Weekends.

  Our weekends lately have been really good. Like really, really good. We've been packing our days full of trips to the zoo (that membership was our best purchase all year!), weekly family grocery trips, park dates, dinners with friends, minor league baseball, driving past our new house and dreaming of our upcoming move, and just lots of laughing. It's all been super ordinary and wonderful.

  Our buyers pushed back the closing on our current house, so we had to push back the closing on our new one and we're feeling extra antsy to just get a move on (ha). These full weekends have been a great distraction from all of those logistics. We start the days early and are at the zoo or grocery store by 9:30am and don't seem to stop doing fun things until bedtime. Caleb is at a really fun age and can communicate so much better with us these days. And Tyler is a trooper at tagging along wherever we go! 

  I want to get better at taking pictures of these ordinary weekends, because I know in a few years we are going to look back on them fondly. These are the days we'll be talking about for a long time. The kids so keep us on our toes (Caleb is BUSY) and we both let out a deep sigh when they're tucked in bed each night, but we wouldn't change a thing. In so many ways, I am excited for when the boys are in school and I am able to do social work full time again and be out of house and less inwardly focused so much. It is so nice to know that is waiting for me, but for now our family feels so right and it feels so right that I'm home and immersed in life with these kids right now!

Friday. {weekly round-up}

  Seriously, will it always feel like a mad dash to the weekend? This week was a doozy and it's absolutely credited to Tyler. That busy kid decided to start rolling to his belly, which is fun and exciting and blah blah blah UNTIL it means we can't swaddle him anymore. The whole safety before fun thing (and fun being SLEEP in this equation). Thankfully he's still sleeping through the night, but naps have been non-existent and so full of crying this week. So you know. Many curse words and lots of chocolate later, and I think he may be close to being able to nap un-swaddled. Maybe.
  But! Justin and I have a date night planned this weekend (thanks Chelsea!), which is just about the best thing ever to look forward too. So hellooooo weekend!

I must have been feeling wild, because I somehow tried three new recipes this week. This one is different that I expected, but I'll definitely use it again. I ate this for lunch 3 days straight. And this was ridiculously easy and delicious over rice.

Did you read the latest in the Just 5 Thing series? I'm loving all this mama wisdom we're hearing and can't wait for the Creative series next month.

I'm on the hunt for a new swimsuit (ugh) and have my eye on this or this.

Beach vacation with a baby. Is this a must? {related: give me ALL  your tips for roadtripping with two under two. Oy.}

Maybe I should be embarrassed about this? But I love this right now. Like so much.

Cute new tees!!

If I can be half as cool as Honey when I'm a grandma, then I've made it in life.

This shop is closing soon and I may need to finally snag a gorgeous piece for our home. Finally!


Happy weekending!

To the weekend!

 This is one of those weekends I've been looking forward to for months. Literally! I'm headed out of town for two days with two of my favorite girlfriends for a conference and I'm not sure which part I'm most excited about. Quality time with two women I look up to so much? Uninterrupted, toddler-free days? Hearing so many Godly women from across so many generations speak at the conference? Gah. So many good things!
  It's also my birthday weekend, and that always has me reflecting back on the last year and looking forward to the next. Lots of introspection! And being only a year away from 30 {why is that such a monumental birthday??}, I've got lots of hopes for how I want to round out my 20s. Maybe a 30 before 30 bucket list is in order? That could be fun! 
  But anyways. It's the weekend. I get to sleep in and not change a poopy diaper for at least 48 hours and be surrounded by women who encourage me to be more like Jesus and I have an excuse to eat cake. Let's do this! Happy weekend! :)

Sunday walks.

  October is one of those months when I feel pretty proud of Indiana. It gets all showy with it's perfect weather and colorful trees. And like everyone else, I just love Fall. I was thinking about it the other day and I decided why Fall gets all this hoopla. It's like we know this bearable weather is fleeting and our days to be outside are numbered, so we want to soak every single pumpkin-flavored drop of goodness out of Fall before Winter rushes in too fast and stays too long. At least that's how I feel. Which is why we ventured out on a long family walk yesterday, to soak up these days before we're cooped up inside. I also really love this long trail by our house and tired dogs and exercising with my husband, so it was a win on all counts. Not my favorite? A baby who decides to skip his nap in lieu of staring at the treetops and is fussy later on. You win some, you lose some.

  And on a related note, we bought a GoPro! {related only because these photos were taken with it...} But we're still pretty clueless. We have a handful of random videos from a morning round of golf and driving to the airport and some faraway photos from our family walk. Clearly, we have some learning to do. Anyone have any tips for us? Must have accessories? Video editing wisdom? We're as clueless as it gets when it comes to these things...

ps. Stick around this week! I'm sharing Caleb's nursery {finally} and the super fun Holiday Gift Guide starts on Wednesday! 

Weekend with family.

 

 The last two weekends around here have been so fun! Justin's aunt and uncle were able to visit and meet Caleb for the first time and his brother and sister-in-law made the trek from New Jersey just to meet their nephew. Both visits were so special, and meant a lot to us. The older I get, the more I really value family. Especially for our little guy. Life gets busy so easily, but it's seems more and more important to carve out time for family. Especially with our siblings! I really want Caleb to grow up knowing his aunts and uncles and cousins. It's always so much fun when our entire families get together, but there's something extra special about this visits with pockets of our family- a few siblings at a time, you know? The visits are bit quieter and easy going. I think 10 years from now, I will love looking back on having Matt and Mary around. Sitting and talking with Mary for a couple hours about life while the boys head out for golf. Feeling so comfortable with passing the baby around and sharing chores like taking out the trash and doing the dishes {you know I feel comfortable with you if you're doing the dishes or taking our the trash in my house!}. These kind of visits are just so good. They make me want to work to have them happen more often. In fact, I have some high hopes for some family vacations with our siblings and their kids over the years- what's cuter than cousins growing up with lake house and beach vacation traditions? 

  The best part of their visit was that we'll be seeing them again in a few weeks when we all meet up in Michigan for an MSU game. That definitely makes saying goodbye that much easier! 

  

Weekend bits.

                                                 
                                                                                                           

  Gosh, it was a good weekend. When you can squeeze in time with friends, family, sleeping in, baby smiles, and ice cream- what's there to complain about? Caleb and I started swim lessons on Friday {yes, my 7 week old baby is in swim classes!} and then we celebrated by capturing one of his first smiles on camera! That night we had some friends over {because we're learning it's just so much easier to put your baby to sleep in his own bed while you keep hanging out than to keep him out an about}. Cooking out, cornhole, WINE {I'm so easing myself back into wine...evidently I'm an extreme lightweight these days}, and Cards Against Humanity made for such a fun Friday night. On Sunday we celebrated my niece's 2nd birthday and finally got some family photos. It can be a bit of a hassle to get everyone together and cooperative {read:: toddlers}, but I'm so glad we finally got a photo of the three cousins together. Especially since the family is going to be growing in a few months! Another highlight of the weekend? Discovering Monster Cookie ice cream at Target. Shut. Up. It is so delicious. So delicious. Did I say that already? 

  After a great weekend, I'm feeling really refreshed and excited to work on creating a routine this week. How was your weekend?

Football and family.

  Remember when I mentioned having a weekend full of people-time? That happened. Including two bedtimes after 1am. Guys, that's a big deal. I don't stay up until 11:30pm even. Unless GossipGirl is on. That show is so freaking addictive. 
  So anyways, this weekend was filled to the brim with people-time. And I didn't hate it! In fact, it was kind of awesome. We drove up to the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game on Saturday to support Justin's cousin {Go Green!} and were able to hang out all day {and Sunday, too!} with his other cousin and his girlfriend. It always bothers me that we don't see J's family often, so its extra special to go to MSU games with them once in a while. Also, his cousin's girlfriend loves Gossip Girl, too. So we connected over that. And, I'm watching GG right now. Clearly I'm obsessed. 
   Moral of the story, people-time isn't the worst, especially when family is involved! Also, Gossip Girl!! How's was your weekend? 

Weekends should always be this long.

  This {4 day} weekend was fabulous. And I'm not just saying that because this is a blog and you're supposed to make your life sound like the Best. Thing. Ever. Really, this weekend was good. I blame it on the whole 4 day thing. I'm starting a petition that we make every single weekend be 3-4 days long. 2 day weekends are for the birds. Who's with me??

weekend recap.

First of all, you should know that if I had one of those fancy schmancy cameras {or was just better at whipping out my iPhone...},

I would totally be posting pics of the following happenings. But I don't, and I'm not :)

This weekend was epic in so many ways:

-getting some legit work done the that unending office project

-FREE cover charge, appetizers, and 1/2 off drinks with the hubster, sister, and some friends

-LOTS of dancing

-sleeping in way way WAY too long all weekend

-catching up with a dear friend over starbucks

-eating far too much delicious food

-spending far too much time at the dog park

-catching up on HIMYM {did you know I'm obsessed?}

-surprising J with a completely clean apt!

-lunch at our fav, throwback italian place

-letting the husband spoil me with a little shopping at the outlets

-popsicles. {=amazing}

and, since you're dying {I'm sure}

here are the 4 pictures I did manage to take!

Hung this bad boy all by myself. And no, its not crooked. The phone was :)

Long Islands are my weakness.

Clearly I wasn't ready for this one.

WHAT a face! So glad he lets me snuggle in the mornings :)

happy monday! How was your weekend?