Chicago According to my iPhone

posted on: Monday, September 28, 2015


Josh and I spent the weekend in Chicago so we could attend our friends' wedding, leaving the baby overnight for the very first time. Abby was sweet enough to keep the kiddos for us so Josh and I (along with my trusty pump) could hit the road for a few days away. I did remember to take the good camera but I never even bothered to get it out. Here are a few snaps from my phone I grabbed to remember the weekend by. 


Bone marrow and beef cheek marmalade at Au Cheval. Wow.


Don't panic! This was just set up as part of a scene for a tv show they were filming near our hotel ;)




beautiful friends in a beautiful city with a soon to be beautiful baby in tow




And the new Mr. and Mrs.

  
  "eldest puggle"     



 ...aaaand Firecakes donuts for the road! Thanks for another wonderful weekend, Chicago! You know we can never stay away too long :)







Ever Climbs the Stairs

posted on: Thursday, September 24, 2015


Oh, what's that? You were hoping I'd do an entire post today of just pictures of Ever climbing our stairs? That is so completely necessary and important, why hadn't I thought of it myself? Well, consider me at your service. 

Really these are just a bunch of photos from Monday when I was home with baby girl and she was doing her favorite activity, which is climbing the stairs, and she was just so dang happy to be doing it that I had to whip out the good camera and capture the moment. Also, I'm leaving town tomorrow for Chicago and it will be my first time away from her overnight. I can't really talk about it. I just know that while I'm out "enjoying a weekend away with my husband" I'll have these to scroll through obsessively as I count down the minutes until our return ;)

Just kidding. I'm stoked to be going. I love my husband. But that baby though...



with the tongue and the smiles and the belly hanging out over the pants? Well, she makes staying home look pretttttyyyyy good....




A Boatload of Book Reviews

posted on: Wednesday, September 23, 2015



This was my first time reading a Murakami novel and I didn't know what to expect. Even after finishing it I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about it.  It was strange, surreal and imaginative but it's also a massive book and was sometimes long winded. I found the author often revisiting the same plot points again and again, re-hashing the same events from every perspective and honestly, it got a little tedious. Even so, it maintained my interest enough and I powered through to the end. I've read that this isn't the best representation of his work so I'd be willing to give another one of his books a go. If nothing else just to see if I can figure out the Murakami craze because I still feel like I must be missing something.





So I hate to give an all out bad review but what it really comes down to is that this novel was predictable, a little cheesy and honestly, not worth the time. 





From the first moment this little compilation of writings showed up on my doorstep I had a hard time putting it back down. Mama, bare is a collection of pieces on motherhood, written by new mamas about those first few weeks and months after a baby's birth. That emotional time of transition from girl to mother that can be both excruciatingly painful and mind-blowingly joyful. I can't imagine how any new mother wouldn't relate to a least a few of the pieces in this stunning collection. The stories inside span the wide breadth of motherhood experiences from despair to delight and I highly recommend this for the new or expecting mothers in your life.





Much like Murakami I had to jump on the Gaiman band wagon to see what all the fuss was about. I know it's strange that it has taken me 32 years to finally pick up one of his books, he's like, a legend. But, I finally did it. Now, I have friends that practically worship at the alter of Gaiman so I was a little surprised after finishing this one that I just sort of liked it and thought it was "pretty good". Huh? I was expecting a life altering read here, or at least a new author to obsess over whilst wildly downloading every title in his library. But I'm just like, it was fine. I think I need to read another. I've got my sights set on Neverwhere but point me in another direction if you've got a better suggestion.





So you would think that as a blogger I would be familiar with Jenny Lawson a.k.a. The Bloggess but to be honest I hadn't ever really read anything she's written before picking up her memoir. I say "picking up", but what I really mean is listening to it on audible. Which, I gotta say, I think is the way to go with this book. She reads it herself and she is hilarious. Her accent, her intonation, listening to her actually tell her own stories, it makes them all that much better in my opinion. This book was truly funny and I really did laugh out loud a few times. A fun and easy read (or listen) that I'd definitely recommend.




And this one was just a big, fat, whopping disappointment. I'm sorry Ann Patchett, but it's true. A ridiculous story of strangers held hostage by quasi-pacifist/super easy going terrorists? Just so unrealistic. But even that I was willing to let slide until I got to the end and then HATED the ending. Hated it passionately. I can't really get into it without spoilers but if you've read this WTF? Seriously. Hit me up in the comments to discuss.






Some Photos from Lately

posted on: Tuesday, September 22, 2015


Things that have gotten harder to do since having three children; keeping a clean house, leaving the house secure in the fact that everyone has shoes on, netflix, knowing my bra size, snapchat, cooking, staying up past 8pm and blogging. But here I am friends, fighting the good fight. And I even socialized with grown ups over the weekend. We even cooked. (alright, Abby cooked.)

 

And Adam had a birthday and a baby. He and Julie invited us down to Granville for his birthday/meet the baby party. Even though I had already met sweet little Scout I couldn't wait to get my hands on her again. Oh, the sweet smell of newborns. And this one is particularly enchanting. You done good, guys. Reeeeeeal good.


 The boys were SO EXCITED so spend the day with Jordyn.


I walked in to find the kids doing face painting and Jordyn was even painting Ever's face! I was shocked at how still she sat through the whole thing. Ev had the most serious look on her face the entire time and just let J go to town decorating her face with color after color. It was amazing.


 Jordyn already has this big sister thing on lock. Look at Ever just staring up at her in admiration!


Scout is one very lucky little lady. I'm just so in love with this tiny girl who looks just exactly like her daddy. She even wore the outfit I got her for her big coming out party! I am totally smitten. I could have just bundled her up and taken her home with me. But in the interest of not destroying friendships aaaaaaand facing possible jail time I settled for an afternoon of snuggles and smiles with her instead. Welcome to the world, Josephine Scout. I sure am happy you're here.




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