Lately... And some news!

Lately, I have been just awful about documenting all the fun things we've been doing my friends! But, oh my have we been busy having fun.  The month of November was full of fun playdates, Thanksgiving, Christmas decorating and more.  We have also had a lot of nasty weather and Mommy has had to get creative with at home activities and we may or may not have broken out all of the Christmas movie already!!  Once I finalize our outdoor Christmas decorations I will share some pictures here.  If you can make it through the photos you can also hear our news :)

 

We broke out Christmas clothes this weekend for a little trip to the playground!

Shopping for a new TV with Daddy!

She loves to walk around wearing this hat saying "hoho!"  We were also dogsitting for my sister while she was in Paris.  Natalie was in heaven with a "woof" around.

The littles holding hands at a Thanksgiving dinner with my Grandfather.  I love when I'm able to capture sweet little moments like this!

Shaving our tummies with toy razors and foaming bath soap... I highly recommend this activity.  It supplied us literally hours of entertainment!!

 

We recently had some built-in book shelves put into our living room and I could not be more thrilled with how they turned out.  The only thing left to do is to mount the doors that cover the TV.  I'm so excited to finally have a proper television cabinet and do you see all of those doors across the bottom... that's toy storage... woohoo!!! Obviously I have not styled the book shelves yet, but give me a few weeks or a year and it will get done I promise :)

Finally, if you follow me on instagram, you might have already seen this picture but, if not, this is going to have to be my drink of choice over the Christmas season because...

This little family of four is adding a new member in June!

As you can imagine, I feel awful right now, but trying to bear in mind at all times that that is a good sign!  We are over the moon excited and yet terrified at the same time.  We've done this all before of course, but something about having three kids sounds really official, am I right?  Ha!

 

I'm trying to decide if I should do weekly pregnancy updates this time.  I never did them before or even really took any bump pictures so it might be fun this time around and I will do my best to document.

 

I'll be back tomorrow to share an AHmazing recipe courtesy of my mother.  It is literally the only pasta recipe you will ever need.  Be prepared for deliciousness!!

 

An Equestrian Tea Party Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago, I threw a baby shower for one of my best friends. She WAS expecting her first, a little boy, on November 27th, but he surprised us all by coming four weeks early! We had the shower just in time :)

My friend Talia adores horses and has been an avid rider since her childhood, so the equestrian theme felt uniquely her.  We threw in the proper English tea party twist, because she met her husband while living in England.

Like me, my dear friend must eat gluten free, so the food was the crowning glory of this shower.  I made everything myself from scratch, so that she could enjoy all of her favorite traditional tea party favorites.  We had date scones with clotted cream and preserves, orange pistachio biscotti, smoked salmon tea sandwiches, cucumber tea sandwiches, chicken salad tea sandwiches, petit fours, and nut brownies. To drink, we enjoyed three types of hot tea as well as Pimm's Cups.

The décor was simple, and mostly made by me.  All of the paper goods (tags, banner, etc) I made myself in Publisher.  The plaid fabric and striped ribbon were from Hobby Lobby.  The black and white napkins are Caspari.  The silver chalkboard trays are from the dollar tree painted with chalkboard paint.  All of the rest of the silver trays are from my collection of vintage and antique silver.  The horse accessories came from Talia herself.  Talia is not a fan of shower games so instead we opted to have guests share "midnight messages" on diapers.

Guests left with wrapped macarons from local bakery Patisse.

It was such a wonderful celebration, and just in time for her to set things up for her little boy's arrival just one week later!

 

Halloween 2013

Phillip wanted me to have a costume and this was the best I could do at the last minute!

How was everyone's Halloween? Ours was great for the most part.  Phillip loved it again this year and Natalie trick or treated for the first time.  She was VERY into grabbing candy and trying to eat it before it was even unwrapped, ha!

She was not so into her Minnie Mouse ears.

We started out the evening with a spooky supper of mummy hot dogs and ghost mac n cheese.  After that it was into our costumes and out for some trick or treating.  Last, but not least, we made an appearance at my sister's Halloween party where she got to show off the adorables in their costumes.

 

With Gigi, my mom

With my sister Amy

My gluten free mummy dogs... very yummy but not so Pinterest perfect :-)

 

After an exhausting and fun evening, everyone was in bed and lights out by eight.  Now, that is what I call a successful night :)


 To sum it up:

Happy.

Cranky. And eating chocolate.

 

Lately and Running Essentials

Howdy and happy fall y'all! See? I'm back and it didn't take months :)

I just wanted to share a little of what we've been up to lately.  I'm also working on some "Finally Fall Favorites" posts for both food and fashion so look out for those in the next week!

Things are really great.  Basically, I just really feel like I'm starting to hit my stride as a mommy of two.  Yeah.  It took me more than a year.  But hey I'm just being honest!  Phillip is a little spit fire these days.  He argues and bargains constantly, but he is also so much fun!  One of the things I looked forward to the most about being a mom was reading my kids the books that I loved as a child and I was so excited when Phillip and I headed to the library this week and picked up Charlotte's Web.  When I was a kid, my mom would read us books like that, maybe a chapter or two a day each afternoon and I loved it.  I was a little worried that it might be too soon but so far it's been great.  He actually has a great attention span for it and seems to be enjoying the story.

Little Natalie is as busy as ever and (I can't believe I'm actually typing this) STILL not sleeping through the night.  She was for a while when she was much younger but she hasn't been for about the last 5 months.  I think I am going to have to let her cry it out, which breaks my heart, but I really need to get some sleep!

Phillip is in school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings so the other days we usually try to head out of the house and do something fun.  The last couple of weeks we have gone to the Children's Museum.  They both LOVE it and are finally at ages where they can kind of do the same things.  Both of them are obsessed with all things ball related so we do a lot of that.  We usually pack a lunch and eat there so that when we get home right at nap time, everyone is fed and ready to rest!

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I have been running a lot lately and it feels so great!  I am by no means a serious runner but I do consider myself a runner since I get out there and move by butt at a quickish pace for at least three miles a few times a week.  Right now I'm training to do the Rock n' Roll half marathon in November just like I did last year.  I'm not too worried about finishing in a certain time, but I do think I will run it a bit faster this year since I'm not just a few months post partum. 

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite running accessories for any of you fellow runners or those hoping to start running!   P.S. I'm not making money off of any these, just sharing because I love them!

Here's a little awkward post-run selfie that, incidentally, shows you how messy my closet is!  It shows you some of these running faves though!  And check out that awesome shorts tan...

 

 

Moving Comfort Juno Running Bra

This puppy is amazing.  If you have C cup or larger breasts you MUST get it.  It is not cheap, but it will hold your breasts in place like nothing else.  It's even comfortable for me when I'm super big in the early days of nursing.  I love the adjustable straps and hook closure in the back.  It comes in cute colors I think, but I just have black and white. 

 

 

Nike LunarGlide Running Shoes in Grey/Pink (as with most running shoes, I size up .5)

I don't have really sensitive feet, but I like these and the cuteness doesn't hurt!

 

 

 

Lululemon Run: Speed Short (these run very small - I'm a 4)

I used to be a total Nike Tempo devotee, but I really like these better.  The Tempos tend to be a bit long on me and I feel like the shortness of these elongates my squaty short legs.  Bonus: the waist band is very soft and doesn't pinch your muffin top!

 

 

 

Garmin Forerunner 10 GPS Watch

Like I said above, I'm not a super serious runner, but this watch is great.  Hubs surprised me with it and I couldn't be more thrilled to have it. I've never wanted to invest in a GPS watch before, but this one is relatively inexpensive and is very light weight.  I love being able to just set out on a run now without worrying about making a route before I go.  Plus, looking at all my past runs is really motivating for me. 

 

 

 

BOB Revolution Duallie Stroller in Navy

I have a treadmill too, so that should probably be on this list as well.  If it wasn't for the treadmill and this stroller, I would never be able to workout.  But seriously y'all this stroller is so wonderful!  It is big and heavy, but surprisingly easy to maneuver and great to run with.  I can push it one handed most of the time.  The kids are very comfy in it and it has great oversized sunshades. 

 



Ok, that's all I have for today!  I'd love to hear any running essentials y'all have.  I'm always looking for new ideas :)

Birthdays!!

I thought I'd share a few pictures of the kiddo's birthday parties from April and July.  Phillip turned three and had a Mickey Mouse themed party.  The theme was just too fun and I may have gone a bit overboard.  Natalie turned one in July and we had a teeny tiny themed party.  I'm all about the over the top first birthday party (which yes, I realize is just for me, but dang it I love parties!).  So it was a fun and busy few months of planning.  Hope y'all enjoy the pics and let me know if you want any party details!


Phillip's Birthday:

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Natalie's Birthday: