Five on Friday

Happy Friday! Did you wake up to snow today? We did! Just a heavy dusting, but it still made C go nuts, haha. She was running from window to window to show me all of the things that the snow was covering. Love her. 

I'm linking up with some of my favorite reads for my first Five on Friday in quite a while! Here are a few totally random thoughts heading into the weekend...

1. Target. Ooooh Target, why can't I quit you? Especially the "dollar" section (Target shoppers know why I put that in quotations, as most things are $3 or even $5 these days - but does that stop me?). It's not news that Target has cute stuff and it's definitely not news that I can't resist buying said cute stuff, but the Dollar Spot is KILLING it right now with their New Year and Valentine's Day goodies. This picture isn't great quality, but here's a preview of what I found -- the rose gold faux leather pouch says "this & that" and the white pouch says "bag of tricks." I mean, come on.

2. Meal Planning & Prep. Yesterday I started an 8-week "body back" course that consists of workouts and a healthy eating plan. The problem with healthy eating is that 1. willpower and 2. it involves planning and prep. I vowed as part of the course to carve out time to do both, but I'm a little nervous about making it happen. Any tips for planning out your weekly meals and prepping before hand so it's easy to follow through? And any delicious, healthy, easy recipes you'd care to share? ;)

3. Melissa & Doug Water Wow. Wheeeere have these been all of my mom life? My mom got one for C for Christmas and she played with it for HOURS the first night. She keeps going back to it, too! I actually just bought another one with a different theme on Amazon because I figure they're great for on the go!

4. Weekend Plans. What's everyone up to this weekend? Sadly, I have a celebration of life service for my aunt on Saturday -- she passed away on New Year's Eve after a long, brave battle with cancer. On Sunday I hope to take down our Christmas decor (wah) and organize the house a bit.

5. My baby is 6 Months Old Today! Today marks six months in the world for miss Hadley Kate. I can't believe it. I'm not sure how half a year passed already. She seems to be growing and learning and changing every day, and she's so smiley. The sweetest!

Hello, 2017

Happy Thursday, and Happy New Year! 

It has been about 9 months since I last blogged. The last time I hit "publish" on a post, I was pregnant with our second baby girl, in the thick of working (a lot) from home, and raising a 2.5 year old. I've been a spotty blogger, at best, over the last six (!!!) years and yet each year I set the same goal: blog more. 

If you already know me personally, the reasons that I aspire to blog more will probably be obvious to you: I love writing, I love sharing, I love inspiring and being inspired, and I love connecting with people. Blogging is such a natural fit for me. And, if you know me personally, the reasons I seem to fail miserably at blogging regularly are also probably obvious: I'm a mom to two little ones, when I'm not parenting (aka nap time and bed time), I'm busy working from home, and I have a tendency to start things, or want to start them, and not finish them. I bet you can already guess what one of my goals is for 2017! ;)

I've realized that one of the biggest reasons I don't stick with blogging, as much as I really really want to, is that I have this idea of what a blog post should look like. Perfectly curated with high-quality photos and recent happenings, all appropriately linked up, following some type of "theme" (fashion blog, mommy blog, decor blog, etc.). So instead of opening my laptop and just beginning, typing away about all of the things I want to share, I sit there for way too long thinking about how a post SHOULD look and - surprise! - I never even begin.

So this year, in the very thick of parenting two littles (Carrie is 3 and Hadley is 6 months tomorrow, if you wondered), trying to balance my WAHM role (I'm a book publicist, if you wondered), and enjoying all of the other things I love most in life: my marriage, my family, my friendships, fashion finds, decorating our new (to us) house, and more... I'm going to try so hard to carve out that time for blogging that I crave. I hope what I share here resonates or inspires some of you. We're all in this together, after all! 

Look for a belated 2016 wrap up soon, as well as what I hope 2017 holds. :)

Why House Hunting Will Be the Death of Me

Steve and I are starting to look for a new home. Since moving to New Jersey six years ago, we rented an apartment as newlyweds for three years (it was small and super cute and I loved it) and then moved into our current rental -- an end unit townhome with great light but only 2 bedrooms -- when we got pregnant with C. We started our little family in this house, and although I love it and believe it was absolutely perfect for us for over three years, now that we have another princess on the way we need more bedrooms. We also have decided that this is where we'd like to settle for a while, so instead of renting, we plan to buy.

We extended our lease at our current place for six months (until the end of this September) to ensure that we'd have a place to live in the months before, during, and after having a newborn - kind of important, right? ;) However, this means that we need to wait at least another month or two before making an offer somewhere else. The problem is, once I have my mind set to something, I'm kind of obsessive. I found the perfect house for us, guys... the perfect one. Our realtor took me to see it and I loved it even more, then we went back with Steve and he loved it too. I was hoping it would last until we could make an offer considering it's been on the market for a few months and is priced a little on the high side, but we just found out that they accepted another offer yesterday.

So, here is why house hunting will be the death of me (please let me know if you can relate!):

1. I am obsessive. I check house apps and websites multiple times a day and know everything there is on the market. While it's fun, it's also a time suck and gets kind of disappointing when nothing new and viable makes an appearance.

2. I am a perfectionist. Not necessarily in the way that I need a perfect house, but I know exactly what I want and the fact that a house that felt right to me slipped through our fingers will haunt me. Sigh.

3. It takes time. Like I said, once I have my mind set to something I work really hard at making it happen. I do tons of research, enlist professionals, etc. But the truth about house hunting is that it's a process -- one that includes so many parties, including mortgage lenders, real estate agents (ours is great, thankfully!), sellers, sellers' agents, other buyers, and more. Long processes were not made for impatient people. Or maybe it's the other way around. ;)

4. It takes money. Lots of money. Which is just stressful. Making an investment that involves a significant portion of your savings and hundreds of thousands of dollars is scary!

5. It's competitive. I can't figure out if I'm competitive by nature. Part of me thinks yes (the whole going after what I want thing), but part of me also thinks no (haggling and going up against 5 other buyers sounds exhausting).

6. Finally, disappointment is a tough emotion. And along with house hunting usually comes quite a bit of disappointment -- that's just the reality. My 2 year old has a tough time dealing with this emotion ("I don't get 5 desserts after dinner?! WHAT?!"), but so do I. 

So, there you have it. Not the most cheery post, but today I'm feeling disappointed so I'm just keeping it real in case anybody out there can relate. Can you? 

25 Weeks!

This Saturday marked 25 weeks pregnant - wow! This time around pregnancy is seriously flying by. Thankfully, it's been another easy and happy pregnancy so far and I hope I can continue to say that for another 15 weeks. :) Here's the 25 week update!

How far along? 25 weeks + 3 days today, 25 weeks + 1 day in the picture above

Size of the baby? About 13 inches long and somewhere between 1.5 - 1.75 pounds

Gender? Princess #2

Showing? Oh yeah

Maternity Clothes? It's a mix. Maternity pants for sure, starting to mix regular/maternity dresses in, and still a lot of regular tops.

Sleep? Pretty good this week!

Movement? All the time, especially after I drink my morning iced coffee or eat fruit.

Food Cravings? Fruit, cereal

Anything making you sick? No!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood? Happy :)

Best moment this week? A great 24 week checkup last Monday and telling my immediate family her name! They're sworn to secrecy!

Challenges/strange moments? Nothing much, except this bean has been kicking, punching, or head butting me really low (it must be the bottom of my cervix or something) which I don't remember with C

Looking forward to? Moving forward with living plans, getting my first glucose test over with in three weeks. ;) 

Our Easter Week and Weekend

Happy Monday! I took a bit of an unplanned blogging hiatus last week as we have begun house hunting and between that, work, and chasing after a toddler (while 6 months pregnant), I kept pretty busy. ;) 

I just polished off the last bag of Starburst jellybeans in the house, which I suppose is symbolic (and, honestly, a relief - haha!). Easter has come and gone! It was such a fun week or so of Easter activities, including a hayride and two egghunts, dyeing eggs, Easter-themed crafts, culminating of course in a lovely Easter Sunday yesterday. C is at such a fun age for holidays where she's really starting to "get it" and look forward to all that comes along with them.

I have a million pictures but I'll just post a few here or I won't know where to stop! So, first, we did a hayride/egg hunt at a local family farm. It was adorable -- they had us sit on warm hay bales in the middle of an orchard and told a story about Peter Rabbit dropping his eggs in the woods. The kids then rushed into this little wooded alcove and collected eggs. They had to return their eggs at the end but received a bag of goodies (read: candy) for their effort. 

At Johnsons, I picked up these tulips which brightened my house and brought me happiness every time I walked by them for a week until they perished. #blackthumb

Continuing the Easter fun, I decided to be brave and try dyeing eggs with a two year old. It went surprisingly well using the genius whisk trick I saw a bunch of other moms doing! We only cracked one egg, which C still talks about "oh no, we broke it!" 

On Saturday we headed over to my girlfriend's house (her daughter is the same age as C and her BFF) for another fun egg hunt in their back yard, ordered pizza, and hung out. There's something about watching your baby make friends that just makes your heart want to explode. These two have been going strong for a year and a half! They'll be attending the same preschool in the fall. :)

Finally, Easter Sunday! I prepared two Easter baskets (I ditched the third one at the last minute because I was just going to fill a few eggs with jellybeans, which I decided wasn't necessary) and C tore into them Sunday morning before I could get decent pictures - ha! Thus the blurry shot below. I tried. Her "big" gift was a Buzz Lightyear doll which has been a hit. Later in the afternoon, my family came to our house and Steve and I prepared a simple dinner for everyone: crockpot ham (turned out pretty well!), homemade mac n cheese (turned out eh), salad, and rolls. 

Adorable dress (that I would totally wear if they had my size) from Target. ;)

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend with their family! Hope to be a bit more active around here this week! XO

Five on Friday // Five Things!

Yaaaay, Friday! As usual, I'm happy to see the weekend arrive. Not so happy, however, that snow is in the forecast for Sunday. Who lives somewhere perpetually warm and wants to take in a family of soon-to-be 4 plus a golden retriever? Hmmm? Anyone? :)

Annie @ Home of Malones had a fun take on Five on Friday, so I thought instead of my usual randomness, I'd follow suit! 

At the top of your wishlist right now:
These stacked heels by Halogen (which look so much cuter in person, btw)

& also

These Sam Edelman beauties in "Nude"

Blog(s) you’re loving lately:

I'm totally stealing Annie's answer here because this post by Jessica about spending time with your kids really resonated with me yesterday.

Favorite thing(s) about spring:
Spending time outdoors, fresh flowers, fun colors, family walks, grilling for dinner (thanks husband), no bundling up, Easter... to name a few. ;)

The next trip you’re taking:
We have our annual beach trip to Stone Harbor scheduled for early June. I will be 3 weeks away from giving birth, but I can't wait!

TV show you can’t stop watching:
This is an easy one right now: Parenthood. Just started season 5 on Netflix. Side note for anyone else who has watched: I'm super annoyed with Sarah for choosing Hank over Mark. Mark was such a great guy and so genuine, and Hank is so negative and a bit possessive. Maybe this changes later on, but booo for now.

And I will leave you with this oldie but goodie eCard, since my obsession lately has been Starburst jellybeans. Happy Friday!

Confessional Thursday

Thursday again?! I can't keep up. I go between wanting time to slow down (when I look at the big picture) and loving that the weeks fly (when I'm looking forward to the weekend!). In any case, here we are, so let's jump into a few short confessions! 

-We attempted potty training on Monday. And let's just say... it didn't go as planned. I studied my book, even wrote out a list of reminders for myself, barely slept the night before (don't ask me why) and nothing went the way I had expected. So you know what I did? I gave up. I was feeling down about it and then I realized 1. C is still young 2. Everything goes better when not forced 3. We needed to get out and enjoy ourselves this week instead of being cooped up naked at home. Haha! So, when it feels right again, we'll give it another go.

-C requested a pony tail this morning which she NEVER does, and I realized quickly just how inept I am at doing hair. Now that I'm a full-fledged girl mom, I should probably up my game a little. ;)

-We are looking at moving within the next six months and I have been STALKING houses like a mad woman. It's actually become compulsive - I check the apps and real estate sites many, many times a day. It's just how I am when I know something's on the horizon. Such a planner. Tireless. I need to calm down.

-I have this bad habit and always have of furrowing my brow when I'm thinking/concentrating and now that I'm nearing thirty, I have the fine lines to prove it - sigh. And guess who else has a furrowed brow? My daughter! It's so crazy how we pass down so much to our littles. Sorry Miss C!

-I am on my second bag of starburst jellybeans. The second bag I swore I would not open until Easter. It's opened and I am popping those little suckers left and right. Perks of pregnancy... right? Right.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! May your day be full of luck & laughter!