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. 

When in Texas

A few observations from my extended stay in Texas so far:

Nobody seems to be in a particular hurry. I'm still walking around like I'm rushing to catch the next metro train. Everyone else ... A casual saunter at best. 

The local top 40 radio station is obsessed with Maroon 5. I can't get  Sugar out of my brain it is played so much. 

I'm pretty sure Blue Bell cookies and creme ice cream has medical healing properties. It's a little bowl of happiness each evening before bed. 

People here are seriously sweet. Zach and I went to Starbucks the first time and the person ahead of us in the drive through paid for our order. It almost brought me to tears. Most of Gracie's nurses I am convinced are angels walking on earth (one keeps on referring to Gracie as a he, so the jury's still out on her). 

Olivia Grace

Well if you asked me 16 days ago if I ever expected to be sitting in a Texas NICU staring at my daughter I would have thought you were crazy. But I guess if you were given a warning before   your life turns upside down, life would be just a little less interesting.

Sixteen days ago I woke up at my in laws house in Texas, just in-town for the weekend to meet our newest nephew. By the time we got to brunch to hang out with our family and meet the newest addition I was absolutely not feeling well. My miscarriage in May definitely affected this pregnancy. The whole time I was a bottle of worry, so that Sunday when I was having really bad back pain I tried to rationalize that this was just my third trimester talking. I felt that I was too much of a worrier, so I didn't pay enough concern to how I was feeling. My back pains continued but I never felt the menstrual cramps that everyone associated with labor. Zach was getting more concerned and when I decided we should go to the doctor it officially became too late. My water broke in the bathroom upstairs so we walked down stairs to get ready to go. Less than 2 minutes later (the most terrifying of my life) our daughter was born ... 9 weeks and 1 day early. I was absolutely convinced we lost her but Zach got 911 on the phone right away and tied off her umbilical chord which my pediatrician cousin said saved her life.

So Zach and I definitely did not plan to have our baby 9 weeks early in another state, but we couldn't be luckier how this truly scary experience happened. Gracie girl came when we were at home, together. She could have come when we were on the plane or when I was alone. We were taken to a hospital only 7 miles from Zach's in-laws with a top of the line NICU and some of the most amazing nurses I have ever come across. It could have been much much worse.

Two plus weeks in I would not say I'm getting used to this new life, but I am trying my best. My life revolves around the 2 hour and 15 minute window between each pumping session. I try to spend a good chunk of each day at the NICU. In the beginning all we could do was watch, then we progressed to diaper changes, and now the best, we are able to do skin to skin time with Gracie girl. Physically I feel fine, it hasn't really dawned on me that I gave birth, and mentally it is an every day journey. I feel guilty when I'm not with her, but know it's important to take those breaks so I'm not fired when she is eventually home. I get over emotional at milestones I never knew to think about ... When she got her breathing machine off, the first time I saw her in clothes, each ounce she gains. She is a feisty little girl, and I know that is due in part to all the prayers, love and support she is getting from all our friends and family. I honestly could not be more proud of her.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Sorry it’s been awhile. These days I'm either falling asleep at 8:00 PM or obsessively checking the 10-Day weather outlook, daydreaming about the day when it will be warm again. Not only is it putting me in such a funk, but also I honestly don’t know how much longer my coat’s zipper will hold out with this belly of mine!

Over my long weekend a couple of weeks ago I made Buffalo Chicken Salad for the first time. I am a sucker for anything buffalo, and this was a super easy and delicious recipe. I served it on toasted Ezikel bread to go along with the freezing temperatures outside, but it would also be a great summer meal!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

5 oz non-fat plain Greek yogurt

1/3 cup Franks Red Hot Wings Buffalo sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, minced

1/2 cup (2 oz) crumbled blue cheese (I’m not a fan so I did shredded mozzarella)

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt buffalo sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir in chicken, celery, cilantro, and blue cheese. Refrigerate until serving or up to 5 days in the fridge.

Babymoon

Two years ago I read a list of things to do with your husband before having kids. Nothing earth shattering - travel, go out to fancy restaurants, own white furniture, etc. etc. I thought the article was cheesy, but liked the concept, so Zach and I made our own list of places we wanted to see, restaurants we wanted to try, and goals we wanted to accomplish before we made that big step into parenthood. I was all about the Babymoon, one last trip, so we got to planning. Zach has very few Saturdays off, and I didn't want to spend a bunch of money, so we decided to take our vacation in one of our favorite cities - D.C.! 

The Willard is a historic hotel that just screams D.C. to me. It's about two blocks from the White House and full of history. We checked in Sunday and started the day off with a mani/pedi for me and a facial/pedi for Zach. The pedicure was a major necessity for me, and I have made a note to make sure I get at least two more before Gracie girl comes along. The rest of our stay most would say verged on boring, but I guess that was the whole point. We won't have the chance to lay around and be lazy once our little girl comes. It was -10 degrees outside so we grabbed dinner at The Hamilton next door. It worked out though, because the food was delicious, and they even served milkshakes to go. Preggo delight! The weatherman extended our relaxation a little bit longer with the snow day we had today. 

76 days till May 4!

Milestones

Today I have officially crossed over into the third trimester! I am very proud to say, and slightly shocked, that I am still running. However I am rocking some serious cankles right now. Maybe I will learn how to take a bump picture that I don't hate either. I am so, so ready to meet my baby girl, and hopefully these next three months won't be too difficult. 

I hit a major milestone on CheersWithLove today as well - 100 sales! It's not a huge number by any means, but sales in my second year in the shop grew by 40%, and if I can keep on growing with each year I will be very proud. Have any suggestions for new design concepts ... feel free to let me know! 

1. Serial

This is a 12 part podcast in which a former Baltimore Sun Reporter investigates the murder of Maryland high school student, Hae Min Lee, and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Masud Syed. Friends of Syed convinced the reporter, Sarah, to look further into the murder because they are convinced he did not do it. Over the 12 episodes she covers every part of the case, and it had me going back and forth at least 10 times each episode, "He did NOT do it," and "Oh, he has to be guilty." The epidosdes are great for commuting. Zach and I listened to them on our plane rides to and from Texas this New Years. The podcast is free to download too!

2. Williams-Sonoma Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Quick Bread Mix

Yes, bread is still sounding amazing to me, and when I passed this guy in Williams and Sonoma I had to make the pregnant purchase. I just made it this weekend and it was delightful. Just add some sour cream and butter and you are good to go. The crust was great, the bread had a really good flavor, and I wouldn't know that it was gluten free if I didn't read the package!

3. The Bachelor

I have been taking a break from The Bachelor and Bachlorette franchise. I think I heard, "I'm doing it for the right reasons," too many times. However, I decided I was going to give this season a chance and I am glad I did. I couldn't speak most of the last episode A. because the bachelor went on one of the most awkward dates I have every experienced and B. the girls are bat sh*t crazy!! Like seriously. This widow was talking about how "her story" (you know the love of her life dropping dead one day) was so amazing. Did you kill him lady?? Let's just say this trash has got me hooked again.

4. Logan Tavern

My friend P was chatting with me last week and said, "Can I offer you some unsolicited advice?" Yes people, all advice is welcome (if I don't like it I won't listen to you). She said to take advantage of going out to eat. It is something that does not come as easily with a bambina. Taking her advice to heart I told Zach to take me to a fun lunch this past weekend. We went to Logan Tavern a restaurant just off 14th Street, a half a mile from my apartment. The restaurant was very my vibe - exposed brick, huge pictures of D.C. everywhere. The food was delicious too! Zach got a fried chicken eggs Benedict, and I ordered a chipotle chicken sandwich. Yum, yum, yum.

5. The Willard

Our babymoon/staycation is booked. We are going to spend a night at The Willard over the long weekend coming up. The hotel is iconic D.C. and definitely on my D.C. bucket list. I am working this entire weekend so it will be a great break that I am definitely looking forward too!

Happy Birthday!

This is a little late but I want to wish a very happy birthday week to the newest addition to my family - Reed. He is kinda the cutest little thing, and I can not wait to love up on him in a couple of weeks. 

I hope everyone has a good weekend in store. While you all are watching the Super Bowl pregame show and eating delicious dips, I will be working a harpsichord concert. Please ... don't be jealous ;)

Happy Friday!

I found my new favorite mug.

25 Weeks

Well I am officially closer to the end of my pregnancy than I am to the start. I am so excited to meet our baby girl, but it so weird to think that it is only 3.5 months away. I know there isn't a lot that I can do to prepare but I am starting to freak out a bit that I am not doing enough.

Feeling: Pretty good and pretty big! The past couple weeks my energy levels have been great, and I thought I probably wouldn't get to the new year still running, but that has been going really well to. I had my gestational diabetes test last week and it wasn't as bad as I thought ... hopefully I receive happy results next week. Gracie's heart rate is great, and she's measuring normal, so that is the best news I can ask for! Zipping up my coat these days feels like I am zipping an overstuffed Vera Bradley duffle, but I guess that is to be expected haha. 

Cravings: I'm not going to lie, this past week of work I would of LOVED a beer, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary. 

Loving: Feeling Gracie move around! There is no greater feeling than knowing she is doing okay in there. 

Planning: We did a major purging and reorganization of the apartment this weekend. We picked up a dresser that will help with storage  and double as a changing table. I am feeling much better that we got that done. Currently I am trying to secure a pediatrician and looking into that whole getting a breast pump thing.