Doing It All?

I've been struggling lately with how to "do it all". I felt it over the summer, some, but I had more time (nap time, and while Ella was playing) to tend to other things that needed to be done. Now that I'm back at work, and getting home around 4:30 every night...to a toddler who signs and says "eeeeeeeeat" to me until she's fed dinner, I'm really feeling the struggle of how do I do it all?

Last year MG was in a position at work where he could go in early and beat the insane traffic in our area, and he could leave at 3, be home around 3:30, get some things done around the house and even start dinner by the time I got home around 445/5. This summer, and this school year, he's been getting home later and later as the demands of a new office/position increase, along with a coworker quitting, dumping all of the work on him. 

I know I'm not the only one to face this struggle, and I have no idea how single moms do it on the daily (seriously, I bow down to you). I am just struggling with this season right now. I'm treasuring every second of the evenings that I get with Ella, because those precious hours are all I have during the week. But it is hard when you get home, and immediately have to start making dinner, with a kid who just wants attention from you because she hasn't seen you all day, walk the dog, feed the dog, etc etc. It's not impossible, but it's definitely not without its fair share of stress.

In the season of trying for baby #2, MG and I had a talk the other night about how to do this, especially if we have a second kid. Because if he continues to have to work later, it will fall on me and I'm not sure I can handle it all, with another baby in the mix. I know that if he had the choice, he'd be home with us, but he's up for promotion this year and feeling the pull (and frankly, the need) for him to be there. He leaves at the earliest opportunity when he can, and I know he's doing his best to get home to us, because he WANTS to be with us. It's just hard. 

I'm not even sure what the purpose of this post is, other than getting it out there, and maybe finding out how some other people do it, or just knowing that I'm not alone in this feeling (which I'm sure I'm not). 

I would love to be able to push dinner from 5/515 to 5:30, but Ella literally comes into the house signing for "eat" since being at daycare. I know she's eating there, and eating well, according to the reports I get, so I don't understand the bottomless pit she seems to have as soon as we get home.

Any thoughts, ideas, comments or love you have to share are totally welcome.

{WHW}: Life Updates

Happy Wednesday, friends! It's been a bit since I've been here and I was really just soaking up all of the time I was having with Ella before going back to work. Unfortunately, that dreaded day has come this week and I'm back at it, so I thought for this WHW, I'd fill you in on the random things I've been thinking about and dealing with.

~We had an amazing summer! Getting to spend 2 months with Ella, every single day was incredible. I won't lie, there were hard LONG days, and being a SAHM is NOT easy. But knowing that my time at home with her was limited made me appreciate even the tough days just that much more.

~Our family vacation to the beach was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. I still need to recap that, but it's not often we get 2 uninterrupted weeks together (other than maternity/paternity leave), and it was absolutely the best! Ella is definitely a little beach/water baby and it was the most fun watching her get to experience everything now that she's more alert and into exploring.

~We've been trying for baby #2 naturally for months now, in hopes that we'd be one of the couples that things just "clicked" for after having the first. That's not the case, and it's frustrating, upsetting, depressing and just ugh. We have an appointment with our fertility doctor next week to lay out next steps and get on our way with the next round of our infertility journey. There have been so many tears shed over this, and the feelings of "what's wrong with me?" resurfacing. I've said so many times, I just want to know what it's like to get pregnant naturally, without medicine and doctors, and it just doesn't look like that's in our future which has been hard to come to grips with, a second time around.

All this to say, I'm thankful that there are still options for us, and I am so thankful that we have Ella already. I know there are others waiting for their first pregnancy/baby and I TRULY understand that desire/heartache/struggle. This is just the place that I'm at, once again.

~Going back to work on Monday was a struggle. Ella is in a daycare center near our house for these two weeks before she starts her preschool program after Labor Day. It was the first time that I've had to leave my baby with someone I don't know and trust and that was SO hard. Last weekend was a bag of emotions that I had trouble dealing with (and I was doing it alone since MG was away for a bachelor party until Sunday early afternoon). I've realized even more this summer that being a mom just comes with all kinds of inherent guilt. Having Ella plucked out of my arms Monday morning, crying and likely scared/unsure of what was happening, and leaving her like that broke my heart. I sobbed on my drive to work, feeling like "how could I do that to her?" She was, of course, fine after a few minutes and had a great day...and yesterday she got out of my arms and just walked off to play, no tears. But there is SO much guilt. Working moms, SAHM moms...the guilt is there no matter what.

Morning snuggles before work/daycare:

I appreciated all of you who texted, or sent messages on Instagram checking on us on Monday and Tuesday, knowing it was going to be a tough day for us. I was reminded again why I love this blogging community so much and I've missed you all.

~My mom got us Hamilton tickets!!!!!!! We are going next week and I am still in shock! MG and I have been on the Hamilton train for over 2.5 years. I remember listening to the soundtrack on the drive to see my dad in the hospital, so we've been wanting to see this show for YEARS now. I'm pumped that it's actually happening and so so grateful that my mom made this happen!

On that happier note, I'll depart for today. I'm hoping to be able to get back here regularly now that I'm back to the work grind. 

In the meantime, fill me in on what's been hap-"pinning" with you!

{WHW}: Post Vacay Blues

Happy hump day, friends!

Sorry for the short blog posts the last two weeks--I didn't bring my computer, as I was trying to fully engage in our family vacation.

We got back on Sunday and I haven't had much time to upload my photos from the two weeks we were away, but I wanted to share a few highlight photos before I do a recap post (eventually).

In the meantime, we are all definitely experiencing some post vacation blues. It was incredible having MG with us every day for 2 full weeks. Spending time with our friends and their baby for a week was a ton of fun, and definitely a new experience. And then getting a week with family was the best cherry on top! So many people to love on Ella, and help out with her, let MG and I relax a little bit and really sink into vacation mode.

Our sweet pea took to the beach like a champ--her first sight of the beach and the waves, while walking up with my holding her in my arms, she said "wowwwwwwwwww" which was so cute to see the awe on her face.

Ok, for now here are some highlight photos from the 2 weeks!

Now it's your turn to share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

{WHW}: Week Two

It's August!!! Which means only a few more days (a couple of weeks) until I'm back to the grind of work every day.

For now, we are living the dream and going on our second week of vacation at the beach, this week with my in-laws for our annual week at the shore. 

Tons of pictures and things to catch you up on when I return, but for now, I'm soaking up the last few days of family and beach time!

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

{WHW}: Beach-ing

Happy Wednesday friends! MG and I are currently enjoying time at the beach with our friends and their baby. Will catch you up upon our return, but for now, link up and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

{WHW}: Lately

Happy middle of the week, friends!

We're back with another WHW so I can get all caught up on what's been hap-"pinning" around these parts!

~A local produce/flower/plant place had their ice cream social event on Saturday so MG and I went in the afternoon with Ella and ran into our friends there. The ice cream was yummy and the company was sweet!

~Since this weekend, Ella has had a case of the whines. I'm pretty sure it's because she's at the age where she can't express herself yet, but wants and NEEEEEEEDS everything. And she doesn't understand "no" other than it's not getting her what she wants. It's frustrating for all of us, but I know this too shall pass. In the meantime, wine.

~Soft play rooms are amazing, especially on insanely hot days 

~We are gearing up to leave for the beach this weekend and the amount of things we are bringing with us feels slightly insane and overwhelming. 

One thing that's super cute includes babe in a beach/camp chair:

~Looking forward to another beach blogger-date (blate)!

~Cooper got the royal treatment this weekend with a nice grooming sesh, complete with a bow tie! Handsome guy :)

~We have a climber. And a get-into-everything-er.

~I actually read and finished a book in less than a month! Nap time reading is my jam!! Feeling like I may actually be able to pull together a post for Show Us Your Books next round!

~A wonderful reminder that I saw from Shauna Niequist #inspiration

Now it's your turn to link up with Jessi and I and share what's hap-"pinning" with you! I promise that even if I'm not commenting, I'm reading your posts in my free time (aka nap times!)

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{WHW}: It's been a while...

Hey lovies! Sorry for the MIA last week but with it being the 4th, we were busy doing family stuff, and I figured everyone else would be too, so there was no link up on this end.

But I'm back! And I want to catch up on everything that we've been getting into!

Friends:

We had our friends from Minnesota come into town during our mega heat wave here. It was SO much fun having our house full of little feet (4 sets), and our good friends. We grilled out, karaoke'd, stayed up late, toured DC a bit (pushed Ella through her morning nap, successfully), had lunch and said our good byes. It was a whirlwind, but always a great reminder of how easy it is to be with friends who feel like family, even when it's been a while since you've been together.

I also went out the other weekend for my friend Stacy's bachelorette party which was a lot of fun! We hit the town, bar hopped, and the next day I was up at 6:50 with a baby. No rest for the weary....or the hungover moms haha.

Holidays: 

We spent the 4th of July afternoon at my friend MK's house with her daughter, and two of our coworker friends, plus her neighbor. There were 6 kids there--all of them girls! What are the chances? 

I got the chance to meet my coworkers baby, and got the opportunity to put her cute little to sleep that night when she was being fussy for mom and dad. It takes a village, people, and I was more than happy to snuggle that baby to sleep!

Summer Fun:

We've been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather that swooped in after the heat wave and spent a ton of time on the deck--Ella is loving her little kiddie pool, and a local splash pad with all of Ella's friends from daycare (also, the splash pad is free! How great is that??)

Look at the sassy leg! hahah

The weather Saturday was spectacular (low 80s, no humidity, sunny skies), so we went to Bull Run Winery with our friends who have twins and had a picnic dinner, let the kids run around outside, and just enjoyed ourselves. This is by far my favorite winery as the views are awesome, and they have a dedicated family area--plus some amazing photo opportunities. It was the perfect evening, and our friend captured my new favorite photo of the three of us.

House:

We closed on our condo last Monday. The renter is out (one the very last day of his lease, of course), and moved...the keys are turned over, and it's no longer ours. ALLY the praise hands! Unfortunately due to the holiday, we still got hit with another bi-weekly mortgage charge and the condo fees on it, which we have to wait 30 days to get back, but it's done and no longer a worry. A great thing, too, because there are 3 other units that are just sitting on the market and have been for over a month!

Speaking of houses, MG and I have been looking at houses up in PA, and it pains me at what we could get up there for the cost of our townhouse here. And then I look at houses here, and 600K gets you a house that needs fixing up. 600!!!! To that end, there have been a lot more discussions about potentially moving in the next year or 2. Which is exciting, but also overwhelming thinking about both of us getting new jobs, the process of moving, leaving an area I've known basically my whole life...so we will see what happens, but feelers have been put out.

Baby:

I guess technically Ella isn't a "baby" anymore, and more to that end, she's finally been getting rid of the bottle. Probably something we should have done a while ago, but I wasn't messing with it while I was working, and now that we've been home, it's been a pretty easy transition. Yesterday she didn't flinch when I gave her a sip cup instead of her bottle at any of her nap times, so we tried during bedtime and, despite a minor meltdown, it was a success!

My little big girl!

Purchases:

I tried out ordering some swimsuits on Amazon, originally looking for some CupShe suits (since they don't have free returns on their actual website) and came away with these two beauties for super cheap (not CupShe):

{via} $23

The back on this one is really cute, with strings like the sides of the bottoms

{via} $25

I tried the high waisted trend and it just didn't work for me. I wanted to love it, but it just didn't feel comfortable when I tried it on. But I'm sticking with the two above. No affiliate links, just things I found and like!

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

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