Baby's First Roadtrip

I still think it is weird that Gracie was born in Texas. I expected her to be born this city girl, and she would always have that tie to D.C. I was thinking about that a lot once I realized her first road trip was going to be to Plainview, Texas ... she is a true Texan! 

Plainview is a tiny town about 30 minutes from Lubbock, TX (don't ask me in which direction), home of Texas Tech University. My sister-in-law and her family live there. My brother in law is a farmer of cotton, corn and sunflowers. It is such a dramatically different lifestyle that I am used to, so I was very excited to see what Plainview was all about. My SIL was throwing a surprise, 90s themed, 30th birthday party my BIL, so that was a perfect occasion for us to visit. 

Of course I was way too wound up, worrying how Gracie was going to do, and how we were going to manage all the logistics that come along with traveling with a baby. For those who do not know, babies roll deep. But Gracie was a gem! She really liked West Texas. We left early on Saturday so she slept practically the whole ride (5 hours). We just stopped once to feed her. On the way back Sunday she just as cool as a cucumber. Hopefully this is a good omen for our trip to D.C. next month.

The party was a blast. I was very impressed with all the 90s details, and you know me, I am a sucker for details. My SIL purchased 300 pogs from eBay for like five bucks. There were tie dyed tables, a great photo booth, and a very impressive cake. Gracie loved jamming out to the Spice Girls pandora station. My mother-in-law, who is a saint, insisted she watch her, along with the other 3 grand babies, after I fed her, so Zach and I enjoyed a little alone time as well. All in all the night was a big success. 

Loving Lately

Gracie's smiles - Gracie is starting to have smiles that are not just passing gas! These are the truly heart warming moments that make all the sleeplessness worth it. I mean she is just the cutest thing in the world. She has started to wake up in the morning super smiley and cooing. It is just everything. 

Antacid medicine - We started Gracie on heartburn medicine about 3 weeks ago and it is truly life changing. She is just so much happier. Poor lady was suffering before. I only wished I pushed for it earlier. It is a real game changer. 

Amope Pedi Perfecter - this was something I splurged on when we moved into our Dallas condo, and I am not regretting it. It is basically a power sander for your feet. My feet get nasty fast, especially when I get regular runs in, so this is a quick tool that really cleans them up fast. I've tried the razors, the scrapers, the pumice stones ... you name it. This by far works the best.

Iced Carmel Macchiatos - yes people, it happened. Zach said I would drink coffee once we had kids, and I always rolled my eyes. However, when my cousins came to town I sipped on their Starbucks order and I was intrigued. Of course I chose the item at Starbucks that is the priciest and has all the calories, but that's the way it goes sometimes right? Thankfully Kroger sells them in a jug to save $$ during the week. 

Weekend with the Cousins

All the way back when Gracie was in the NICU (a lifetime ago really) my amazing cousins booked tickets to come out and see us. The last weekend in May they flew in, and we all (9 adults, 4 babies and a 3 year old) had such a wonderful time. 

Friday morning started off with manicures and pedicures at the nail salon across from Gracie's hospital. The nail technicians remembered me and Gracie, even though I had only been in there once and it was seven weeks ago. I loved being able to show my cousins the hospital because I spent such a significant part of my life there. After that relaxing morning, we met up with the boys and the babies and headed into Dallas. Zach and I showed them our condo and we walked to West Village, an area with lots of restaurants and shops. Lunch was so so, but everyone loved our place. The most interesting part of the day is when the girls (myself, my two cousins, Gracie, and my cutest second cousin Millie) piled in our car to drive back to Zach's parents house. The 35 minute car ride turned into an hour and 45 minutes. Thank you Dallas traffic. I'm About to Loose My Mind came on the radio and both babies let out a collective cry haha. Thankfully we made it back with out too much trauma. 

Saturday we did our standard, but always a hit, Fort Worth tour. We started in the Stockyards, which I love. It is seriously hokey, but it just the place you need to go when you visit Texas. My cousin is a graphic designer for a country wear company. We walked into one of the stores and BAM - a huge display of her stuff. It was very cool. After the stockyards we went to Joe T's for some delicious Mexican food. 

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the babies, sauvignon blanc, and my in-laws' pool. We took Gracie swimming for the first time ... she loved it!! Oh my goodness, it was something to see. She was so relaxed! I was so grateful for my cousins for making the trip, and so thankful to have friends like them. 

Discovering Dallas: Bishop Arts District

To kick off Memorial Day Weekend Zach's boss and her husband invited us out to dinner in an area of Dallas called Bishop Arts. I was a. very excited because it seemed like I hadn't spoken to adults that I wasn't related to in months and b. very nervous that Gracie was going to have a melt down during dinner. No fear was needed though,  she slept like an angel the entire time and we enjoyed a delicious dinner with adult conversation :) 

Bishop Arts was a complete surprise to me. It reminded me of a downtown Raleigh, Boone or Nashville. It was about five blocks of little boutiques, art shops, and great looking restaurants. People were performing on the streets and it was very walkable. It had a down to earth feel to it, and nothing was cookie cutter. 

We at Boulevardier. Their tagline is: Food you can eat. Cocktails you can drink. Wine you can afford. Zach's boss and her husband are real foodies and picked out some great items for us to share and try. Oysters, bone marrow, and octopus. Zach and I love to eat, but aren't that adventurous, so it was nice to step out of our comfort zone. Bone marrow is delicious people!

After dinner we walked to Dude, Sweet Chocolate for some dessert, and were serenaded with some street music. Overall I was extremely impressed with Bishop Arts and can't wait to go back to explore. 

Egg Muffins

After the baby there has been a lot of eating my feelings. I am sure this is a common occurrence with new mom, NICU stay or not. I am not putting pressure on my self to lose my baby weight. However going from running/walking 5 miles a day to being lucky to get a 20 minute run in a day, along with eating my feelings, I didn't want to gain any more post baby weight. So Zach and and I decided to go back on the Whole 30. 

I have made a couple batches of these egg muffins so far, and I love them. Basically you bake eggs with a bunch of vegetables in cupcake tins and you have a super quick breakfast waiting for you in the morning. Time is precious these days, so being able to go to the fridge and pull something out delicious and healthy for breakfast is awesome. 

Click here for the recipe and enjoy!

Coming Up for Air

Hi everyone! It has certainly been awhile. After a crazy 11 weeks, I am finally starting to feel like I am coming up for air. Gracie is home from the hospital, we are settled into our condo, and Zach is a couple weeks into his new job. We have finally reached our new “normal.”

Throughout my pregnancy I always had the mind set that having a baby would be hard. I wanted to manage expectations so I wasn’t too surprised when our little girl finally came. Lol boy was I right! My life revolves around a three hour time clock. Feed Gracie, hold her, pump, then either do a bunch of to-dos while Gracie sleeps or bounce around with her if she is not feeling the whole sleep time. Before you know it the clock starts again and I repeat. She is obviously the most adorable baby I have ever seen (she is a spitting image of me, how could she not be ;) ?). She has started to follow me with her eyes and that just melts my heart. She is also an extremely fussy baby. This A. breaks my heart because all I want to do is make her feel better and B. makes me feel inadequate that I can’t. This is where I listen to all my mom friends and keep the mantra #itgetsbetter.

So here we are in our new normal and I have started to feel like I am starting to grasp this new life as a stay-at-home Dallas momma. I had a good week of getting in a run before Zach leaves for work. This is a huge factor in how I feel the rest of the day, and I am glad I am getting better at it. I’ve started to work on a few initiatives to help expand Cheers with Love, and have looked into a few opportunities where Gracie and I can get out and meet new moms and babies. It will be a slow process but I am excited to see where this new life will take me, Zach and our adorable baby girl.

Firsts

Today I breast fed and drove a truck for the first time. Breast feeding was harder haha.