatoes, squash and green beans.  She is quite the eater :)

Favorites: Natalie is such an easy baby to please.  Lately she is obsessed with her feet.  Now that she has found them, those little fat feet tend to spend quite a bit of time in her mouth so we just lay her on the back in the pack n play and she is happy as can be.  She also loves playing in her jumper and chewing on her Sophie. The little ham loves to put everything she can get her hands on in her mouth - especially cell phones - so we have been really cautious about what she has in her arms reach. 

Milestones: Last night when we were playing with Nat, she had her first giggle - like real giggle.  She has this goofy little noise she makes when she is happy, but last night was the first real laugh.  It was priceless.  Brandon and I could not stop laughing.  I cannot wait to figure out what really makes her giggle so we can get those belly laughs out of her.  She is rolling over more and more, back to belly and belly to back.  It's impressive and it's fun to see just how proud she is of herself when she does it! 

Big Moments: We took our first plane ride and went to Florida.  She was perfect on the way there.  We had some hiccups on the way home, but overall the whole flying experience was fairly uneventful. I will post more about the trip later this week.

Looking Forward to: Now we're preparing for her first Easter and for her Nanny to come back for round 2.  Both are things we are quite excited about.  I cannot wait for Gary (Brandon's dad) to see how big Natalie has gotten.  He is going to just eat her up :)

a picture says a thousand words

A few weeks ago, Michelle and I took Natalie and Timmy to have their pictures taken by the incredibly talented Stacey Gillin of Stacey Gillin Photography.  Stacey is the same photographer who did Brandon and my maternity pictures and Natalie's newborn pictures that I am absolutely in love with.  Her work is top notch and I have always been so incredibly pleased with everything we get from her.

Michelle was a little apprehensive about how things will go because Tim is a little stubborn and tends to have crazy meltdowns (but what two year old doesn't?).  Within minutes of being there, Tim was so comfortable with Stacey and we got some really wonderful pictures of him.  And Stacey was an absolute rockstar with Tim.  She braved hurricane Tim flawlessly.  When all Tim wanted to do was curl up in Stacey's lap and snuggle, she let him and did so with a smile.  When he wanted to see the pictures after she took them, she let him. When Tim decided to turn wild child and play with all the props in the studio, Stacey just rolled with the punches and tried to incorporate them in pictures.  She was so patient, so kind and so creative.  Michelle was relieved. Of course, the meltdowns came but Stacey simply turned her focus to Natalie and snapped away letting Michelle take care of business with the little man.  Michelle has come so far with my small friend Tim since November when she took over as his primary caregiver.

absolutely love that smile :)

cannot get enough of my gorgeous girl :)

one of my absolute favorite pictures from the day!

crazy to think Natalie took newborn pictures in that bucket!

love these two little ones so much

Seriously - how can you not be in love with these pictures? It was hard to pick just those to show on the blog! At the end of the session, Stacey brought out some crayons and Tim got to color on the white paper backdrop. The result was some absolutely adorable pictures and memories that our family will treasure forever.  

Timmy trying to help Natalie color :)

my little goofy nephew :)

this picture shows just how far Michelle & Timmy have come :)

Like I said, Stacey rolls with the punches and is so creative!  I am so happy that I found her and I cannot wait to see the pictures that she'll capture of Natalie as she grows up!