BELLE ISLE IN THE SPRING, VIDEO!

I made a video of our afternoon at Belle Isle from the other weekend if you want to see. Richmond's river spots are one of the reasons we love this city; here's to many more trips to the river this spring and summer!

THINGS I WANT TO MAKE AND EAT

Here are some things that have been on my mind that I want to make.... and eat!

I can't wait to try this Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake and I always want Green Juices

I want to eat all the strawberries! As we get into strawberry season, I'm eyeballing Fresh Strawberry Pies and Strawberries & Cream Overnight Oats. 

These Greek Yogurt Fudgesicles are on the top of my list for the warmer weather, and I want to make these Skillet S'mores and eat out of the skillet with a spoon on the couch while I watch Bloodline. 

SPRING AT BELLE ISLE

I cannot express enough how much seeing all the green on the trees and noticing the bright flowers in bloom is doing for this wrinkled soul of mine. I didn't even realize how wrinkled, until I can feel it unravel, stretch and straighten out every time it meets a warm spring breeze.

At church on Sunday, I watched the leaves blow in the wind and sun flirting with the trees outside the window during the sermon and that almost did as much for me as the message.

There have been colder days, and the mornings are still brisk, but then there are days like last Saturday, where it is so warm you need to be barefoot somewhere outside and ice cream cones are an absolute necessity.  We did both those things, starting with our first ice cream cone of the year, and then going on a long, long walk, and then dipping those bare feet into icy cold river water. Our sun-drenched bodies slept well that night..

PREGNANCY #2: 7 MONTHS

Since we first found out about the pregnancy, I have experienced a whole range of emotions and thoughts.  Here are some the different phases: first, it was elation and pure excitement. Then, a strange sort of guilt (this one is hard to explain but it had something to do with bringing another baby into the world that already has so many children that need homes and families), which eventually resolved into a peace and joy.  Then came the nausea and exhaustion, and then several rounds of a cold that just wouldn't quit.  Then came relief at not being sick or exhausted (around the beginning of the second trimester).  Then I started thinking about how another baby was going to make it that much harder for me to pursue anything on the side having to do with my passions or hobbies, which then swung into giddy excitement about holding a newborn babe in my arms again.  Then I started fantasizing about Sloane and this baby together, and thinking about how great Sloane would be as an older sister.  This started all of my thoughts and prayers and hopes for what our family will look like as a family of four. And then most recently, my thoughts are wrestling with what it will mean to be a mother of two with this current job that I have.  It's not the most flexible of jobs and if I thought juggling a work-life balance during that first year with just one baby was rough, it's hard to grasp what it will be like with two....

So that's where I am right now. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the change that will come in regards to going back to work and trying to do life with two kids, while still maintaing the quality of life.  To be honest, I can't help fantasize about what it would be like to have the first year of this baby's life off of work - mostly because of breastfeeding (I hate pumping, I hate it) - and because it just makes sense, in the world of motherhood that you would be taking care of your baby at all times during their first year of life.  But that is not what makes sense for the workplace apparently, and I keep telling myself that I made it through with Sloane's first year- I'll just be more experienced at it this time around.  I am getting really good at self-pep talks.

This past month, I had a lot of back pain. It was probably a combination of some growth spurts and the fact that it's getting uncomfortable to be sitting at a desk for 8-9 hours a day. I try to take breaks and walk around during the work day but it gets so busy sometimes I don't even get to take a lunch break, which leaves my back aching. Taking walks do help though, as does working out, which is why I've started to look forward to my crossfit workout that much more. I usually end up feeling great afterwards, thanks to the combination of endorphins and all the mobility.

This past month,  Ken and I got to spend some time really connecting. We had a period of days where we stayed up for hours just talking (one time until 2:30 AM and it was a weekday!) and I have never felt closer to this life partner of mine. We are experiencing a sweet time of being kind and intimate to each other, learning how to respect and support each other even more than before and continually working on our communication and connection. We've also danced a lot recently, which is just an extra bonus.  I think I've fallen in love with my husband all over again this past month.

This past month, the baby is moving so much more, all the time.  It's getting to the point where some kicks and movements are uncomfortable - they are so big and insistent.  But I love it.  I feel a warm squeeze around my heart when I imagine the tiny baby moving around in there, growing and absorbing everything around her. I love you so much already, baby. 

This past month, everytime Sloane sees my bare belly while I'm changing, she squeals with delight and yells, "Baby!!" And then runs over to give my belly a hug and a kiss. It is the best thing. She also has been saying, "I want baby sister to come out now!"  And I remind her to be patient for just a while longer, even though I'm with her....

Just for fun: 7 months the last time around!

KEN AND SLOANE DANCING

I was in a crabby mood on my way home on Friday - it had been a really long day, my back was aching, my eyes were burning and I was just feeling out of sorts.

And then I walked into the house to this....

HAPPY WEEKEND! AND MORE PHOTOS FROM EASTER

I noticed this morning that it has been over a year now since I started my bullet journal! I'm terribly pleased about it - it's a joy that only other nerdy journal keepers can understand. 

 I also had the thought today, is the pain of the work week worth it to have the soaring high feeling of, 'TGIF!!!! It's the weekend!!!!'  This feeling wouldn't be as exhilarating if everyday was painless, right ? Right ?  

I hope we all fly high on the knowledge that it is a Friday and enjoy the heck out of this weekend. We have plans to do some dancing at a birthday party tonight, run errands, put up shelves, and spend some time outdoors tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 80s tomorrow and Sloane and I are very excited about another short-sleeve and sandal weathered day. 

Can we stand some more photos from Easter weekend?  I almost forgot about these - we took them after we got back from church on Sunday a few weeks ago. If it looks like we are drenched in spring sun and reveling in the aftermath of church service and full stomachs, it's because we were. 

It's true. I am madly in love with this little family of mine. 

THE INEXHAUSTIBLE VARIETY OF LIFE

What a weekend! I'm still reeling a little bit from the past few days and the transition into Monday was rough, to say the least. "We did it!" Ken and I said to each other Sunday night as we got ready for bed, and both wished upon all our lucky stars that we had an extra weekend day to recover before being thrown back into the work week.  No such luck, but we went to bed exhausted in the way that really fortunate people get exhausted, stuffed with friends and family and celebrations, and then woke up next to each other, for a 10 minute in-between-snoozes morning cuddle that made the Monday morning a little sweeter.

I came across this collection of quotes from The Great Gatsby today and as I read through them, I came across a few that seemed appropriate and fitting to some of my recent days and thoughts:

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired."

"They had never been closer in their month of love, nor communicated more profoundly one with another."

"I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."

Absolutely enchanted these days! and only repelled in the sense that I fantasize about a week of sleep.  And I feel compelled to write down how enchanted I was by this weekend's variety, indulge me, will you?

On Friday night, my sister was in town and we got to have a quick dinner together before going our separate ways for errands and we pretended that this is what life would be like if we lived in the same town and had the luxury of dinners to catch-up in person. Eunice eemo please come around more!

High school friends with their babies! Our friend Caroline got married this past weekend and with friends flying in from New York and California, we got together for a brunch to gush at the babies and just enjoy the fuzzies of being in each other's presence.  Sloane stayed at home with my MIL that morning but if I had brought her, we could have lined up the kids and been like, "look at what we made!!" and patted ourselves on the back about it.

The wedding was later that afternoon and here we are, dressed up, excited and sore.  Ken had done an intense workout that morning, and I was still sore from my workout a few days ago. Don't worry, we worked it out on the dance floor later that night, but then I developed some cramping from all the enthusiastic dancing and then I guess I got the baby all riled up because she proceeded to keep moving and kicking in incessantly for the rest of the weekend....

Caroline was such a beautiful bride and we all had so much fun celebrating the bride and groom.

Baby faye might be Sloane's favorite baby and we got a visit from Faye and her parents on Sunday, to Sloane's delight. Sloane peered at her, gave her stuffed animals, read to her and wanted to sit next to her in the car. So sweet!

We picked up pie and had lunch outdoors on what turned out to be a perfect spring afternoon. It's rainy and cloudy all week but I'll put up with it, as long as the weekends are sunny!



Sunday afternoon found us at a birthday gathering for this special boy, Os, and all of us, grownups and kids, decompressed under the setting sun, rolling around, eating treats and cake, talking and enjoying each other's company. It was a great end to the weekend!

One more Gatsby quote to leave you with:

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

EASTER WEEKEND

It's been a busy week at work and every time it gets overwhelming I try to conjure back up the peaceful feeling I had all weekend. Just recalling how relaxed I was just a few days ago seems to help relieve some of the stress, so I'm hanging on to that, and employing all sorts of other remedies to rescue myself from ... myself. 

The baby must be going through a growth spurt because all of a sudden I feel huge, and the belly seems to be growing even bigger every single day.  This weekend I looked down and it was like beholding a dinosaur egg, and then this past week I'm nursing all sorts of back pain.  Not surprisingly, it is notably harder to carry Sloane around- I have to either do a slung to the side situation or over the belly hold, which doesn't last very long. But I can't help wanting to hold her; growing this new babe reminds me of what Sloane was like when she was just born and I realize how little time there is of just her and us, and how when the new baby comes Sloane really won't be the baby anymore. I find myself going from excited to nostalgic to worried and back to excited, all in a matter of a few minutes- totally normal, right?

 Also, short sleeves! Yellow nails! Flip flops and sandals!

Sloane now has gotten a taste of the short sleeve weather now and asks, EVERY MORNING, "Mom, is it warm today?"

I purposefully eschewed all things Easter-related the past couple of weeks, and by that I mean I ignored the dollar section at Target which was increasingly filling up with adorable bunny and egg related items every time I walked by, but then last Thursday I happened to be in there and meandered through its aisles and gave in.  I put together a little Easter basket for her and thought to myself, I'm one of those moms now! and got really excited to give it to her. I filled a small watering pot with bunny ears, bubbles in a container shaped like a carrot, a bunny cup and some stickers.  Here she is practicing some of her best bunny hops. 

Before I gave her the 'basket', we sat down so that I could attempt to explain what Easter was actually about. We've been reading about the Easter story for the past couple of weeks and that's when I learned it is not an easy thing to explain things like death and resurrection to a two and a half year old, so I've been thinking a lot about it and it's been the sort of challenge that I am finding really fun and humbling as a parent.  One thing I am learning is that it is essential to keep talking about things with your child, because her perspective and her level of understanding keeps changing and developing, and setting the precedent of having conversations about the meaning behind this and that, is significant.  

One Easter tradition that I was planning on doing for weeks is to dye some eggs with Sloane; she's old enough to appreciate it and I get so excited to show her things like this. Look Sloane, you see this egg that we see everyday and eat for breakfast ? We are going to make it change colors! 

That's why it's fun dyeing eggs, right ?  You're basically getting to play with your food and dressing up something that you see everyday in the kitchen.  I wanted to try using natural dyes because I love the muted colors it makes and plus, it's neat to see what foods can act as a dye. We used beets for red, red cabbage for blue, blueberries for darker blues and tumeric and yellow onion for yellow. My favorite was the red cabbage and its blue shades.

We ate so well this weekend with Ken's family, maybe that contributed to the feeling I had that I was waddling around. The pregnancy waddle is real, my friends.   I'm happy to report that I got my dim sum fix and also ate too many sesame balls with yellow bean filling, which were soo good. 

On Sunday, we went to church with my mother in law and since it was Easter Sunday, all the kids went up to the front to to sing a song.  Sloane didn't know any of the kids there and she didn't know the song, but we asked her if she wanted to go up with them and to our surprise, she did! She stood up there during the duration of the song, looking wide-eyed and very solemn, and we were all so proud of her for being so brave. 

She wore a purple blouse and skirt for her Easter outfit and she flitted and floated around in that all day, and then the next day asked if she could wear the same outfit again. I really didn't want this weekend to end either! felt sympathetic and so we changed her into that when she got home from daycare on Monday so that she could flit and float some more. 

AN EASTER EGG HUNT

We had such a good weekend, I didn't want it to end! We got to eat, relax and celebrate Easter with Ken's family in Virginia Beach this weekend and I felt grateful for every single moment.

We went on a Easter egg hunt on Saturday while we were down there and Sloane was allll business about it. The Easter 'basket' I had put together for her was in a watering pot so she used that to collect her eggs and I couldn't help laughing because she was really into it but didn't crack a smile once while she was collecting the eggs.  She was all concentration and furrowed brow. Afterwards, we excitedly opened all of them up, checked out the petting zoo, got a pony ride and went on a hay ride while eating freshly popped kettle corn.  It was the kind of afternoon where you are caressed by wind and sun, time feels like it standing still, and a catnap is called for afterwards, which we all did when we got home.