Pool time with my favorites!

My sister and niece came in town this past weekend and it was so great to have them stay with us! I LOVE visitors. With my family living in Lexington I sometimes feel so disconnected from them. I always get real pouty when I miss out on birthdays, family dinners, or lazy Sunday afternoons at my parent’s house. So, any chance that I can get to host them in my town of BG is a treat!! I love sharing my life with them and making new memories!

Now, not to upset anyone but my sister is always a very special visitor. Those of you who have sisters surely understand. She is like my other half….the yin to my yang…the peanut butter to my jelly…ha!! You get it? She is one of the few people who can make me laugh until I pee…which seems to happen more lately after giving birth!! And even though she is my baby sister she has taught me many things about being a mother and friend. I love how our relationship has grown throughout the years and I adore our time spent together more than ever now that we are both mothers. She is truly special and my life is so much richer with her and her beautiful daughter, Olivia, in it.

Enough with the sappy and on to the FUN!

On Saturday we took the kiddos the pool. It was Preston’s VERY first trip to the pool so I was a bit anxious about whether he would like it or if I was a terrible mother slathering him up with sunscreen and dipping him in chlorine at the wee age of almost 4 months. Well, I’m happy to say the trip was a success! He really enjoyed it! We stayed in the water for quite some time and he was perfectly content. Plus, he looked so stinking cute in his little outfit and hat. I LOVE a pool in the summer so I’m thrilled to know that Preston likes it too. I look forward to all the pool time fun in our future!!!

My little Beach Bum!!







Olivia is such a good cousin...pushing the very tired Preston out to the car!

Hope all of you are able to catch some rays with loved ones in the next few days too!

Father and Son...

Sunday was Chuck’s first Father’s Day! And what a sweet and wonderful father he is. Chuck loves his little boy so much! He told me the other day that he loves our life so much more now that we have Preston…how sweet! Happy Father’s Day, Chuck. We LOVE you and appreciate all that you do for us!

Blog Makeover!

Hello Friends!! You may have noticed that our blog has a new look! I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that the snazzy new look will motivate me to blog more. Let me know what you think about the facelift!

The past few weeks have been fun but very busy!! I've been settling back into work and trying to find the balance that I was so worried about achieving. I'm happy to say that I'm still loving working. And going to work is so much easier knowing that Preston is taken care of. Chuck's mom, Carol, has been keeping P since I started back to work. She splits her time between our house and her house and the whole thing has worked out wonderfully! P ADORES her and I feel so at peace while I'm away. Eventually P will go to daycare but for the time being I'm loving this situation. Let me also say that not only does Carol take care of P but she takes care of us as well. On the days that she stays at our house she always makes sure to go the extra mile and help around the house. She has cleaned our windows, mopped the floors, vacuumed, done dishes, laundry, and she even scrubbed our back porch clean!! She is AMAZING and all of us are so lucky to have had her help over these last few weeks! She has definitely made this transition so much easier for me.

To change topic...here are some things that we have been up to over the last few weeks....

We took P to his very first (of many) Bowling Green Hot Rods games. C and I love going to the games. Seriously, what is better than baseball, a cold beer, and stadium food. Plus, seeing this little guy in his baseball outfit and hat was pretty darn cute. I snapped this picture and I'm totally obsessed with it! I have it on my phone and I literally look it 10 times a day and smile like it's the first time I've seen it. I LOVE this pic. Hope you like it too!

Then last weekend we made a short trip to Lexington for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and it was nice to see so many members of my family. They all had fun passing P around! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

My niece, Olivia, and my Dad, or "Dude"

Preston and Chuck...LOVE P's outfit!

And last but not least...Preston giving the Thumbs Up!! Ha!!

This weekend my sister, Nikki, and niece, Olivia, are coming to town!!! I'm sooooooo excited!! I LOVE visitors! I'm sure I'll have lots of fun stories and pictures to post next week!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Back To Work....

It's official...my maternity leave is OVER. It's bittersweet. I have always been on the cusp of wanting to be a stay at home mom. I dream of spending days snuggling with my little one, going on day trips, shopping, playdates, cleaning the house, having dinner ready for the hubs, all while keeping my sanity and not losing myself in the process. Well....I learned in 3 months home that those dreams of mine are NOT the reality of a stay at home mom. It's more like crying, feed, poop, snuggle, spit-up, nap, more poop, feed again, leaky diaper, forgot to feed myself, oops laundry is piling up, dog needs to go out, crap...hubs is home already, where in the world has the day gone!!! Ha! Being a mommy is HARD!

I've learned that the life of a stay at home mom might be far different than the pretty picture I had painted in my head. I get cabin fever...bad, I don't really like to clean and Chuck does most of the cooking because he is a much better cook than me and he enjoys it (yes, lucky me). Not to mention that without my paycheck and benefits we would have less money for me to shop and go on those "day trips" I longingly dreamt of. So...no staying at home for me...off to work I go.

But, this working mom thing isn't so bad. Granted, it's only been three days but I'm loving the balance of being a mom and employee. Plus, it's easy to go back to work when you have a great job with wonderful people to share your days with. I was mostly worried about getting out of the door in the morning and how breastfeeding would coincide with work. I'm proud to say that it's all coming together nicely!! Thanks to Chuck I manage to get out the door and to the office by 7. I'm pumping at work and going home every day for lunch to nurse and snuggle with P.

As women, we want to do it all. I know there will be bumps in the road and times where I feel like I can't but for now I'm relieved and convinced that I can do this. And, I feel more like myself than I have in the last 3 months. I think working might make mothering easier and more enjoyable for me...so for now I'm letting go of the dreams and sticking with what works. Back to work I go!