{WHW}: M.I.A. edition

Wow, I didn't anticipate being away for as long as I have, but illness took over last week and I ended up home several days of the week with Ella because she was refusing bottles...so being the only other source of nutrients, mama stayed home.

What else has been hap-"pinning" over here?

In addition to Ella's virus (the fever came back last week and ended up going away Thursday late at night), MG and I both came down with colds, too. So this weekend was spent getting us all on the mend.

Thankfully on Sunday we were all feeling eons better than we were on Saturday, including little miss, and we found a place with a free Santa and no line (doth such thing exist? It does!), so Ella got to meet Santa for the first time and she did SO well, just as I thought she would (but was totally prepared that she may freak out).

Her outfit was courtesy of my SIL and was the perfect one to meet Santa in

I may be biased, but gosh I think she's adorable :)

We got a little family photo action with Santa, too.

my whole heart in one photo

Monday started my first day of 2 straight weeks at home with my girl, this week being completely me and Ella since MG still has to work and it's been so fun! The days go by so quickly, but it's been nice to spend the extra time with my girl.

She also apparently decided to save up starting to attempt to crawl for when we were together, which started Monday night. We haven't gotten a full crawl yet, but we've got butt in the air action, and some forward scooches. Occasionally she ends up going backwards, so we're still working on it haha

Ella and I had a little mommy daughter lunch date with my friend Mary Katherine and her daughter yesterday. It was so fun and strange to see them both in high chairs at the table next to us. It was also a LOT more work than it's ever been before. Ella had a sample of chicken, mashed potatoes, ravioli, and peanut butter baby puffs. She probably was like "this is the best day ever" because we've been doing a lot more purees than solid foods since she has been choking/gagging a lot with her cold and it's terrified me to feed her at home when I'm by myself in case something happens (this weekend she gagged on something and ended up throwing up. This did NOTHING to help quell my fears).

It was also 60 degrees yesterday, so we took a walk together and it was so nice not having to worry about it being too cold for us to get out of the house.

She's all "mom, that's not a good angle to take our photo" haha

Tomorrow I've got happy hour plans made, and Friday MG gets out of work early, my mom's coming, and I've got a massage booked! The week is already shaping up pretty nicely.

Today, though, Ella gets round 2 of her flu shot and I'm not looking forward to the impending fever that will likely accompany it like the first dose. I've had about enough of fevers for a while thank you!

So, that's basically what I've been up to in my absence. I'll be honest, I may not be around much, or at all, over the next 2 weeks because I'm really going to be soaking up this time with my girl. It's few and far between and I've just loved this extra time together--kind of a special early Christmas gift to me (even though it's work, but I'm reminded more of just how much I miss my baby during the days).

So, please don't stop coming by, I just want to maximize my time with this little girl who is quickly becoming less and less little with each passing day.

Hoping your holiday prep is coming together smoothly and no stressing!!

Now it's your turn to link up with Jessi and I and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

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{WHW}: More Sickies

Sorry I've been MIA this whole week--we've been battling more sickies at our house this past weekend and it was the worst yet.

I'll recap my weekend/beginning of the week in numbers:

3: the number of hours I got out of the house this weekend. On Friday night at our friends' holiday party

3: the number of glasses of wine I had

3: the number of times Ella threw up Friday into Saturday morning

1: the number of times it was all over me

0/1: the number of times we got to visit Santa this weekend. Our plans got cancelled because Ella was running a fever and feeling like crap, and so were the boys we were supposed to go with. Bummer all around! :(

0: the number of times Ella would take a bottle (until Monday late afternoon, and even then it was a semi-struggle)

4: the number of times I cried on Saturday because I felt so bad for my girl

4: the number of times Ella woke up on Friday night

45: the number of glasses of wine that I wanted this weekend (kidding...kinda)

50: the number of Christmas cards we got addressed and put into the mail over the weekend

2-3: the number of inches of snow we got for Ella's first snow (even though it was spent indoors being sick)

4: the number of times Ella peed on the thermometer when I tried to take her temperature

3: the number of days Ella had a fever

1: the number of days I had to take off work (Monday), and got to spend it all with this girl, who was thankfully feeling better!

I came back to a kind of crap storm at work that I'm trying to deal with the best that I can but having a sick kid, then dealing with work stresses is sending me a bit over the edge if I'm being completely honest. Especially since I feel like a lot of the decisions being made at work at nonsensical, completely disruptive, and I have absolutely no say (it seems) in how it affects me, my work space, and how I work with my students which is super frustrating.

I'm sorry for my absence. Hoping I can get it together the rest of the week! Link up with Jessi and I and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

Weekly Wins

Hallelujah it's Friday! This week has felt particularly long. I woke up Wednesday thinking it was Thursday which is always a recipe for "off"-ness. That day ended with a trip to the pediatrician, and two mornings have started with the mailman ringing the doorbell at 6:53 (no joke, both mornings). 

I'm ready for the weekend!

This week had some wins, as all weeks do!

~Packages being delivered (albeit at 6:53 am)! One of which included this adorable Christmas care package from my SIL (she's the one who sent the cute Halloween stuff too). The outfits are adorable, but I have to say I love that she sent us two books that our nieces used to read when they were kids.

~Adorable daycare pics. These kids share everything. Including rashes.

~Our picky puree eater has decided now that she loves purees (so fickle, she is!), so much so that when she's being fed, no sooner than she's swallowed the last spoonful, her mouth is WIDE open, leaning forward for more. She also likes feeding herself, so hopefully we've got a nice balance going. And she's not drinking (sort of) from a cup. I swear, college is right around the corner.

look at those little dangling feet!!!!

~We got a new printer since our old one was being a huge pain in the butt. Now I'm hopeful that Christmas cards will be addressed this weekend and hopefully sent out by Monday morning!

~Tonight we have my good friend Kelly's holiday party. She took last year off from it because she was just finishing chemo, but she's back and I'm so excited she's feeling well enough to host this gathering! We've got our friend babysitting Ella, so she's in good hands, and mom and dad can get out and enjoy some festivities!

From 2 years ago

~Santa Breakfast Saturday morning with our daycare friends. Ella is going to get to meet Santa for the first time and my momma heart is so excited for it. Will she love him or scream and cry? We will soon find out (and I will be documenting lol)

~Drives home from work with Ella where she's babbling away in the back make me laugh. Also, when someone decides she needs "privacy" and pulls her carseat cover down over her face, and when I pull it back I get this sweet, smiling face:

Note: I was stopped at a stoplight when I took this pic. I do NOT condone using the phone and driving, especially with precious cargo like this in the car

~The battery on my new iPhone lasts...wait for it...24 hours! I'm no longer charging my phone overnight (apparently the kiss of death for having a long lasting battery), but this thing holds a charge through my ENTIRE day and then some! a HUGE win!

~We have a potential coffee/brunch date lining up with the sweet couple that we met at the pumpkin patch on Sunday. We've been trying to get together with them, but their guy has been sick (story of our lives too), so hopefully Sunday works out!

~One more week of work until two weeks off for Winter Break! Bring it!!!!

~Husband brag: this was from last week, but MG got home early from a training one day and when I got home with Ella I asked what he'd done with his free time (thinking he played a video game for a bit or something else "relaxing"), and he shared that he went to the main road outside of our complex and bought a homeless woman some food because he'd seen her there when he left for work and when he got back. He told her he was going to get food anyway (he wasn't) and wanted to know what she wanted. She said only a coke and offered to pay him money which he refused, so he came back with the coke, and some food anyway, asked her her name, and wished her a Merry Christmas. He told me this and it touched me, and literally made me tear up. I've got a good one, you guys, a really truly good-hearted man.

Hoping your week had some wins, too! Catch you on Monday, lovies!

Dear Thursday...

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Dear Loft, thanks for, once again, offering your 50% off and free shipping deal. I thank you. My closet thanks you. My wallet, however does not. (At least some of what I got was for my sisters-in-law, though so not a completely gluttonous/selfish purchase!)

Dear Mailman, thank you for delivering the package from my SIL for Ella's first Christmas. I appreciate your hard work. However, next time I could do without you ringing my doorbell at 6:53 am next time. Thanks!

Dear Illness Gods, please leave my poor baby alone. First it was another cold, then it was the tummy bug, then a little remnant of some kind of cold, and then Tuesday night we get a fever and a rash on her body. What gives?? I swear this child hasn't been 100% since early November. Thank goodness she seems relatively unphased. My blood pressure, on the other hand....

Dear Traffic Gods,  thank you for looking out for my sister-in-law on Tuesday. She had a near miss with a tractor trailer flipping over literally RIGHT in front of her in the middle of the day which caused a 4 hour backup of traffic. Thankfully everyone seemed to be ok. Way too close!

Dear Post-Baby Period, (sorry for the TMI here) holy mother of ****, you are theeeee worst! I had heard warnings about you from friends, but my goodness you are another form of evil I had no desire to ever encounter.

Dear Redfin, thanks for my daily dose of real estate porn. We aren't in the market for a house, but I never turned off the notifications from when we were looking 3 years ago. Your emails let me fantasize about our next house...whenever that may be.

Dear office HVAC system, there's no reason I should have to turn the thermostat to 78 in order to get my office reasonably warm.

Dear iPhone8 Plus, I heart you. I wasn't so sure about your large size at first, but I've already gotten used to that (with the help of a popsocket). Your camera is amazing and I love capturing all of my Ella pictures with you!

Dear Christmas Lights, you make me happy. Thanks for bringing your twinkling to brighten up our nights.

Dear Ella bear, I love that you're beginning to be ticklish now. Getting giggles out of you is the highlight of my day. Also, thank you for being such a trooper through all of your ailments recently. We couldn't have asked for a more happy, easy-going baby. Love you to pieces!

WHW: Christmas Questions

Happy Wednesday!! Sorry for my absence yesterday--I've been swamped at work with things that have to be done before Winter Break, MG was at a late work event Monday night and I just didn't have the energy to write a post for yesterday, but here I am today!

I saw this post on Emily's blog last week and knew I wanted to participate in the holiday fun, albeit a little late #cantgetmyacttogether

1. Real or Fake Tree?  Fake! I've always had a fake tree growing up and MG and I have had a smaller fake one since we lived in our condo together. We may do a real one down the line once Ella gets a little older, but for now, the fake one is doing just fine!

2. Favorite Christmas Cookie?  I'm actually totally going to agree with Emily on this one and say the snowball cookies are THE best! I hadn't had one (that I can remember) until our neighbor brought over a bunch the other year to thank us for helping her shovel her car out after the blizzard we got. Oh my word, they were delicious!!

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3. Home on Christmas Morning or Travel?  The last few years, it's been travel, and likely will continue to be that way for a while since the majority of our family is in PA. Not sure what will happen once Ella is older, but for now, we travel.

4. Clear or Colored Lights?  I used to have colored lights on the tree growing up, but I love the look of white lights too. Honestly, I love ANY Christmas lights, so I'd take either. 

5. Send Christmas Cards?  Yes!  We just had to buy a new printer because ours went kaput, but we'll be addressing them and sending them out soon!

6. Favorite Christmas Present Received?  I don't know if I have a favorite, but I will say one of my most used are my gray knit Uggs that MG got me for our first Christmas together. I still wear them during the winter because they're so dang cozy!

7. Favorite Christmas Present Given?  I'll say when I got MG the Play Station 4 last year, but wrapped it in a WAY bigger box, and added my workout weight to the box so that he had NO clue what it was. It was a pain carting that up to PA but it was worth it to throw him off and then see his expression when he opened it up.

8. Stockings or no stockings?  Yes--my mom always put fun little things in my stocking growing up and I loved it. Definitely plan to continue that tradition with Ella. My MIL is buying Ella's stocking this year.

Can you see them hanging on our railing?

9. Christmas PJ's?  We haven't done it as a family or anything, and I don't have any Christmas specific PJ's as of now. Ella does though, and I can't wait to see her in them!

10. Favorite Christmas carol?  Probably Silent Night

11. Favorite Holiday Tradition?  I always looked forward to getting to open ONE gift on Christmas Eve. Usually it was my mom's choosing. I looked forward to it ALL day and it was such a fun memory for me.

12. Early Shopper or Last Minute? Last minute--I feel like the holidays creep up on me every year and all of a sudden I'm scrambling haha

13. Favorite Christmas Movie or Show?  Personally, The Holiday and Home Alone always make me think of Christmas. I'll always put these on whenever I see them on tv.

14. Favorite Holiday Beverage?  Hot Chocolate with a candy cane in it, and marshmallows (another fun "tradition" I had growing up was adding a marshmallow for each of my family members. Because I was an only child, and I wanted more than 3 marshmallows, I would add one for grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, pets, etc lol)

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15. Cookies and Milk for Santa?  Yep! 

Now you can link up with Jessi and I to share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

Weekending with the Birthday Boy

Whew, I'm wiped coming off of this weekend, and it's because we celebrated MG's birthday Saturday night and stayed out a wee bit later than we normally do (as in, much later).

The weekend was packed with highlights though! Although the majority of the photos are of Ella...shocking I know :)

~Friday night we stayed in and cooked dinner that we were gonna make Thursday night but I hadn't felt like making so we'd ordered pizza on Thursday. Low key night in with our little miss was really nice.

~Saturday morning was MG's birthday and the birthday boy was given his present in the morning, along with baby snuggles--the best present of all!

~Ella finally fits into these adorable joggers that I got her a couple of months ago, and I was so excited! She looked so damn cute, I couldn't take it

~The Holiday was on, and we, of course, had to watch it

~We went out for a little bit and listened to Christmas music the whole way

~Ella's diaper leaked while we were out and we changed her in the tailgate of our car...#parentlife #babiesstillpooponyourbirthday

~in the early evening, we started getting Ella ready for bed, and a coworker of mine came over to babysit Ella so we could go out to dinner with our best couple friends. Luckily she went down easily and we got on our way!

~Our friends announced that they are pregnant!!! We've been waiting for this news for a while and were SO excited!! 

~We had dinner at a place of MG's choosing, and then went to a bar we used to frequent back in our 20s, and several of MG's friends came out to meet up. It was entertaining being out in the bar mayhem, but I will say I don't miss being bumped and jostled around, and not being able to hear well enough to have a good conversation. #yesimold

~We stayed out until a little after 11 and then came home. Ella had slept soundly the whole time we were gone and continued to sleep well the rest of the night.

~MG woke up feeling less than stellar, but there was a bright spot to his morning which included this nugget sleeping until 8am! #bless

~We got Panera for breakfast because neither of us felt like cooking anything

~Ella went down for a nap and I went to get groceries etc for the week

~The afternoon involved more snuggles and lounging around the house

~We made it out in the afternoon for a family walk which felt good and helped wake me up a bit

~We ordered in Thai food and had a super low key night in, watching football (I'm number one in my fantasy football league still and going to playoffs). 

There may have been some pre-bedtime snoozing on the couch, too. Because #old.

MG said he had such a good time Saturday night, and I did too. It was nice to get some "adult" time in (even if we paid for it the next day haha) and not just be "mom" and "dad". I'm so thankful for this man who I not only love, but I really really like, too :) 

Hoping your weekend was fun-filled, too!

Weekly Wins: Decembering

Happy Friday friends! Anyone else find it hard to come off of the Thanksgiving break (assuming you had the day after T-day off)? This week kinda dragged for me and was filled with more sick baby woes.

Buuuuut, it's Friday which means it's time to celebrate some of the wins this week!

~Ella made it through daycare all day Wednesday and Thursday without diarrhea--hoping this stomach bug is finally done. I never thought diarrhea would be one of the first things I talked about in my post, but #momlife

~I got our holiday cards ordered and they're already being shipped to our house as we speak!

in case you missed it yesterday

~Ella turned 7 months old yesterday, and despite a nasty cough she's got (because the diarrhea wasn't fun enough), she was happy and smiley for her photo shoot! Crazy how much bigger she is compared to that elephant than she was when we took her 1 month photos!

~I secured a babysitter for MG's birthday Saturday night! We're going out to dinner with one of our best couple friends, and then meeting up with others for drinks afterwards!

~I finished the book that I've been reading off and on for over a month (or monthsssss) now! Next I'm on to Ready Player One which MG has raved about--anyone else read it yet?

~We had new neighbors move in next door to us the day before Thanksgiving and they seem really nice! The previous family was meh, so it's nice to have a couple who are already more friendly than the last ones!

~This view in the middle of my day on Wednesdays and Fridays on my drive to my second school #hiPotomac

~Coming home to packages from Cyber Monday shopping :)  (MG has also been giving me lots of side eyes lately seeing the number of packages arriving. Oops lol)

Hoping your week's had some wins, too!