Dixie Gator Gal

Hell Week

2012-02-14T17:21:00.001-05:00

I didn't have one of these in college, but wish I did. Maybe I'd have been a little better prepared for what the first few days home with baby would be like.

Day one was a combo of no sleep and non-stop hormone train back and forth to Crazy Town. When planning on when to have my mom come help us, Josh and I thought more about the transition of him going back to work instead of the fact that both me and baby would need to be cared for. Needless to say, I was 100% worthless and a hot mess on Friday and Saturday. One minute it was the best day of my life then next uncontrollable sobbing-IT WAS AWESOME! And by hot mess, I literally mean hot, I had to have a fan on me at all times.

Our first Peds appointment on Saturday morning brought the news James had dropped below the 'safe' 10% body weight loss, and if he didn't have a wet diaper in the next 2 hours we needed to supplement with formula. It was hard on me, especially since I had spent 6 of the past 10 hours feeding him. We went straight from the doctors office to a private lactation consultant who worked with us for a few hours and sent us home with lots of great equipment including a hospital grade pump and scale that we weigh him on to figure out how much he eats at each feeding as well as a few bottles of formula, just in case. Well it turns out what he “should be” eating didn’t quite cut it for our little man. Half to one oz per feeding is the goal for his age, but he goes for 3-4 oz instead. Why should I be surprised?

I was surprised when our pediatrician called us on Sunday just to check in to see how I was feeling and how baby was doing. I think almost passing out and crying in the waiting room on Saturday morning may have raised a red flag-ha! Luckily I redeemed myself at his one week (a day early) check in today. He's gained back most of his weight and I could mentally function, although still tired. Our Dr loves her iPhone as much as me and showed me some great apps to download for baby-did I say I love her yet?

The past few days have been a blur of pure joy, exhaustion and all the tears that go along with every emotion under the rainbow.

I do have to say, Josh has been beyond fantastic. He has literally done EVERYTHING for both me and baby – including finger feeding him with a tiny curved syringe so I could try to get some sleep. The man who wasn’t going to change a diaper, has changed close to 100 in the past week, my count is less than 10. I’m sure I’ll be catching up sooner than later.

I’m also lucky to have some of the greatest friends and neighbors who have brought us dinner and checked in on us every night since we’ve been home. I’m beyond grateful to Jen who actually came over to tuck me in when all I could do was cry on Saturday. A hot shower, a freshly made bed, and someone who loves you unconditionally just to sit there with you made all the difference for me. We sure came a long way from sharing a warm beer in the backyard of the Beta house at Florida the first weekend of our freshman year in college.

Baby James has come a long way too, but it hasn’t involved any beer – just boobs. My favorite comment from Josh through all this was something about how cute James was when he was eating, he would post a picture to facebooks if we were hippies. So far, no pictures have been posted to any social media sites of him eating, just pictures of our little guy in his bear hat, on his play mat and just being the cutest little guy ever!

We are in LOVE!! Best Valentine’s Day of our lives!

He's Here!

2012-02-13T10:29:00.000-05:00

James Adam Thompson joined our family on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 11:29 am. He weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 22 inches long.

To say we are thrilled is an understatement. Our little boy is amazing and we are both in love.

He is BEST FRIENDS with his daddy, who is the most amazing man. Not only did my heart double in size for our child, but I have a much deeper love for my husband than I could have ever imagined.

We have tons of pictures I can't wait to share, but for now pics from my iPhone and those that have been emailed to family and friends will have to do.

What an adventure these last few days have been!

Weighing in

Momma's arms

I love my daddy

Here I am!

Our boy

View from my bed

Amazing!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Baby Budget

2012-02-07T07:03:00.003-05:00

The title of my post is laughable. I'm sure Josh is getting a kick out of it right now. Getting ready for baby is expensive. I am by no means an extreme couponer and bought everything for our little guy from Pottery Barn Kids, Babies R Us and other such retail stores. I just wanted everything to be brand new and "just right" for our baby. I love a deal, but wanted to read reviews on EVERYTHING and be the first to open the box and use whatever items we had for our little guy. I know, I know...

There are lots of great ways to save when getting ready for baby, other than failing miserably at trying to use coupons at Babies R Us, I didn't use too many of them. But I've learned a lot along the way and am much more confident in making my purchases-these are some savings sites and techniques I've picked up these past 10 months.

Now that I am getting a better hand on things and more confident in what I think we will need I plan to frequent some of the spring seasons consignment sales. In the DC area-this site has just about every parenting resource you could want. From what activities are going on this weekend to every consignment sale in the area www.our-kids.com/ is the place to find it.

Deal of Day Websites

I have not purchased from everyone of these sites, but do take a look at all of them from time to time.

www.Totsy.com – Deals that last for a few days, fun to look ahead to see what’s coming.

www.Zulily.com – Even have the app on my iphone. Deals start at 9 am EST, but last a few days. Love all the items they offer for mom’s, too.

www.plumdistrict.com – Love the local deals available on this site.

www.Theminisocial.com – Deals for mom, baby and children, up to 70% off. Very trendy items.

www.babysteals.com-Deal starts at 11AM EST & 11 PM EST and they offer one baby or maternity item at up to 80% off. They offer really great brands on this site.

www.kidsteals.com- A sister site of Baby Steals, their sales also start at 11AM EST & 11 PM EST. Both Baby and Kids Steals also offer up steals on the weekend for items that may have not sold out.

www.mamabargains.com -. Instead of one deal everyday, they offer up many throughout the day. This is one site you want to check often.

www.babyhalfoff.com -You will find great items here for baby, kids and mom for half off or more. New deals are posted at 10AM EST. They also offer great deals and giveaways on their facebook so check them daily.

www.ecobabybuys.com-They offer up one eco-friendly or organic baby products everyday starting at 9am EST with items up to 40% off.

www.greenbabybargains.com - Just like their name states, they offer up one deal a day, Mon-Fri starting at 12:00PM EST on a green baby item. Not just baby though; kids up to age 5 plus parents. Every product listed on their site is eco-friendly. Stop by on the weekends to see if any products didn’t sell out.

www.minibargainz.com -Great bargains for babies with great discounts. Deals start at 6AM EST.

www.babyheist.com - They offer a deal a day for baby and kids 40% off or more

www.kids.woot.com - Their deals start at midnight CT and you’ll find toys, accessories, and other kid related products in their sales.

http://bumpbargains.com/-This is actually one deal a day on a designer maternity item.

Coupons, Free Offers, Deals

Pampers Points: Gifts to Grow. Enter codes from pampers purchases to redeem for toys/supplies in the future http://en.giftstogrow.pampers.com

-Everyone told me to do this, I’ve found lots of free gifts to grow offers from www.thesuburbanmom.com and http://thefrugalgirls.com/

I only have a few packages of diapers, but have logged a few hundred points thanks to the blogs above.

I’m planning to breastfeed, but have gotten a few containers of free formula and coupons from signing up for these coupons. This will be great if we need back-up, otherwise I will donate to a charity to help out a mom in need. There are also gift packs that Similac, Enfamil and Gerber have for new parents at the hospital and they all offer apps for iphones. I’m planning to use the Similac App to help with tracking feedings, diaper changes, etc. A free version of an Itzbeen.

Gerber coupons- http://www.gerber.com/AllStages/Special_Offers.aspx

Similac coupons- http://similac.com/

Send coupons and samples

Enfamil coupons- https://www.enfamil.com

Like Gerber and Similac, Enfamil sends awesome coupons!

Johnsons’ Coupons- http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/offers

Smocked, Monogrammed and Just Plain Cute Outfits

I haven’t mastered all the facebook sales yet, but these are some of my favorite smocked deal sites. I actually researched a little to post info about all of them, so I think I understand how to buy things from all these shops now-ha!

Can’t wait to order his Easter outfit and become a monogramming fool (we have to pick a name for that to happen-ha)

Smocked Auctions

http://www.facebook.com/SmockedAuctions

Facebook Flash Sale (fast and quick have to get order in at time of sale)T&Th at 9:30 pm EST

Smocked Steal of the Day

http://www.facebook.com/smockedstealoftheday

Facebook - Preorder's all orders are honored S, M, T, W

Smocked by Shine

http://www.facebook.com/SmockedbyShine

Facebook Flash Sale M & W at 9 pm EST

Smocked Tots

http://www.facebook.com/smockedtots

Facebook - 3 Types of Sales Ready to ship, Preorder, and Monogrammed- M & Th Mornings

Sweet Tea Smocked

http://www.facebook.com/sweetteassmocked

Facebook - Shopping done through FB App, S, M, T, Th 10 am and/or 9 pm EST

Smockaroos

Facebook - T & Th 8:30 pm EST

Smock A Dot

http://www.facebook.com/Smockadot

M, T, W, Th at 9 pm EST

Lolly Wolly Doodle

http://lollywollydoodle.com/

Cute Website

Where do you try to save on things for your kiddos?

Surviving Pregnancy

2012-02-06T07:31:00.000-05:00

As the days of my pregnancy come to an end, I wanted to write what things have helped me through the past 10 months. Hopefully this can be a reference for some of my friends and me for future pregnancies. Also this is a super long post, but I just figured it was better to get it all out in one place other than posting this over a few days.

The most important thing I learned being pregnant was to put myself (which also meant baby) first. It changes everything, and I'm glad I know what life is like when I made myself my #1 priority - which was pretty cool.

Books, Classes & Apps:
I went the fairly traditional route the two books I read throughout my pregnancy were What to Expect When You're Expecting and the Mayo Clinic's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy.

I also enjoyed weekly emails from my hospital, What to Expect and Baby Center as well as the Baby Center App and What to Expect App. There were other Apps I downloaded, but didn't really enjoy-of course I already deleted them. I also think I would have purchased the Sprout App if I had known about it earlier on, but $5 seemed like a lot for the last month-a-roonie.

We also took a very expensive birthing class offered by our hospital, all the traditional classes were booked through Feb back in October so we took an express class and were defiantly the "overachievers" there four months before we were due. It made me feel a lot more comfortable and confident in what was going to happen and I have referenced the materials multiple times since.

Josh is still angry about the "boob class" I took him to at The Breastfeeding Center of Greater Washington, it was great for me, but he is still upset by the demonstrations that were made with the fake (as in stuffed animal like) boob.

He did get to change his first diaper (granted it was on a doll) at our baby care basics class with the Northern Virginia Lactation Consultants. We sprung for a private class after our experience at the The Breastfeeding Center of DC. We really enjoyed our experience here and set everything up to rent our hospital grade pump from them once our little guy gets here. They were a great resources and very friendly, helpful and comforting.

My favorite resource by far is the online class from Mom's On Call. I feel like I have a plan and lots of ideas of "what to do" when baby arrives because of this great resource. The best part is I can rewatch the clips as needed - because I know I will need some refreshing and reassurance over those first sleepless weeks.

Food & Drinks:
I was sick for just about my entire pregnancy, it was lovely. Perrier with Lime really helped to keep me hydrated and helped tremendously with the nausea.

On that note, anything sour was always in my purse or pocket, including Sour Patch Kids and Preggie Drops (the "pops" without sticks)

I honestly only wanted to eat foods that were favorites before hand. I craved sweets towards the end of my second trimester and all of my third, but the 1st was simple things all the way. Tatertots, cheese pizza and tomato sandwiches have been my mainstay throughout, I can't wait for tomatoes to come back in season!

Clothes:
There is one item I literally wore every day - maternity layering tanks. Sometimes I wore two. They worked well with smoothing everything out, providing a little extra length under my non-maternity tops and were event comfy to sleep in. Plus with the constant flux in body temps it was nice to have the option to take off layers with the tanks.

I have 8 from Old Navy at $10 they can't be beat.

Maternity Jeans- these are a must! I held out for a while before I got my first pair, and now there is no looking back.

My mother in law was kind enough to give me a gift card to Motherhood Maternity, which I used to buy my first pair. On our way home from our babymoon we stopped by the Outlets in North Carolina, where I stocked up on a few more pairs at the Motherhood Maternity Outlet. Granted I was never a jeans (or even pants) kind of girl prior to pregnancy - I am a convert now. Also, I became a "stay at home mom" early on in my pregnancy, so I probably would have been purchasing maternity dress pants vs jeans if I was still going into the office.

Compression Socks - Wow, it's like a massage in a sock. I remember two of my besties who are in the medical field talking about wearing them at their long days at the hospital while pregnant and was super glad I filed that away in my noggin. I wore them early on while I was still working and on my feet a lot, then I guess I forgot about them. In the last few weeks of my pregnancy I found them again and they make a WORLD of difference in keeping swelling and pain to a minimum in my feet and legs.

Maternity Support Belt - This helped tremendoulsy with the pressure the baby puts on internal organs and back pain so glad my husband got this for me, I think he found it in the maternity section at Macy's.

My Bobby Pregnancy Pillow made sleeping comfortably a lot easier.

Josh is ready to see it go so he can have more room in our king size bed-ha!

Activities:

I really enjoyed Water Walking, Water Aerobics and Prenatal Yoga - this DVD from Target was fantastic.

Happy Due Date

2012-02-01T10:14:00.000-05:00

Looks like we made it! I've joked my whole pregnancy that my little guy can stay in my tummy as long as he likes, and he has...

Yesterday at my Dr. Appointment, we were asked to schedule our induction date. Since I'm not in a lot of pain or discomfort (except for those few hours of "practice contractions" last week), and I'd like mother nature and baby to have as much time as they would like to make it happen, I choose the last day I could. Two weeks from now I'll either have my little guy or be in the hospital getting ready to have him.

I still can't decide if Valentines Day is a cool day to have your birthday. No matter what, he'll get a card from every girl in his class each year, but I also don't want "his day" to be overshadowed by a holiday. It probably won't matter and he will come before then, but still-picking the day your baby will come is kind of weird.

How far along:
40 Weeks

Size of baby:
Small Pumpkin - gee that sounds awesome. At our 3rd and last ultrasound at 36 weeks his projected weight was 6 pounds 14 oz. That was a month ago, and he should be gaining half a pound a week. That could put him at 8 pounds 14 oz, which sounds just about as awesome as a small pumpkin-ha!

Total Weight Gain/loss:
It's been up and down the whole pregnancy. Net net, I weigh 4 pounds more today than I did at my first pregnancy appointment. Don't get me wrong, I was heavy in the first place, so I'm actually looking forward to taking off pounds post baby, which I was in the process of when we found out we were expecting. FYI J Hud, my husband would like for you to visit us at upcoming weight watchers meetings - Saturday Mornings, Fairfax Station, let's say mid-march time frame works best-ha!

Maternity Clothes:
It took me a bit longer than it should to pack my hospital bag, mostly because I have three pairs of maternity jeans and wear at least one pair everyday. I did not want to take a pair out of rotation and throw off my laundry schedule. At 38 weeks I bit the bullit and packed my bags, surviving these past two weeks on two pairs of jeans and 2 pairs of maternity leggings. I am not looking forward to giving up maternity pants-they are awesome and sooo comfortable, but I did purchase a large amount of nursing appropriate PJ's and lounge wear which should be just as comfy for the next few months.

Gender:
It's a BOY! His initials will be JAT, but we decided to meet him first before pulling the trigger on his full name. We will be using family names.

Movement:
He likes to move it move it. I thought the bigger they got the less they moved. Not true! He is very active and is all over the place.

Sleep:
Still trying to get as much as I can while I can. There have been a few sleepless nights. Especially when the OMG I have to push a baby out anxiety gets me at 3 am. I turn on my Surfing for Birthday relaxation and affirmation track on my ipod and calm down and try to get more zzz's. My mom asked why I wanted to wait so long to induce yesterday and I told her so I would at least have the option to sleep for the next two weeks-ha!

What I miss:
Having a schedule or events in my day. I like to know what's on the docket for the day and keep my calendar up-to-date. Obviously I have nothing scheduled to happen in my life right now other than have a baby, which is totally weird for me. I'm caught up on my google reader and on facebook and pinterest WAY too much-ha!

Cravings:
I am STARVING all day everyday. My most specific craving this week came in the form of Salt and Vinegar Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, which I asked Josh to go buy me at 11 o'clock at night. While he typically honors my requests-he would not get me the chips., although he brought some home for me the next day-thanks babe!

Symptoms:
I can tell my body is getting ready for the baby, it's so nice not to feel sick right now!

Best Moment:
Much to my husbands disappointment, my belly button remaining an innie for the past 40 weeks!

DC Baby Shower

2012-01-31T06:58:00.001-05:00

The day after my ~~31st~~ 32nd (umm forgot how old I was there) birthday, my mom, friends Christy and Jen hosted a baby shower for me. It was soo cute and so much fun! After trying to figure out where to hold it, we decided my house would be the best location. Main reason: everyone could get a sneak peak at the nursery. I've been to a few showers hosted at the mommy-to-be's home and getting to see the nursery has always been my favorite part, why not do the same for my friends?

The nursery is a Peter Rabbit Theme and my mom and friends decided to carry that through with the baby shower.

From the spilled cabbages on the table

carrots and radishes on the mantle


to Peter and all his friends on the diaper cake


with the banner hanging over head


to the tea party happening on the coffee table

The Carrot Shaped Red Velvet Cake Pops (made by Jen the cake pop goddess)

and customized Georgetown Cupcakes...

They left no detail unattended.

I was surrounded by wonderful friends, who showered us with gifts galore!

crocheted football hat, Red Cross first aid kit, lots of cute outfits and my mom's sterling rattle, cup and teething ring.

Gator outfit, burts bee's gift set, funny cards, a gator sun hat, philosophy mommy pamper kit and jon jons galore!

Dr. Seuss books, cute outfits, exersauser, tummy time mat, cute cloths and swaddlers

Bibs for our sure to be messy little guy, such cute cloths and our pack n play!

Peter Rabbit shadow box, sheets, crib blanket and more books!

I had such a wonderful time celebrating baby T with my family and friends, I can't believe he'll be here any day!

With a bunch of my Phi Mu sisters - so glad I've been able to meet these wonderful ladies!

With my sweet friend and shower hostess Christy, a fellow Florida girl we became friends at a BBQ in DC, bonding over our affinity of flip flops!

With my momma, the sweetest lady in the world who is super excited to be a grandmother!

With Jamie, a great friend and co-worker of Josh.

with Nicole a fellow Gator Gal and Birthday Buddy!

with Lauren, who lives around the corner and the only person who I have ever seen that I knew at the Grocery store up here - sooo different than Florida!

Kristin and Heidi, two of my sorority sisters from Florida, who I'm so glad live here-LOVE them!

with Lisa, Betsy and Kari - Phi Mu DC Alums and Chapter Advisers with me at AU, they are a BLAST. I can't believe I've never had a cocktail with any of them, can't wait until it's not just club soda in my cup at happy hours with them!

My sweet neighbor Anna with daughter Audrey, can't wait for warm weather, walks and play dates with these two!

with Johanna showing off our baby bumps!

with Julia- we are the chocolate and vanilla versions of each other. One of my former co-workers who I miss everyday.

with Jen, Lacey and baby Sophia. So glad that my long time friends and bridesmaids live up here with me.

with my awesome neighbors Megan and Jackie

My fun friend Vanessa!

My buddy Chris, I am so glad we have become such great friends. We have a blast advising at AU and actually with just about everything we do!

I'm so lucky to have such great friends to celebrate this exciting time in our lives!

Best part of my day, I got all my thank you notes in the mail (after a trip to the post office for some additional postage and more stamps)!

Babymoon- Charleston SC

2012-01-30T07:08:00.020-05:00

With the baby well on his way, I wanted to TRY to get in some more posts about my pregnancy before he actually arrives. Somehow blogging hasn't been on my nesting to-do list-no labeling, sorting or organizing involved.

My little guy has been giving me lots of practice, and after the last few hours of “practice” on Friday; I’m just ready for the real deal vs mini versions every day. I thought he may come this weekend…at least I wouldn't have call Josh to come home from work only to go back a few hours later-ha! I'm hoping for a February baby and am due on Feb 1st-wow!

In November, Josh and I went to Charleston for our babymoon. We decided to go somewhere in driving distance vs flying for some flexibility and the Gators were playing South Carolina, so I negotiated that Josh take another day off work and we go to the game that weekend…

Lesson learned, always have plane tickets for future vacations- if a meeting gets scheduled for a day after you were supposed to be babymooning, husbands can't delay the trip if tickets have been purchased-ha! Plus the flight time to Hawaii and drive time to Charleston (with frequent bathroom breaks) were about the same. Gators and low country food won out over beautiful beaches in the Pacific. Maybe for our next babymoon?

We stayed at the Renissance in Charleston, it was right on the College of Charleston Campus, and in walking distance of most things we wanted to do and see.

Our room was beautiful, lots of pillows were great to keep me comfy.

The lounge and dining room were beautiful and we enjoyed the BEST Cheese Grits for breakfast every morning we were there!

We did have a fantastic tour guide in the form of my friend Lisa who went to the College of Charleston and lived in the area before making DC home earlier this year. She gave us fantastic advise on what to do and where to eat! Our first afternoon in town we took her advice after a nice long walk on the beach and went to Poe's on Sullivan Island. It was awesome and totally reminded me of my fav Gainesville establishment, The Swamp. I had the Gold Bug Burger - which was topped with Pimento Cheese - ahhhh, yes that's Angels singing from heaven.

After lunch we headed back into town and decided to go on a horse and buggy ride to become more familiar with town. It was really fun to see all the sites this way.

This is not us, but this is what it looked like!

That night we went to Cypress for dinner, with Lisa touting the Caesar Salad as the best we would ever eat. Well, as we were deciding what we wanted, I asked Josh to order the Caesar Salad for us, where he informed me the dressing was surly made with raw eggs. Dang raw eggs being on the no-no list for pregnant gals. No need to worry because everything else we had that night was also the best thing I've ever put in my mouth! I also loved their 4 story wall of wines, it was a really cool way to store the wine.

On Friday we headed out to Magnolia Plantation and brought a picnic with us provided by Publix. This may not seem like a big deal, but we live two states away from "Where Shopping is a Pleasure." We are thrilled every time we get to enjoy some of our favorite items from this Florida based grocery store, and enjoyed it even more among the stately oaks.

This bridge is just so symbolic of the South to me.

I'm so glad all the Camilla's were in bloom, they were BEAUTIFUL!

We were at Magnolia Plantation which is a popular wedding location on the most popular wedding date of the year 11/11/11. We saw lots of weddings, and they were all beautiful, what a day!

We were super tired from all the walking and touring we had done the past few days, so we decided instead of keeping our reservation at HUSK, we would order in from Hymans Seafood - which was a great way to avoid the line that was always wrapped around the block.. My fried green tomatoes and She Crab Soup were AMAZING, but I am sad that we never ate at Husk.

I didn't know how tired I really was until Saturday morning came and our alarm went off to make it to Columbia in time for some tailgating and the noon kick-off. I literally couldn't move. I had been suffering from SPD for a few weeks, but had gotten to a good place with physical therapy before leaving on our trip. Well after all the walking I had been doing, I was in a very bad place on Saturday. I had to stay put. Josh being the sweet husband he is stayed put with me, and we watch the Gamecocks whip the Gators good from our hotel room that afternoon. After some TLC, laying in bed most of the day and a long warm bath - I was mobile enough to go get some dinner. Plus I really wanted to see the sun set on Shem Creek.

We had a nice dinner at Red's and watched more SEC football. Josh said Red's would be his place if he lived in Charleston. We loved it.

We headed back to the city for dessert at the famed Kaminsky's - wow it was AMAZING!

I had the toll house pie a la mode with a big glass of milk and Josh had a fantastic milkshake. Don't worry I shared with him.

Throughout the trip I carried a copy of Pat Conroy's South of Broad with me. A friend of mine turned me onto reading books set in the place where you are vacationing a few years ago, and I can't tell you how much I enjoy doing this. I was able to read it all on the trip and being in the city where the book was based really made it come to life.

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Freezer Meals

2012-01-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

Getting ready for baby, meant getting prepping some food for us to eat post baby. While Josh was home over the holidays he helped me cook up a storm and we have a stocked freezer to prove it. Thanks to my BFF Pinterest I was able to make a Freezer Meals Board and pin away all the recipes I wanted to make. Here's what we have waiting on us:

Breakfast was truly inspired by Southern Living, the January issue had a great looking recipe for Applesauce Muffins with Strussel Topping, which were as good as they look!

Source: southernliving.com via Sarah on Pinterest

While on the site, I searched for a banana bread recipe and found one that involved cream cheese and peanut butter (of course we added a bag of chocolate chips for good measure).

Source: myrecipes.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I also made my mom's Deviled Ham Quiche which I don't have on my pinterest board. It's a favorite of mine and I'm looking forward to heating up a slice or two.

For lunches and dinners we are stocked up on
Chicken Divan, I have loved this a long long time. I added more lemon juice than this recipe called for.

Source: passionatehomemaking.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Paula's Wild Rice and Shrimp Casserole - a recommended recipe from favorite mommy blogger, Kelly

Source: kellyskornerrecipes.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

We are really looking forward to these Butternut Squash and Spinach Stuffed Shells which lead to a discussion on if lasagna or stuffed shells were easier to make - the jury is still out.

Source: prouditaliancook.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

We also made Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells, but added broccoli a la Kate

Source: joelens.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Asian Turkey Meatballs were such a hit, most were eaten instead of frozen - boy were they good!

Source: skinnytaste.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I also made a few different batches of enchiladas. Green sauce has been a long time favorite of our and I threw a Monteray Jack/Sour Cream variety in as well. Should be yummy!

I also stocked up on a bunch of Stouffers family entrees like lasagna, enchiladas, chicken casserole.

All About Baby

2012-01-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

Our little guy hasn't arrived just yet, but we've been real busy getting ready for him these past few weeks! I went into all out nesting mode right around Christmas. It was perfect because Josh was home with me for 11 days and boy did I put him to work! We made a slew of freezer meals, worked a lot on the nursery and rounded out just about all of our "must have" baby items. We also attended a few baby classes, Dr. Appointments, etc.

Let's see, there were a few appointments with our OB practice - baby is still doing great, and I still weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. Our third and last ultrasound-he has hair (we are wondering what color as Josh is blond and I am brunette) and was projected to weight 6lbs 14 oz at my 36 1/2 week mark - which means (as my Dr put it, I will not be having a moose-ha!). Breastfeeding Class - Josh is still scarred and truly upset that I made him come when he could have been watching football, but I learned a lot and was glad to have him with me. Prenatal Orientation at our Pediatrics Office- we were with 7 other couples all at the same stage of pregnancy as us, and I'm still scarred that the woman sitting next to me went into labor while we were there, but so happy with the pediatricians that we will be seeing. Baby Care class - we learned lots of great tips and tricks and Josh changed his first diaper (on a doll) and did better than me.

Now, I'm just getting super anxious about actually having this baby. I honestly feel so lucky that the sorority chapter I advise has workshops and recruitment right now because that has been a WELCOME distraction. I've had a great time with them this week, but felt really old when they were crafting this afternoon and listening to '90's music - Brittney and Backstreet Boys songs that were actually the popular songs I listened to when I was their age. I actually remember my sisters doing Backstreet Boys dances at our recruitment workshops-he he he. Instead of Backstreet Boys, I'll be listening to Surfing for Birthing tonight as it helps calm my delivery nerves with ocean waves and birthing affirmations.

The nursery is well on it's way. I'll take some pictures on our Nikon after I finish his name display (we are waiting to meet him to finalize his name), but here are some iphone sneak peeks. Oh yes, and maybe I'll upload all the pics from my AMAZING baby shower last week!


My Pottery Barn Chair with Peter Rabbit quilt and pillow, lots of time will be spent in this chair.


Peter causing trouble over the bed!

Gator Corner - we haven't put up the rest of the artwork yet, but these Gator prints were a priority for my husband!

Time Flies

2012-01-06T07:21:00.001-05:00

When your having fun, super sick, totally preoccupied with organizing everything in your home or all three in my case.

I had grand plans of blogging a year in review and actually posting pictures of our trips to Greece, Seattle, Maine and our babymoon in Charleston, but with the baby due to be here in less than a month I've got way more important things to do. Putting all books in size order on every bookcase we own, taking everything out of cabinets and reorganizing and even labeling containers is an instinctual must right now. I've left no drawer unattended or shelf ignored. After making a few dozen freezer meals and all this crazy organizing. I can say I'm totally nesting.

So much in fact we even got rid of our storage unit. Over the past few months we've donated a household full of items to various charities. All in the name of feathering my nest!

Other than my new organizing obsession, I'm trying to overcome the second non medicated cold of my pregnancy. There's only so much a netty pot can do. I've had to turn to baby safe cough medicine this go around.

Today, I'm going to fight the urge to do more on our pre-baby check list, and take time to get spoiled and enjoy myself, that's what you are supposed to do on your birthday, right!??

I can't believe how much has changed in one years time. I won't be spending the day at Red Door like I did last year, but am looking forward to getting a few treats at the day spa down the street, lunch with my mom and bestie at Nordstroms Cafe (my favorite spot for fur coat fashion shows) some shopping for frivolous mommy items, and a nice dinner with my husband. Saturday, I'll go back to celebrating becoming a mom with all my friends at my baby shower. I'm already looking forward to washing, folding and organizing all the gifts for our little guy-weirdest obsession of my life this nesting instinct.

I'm looking forward to my special day, and getting to celebrate with a weekend full of cupcakes!

In case you were wondering what a 9 month pregnant 32 year old looks like after eating a pre birthday cupcake!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2011-12-29T00:29:00.001-05:00

With our little guy due to arrive in 5 and a half weeks, we decided to stay in Virginia rather than make the drive down to Florida for the holidays this year. I think we are still a bit jaded from last year when we both ended up with the flu, and were confined to the guest rooms and sofas at our parents houses instead of spending time with friends.

I'm also proud to report that thanks to some 'B' tiered prescriptions (all medicines are ranked in categories for pregnant women) I have recovered from the flu-like symptoms I've been suffering from for the past month. Just in time for Christmas goodies! You will be able to tell how excited I am to be able to eat again after reading this post.

This year we were able to spend time with friends and even family thanks to Skype.

Lacey and Michael had us over for dinner on Christmas Eve. She did a fantastic job on the table, it was sparkly and beautiful.

For appetizers we had Pate that Josh still hasn't stopped talking about, honey roasted cherry tomatoes (with fantastic honey they brought back from their trip to Italy) served with goat cheese, various olives stuffed with goodness, pistachios, and a little liquid gold. The liquid gold was this amazing aged balsamic vinegar also brought back from Italy. The small bottle was very pricy, and is referred to as liquid gold. They served it in spoons with a creamy Parmesan Cheese.

The main course was a lovely salad with homemade dressing, filet topped with lump crab and Bernese sauce, mashed potatoes, shaved asparagus and Sister Schubert's rolls for the lucky. One of the many highlights of the evening was when the basket of dinner rolls burst into flames while we were praying!

Michael saved the day, but not the rolls, they got a little soggy while he was extinguishing the flames. Dessert was the infamous Baltimore Bomb pie, which is a chess pie topped with chocolate covered cookies native to Baltimore.

We played board games and our husbands won over and over again. That's what we get for being married to the two smartest guys we know-ha! They did have the advantage that I have pregnancy brain and Lacey had lots of vino. In hindsight, I think we should have gotten a handicap for that.

Molly enjoyed sitting under their tree and the backyard.

Christmas morning was just the three (and a half) of us. We had chocolate chip waffles, hash browns, eggs and turkey bacon. Not the typical Five Meat Morgan tradition, but we are going to make up for it next year when Murphey is state side.

Josh and I had fun opening presents and just spending time together (with Molly of course).

Josh wrapping up in his blanket from his aunt.

After a few hours of Josh playing his new video games and me writing all our thank you notes (so thankful to be caught up with that), we headed over to Jen and Johns house for Christmas dinner with our friend Christy. It was so fun for Jack to show us all his presents and open a few we brought him! I also loved cuddling with baby Sophia, who as always was dressed to the nines. Jen made a fantastic Rosemary and Thyme crusted roast, asparagus, roasted carrots, Johns great-grandmothers mashed potatoes, cheesy bread and for dessert the famed eclair ring. It was amazing, and more than made up for the rum Yule Log Josh picked up on accident. Regular Yule Log, good. Highly flammable rum Yule Log, bad, very bad.

We did snap a family picture in front of their tree. This like all the others in this post are from my iPhone, one day I'll brush off the Nikon, I promise.

Hope yours was as merry and bright!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Wishing you the Merriest!

2011-12-24T14:26:00.000-05:00

Tis the Season

2011-12-21T09:50:00.001-05:00

We've done some serious partying at our house this year. Which is probably the reason I've stayed close to bed the first half of this week (well that and I have been getting 3-4 hours of sleep at night, so I try to catch up during the day).

But back to the fun stuff, partying! Who needs their fancy Nikon? My iPhone is the only way I take pictures these days.

My sorority alum group had a fun Tacky Sweater/White Elephant Party a while back.

Having fun with the bump

With some of the gals I advise with at AU.

I also coordinated our groups annual trip to the National Christmas Tree preceded by Cocktails (or in my case club soda) at POV- the roof top lounge at the W. It was really fun!

My junior league committee also had a fantastic party for the families we work with.

Our party coordinator and volunteers with some of the kiddos.

Among awesome gift bags, we also let the families add to their libraries by giving them hundreds of books!

Excited readers!

Last, but certainly not least. Josh and I hosted our annual holiday open house. Being the true prego brained lady I am, I totally forgot to snap pictures that night. I did take some during clean up the next morning.

Josh wanted to make jambalaya this year and boy did he. We joked he made jambalaya for 80, but our 50 or so guests had no problem finishing the extra large pot off.

We also served a lovely veggie platter, spinach and artichoke dip with crackers, cheese fondue, bruchetta, hot onion dip, bacon wrapped jalapenos, meatballs, and my aunt Sugies sausage balls.

This year I only made a few hundred cookies vs my 1,000+ last year. The always favorite Oreo balls were a hit.

Also a hit - homemade lemonchello brought by one of Joshs co-workers.

The bar was still in great shape the next morning-ha!

Hope you've been able able to share in the merriment of the season!!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Scents of Christmas

2011-12-20T12:38:00.001-05:00

It must be the advent candles, but for some reason candle burning makes Christmas for me. Over the past few years I've stepped it up in the candle department. I just really love the way my home smells with a nice burning candle.

To me the benchmark of Holiday Candles is Thymes Frasier Fir. But I could never justify spending $40 plus on a candle, so I stuck with the holiday scents from Yankee.

This year, I decided was the year and bought Frasier Fir the day before thanksgiving from my favorite boutique in town. I have loved every minute of it.

But my dear Frasier Fir has some stiff competition coming in the form of Nest's Holiday candle. I was given this by a friend this past weekend and am crazy about it.

What's your favorite Holiday scent?

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Baby Shower

2011-12-19T12:51:00.000-05:00

I have been partying my way through December. Add the fact that it takes my eight and a half month pregnant self quadruple the amount of time I think it should to do something and my bustling social calendar, I'm amazed that I actually did get my Holiday Cards out before Christmas. I obviously needed to hire an elf this year.

The hustle and bustle began the first weekend in December when my friends hosted a shower for me in Tampa.


Jessica, me, Lauren and Gwen - who would have guessed all the fun times we've had through the years.

It was a Gator Tailgate Themed Luncheon. Complete with a Gator Diaper Cake, all my favorite foods and surrounded by my cherished friends.

It was great to spend the afternoon with all these wonderful ladies. Lots of tears were shed on my part (and I it wasn't just because of the crazy pregnancy hormones). I truly miss getting to spend time with all my Florida friends.


Suzanne is expecting a boy, too. I hope we'll get to move back to FL one day so our boys can be on all the same sports teams.

Speaking of sports teams, Liam will be linebacker with Suzanne and my guys!

And little Mia is going to have dates lining up at the door!


Allison and I with our baby bumps!


With Jessica (Josh's unofficial little sister) and Missy.

They are the sweetest friends, I'm so glad I inherited them from my husband!

Speaking of sweet friends, I'm truly blessed with the ones I've been given.

With Sonja- for some reason I burst into tears every time I see her-ha!


Lucy (aka Anne) a true inspiration, survivor and fantastic singer - we've spent way too much time singing at the top of our lungs together!

My partner in crime, Reema.


I could have an entire blog recounting our adventures together

Sadly, I don't have pictures with everyone there, but I can't forget the two most importants guests (other than me and baby T) The Grandmothers!!

The decorations were beautiful.

The food was fantastic, I mean what pregnant lady doesn't love mashed potato bar and cake?

The activities were fun.

And I was showered with love and gifts from my friends and family!

Doctors Orders

2011-12-12T14:42:00.001-05:00

Eat more Christmas Cookies.

I guess that's what happens when you weigh in 20 pounds less than you did at your first pregnancy appointment.

I went straight to Starbuck for a peppermint hot chocolate and every type of brownie they make. I wasn't planning to make my 1,000 Christmas Cookies this year, but may have to step up my game-ha!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Not Giving Up

2011-12-09T00:58:00.001-05:00

I have hopes that the Verizon repairman will leave me with Internet tomorrow, but until then I'm staying connected by 3G!

I failed at something today, and I don't like failing (don't worry, I'm not giving up). What did I fail at? Stacking coupons at Babies R Us.

I have grand plans of purchasing some of the higher dollar items we'll be needing for baby. So going through the most recent Babies R Us ad and taking a look at my store coupons, I formulated a plan. Since our swing was spend $150, save $30 - and I had 20% off single item coupons, I began to wonder if I could use both discounts on the same item. So I did what any deal seeking mom would do and called the store. The associate I spoke to said absolutely just as long as neither was expired. I took a close look at all my coupons and the circular, and made an action plan of which items I planned to buy over the next few weeks.

Low and behold I got an email Wednesday night that there was a one day sale on Thursday. I looked through the add (and even had my neighbor print my coupons since our Internet is down). With 20% off our pack n play and my additional 20% off a single item, I decided it was worth sneaking a trip into my very busy day.

After 2 Dr appts, lunch with friends, a meeting and volunteering, I didn't make it there until after 9. I found the pack n play loaded it in my cart and found another item I had a coupon for. I get to the register and hand the clerk my three coupons, to which she tells me I can only use two. No I say, I called before I came and asked if I could use both the 20% off pack n play and 20% off a single item coupon on the same item at the same time AND was told yes as long as they weren't expired. She called over the manager who repeated only one coupon could be used at a time, despite what I was told on the phone. I was so mad I made a trip there!

I asked about stacking with the credit card and completion coupon with other store offers and coupons and he said I could do that. So it looks like I won't be knocking things off my priority list until two weeks prior to my due date. Thanks for nothing Babies R Us.

I also think it's ironic that I was haggling for an extra 20% off while my husband is hosting his colleagues from around the world at a private event at the Kennedy Center tonight. And our dog sitter went to bed early (while I was running late) so I have to pay for our dog to be boarded tonight because of this whole mess - the next time I go to Babies R Us it will be a day too soon!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Christmas Spirit

2011-12-07T23:44:00.001-05:00

Our Internet is out, so I've been surviving on my iPhone, which is not the easiest!

But despite being disconnected, the Holiday Parties are in full swing, and our calendars are bursting with holly and Christmas cookies!! Tonight was my first party of the season with the lovely ladies on the community placement council at JLW. We had a fun book exchange, and lots of awesome goodies!

I gave South of Broad which I read on our babymoon a few weeks ago, and got a cool book on Preppy Life in DC (hope to have a moment to read it, but don't think that will actually happen anytime soon).

Here's my book, wrapped up in lots of glitter!!

And here's me with baby T, ready to start the 2011 Holiday Party circuit!

How excited are you to party your way through the next few weeks!?

Lots of Love,

Sarah

31 Weeks

2011-12-06T11:39:00.001-05:00

Wow, time flies! I'm just back from my baby shower in Florida, which was fantastic! Josh worked on the nursery while I was away, and we have a trip to Goodwill and our storage unit to make tonight. I also returned to our Internet being down, sooo I am looking forward to a visit from the dishwasher and Internet repairmen this week, amongst 10+ doctors appointments (maybe it's a good thing our Internet is down). I've got a lot of catching up to do. Now onto the good stuff:

How far along: 31 Weeks

Size of baby: Head of lettuce

Total Weight Gain/loss: I had gained 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight and then got super sick right after thanksgiving and lost 6/7. So at 8 months pregnant I weigh less than I did when we found out we were expecting.

Maternity Clothes: Pregnancy jeans are a God send! I can still make some regular items work with the assistance of pregnancy tanks-which are worn daily. I've had to get more maternity clothes than I thought I would, but am very thankful to have found cute items that mix and match well! I don't want to retire my pregnancy jeans anytime soon!

Gender: It's a BOY! His initials will be JAT, but we decided to meet him first before pulling the trigger on his full name. We will be using family names. But still refer to him as Timmy T, especially when he strong arms my tummy.

Movement: He is a mover! He has knocked things off my tummy a few times. He is particularly active at 11 am, 4 pm and 11 pm.

Sleep: Trying to get as much as I can while I can.

What I miss: Stamina- when I need a break, I NEED A BREAK. There is no more pushing through for this moma. Wine and or cocktails with friends at all these awesome holiday parties would be nice, too.

Cravings: SWEETS! Passed my diabetes test with flying colors, so we have a house full of candy cane kisses and cookies. This little guy like sweets as much as his daddy. Daddy is really loving bowls of Hersey kisses on the coffee table (and sneaking mommy's chocolate any time he can).

Symptoms: Are things subsiding? Am I jinxing myself? Other than my non baby related mystery illness, I'm doing pretty well.

Best Moment: Being surrounded with the love and generosity of my friends at my baby shower! The prenatal massage my mom arranged for me was fantastic as well!!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Cheese Please?

2011-12-01T14:07:00.001-05:00

Only I would develop some crazy illness in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. I'm probably the only person (pregnant at that) that lost 6 pounds Thanksgiving weekend. At eight months I now weigh less than I did when I initially found out I was pregnant (granted that was after a glorious vacation in Greece - Ahh feta cheese at every meal).

I am missing cheese and most every food out there as I have existed solely on saltine crackers for the past week. Never have I been so hungry and not wanted to eat at the same time! I'm making my favorite Greek chicken soup in a few minutes and can't wait to have a hot bowl of it. I'm overly cautious I guess because Saturday is my first baby shower, hosted by some of the best friends a girl could ask for! I just can't wait. I don't want to be doubled over in pain the whole time, so I'm sticking to Doctors orders and keeping the blandest diet known to man, but boy I'm missing cheese.

After getting the thumbs up to fly on Tuesday ( don't worry Baby T isn't going anywhere -other than up and down the east coast with me) I was on a plane down to FL yesterday. I didn't fair well. Thank goodness for first class with extra space, but gosh almighty I was sicker than could be (I've always suffered from motion sickness, and can't take meds to prevent it right now).

I was initially a bit sad to be gone from home for six days, during such a busy time, but think I'll need that long to be willing to board a plane again next week!

I'm happy to report i am feeling much better, and have added a bit more to my diet. My mom and I finalized our outfits for the shower this morning and she's having her massage therapist come give me a prenatal massage thus afternoon!
I can't wait to see all my friends in Tampa on Saturday, I was so scared that I would even make it!

My husband helped put things in perspective for me when he said you have three things to do in the next two months, go to your baby showers and push-HA! I'll take care of the nursery, our holiday party, and everything else. What a great guy I have!! I seriously hope I can do a lot more than that, but it's good to have a reality check every now and then, and a few pieces of cheese (maybe after the shower).

Lots of Love,

Sarah

A Wonderful Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T16:49:00.000-05:00

It was such a joyous occasion to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends and family. I'm finally getting to share my fall wreath which welcomed our guests.

I also printed up a Keep Calm and Gobble On sign to encourage our guests to eat up!

Josh and I had a solid plan Turkey Game plan and were headed up to bed after making all the pies, stuffing, ironing on linens, and prep chopping on Wednesday night when our dishwasher starting dinging 15 minutes after we started running it. A few hours of using our wet vac and dissembling and reassembling our not quite year and a half year old dishwasher, we decided to hand wash all the dished that had been loaded in it and finally hit the hay just before 2 am and call a repairman next week.

Josh got up at 7 to stuff and put the bird in the roaster. His parents had gone to bed early and were already having breakfast. Since Molly didn't like being left behind while everyone else was having a party downstairs, she and I headed down. Since I have been suffering from pregnancy insomnia for the past few weeks, I didn't really think having just five hours of sleep would phase me, plus I wanted to get my hands on all the Black Friday ads in the paper.

We watched the parade and I set the table while Josh did all the cooking. Around noon I left to pick up some of our friends, and we had a great time visiting with all our guests while everything finished up!

Last year the turkey took two less hours to reach 180 than we planned and this year it took two more hours to reach 180 than we planned. It worked out well because everyone enjoyed appetizers, sweet tea and wine while we waited.

We slimmed down our appetizer offerings to deviled eggs and cranberry salsa served over cream cheese - as to not fill up before the big meal.

Dinner included:
Roast Turkey
Cornbread Dressing & Stuffing
Cranberry Wild Rice
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Wild Mushrooms and Cream Sauce
Pineapple Casserole
Tomato Aspic
Sweet Potato Casserole
Mashed Rutabaga
Honey Glazed Carrots
Turkey Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Yeast Rolls

For Dessert:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Apple Pie
Pecan Pie
Served with Whipped Cream and French Vanilla Ice Cream
Coffee and Tea

It's really a shame that I didn't snap a picture of the desserts because they were truly the BEST I've ever had. Actually everything was amazing. Spending time with friends and family, the great food-it's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Unfortunately, I ate too much and ended up getting really sick. So sick in fact we had to abort all Black Friday shopping. I ended up in the hospital getting an IV and anti-nausea medicine. Needless to say I did not finishing my Christmas shopping or do all our decorating as planned.

I was also going to host the Game Viewing Party for the DC Gator Club today, which isn't happening either since I can't even walk down the stairs. I am taking it easy, eating saltines, and getting rest so I can get back on my feet. Lesson learned, there is no such thing as pushing through when 8 months pregnant. It's so hard for me to sit back and take it easy, when there are so many things I want to do.

Feeling Thankful

2011-11-23T09:50:00.001-05:00

The in laws have arrived, I'm getting ready to enact my thanksgiving prep timeline and have my details planned out as to which pots and pans every dish will be prepared and served in.

I'm in love with the Target Black Friday spokes person, and have been planning our shopping trips. We don't know how we feel about midnight, but we will be there! Do y'all enjoy it as much as us?!?

We have so much to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful for the improving health of my parents, my brother serving our country, my wonderful husband, our baby on the way and the kicks he gives me all day, miss Molly our beagle baby, our loving family and fantastic friends.

I hope everyone has lots to be thankful for this year, Happy Thanksgiving!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

At least my bed is made

2011-11-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

I never planted my pansy's. I didn't let them die, I just never went to get them, or plant them. Now as I look out on my porch I just see empty planters boxes lining the railing.

My to-do lists are longer than there are hours in the day.
I missed a great visitor speaking to all the Junior League Chairs yesterday.
Our Thanksgiving headcount is up to 14, normally this would excite me, but makes my 7 month pregnant self wonder if we'll be eating on time.
I HAVE to get our Holiday Party Invites in the mail TODAY.
My husband seems to think he is going to get the nursery wainscoating up and the whole room painted in one day so he can go to the Redskins game on Sunday. I am scared for my household!
My in-laws arrive on Tuesday, I don't feel ready for them or anyone else to come in and stay for a bit. I can't wait to see them, just feel like there is so much to do before they come.
I didn't stick to my laundry schedule this week, and need to fold - it's Friday and I'm supposed to knock it out on Monday!
I never took pictures of my fall decor, it's been up since September and will be down in a week to make way for Christmas.
Like I said yesterday, we took our Christmas/Holiday Card picture in October and I still haven't ordered cards.
I don't think the groceries that we are going to buy tonight for our 12 friends, our house guests and ourselves to eat over the next few days will even fit in our fridge.
It's noon, and I haven't taken a shower yet.
BUT - At least my bed is made.

Oh Christmas Card

2011-11-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

Well Holiday card in our case. I have been on a hunt for a super cute card that reflects our multiple holiday household-and you know that doesn't cost a fortune to mail to all our family and friends-ha!

We took professional pictures in October, I have been updating my address spreadsheet, spent hours on every card website I could find, but I just can't pull the trigger. I wanted to drop our 2011 cards in the mail the day after Thanksgiving, but unless I get a visit from some elves a little early that isn't going to happen. Heck, I still need to address our Holiday Party invites-this will be done by Friday!

Our needs for our card are to be Holiday Neutral (we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah) while joyous, cheerful and full of the spirit Josh and I have for the season. Problem solved with Tiny Prints! I've always loved this site, and in fact my mother is currently addressing baby shower invites for the DC soiree she and my friends are hosting for me and Baby T in January from Tiny Prints.

An added bonus, they’re offering up 50 free holiday cards of your choice to ANY blogger that writes about Tiny Prints cards on their blog this week! Interested? Just fill out this form, and a rep from Tiny Prints will contact you with further instructions.

I love that they offer both a Christmas Card and Holiday Card section - makes my browsing so much more efficient. Now which card to choose?!?

Which is your favorite? Where did you order your cards from?

Thank You Veterans

2011-11-11T09:52:00.001-05:00

I'm very thankful to all those who have served or are serving to give us the freedom and America that I love.

Thanks Dad and thanks Murphey! Can't wait for you to be back home from Qutar and shave off that hideous combat stash!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Out of Comission

2011-11-09T17:55:00.001-05:00

I've been as productive as possible considering I have such a bad cold, my teeth hurt. I bit the bullet and finally took some extra strength Tylenol today. I would have sooner, neither my husband nor I could find the half dozen bottles I have bought during my pregnancy. Only Advil, Excedrine and Alieve-of course!

Despite being at the disadvantage of being 7 months preggo and sick as a dog, I'm getting things done. Like getting things checked off my to-do list that have been on it since August, getting a ticket (where the filing fee is double the cost of the infraction) for not stopping all the way at a stop sign, voting, lunching and shopping with my bestie, lots and lots of Dr Appointments, ordering our Holiday party invites, trying to pick out and order Christmas Cards, planning Thanksgiving menu and grocery list, picking the paint color for the nursery, DAR-ing, Junior Leaguing, sorority advising.

Ok I'm starting to feel a little better about not finishing folding and putting away that last half load of laundry this afternoon!

Now to just find a DQ to quell my craving for a pumpkin pie blizzard.

Lots of Love,

Sarah

New Fall Scarf!

2011-11-04T14:32:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I signed up to participate in a Scarf Swap, hosted by the lovely Angela at Sweet Tea Diaries. I've been reading her blog for years, and just love the stories of this southern belle living on the west coast. I also love that we are sorority sisters (from different schools), too!

I was paired up with Mrs. Jansson from The Jansson Family. She sent me the most perfect scarf, and extra goodies as well!! I just love it, thank you so much!! I'll be donning an ivory coat this winter, something new for me. Most of my scarves are bright and solid, so I am thrilled with this fun pattern and earth tones.

I love the Burt's Bees-how did she know I was addicted?!?

I have the fire roaring and am ordering my Holiday Party Invites and Christmas Cards, today. My friend Christy is over and treated me to my first "red cup" of the season, YAY for half calf Peppermint Mocha's! I returned the favor by treating her to lunch. She had Josh's homemade chili and I had my homemade chicken noodle with salads-yuum. Nothing is more fun than spending the afternoon with friends by the fire!

2011-11-02T13:57:00.001-04:00

In all honesty, I thought I would be updating my pregnancy stats every week. It's more like once a month, but my new take on life is to just roll with it, so I am.

Babies first Florida Georgia (I'm wearing the same outfit I did to Tennessee, except for my snazzy new Gator jewelry)

I even made a list of things to blog about this week, and now that it's Wednesday and I'm putting in my hour wait for my glucose test-I figure now is the best time to go for it.

How far along: 27 Weeks

Size of baby: Head of cauliflower

Total Weight Gain/loss: Gained one pound, not too shabby rounding out my sixth month. My little guy weighs at least 2 pounds by now, I guess I have to thank the nausea that has hung in with me the entire pregnancy for helping me maintain my weight.

Maternity Clothes: Pregnancy jeans are a God send! I can still make some regular items work with the assistance of pregnancy tanks-which are worn daily. I've had to get more maternity clothes than I thought I would, but am very thankful to have found cute items that mix and match well!

Gender: It's a BOY! His initials will be JAT, a tradition in Josh's family. We plan to use family names, pretty sure we have a middle, and have narrowed down a few options for his first. Hate to disappoint anyone routing for Timmy Tebow Thompson-ha!

Movement: He not only kicks, flips and fist pumps 24/7, but moves my entire middle region/body while doing it. It's no longer a matter of feeling him kick, but seeing him kick.

Sleep: Had my first sleepless night this past weekend, I blame the hotel bed and Little J for doing the hokie pokie for that. I try and get as much sleep as possible because A. I'm tired and B. I know I will never have the option to sleep in for the next 20 or so years.

What I miss: Semi Graceful Mobility (no pain, moans or groans). Being able to lay on my back in bed without pain shooting up and down my legs (I just want to read a book or magazine people). Feeling full (I can't eat enough to get full, and if I come close it comes right back up).

Cravings: Sweets. I've always enjoyed desserts, but they are now in high demand. This little guy is just like his daddy and loves his chocolate. Mini candy bars are kept around the house and in my purse for chocolate emergencies. I'm really hoping I pass my gestational diabetes test today, because it will be a sad sad holiday season without sugar sprinkled on top.

Symptoms: You name it, I have it. Indigestion worse than I could have ever possibly imagined. I'm sick again everyday, but somehow more intense than before. Back/pelvic/leg pain. I'm a walking disaster-ha!

Best Moment: getting to feel my little guy move and groove, talking to Josh about being parents, getting an email that our crib has been shipped (right after getting one that it was delayed another month-ha)!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Florida Georgia

2011-10-27T17:55:00.001-04:00

It was a great trip down, North Carolina BBQ and a dinner stop in Hilton Head can't ask for much more. Oh yes and baby name discussions...

We spent the morning working. Josh on conference calls and me on Junior League and advising stuff. Then a major stock up at super Walmart, man do I miss those!! The RV is set up and baby T and I are manning the bar, mandating that everyone drink double for us!

We're parked next to the quarterbacks parents, and very grateful he is starting on Saturday!

Speaking of quarterbacks, I Hotty Toddyed a fellow in an Ole Miss shirt at Walmart. Which some how lead to a conversation about Tim Tebow, our loss to Ole Miss a few years back the spurred a National Championship, and his fantastic game with the Broncos on Sunday.

Now I'm hearing of this fad taking over planking, called Tebowing, and I couldn't be more excited.
1) Kneel anywhere.
2) Put your elbow on your knee.
3) Put your fist or forearm on your forehead.
4) Have someone take your photo.
5) Post the photo on the Internet

Timmy Tebow Thompson has a nice ring to it, right?

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Ring My Bell

2011-10-23T14:02:00.000-04:00

or chime in this case...

At church this morning, the handbell choir debuted their new hand chimes, and boy was it beautiful! It set the stage for an amazing sermon on Discipleship, and growing. Over the next few weeks our pastor is going to go more indepth on four categories of discipleship: Contemplation, Character, Calling and Community. I put them in that order because that's the order of my weakness to strongest. I'm sad we'll be driving back from the FL GA game next weekend and I'll miss the message on Contemplation, but will be listening when it gets posted. In the meantime, I plan to address this area post haste.

A few weeks ago on Show Us Your Life - Friday the topic was favorite devotionals and bible studies. From doing a little research, reading various posts, and seeing posts from my blog buddies, I'm planning to order and read the following:

Nine Months to a Miracle: Spiritual Preparation for Moms-to-Be by Mari Hanes

Expecting: Praying for Your Child's Development-Body and Soul by Marla Taviano

Out of the Spin Cycle by Jen Hatmaker

I've got a pot of my favorite soup, Gingered Squash and Pear, on the stove. Although it's been a pretty productive weekend, there's still a LOT to do today!

I just noticed my open back door has let a bee into our house, always an adventure-ha!

Fall Goals

2011-10-20T11:07:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week my blog buddies Ashley in Mississippi and Ruth-This GRITS Tale (also in Mississippi) shared their fall goals. I loved reading theirs, I thought this would be a good time to share mine as well. The leaves are starting to turn and the air is crisp today, so I'm officially in the mood for Fall!


Outside my Dr.'s office yesterday

View from our back porch this morning.

Some of my goals I've already accomplished!

1. Get a new fall Candle. This I can already checked off my list, for the past few weeks I've been burning Yankee Candles Farmer's Market- I LOVE IT! I even went all candle burning fancy and bought a wick trimmer.

2. Bake something pumpkin-y I've seen some great recipes for baked pumpkin goods. My grocery stores have been sold out of canned pumpkin for over a month now. Yesterday I was finally able to get some, and plan to use the recipe Angela shared for Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

3. Go on a hike to see all the fall leaves.

4. Head down to Jacksonville for FL GA, gotta cheer on the Gators at least one more time this year. And according to my husband FL GA kicks off the Holiday Season (and the best tailgating takes place on Wednesday and Thursday) which means we'll be in the RV Lot by Wednesday night-ha!

5. Stay toasty around a bonfire or fire pit.

6. Go on our babymoon. Our last get away, to enjoy each others company and be a carry-on only family. If only I could keep my husband in the country long enough to actually go somewhere with me-ha!

7. Hosting a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family. Ohh the menu, shopping and tablescaping. I can't wait!

8. Speaking of decor, take pictures of my super cute fall decor and share on this blog of mine. I decorated in time to share with all the fall home tours that started back in September, but somehow never got my camera out to capture my mantle, the wreath I made, our pretty table, and other goodies around here.

9. Speaking of sharing, I have a life changer to share with y'all. Are you ready?? Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows. That's right people! My grocery store didn't have any canned pumpkin, bu they did have these and they are the perfect fall treat. You just need 2-3 for the perfect taste of fall.

10. Plant my pansy's. The ones I planted last year made it through the fall, winter, spring and into summer. I can wait to have them bursting through snow again this winter.

11. Black Friday Shopping, I gee I love the deals!

12. Sit on my backporch and enjoy the leaves, crisp air, my pansy's and a hot cup of tea.

Have y'all seen the cute fall to-do lists on Pinterest? I think I pinned a few...

Source: tarahlowry.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: christinajax.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: matsonanderica.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Nursery

2011-10-19T08:18:00.003-04:00

Well, we have spent more than a few days, weeks, hours getting ready for baby. And so far we have nothing to show for it-ha! Well, I take that back, we have some wall decals, a credit card bill and a three page to-do list. No, I'm not kidding!

The game plan, we are planning to paint the walls a light blue and have a high chair rail with beadboard. A trip to bengamin moore is on my to-do-list to get samples so we can decide which color to go with.

al la:

Source: houzz.com via Sarah on Pinterest

We have been fans of PBK Petter Rabbit bedding all along, and it's what we are going with.

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I also plan to do bookcases flanking the window in the nursery like the photo above, and have found some ways to make it happen thanks to Pinterest!

Source: bhg.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: anythingpretty.com via Sarah on Pinterest

We are doing a taller dresser and putting a blue changing pad on it. I have looked at Bellini and getting a taller custom dresser built, but along came IKEA will a taller dresser. This is what we are getting, but with the blue changing pad from PBK!

Source: None via Sarah on Pinterest

We have ordered a white spindle crib

Source: tottini.com via Sarah on Pinterest

And our glider...the most researched and debated item to add to our nursery. From the get-go, it was my goal to find a glider tall enough for me to rest my head on it. I mean, that is the point during 3 am feedings, right? After extreme internet searches, visits to way too many furniture stores, calls about custom orders, we finally decided on the PBK Grand Comfort Glider in Parchment with White Piping. This is the chair, it will just be solid with white piping:

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Sarah on Pinterest

We have the Peter Rabbit decals from PBK and Josh loads up on Beatrice Potter everytime he is in London. I'm going to get a good list going for his upcoming trip across the pond.

I guess we need to decide on a name, so I can figure out some type of name display. We also have some posters from the author/illustrator who writes all the Florida Gator Children's books to hang.

Maybe a rug, and will need some lamps. Oh gee lots of odds and ends to get to. Where's my list?!?!

What do I do?

2011-10-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

My husband and I went to the Zac Brown Band concert this weekend with a bunch of friends. I had requested we get lawn seats so I could have more room to move around, and thought it would be pretty comfortable. It was! We packed a picnic and got there pretty early to secure a good spot. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day in Virginia, and we had a great time with our friends before the opening acts came on.

I was chatting with one of my husbands co-workers wives, who has become my friend in the time we have lived here. She asked me what I did all day, now that I'm not working. I hadn't really thought about it all that much, just because there is never a dull moment or very much time that I just get to sit still, as I would have thought. I actually feel much busier than I did while working full time. And there was that 2-3 month time frame where all I could do was lie in bed I was so sick. I'm sure I go about things at a much slower pace, but between prepping for baby, keep our house, physical therapy for my glorious sciatic pain, the volunteer work I sometimes manage to do, and trying to control my crazy emotions-that's about it. There isn't a single day were I don't have a full calendar of activities, and not a day that I don't seriously want a nap. Since I am constantly running around town, and not online all that much, I haven't updated my blog that frequently. Which I'm sure is disappointing many, many people. Well mostly my mother-in-law (Hi Lynn) and my brother who is deployed and my blog is one of the few sites that isn't blocked from his viewing pleasure in the middle east (Hi Murph).

Honestly I don't think I would have made it if I still had to work. I feel so overwhelmed with all the changes going on inside me, and all that we need to do to prepare for this little guy. I've also developed a temper that never existed prior to being pregnant, or maybe since I was a teenage terror. Ahh, thank you hormones, not only have you made me totally crazy, but also blessed me with adult acne. I tend to take all my frustrations out on my husband (sorry sweets), and six months in he is just learning not to retaliate. It took a few too many months to finally realized I am always right-HA!!

Weekend Edition

2011-10-10T09:57:00.001-04:00

The weather the past few days is what makes living in the DC area all year worth it. Sunny in the 60's and 70's is pure heaven!

To make it even better, I got to spend this past weekend with lots of people I love and don't get to see enough (including my husband). Seriously we just hit the 36 hour mark of time together for the month, and yes I'm counting sleep time.

Friday night we picked up friends in quaint Bethesda where I enjoyed some Hagen Daze Carmel ice cream ( not sure there is a better way to start the weekend).

We were up early on Saturday to have breakfast (sausage and cheese biscuits-I will make and share recipe soon) before heading to a friends family funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony, and inspirational to see the love and adoration the family had for their mother and grandmother.

Afterwards, I split ways with Josh and headed to Baltimore for some girl time with my besties! I was asked to bring dips to add to the game watching smorgasbord. I had elaborate plans, but decided to simplify things with a veggie platter, Carmel dip with apples, my friends simple taco dip and spinach dip. Did you notice the presence of fruits and veggies with all dips? I'm a health nut I tell ya! I had a great time with my friends, which took a bit of the sting LSU handed us, off. After the game, they pub crawled, but since I can't really pub or crawl-I headed back to Virginia for the night.

Bright and early Sunday I dropped Molly off at day care and we took our friends and house guests to our fab diner for breakfast. After a fun breakfast where everyone but me fixed their fantasy football teams for the day, I was off again to charm city. More fun with the besties, and a little window shopping.

Lacey took us on our first trip to a salvage shop. Housewerks, which was neat to look around.

After a fun day together we ended the night with dangerously delicious pie which is famous in Charm City, but the sweetest part of the day was spending time with my dear friends!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Adventures in Pregnancy Brain

2011-10-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

So I was planning to write this post yesterday, but I forgot. That about sums up my life these days. If it weren't for the notes app on my iphone and google calendar I don't know if I would remember to get out of bed in the morning, let alone what I was going to do with myself that day.

Not being able to remember the simplest things is getting old...fast. I've always had a pretty fantastic memory, down to telling friend what the wore on certain days. I used to always joke that Josh could tell you the best and worst plays from any Gator Game, and I could tell you what outfit I wore-ha!

Pregnancy Brain is not only frustrating, it's a HUGE time warp. I have had afternoons where I have walked up and down the stairs four times because by the time I get to the top, I forgot what I was going for. Now I know this happens to just about anyone but after the first time, you're bound to have a clue of what you needed upon your return. Leaving the house usually take at least three attempts. First, I can't carry that much, second I have to keep going back inside for things I forget. I already know it will take at least two hours to get out the door once this little guy gets here-ha!

At least I have my lifeline, my iphone. Pregnancy Brain tried to steal that from me on Monday as well. What more can you take from me??? I was feeling rather adventurous and decided to take an alternative route at the Grocery store. No big deal someone from the outside may think, but I shop at the Disney World of grocery stores. Their cheese shop is larger than most produce sections, their produce section is larger than most grocery stores. I took a detour that lead me down so many paths of distraction, it was unbelievable and ended in tradegy-no iphone to be found.

I made my menu and grocery list for the week, and was happy to set about my shopping experience. While parking in the awesome expectant mothers spot, I remembered another pregnancy symptom I was suffering from. Pregnancy Acne-boo. I was almost out of face wash and also wanted to add some salicylic acid to my daily regime. Lucky for me, Wegmans has a large skin care section that is even staffed by a friendly employee. I didn't start my shopping expereince in the produce section this Monday, NO, I cut right through the pharmacy on my way to skin care, misstep #1. Low and behold a fancy blood pressure machine, wanting to be sure I was still in a healthy range, I decided to try it out, misstep #2. 135/76 - oh that's not so good, how am I going to remember that?-Ahh I'll write it in a note to myself on my iphone, misstep #3. This machine does awesome things, not only my blood pressure, but it takes my weight, too-well why not, misstep #4. Being so thrilled that I am still at my pre-pregnancy weight on the nose that I leave my handy iphone on the blood pressure machine-the final blow.

I continued my journey to skin care, where while perusing the few hundred face wash options, I witnessed another customer have a seizure. Distraction #1 Stepping in assist her, I left my purse unattended for a solid 20 minutes, she was fine and medical professionals whisked her away. I went on with my shopping. Somehow I detoured to the coffee bar where I had a pumpkin spice latte, which I dare say was better than Starbucks. Distraction #2. They were also sampling a new Ghirardelli chocolate, which reminded me that I had read on a blog that Ghirardelli had new dark chocolate salted caramel squares, if any store was going to have it, it would be Wegmans-off to the chocolate section--Distraction #3, 4, 5 and 6. I searched and didn't find it, so continued on with what now became my boring shopping list. I was checking out when I first realized I didn't have my iphone readily accessible. My fall/winter purse is HUGE-so I figured once I got to the car I could riffle through more effectively. Once at the car-I came to realize NO PHONE! EEEE, how am I going to explain this to Josh, would he actually let me get a new one? What would my life become without it? I first thought of the 20 minutes my purse was unattended, but why would someone grab the phone and not my whole purse? Then went to the pharmacy, where they told me to go to customer service. They had logged my phone had been turned in by an employee, and went to the back to retrieve it. Thank goodness!

I am not looking forward to 4 more months of forgetting things, somehow I don't think it's going to get any better after the baby comes either-ha!

Get Up and Go

2011-10-03T01:55:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a weekend! It was sooo great to have my husband back! We've been in CPA mode for the past year, and are sooo glad to be done (well there is that ethics portion, but I'm not going to think about that right now).

If having half the alphabet behind his name isn't enough, he said what should I do next? My reply- you're getting your DAD! Since most of his time when he is not jet setting has been spent studying, my little project list has grown into a rather big one.

But he is back and better than ever, our home office is being relocated downstairs to make way for baby. He put in long hours to make my vision a reality, and we both love it! He had to get creative with our new wall of bookcases, which obviously would cover all power sources. But he made it work-LOVE IT!

Now I have lots of work to do this week; filling in our new bookcases, moving all our office supplies to their new home, and continuing to 'edit' everything we own. Mix in all the volunteer and board meetings I have the first week of the month, and it's going to be one BUSY week!

I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes, and getting my fall Yankee candle(s) tomorrow. Hoping to be able to pick just one (or two).

22 Weeks

2011-09-29T22:45:00.000-04:00

22 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

Baby's First Tailgate at the Tennessee Game 20 weeks

Ok, I'm just straight up horrible at my pregnancy posts, well any and all posts for that matter. Honestly I don't do them because I never have a current belly picture. Still blaming pregnancy brain on forgetting to take pictures.

How far along: 22 Weeks

Size of baby: Spaghetti Squash

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still at my pre-pregnancy weight-holla! I have been working really hard not to gain any weight, all that water walking is paying off. Plus I know in the third trimester I could gain 10 pounds in one day-ha!

Maternity Clothes: Ordered the motherload! Tops, leggings, pants. I still need to order maternity jeans with the gift card my mother-in-law gave me-shopping tomorrow!

Gender: It's a BOY! We haven't figured out a name just yet...

Movement: He tends to go crazy at night, but it's super cool to feel him moving around, although sometimes his kicks are very painful.

Sleep: Getting harder to fall asleep, but I am still getting a good 9-10 hours a night, trying to get it while I can.

What I miss: Remembering things, wine, picking things up, being pain free, a significant time between potty breaks, beer while watching a football game, life without sound effects (I moan and grunt when I move-he he).

Cravings: I need something sweet every day. Whole Foods Milk Chocolate Bar with Toffee and Sea Salt is doing it for me. Although for some reason my husband thinks it's appropriate to eat my chocolate-not cool. I had toast with blueberry jelly and pineapple today as a substitute.

Symptoms: Well my back pain and constant heart burn hit right on schedule, and I'm still suffering. I'm still going to physical therapy three times a week and got a prenatal massage last week that was HEAVEN!

Best Moment: This little guy moving around, how excited Josh is to be a daddy!

Some quite time

2011-09-23T14:18:00.000-04:00

Ok Friday afternoon and I finally have a moment to sit down and breath. I have the makings of apple and butternut squash soup on the stove and a trip to the American Art Museum with my parents on the docket for this afternoon. Immersion Blender and Monet all in one day-yes please?!?

What's been keeping me so busy? Well two back to back mini vacations that covered the entire eastern seaboard made the past two "long" weekends set our schedules off just a little bit. Hopefully I'll actually write about our amazing trip to Maine

and time in Florida.

Considering I haven't posted about our trip to Greece four months ago or most of our summer adventures (post pregnancy coma) chances may be slim-ha!

My life should have plenty of free time, but once I began to recover from my extreme pregnancy exhaustion and sickness, I loaded up on the extra curricular. Probably not the best idea. Like when I tried to do what I have set to be delegated to five overachieving volunteers all myself yesterday for our first literacy night with my junior league committee. Good thing my parents are visiting for a bit and both helped me out! I know I'm going to have to start phasing my pastime of professional volunteer down big time, but I'm really loving it now.
I also have to add prepping the house and nursery for baby to my list. I haven't done anything, but the list keeps growing. Hopefully I can find some time on my husband's even more hectic schedule to get ready for baby because ready or not-he's coming.

Pampered Chef

2011-09-16T08:33:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week my sorority alumnae chapter had a Pampered Chef and Stella and Dot Party. It was sooo much fun!

We got to dress up in fun jewelry and eat a bunch of yummy treats!

I made some of my favorite pampered chef recipes to share with the group, and of course have to share with you, too!

Cheese Fondue

This is sooo good and soo easy!

Cucumber Canapes

My all time favorite the Garden Veggie Pizza, of course I forgot to take a picture...

And a new favorite Rocky Road Brownies-in the microwave!

I will be adding the covered casserole dish that we made them in to my collection. I just love everything I have from Pampered Chef, I wish I had gotten my registry items there a few years back. At least now that I'm older and wiser I get to upgrade, so much fun!

I also wanted to share the opportunity with y'all if you want any new items, they really are the BEST! The stoneware-awesome, garlic press-life changing, crinkle veggie cutter-adds something extra to your veggie trays. I could go on and on, but you get the point!

www.pamperedchef.biz/cherlyndecker click shop online and enter Sarah Thompson as your hostess

Lots of Love,

Sarah

It's a Boy!

2011-09-12T07:50:00.001-04:00

And he's already measuring a few weeks ahead! Josh's dream of future linebacker may be coming true!

We are thrilled!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-09-07T10:58:00.000-04:00

With the start of the Junior League year and the sorority ladies I advise headed back to school, it's been a really busy few weeks. Add to that all my physical therapy and workout classes and I am hardly home.

Me with my Gatoriffic back doctor

I'm so glad to have some more energy right in the middle of my second trimester, but it's going to be time to take it a little more easy sooner rather than later, and tomorrow reality of finding out a little more about this baby sets in. We are finding out if it's a boy or a girl!!

The past few weeks have been so nice, I still get sick a few times a day and my back still hurts despite going to physical therapy three times a week-but I have felt like a functioning human being for more than a month now, and that's a really good feeling. Except for the slight fluttering I feel in my tummy and the previously mentioned symptoms-I can almost forget I'm preggo, until everyone around me is having a beautiful glass of wine, then I remember all too fast-ha!

I think once I know who this baby is, it will be all I think about 24/7, which is awesome and totally overwhelming all at the same time. I was so excited to set the ultrasound appointment, but now I wouldn't mind pushing it back a week or two, I wonder if I'll feel the same way when my due date roles around?!

Diptacular

2011-08-31T01:27:00.000-04:00

Coming out of the pregnancy coma of extreme fatigue and nausea every moment of my life, and my soul nutrition coming from grilled cheese, mac and cheese, cheese pizza and my daily tomato sandwich, I have made it a priority to bring on the veggies. I stared with ranch dip and carrot sticks, then back to my old standard of hummus and veggies, and then I went bold and made bean dip, and dipped veggies, not chips in it.
I know, I know!

I loved the dip, made more and brought it to a friends house, people loved it, and asked how to make it. I felt special and split the beans. Seriously though, I'm sharing a non sour cream, cream cheese or velveta cheese based dip for Diptacular, I may be hung for this!

Black Bean Dip

2 plum tomatoes
A quarter of a red onion
A handful of cilantro
2 cans black beans, drained
1 tablespoon ground cumin
As much hot sauce as you can handle
1 lime
Salt

Place the tomatoes, onion and cilantro into the bowl of your Cuisinart and pulse until well chopped. Add the black beans, cumin, hot sauce, lime juice and salt, to taste, and pulse until the mixture is mostly smooth. Scrape into a decorative bowl and garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve sliced zucchini and/or with tortilla chips.

We love dips in our house-seriously!

I feel like it would be wrong if I didn't share with you my favorite dip of all time which is the Pioneer Woman's Salsa.

Maybe next year I can share my hubby's BBQ Chicken Dip which is Amazing and velveta cheese based, see I have redeeming qualities.

17 Weeks

2011-08-26T07:49:00.001-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

I am going to blame my favorite pregnancy symptom, what was it again, oh yeah, pregnancy brain, on my lack of pregnancy posts. I just darn forget. I forget to take belly pictures, I forget to write posts, I forget why I walked up the stairs four times yesterday...

How far along: 17 weeks

Size of baby: Baby Thompson is the size of a sweet potato

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was one pound shy of my pre-pregnancy weight at our OB appointment this week. Praying to keep the weight gain neutral for a few more weeks as I'm only allowed to gain 15 the whole pregnancy.

Maternity Clothes: Waiting for the pairs of black leggings and super long layering tanks I ordered to come in. I've come to realize quickly that items I thought I could make work, probably won't. Plus my summer uniform (after I got out of PJ mode) of white jeans and white linen pants will be retired in the next few days. I'm starting to freak out a little. Especially when it comes time for a winter coat. In the meantime thank goodness for Josh's t-shirts.

Gender: We are going to find out in another two weeks. I haven't bought a single baby item yet, which is impossible to believe, I'm so excited to find out!!

Movement: I know our little one is doing all kinds of crazy things in the beautiful indoor swimming pool I am maintaining in my stomach for it. The past few days I've thought I've felt something, but just don't know... So many crazy things are happening to my body-I can't keep track of what's what.

Sleep: Thank goodness for the pregnancy pillow. Although I shift around a lot (which is getting harder by the day) I'm able to sleep pretty well. Unless there is an aftershock from the earthquake, those wake me up-ha! And my Dr said all that sleeping on your side junk isn't true. So I sleep every which way I like except I have to get pretty creative with some pillows if I try for my stomach.

What I miss: Dang you pregnancy brain. I always think of really funny stuff to write here, and ALWAYS forget. Had wine night with some friends on Wednesday and totally missed having a glass (or three).

Cravings: I'm starting to want sweet things-this is really a first for the whole pregnancy. I had chocolate and coffee ice cream today-there goes my neutral weight gain-ha! I'm a lot hungrier now, but still don't eat too much-half a sandwich here, a cup of ice cream there. Dream of going to never ending pasta bowl...

Symptoms: Well my back pain and constant heart burn hit right on schedule. I go to physical therapy three times a week now and do my stretches and exercises religiously so I don't end up in paralyzing back pain again anytime soon.

Best Moment: Josh bring an original Peter Cottontail from London for the nursery. Hearing the heart beat (142) at our OB appt. Finding out one of the doctors at my physical therapy place is a Gator. We try to only go to medical professionals, who went to UF. Sometimes we'll flex out to another SEC school, but try to maintain our alliance.

Shakin and Quakin

2011-08-23T15:15:00.000-04:00

We just had a fairly large, yet moderate earthquake here in Virginia. It was a 5.9, and the epicenter was about 80 miles south of my house.

I really didn't know what was going on, but headed to a doorway. I don't think I ever made it there or if I did stayed there because I was distracted by pictures falling off shelves and the dogs barking (I'm watching my friends dog while they are on vacation). The few minutes it lasted I tried calling Josh over and over to quickly find cell phones were not working. I just wanted confirmation of what was happening, and someone to talk to about it! I finally got him on our land line on his cell, where he told me he was evacuating his office building.

Then I turned to google-"DC Earthquake," nothing - then gchat, "um, was that just an earthquake" to all my open chats then more started popping up-are you ok? I turned to facebook for confirmation, and my newsfeed was on fire. Ok at least I know that it happened. Texted my parents, and a few friends. Turned on the news. White House, Pentagon, The Hill all evacuated. Ok, I felt better I know what it was and our house wasn't imploding-ha!

The news just reported that impromptu happy hours are breaking out all over DC, if only I could have a cocktail, it is a truly beautiful day to be sitting out on the waterfront in Georgetown...

Side note, the dogs are still very skiddish even though currently snoozing-the ice machine in the freezer just made a noise and they both started running around like crazy, I guess we are still on high alert over here!

Seattle

2011-08-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

Earlier this summer Josh and I trekked out to the West Coast to for one of my college roommate's and good friend's wedding.

I hadn't been to Seattle, so we were originally planning to make a week and a half stint out of the trip, due to the demands of my then job, we cut it down to just a long weekend. Little did we know, I would have resigned by the time we went out there.

I was super sick for most of the trip, so maybe it was a blessing that we just went for a short time. Heading out I had grand plans of seeing all the sites, having dinner in the space needle, NONE of which happened-ha. I have learned to be much more flexible, and that I don't call the shots anymore.

We did take a short stroll around the Public Market, I of course loved it.

Amazing fresh flowers!

Josh liked the fish mongers tossing their orders around.

I realized early in the day I needed to cancel our reservation for dinner at the space needle, and we planned to do something a little more low key with for dinner with Josh's mom, who was in Seattle for a conference. Low key is right because I "took a nap" and they just had appetizers in the concierge lounge at the hotel. Josh brought me back a small plate, which was good because when I woke up from my "nap" at 11 pm, he was already asleep.

The next morning we headed out to wine country for all the festivities!

Football Season

2011-08-18T07:30:00.001-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's right around the corner. What I really can't believe for the first time ever my life doesn't feel completely engrossed by it, cha-cha-cha-changes.

Of course we've made plans, we're going to a handful of games, but I need to get on the ball and coordinate all my outfits-ha! I've been enjoying Copacetic in Carolina's Tailgating posts the past few weeks, but looking at her brunch recipes made me think of how good our tailgate breakfasts are. Then, I realized we pull into the RV lot right after the gates open at 8 am, which means getting up at 6:30 to meet our group at Law School Publix by 7:00. I don't know if I ready for this after all...

I do know we won't be making the trip to Florida until the Tennessee Game, and our seats for the 3:30 kick-off are a few rows off the field on the 50 yard line. I've decided to help me cope with the Florida sunshine I'll be needing a big ole hat! Since it is the Tennessee Game, I'll be sporting a blue dress. I did want to get a cute orange a-symmetrical number, I just couldn't do orange for Tennessee. So I'm recycling a dress from last season (Josh, you did just read that):

and I'm thinking this Marley Lilly hat with a blue monogram.

I've got a little more time to figure things out for Kentucky, LSU and FL GA. Even though I'm helping to plan the DC Gators road trip to Kentucky, it's still 50/50 in my book. If I can convince Josh that we need to take an extra day on the way to Lexington to stay at the Greenbriar, it may move higher on my priority list-ha!

To get into the spirit, I wanted to share this little number, also seen first at Copacetic in Carolina. Of course they picked the TACKIEST Florida fans, but hey it is what it is.

Bad Mommy

2011-08-17T12:27:00.000-04:00

Apparently to be good parents, we needed to have put down a deposit to be on a waiting list for nursery schools back when we got engaged 3+ years ago.

The next available birthing class at our hospital is when I'm far into my 8th month, and I'm feeling like a failure already. I guess everything will be fresh in my mind, as long as I don't have the baby before my class is even over!

I feel like if we were back home in Florida, I would know all the right things to do, the exact school to enroll our children in, when to do it, where to go, etc, etc, but since Josh just turned down a job offer back in Tampa, that along with the 5 bedroom waterfront home I had already picked out will not be happening anytime soon.

Here, in Virginia, I don't even know what the good schools are, to even look at their missions, admission process, curriculum-yet alone get on the wait list.

Let's not even talk about what color we are going to paint the nursery, that another topic that makes me want to throw my hands up in the air and sigh.

At least I'm able to take my prenatal vitamins now (thanks to the sour gummy form I found them in). Ahhhhhh

Babymoon

2011-08-15T13:13:00.000-04:00

It's defined as a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby.

Wait you mean to tell me that after the two months of extreme sickness and fatigue I just overcame, I have countless sleepless nights ahead of me? I need a vacation!

Our trip to Greece was supposed to "kick-off" our baby making voyage, but with the demands of my new job we had actually decided to postpone the baby making part of the voyage until this fall. The joke was on us because, we had already made a baby!

So here I am getting to plan a second trip of a lifetime just a few months after returning from our last. Thank you hard working husband (you're welcome for carrying your child).

I posed the question on facebook last week:

and was surprised with the responses. The overwhelming opinion was to head to Hawaii. Points were made that I'd miss out on the Italian wine, but others countered to say the gelato makes up for it. One of my friends was even lucky enough to go to both Hawaii and Italy while pregnant. I have to say going into this I was leaning toward Italy, when we vacation we typically hit the perfect mix of seeing the sites, eating amazing food and relaxing. But as I've learned in this past four months of pregnancy is that my perfect mix of activity vs leisure time varies greatly by week even by day. So the though of lounging in the warm sun by the pool or ocean has become more appealing, especially with my most recent pregnancy development of Sciatic.

Yes we will be planning this get away during football season. Josh even went so far as to suggest we stay at the Ritz in New Orleans or Amelia Island the week before the LSU or FL GA games. While we still plan to go to both games, I kind of feel been there done that, and with his newest airline status level we get to fly first class everywhere we go (no more hoping to be upgraded). I feel personally responsible to take advantage of this "perk".

Plus who can say no to this?

My top three Marriott Resorts in Hawaii

So where did you, are you or would you go on your babymoon?

Back to Work

2011-08-10T07:57:00.001-04:00

via

In my younger days, I used to joke that Junior League was the full time job for stay at home mom's. Oh little did I know... I've always loved volunteering and now I sure am glad that I started getting involved with some different organizations around town instead of sitting on the sofa and veggin out every night with the hubs and our dog.

Now that I'm coming out of the first trimester coma I've been in. I can have as many or as few of activities to fill my schedule that will work. Granted, I have some catching up to do on some projects I couldn't get to these past few weeks. But, I'm really looking forward to chairing a fantastic committee this year with JL and can't tell you how much I enjoy spending waaaay too much time gchatting with the VP of Membership that I advise about sorority recruitment-ha!

Today I actually have things to do outside of the house, like help prepare the DC DAR Chapter House for the upcoming year in addition to going to my water walking class in the evening.

OK-yes I did just sound like a 70-year-old there.

Today is also thank-you note day and make next week's menu/grocery list day in my home management schedule. Ahh what an adventurous life I lead, well at least I am getting to things that are seriously overdue. I may actually mail a package to my mom that I've had in my car for a few months on errand day-wow!

Walking on Water

2011-08-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

Well, walking in water. In addition to climbing Mount Washmore, I also did a water walking class yesterday. It was sooo fun!

A water park here in NOVA, closes it's Lazy River at 6:30 to the public for a water walking class.

We did stretches and exercises a la water aerobics and walked laps with and against the current.

One word. Amazing!

My friend Chris told me about it and we went last night, it was sooo super fun. We are sad we didn't know about it all summer, but will be making the most of it for the next three weeks. I'm still getting used to all the pools closing Labor Day, here. This FL girl is used to 365 days of pool time, but I'll be happy with what I've got!

Getting There

2011-08-08T14:41:00.000-04:00

I think I'm rounding the corner here. I'm still getting sick more than a few times a day, BUT I don't have this overwhelming veil of exhaustion and nausea blanketing me all the time-YAY! Plus, I'm kind of getting an appetite. Last night we had BBQ shrimp, grilled zucchini and cheese grits for dinner. Ok, that's what Josh had, but I tried to eat everything before totally disgusted with my plate-ha!

With this new "burst" of energy (ie I am actually able to get off the sofa for more than a few minutes a day) I decided it was time to start embracing my new career as a stay at home wife/mom. I have to admit, I was inspired the past few weeks by the Blue Eyed Bride and her journey to create her home organization notebook. With the burning question of how am I going to handle everything around the house AND a newborn I began researching how other domestic divas "do it all." I've loved what I've found (and will share my resources soon) and am developing a schedule/routine to keep up with both the house and everything else in my life, which will be reflected in my beautiful home organization notebook. Half-way though Day 1 I'm loving it. Monday is laundry day, since I have more than a month's worth of folding and washing to do, I better get back to climbing Mount Washmore!

Looking forward to next week, when I just have to wash what we wore this week, plus my cleaning peeps come on Wednesday which will give me a fresh start on everything!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

14 Weeks

2011-08-05T12:49:00.001-04:00

Pregancy Highlights

How far along: 14 weeks, the real end of the first trimester. Thanks to my friend who didn't have the heart to tell me pregnancy math isn't the same as normal math and the first "tri"mester isn't 3 months, it's 3 and a half. I thought I was in the clear almost three weeks ago-ha!

Size of baby: Baby Thompson is the size of a lemon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still down some, although I think I may be getting my appetite back...

Maternity Clothes: Not there yet. Asked Josh to grab me a pair of pants while he was in the closet yesterday and he handed me ones with a zipper and button (I've been sticking with elastic waistbands lately). I was about to get mad, and ask him what he was thinking, but threw them on and was suprised they fit nicly. After walking the dog I realized that they were not that comfortable and changed back to old faithful elastic.

Gender: The great debate. I want to know, Josh doesn't. I feel like after all I've been through these past few weeks AND what I will be going through, I need a reward. We had reached a temporary compromise that Josh would get me an embrodery machine so I could personalize and monogram everything after the baby is born, but I'm back to wanting to know now. Our next ultrasound is set for 20 weeks, so we still have a month to "compromise."

Movement: Our little baby is all kinds of active. I can't feel it yet, but have seen him/her waving, bouncing and swimming around at our last two ultrasounds.

Sleep: Start to get much harder to find a comfortable position. Not sure if I'm not allowed to sleep on my back or stomach anymore-why are there so many rules? We are making our first joint trip to Babies R Us this weekend to get one of those pregancy pillows for me.

What I miss: Remembering things (this baby is taking all my brain cells). Life off the sofa and out of bed. I have spent most of my time there, I'm ready to start doing things again!

Cravings: Still in survival mode. Very basic, very carby. Plain mashed potatoes, cheese pizza getting a peach and banana in there. Ocassional grilled cheese and tomato sandwich (my summer survival food).

Symptoms: I think I'm turning a corner on the all day nausea. Can't tell if I feel better or have just learned to cope with feeling sick better. Lord know's I'm complained about it enough. Also if it's a symptom, I've gotten it, like clock work. Enflamed and bleeding gums? Oh yes, I noticed that when I brushed my teeth this morning. Most symptoms are far grosser than the gum issue, so I will not share further than that-ha!

Best Moment: Feeling like I may be turning a corner with the sickness here, finding sour gummy prenatal vitamins, and preggy pops.

Doesn't get much better

2011-08-04T17:20:00.001-04:00

Can you believe I haven't even cracked these babies open?

Neither can I, time to get busy!

What are your favorite magazines?

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Singing in the rain?

2011-08-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

In trying to follow the old adage of, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I've been kind of quite the past few weeks.

Pretty much I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I know I'm experiencing the biggest miracle of my life, but at the same time completely sick and miserable. So, I decided instead of sounding ungrateful (which I'm not) or angry (which I am, but don't know why) better to just keep my misery to myself, and of course Josh-ha! Humm, maybe that's why he keeps going on super long business trips.

Fantastic things keep happening despite my personal pitty party.

Last week I was able to welcome baby Sophia into the world. One of my best friends had her second baby on Sunday and I was in charge of Big Brother Jack. Well, maybe he was in charge of me...

She is soo tiny, I can't believe that I am going to have a baby in a few more months-wow!

Molly also had her knee surgery last week, Jack even helped me take her to the doggie doctor. She is doing great, and I am keeping up with her very long post op instructions. I even learned how to give her shots.

One day last week everything did get to be a little much, and I was very grateful Josh was in town and his office was half a mile from our house because he was able to help me big time by bringing me some lunch and helped to get Molly situated. It's hard to carry her out to the bathroom in 100+ degree heat and up and down the stairs in the house, yes I realize carrying her maybe good practice for things to come...

I've got a lot of really great things happening in my life, so eventually I'm going to have to turn this frown upside down, come on sunshine of the second trimester!

Adventures with Molly

2011-07-25T21:31:00.001-04:00

In the competitive field of professional sleeping, our beagle blew out her acl. She must of jumped off one too many super fluffy beds, the risks she takes to be the elite of her sport.

Molly is spending Monday and Tuesday nights at the vet pre and post op, and will be getting fixed up Tuesday morning. I hope she has lots of good doggie dreams while under sedation, and comes home ready to tackle rehab so we can get her right back into competition!

For the time being I miss my little partner in crime, and can't wait for her to get back to sleeping at the foot of our bed.

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Silver Linings

2011-07-22T12:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a long hard week.

I was looking forward to my second trimester to bring some relief of the exhaustion and sickness, it has multiplied 10 fold. I'm so lucky to have the support of my husband as I have been able to stay home and focus on having a healthy pregnancy. I really thought I would be able to power through, but carrying our child is teaching me many lessons in sacrifice, and in-turn helping me prepare for what is to come.

Our trip to Seattle last week was great, and to see friends who I don't see nearly enough and to be there for the marriage of one of those friend was well worth the trip across the country.

It's hard learning to deal with not being able to do ~~half~~ a quarter of the things I'm used to, but I'm doing it - with a smile most of the time.

Needless to say the travel and a busier itinerary than I'm used to these days set me back, but the real set back came with a call from Josh earlier this week. After the wedding he flew to San Diego for a business trip, while I flew back home to DC.

Since he was on the west coast, I was surprised to receive an early morning call from him and even more surprised with the news he had to share. I could tell by his tone it wasn't good, but nothing could have prepared me for the shock and disbelief when he told me his second cousin's newborn had passed away. We had just celebrated Hayden Lee's birth last week, and were amazed at how beautiful their family pictures were just hours after he was born. Loosing him at five days old is such a tradegy.

I am beyond heart broken. Heart broken he is gone, heart broken for his wonderful parents Robyn and David, heart broken that anyone especially someone I love has to face this.

It's been a tear-filled and prayer-filled week. I pray that as friends and family we can give Robyn and David the love and support they need to survive this, and that where we fall short God can carry them through this tragedy.

2011-07-14T08:46:00.001-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 11 Weeks, very excited to wrap up the first trimester this week!

Size of baby: Baby Thompson is the size of a lime

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Down about 10 pounds from first appointment, they told me I could only gain 15 pounds, does this mean I now get 10 flex pounds? I hope so!

Maternity Clothes: I have started scouting out clothes for down the road that will keep growing with me.

Gender: Still deciding if we are going to find out, but I think I'm going to want to know. We think doing a gender reveal with our parents when we are home for holidays would be fun.

Movement: I didn't know that little baby was already moving and groovin in there. We got a big surprise with a bonus sonogram at our OB appointment yesterday, and that little baby was waving it's arms and moving all around, it was super cool!

Sleep: R and R are my main priorities these days. It's so nice to get a good nights sleep and take a nap whenever I like. I'm sooo lucky for that!

What I miss: Energy and not feeling sick!

Cravings: Still in survival mode. Making and eating healthy food, just not keeping anything substantial down.

Symptoms: Do my best to get through the morning sickness, hoping the second trimester brings all the good things I've been holding out for!

Best Moment: seeing that little girl or guy wave it's arms at us during our bonus ultrasound. Getting a prescription for Zofran, although it hasn't really worked for me yet.

Sarah

Location:Access Rd,Chicago,United States

Pin It!

2011-07-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

FYI, Pinterest is the MOST amazing website on the face of the planet. A few months ago a good friend told me about it, and I told her, I already can't keep up with facebook and my blog, I don't need something else sucking all my time on internet. Well now that I don't have a pesky job keeping me from surfing the internet all day, I am pinning up a storm. And it is GLORIOUS!

Source: bethbrigham.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I have pinned close to 100 nursery inspiration pics

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Sarah on Pinterest

The quote that used to describe my life

Source: theglitterguide.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

a little more like it these days

Source: uppercasemagazine.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

The best part is, you can pin for 5 minutes or 5 hours, on your iphone or on your desktop, totally up to you. Don't be silly like me and wait to start pinning your little heart away.
Come be my friend and pin along!!

Destination Dijor

2011-07-12T00:44:00.000-04:00

Later this week we are off to the very fine state of Washington for the wedding of one of my finest friends! We had originally planned a week long trip with extended family, etc. Although cleared before accepting my job offer, it wasn't really going to workout with my at the time very demanding position. So Josh and I whittled down our time away, but I am still looking forward to taking in all the sites and activities Seattle and Washington Wine country have to offer.

In my planning I would like to include at visit to Pike's Place Market

Where I plan to spend some quality time at Beecher's Cheese

Then of course to the original Starbucks across the street

Perhaps a tour of underground Seattle, followed by a trip to Waterfall Gardens

And what better way to end a tourists dream day, but with dinner at the Space Needle, don't worry I've already made reservations-ha!

I love being a tourist everywhere I go, even in my hometown of DC.

An End of an Era

2011-07-11T07:34:00.001-04:00

In doing my best to motivate Josh to go to the Farmer's Market with me on Saturday morning, I told him we only have about 20 more weekends of our life to be able to do this! Let's get out of bed and go!

I was later informed by one of my best friends husband that we in fact only have about 20 more weekends to sleep in. Sooner than we know it, we will have done more on Saturday and Sunday by 11 am than we used to in the whole weekend, having kids means no more sleeping in-ha!

Well, I'm still glad we went to the Farmers Market down the street in beautiful "downtown" Falls Church. For some reason, that I do not approve of dogs are not allowed at the Farmers Market. Much to Josh's opposition (he is a big rule follower), I put Molly in a huge LLBean tote and carried her around with her little head poking out of the top-she LOVED it!

My mission at the Farmers Market was two fold. Stock up on some fresh tomatoes (tomato sandwiches are my mainstay survival food right now), and a get a savory crepe. Mission accomplished!

Josh picked up some sweet hot pickles and an eggplant to round out our trip.

Later in the afternoon, we went out to our friend Jen and John's house. The boys went to the driving range while Jack took his afternoon nap, then we all headed downtown for the DC Gator Club's night with the Nationals. It was so fun!

Of course we only made it to the fourth inning-way past a two-year-old's (and two preggo's) bed time. The funny part is he fared much better on the metro ride home than I did-ha!

Hope y'all had a great weekend, too!

Getting There

2011-07-08T11:06:00.000-04:00

Remember that trip I was so excited to go on? To, where was it?? Oh, Greece, that's right.

Well life came at me so fast and furious upon our arrival home and immediate results of a positive pregnancy test. That I still, more than a month later haven't even glanced at the thousands of pictures we took there. But, I plan to solve that, and share pictures with family and friends now that I have a little free time.

As a result of Josh's extensive travels and airline status, we had an abundance of frequent filer miles to cash in on our dream vacation. Cash in is exactly what we did, and were able to fly business class on Lufthansa, which was a real treat. I don't know all the exact differences between business and first class, but I do know I had a complementary drink in my had at all times, fantastic food from a gourmet menu, my own personal TV with more channels and movies than I could watch if we flew around the world a few times, and a seat that let me recline, lounge and even lay flat when I was ready to snooze. It was really all a girl could ask for.

We began our trip in the Air France lounge (Lufthansa Senator's Lounge was being remodeled). But I was A-okay with that because it meant I got to toast Oprah with real French Campaign as I watched her last show.

We quickly boarded and got settled, after a few movies a brilliant dinner, and a good night's sleep. It was time for the next main event, breakfast-ha!

This is where I found a new favorite combo of croissants, nutella, coffee and the Golden Girls while flying over England. What can I say? Estell, Blanch, Dorthy and Rose are perfectly complemented by a chocolaty hazelnut spread.

On this leg, we connected to Athens via Munich.

We decided when in Germany...

Never mind it was 9 am there and 4 am back in the states, the Lowenbrau was flowing in the Senators Lounge, and we felt it was our duty to partake.

10 Weeks!

2011-07-06T21:57:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen such a proud papa?

I'm pretty darn excited to have a baby on the way, but Josh?? He is on Cloud 9! Between him and all the excited grandparents, I just don't know what to do with myself!

Every week, I going to do my best to share our pregnancy highlights. With my recent (as in today) career change to Stay at Home "Mom," hopefully I'll have the time to stay current. The SAHM gig is just temporary as a 100+ hour work week didn't pair well with morning/all day sickness and pregnancy fatigue. After I get a little caught up on my neglected personal and volunteer life, I do plan to rejoin the workforce, but in a calmer, 9-5 type role.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 10 Weeks. Really? It feels a LOT longer!

Size of baby: Baby Thompson is the size of a kumquat

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Oh gee, with how sick I am, I sure think I have lost. Guess we'll find out at our doctor appointment next week.

Maternity Clothes: I have started scouting out clothes for down the road, right now I am totally fine in my regular clothes.

Gender: The big debate, to find out or not. Josh says no, I haven't made up my mind yet!

Movement: Other than the twinges in my side, nothing yet.

Sleep: If only I didn't have to make so many trip to the bathroom throughout the night, I'd be sleeping like a champ!
What I miss: Not being sick all the time, energy, coffee, and being able to have a glass of wine on the back porch at night.

Cravings: I'm in total survival mode here and what has helped me survive? Potato Chips and Chicken Nuggets. I also discovered sour candy somehow wards off the nausea, I try and keep some lemon heads and sour patch kids at arms length. Last night I had a scoup of green apple sherbert, which was great!
I was eating more fruits and veggies than you could shake a stick at before the morning/all day sickness got me. And BOY it got me good, I will add back more nutritious foods when I actually stand a chance of holding it down long enough to digest it.

Symptoms: The pre-mentioned morning/all day sickness, very tired, upgraded bra's. If it's a symptom at this stage in the game, I have it-ha!

Best Moment: Our first ultrasound a few weeks ago. Holding Josh's hand while seeing that heart beat for the first time. Most joyful, exciting and scary moment of my life!

The Fourth

2011-07-05T12:57:00.001-04:00

Hope y'all had a great fourth!

Our growing family did!

Lots of Love,

Sarah Beth, Josh, Baby Thompson and Molly (who is ver excited to be a big sister)!

Blessed, I Guess

2011-06-28T07:19:00.001-04:00

I used to kind of laugh when people would say they need a vacation after coming home from their vacation.
If there's anything Josh and I know how to do right, it's vacation (well we do a lot of things right being two type A overachievers, but vacation still holds true-ha).

We did have an amazing time in Greece, had a full itinerary some days mixed with the perfect amount of relaxation, downtime and amazing meals.
Now that we are back to real life all I have is a full itinerary of work.
Relaxation? HA!
Downtime, not really.
Amazing Meals, I'm honestly lucky if I have a free moment to even eat, and my itinerary is just going to get fuller...
To tell the truth, I haven't had a spare minute, second or hour to even look at all the pictures we took on our trip, yet alone share with friends and family (insert sad face).

I will be working at least 100 hours a week during the month of July (insert very sad face). I knew that my new job would be very demanding and kick my butt in ways I didn't know where possible, and I'm here to attest that it is.

"God doesn't call the enabled, He enables the called"

This will be my mantra for the month of July.

It's amazing to receive God's greatest blessing in my life at the same time as my greatest challenge.

Sunset in Santorini as seen by my Iphone.

An email from my aunt Sugie came in my inbox last night, a praise to God for His provision in their lives, it was sooo applicable to mine. I hope her words can be an inspiration to you as much as me!

Let me share with you something that has become so crystal clear to me. We all have some good stuff going in life and we all have some really tough, challenging stuff going on in life. God is in the good stuff and God is in the bad stuff. As I read the Bible I see more and more that it is in the tough situations in life that we feel desperate and often choose to turn to the Lord, and the good news is that He always is there and that He has answers and solutions and truth for every problem and crisis. The way our faith grows is through us being more dependent on Jesus. That is a discipline that must be cultivated. So the good news is that we should not lose heart in the tough times but be grateful that it prompts us to choose to turn to Jesus and let Him show Himself faithful to meet each need and encourage our hearts. He is an awesome God.

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Love CMN

2011-06-07T14:18:00.000-04:00

Love Children's Miracle Network. I can't believe I have been volunteering and fundraising with them for more than 12 years, due to it being Phi Mu's National Philanthropy and UF's Dance Marathon (in addition to Florida Football and Friends how I ended up meeting my husband).

Check out the video, I'm in the Phi Mu Alumnae Officer's group pic at 1:58!

In other news we're back from our fantastic trip from Greece--it was AMAZING, I can't wait to share some of our 800+ pictures (don't worry I'll just share the highlights).

Speaking of pictures, does anyone have recommendations on how I can keep my instagram iphone pics from looking pixluated when I post them to my blog? Perhaps it's because I am blogging straight from my iphone, but it seams some come out clear and others are pixely.

2011-05-25T19:18:00.001-04:00

I took a few hours away from my 90+ hour work week to unofficially wrap up my volunteer year.

The experience was wonderful and I'm so happy to be involved with these fantastic organizations. I'm the volunteer coordinator for the DC Gator Club. Saturday was International Gator Day, where UF Alums from around the world participate in a day of service. Of course one just wasn't enough for me, so I planned three. We partnered with DC public schools and thousand of other volunteers a few weeks ago to fix up all the campuses around the city. We are working with the USO for their annual family fun day. This past Saturday we helped with cleaning up Kennilworth Aquatic Gardens which is amazing. Most of us had no idea it even existed.

After a beautiful morning in the great outdoors, I headed to the Eastern Market (my favorite farmers market) for some fresh produce and a bit for lunch. I had a Cuban with a twist, it was served on Rosemary chibatta bread, I did like it...a lot-ha!

Back into the car and on the George Washington Parkway, one of my favorite roadways that travels adjacent to the Potomac, to McLean form my last Junior League commitment of the year, the talent show for my Langly consumers. I'm going to miss those guys this summer, but will be on the literacy club committee next year. Bonus, we won community partnership of the year!

And then my friends, back to work for the rest of my Saturday, Sunday, Monday, you get the picture.
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Location:A little break?

The Many Faces of Molly

2011-05-11T22:33:00.000-04:00

Molly, my beagle baby, has two main objectives in life.

Objective #1: Sniff out any and every edible (or semi edible) object possible and chow down on said object before any human or other dog notices what's going on.

Objective #2: Never let me, Josh or her dog sitter Tatitiana out of her sight. In fact the only time Molly isn't within a 2-4 foot radius of one of us, she is actively pursuing Objective #1. Like tonight when I went upstairs to jump on a conference call and Josh went to his office, she helped herself to the remains of my dinner that I casually left unattended.

It's not easy being a separation anxiety ridden beagle who needs to eat her feelings. If anyone understands it's her momma. Our deep understanding of each other is just one of the many reasons I love her to pieces.

What's not to love?

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Oh Wells or What If's

2011-05-11T01:33:00.001-04:00

I've spent my life on a roller coaster of 'oh yeahs' and 'oh wells'. I've ridden this roller coaster pretty fearlessly most would say. I learned after my fair share of 'oh wells,' that success comes after quite a few failures some small, some large. But honestly have few regrets because I'm living my life to it's fullest capacity.

Recently, I've stepped out of my comfort zone once again trying to avoid having any 'what if's.' I guess you can't knock it till you've tried it, the grass is or isn't always greener and I'm proving over and over again hind sight is always 20/20.

Does getting older (and hopefully wiser) mean I'll start willingly trade a few of my 'oh wells' for a few more 'what if's?' it's been a really crazy ride these past few months and I'm about ready to swap front row center court for a rocking chair on the front porch.

I feel that I am following Gods will for me, just don't have a clear vision of what that is and where exactly it's leading. I am exhausted and overwhelmed. I know he doesn't call the enabled, He enables the called.

But for the first time in my life, I'm almost feeling like I'd be ok with a few more 'what if's.' Especially if it meant I would get a few more hours of sleep.

Menu Monday

2011-05-09T20:08:00.001-04:00

On occasion there comes a stretch of days where I don't have a board meeting or volunteer obligations and Josh is in the country and doesn't have a business dinner. When this happens and we actually have a hour and a half on the weekend to spare, we try to take that time to plan out a meal or two together. I think the last time this kind of happened was the week of Passover. I made our traditional sedar with my mother in laws brisket and the next night made a double batch of Josh's favorite Passover dish, Eggplant Matza Lasagna (which he ate leftovers of for the remaining seven nights as I was volunteering or something of the like).

Yesterday, the stars aligned, and after brunch I pulled out my iPhone and he his blackberry. A quick check of the calendar confirmed we could actually have dinner together a few nights this week (other than our usual, a take out burrito bowl from Chipolte).

So last night we had BBQ Chicken Pizza- whole wheat pita, BBQ sauce, red onion, cilantro, grilled chicken breast, topped with mozzarella cheese and broiled in the oven.

Tonight we're Grilling for Life with Bobby Flay.

Pork Tenderloin Crusted with Green Onion, Jalapeño, and Ginger.

With his Grilled Asian Style Eggplant Salad.

Later this week we are trying the Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas from the new Fresh, Fabulous and Fast Weight Watchers Cookbook.

Then a new fav found at http://elefantitasalegres.blogspot.com/

Warm Asparagus Gorgonzola Steak Salad

http://www.cheekykitchen.com/2011/03/warm-asparagus-gorgonzola-steak-salad.html

Hope you week is filled with wonderful dinners spent around a table with those you love!

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2011-05-08T22:29:00.001-04:00

We started the day with a brilliant brunch. Josh made omelets, while I sliced and diced an amazing fruit salad.

Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and kiwi.

On the docket today, plan our trip to Greece. We are hooked and booked as far as transportation, hotels and where we will be when, BUT what we will be doing day to day... I am having a hard time nailing down. There is just so much to do! I have 5 hours of our trip planned and that is for a guided tour of the acropolis. Ahh, I need another day in the weekend to plan my dream vacation!

Hope y'all had a great mothers day! I'm blessed to have the most amazing mom ever!

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Big Decisions

2011-05-04T22:23:00.000-04:00

I was faced with a real big decision today. Go to the sneak peak of Bridesmaids with Lacey or go to Capitol Hill for a reception with the Florida Congressmen and elected officials. To be honest it was a biggie-When 5 o'clock rolled around, I was honestly really wanting to join Lacey with a big tub of popcorn, some Junior Mints and laugh my head off. But of course I chose to get Gatorfied and head into the city. To be honest, although I live here I don't really hang on the hill. It was fun to really feel like a DC Gator, and kind of made me want to hang on the hill more often. Men in bow ties, it does something to me....

So now I am really able to confirm that DC is a small town in a big city. While walking through Capitol Hill to the reception I ran into a great friend on the street, then at the reception I saw lots of my peeps. My fellow board members, sorority sisters, Josh's friends, other folks I knew at UF, it was awesome. I hob nobbed errr networked for a while, and then was persuaded to head over to the Florida State Societies Happy Hour. Now don't for a second think that I went to hang with a bunch of 'noles... Most of the states in DC have State Societies, to get together with your fellow staters and party down errr network.

Somehow on the way from Congress to where ever this secondary happy hour was taking place, I ended up in a Gator Entourage. As we had all pertaken in happy hour numero uno and where headed to happy hour numero dos of the evening-we were a sight of Orange and Blue to see. And then we created my best DC memory, and totally top 20 memory of all time. We sang the Florida Fight Song, Alma Mater and We are the Boys while walking in front of the Capitol (take that fourth of July). Wowzers combining the Gators and my love for America - AMAZING. But wait, then I saw even more people I knew at happy hour numero dos. I actually surprised my friends (and myself actually) at how many people I knew. Wow, reminds me of the good old days when my life wasn't a constant stream of strangers. I'm not going to lie though. It's nice to be able to go to the grocery store without seeing someone you know on every aisle up here as I can get away in going in semi PJ attire instead of having to "dress" to go to Bayshore Publix across the street from my old house.

So I have to share my gatorfied outfit, hopefully y'all will like it as much as Josh, plus how often do I get to tie on my vineyard vines gator scarf? My OOTD-I take photos in the bathroom style.

Don't for a second think I'm not planning to catch bridesmaids. But with how nutso my life is right now, it may not be until I get it in my mailbox from NetFlix...

Looks Like We Made It

2011-05-03T05:40:00.001-04:00

Two years of wedded bliss!

We celebrated over a fantastic meal at Two Urban Licks in Atlanta's Virginia Highland area.

My cool view!

We shared our favorite memories spent together.
Mine: spending the night in our new house together in Virginia before our movers arrived with our furniture. We celebrated New Years Eve with some bubbly, take out Chinese and slept on an air mattress.
His: adopting our precarious beagle, Molly. With a little more time to reflect he would probably add getting a king size bed, which in fact is the happiest moment of his life because he now gets a quarter of a king vs a quarter of a queen.

It's about time to shut down all electronic devices, I'm sitting next to my sweets and ready to depart on life's next journey!

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I've made it...

2011-04-29T20:39:00.001-04:00

To another weekend at least. The past month of my life has been a total blurr. I knew my new job would kick my butt, I just never knew how hard or what it would fell like to pull these kind of hours. I have never worked this long or hard or been in a total state of confusion like I have these past few weeks.

Man, I'm tired.

I was ready to throw in the towel more times than I can even count. My calls to Josh were totally fruitless. He had no sympathy being oceans and timezones far away. But I've made it this far and am going to keep on keeping on. Eventually my life will return to some sort of order, or else I just don't know what I will do with myself.

I've never been days/weeks behind on emails-gchat? I don't think I've done that in months. My emailing is done at redlights at best. Communication by traffic signal, it's truly survival.

I told my former boss, the paycheck is greener, but the grass is not. Maybe it's starting to turn a corner ( I'm hoping at least). I do know it's going to get worse before it gets better, but at least I have a trip to Greece in the mean time to look forward to.

Sitting on my porch with a glass of vino tonight helped, plus I have a few hours before I hit the hay to start planning out my garden this year.

I will be starting late because of our trip to Greece. A pansy or two or four survived the winter. So I will enjoy them and refresh my soil before planting my summer plants.

Whoever thought a highlight of my life would involve compost?

Ahh, organic vegetable gardening, my favorite class in college and now my favorite pastime.
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April Showers

2011-04-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

Via

Bring May Flowers

.

The birds are chirping out side my window and the cherry blossoms are in bloom! Spring has sprung and now it's time to shift our wardrobes to bright fun colors. Some of the outfits I have picked to celebrate the season have been inspired from Talbot's Spring Line!

I paired the Aubrey Sweater pictured above with the Geranium picnic skirt below - throw on my new nude peep toe pumps with a little bow and I am welcoming spring with open arms!

This beautiful peachy pink dress, I already wore when I was in Georgia a few weeks ago, and have plans for it to be my Easter dress and to wear it to a few upcoming showers and parties!

I just love everything Talbot's has to offer this spring. I hope my friends in the area can join me next Thursday, April 14 at the Tysons Corner location for a fun spring event I'm hosting-please send me an email if you would like to come!!

I've been eyeing this look as well-perfect dressed up...

or down...what have you been looking to add to your wardrobe this spring?

All in a Weeks Time

2011-04-05T05:41:00.000-04:00

It was just last week that I was reflecting on how my life was turning out just how I had wanted it to be.
Married to the most amazing guy - check
Moving and Groovin on a great career path - check
Packed social calendar-check

On Tuesday I was lunching with my bestie Lacey at Nordstroms, were we were talking about the amazing career opportunities that had come our ways in the past few months (I'm starting an amazing new job in Mid-April), decorating our homes, and the Spring Fashion Event I'm hosting at Talbots on April, 14th (save the date my DC and NOVA Friends)!

Later that night I lead a Junior League Project, which was beyond fun. My Tuesday nights are always a rewarding experience if not the highlight of my week hosting a reading club with adults with mental disabilities. The joy I'm able to share with these guys is beyond anything that I could even begin to explain.

Wednesday another busy day at the office followed by an incredible Hot Yoga session which is my new obsession.

Thursday a wonderful reception for Josh's high school at the Old Ebbitt Grill across the street from the White House. I had a blast meeting some of his classmates and an even considering transferring to the Junior League of Northern Virginia, I know all my DC leaguer's are shuttering at the thought. As we were headed to get our car from valet, we randomly ran into good friends from Florida. I finally felt a little connected in the Big City, small town that is DC.

Although DC is beginning to feel more like home and as I feel more connected here, I loose more and more of my connection to Florida everyday, which is a little heartbreaking for me.

As my career grows it means I grow...older...and so do my parents. It's a struggle to feel disconnected from them when I want to be there as they face health obstacles that seem to develop from nowhere. I'm ready for the well worn path to and from the Mayo Clinic and Florida South from my parents front door to be the path less taken.

Another Tuesday, another lunch at Nordstroms, another chance to solve life's problems and maybe get a new spring outfit...

We've become that couple

2011-03-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

That meets for dates in the airport. My flight arrived at 9:00 pm, his left a little after 10. Perfect for a quick bite and a debriefing of the weekend. As glamourous as it sounds Josh is in a different country every week, and I just trapes around the southeastern seaboard. I have to say being a good wife, daughter, volunteer and employee has caught up to me. When it rains it pours some good (amazing good) some bad (sad/scary bad) has happened all at the same time. Undoubtedly Gods hands are on me and everything that is happening in my life, and no matter what continent he is on I have the most amazing best friend and life partner I am on this journey with.

Meet you at Gate 39B, I'll be the one with the Vera Bradley roller bag.

In The News

2011-03-22T23:04:00.001-04:00

Well look-y-loo all that sorting donations made the news. Too bad they didn't highlight my favorite item - fringed lampshades- They are going to be all the rage I tell ya!

Seriously if you are in town, you should totally check out this year's Junior League of Washington Tossed and Found!

Holly Morris - Tossed and Found: MyFoxDC.com

A Touch of Ireland

2011-03-17T13:49:00.000-04:00

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers—

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours—

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!

A sweet Irish Blessing, but what I'm really wishing for you is a Shamrock Shake, lots of green beer, that your first rounds picks from your bracket win today, and a few daffodils straight from the fields of Ireland!

I had my friend Jamie over for dinner on Sunday night. I had picked up three dozen daffodils earlier in the day and was telling her how I would love to be able to enjoy fresh flowers while I was at work AND at home-but it seemed kind of silly to bring them back and forth, and a little too much to buy fresh bouquets for both my home and office each week.

On Tuesday one of my consultants surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of bright yellow daffodils, I told her exactly what I shared with my friend on Sunday night and that I had a bouquet sitting on my dining room table at home. It must have been the luck of the Irish!

Glad to share "A Touch of Ireland" with you today, and the first blooms of springtime at my house this morning!

Springing Forward

2011-03-15T18:33:00.000-04:00

Friday night, I decided it was high time to treat myself to a new pair of shoes. I'm really ready for Spring to finally get here, so I figured buying a pair of nude peep toe pumps with a little bow would bring it to me a little faster. So far my hypothesis has yet to be proven, but I'm still holding out. I may need add some variables (more fun springy shoes in various shades) in order to reach a valid conclusion. Ahh, the labor I must endure in the name of research and warm weather.

Speaking of the scientific method, research, statistics, etc- Weight Watchers has a new points algorithm, based more on the structure of food and as far as I'm concerned more focused on the glycemic index. I was volunteering at the American Heart Association's Heart Ball at the Ritz a few weeks ago and one of my fellow Junior Leaguers was telling me about it. I was intrigued. When one of my friends asked me to join with her two Friday's ago-I decided to give it a shot, and drug Josh along with me. He's mostly just interested in meeting Jennifer Hudson, and I can't really blame him, but I doubt she will be showing up to our meeting anytime soon. I have to say I am thrilled with the new Points Plus Structure, the system combined with the work I have been doing with my nutritionist for the past year is really clicking. I lost 10 pounds my first week! Woo Hoo! Anyway, we went out to lunch after the meeting and this is what I had:
Apple and Butternut Squash Soup, Corn and Crab Salad and sauteed veggies-YUM YUM YUM.

Later that night I was off to Baltimore to see Bethenny Frankel at her Skinny Girl Night Out Tour. It was so fun!

I was up before dawn to volunteer with the Phi Mu DC Alumnae Group at the St. Patrick's Day 8K. I think all this craziness has messed up my internal clock.

I'm not going to lie, I haven't been able to get straight on springing forward just yet. I am totally out of wack and keep falling asleep on the sofa and have no idea what clock is telling me the right time in the morning-ha! I hope to get it straightened out and fix all the clocks in my house after Junior League tonight.

Have you been able to successfully Spring Forward?

Madame Butterfly

2011-03-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

Last night Josh and I went to see Madame Butterfly at the Kennedy Center. It's a real treat whenever I'm asked to accompany him on any corporate event. Fancy catered dinner in the private dining room, a driver taking us into the city, and always amazing seats...what's not to love?!

The Kennedy Center is so stately and beautiful.

One of my favorite things about living in this area, is that every turn I make, I am surprised by a glowing monument, historic building or statue in a park (I usually end up getting a pretty good view as I drive around a few times... I still haven't mastered all the roundabouts DC has to offer). Anytime I come upon one, I always think of the references to Dupont Circle it in the movie American President.

The President asks, "You didn’t get stuck on Dupont Circle again? To which Sydney replies, "It’s not funny- I hate that place! Can’t you declare it a Federal Disaster Area, or something?" --So true, but I believe all traffic deserves that title at rush hour around here.

Anyway back to the show...Madame Butterfly

Walking into the Kennedy Center is always so grand, the deep red carpet, the flags from around the world, it's just breath taking.

What's not breath taking, the swarms of people in blue jeans. I do realize that all types of events and shows take place all day everyday at the Kennedy Center, and that the matinees are getting out just as we would be arriving for an evening show. I just wished people would "dress" for the events, but that just doesn't happen anymore.

Once we found our way out of the Hall of Nations to the Opera House foyer, I was pleased to see most everyone was dressed appropriately-how fun!

Before entering the Opera House, I was on a mad dash to find at pair of opera glasses, or as I like to refer to it-optoculars. Silly me forgot my glasses, and even though we had fantastic seats, I wanted to see the detail of the costumes and sets. I could have sworn that at past events we were able to rent them, but not last night. Into the gift shop I went with hopes of walking out with a pair.

How lovely, but at $90 Josh was not really thrilled to buy them for me. We did however reach a compromise. I wore his glasses and he got these (te he he)

The show was beautiful, my favorite scene was when Cio-Cio-San filled the house with flowers upon the impending arrival of her husband BF Pinkerton. Pink and white petals floated down from above as the beautiful Italian lyrics filled the hall. It made me so excited for spring to arrive!

We love every chance we have to go to the Kennedy Center, and plan to return soon to see Wicked later this season.

Meet Bob

2011-03-10T18:45:00.000-05:00

I had no idea everyone would be so excited about my new hair-do. Thanks for making me feel important friends.
Whithout further ado, please meet Bob - aka my new do.

A pre-bangs shot (or two in this case)

As my stylist put it, we took some weight off the ends, I think this will work out well. Plus I'm super excited about my thick, yet wispy bangs.

Hoping everyone is enjoying a good hair day.

PS- I'm so glad I went back into my stylist to ask for this slight adjustment. Although I am far from timid, I was a little nervous, but she was very happy to ablidge. Why is it so hard to ask for what we want sometimes?

Buying into the Bob

2011-03-10T12:41:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to get what has turned into a biannual hair cut. My hair grows as slow as molasses, so it's just so hard for me to get it cut right when I get it a length I like.

For most of my life I have kept it right around shoulder length-which works, although I always dream about having fun long hair.

I went in to the beauty parlor with my hair a few inches below my shoulders and left with it a few inches above my shoulders-the exact hair cut I wanted, just two inches shorter than I wanted it to be. Needless to say I was upset. I spent last night and this morning trying to convince myself that it was ok-this would finally get me to take my prenatal vitamins everyday, but it just wasn't working.

I didn't want a bob, but I have a bob. So I just had to decide to embrace it, and make it the bob I want it to be-I had to buy into the bob.

I'm going back to my stylist and getting bangs to go with my bob a-la 2 of my favorite bloggers:

Kelly

and

Caroline

Here goes nothing!

Time to face the music

2011-03-09T07:07:00.003-05:00

Despite my best efforts, it's time for me to accept that I am getting older. I haven't noticed too many grays in my brunette locks or winkles on my face, but the sands of time beginning to take their toll on my appearance (in what I feel are very strange ways).

So I was wanting to chalk these changes up to the dry and bitter cold winter air here in DC, but I'm really starting to think that is not the case, and that it is in fact that I am getting on up there, and it's starting to show-ha!

Weird change #1-my hair has turned into a hot mess. When I wake up in the morning my normally stick straight and very fine hair is completely knotted and sticking up in every which way imaginable. I am talking CRAZY. I made some adjustments, deep conditioners, balms, and even a silk pillow case to no avail-I don't know what I'm doing in my sleep, but when I wake up, it the equivalent of if I spent the evening teasing my hair beyond Snookie heights. I'm going into my stylist tomorrow for a new cut-if that doesn't do the trick I don't know what I'm going to do.

Weird change #2-the texture of the skin on my eyelids has changed (I told y'all weird stuff was happening). Now it's bumpy and almost dry (if that's even possible). I do not like it one bit. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and start applying eye cream every morning and night. Any recommendations? I haven't found an eye cream I just love quite yet. I've really been digging the new skin care products by Mario Badescu I picked up at Ulta in January.


The Enzyme Cleansing Gel is my favorite cleanser EVER!


LOVE the Alpha-Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion


Also I adore the Honey Moisturizer although sometimes I feel like a need modern scientific advancments to truly mouisterize this face of mine and I go back to old faithful

Lancome, why do you work so well, but make me so angry to spend $130 for 1.7 oz

Does anyone else have random signs of aging, or is it just me? Any tried and true skin care items that can maintain what I have left of my youthful skin?

To practice day by day...

2011-03-08T07:16:00.001-05:00

So, let me catch y'all up on some of the super-de-duper things that have been going on in my life. I have been given the opportunity to volunteer with my sorority a lot since I have moved to DC. Last week I was appointed by the National Council to serve as an Alumnae Officer, and I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be a part of the Alumnae Projects Team.

It seems like just yesterday that I was meeting some of my Alpha Nu (University of Florida) sisters for brunch at the Mayflower just shortly after I moved to DC. I was asked by one of my sisters who was currently the president of the DC Alumnae Chapter if I would be interested in joining, which I was, so I did. It was nice to have some events to go to throughout the year and meet sisters from other campuses around the country. I ran for secretary the following year, and was able to work with some awesome women and really develop a strong communication system that I'm really proud of. This year I'm serving at the VP of Programming and am so thrilled to be able to work with some truly fantastic women. Our first "official" event was this past weekend as we celebrated Phi Mu's Founder's Day with a fun brunch at the Carlyle Hotel in Dupont.

Also being involved in the alumnae chapter gave me the opportunity to learn about other ways to volunteer with Phi Mu. One of those was by advising the local chapter at American University. I began as the Academic Excellence Adviser, then PR, and now my true love...Recruitment. I am seriously a dork over singing songs, conversation workshops and funny skits. The very best part of being an adviser to me is seeing the positive impact I have on these young women's lives. It's amazing to watch them work hard and accomplish their goals. Seriously to see that sparkle in their eyes-when a big announcement is made or how the hold their shoulders up a little higher after being elected as a leader by their peers. It's such a rewarding experience. I have also been rewarded by building friendships with the other advisers on the board. It's been so much fun to get to know these ladies, and I really feel like I have made great connections and life-long friends with these women. The other night we got together to prepare a sweet's table for the new member retreat that Claire hosted at her house-how cute is this? We then treated ourselves to a Mexican Fiesta at Guapos-so fun, and just as good if not better then one of those cupcakes.

Early to bed...

2011-03-04T23:49:00.000-05:00

How does it always happen that when I have the most going on, and great things to share, I never have time to do it. Actually the first week of the month is always a doozy for me, with DAR, Junior League, sorority advisers meeting and my monthly DC Gator Club board meeting. I went for broke and scheduled a sorority alumnae committee meeting as well-which probably explains why I ended up in bed at 8:15 on a Friday night (or maybe it was the big ole drunken ribeye I had at happy hour turned dinner).

A low-key evening was just what I needed, I caught up with a few friends on the phone, a few shows on the dvr and now I'm watching a food network special Gaida in Paradise: Santorini, which is getting me totally excited for our trip in a few months. Santorini (and Mykanos and Athens) here we come!

I've been so busy lately that I haven't even begun to plan our trip. Well, the travel agent has booked all our flights and hotels-but the research and figuring out all the awesome things to do-half the fun is planning everything, and then picking out all my outfits! Humm, I need to pencil in some time for that on my calendar-ha!
I am enjoying flipping through all the spring catalogs that are coming in the mail, can't wait to wear lots of dresses this spring, and pick up a few new items for our trip!
Another thing I'm planning to enjoy ----sleeping in on Saturday morning! I could and should be volunteering to prepare for the junior leagues annual thrift sale, Tossed and Found, where I have spent more early Saturday mornings than I care to remember over the past two months. When sorting through other's donations, my favorite section to bring items to is bric-a-brac and sub section within bric-a-brac is fringed lamshades, like this one I told Josh I was going to bring home.

And after I sleep in? I'm joining weight watcher then going to the chocolate lovers festival down the street-that's just the ridiculous way I roll. Happy Weekend!

Oh Y'all

2011-02-28T07:30:00.002-05:00

Life is coming at me too fast to document it! I haven't even bought any girl scout cookies or read the past two issues of Southern Living, and that my friends is how you know things are crazy in my life.

I just got back from visiting family in Newnan earlier this week. What a blessing to spend time with my mom, brother, granny, uncles and cousins. It was also wonderful to sit and read on the screen porch of the cabin at Wynn's Pond. Wish I could take a deep breath of that sweet warm Georgia air every Friday afternoon. The porch swing and a copy of "High Heels to Tractor Wheels," made the afternoon even better.

I'm glad that I got to spend time with my Granny-who didn't stop cracking jokes or telling funny stories the entire time we were there. I'm so blessed to have shared this fun time with her!

Granny surrounded by her grand kids at her 80th birthday party!

On an Alaskan Cruise with Doodle

Graceful and beautiful

Hope everyone is enjoying all the crazy busy blessings life is throwing at them as much as I am!

Don't you love

2011-02-09T18:30:00.001-05:00

spending time with friends you haven't seen in a while and being able to pick up right where you left off? I'm one lucky girl because I am blessed to be able to do this with all of my fab friends. Life's journey has lead us to live hundreds of miles away, but the friendships we built (sharing pitchers at the Swamp and Grog House's beat the clock) have continued to thrive.

KMK, Keiper, K Pierno, K sara sara came to DC a few weekends ago to participate in a Human Rights Summit. She flew in a day early so we could dance party USA, have a big ol slumber party, and try to eat as much cheese and chocolate as humanly possible. Lucky for us Mother Nature decided to extend our party and gave us a snow day aka adult recess.

A snow storm was rumored to hit DC in the afternoon she arrived. I was able to slip out of work about the same time as all the Federal Government employees, but I guess ran to my car faster than everyone else and was a step ahead in traffic. What should have been a 20 minute car trip, took us 2 hours, but took those who departed a few minutes behind us 8-10 hours. I spent the car ride impressing Keiper with my mad snow driving skills, singing Ke$ha and entertaining both of us by fish-tailing on 495 one too many times.

Josh welcomed us home and built us a fire and broke out the Vino and snacks. It was a fun filled night. Just as Keiper introduced me to Gossip Girl a few years ago in Nashville, I returned the favor and introduced her to The Real Housewives of Atlanta-and her love affair with NeNe began. We had a great night singing, giggling and all out laughing by the fire, but the real fun began the next morning with the snow day!

Playing in the snow!

making snow angles

"leaping" into snow banks...

We had a great time together. The next night we went out in DC. There was this place I'd been wanting to go to right by her hotel on Embassy Row called ChruchKey. Turns out the upstairs is the club/lounge Churchkey and the downstairs is Birch and Barley the restaurant. As we begin climbing the stairs and the music and noise get louder, we turned to eat other and with just a glance knew we would rather be in the quieter restaurant area. Once again my limiting my nightlife experience to revolve around food, I find it funny that I have only been "out" in DC once. Don't get me wrong I'm in the city a few times a week. I've been to countless happy hours and dinners, just never out after 10 with the sole purpose of grabbing a drink, dancing, etc. We sampled a few wines and beer and share some amazing appys. Include Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts, which I recreated the following evening. Best of all we talked and talked and talked some more! We even had a mini photo shoot with my iphone.

I love knowing that we will be there for each other through life's ups and downs. It's great to know you have a tried and true friend that will be there to sunbathe in the tropics or just be on the other end of the phone line when you are facing one of life's challenges. We both miss that life isn't one big slumber party at the sorority house anymore, but are glad that we'll always have the memories and the chance to make many many more.

Living the Good Life...

2011-01-24T17:01:00.000-05:00

Reflecting on the g-chat I just sent to one of my besties while trying to figure out her schedule when she is in DC this weekend for a conference:

"I have some spa-ing, volunteering, and brunching I am trying to work in my schedule while you are conferencing."

La-ti-dah, I wish every weekend was like the one coming up. The funniest part is I am most looking forward to the TSM's (total sorority move's) Keiper and I are going to pull out on the town than my other three activities. I take that back, spending time behind two red doors at the Willard will be pretty darn fantastic.

Actually I can't really complain about this past weekend either, it was awesome. Let's talk about how beyond amazing is is to lounge in our new king size bed - "stay on your side," a new phrase shared by Josh and myself while basking in our own pillow-topped spots. Breakfast at our favorite local-organic diner, I've decied true happiness lies somewhere between their fuffy buttermilk pancakes and gigantic mugs of coffee. Then celebrating the birthday of my very favorite two-year-old.

I'm sure Jen never imagined 12 or so year ago that the girl who lived next to her in the dorm would be coating chocolate-dipped pretzel rods in sprinkles and customizing her son's choo-choo train t-shirt before his second birthday party, but folks that's the woman I've become. And I'm loving every customitzed choo-choo train second of it.

Case in point:

And if we're being honest here, I never really thought that the girl that I shared my first natty light with in the corner of the backyard of Beta Theta Pi would spend four hours taking her cake baking skills to the next level to create this masterpiece:

But she did, and I did.
Lesson learned - she doesn't mess when it comes to birthday parties, and I don't mess when it comes to helping with last minute prep, loading the dishwasher, or cheese-well actually neughter of us mess when it comes to cheese.

Favorite moments of Jack's Choo-Choo train bononza. Blowing out the candle and when he decided to go frank the tank on us and went streaking.

Hey-it's his party, he can take off his pants if he wants to.

Menu Monday is in sad shape this week. We are making a big batch of chili and seeing how long we can live off it this week. I'll let you know how it goes, and who breaks from the chili and salad diet first.

Success!

2011-01-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

Great things are going on all around me. I've gone to/am going to ~~three~~ four awesome places for restaurant week! For those who don't know R week is when all the top dining establishments in DC offer lunch and dinner at a pre-set price. Some offer a pre-fix menu while others let you order an appy, entree and dessert off their regular menu all for the low low price of $35.11. My goal is to find the latter - holla Chef Geoff's. Anyway-Great Food, Great Friends-who could want more?

Well except for my gamma delta ladies at AU...

More, more, more - that's exactly what the Phi Mu Chapter at American University got on Bid Night! They had a fantastic recruitment and ended up with quota plus additions - resulting in the largest new member class on campus! The best part is they did it by being completely true to themselves, and were able to showcase their amazing friendships and sisterhood during recruitment (all the while ignoring my request to put on more lip gloss). Gosh-I love them with or without a shiny pout.

Speaking of love, I am planning to fall in love with the hubs over and over again on the mini-moons we are taking this year! Josh just booked us for a week in Greece-first class thank you very much, and a little over a week in Seattle to enjoy some time on the west coast prior to my fav red-headed-roommate's wedding this summer. I was going through recruitment withdrawals, but now I get to start planning our fab vacations-can't wait!