The Month in Review

I cannot believe today is the last day of April. What a fun month! This month we did a lot! Here are some highlights....

We Celebrated Easter

 Went on a family walk around the neighborhood

Celebrated Adam's birthday

Took Charlotte on her first hike (with her Great Grandfather - crazy right?!)

 

Charlotte and I visited NoVA briefly for work and got to see some family!

 (Aunt Becky)

 

 (Auntie Suzanne)

Celebrated Charlotte's 7 month birthday & 7 months of breastfeeding!

I am so looking forward to what May has to hold!

Wordless Wednesday

7 Months!

Woohoo! My little baby is 7 months old! And we're still breast feeding! Hallelujah, Happy Day! I'm so glad we made it another month! I've hit a new wind and am once again inspired to keep it going! New Goal - make it to 8 months, which if history is any indicator...will be here before we know it!

Happy 7 Month Birthday my beautiful baby girl! You are SO amazing! I cannot believe how much you have grown in such a short time. It feels like those first few weeks of being new parents, second guessing every decision, waking up and nursing every two hours, and just not knowing what we were doing at all! are so far behind us I barely remember them...is this nature's way of tricking me into having another baby so soon???

Every single day is a gift with you in it. I absolutely love waking up to your beautiful smiling face.  I love finding ways to make you smile, giggle, and laugh. There is nothing better than your snuggles, hugs, and kisses. You are crawling like a mad woman, pulling up on things so easily, and we fear you'll be walking very soon, which is crazy because you're so little! You're a great little eater and are very capable of holding your own bottle and sippy cup. You don't have any teeth yet but they're coming; you're chewing on everything you can get your sweet little hands on. Right now you're super attached to Mama, which I LOVE, but Daddy doesn't really appreciate...You love bath time and we cannot get enough of your little naked behind! I just adore all the shades of your personality that keep peeking out. Keep growing little bunny, we love you!

Today is also the day that Adam asked me to marry him, three years ago! What an awesome day April 28th is!

Weekend ReCap

Happy Monday, Friends!

So glad to see the sun shining this morning! I cannot believe that it will be May at the end of this week. Where does the time go?! Seriously. Slow down, life, I want to remember this season!

My little family had a very laid back weekend to report. Friday I found a few old pictures and tried some comparisons of Charlotte and I. I think it's pretty obvious she looks like her Daddy...I don't see any of me in her!

Friday afternoon we started the weekend off right by swinging by a friends house to say Hi! Charlotte got to play with her friends Katherine and Caroline for a little bit before we headed home and had movie night! We started in on the 101 Top Movies list from my 40 Before 40 Bucket List. Throughout the weekend we watched Rocky, Blade Runner, and Saving Private Ryan. That's a big indicator of how productive our weekend was...

Saturday morning we were supposed to go hiking, but the weather had other plans. It was cold and rainy all day and Charlotte decided she wanted to be up at 5 am - and not nap until noon. Adam was kind enough to take the morning shift and let me sleep in a little. But Saturday ended up being a long day for us - we stayed in our PJ's and were at the whim of our daughter...lazy? Maybe. But I kind of love lazy days with my two favorite people.

Sunday we did make it out of the house to run some errands but then quickly returned to our comfy clothes for cuddling and playing the rest of the day. Basically, we had an awesome weekend just the three of us.

Here's to hoping we all have a great week!

Thankful Thursday

For my first Thankful Thursday I want to highlight one of the biggest and most valued blessings in my life: my husband. 

My husband and I have been married for almost two years now and what an amazing two years it's been! I cannot possibly imagine "doing life" with anyone else, anyone. He is absolutely 100% my person, and I thank God every day for him.

Without getting too sentimental or wordy, here are some of the things I am thankful for about him.

His sense of humor. Without a doubt, one of his biggest characteristics is his sense of humor. I can always count on him to make me laugh; always, always, always.

His encyclopedia of trivia knowledge. It is AMAZING to me the things he knows. I don't know how he does it but he remembers a lot of stuff. If you don't know the answer to something, ask Adam, he'll know. This is especially true if the topic at hand has anything to do with sports, Star Wars, or Craft Beer. I love this about him.

His cooking skills. Seriously - most guys have the whole grilling thing down, he's a pro at that, too. But he's pretty savvy inside the kitchen as well. Just this week, he whipped up the most delicious dinner ever - some kind of Asian inspired Peanut Steak. He'd never made it before, we didn't plan for it so we weren't shopping for the specific ingredients, he just whipped it up. And guess what, that's going into regular rotation on our menu, DELISH. So thankful that I can count on my hubby to whip up dinner (and do the dishes!) on nights when I'm not able to. That's a good man right there, am I right?

His love of cutting the grass (our yard would be wild if that were up to me). Not much more explanation needed there - I'm very thankful he is happy to do this chore around the house. 

His outlook on life. I pride myself on being an optimistic person, but sometimes life gets overwhelming and feels like it's too much for one person to handle. I am so very thankful that I have my husband to help me through those times. He has a way of reminding me that life is short and whatever problem it is that I'm doting on probably won't be that big of deal in the (all too near) future. 

His dedication to his family. This guy loves his family. Seeing Adam with his family is awesome. He and his Dad have a very close relationship; He loves his Mother unlike any other person in the world; and though he may still revert to picking on his sister pretty regularly - it's obvious to see that its all stems from love. Not to mention how quickly he slipped right in and found his own spot in my family. It's like he's been there all along - I love his relationship with my parents & sisters and even my grandparents and aunts/uncles. It doesn't get any better than that! Oh wait, yes it does, we have a daughter! Holy heart throb - He is the best Daddy...Wait, I thought I wasn't getting sentimental here...  

His faith in me. Somehow Adam has found a way to be everything that a woman could need in a man, and yet still faithfully follow my lead and let me feel like I run things. That's a talent right there. I can't express how much easier it is to go through life knowing that I have my husbands support in every single thing I do. I am so very, very thankful for his confidence in me.


What are you thankful for? Maybe take a few minutes today and think about that - it is a nice way to cheer yourself up a bit!

Love you, Boo! 

Wordless Wednesday

I know I've been kind of silent lately, not much to vent about which is a great thing. But I'm also trying to come up with some daily writing prompts to keep us rolling on those days that I don't have much to say.

For Wednesdays, I'm going to try out Wordless Wednesdays. Here is a little wordless glimpse into our lives lately...

Just Keep Pumping, Just Keep Pumping

It feels like it's been a year since I wrote the post on how Charlotte is six months old and celebrated breastfeeding for six whole months! It's only been two weeks since then...and I am tired.

Pumping during work hours is hard work. And I work from home! I admire all of you Moms out there who work in an office, or teach, or work shift work as a health care professional or public servant and still manage to pump for your babies. I am so impressed by you. How do you do it? I sit in front of a computer, in my home office (most of the time in my pjs if I'm being honest) and can pump while I continue to work...and I find it so hard to get it done.

My goal when Charlotte was born was to breastfeed her until she was a year. I hit six months and was getting worn down so I changed my goal. I'm trying to not be so hard on myself, take things a day at a time, and set my sights on one more month, then see how I feel. I'd still like to get to a full year but I'm not sure I'm going to make it. Help me out, friends! How do you find the motivation to keep pumping? I feel like as soon as I'm done with the first pumping session I need to set up for the next - and sometimes there is so much going on with work that I just can't step away to do it. Is that terrible? Are my priorities off? How do you do it?!

Do I need to add in a few pumping sessions when I'm not "at work." When you pumped for your children what was your schedule? Should I add in a pump before bed or something? Maybe that would take some stress off of me trying to get three pumping sessions in during the work day... Hopefully I can continue to find the motivation to get it done!

My new mantra for the rest of the month is Just Keep Pumping, Just Keep Pumping!

Weekend ReCap

Happy Monday, Friends!

This weekend felt like the first weekend of spring for us. We did a lot of fun things with family and were outside a lot. I'm hoping our weekends going forward look a lot like this one did, we had a blast!

We started Friday off heading up to Gigi and Papa's house for dinner because Grandpa Kent, Marsha, and Spencer were visiting for the weekend. We had a great time catching up and had a very yummy dinner.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to hit the road to do one of my very favorite hikes in the area, the Cascades. This is a very popular hike and is about an hour away from our house, so we tried to leave by 8 am so we could get there hopefully before most of the crowd. Success! We were two of maybe four cars in the parking lot when we got there.

We strapped Charlotte onto Gigi and headed to the trail, Baby's First Hike! We took the Lower Trail up to the Falls which was nice, but a little challenging for some of our group with a lot of rocks, steps, and some slippery spots. But it was nice, covered by the trees, ran beside the water the whole way and beautiful! Charlotte really enjoyed looking at the running water and all the new sites. We are so excited to get her out on the trail regularly!

Once we made it to the falls we took a little break, had a snack, snapped some pictures and then headed back down!

For the hike down we took the Upper Trail which is cleared more than the lower trail and easier to go down. That was a relief for all of us! Charlotte napped for most of the hike down, strapped to her Daddy's chest.

After our hike, we went into Blacksburg for lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. Adam's choice for his birthday! We worked up quite the appetite on the hike and devoured some very yummy salads, pizzas, and had a few good brews. Once we made it home we did a lot of lounging Saturday evening. It was the perfect day!

Sunday morning we got up bright and early and Adam did a little house cleaning while Charlotte and I played. Then we headed up to Gigi and Papas for the day. We sat outside in the sun, played some corn hole, did our nails, and had a yummy dinner. Just a great Sunday!

As you can see, we had a very fun weekend, I hope you did too! I hope the rest of the week is just as lovely!

Weekend ReCap

Happy Monday!

Our weekend was full of the best laid plans that never happened...we were originally supposed to go visit with my sisters this weekend but sometimes things happen and we weren't able to do that. Bummer, but we got a lot of fun snap chats from them that really made us smile. In particular my niece adorning her boxer with beaded necklaces - that was pretty awesome.

Friday I kept Charlotte home with me while I worked because her Babysitter was closed for Good Friday. I surprisingly was able to get a lot of work done with her there. She also started "crawling" that day! Crazy, right? I got a few videos to remember this momentous occasion and I watch them all the time. (Side note: am I the only one who regularly scrolls through the million pictures I've taken on my phone of my baby while I'm away from her because she's too stinking cute and I just miss her so much?) Friday evening after work we decided since it was such a long exhausting day for both of us that we were just going to stay in and watch movies with our babe. We cuddled up in the den and watched The World's End and Lion King.

Charlotte was pretty cranky that evening and then was awake every two hours that night so Saturday morning was a rough one for us. We had big plans to go for a hike in the morning but we didn't end up getting up and moving until about 3pm when we went for a walk in our neighborhood. What a beautiful day it was! We got to visit with some friends on our walk, which was very nice, but the walk back up the hill from their house is steep! Even though we had a late start to the day Saturday it ended up being a great day.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early in hopes of making it to Church, but again, sometimes things just don't work out the way you plan! We also had planned to "Egg" some of our friends houses (hide some eggs for the kids to find) but then realized the kids are out of town! Whoops! So now we have a bunch of eggs filled with goodies in a bowl on our table. A nice treat for us for a while, I guess!

The Easter Bunny visited us, and we were reminded how loved our daughter is! We spent the day running errands together, saw some more friends when we were out and about, and had Gigi and Papa over for dinner.

It was a lovely weekend. I hope yours was too!

40 Before 40

Spring has sprung, or is trying to... The nice weather has got my mind churning and burning with to do lists. Spring cleaning is on the top of the list for me, once we finally get a weekend at home. But I've also started making a list of things I'd like to accomplish over the next few years. I could go into great detail on each and every item as they are all super exciting for me (that's why they're on my list!) but I will not bore you with that. Basically I've come up with four different categories with ten items in each - I've got ten years before I turn 40 so that's one item from each category per year. Totally do-able, right? Anyway, here is my 40 before 40 list:

Reading:

1. The Outlander Series
1. Outlander
2. Dragonfly in Amber
3. Voyager
4. Drums of Autumn
5. The Fiery Cross
6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes
7. An Echo in the Bone
8. Written in My Own Hearts Blood
2. Harry Potter Series
1. The Sorcerers Stone
2. The Chamber of Secrets
3. The Prisoner of Azkaban
4. The Goblet of Fire (Currently Reading, Fall 2016)
5. The Order of the Phoenix
6. The Half Blood Prince
7. The Deathly Hallows
3. LOTR Series
1. The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Two Towers
3. The Return of the King
4. Jane Austen:
1. Pride & Prejudice Done 2013
2. Sense & Sensibility
3. Emma
4. Mansfield Park
5. Northanger Abbey
6. Persuasion
5. Last of the Mohicans
6. Great Expectations
7. Dracula
8. Anna Karenina
9. The Count of Monte Cristo & The Three Musketeers
10. Les Miserables

 Fitness:

1. Fun Run - MudRun September 17, 2016
   
2. 5k
3. 10k - Wicked 10K October 29, 2016
4. Disney Half Marathon
5. Blue Ridge Marathon
6. Triathalon
7. Hike Roanoke's 7 Summits
1. Mill Mountain Done 2013/June 2015
2. Poor Mountain
3. Read Mountain
4. Brushy Mountain
5. Dragons Tooth
6. Tinker Cliffs
7. McAfees Knob Done many times over
8. Learn to Ski/Snowboard
9. Be able to do a Pull Up
10. Do a 30 Day Fitness Challenge each Month for a Year

Adventure:

1. See Zac Brown Band in Concert with Adam
2. Watch all 100 Movies on the AFI Top 100 Movie List
3. California - Visit Family
4. Skydive
5. Disney World
6. Michigan 
1. vs. Ohio Football Game
7. Boston
1. Red Sox Game
2. Salem Witch Trials Tour
3. Revolution Tour
8. Redwoods, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone
9. England
1. Stonehenge
2. Tudor History Tour
3. Platform 9 3/4
10. France
1. Versailles
2. Eiffel Tower
3. Louvre

Me:

1. Plant a Vegetable Garden
2. Create a Will
3. Have all my babies!
4. Learn how to play guitar
5. Take a Photo Every Day for a Year
6. Go back to College & Get a Degree
7. Pay off all Debt, Increase Credit Score, SAVE $$
8. Get Family Pictures Taken by Professional Photographer Completed September 2014
9. All Day Spa Day
10. Take a Dancing Class with Adam

I'm very excited to get started on this list - I have to pick my four things to do this year!