12.23.2013

Merry Merry

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  For the first time ever both Kyle and I are off until after New Years so I will be taking the next week or so off here to enjoy this time with family and friends!  

Until next year...

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12.19.2013

A little Christmas Fun

Can you all believe Christmas is a week away?!!! I'm so excited but I also don't feel ready at all! My Christmas cards still need to be mailed and I have a lot of wrapping to do but I'm still enjoying the moments and I'm excited for two holiday parties this weekend! 
 
I was tagged by Laurie from Disney n Diapers to participate in this fun Christmas tag and I couldn't resist!  You should check out her blog she has an adorable little girl who is just a month older than Miller and she can craft and organize with the best of them!! 

Questions
1.What do you love the most about Christmas time? 
Everything!?  I think my favorite part is our family traditions and just spending time with the people you love and focusing on family and friends and leaving all your outside stresses at the door to just enjoy a few days. 

2. Do you celebrate the holiday in style or is Bah-Humbug for you? 
I'm not really sure what in style is but yes I would say I do. I'm not exactly a Bah Humbug type 

3. Are you leaving anything out for Santa Claus this year so he remembers to leave your presents?
Probably not.  Miller is way to young to understand the meaning of Santa but this is definitely something I look forward to in the future! 

4. What is the one gift you are most looking forward to GIVING? {It can be to your kids, another family member, etc – remember to be discreet if they read your blog!}
Wow this is a tough one!  I'm probably most excited about all of Miller's gifts.  Even though he won't understand I'm still excited to see his little face in the excitement of the day with the gifts and wrapping paper!

5. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie?
Muppet Christmas Carol from 1992. This will always be my favorite Christmas movie.  Now as an adult I have to say something cheesy like the 12 Dates of Christmas (ABC family made for tv movie) or Love Actually (but there is on going debate that this isn't really a Christmas movie)

6. What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?
Probably If I get home on Christmas Day- Elvis Presley but I do love myself a Wham!- Last Christmas

7. If given the opportunity would you participate in an “Ugly Sweater” party and what sweater would you wear?  Peruse one on the internet or even in your own closet and show us!
Well I have before and I would do it again.  My vest was awesome. 



8. Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that you plan on carrying forward?
Yes!  We got our first real tree (we've had a fake one for the past 6 years) and we are doing family Christmas jammie which I'm excited for and my husband is dreading. I'm so excited for these new traditions with my family of 3 :)

9. It’s Christmas morning … what does it look like outside where you live?
Probably cold and gray, but I'm hoping if we can't have snow it will at least be sunny


10. You just found yourself standing under the mistletoe … who comes up to give you a kiss first?
Haha this one makes me laugh, we don't have any mistletoe hanging around here but if we did maybe my husband but probably the dog because she's around a lot more. '

I tag anyone who wants to play along!! 
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12.17.2013

Unplugged

I spent the last 3 days unplugged from my computer and/or social media it was glorious.

I had such a busy weekend and I did so many fun things and you know what, I took zero pictures.  Yup, I actually enjoyed the moment instead of documenting it.  

It felt phenomenal.

I know this might sound a little dramatic but I feel so much pressure to document everything these days that sometimes I forget to just enjoy the moments with my family and friends.    I don't want to look back on pictures of Miller and not even remember how the day or night went because I was too busy posing the moment for a picture. 

I plan to try to unplug more often in general but especially over the next few weeks while I enjoy the holidays and most importantly Miller's first Christmas.   I highly suggest everyone give this a try once in a while!

Now it's not like I didn't take any photos at all this weekend 
This little boy is non-stop and he's already making me crazy with his rolling and scooting that I know I'm in for trouble once he learns to crawl.




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12.13.2013

Five on Friday: Around the House

TGIF!! Can you believe we only have this weekend and next and then it's Christmas?!

You know the drill... 

http://www.hellohappinessblog.com/2013/12/five-on-fridayall-things-merry-and.html

1. Oh Christmas tree and Baby toys

 

 This is what life looks like these days.  I used to swear I would never keep out "obnoxious" baby toys but have you ever tried to carry an exersaucer through a doorway and drag it back and forth every morning?!  Yeah not happening. So I'm just embracing the clutter and bright colors. (we also need a tree topper but we can't decide what we want!)

2. Christmas Cards 
When I was growing up my mom always taped the Christmas cards to the back of our front door. I always loved stopping by and looking at them on my way to bed each night so now this is how I display mine and I still love stopping by to look at them before bed every night.  

3. Overstock Tufted Ottoman 
I blogged out this ottoman here back in early October for our basement re-do and here it is in our house.  
First of all it only cost $252 and it looks way more expensive! My mom was so impressed by the look of it and totally blown away that it was only $252 that she's considering buying one for herself.  I also want to comment that Overstock was so easy to work with, shipping was free and the ottoman arrived in 3 days.  I was very impressed.  I promise I will share more pics of the basement once it's more put together.  

4. Miller and Our Christmas Tree 
If you follow me on instagram (@eastcoastnat) then you have seen this photo already but Miller managed to roll himself over to our Christmas tree on Wednesday night.  At first it was so cute and then he grabbed an ornament and a branch so I had to quickly move him away from the tree!   I can't believe how mobile and active he is getting already! 

5. Layla and the Snow
Layla is obsessed with the snow.  It snowed here on Sunday and Monday and she was in heaven.  Unfortunately for her I HATE snow and being cold so there was minimal ball playing but it's still hysterical to watch her run through it and roll all around in it. 

I hope you all have a great weekend!! I'm headed to Bluegrass Tavern tonight to celebrate my sister's birthday and then tomorrow we're watching the Annapolis Parade of Lights on the bay.  A fun fun weekend ahead!
 






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12.11.2013

My Christmas Wishlist

Dear Santa, 

I wouldn't mind finding a few of these items underneath my Christmas tree this year.

I am a huge slipper fan and could really use a new pair. These just look so warm and cozy how could you pass them up.  

I've heard great things about these leggings and since I still need to tone up post baby I'm thinking these might help suck it all in for the time being. 



I'm not sure Santa is going to bring me this but I think this is the table we are going to get for our eating area once our kitchen is complete.  I still haven't sold my husband on it yet but I'm working on him.  

 We just got a Pure Barre in Annapolis and I'm dying to try it out.  To be honest I've never done any barre exercises but everyone raves about how great the workout is especially post baby so I'm hoping to give this new place a try!

I know this one is a long stretch Santa but just in case you're feeling extra generous... 

How gorgeous is this bag?! Ahhh maybe one day when I win the lottery




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12.10.2013

Tis the Season for Christmas Jammies


I don't know what it is but something about having a baby makes you do things you never thought you would do... like making up the word jam-jams for pajamas and then dressing your baby up in holiday themed jam-jams every opportunity you get.

So I was pretty excited to see this link up:

http://www.the-good-life-blog.com/2013/12/christmas-pajama-party-link-up-mini.html



Here goes nothing:


Woohoo this is fun!

Look sitting up on my own!

  Mom I'm too tired, can we stop now?!

I picked up these Christmas jammies at Target and we have 2 more pairs of Christmas jammies for this season- one from Grammie and then one pair to wear for Christmas eve!!

Thanks so much to Darci, Natasha, Jenny, Julie, and Ashley for hosting this!  I'm also linking up on instgram @eastcoastnat 
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12.09.2013

Baby Mills: 5 Months

I'm a little late on this but Miller is 5 months old! I cannot believe how fast the time is going by and that in a little over 2 weeks he will be half a year old.
I think this last month has been my favorite.  He has really gone from helpless baby to full blown infant who wants to do so many things by himself.  Watching him grow and change every day has been amazing.   Every milestone he hits is bittersweet because I'm so excited for him to reach them and so sad that he's growing up so fast. 


Weight: 16 lbs
Length: 27 inches

Clothes:  We closed out Miller's 4th month still is 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.  Most of his pj's and one pieces are too short now for his long arms and legs but he can still squeeze his skinny self into the 3-6 month onesies.  I just pulled out and washed all his 6-9 month and 6-12 month clothes because I'm ready for new outfits. 

Health: I'm happy to say this month was great for health!  No colds, sniffles, etc and his spitting up has drastically improved.  I'm not sure if that is because of maturing digestive system or the reduction of dairy in my diet- I still eat it but I've cut down a lot.  Either way I'll take it! 




Diet: We are currently 90/10 breastmilk to formula.  The one formula bottle a day has been a huge help and has brought my supply back up so much.  I also think adding the formula helped decrease my stress which also helped my supply.  Just about 2 weeks to make it to my goal of 6 months!

Sleep: Was awesome this month! Due to the spitting up we kept him in the Rock n Play and didn't try to force the crib.  He goes to bed at 7pm, wakes up to eat sometime between  3-4am and then is back to sleep until 7am.  He takes two naps a day the first one at 9am for 1.5-2 hrs and the second one at 2pm for 2-2.5hrs.  He likes to "talk" himself to sleep for about 10-15 mintues before he falls asleep and we let him sleep with a lovie.   I think the mistake we made when he was sleeping so poorly was trying to force the crib on him when he was having such bad spit up issues. Now that we have the sleeping down and spitting up under control we are going to work on the transition to the crib. 
 
Baby Gear Love:   Angel Deal lovies,  FP rainforest activity mat, Evenflo Exersaucer, FP Jumperoo,   Baby Jogger City Mini, Diaper genie, Rock n Play sleeper, Baby Bjorn, Dr. Brown Bottles, Bumbo seat, Brica Baby in Sight Magical Firefly Auto Mirror, Baby Einstein Take along tunes, Sassy Baby Keys, Sophie the giraffe, Teething toys

This is my concentration face

Likes:  Eating, playing on his playmat, the bumbo seat, taking a bath and splashing in the water, taking walks in the stroller, his lovies that he has to be holding or have on his face when he's sleeping, grabbing onto Layla's fur, grabbing on to his car seat toys, grabbing Mommy's hair and necklaces, grabbing onto anything Mommy or Daddy are holding- such as cups, iphones, pens, etc., loves pulling at the placemat and grabbing wine glass stems or forks,  rolling over and over and over,  putting everything he gets his hands on into his mouth!


Dislikes: Pacifiers and being hungry

Crying: The beginning of teething caused a lot of tears at the end of the month but they were short lived.  In general he is such a happy guy and really only cries when he's very hungry or overly tired, otherwise he never stops smiling. 

Milestones:
- Rolling over and over and over.  He loves to roll himself right off his playmat and try to reach the coffee table.  That has since been pushed out of his way after we watched him try to gnaw on it a few times after reaching it
- Pulling toys closer to himself and passing them from hand to hand
- Turning his head toward noises especially Mommy, Daddy, dog barking, and the TV
- Turning himself around and around in his exersaucer and jumperoo
- Talks all the time and loves to hear himself scream which causes him to laugh and laugh
- Holds onto his bottle with both hands
- 1st Halloween!! 
- Beginning of teething 

 Little Alligator

Non stop rolling

 Social/Visitors: This was such a busy month for Miller!  We attended two first birthday parties and it was so fun to watch him interacting and concentrating on the other babies in the room.   He definitely has FOMO (fear of missing out) and wants to be in the middle of the action! He is also a total ham for the camera and flirt around people- he absolutely loves people and just smiles non stop when anyone talks to him or someone new holds him.  He also got to meet Baby Brendan one of my good friend's son's who is 4 months younger than him- I can't wait until they're bigger and can be buddies!



Postpartum: I have lost all the baby weight I gained plus 2lbs which means since January 2013 I managed to put on 40lbs and lose 42lbs which is so crazy.  The human body really is amazing.  I'm back in all of my old clothes but again not everything fits the same.  I'm not sure how that happens but it does.   Since the weather has gotten sooo cold my exercising has come to halt but I'm planning to join the gym by our house and start using it to help tone back up.  I think a lot of my weight loss has been muscle mass from lack of exercise.  


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12.06.2013

Friday Five Randoms

TGIF!! 

Can you believe it's December and that 2013 is almost over?  I know everyone has been saying that this week but 2013 has really flown by for me this year. 


1. Miller's 1st Thanksgiving
Miller's First Thanksgiving was a success!  We had a great time up in PA and he finally got to meet his great grandparents on Kyle's side along with tons of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.  Traveling with a dog and baby is much harder than just the two of us and I swear it's taken me this whole week to recover from our 4 day trip but it was worth it!


Baby Cole Haan!!


 My big boy loved the high chair!  I think it's time we break ours out 

I can't get over those thighs!

2. Hardwood Floors 
We are putting hardwood floors down through out the whole first floor during our kitchen renovation.  At first we were dead set on dark espresso colored floors but after much research it sounds like those require cleaning every single day and let's be honest- that's not happening around here.   So back to the drawing board we went. 
While up in PA we visited a friend's new condo in Philly and I feel in love with their hardwoods and I think we've found an almost perfect match.

I'm thinking this style will help hide dirt, dust, and scratches that are inevitable with a dog and baby. 

3. Christmas Cards
I'm am so behind this year.  I had all these high hopes of getting a good family photo of us and that has yet to happen so I'm thinking I might just include a mini collage of Miller pictures of the past few months.
Does anyone have a favorite Christmas card site?  In the past I've used Shutterfly but I'm thinking of trying something different this year

4. Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair
Santa will be bringing Miller this chair:

I've been obsessed with these chairs even before I was pregnant so I couldn't wait to buy one for Miller

5. Bath and Body Works Fresh Balsam Candle 
I wanted to get a Nest Holiday candle but I'm too nervous to bring Miller into our fancy candle shop because I'm convinced he's going to knock something over so I ran into Bath and Body Works to see if they had anything I liked and this candle is perfect.  It smells just like a fresh cut Christmas tree and the scent isn't too over powering at all. 

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11.25.2013

Life Lately

Happy Thanksgiving Week!!

I have to admit that I actually don't like Thanksgiving food at all but I do love me some apple pie and pecan pie so I eat a little turkey and stuffing so I can reward myself afterwards.

Speaking of pecan pie I made my first homemade pecan pie last week and it turned out amazing and was so easy!  I used this recipe I found on Pinterest

cooking away in the oven
(my oven door is old so the picture looks awful)

If you saw my instagram then you saw that my mom, my sister, and I had a very successful outlet shopping trip on Saturday.  

If you a MD/DC/VA resident we go every year to the Leesburg, VA Premium Outlets the week before Thanksgiving and they had the best sales!!    

Here are an example of some sales that I took advantage of: 
50% off everything at Kate Spade
40 % off one Jcrew item, 50% off two items, and 60% off three or more items
25% off Vineyard Vines
40% off almost everything at Brooks Brothers
30% off everything at Ralph Lauren Kids 
60% off every at Carters
30% off Restoration Hardware

A week and a half ago Kyle and I went to Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore for his birthday dinner. This was our second time there and let me just say it did not disappoint!!  The menu is all local/homegrown within a certain milege range and it changes every single day.  

For all the locals wondering:  
We started the night off with some Gov't mules,  Caputo Bros Mozzarella and a Crab pot.   Gov't/Moscow Mules are my favorite cocktail because they are good but not too sweet.  The mozzarella and crab pot were both equally good.  The crab pot is best described as a lighter version of crab dip- not quite as heavy.  

I had the Cap May, NJ scallops with butternut squash and celery root.  They were amazing- I would say hands down some of the best scallops I've ever had.   
Kyle had the Chicken and Biscuits- which is actually the only menu item that is on their menu everyday and has been on since day one.  It was a lighter version of  what you think when you hear chicken and biscuits- basically not fry but the skin left on the chicken and baked and then the skin is crispy pan seared.   The biscuits were rosemary biscuits and they were so good and I'm not even a biscuit fan.  
We ended the night with the famous C.M.P. dessert which stands for fresh cream ice cream, chocolate sauce, marshmallow fluff, wet peanut.  

My baby is getting so big... 


He's trying to sit up and always has a death grip on his bottle so when he gets to the end we just let him hold it himself.  Everyone says the time goes by so fast and they are so right.  I can't believe he's going to be 5 months old this week!  


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11.20.2013

Workout Update + Eating Plan + Sexiest Man Alive

Hi y'all! Happy Hump Day!

 Here is my workout update for the past week: 

Wednesday 11/13- walked 2.85 miles

Thursday 11/14- ran 1.09 mile and did 25 crunches

Friday 11/15- walked about 1 mile- forgot to track it

Saturday 11/16 & Sunday 11/17- no workout- my weekend ended up being much busier than planned and we were up in PA for part of it 

Monday 11/18- walked 2.12 miles

Tuesday 11/19- no workout but I did rake leaves for 1.5 hours during naptime so that could count as a workout

As you can see I didn't quite complete the workouts that I listed last Wednesday, you can find that post here.  I'm finding that the hardest part is carving out the time to actually get the workout done!  I'm still home with the baby all day and my husband doesn't get home until well after 8pm each night so I have to try fit the living room workout/crunches workout during naptime which means sometimes it falls behind dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc.  My runs I try to do at 5:30/6am before he leaves for work and the walks I do with the dog and baby during the day as long as they both cooperate.  I use Map My Run to log all my workouts.  It's super easy to use and just uses your GPS location. 

I'm going to give it a try again this week so let's hope that I can pull it together and really workout this week.   I'm going to try my best to set aside time for exercising even if chores have to be neglected until later. 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
As I've mentioned before I can't do diets.  I pretty much spent ages 13-25 on a diet and I used to be very strict with my eating.   My biggest downfall is that I would binge on whatever I was depriving myself of.  I have also been known to be horrible drunk eater too.  In college I would live on salads during the day and then after a night out on Friday night I would go to Ratsie's our local pizza joint and eat half a pizza and an order of curly fries in like 5 minutes.  I would literally leave parties and bars early to get in line for pizza that's how bad I was. 

I also been known to consume pints of ben & jerrys, boxes of cookies, boxes of donuts, large orders of french fries, etc when I've been in a "diet",  so I decided a few years ago that I couldn't deprive myself anymore because the binging was not good.  
 
Other than my binge eating I've always eaten pretty healthy and when I'm trying to lose weight or get healthy I use Livestrong My Plate to track my calories. There is a website and app and they are both very easy to use.    This way I can stay within a specific calorie count without depriving myself.  I also try to eat every 2-3 hours to keep myself from binging when I'm hungry 

Here is a typical day right now:

Breakfast:
1 egg sandwich with cheddar cheese on a whole grain english muffin
1 or 2 cups decaf coffee with creamer 

Morning Snack:
Kind bar or protein bar

Lunch: 
-Salad- my go to right now is spinach, tomato, mozzarella with balsamic dressing
-3 cookies 
or
if  I'm super busy then I will eat a frozen Amy's meal.  I know they have two times the calories of a Smartones but I prefer the natural ingredients so I'll take the extra calories.  If I eat a frozen meal I try not to have a lunch time dessert

Afternoon Snack:  
Consists of one of the following: 

-greek yogurt with granola or honey
-hummus and pretzel chips
-cheese and crackers
-celery and peanut butter
-rice cakes and almond butter

Dinner:
- this varies every night but we've been trying really hard to eat most meals over a salad and avoiding heavy carbs/starches at dinner
-Dessert- I'm trying to eat those fruity popsicles or sorbet but I don't love them and then I still feel like I need dessert so I try to buy something delicious but only have a small portion.  

I would love to hear of any healthy snacks or dinners or desserts that you all love or live by- I'm always looking for new ideas!

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Moving along to something fun and delicious...

I'm pretty sure this year is my favorite Sexiest Man Alive...


If you've followed my blog or instagram long enough you've probably seen me post about my crush on Adam Levine.  He's not my normal type with all the tattoos but there is just something about him that I love.   If you've been watching The Voice this season he's been rocking a new clean cut look that makes him look even hotter!

Hope you all have a great Wednesday! 
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11.15.2013

Five on Friday

TGIF!!  Here are my five things this week...



1. Date Night-  Today is Kyle's birthday and we are going on our first date night ever since we've had Miller!!  We've been out about 4 times without him but this will be the first time just the two of us at a restaurant without a baby.  We might be able to actually have a non-baby conversation, and enjoy our food and cocktails. 

2. Coffeemate Thin Mints Creamer-  Yes I drink the disgusting fake coffee creamer but the flavors are sooo yummy and it keeps me from hitting up DD or the Bucks every day of the week. 

3. January 6, 2014-  The day our kitchen renovation officially begins!! To say I'm excited is an understatement.  We signed the contract this week and dropped off a boat load of money for a deposit so it's really happening!  Our next step is to pick out appliances and then floors.  So I will be spending my weekend Pinteresting hardwood floors and googling/consumer reviewing the crap out of appliances. 


4. Pecan Pie-  Can I tell you all that I've never had pecan pie until about 2 weeks ago?   Kyle loves pecan pie and had been raving about it for years and I for some reason just assumed I would hate it.  Well he finally convinced me to try it and now I'm obsessed.  It's just basically pecans soaking in a sugar butter mixture and it's pure heaven. 
I'm going to attempt to make one this weekend to see if I'm any good and then I will make one for Thanksgiving at my in laws.   It's looks really easy so fingers crossed it turns out. 

5. Family Christmas Pajamas-  Yup. I'm going to be one of those people.   I got the Hanna Andersson catalog and decided that we had to have matching striped family pajamas for Christmas.  Including the dog. 

See how happy this family looks in their matching pjs!
 
You can get your own family set here.  They are expensive but I've heard they will last forever.  I have some HA sleepers for Miller and they are so soft and awesome quality. 

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