what I'm loving wednesday & an update...

happy wednesday! forgot about this blog? apparently I did too - #oops. to say life has been hectic is an understatement but I have no complaints - life is AMAZING. the move has of course added small stresses here and there but we're pretty much all unpacked and settled in and just waiting on a few more pieces of furniture! we absolutely love our little apartment, community, neighborhood and new routine! also, I'd be remiss if I did not mention I am LOVING my new commute - if you can even call it that... it takes me less than 10 minutes to get to work/penny's school tops. oh yes, and Ms. P is loving her school and I love that she's so close and how developmental and caring they are. It's also pretty great that I'm only pumping twice a day -- once at 9am (when she gets a bottle at school) and then at night before I go to bed.  I am able to nurse her before and after work (and I walk to her school and nurse her twice throughout the day). It is AMAZING being so close and seeing her throughout the day... I can't say enough positive things about where she is.  so yes. life is pretty darn great.

so those are the major things I'm loving -- here is the bulleted/picture list because let's be real - that's more fun!

I'm loving... that I got to spend time with my sweet friend Sarah this weekend - and that she met Penny for the first time!

I'm loving... that we're getting more visitors this weekend and Kelly and Lindsey are coming to visit! It's been forever since the three of us have been together (DJ and I's wedding was the last time - almost two years, yikes!). I'm so excited to show them Atlanta and play tourist with them all weekend!

I'm loving... that we're going to a Braves game later this week [with free tickets too, wahoo]! crazy to think the last time we went was a year ago and I was pregnant with Penny!

I'm loving... my sweet, loving and sexy husband...

...our cuddly pup...

...and our beautiful sweet baby girl...

yup. loving life.

happy wednesday!

get ready... bulldog & baby pictures coming tomorrow!

what I'm loving wednesday...

happy wednesday. I'm excited to get out of the house for a bit today - we're heading to buy buy baby to buy Penelope's stroller, hooray! this week has been quite relaxing and I'm excited for a low-key weekend too... though with a 2 month old pretty much all our weekends have been low-key lately, hah. so, here are all the fun things I've been loving this week...

I'm loving... that we've been juicing again.

I'm loving... that we got to see two of our sweet friends over the past two weeks! Hooray for Penny meeting Aunt Lindi and Uncle Brian! (and for us getting to spend time with them)

I'm loving... that Emily picked Jef! It's sad how invested I am in reality TV.

I'm loving... that I had my first bellini in almost a year this past weekend. I LOVE me some bellinis, yum.

I'm loving... that we're spending Friday night with DJ's younger brother Mat and our sister-in-law Summer celebrating Summer's birthday (and of course our adorable nephews)!

I'm loving... that DJ and I are writing "the story of us" to share on the blog and to share with Penny one day. I'm posting the first chapter next week, get excited! :)

I'm loving... my smiley baby girl.

I'm loving... my cuddlebugs [wasn't he a cute little smushedface pup?!]

...and as always, I'm loving my amazing husband... who as it ends up is the world's best daddy too.

happy wednesday!

what are you loving on this sunny summer wednesday?

what I'm loving wednesday...

happy wednesday! this week is just flying by -- I think because I had "stuff" to do the past two days (lunch date Monday, PJ's doctors appointment Tuesday) but now it's just relaxing and working for the next few days before our friend Brian comes to visit this weekend! Yes, that's right - fun visitors two weekends in a row! Anyways, here's what I'm loving this week...

I'm loving... Penny's new glasses. I mean - can it get any cuter?! [yup. she's wearing pink, pink and more pink!]

I'm loving... that I went shopping on Monday and got some new tops! I got some "boob bar" friendly tops aka larger shirts that are a little looser [so I can wear them over a nursing tank top and just pull it up to nurse/pump] -- clearly Ollie loved my new clothes too because he jumped up on the bed [?!?!... we didn't know he could do this...] and laid on them - DJ walked in our bedroom and found him like this... silly dog.

I'm loving... this ruffle-trim top [I bought the blue and red polka-dot ones] so cute!

I'm loving... the sales at Banana Republic this week - I got five tops for $60 [including this adorable and soft/comfy one] -- can't beat that!

I'm loving... these Pierre Dumas Lorna sandals [and for $19.99 I think I need them... DJ, thoughts?? ha. seriously.]

I'm loving... that Brian [aka my little brother] is coming to visit us this weekend and finally meet Ms. Penny! Here's Brian [in the middle] doing a reading at our wedding... 

I'm loving... Mott's Fruitsations 100% Juice Ice Bars -- 40 calories each and they are AMAZING! They were sampling these at Costco last week and after trying them they were immediately placed in our cart.  I've been having one [or two] a night as a guilt-free snack. LOVE.

...and as always, I'm loving my sweet, sweet Penelope...

...my adorable and loving [and kissable] husband...

...and sweet, sweet pup...

happy wednesday friends!

what are YOU loving?

what I'm loving wednedsay...

happy wednesday! or in my case - happy day that my best friend is coming to visit and finally meeting my sweet daughter! in other news - Penny is EIGHT WEEKS old today...?! what? I feel like just yesterday I was finding out I was pregnant (or complaining about still being pregnant, ha) and now we've had our Sweet P in this world for almost two months. man. life is good.  so anyways, here's what I'm loving on this gloomy wednesday afternoon --

I'm loving... Starbucks Iced Coffee VIA's - seriously. LOVE them. It's becoming a part of my daily routine [yes, they're a little pricey but so tasty and cheaper than going to Starbucks everyday]

I'm loving... the adorable outfit Ms. P is wearing today -- "...and on Wednesday's we wear PINK!"*

I'm loving... Moms On Call - Penny is officially sleeping through the night! I love the routine we have going with her and the fact that she has not gotten up in the middle of the night in almost two weeks. Mommy getting 8 hours of sleep = life is good for everyone!

I'm loving... the last two guys standing on the Bachelorette - I'm just not going to know what to do with myself when this season is over, I've become so invested. I know, I know - pathetic, party of one.

I'm loving... that I get to see my best friend in less than 12 hours!

I'm loving... maxi dresses [other than yoga/sweat pants I really haven't worn much else this summer]. namely, I love this adorable dress that I got from Target.

[only $27.99, #winning]

as always -- I'm loving... my sweet husband and adorable pup!

[I'm also loving that I'm dropping this baby weight and my arms have gotten smaller than they were in this picture... wahoo! judge away, I'm excited.]

and I'm loving... my sweet, sweet baby girl Penelope.**

happy wednesday lovies!

*just had to sneak the Mean Girls reference in, I can't help myself...

**things I'm not loving - that my baby now shares a name with a kardashian. boo, hiss. whatever, we know who came first!

what I'm loving wednesday...

happy fourth of july! is it just me or does it not feel like a holiday? we're having a low-key fourth... just going to see a potential house, hanging out with some friends for a bit and then relaxing at home for the majority of the day/night. anyways, here's what I'm loving on this red, white and blue wednesday...

I'm loving... America, duh. haha, had to - seriously though... loving the U.S. of A.

I'm loving... So You Think You Can Dance - fun fact: one of the top twenty is a ZTA from undergraduate chapter (UCF), so exciting - so I'm rooting for our little Eta Kappa (she's also from my hometown)!

I'm loving... The Bachelorette... I seriously am so in love with Emily and Jef, I shed tears when Jef read his letter to her... no really, crying like a baby [hello nursing hormones...].

I'm loving... juice. what? I love juice. I cannot drink enough freaking juice and there is none in our house right now and it's driving me crazy. we will be going to a gas station tomorrow to get my some OJ or some lemonade [random, but true]

I'm loving... my MacBook Air... it's light, sleek and just soooo much faster and intuitive than my six year old "vintage" MacBook that just died!

so that's my random list of what I'm loving this week... as always - I'm loving... my boys!

...and I'm loving my sweet, sweet girl - my Penny!

gah, so freaking cute. 

don't you just want to kiss her sweet face?!

happy fourth of july!

happy wednesday!

drink a cold one for me...

what I'm loving wednesday...

happy wednesday! let's get real - the days all run together for me... especially since DJ works from home and has been so swamped that he's been working on the weekends - the weekends really aren't too different for me.  honestly, the only way I know it's the weekend is by everyone's "hooray it's the weekend" blog, twitter and facebook posts. so anyways, happy wednesday [or just another day they all run together for me, haha].... here are the fabulous things that I'm loving this week...

I'm loving... The Bachelorette this season -- I am entirely WAY too invested in who Emily chooses and get way too excited for Tuesdays [I watch them on my iPad during the day]. I'm loving Arie and Jef [not the best picture of Arie]... at this point, I'm going to be devastated if Emily doesn't choose one of them. I know, I know - judge away.

[also, this is definitely NOT the best picture of Arie]

I'm loving... Edy's All Natural Fruit Bars - these are PERFECT for summer... 80 calories a pop, great flavors and they're made with pure fruit [and no high-fructose corn syrup]. These are a great [quazi] guilt-free snack!

I'm loving... yoga pants. real talk: I haven't worn anything other than yoga pants, sweat pants or maxi dresses all summer and I love it.

I'm loving... Penny's newborn pictures! I'm still obsessed with them - I posted our faves yesterday, check them out here if you missed it!

I'm loving... G2 gatorade - another summer staple in my life [seriously - when did I get so lame, I know?!]

I'm loving... our Summer Baby Monitor - I seriously love that we have a video monitor  - I love watching Penny wiggle around [and it makes it easier to creep on my husband when he's taking care of Penny... what? it's fun!]

and of course... I'm loving... my Sweet Pea... crazy to think she's over a month old now!

isn't she so freaking cute?! gah, I love her!

and I'm loving... my sweet, sweet boys!

happy wednesday!

...or if you're like me - happy what day is it again?

what I'm loving wednesday: the newborn edition...

sorry if this blog is turning into a baby blog - I promise some posts on random jibber-jabber and cute pictures of Oliver soon but for now - all things baby are taking over my brain so that's what you're getting!

hopefully the hospital essentials (first, second and third trimester essentials) that I shared have been helpful to some of you out there! so to continue on with sharing my all-knowing wisdom experiences... here are the things that made our first few weeks adjusting to being a family of four [what? oliver counts] so much easier!

so with all that being said - here is what I'm loving when it comes to "newborn lifesavers" - these are the things that have just made our lives so much easier the past few weeks...

first, I'm obsessed with our aden + anais muslin swaddle blankets - they're great for swaddling as well as just a nice lightweight blanket that we can use all the time and all over the place... these get used daily if not every hour on the hour in our house...

another thing that we use daily/hourly are these Gerber Prefold Cloth Diapers - but not as diapers... we use these as burp clothes, to wipe Penny's face, as a bib when breastfeeding - for SO many things... these are so versatile and I literally find myself always looking for one/grabbing one - especially when I'm nursing Penny!

a huge time/laundry saver in our house are these Boppy Changing Pad Liners - when people say that you'll get peed and pooped on by your baby they're not kidding/lying - who would have thought?! these changing pad liners help us not have to change our changing pad cover every hour day - they were a last minute buy that I'm SO glad we got! I'm not kidding when I say you NEED these...

now - let's talk about breastfeeding -- here is something that I think people tried to tell me but I just either didn't hear or flatout ignored- breastfeeding is HARD. okay, not hard perse - but challenging at first... let me start by saying we were really fortunate - Penny latched right away and [knock on wood] we have had no issues so far with her getting enough to eat/breastfeeding. however, she is a hungry little bugger and those first two weeks she definitely used and abused me to get what she wanted [mommy = food, all day and all night!]. with that being said, I am so glad I had a medela nipple shield - I won't go into details because you really don't want to know but let me just say this SAVED me - around a week and a half in and Penny was bringing me to tears every time she fed... using a nipple shield saved my sanity and made breastfeeding that much less painful while I "healed" - yup, I'll leave it at that...

we currently have two large trashcans in our nursery - one for cloth diapers [which we LOVE but that's a whole other post] and one for disposable diapers/trash... and believe it or not our nursery does not smell?! AMAZING. I did not want our cloth [or disposable] diapers stinking up the joint and I got these Munchkin Arm and Hammer Nursery Fresheners I dropped two of these in the bottom of each trashcan and I really do believe they're the reason that we're still smelling fresh and clean!

lastly, I'm SO happy we have a video monitor -- Penny has slept in the nursery from day one and our monitor definitely makes it easier to check in on her and to at least give us an idea behind why she's crying [has she gotten out of her swaddle? are her eyes open?] - our monitor [Summer Infant Best View Handheld Color Video Monitor] also lights up (green to red) based on how loud things are in the nursery, I really like this because I can turn the volume off when we're eating dinner/watching TV but can still see if she starts crying and turn the volume up/turn the screen on and see if she's crying/what she's doing - I was back and forth between what monitor I wanted to get and I'm SO glad I got this one! 

so there you have it...

definitely not a comprehensive list of our "favorite things" (I'll post that in a few weeks after we've had more time to play with everything and get a real solid opinion) ...just the things that have made a big difference and that I think have made things that much easier to adjusting to this whole "taking care of a baby thing"

speaking of babies... here are some pictures of our sweet little girl... 

I know, she's pretty darn cute.

I think we'll keep her.

yup.

we're keeping her.