settling in...

As my maternity leave is coming to a close, I finally feel like we're settling into this new life with two. It has definitely had it's ups and downs, but we're hanging in for the long run. Each day will get better.

I haven't been able to blog (at all), since both kids keep me pretty busy, and we fought a long and tiresome battle with jaundice that kept us going back and forth to the doctor. But we are finally done with that! Thankful!

We have managed a little fun too with a family beach trip and some visits to IKEA.

So even though I'm very behind on blogging, I wanted to share some of the things we've been doing lately. A lot revolve around food, because really what is better than eating :)

G has helped me bake some goodies (at least until I had to cut out dairy from my diet).




He was such a good little helper! and of course he enjoyed helping us eat them too.

I used this recipe, but I substituted white and dark chocolate chips instead of m&m's, mainly because I didn't have any on hand. and chocolate is chocolate right? The only thing I would change would be to not add as much vanilla. I thought it was a little too much. Obviously we didn't have any problem eating them all, they were still delicious!

Hope to be back sooner than last time!
Happy baking!!
xo, logan

50th star!

Yesterday I earned my 50th "gym" star.

My goal for this pregnancy is for it to be a completely different experience than my first. So to help with that goal, I wanted to stay committed to going to the gym. A good friend of mine challenged me to go 50 times starting January 1st. and yesterday I met that challenge.

It feels good! I know it may not seem like a lot, but I am still very proud. I started this pregnancy at a higher weight than I ideally would have liked, so going to the gym has definitely helped to keep the weight gain curve less drastic as it was with the first. In fact, I've only gained 7.5 lbs since my first appointment. I'm very pleased, because I know being heavier at the beginning of pregnancy can cause problems later, and since I gained 40 lbs in my first pregnancy, I was worried it would cause issues with my VBAC birth plans. So hopefully that's not the case!

Anyways, I will continue to go to the gym as long as I feel comfortable (my OB said it was completely fine), so maybe I can get my star count up higher...maybe to 70?

and yes, I work for stars :)

xo, logan

motivation

Am I too old to give myself stars for the days I work out?

I tried my first kickboxing class this week. and I finally got in to my first gravity class (it usually fills up within two minutes).

I can feel a difference in my strength, but this week I was still discouraged because my weight has not changed in the last 4 weeks! Some days I weigh more than I did when I started! Maybe it’s because I’m gaining muscle mass, but I sure hope the number starts going down…soon!

new project

Something I'm working on...

birthday goals

It's my birthday! I'm 27 today. All of a sudden I don't feel like that girl just out of college. It's taken me 5 years, but my age is finally telling me that I'm an adult.

The biggest thing that I would like to work on this year is focusing on my life and goals. It's hard balancing being a mom and working full time. I'm not great at it, but it's something I can work on with each passing day.

I think the main thing that will help me with this is to stop reading so many blogs. Not that they aren't all great and amazing, but I find myself falling victim to comparing my life to these beautiful blogs. and that's never a good thing.

I'd also like to be better about taking time to make myself feel good about my appearance. I know that sounds vain, but seriously, I'm usually in jeans and a solid tee. Even at work (I'm in a lab all day, so I don't try to look good). I've never been a make-up-kind-of-girl, but that doesn't mean I can't try to dress nice. So this year I hope I can work on building a more professional look and wardrobe. For starters, I'd love to pair this dress in black with these sandals in turquoise. Throw in a small and simple pendant necklace, and I'd be set.

And finally, another goal for this next year is to open an Etsy shop. Keep watching for updates and progress on this project. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

To kick start my birthday, this morning we're having a little family photoshoot. My mom gifted me with a groupon last year for my birthday and we're now just getting around to using it. I should have used it for newborn pictures of G, but that didn't happen. So a 1 year shoot and birthday shoot will be just as good. Hopefully. If G stays still long enough.

xo,
L

[[photo by abby try again]]

things you learn after having a baby

1. While pregnant your hair looks awesome!
2. About 3 months later your hair starts falling out. Seriously, I was shedding like a mad woman.
3. Now, about 11 months later, the hair that has started growing back has given me these crazy bangs (you know, the wispy ones that were cool in like 6th grade).

♥ L

ringing in 33

We ended up celebrating Hub's birthday with Hardee's and a sick baby. Nice, eh? The mountain dews came in handy as we were up almost the entire night.

As much as the weekend didn't go as planned, it will definitely be one to remember.

Happy Monday!

♥ L

happy birthday

Hubby turns 33 today! He's not that excited, but it's a birthday!!! and I'm trying to make birthday's more special. In the past we have kind of, eh, treated it like a normal day. But my new goal is to try and make these days a little extra special. After all we're celebrating another year!

So today I took a half day off from work, went and bought hubby a balloon, mountain dews, and some dark chocolate reese's cups. Nothing says a birthday like that! Ha!

[Really, it's special. Hubby gave up the Mountain Dews. He was a true addict. So today is special enough that I bought him a 12 pack.]

and tonight, I think we're going to dinner.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

♥ L

snow days

We've had quite the snow storm here in Atlanta. Weather.com said we had 9 inches! 2 days off from work is always a welcomed event.

the yeti is at my office

our advent calendar

I meant to post this yesterday, but today marks the official countdown to Christmas. and we will be kicking it off with this advent calendar that T's mom made us. Each day we'll add to the tree ending with an angel at the top. I think I might be more excited than Baby G, but hopefully it will become something he loves to do too.

weekend goodies

In addition to the cupcakes, I threw this banner together using the alphabet bunting printables mentioned on Friday. I used the sewing machine to sew all the bunting together. I love how it turned out. Bunting definitely spruces up any occasion!

birthdays: a new beginning

[[via paul octavious]]

So Tuesday was Ms. Abby Normal's first birthday...and I forgot! I guess that's what happens once you have kids huh?

and yesterday, Cinco de Mayo, was my 26th birthday - my first birthday as a mom. It was fun sharing the day with Gray baby. We even ran a few errands together that evening as a family.

To many more birthdays as a Mom! Cheers! ♥

happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my bestest college roommate ever!!

one year

[[photography by Lisette Price]]

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband, my second-half, and the one I could not go a day without.

happy birthday to my dear husband

[[via here]]

Today is T's birthday! His present is the little baby growing inside of me, but I plan to make him some of his favorite cookies - chocolate chip - simple and easy, especially with my handy stand mixer.

Here's to another good year - a year of new challenges, new adventures, and new memories.

Love you babe! Happy Birthday!

snow day

CDC closed at 2 today, so that means I got to leave early! and just in time! The snow started around 1:30pm and has fallen pretty heavily since then. It's so beautiful watching the snow fall and our backyard is already covered in white.

i'm back!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! T and I spent the last 5 days in NC with his family. Miss Abby Normal got to see snow for the first time and his family was excited about my growing belly. We didn't have any new snow on Christmas, but there was snow on the ground the entire time we were there. So I kind of had a white Christmas.

This week I'm taking off to try and finish unpacking the house and getting things together and organized. Also, we'll be having some mini Christmases with my dad & Jane, and my mom & Charlie. So another busy week before new years. I can't believe it's almost 2010!

Happiest of Holidays!

so tired...

Oh man am I tired! After the Turkey Day festivities, T and I have been super busy packing and moving. Luckily our dads helped us with the move, but next time I think we're going to hire people. and I am very ready for it to be over. We have a lot of unpacking to do, organizing, and coming up with some crafty ways to create a little more space in the kitchen.

moving?

Yesterday the hubs and I went to view a house we're interested in renting. It's soo cute! and the backyard is huge! with a fence and stone patio. It has 3 fairly small bedrooms and 2 baths. There is one room that I can totally envision as our baby room. It has an adorable built in wardrobe. I can imagine all the cute little baby cloths hanging inside. I've been a good little girl and haven't bought anything baby yet, but this new house has me itching to buy things. I'm trying to hold out until we find out the sex of our baby. Not because we want gender specific items, but because I feel like it will be more of a personal purchase once I know the sex of our wee one (maybe I'm just crazy).

The kitchen still doesn't have as much cabinet space as I'd like, so we need to come up with something creative. T has been browsing the ikea hack website, so hopefully we can build something that will provide extra cabinet space and counter space.

We'll be deciding in the next week, so send us good vibes!