Going the Distance

{WHW}: I'm back from the dead

Hey friends--do you remember me? I used to blog here semi regularly and then I dropped off the planet because I just couldn't get my act together and wanted to spend my time with my baby before going back to work. But, I'm back for a sec for what's hap-"pinning" Wednesday!

So here's a quick recap of what's been going on with me lately:

~We went to the shore for a week with MG's family like we usually do. We took family photos (still waiting on them from the photographer), had a surprise 70th birthday for my MIL, had family come from out of town for the surprise who we haven't seen since my wedding, and basically just had a nice week away on the bay

~We had our first time away from Ella when we left her at the shore with my two SIL's for 2.5 days so that MG and I could go to my best friend's wedding in VA Beach.

~The wedding was so fun and I was so glad to be there to celebrate my bestie on her day (more on this to come)

~Ella rolled over 7 times on Monday (from tummy to back) during tummy time. Baby girl is growing up!

~We also had a trip to the pediatrician because she's developed reflux in the past week, and the last 3 days especially have been much worse. Thankfully she's still gaining weight like a champ, doesn't seem too bothered by it overall, so the pediatrician isn't recommending medicine. I sure hope it goes way quickly though because it's no fun (and it's messy!)

~The last two weeks after getting back from our week/weekend away have been spent holding my baby Ella close, getting in all of the snuggles, kisses, smiles and laughs that I can because this mama is going back to work on Monday.

I've literally cried at least once a day for the last week and a half and feel the minutes slipping by this week. I know she's going to be in good hands with my good friend during the days, but I still wish it was me. I have the irrational fear that she's going to love her babysitter more than me (I know logically that this isn't true), and I feel like I'm gonna miss so much of her life. She's already starting to roll over--what else am I going to miss?

In addition to all of those feels, adding to my lack of desire to go back to work: I got an email last week that a parent is suing our school system. Can you understand why I feel this way? Ugh.

So, yeah...you can find me snuggling my Ella bear for the next 5 days straight.

What's hap-"pinning" with you?? Link up with Jessi and I to share!

{WHW}: I'm Slackin'

It's What's Hap-"pinning" Wednesday and I can tell you what's NOT happening around here....

...writing blog posts!

I feel like I'm in a bit of a new mom/summer time blogging rut.

I'm ok with it because most of my days are filled with Ella (which is so much more fun these days since she's smiling, super alert, and learning new things every day), and I know these days are numbered before the dreaded first day of school comes (insert DUN DUN DUNNNNN sound here).

I'll try and get my act together and post tomorrow, but for now, link up with Jessi and I and 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!

Tasty Tuesday: On the Menu

It's been a bit since I've posted a new recipe and that's because I've been sticking to some of my tried and true meals (aka: quick and easy) since having Ella.

I thought it was time to try a few new recipes so I scoured Pinterest (my go-to) and decided on these two to make this week!

Baked Tilapia with Garlic Breadcrumbs

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Creamy Portobella Chicken in the Crock Pot

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I mean, I can handle anything that involves 3 ingredients and throwing it all into one pot and letting it cook all day!

Also on the menu this week is my one pot mexican quinoa and the Sun-dried tomato asparagus pesto pasta (now with the addition of chicken!) Two perfectly light and delicious meals for the hot summer months.

Do you have any go-to Summer recipes that are quick and easy? If so, share!!

I'll let you know how these two recipes turn out!

Wedding Weekend Fun

Could it be that I'm actually posting on a Monday??? I'm not entirely sure how that happened because man, I'm exhausted coming off of our 3rd road trip away with baby!

MG and I had a wedding on Saturday for one of his friends from HS so we made our way up to PA on Thursday evening during Ella's normal bedtime, and our lady love slept the entire 3 hours!! All the praise hands!

We got there around 10 and promptly put Ella and ourselves to bed. In the morning there was lots of time for snuggles and attention :)

Friday morning we drove over to our friend Kev/Michelle's parents' house (our Minnesota friends) so that we could see them, their 3 kiddos and let them all meet Ella. It was awesome to spend time with them, but about an hour later those 2 were off to celebrate their 10 year anniversary sans kids and we stuck around with their kids playing for a bit.

MG and I eventually made our way to a restaurant nearby to meet up with two other of his best friends--the ones from Charleston with their cute 13 month old, and MG's best friend from NY whose wife is pregnant (we found out the gender at lunch!).

It was great having all of us together, with the kids. The service was super slow, but that just allowed us more time to hang out (and for me to nurse in public--covered--for the second time ever).

That night we headed to my SIL's house so they could see Ella. We ordered dinner in and just hung out for the night--I love the laid back nights where you don't have to DO anything other than spend time together.

Saturday morning was pretty low key and then my other SIL came over with my two nieces, one of whom is 13 and incredible with doing hair and makeup, so she curled my hair for the wedding and did my eye makeup.

Around 3:45 MG and I left to go meet up with our friends before the wedding festivities for a drink. We drove around blasting music and dancing around in the car because....no baby!

After grabbing a drink we made our way to the wedding/reception at a country club. The views were gorgeous and once the sun set, it was super nice outside. Prime photo taking opportunities ensued.

the pink and green alternating ties was not planned

The night was full of laughter and fun--I seriously love this group of MG's friends who have become my friends, and really, our family.

I had another "mom" experience when I had to go and find a place to pump during the reception. And I realized that my dress didn't unzip so guess who got to sit with my friend Michelle, with my dress around my shoulders? #thisgirl lol (The things we do to keep our babies alive, amIright?)

After dinner, dancing, photoboothing, and a Dirty Dancing reenactment by my husband and Michelle's husband (no seriously), the night was over all too quickly and we were heading back home to our sleeping baby who was well cared for by my MIL and two SILs while we were gone. Our first time away for more than 2 hours was a complete and total success!

We got home and in bed around midnight and Ella continued to sleep until 6:45...praise Jesus for our good sleeper. We were still exhausted but much less so than we would have been otherwise.

We had breakfast, packed up and hit the road at 10 and our awesome girl slept until the last 20 minutes, during which she was pretty easily calmed.

We unpacked and lounged around the house, and then visited an open house in our neighborhood to see what updates they'd done, ran some errands and then grabbed Chipotle for dinner because neither of us was in the mood to cook.

So here we are! Another awesome weekend that just makes us wish that these friends all lived closer instead of spread throughout the country. I'm so grateful for these friends that I inherited from my husband because they are seriously some of the best.

The only drawback to this weekend was the fact that I missed my best friend's bachelorette party, but I was there in spirit and am definitely excited for when I get to see her and tackle her in 2 weeks! #loveyougenna (how is it almost august already???)

Hoping your weekend was friend-filled and fantastic, too!

Brain Floaties

I find that during the day, while I have a baby sleeping in my arms and I'm stuck in a chair, I've got time to think about things. Random things. Like...

Why is my Kindle all the way across the room right now?

Why are dog toys and baby toys basically the same thing? I have a hell of a time keeping Cooper away from Ella's toys--we have a favorite little elephant that rattles and crinkles that now has telltale signs of Cooper's presence on one arm. And tummy time on her little playmat that squeaks and crinkles like a dog toy is basically Cooper's idea of HIS play time.

How do babies know the EXACT moment when food is ready/delivered to your table? And then choose that moment to cry? Every.Single.Time.

I like going to my OB and seeing couples who obviously just found out they're pregnant, or just had their 20 week ultrasound. Makes me so happy for them, and brings me back to those moments for us.

Why, when Ella gets a hold of my hair, could she not just wrap those little fingers around the gray strands instead of my brown ones?

Why is it that any time I go on Amazon I can find $50+ worth of things that I want/need, and on Prime day it was like crickets for me? I'm probably the only one who had that problem (and perhaps it was because my attention was divided while scrolling through).

I had a dude literally let a swinging door slam back in my face while I was holding Ella in my arms. I was shocked, but luckily my reflexes were fast enough to avoid a collision, and then I did not hold back on my "Thanks a lot" comment to him to which he was like "Oh I didn't see you"--oh yeah? you didn't hear the crying baby right behind you?? Jerk. Why don't people hold the doors for people anymore, especially women with babies/strollers?

It's hard for me to believe that a year ago we were in Greece. Man that was the best trip! Now I'm drooling over Christy's pictures of Croatia and dreaming of getting there one day!

I hate the sizing on diapers because they aren't reliable (like the sizing on clothes too). I just got a box of size 1s that had 200 something diapers ($40 something) because it said it went from 8-14 pounds or something and Ella is in the mid 10 lb range. Guess who doesn't fit in them anymore after going through about 40 of the diapers and having a handful of blowouts or close to? I wish someone made a diaper exchange or something for half used boxes because this is such a waste!

Our neighbor's house is for sale and we are really hoping a nice couple with young kids moves in. Hopefully anything will be better than the older couple who had both of their 20/30something kids and spouses living with them.

What random things are floating around your head lately?

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!