Sweet Spot

We are so antsy for Spring to show itself over here! We still have large clumps of dirty snow & patches of brown grass to look at for a few more weeks. But even though the dreariness is still in full swing, we are in such a sweet spot as a family.

Theo has been sleeping through the night for quite a while now (months actually), and he has gradually been waking up later & later each morning. His naps are very regular (he currently takes only one a day), lasting a couple hours. He has even gotten to the point where he is able to soothe himself. Give the boy his blanket(s) & pacifier and he is all set! I wish I could take the credit for this amazing voodoo magic, but I simply can't. He did this all on his own. Clearly the child is living up to the type A tendencies of his zodiac sign & the tendencies of his parents for that matter.

We have loved every stage of life with him so far, but this has been one of our favorites. He is sooo aware of everything around him & its the cutest watching him take notice. We LOVE giving him new foods to try. For the most part he seems to enjoy whatever we give him, only occasionally spitting things out. He recently learned to "kiss". Gracing us with all his open mouth, drooling glory almost daily. He roars like a dinosaur at any given moment to grab out attention. By far the best thing, though is his fake laugh. He will throw his head back, closing his eyes after we've done something that is somewhat funny, almost out of pity for us. It cracks us up each time he does it.

So although we have lots of sunshine in our family already, we are more than ready for the warm weather to stick around! We have so many ideas for the Spring & Summer to look forward to.

Family Vacation

 

Do you ever feel as though you need to take a vacation to recover from your vacation? That is exactly how we currently feel! We returned a few days ago from our first family trip (along with my parents & sisters) to Florida & although it was so worth it, it was a loooong trip.

In order to save some money we decided to make the journey to Florida by driving. I'd be kidding if I said Nate & I weren't a little nervous about Theo being in his carseat for so long, but the kid handle it like a boss! We left on a Thursday evening & arrived Friday evening with only one minor meltdown. 

Our first full day in Florida was spent on the beach no less. It was 80 & sunny and clearly better than the bitter cold we had all left behind! Theo was slightly skeptical of the water & sand, but still seemed to really enjoy himself. We weren't sure how he would handle being contained to his pack'n'play while at the beach, but he would play so contently & sing to himself all day. He napped so well too (I'm sure the sound of waves crashing in the background didn't hurt)! I think I should also note, he didn't consume any sand. I don't know whether to be thrilled or slightly disappointed. 

The next day we traveled a little bit further to visit Siesta Keys. It was a little cooler this day, but the beach was absolutely beautiful! The sand was the whitest I've ever seen & felt like flour between your toes. It was so picturesque with the turquoise water & fishing pier in the background. We had lunch at this neat restaurant overlooking the water & stuffed our faces with fresh seafood. 

We took a couple days off from the beach, indulging ourselves with shopping & a baseball game. We saw the Red Sox & Tampa Bay play a spring training game (It was a first for the three of us). Theo, again, was an angel baby. He slept through the first 6 innings & then never made a sound the rest of the game, except to flirt with the little old ladies behind us. I must make you all aware Theo's Grandpa is the huge White Sox fan, hence the reason he is decked out in their gear (WE are Washington Nationals fans).

The rest of the vacation was spent at the ocean. Although it was too cold to get in the water, we all had the best time searching for shells & shark teeth (I have an irrational amount of shells now residing in our home). It really was amazing to see the amount of shells & teeth that just wash up along the shores for miles and miles. Since the days were a little on the cooler side, we were able to spot quite a few alligators along the roadways sunning themselves. It was pretty wild & I made sure everyone was aware with my excited shrieks. 

By the time our last day arrived, it had become apparent Theo was in love with the ocean & had become obsessed with palm trees. Vacations always go by so quickly, but they're so worth it. We were able to indulge in copious amounts of good food, lots of laughs with family & experience a few "firsts" with Theo. Now it's back to reality and counting down the days until we can see those turquoise waters again.

Happy almost weekend! :)

A Case of the Mondays

I know it's Tuesday, but we had such a fun Monday that my "case of the Mondays" has set in today.

Theo's name did not make the list, but we've been told his name is "sooo hipster." There are a handful of names included that I really love though! 

Oscar nominations! I don't know about you, but we always try to watch all of the films up for best picture. We have managed to watch "La La Land" & absolutely adored it. The soundtrack has been on repeat & I would watch it a million more times.

This pub looks so neat! You can have a drink & do good!

This is long, but well worth the read. 

On the menu this week. Today would have been perfect with the snow falling outside.

"Let's Make America Kind Again..."

Happy Tuesday! :)

6 months of Theo

It's been a while since I've written a post & I thought what better way to get back at it than to do an update on Theo!

It's been another month with our sweet guy. He is 6 months old already & we can't quite believe it. Time really is just passing us by far too quickly. He is such a mover & a shaker. He shakes on his own like it's nobody's business, but his actual mobility is all up to us. He is becoming more interactive each day & we are loving the stage he is at right now. He smiles with such ease at things that genuinely make him happy & squeals in delight whenever he's excited. He loves to be held, but also loves his own space. We're positive bath time is his favorite time since he is able to be naked! He greets us with the sweetest, twinkle eyed smile each morning & is always excited to get the day started!

Age: 6 months

Stats: 20 lbs (we will know for sure at his checkup in a couple days). 

Wearing 6-12 month clothes. 

Has 2 teeth with a couple more on the way.

Favorite foods: Butternut squash, bananas, apples, yogurt & surprisingly, prunes. We also gave him his first taste of peanut butter & he loved it!

Favorite Things: He LOVES to eat. Enjoys his jumper with his monkey friends. Love, love, loves to sit up & have us stand him up. I swear he will be a much happier little guy once he can move on his own (although he is the happiest kid I've ever met). He loves anything that has a simple face (Curious George) & truly enjoys watching football with his Daddy. He also thinks it's hilarious when we chew our food.

Least Favorite Things: Green beans, getting dressed & anything that even remotely confines him.

Milestones: Giggles soooo much! Rolls over both ways & sits up unassisted, but still has moments of wobbliness. He has attempted to crawl by smashing his head into the ground & lifting his hiney into the air. He also finally takes a bottle (so when we want to go on dates we have no worries)!

Happy, happy, happy 1/2 birthday Theo Thomas! We can't wait to continue watching you grow!

Happenings

I haven't been very good at consistently writing out things we've been up to lately. A tiny little human clearly takes priority, but I would like to occasionally document things for my own memories sake. I figured I would post every so often things we're making, reading, doing etc.

Reading: Children's books & tons of them. Our favorites right now are The Cat at Night, Pout Pout Fish, The Wonderful Things You Will Be, The Mitten & Goodnight Goon (even though this is a Halloween book we love reading it). Books on our reading list (whenever we find the time...) Two by Two & The Girls for me. North Water & The Underground Railroad for Nate.

Making: Once a week, I try to make a meal we've never tried. The last one was a Moroccan pulled pork over rice & this week I'm making skillet chicken with pasta. Both recipes are from here.

Eating: All the sweet seasonal treats! Peppermint stick ice cream, ginger bread cookies & these Pfeffernusse cookies from Trader Joe's. They're addicting.

Drinking: A ton of coffee. We love Trader Joe's coffee. It is the one thing we splurge on. Their Guatemalan coffee is by far our favorite. We've also been trying all the seasonal beer. We really enjoyed Flying Bison's 'Blizzard Bock' & Harpoon Brewery 'Winter Warmer.'

Listening: Holiday music. You only get to listen for so many days out of the year! But other than that we've been listening to a lot of the new Kings of Leon & The SteelDrivers.

Watching: We basically binged Stranger Things. We really loved it. Most recently we watched West World and thoroughly enjoyed that as well.  Now that we are finished with both of those we are cramming in all the Christmas movies & holiday baking shows!

Doing: At the beginning of November we took Theo to his first Penn State game! He was a champ. He cried a few times very briefly, but you didn't even know it with all the cheering going on! We recently saw The Trans Siberian Orchestra for the first time! It was my wedding anniversary gift from Nate. We really, really enjoyed it! Totally put us in the holiday spirit. We took Theo & Joe to see Santa Claus. Each of them were really great! The Santa's were a whole other story...

Wanting: Hats. Give me all the hats. I manage to fit a shower in each day, but actually getting to do my hair is a rarity. Thankfully the cold temperatures make my hat wearing adventures seem normal.



Happy Wednesday! :)

Monday Morning Pick Me Up

It's a Monday. Once again. This week has snow in the forecast every single day for us & polar vortex like temperatures (y'all remember that?). In any case, I'm sure we could all use a little something to get us going this Monday morning!

This toy. I saw a similar one at Home Goods recently & made sure to store it in my memory for Theo (maybe next Christmas...). It looks like a multitude of injuries, but oh so fun. 

Taylor Swift has a new song for 'Fifty Shades Darker.'

This was about a week ago, but still worth the watch!

2016 Haters Guide to Williams & Sonoma. If you've ever shopped there you'll know a $25 gift card is  the perfect gift for your worst enemies.

The 'Hamilton Mixtape'.

Moscow mule recipe.

Pantone color of the year. And if you're not sold on it some decorative ideas that may change your mind.

Happy Monday to you all!

Making Our List & Checking It Twice

It's time for all things Christmas! We wait for this time of year with so much anticipation & then it is gone in the blink of an eye. It often feels so overwhelming to fit in all the holiday magic before it's over, but we've found that creating a list can help us cram in all that jolly goodness!

(this has become a tradition of sorts...)

Here's our checklist:

Get a Christmas tree (check!)

Drink hot cocoa with buttloads of marshmallows.

Bake! Lots of baking.

Send out Christmas cards.

Watch Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Claus & all the cheesy Hallmark movies.

Have a Christmas themed breakfast.

Go visit Santa Claus (oh. my. gawd. I can't wait)

Have a Christmas music dance party (already had a few...)

Do a Christmas craft (snowflakes, gingerbread house... the possibilities are endless).

Make peanut butter pinecones for all the sweet woodland creatures (I sound so creepy).

Have a picnic under the Christmas tree lights.

Make orange & clove stovetop potpourri.

Read The Night Before Christmas (and all the other adorable Christmas books we plan to buy).

Cuddle up by the fireplace.

Drive around & look at all the pretty Christmas lights.

Make snowman pizza (because why the hell not?)

This list will just continue to get better as Theo gets older. We are so excited to create traditions with him. One thing we really want to show Theo around this season (and really everyday) is to give. We have always loved doing random acts of kindness whether they be small or large & each year we find a cause to donate to. This year we are donating to a local organization that provides gifts to children who suffer from traumatic experiences such as domestic violence, trafficking & mental illness. 

Here are a few we have donated to in recent years:

OXFAM 

Operation Christmas Child

WWF

Books for Africa

Charity Water

Also, this website has a ranking of thousands of charities! Any gifts made today will be triple matched!

Happy Giving Tuesday! :)