{WHW}: Solo Mom

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Sorry for being MIA the first part of the week, but I'm flying solo this week since MG left for his work trip on Sunday. Not completely solo since my MIL has been with me until today, and then my mom is coming. Thank goodness for their help!

This weekend was a lot of fun, even though it included MG's departure.

~Friday I had a training outside of my school building since it was a teacher workday, and at the start I got to snuggle on my supervisor's baby (her husband was there to help with the audio for our meeting, and he brought their son). After dropping Ella off at daycare, it was nice to get in some extra baby snuggles

~That night we picked up food and had a quiet night in, playing with Ella before bed, and then we watched the first couple episodes of Fuller House season 3 since it had just come out that day. Love that show!

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~Saturday morning MG had to go in to work for a couple of hours (yeah, his work was on my S-list this weekend lol) so Ella and I had some mommy baby time together.

~MG got home and we had my friend and her boyfriend over to grill out. It was our first time meeting him and he was awesome. They are such a cute couple! Combined with some yummy burgers, homemade fries, and some sangria....perfect!

~Right as our friends left, MG's parents arrived--so our house was basically a revolving door haha. It was nice to have them here and catch up. 

That night we ordered food in again (because, lazy) and once Ella went to bed, we watched the Seinfeld comedy special on Netflix. If you haven't seen it, watch it--it's pretty funny!

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~Sunday morning MG's dad hit the road and MG and I ran errands The rest of the day we watched football and obsessed over our fantasy football teams. This girl is now in the number 1 spot of her league (and without a lot of help from MG this week). 3-0!

~MG left in the middle of the afternoon for his flight so it was just me, Ella, and my MIL. Oh, and Ella decided to FINALLY take a full 2 hour nap in the afternoon which she seems to only do at daycare and has NEVER done with us. I, of course, spent the time obsessively checking the monitor figuring she'd wake up any second lol.

~Danielle and I also have started a "our husbands are traveling for work" support group/text between the two of us, which has been really nice to check in, and also vent about the trials and tribulations of being "home alone" with the kids haha.

We've been using the Nested Bean sleep sack and miss Ella girl has been sleeping through the night again. Praise! I don't know if it was this sack, or what, but she's now got both arms out and needs no pacifier to go to sleep. Whatever happened, I'm 100% ok with it!  (Coincidentally, Nested Bean is having a one day sale today with 15% off using the code PUMPKINSPICE so if you need/want one, jump on this today!--not sponsored, just trying to be helpful)

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I'm hoping your week is going well! Pray that Ella and I make it through the rest of the week ok.

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

{WHW}: Currently....

Currently, I'm....

Reading ...

nothing...I'm still totally slacking in this department. Really hoping to find some time to get back into my book, but by the end of the night once Ella is down for bed, I just want to veg in front of the tv.

Watching ...

Real Housewives of OC (Shannon is a little annoying to me this season; Peggy is so BLAH I hope she doesn't come back next season) and Dallas (feeling kinda meh about this season too). I want to get into Big Little Lies since we have HBO now, and maybe the Handmaid's Tale--I'd heard good things and since it won some Emmy's, we'll see!

Eating....

On the menu this week:
Monday: One Pot Broccoli Pesto Pasta (with chicken)
Tuesday: Roasted Veggie Enchilada Bake
Wednesday: Crockpot Meatballs (with Spaghetti)
Thursday: Baked Tilapia with Garlic and Parmesan BreadCrumbs (recipe to come)
Friday: dinner out somewhere

Looking forward to ... 

a teacher workday on Friday and grabbing lunch out with my friend

Enjoying ...

my morning commute view of the Potomac--if you have to go to work, seeing this to and from work isn't a bad gig.

{via}  so I didn't take this myself bc driving and trying to take pictures isn't safe, but you get the idea. It's so serene!

Drinking...

water and tea with honey...this sore throat/head cold has really hit me and I've been doing whatever I can to ease the symptoms

Loving....

baby jammies with zippers. And baby outfits that are one pieces with snaps that make diaper changes quick. Shorts and pants are cute, but they are a PAIN when you change a baby and have to get two wiggly little legs back into those shorts/pants! lol

Dreading....
MG leaving for out of the country work travel this coming weekend...for 5 days! Luckily my MIL is coming to help out, and my mom is coming the other days too, so I won't be flying totally solo.

Wanting ... 

this stupid head cold to go away. And to have an immune system that actually works against all of these kid germs

Needing ...

the middle of the night wake ups to stop. Ella started waking up at around 2 and 5 a few nights last week into this one. Monday night she made it until 4:40 (and then I eventually fed her at 5 when all of my tricks didn't get her back to sleep). After having a baby sleep through the night, to having middle of the night wake ups--especially when sick--is ROUGH

Wearing ...

dresses while it's still warm out, although it makes for an interesting time when I pump at work. I'll just let you stop and visualize the logistics of that for a second. Got in a good laugh? :)

Grateful For...

MG. I know I know, but really he's such a great dad and he's an amazing husband. He always willingly picks up the slack and jumps in whenever I need him to. He knows baby is tied to me a lot (because boobies) but he does whatever he can the rest of the time to help ease the load on me and I appreciate it. Plus, watching him and Ella together just makes my heart melt :)

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

{WHW}: Labor Daying

I'm a little late with my weekend recap because well, life. But for what's hap-"pinning" Wednesday I'm recapping our Labor day weekend:

~Got home with Ella and started packing to head up to Philly. Unfortunately, my in-laws came down with some cold/sickness that they were recovering from but we didn't want to risk staying with them, so we had to stay at my two SIL's places. 

~Getting packed up after a full work week (and the idea of being nomads for the weekend) got me into a bit of an anxiety attack because I just feel like I've been going and going non-stop, then the prospect of packing and moving around the whole weekend was just overwhelming to me. We decided to still go up to PA, but to come home Sunday night so we'd have a full day at home.

~We made it up to New Jersey to my SIL's house without any traffic and miss Ella slept the whole ride, and then went down to sleep as soon as we got to their house.

Cooper gets the front seat all to himself these days

~my BIL was having his fantasy football draft and ended up going out with his guy friends and MG got peer pressured into going too, so my SIL and I just stayed home and sat out on the porch drinking wine, eating and catching up until after midnight. We called it #porchtherapy haha

~Saturday morning was super crappy--overcast, cold and rainy. We decided to go to a local indoor farmers market which ended up being kind of a bust because it was insanely crowded barely any room to maneuver a stroller, and no place to sit and eat any of the goodies that they were selling. Boo!

~Early afternoon we packed up and headed to PA to my other SIL's house where we unpacked (again) and just hung out for the afternoon.

~Ella giggled for the first time which was amaaaaaaaaazing! She's done little laughs here and there but the giggle was the best!

~My SIL's friend's surprise party was Saturday night so we got Ella down, my MIL and niece watched Ella (while she slept basically) and we headed out to have some adult time which was so much fun!

~Sunday was a laze around the house kind of morning and then getting ready for a cook out where a ton of people came over. None of which was conducive to a baby napping lol

~Around 7 we packed up the car and baby and made our way home with no traffic and a sleeping baby--got home and put her to bed and she slept until 5 when I fed her and then she went back down until 745. ALLLLLLL the praise hands because mama needed that sleep!

~Monday we ran errands and little miss was so good. She loves looking around at everything even from her car seat in the stroller--she's so alert now that I think everything is super stimulating for her

~Got in some snuggles with Ella bear while she napped in my arms

~MG and I made pesto grilled cheeses for lunch which were heavenly and then we took a walk down/around the lake by our house and picked up a cold brew on the way.

~Ella was super tired around 6 because she didn't get a third nap in for the day so we got her ready for bed early and she was down and out by 6:30pm

It was definitely nice, and much needed, to have a full day at home and to wake up in our own beds instead of spending a good chunk of the day driving and hitting traffic. Thankfully this is a short work week too, so the weekend is that much closer!

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

{WHW} Currently....

Currently, I'm....

Reading ...

Well, I started another book by Diane Chamberlain weeks ago, and I think I only read the first chapter. And that's still where I'm at several weeks later...I'll get back to reading at some point soon hopefully.

Watching ...

Game of Thrones! MG and I got HBO this past weekend and got all caught up on everything just in time for the season finale. Wowza! I heard that the next season isn't until 2019!! What the what!

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And of course watching all of my Bravo shows, plus Bachelor in Paradise which is its own little s-show and I love it. I feel like this season hasn't been as interesting as previous seasons though.

Eating....

On the menu this week:
Monday: Spicy Sriracha Shrimp lo mein
Tuesday: Baked Queso Tacos
Wednesday: Crockpot Meatballs (with Spaghetti)
Thursday: Tuscan Chicken Bake--recipe to come!
Friday: something quick and easy, just not sure what yet

Looking forward to ... 

heading to PA for the long weekend and getting to see our family who we haven't seen since our trip to the shore in early August. And a long weekend in general because that means more time with my girl!

Enjoying ...

that my friend's sons at daycare (my friend watches Ella if you don't remember) LOOOOOOVE Ella. I get pictures through the day of them loving on her, and when I walk in to drop her off in the mornings, they get excited and the oldest says "I LOVE her!" He promised me yesterday morning that he'd take good care of her. Melts my heart!

Drinking...

water and lots of it--with pumping during the weekday while at work, my supply goes down throughout the week so I'm trying to up my calorie intake and my water intake to help. 

Loving....

my mom for taking pity on me and buying a mini fridge for my office at work. My new place in the building was a 5-10 minute walk to and from the teachers lounge where the fridges are in order to get my pump parts and/or store my milk. Trying to fit pumping into my schedule is hard enough without adding those precious minutes of just walking in--so my mom had a mini fridge delivered to me and it's now set up in my office, making my life easier. Gotta love moms! 

perfectly fits my little cooler bag of pump parts and milk!

Dreading....
dealing with some helicopter parents that I'm already hearing about through the grapevine. Parents who have lawyers and advocates....I just want to do my job and get kids better. I don't want to deal with the attacks and nit-pickiness of lawyers and advocates. It really drains me and makes me feel icky about my job sometimes.

Wanting ... 

the temps to stay where they've been the last couple of days. High 70s and low to mid 80s are my jam!

Needing ...

a paycheck. It's been months and babies ain't cheap, y'all!

And I need to write my lake house, shore, and best friend's wedding recaps. #slacker #momlife

Wearing ...

my pre-pregnancy clothes which means I'm tapping back into my Loft clothes that I hadn't been able to wear much of last school year--score!!

Grateful For...

this little baby girl who turns 4 months old today! I seriously can't believe how quickly it's gone by, and how much she has grown in these past 4 months. Love her to pieces...but I'm sure you could tell that without me saying it ;)

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

{WHW}: Currently...

Currently, I'm....

Reading ...

I finished Landline by Rainbow Rowell and have moved on to The One Man by Andrew Gross (my second book by him). It's centered around WW2 and definitely interesting so far even though I'm only about 20% of the way through (which is a huge accomplishment with a newborn I think! haha)

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Watching ...

Real Housewives of OC--I feel like Meghan and I are still living parallel lives (when her IVF journey aired, I was going through the same, and now on the show, her baby is 2 months old like Ella), Shannon is a little bonkers, and I'm still unsure about the new chick. 

We also just watched The Zookeeper's Wife since my mom sent me her copy from Netflix and it was really good. VERY sad, but really good--definitely recommend it.

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Eating....

If you saw my post yesterday you know the two new meals we're trying this week. The tilapia was a success (with some of my own tweaks--will post soon)! Trying the chicken tonight and will report back!

Looking forward to ... 

Getting the rest of my June paycheck at the end of the month. I still have a feeling I'm gonna get dicked over with the pay somehow, but at this point anything is better than the $800 they tried to give me for June...try making it through the summer with a regular paycheck let alone one that is SIGNIFICANTLY less than what you normally make, by like thousands.

Enjoying ...

morning baby smiles. It's the best way to start off the day!

Drinking...

water water water...with breastfeeding it's essential, but also with temps climbing into the 100's (no joke), it's even more important.

Loving....

that I finally found the time to book myself a hair appointment on Monday. And while I was away, MG got Ella down for a nap. Holla!!

don't mind my make-up-less face

Dreading....
going back to work. Tomorrow marks a month until I go back and I know it's just going to fly by. It already makes me cry thinking about it.

Wanting ... 

to figure out how to make money and stay home with my baby girl. 

Needing ...

to go get more contacts. I've been wearing mine for way longer than the 2 weeks I'm supposed to and am down to one more pair. 

I also need to find a cute navy and/or white dress for Ella for family photos at the beach in a week and a half. Oh, and a navy/white outfit for myself!

Wearing ...

You saw on Monday that I wore real people clothes at a wedding this weekend. Thanks to everyone on here and instagram for the sweet comments about my dress! (New York and Company--I think it was like $15 when I got it!)

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Grateful For...

a baby who sleeps 6-8 hours every night after her dream feed. SO so so thankful for this good sleeper!

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

WHW: Fevers and Chills and a New Blog Design...Oh My!

Can you tell based on my title that it's been interesting around these parts?
Also, how does this space look? It took me a bit to get this space fixed up after the Photobucket debacle, and I still have some work to do, but I'm happy with the facelift this space has gotten!

Now for the fever and chills part....

We got back from a week away at the lake with family on Saturday, but on Friday morning I was feeling a little "off"...I took some Tylenol and started to feel better and then in the late afternoon/early evening, I started to feel chills and I couldn't get warm despite the temperature in the house not being very cold.

I'd had a pain in my right boob for the previous day or so, and figured once my head started burning up from a fever, that I had mastitis. If you've never breastfed or had a baby, you may not have heard of mastitis but let me tell you...it ain't fun. It's when a duct in your breast gets clogged for whatever reason, and then causes an infection that then makes you feel like you have the flu. Fun times, right?

So my last night of vacation was spent cuddling under blankets, and trying to get in touch with my ob to send in a script for antibiotics to a pharmacy close by. Which ended up not being able to fill my prescription, so my in-laws drove to another town to get the meds (of which, they only had about 3/4 of the pills that I need for the course of the antibiotics) #ofcourse

I think I'm finally done with the fever (Monday night was the first night I haven't woken up in the middle of the night sweating), and I went to my ob yesterday to check me out because the clogged duct seemed to be more than just one duct to me and I wanted it checked out before things got worse. Luckily she said it looked like the infection was gone and I'm on my way to kicking this, with lots of boobie massaging in my future. 

So instead of a fun lakehouse/weekend recap, this is what I've been dealing with. Oh, and the side effects of strong antibiotics (let's say me and the bathroom have been well acquainted lately....and Ella has been experiencing similar side effects thanks to what she's getting through my breast milk too).  

On a fun note, we managed to venture out on Sunday to meet up with my other mama friend, her husband and baby and visit a nearby winery. I still wasn't 100% but the weather was in the mid 80s, no humidity and gorgeous, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be outside. We had a nice picnic lunch in the shade, split a bottle of wine (I had a small glass) and it was perfect!

We've got the "mom lean" down lol

So, that's what's been hap-"pinning" over here with me. Share what's been up with you by linking up with Jessi and I below!

{WHW}: Currently

Currently, I'm....

Reading ...

 I finished No Way Back by Andrew Gross on Monday thanks to probably the best day at home with baby since I've been at home alone during the days. It wasn't that great, and I'm moved on to Landline by Rainbow Rowell. Hoping I can get some more reading put into my days when baby naps.

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Watching ...

We finished Friday Night Lights on Monday and man, I'm sad. It was SUCH a good show and I fell in love with the characters. They were basically a part of our family for the last 6 weeks haha.
We tried watching House of Cards and Orange is the New Black on Tuesday night and neither of us were into them. With our currently political situation, watching corrupt politics in my "off time" just isn't appealing, and OITNB--the first episode anyway--just seems like a ridiculous joke. Maybe this is all because we are coming off of Friday Night Lights which was just incredible. 
At least there is always Bravo....:)

Eating....

Tonight my mom is taking us out for a belated Father's Day dinner--place to be determined. Other than that, we tried this frozen artichoke salmon bake the other night that we saw at the grocery store and it was actually really good. Will totally get it again for a night where you just don't want to cook

Looking forward to ... 

heading to the lake for a week over 4th of July with MG's family. I love our trips away with his family, and I'm going to love it even more that there are ten plus sets of hands to hold baby. And my one SIL is already planning a winery trip which I'm alllllllll about! #momjuice

Enjoying ...

that I FINALLY made it to the new moms group yesterday. After attempting it the previous two weeks, and falling short due to a super fussy baby, I threw my hands in the air and just went with it yesterday despite having a rough morning. It was nice to get out of the house, be around other moms, and just hear that I'm not alone in this new season of life. Ella made sure to scream the entire way home though, just to keep things interesting lol

Drinking...

coffee and water. I think I would die without coffee at this point (but I'm being good and only having one cup in the morning). 

Loving....

that I got my dress for my best friend's wedding. I was deciding between three dresses, and found one that fits really well and leaves some room to eat dinner haha. 

Dreading....
how quickly the Summer is gonna go. Now that school is officially out (as of this Friday), I feel like summer vacation is now real--not just maternity leave--and with all of the fun things coming up like weddings and trips, I just know it's going to fly by.

Wanting ... 

a massage. I really need to get one of those scheduled asap.

Wondering ...

If people have stopped reading my blog because it's basically all baby/mom related lately. Not that it really matters, because this space is for me, but I was just curious.

Needing ...

to write Ella's birth story before I forget the details (although, let's be real, I probably won't ever forget that day). I haven't gotten to it and I keep remembering to do it during times that I can't--like in the shower, or when she's crying. One of these days...

Wearing ...

new clothes that I got from Old Navy, now that I'm back to normal sizes, and...you guessed it...Loft! The shirt I posted yesterday is one I normally wouldn't have picked out, but am loving it and have gotten compliments on it every time I've worn it.
I need to get a strapless bra that can fit my nursing boobs in it since my other ones don't work, because......HUGE.

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Grateful For...

my mom and friend both living close enough that they can come by for the day. My mom's coming today and my friend Crystal is coming for the day on Thursday--so glad that she has a work schedule that allows us to spend some time together!


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

MDW2017: Road Trippin', Car Buyin', Baby Milestones

It's What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday and I'm recapping our Memorial Day weekend which involved our first road trip with a newborn!

MG and I hit the road on Thursday morning after packing the car with every essential we could think of (and then almost forgetting my breast pump--a HUGE oops that would have been!)

Had to stop at a rest stop to feed and change baby which added 40 minutes to our trip.

Got to my in-law's house and within an hour had my SIL and her kids over to finally meet Ella. Then my BIL showed up after work to meet her and immediately jumped into diaper changes. Man it was nice not to change many diapers this weekend haha

Spent the night in with the fam--my oldest niece decided to stay over and help us with the baby in the morning (she's a great kid) and my youngest niece decided that she was the official baby holder of the weekend lol

Friday morning MG and I went for a 45 minute walk while my MIL and niece watched the baby (family is the best), and then in the afternoon we headed over to my SIL's house for pizza and to hang out with my other SIL and her family. Ella wasn't put down for a second that whole night, and we got some great photos.

 

 

Saturday morning MG, my FIL and the nieces and nephew went to iFly which was a present from Christmas. It was SO fun to watch them--and then watching the instructor do all kinds of tricks afterwards. I didn't participate but it was just fun to watch everyone else.

Later that afternoon we went back to my SIL's for a cook out since we were leaving the next day to get home and get settled before MG headed back to work. Ella continued to be spoiled with being held and loved on. She didn't hate it :)

There were definitely tears shed when we left my SIL's house that night--my SIL cried because she was going to miss Ella, and I cried because I was going to miss all of the help haha

Sunday morning we got to sleep in a bit since my MIL woke up with Ella at 5am, we had breakfast and then got ourselves packed up. MG's uncle swung by to drop off a beautiful blanket and puzzle that he had made for Ella with pictures of her and family members. It was really sweet!
We also did a little tummy time session in the morning which was just too cute

We got on the road later than we'd planned on, and ended up having to stop at two rest stops for baby. And we encountered torrential rain twice which was not fun for any of us. But, we survived.

We also realized that both of our cars are not big enough for road trips. We'd been planning on getting a larger car sometime around December, but this prompted us to move that timeline up by a lot of months and MG went and got a Toyota Highlander (the car we'd been researching and planning on--we even went on a test drive when we were in PA. Plus my in-laws have the same car so we knew what we were getting). It's a great car and definitely a lot more space. Of which, I'm sure we will still have no problem filling it up haha.

Monday was a pretty low key day for us--we ran errands and then had a visit from my friend Amanda in the afternoon. Then at night Ella got SUPER fussy...crying and screaming and she's not a crying/screaming baby. It lasted for a while and we were super concerned, but eventually got her to calm down and sleep. And sleep she did--FIVE hours! Then she fed and slept another 4 hours and we  were the ones to wake her up both times.

Ironically her shirt says Super Happy which probably was what jinxed us into having a NOT super happy baby that evening haha

It was a welcome gift after the crying session from the night before. And also the night before her 1 month birthday and MG going back to work. 

We survived the first day back to work--there were definitely tears on everyone's part when he was leaving, but our little 1 month old (seriously how is it a month already) managed with just mommy and Cooper.

So, that's basically our MDW in a nutshell!

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