{Weekly Wins}: Hoppin' into Easter

Happy Friday, friends! This week has gone by in a flash (as any week you're not working tends to go). Definitely a lot different than Spring Breaks in the past where we would travel, or I'd just be lazy through the week. A little one changes things, but it's been a lot of fun to get to spend this extra time together!

Some wins for the week (get ready for Ella overload!):

~Not working all week is always a win! Only checked work email twice, too.

~Getting to do playdates with friends we normally don't get to see during the week! Ella and I went to a local play gym with our friends. She was definitely in awe of everything around her and took a while to start exploring, but it was the perfect place to spend our afternoon!

~HomeGoods finds! Finally found the cutest little Spring wreath for our front door, and an adorable Easter basket for Ella!

They're little imitation freesia, which I loooooove

~Twinning with my little love (inadvertently, which must mean we spent a lot of time together this week haha)

inverse twinning

~Warmer weather this week, allowing us to take advantage of the outdoors, and our playground! 

~My SIL, MIL and niece are here until tomorrow morning. They got in last night and we're gonna soak up the time together--maybe make our way into the city today if it doesn't rain. It's always fun when these guys come down:

~My friend Kelly came by Wednesday afternoon for a few hours. It was really nice to just relax and chat, just the two of us (well, and Ella haha). Girl time for the win!

~Lots of time playing with these two (and watching their love for each other grow)

~Hitting the bottle....jk jk jk, but this one was too funny not to share. Definitely going to have to baby proof the liquor cabinet because this one pulled out the spiced rum, all on her own...

~As if I haven't Ella-overloaded you already (sorry, I'm not that sorry), today our little bear is 11 months old! I can't even believe that in a month, she will be one. This is by far the fastest year of my life, and one of the most amazing, fun, exhausting and loving, too. Time please slow down!!!

I'm off to spend time with the fam, and celebrate Ella's first Easter!

Hoping your week was filled with lots of wins this week!

{WHW}: Spring Break Edition

Happy Wednesday! Sorry for my absence this week, but I've been on Spring Break and my days are filled with playing, singing silly songs, being a human jungle gym and walking support, reading, play dates and enjoying my girl!

I may not be back again until Friday, so pardon my absence!

This past weekend we got into some fun stuff, but it was a pretty low key weekend overall which was the perfect way to ease out of the work week.

~Had a nice phone chat/catch up with Brittany on the drive home 

~Friday night we went to dinner at City Kitchen as a family

~Started watching Poldark after Ella went to bed. I remembered Brittany recommending it and watching only part of the first episode (I think we got sidetracked with something else at the time) and forgot about it. My coworkers mentioned it right before break so we started it again and it has NOT disappointed! Definitely enjoying this show and recommend it for people who like period pieces!

~Saturday my Old Navy haul arrived and I think it's clear that I have a problem, and Ella has an insanely cute wardrobe.

Also, this was the top that started it all, and I inadvertently ordered the same shirt for myself, so guess who is gonna be twinning her mama this summer!

~Our weather here has been warming up slowly (sort of), and when the sun is out, it's not unbearably cold, so we kept the doors open for the extra sunshine, which apparently is entertainment for a baby and a dog

~Saturday we ran errands to Costco and picked up a beach umbrella and canopy for our 2 week long vacay. Ella's gonna be the cutest beach babe 

~Signed Ella up for swim lessons starting in May! 

~Sunday we met up for lunch with our couple besties who are expecting their little girl in June. No pictures were taken because we had an animal baby at the table who needed tending to hahah

~Sunday early evening I got a much needed massage while MG took care of baby and dinner time. My massage therapist worked the hell out of some knots in my back and I was like jello afterwards!

~Picked up Thai food for dinner on the way home for MG and I, and then got in some play time with these two before bath and bedtime!

~Watched more Poldark before heading to bed ourselves.

Any weekend that involves a massage get an A in my book! Hoping your weekend and the start of your week has been easy peasy!

Link up with Jessi and I and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

Weekly Wins: Last one before S.B.

Happy Friday! Hopefully you're either shoveled out from the recent snow, or you're in a state that's warmer than it's been here!

This week went by in a flash due to the snow and I'm not complaining because next week is Spring Break for us! This one had quite a few wins!

~2 snow days, one of which we got to spend as a family since the govt closed too. Ella got to experience her first real snow, and got out in it since she finally wasn't sick for a snow fall.

~Got these cute clothes for Ella for the Summer, and the dress on the right is her Easter dress!

~A new yummy meal discovered from Lindsay thanks to Emily 

~I ordered a new diaper bag backpack because the bag we had just wasn't cutting it anymore. I loved the look of it, but it just wasn't roomy enough and I couldn't keep it organized or find things easily. Thanks to Amazon this one came quick, is roomy, and very organized, and was only $30!

~Thursday's snow day made it so that Ella and I could have a little playdate with my friend MK and her daughter. We had a nice little girls' lunch and hang out together. Pictures were not taken because we both have babies who are constantly on the move haha!

We had so much fun that both girls decided not to nap that afternoon (this was NOT a win for the week)! Not sure what happened there but it was a looooooooong afternoon.

~Which brings me to my last win: I survived. I survived a 10.5 months old being awake for 7.5 hours straight. And can I just take this last minute to give my stay at home moms a shout out? Some days are HARD. I value every day that I get to spend home with my daughter but that doesn't mean they're all easy. And there are moments in those days that I wouldn't mind being at work. And damn, there creeps in the mom guilt when I feel that because there is ALWAYS something to feel guilty over. I love Ella more than I could ever capture into words, but she is also a LOT of work. I wouldn't trade her for anything, but there are moments I'd be ok pausing and taking a wine break hahah.

The buttons on the wine fridge entertained her for about 25 minutes last night and I was 100% ok with it

Let's take a second and cheer on the moms who work. The moms who stay at home. And the moms who survived today, and survived this week. Because, like pimpin'...mommin' ain't easy. 

Hoping your week was filled with warmth and some wins!

{WHW}: Snow Day!!!

That's right--it's the end of March and we have a snow day today! Rarely do we get snow storms this late in March and typically I'd be poo-poo'ing it, but since we haven't used even half of our snow days, and Spring Break is next week, I'm rooting for some extra days with my girl!

Anyway, let's hop into what's hap-"pinning" lately...

Food:

I tried out two new dishes this week, both of which were recommended last week by Emily (thanks, girl!!)
One Pot Beef and Parmesan Pasta with Zucchini from Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World--simple, relatively quick, and delicious. MG, Ella and myself all liked this one!

Eggroll in a Bowl: this one was super fast, but was really salty for me. I probably wouldn't make this one again, but it was worth the try!

{via}

Baby:

She's off and moving! What started off slowly this weekend with Ella using the walker has turned into this girl plowing full steam ahead on that thing! She is zipping around and I feel pretty confident that we'll have a walker on our hands by her first birthday.

Also, sort of on the baby front (kinda), I've dropped another pumping session, so now I'm only nursing Ella right before bed. That one will likely get dropped next week (or maybe the one after...). It's crazy to have some of my freedom back and not be tied to my pump at work all the time now. I've made it almost to the 11 month mark and I think that's pretty darn good!

Watching:

Vanderpump Rules: Why is Brittany still with Jax?!?!
RHOBH: Dorit bugs me so much.
Married at First Sight: I'm still very much into this and wondering if any of the couples will make it once the show ends

Drinking:

I'm trying to up my water intake. Since I've stopped pumping, I haven't been as good about downing water like I should.

Work:

I got a really strange email from a parent this week at work. I responded, and then got a REALLY strange response from the other parent, that was like 2 pages long and seemed to assume I knew things that were not explicitly stated in the first email from the other parent. Also, the topic is something that is NOT in my wheelhouse so I'm not even sure how it's my problem. Luckily my admin is taking care of it, but wow! Sometimes I'm amazed at the things parents focus on...

Which is one of the reasons why today's snow day is so welcome! We'll see what the rest of the week holds after this storm!

Now it's your turn to link up with Jessi and I below!

Weekending: Walkin' and a Rollin'

Once again I'm a day late and a dollar short with my weekend recap--I'm sure you're not terribly surprised by that anymore haha.

This past weekend was a lot of fun, and definitely has me in the mood for Spring Break which is right around the corner (next week!)

My weekend highlights included:

~Getting some pretty flowers and a nice card from my coworkers at my belated birthday breakfast

~Watching this little nugget getting busy with pulling up and cruising all over the place

She's so proud of herself! haha

~Having our neighbors over for wine and cheese after putting Ella down for the night. They were over for 3 hours and it was fun chatting and getting to know them better. We definitely lucked out with having good people move in next door. Luckily their commute home wasn't too bad either ;)

~Saturday morning Ella took to walking with her walker. If you follow me on Instagram you saw the super cute video, and since then she's gotten even faster with it! She's on the move!!

~Cooper has also found himself a helper with getting his toys down for him...

~After Ella's insanely short nap (she has walking to do!!), we all went to the mall to exchange a pair of shoes for MG and I went to Pandora to get the smaller size of the ring MG got me for my birthday last week.

~After another short afternoon nap (grrrr!) we got our little good luck charm ready for a St. Paddy's day party at our friends' house. It was fun seeing everyone, and watching Ella play with some of the other kids there (by play I mean grab them haha), and love on everyone there. She was definitely a hit at the party!

~Ella and I left MG to have some uninterrupted time with his friends around her bedtime and I got home to a poop-explosion that required an immediate bath. Because this would happen when you're solo momming it.

That cute face makes up for the poop I experienced!

~Sunday morning MG ran some errands, and that afternoon we met up with our friends MK, her husband, and her daughter for lunch at True Kitchen. The food was good, and the girls loved looking and screeching at one another across the table--they were a trip!

~When Ella went down for her nap, I got out of the house for a couple of hours to return some things to Carter's (and buy some more of course), and then head to Loft to use some of my birthday giftcards. I ended up getting a cute light pink sweater with tie cuffs, and this shirt which was a Small, but I figured it'd probably shrink a bit in the wash. I know it's time to be shopping for Spring, but I couldn't resist these two pieces.

It has a slit along the sleeves

{via}

~I picked up Chipotle for dinner on the way home, and then we went for a quick family walk since the weather was relatively nice out.

~The rest of the night was pretty quiet for us. Right now we have the chance of snow today and into tomorrow, so we'll see if this gets us one last chance as a snow day off or delay. I certainly wouldn't complain!!

Weekly Wins

Happy Friday, loves! It's been a chilly week here, but nothing like what the NorthEast is getting. Hoping you all fare alright with this 4th storm you're supposed to get!!!
This week went by pretty quickly, and was chock full of wins which is always a good sign of a good week!
My wins this week included:

~$50 in gift certificates from the PTA at my school for my birthday! This is a first--usually we just get a single serve package of popcorn from our admin that says "Your birthday popped up again" (which I also received). The gift cards were a nice bonus!

~Pi Day at school, meaning pie for eating too!

~Old Navy having a pi-day sale...and thanks to Brittany posting this pic, I ended up buying a ton of stuff for Ella (including that shirt), myself, and MG.

{via}

Too bad Old Navy takes forever to ship their stuff. The one downfall of that place.

~Successfully dropping my first morning nursing session...one step closer to closing the breastfeeding chapter!

~Fun St. Patrick's Day kid-friendly plans at our friends' place tomorrow, and lunch plans with my friend MK, her husband and baby on Sunday on the waterfront. It's always fun when the 6 of us get together :)

~MG's had a work training all week that's closer to home and starts later, so he's been around this week in the mornings which has been nice to have that little extra bit of family time together before we start our days.

~Finally having the heat work in my office after 2 weeks of 50 degree air pumping. It sounds like a silly win, but it has been amazing to not freeze in my office all day every day. (It's still not perfect, but I'm not having to wear my winter coat in my office all day which is a plus)

~Ella's last cold was short lived and relatively painless, and for once I didn't get it!!! Praise!

~A birthday breakfast being thrown in mine and my coworker's honor this morning at work. I love working with a team that celebrates each other!

~All of these ooey gooey, melt-your-heart photos from daycare. From lunch time dates, where Ella gets fed, to sweet kisses and cuddles...these boys love their Ella and it makes my heart so happy.

I'll leave you on that cute note. Hoping your weekend is full of sunshine and fun!