Let Me Remember

Oh, hi! I'm already failing miserably on my goal to actually post here in this little space, but I'm determined not to let the craziness of life and infrequency of posting deter me. I have about 10 drafts sitting around, half written, including a 2016 recap post that will probably have to be rolled into a 2017 recap post at this point (insert laughing-crying emoji here). ;) 

I shared the below on my personal Facebook page earlier this evening and wanted to share here, also, as I'm sure many of you who have kids (or the two people who might see this) can relate. I love watching Carrie grow, but sometimes I'm terrified I'll forget all of the tiny details of this stage of life, which I'm so enjoying. 

.....................................

let me never forget the mischief in her blue eyes, the way she acts out movie scenes, the sound of her running across the floor as fast as her little legs will take her, her little outie belly button, all of the words she says incorrectly but more adorably than i could ever dream up, the way her golden curls smell when she sits on my lap to read, her hand dimples. good lord, the hand dimples. 

let me never take for granted that i'm the person she reflexively reaches for when she's hurt, that i'm the one she chooses to play the lead in her make believe worlds, that i am the one graced with the title "my best friend princess mommy." the honor of my life.

and that's just the oldest girl. ohhhh yes, i am in trouble with these daughters of mine. 

Our *Snow Filled* Weekend

Hey there! Happy Monday! Another weekend come and gone and this one was one of those that didn't go quite as planned, but ended up good all in all anyway. I'm not sure why I was the only one who wasn't in on the fact that we were getting a lot of snow on Saturday -- I guess I need to check my weather app more often! ;) 

My last post was about the passing of my Aunt Kathy on New Year's Eve, and I was to attend her "celebration of life service" on Saturday about 2 hours away. I woke up, got ready (I mean, I blew out my hair -- that never happens), picked out a colorful top as she had requested we all wear happy colors and not black (so her), kissed Steve and the girls goodbye and started off. About 25 minutes and 6 spun out cars later, I decided to turn around. It just felt too precarious. It's funny, when you're a mom, those little risks just don't seem worth it anymore -- I knew I had to get home safely to my babies. My in-laws had made their way up before the storm got bad and were visiting when I arrived back home. It was good to be warm in the house and to hang out with everyone, but honestly, I was just so bummed to miss the service and not to be there with my family supporting them. But - that's life! 

So instead, I started tackling what feels like the monumental task of taking down Christmas (and replacing with Valentine's Day!), we bundled up and went outside in the snow for a while, and made breakfast for dinner. 

On Sunday the roads were much better so Steve suggested we head home to celebrate my brother's birthday (happy 34th today, Matt!) with a simple pizza and cake. It worked out perfectly. We got to visit, the kids got to play, and then we headed back home.

Hope everyone stayed warm, safe, & mostly dry this weekend! Be back tomorrow with a late 2016 year in review and 2017 goals (which, I must say, I've already started on -- big ol' pats on the back for me. ha!). 

In Memory

I last saw my aunt kathy on christmas eve. She was weak and tired, but she still laughed along with us as we told stories, still handed out wrapped gifts to our girls, still caught carrington when she leaped off the stairs into her arms for a hug. So classic aunt kathy. And she wouldn't have missed christmas eve for the world. It was always her holiday... my memory is filled with childhood christmas eves at her house, decorating gingerbread houses and singing carols. She loved parties and kids (most especially her own two girls) and making the most out of life. It wasn't easy for her, but she made it to my cousin's wedding in early november and, I'm not kidding, SHE was swinging all of US across the dance floor.

She passed away on New Year's Eve after a remarkable four year fight against cancer. Yesterday my family celebrated her life and I couldn't be there and I'm really, really pissed off at the snow. It's hard to be far away from family, but especially at times like these.

So long, for now. <3 

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. ;)