Happy Friday!

I have to admit that time passes differently now that I'm not working outside of the home. It passes in a kind of weird fast-slow pace but Fridays kind of merge into the other days since I won't be coming home from work to plop on the couch with a glass of wine, order out, and not move until I need to go to bed. Still, I love me a good Friday! This post is all over the place. You're welcome.

1. I have been putting pumpkin pie spice in my coffee before it brews and my whole world changed. Why have I been buying coffee that is full of flavoring when I could be doing this?! Bonus that my house smells like Fall, even if it is 90 effing degrees still.

2. Birthday prep is in full swing for a certain 11 month old baby I know! I could literally cry thinking about how much she has grown and changed my world but instead I am throwing myself into party planning. I have been 'pinning' this day long before she was even born but will still keep it simple, though, drive my husband crazy in the process. I'm sure of it.

Um. This is happening. And it doesn't look like that anymore!

3. This is Day 4 of the 21 Day Fix for me and I don't want to eat my arm or that chunky 11 month old on my hip. I'm so surprised because those containers are teeny tiny but they are filling me up. Apparently I've been over eating FORever so this is a great program for me. My SIL's wedding is in less than a month and when I tried on the dress that I had to purchase right after having a baby, I zipped it up and IT FELL OFF OF ME! I was afraid I would be that girl who was all "Oh, I just had a baby, let me wait to order the dress" then have to shove myself inside of it. I keep that thought in my head when Autumn is all "Give me three weeks and I'll give you the body you always wanted". Ok, Autumn! Give it to me!

4. Noelle is getting her molars in. Is that weird? She already has one and it is gigantic compared to her little chiclet teeth up front. Girlfriend has NINE teeth with two other molars starting to poke through. What the what? This seems so strange to me!

5. This song is my jam. I am obsessed. For real, I want this playing around me all the time. Like when I walk into places, I want it to be my entrance song. Not only is the beat fab but the message it is sending is even better. Get it girl.

Happy Friday!!

Fall in LOVE with YOU

Happy Monday!! I wanted to share some great info today. I have a post in the works about 'Operation: Get my body back' but this is where it all started. Scrolling on Instagram, I came across some info for a T25 challenge group so I asked to join it, not really knowing what to expect. I had a blast, got lots of new recipes, lost 7 lbs/10.5 inches, and made some new friends. Those ladies became such a great source of motivation for me and continue to do so, long after the challenge group ended. We teamed together to form the Live Life Fit Community and we are hosting another challenge group. If you need some motivation, a place to find healthy recipes, or just looking to 'meet' other ladies who are juggling life and fitness, this is a great place to start.

The group is filling up fast and will be lots of fun. Here are some important details...

• You get to pick your program.
• You can join if you're already doing a program.* 
• It's all on Facebook and the group is SECRET, meaning no one sees what you post except group members.
• You don't have to post before pictures but you should take them for yourself. You will get points for sharing them but it's your call.
• You don't have to publicly weigh in anywhere. WHY?!?
• You don't have to be super into health and fitness, just be willing to take the first step.
• There will be prizes based on a point system.
• There are already over 50 people signed up, so you can count on a great support group!

*certain rules may apply

Leave a comment or send an email or text if you want more info!

Linking up for #MIMM!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Well, the inevitable happened. After such a long and cold winter, we wished so hard for summer that we enjoyed the heck out of it, and you know what they say about time flying when you're having fun. Or is it time flying when you have a baby? Either way, both of those things are happening and we are chasing after an almost-toddler as the summer comes to a close. Womp. Womp. Thank goodness that Fall is my favorite!

So what the heck are we up to? Big things, people. BIG things.

{Noelle loving my most favorite place, York Beach, Maine.}

First off, Noelle is practically a big kid, not an itty bitty baby at 10.5 months old, 19 pounds and 29 inches. What? She crawls at lightning speed, channeling her inner spider monkey as she scales the furniture, the stairs, our legs, the dog and cat, pretty much anything she can get her sweet little hands on. She says Dada, Mama, Rock, Hi, and is attempting some sort of a Hello. She thinks she is talking just fine so we chat all day long. She is the sweetest little thing you ever did see and truly such an easy going baby.

We made a huge decision for our family and decided that it would be best for me to resign from my teaching position so that I can be a Stay at Home Mom! I have been dreaming about this decision for a long time but it wasn't until recently that a few things happened that made it a reality. A huge weight has been lifted knowing that no one is expecting me to show up next week on the first day of school and that I don't need to be apart from my sweet girl, which was a very real anxiety for me. We don't know how long this will last or what the plan is longterm but for now, this is what works best for us, and we could not be more thrilled that we found a way to make it happen. This has always been a dream of mine so while I'm sure I will miss the classroom, I am beyond happy that it worked out this way.

I became an Independent Beachbody Coach. I finished up T25 and are you ready for this? I lost 10.5 inches and 7 lbs, in 10 weeks! I knew the weight would be slow because I am still nursing and I'm pretty sure that my body is clinging to that weight, as it should be, but the inches? Holy moly! I'm no stranger to Beachbody but T25 is the first at home program that I have ever really stuck with and it seriously made my life so much easier to be able to work out at home while Noelle played on the floor and then as she got more mobile, while she napped. I have a post planned all about this new change and what it means for me and for you!

Speaking of that.. it's also pretty clear that while this blog was once a place that I shared the little details of my life, it is no longer that outlet for me. I love the blogging community and made some amazing friends here but we decided that we didn't want Noelle's pictures plastered all over the place and that made blogging hard. Uh, I can't blog about my baby? Now what? Not only that but I found that it was easy to not make it a priority because I had nothing to write about! When I originally created my blog, my intention was to blog about food and cooking, hence the title, but then I fell in love with the blogging community in general and I accidentally veered away from that. I would like to refocus my blog so that it becomes what I intended it to be, mixed in with what I already do. Not a whole lot will be changing (I don't think) but I'll share more about this later.

{Fenway selfie}

Besides that we have seriously been enjoying this summer, big time. It is the first summer that Jeff hasn't been coaching or playing baseball since we've been together, which means that we have a lot more family time. We have also had lots of parties - weddings, showers, birthdays, graduations, cookouts. We have spent lots of time at the beach, lake, and pool, and even took some mini trips, including our first family vacation to Maine. We also welcomed my best friend's precious new baby GIRL into the world! It was the sweetest surprise ever! We are soaking up the last few weeks of summer and then it's my favorite season! Then Noelle's birthday (HOW?!) then my SIL's wedding, so we have lots of fun things coming up to keep us busy and happy and full.

Memorial Day Weekend & somebody's on the move!

Somehow Memorial Day weekend already came and went! I loved having the extra day with Jeff home and we had plans to go up to my in-laws lake house. The forecast wasn't so great but we ended up with decent weather and had a lot of fun firsts with Noelle.

First time on the boat! I was dying over the teeny pink tankini and big white sun hat that she rocked so flawlessly. She was so mad when we first put her in the life jacket but after her nap she was totally fine.

My sisters-in-law noted that Noelle had "Chronic Bitch Face" when she was in this life jacket. We all couldn't stop laughing every time we looked at her because she was just glaring at us. What the heck are you making me wear, mom?

She cheered up real fast! Already driving the boat around.

We let her take off the jacket for a bit when we docked so she could eat and she turned into a little model baby after. Is this kid for real? Work those baby thighs!

Love my sweet family! We loved our first mini vaca!

I would say she is a fan of summer time and boating. All that fresh air made for good naps!

Back at the camp, she had her first bath in the big tub that she LOVED, her first camp fire (which I didn't get any pictures of), and then this happened...

My baby started crawling!!! We knew it was coming but then apparently when there was something she wanted bad enough on the floor, she went for it! You can tell we are all so excited! Jeff wasn't sure if it counted because we were setting her up by placing the spoon on the ground. You can hear my mother-in-law, "It counts! Of course it counts!"

We had the best weekend and look forward to lots of fun firsts and family time this summer!

Noelle's Baptism

I'm playing catch up a bit and sharing Noelle's Baptism today! Trust that I am better at keeping up with her baby book than I am with this blog! :)

After buying our house, I began searching for a church in our area that would make us feel welcome and ease the transition from having no church to one that we belonged in. I was looking for a true community that would make it so we would enjoy going to church on Sundays. I found that in our little church and have been so happy with it. We have lots of friends, a Pastor that we love, and have spent a lot of time learning about our faith and becoming active in our church. We were married there on April 28, 2012 and on March 16, 2014, our daughter was baptized there, by the same pastor, in front of the same family and friends. It was such a beautiful day.

Noelle wore the same dress that I wore, as well as my three siblings and some of my cousins. My great-aunt crocheted it for me and now it is being passed down. I absolutely love that she wore this and look forward to putting all my babies in it! The dress is so intricate that we decided to go with this headband by Pink Lemonade. Such a little princess!

A little blurry but I was so glad to have these pictures. She did so well in church, which is typical. It didn't seem to bother her one bit that someone just poured water on her head. Such a happy moment for us!

Our little family, celebrating on the same alter that we took our vows on two years ago.

Afterwards, we hosted a small luncheon at a restaurant. We were really happy with the food and it was nice to not have to set up or clean up afterwards.

The cake was delicious and so were the gluten-free cupcakes! Made by Cakes by Michelle.

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For the party she changed into this sweet monogrammed dress made by Plain Jane & Co.

We had such a great day celebrating with family and friends! Just for fun, here is a picture of me with my parents on February 16, 1986 being baptized in the same gown!

Hello? Is this thing on?

Hi! Um, not even going to think about the fact that I last posted in December. What the what. Let's just say that between being unsure about how much I wanted to share about my baby and grad school starting back up after a semester off.. this mama fell off the track. 

So what have we been up to?

I am...

• enjoying being a temporary Stay At Home Mom! We decided, after lots of crying, praying, budgeting, crying, and praying, that I would take the rest of this school year off to be home with Noelle. So I haven't gone back to work yet. It has always been my dream to stay home with my babies and I am facing a harsh reality that it just isn't going to happen right now. Thankfully, Jeff and I were able to make it happen for this school year and we'll see what happens, though the plan is to go back to work in late August.

• back to grad school! I took two online hybrid classes, after taking the Fall semester off. The last day of class was May 11th and I have truly never been happier to end a semester, which was the last one before my practicum!! It was so hard trying to get a ridiculous amount of work done with a child who refuses to nap for more than 20 minutes, unless she's on me, so I've been allowing that for too long just to get work done. The work load this semester? B-A-N-A-N-A-S

• working on my fitness. I'm trying to get healthy and tone this strange post-baby body. It's flabby, it's stretched out, but it's lighter than it was before I was pregnant so it's just weird. I started T25, tried a few Stroller Strides bootcamp classes, and have been making a solid effort to eat well and take a 2-3 mile walk every day with Rocky and Noelle. Mama needs to get fit!!

• fighting cabin fever like whoa. I LOVE being home with Noelle. LOVE IT. But this winter was long and I felt like the sun came out and I didn't know what to do with it. We were inside so much because you just can't take a bitty baby out when it's 5 degrees out. Well, whaddya know, she's not so bitty anymore and spring has sprung, so we're out!

Jeff is...

• coaching baseball and loving it. His team is doing really well, too! It makes for a long day, though.. he leaves for work around 5am and isn't home until about 6-7pm. 

• working, working, working! This is his busy time at work as the nice weather peaks. So grateful for such a hard working hubby!

• L-O-V-I-N-G his baby girl! Daddy is obsessed!! Those two are just about the sweetest thing I ever saw. He was MADE to be a Daddy to a baby girl. Absolutely made for it.

Noelle is...

• getting big!! She is 7 months old, I'm guessing about 18lbs, 28 inches, and has two teeth! She is still deliciously plump but she is going to be tall like her Daddy. 

• starting to become more and more mobile. She is on the cusp on crawling but she sits and scoots on her bum to get where she needs to go. She can spin herself in circles, move from sitting to her belly, back to sitting, and she does baby planks all the time, which is hilarious.

• saying Dada!! I swear she said Mama first but the little stinker says Dada all day long.

• obsessed with Rocky and Princess. OBSESSED. Thankfully they both love her, too, but she loves hard! "Be gentle!" is our new mantra.

• such a happy baby!! I could just eat her up.

• not a good sleeper. We started partially co-sleeping because she won't sleep in her crib for long periods. She starts there and ends up in bed with us. It's working for now and she is seriously the best snuggler on the planet. She loves spooning. For real.

• eating solid foods but still nursing like a champ. She is independent and likes to feed herself but prefers mama's milk still.

I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly now. I love this sweet online community and I'm thankful for IG and emailing/texting with my blog friends but I have missed this space.

The best kind of busy

This season of my life is so incredibly sweet that sometimes, in complete awe, I just have to stop and look around. I want to remember it all. 

The past few years have been a whole lot of busy, busy, busy, rush, rush, rush. Working 50+ hours a week, one or two grad classes a semester, summer sessions, and summer school mixed with Jeff's 60+ hour work week and both of his baseball teams, while still balancing family and home life. Sometimes it felt like we were just getting through the week then slogging through the weekend, and for what? In no way will I say that my life didn't have purpose, because it always has, in so many ways, but my purpose has completely changed. 

I have always given so much of myself to my students, throwing myself into my school work and taking too much of it home with me, physically and mentally. But now, as I find myself going into my third month away from the classroom, I have found a new purpose. If I'm being honest, as much as I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom, part of me wondered if I would feel lost without my students, my creativity, the energy of the classroom. I always knew that being a mother was the ultimate goal in my life but in a society that seems to glamorize a busy, overworked lifestyle, I wondered if staying home with my baby would set me apart, even if it is only for a season.

And yet, I am busy. My life is full. It is rewarding. But most days, I don't get dressed until after noon time and when I glance in the mirror, I see that my hair is ten kinds of crazy, my shirt is all sorts of stretched out and stained from being pulled and spit on, and good Lord, my pedicure, if you can call it that, is in dire need. I always felt so accomplished with a good pedicure but I guess my tune has changed. 

Some days, when Jeff gets home from work, I see him glance over at the sink, which is still full, or at the dozen dog toys strewn across the floor, and at my coffee cup still sitting next to me while Ellen is on at 4:00, and I know what he's thinking. Still, as I look down at my daughter, who is nuzzled up to me, filling her belly and looking into my eyes, I know that the day's greatest accomplishment is that 12 pound bundle of love sitting in my lap, smiling, happy, healthy. Even when it doesn't look like it from the outside, I am busy all day. Rocking, shushing, snuggling, singing, swaddling, kissing, changing, reading, walking, kissing, bouncing, tummy-timing, and more kissing. I am so busy. My life is so full. It is so rewarding. 

I don't ever want to lose the person I was before I was someone's Mommy; the person who was showered and out the door by 6:30am and could get 25 kids converting fractions and loving it by 8:00am, but in this short, sweet season, I want to enjoy my new busy. When I feel flustered trying to switch the laundry, take out the trash, wipe down the counters, sweep the floor, so that it looks like I "did something", I realize that I am "doing something" all day long. And on the best days, I am showered and dressed, using my teacher voices to read stories, with the hum of the dishwasher and washing machine in the background, a tired dog at my side and a happy baby in my lap. 

If I don't get to return a phone call, or update my blog, or check the mail, it will still be okay. If I don't get to the dishes or put away the laundry, it will be there tomorrow. At this point, I don't know how long I will get to be home all day with my sweet baby, being the only one who can meet her needs. She will only be this little once and I know that I will blink and be back in the classroom, up late preparing lessons, rushing to get dinner on the table so I can post online for a grad class. For now, I will enjoy being the best kind of busy I can be, because I know too well, that babies don't keep.

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton