Arden girl's first summer + work work work work work work

Life's been crazy, but we're due for an update, so HERE I AM. Hi hi hello.

This summer I've been working hard on a big project. It required working 7 days a week for about 5 weeks, but we are finally finished! This specific project took me to Napa—which I'd never visited before—and we worked all day and pretty much all night, so I didn't get to visit a winery, but it was still beautiful. Check it out.

In JULY. ^

These huge olive trees were everywhere. My olive tree is 1/100th of this size...

Rosemary and lavender were everywhere.

Got dared $100 to wear these and pretend to be totally serious. Nailed it. 

 When we were flying out of Napa we recognized this bridge. WHOA. Pretty. 

I think people who close their airplane windows have lost a certain amount of wonder. They pay big money for a home with a beautiful view, to ride to the top of the ferris wheel, to get to the top of the Empire State Building...and then they close their airplane windows. What's wrong with you people, it's the best view of allllll the views. 

Speaking of....

How's this for a view of NYC?

This same project landed me in NYC for a few days back in June. This was the exact same kind of work trip as Napa—I spent most of my time in my room working, and on this couch in the hotel restaurant.

Cute little new york restaurant patio. So sweet.

We've had a LOT of late nights this summer. This photo was taken at 4 a.m. Shout out to the "nervous breakdown" at Common Grounds for keeping us up ALL night. Wish I would've known about that coffee drink in college. 

I had to work for most of Drew's first Father's Day, but we did make it out to my Dad's where we got this great shot! 

Cuties.

We also got to make this fun craft for our dads.

Oh hey, girl.

Arden got to meet her friend, Oakley, back in June! Oakley, Russell, Boston and Scott came to visit us here in Waco! Could be love between these two.

I can't even with this! First bath and a bath at 4 months. 

 HOW?! FIVE MONTHS. She's so big. She rolls everywhere. She sits forward facing in her stroller. She has epic thigh rolls. Smiles at everything. Laughs. Cries. Still gets up twice a night like clockwork. No more breastfeeding, we've moved on to the expensive world of formula. (I was working too much, and quickly got sick of being a slave to my pump.) Drinks a 6 oz bottle every three hours or else. Wears size 2 diapers. Kind of skipped size 3-6 month clothes altogether and jumped straight to 6-9....BUT I'd already bought so many 3-6 month outfits by the time we realized this fun fact, so homegirl squeezes into them. :)

Drew and my 8 year date-a-versary was June 17th. We broke up lots of times during our courtship, so does this really count? Who knows. But we celebrate it every year for fun. This year to celebrate we went on our first date for the second time. We saw the round rock in Round Rock, re-vistited the church we "stole" balloons from, and played on the swing set at the same duck pond. Only difference, this time we have a mortgage and a baby. 2009 was pretty fun, but 2017 ain't so bad. Also, I cut my hair.

And here's a series of cute baby pics for your enjoyment. 

So unsure about sweet potatoes.

Carrot top. 

Her first forward facing stroller experience. She loved it, despite what it looks like. 

Too dang cute. I love this age. She's starting to figure everything out and it's so fun to watch her learn! 

My work friends at a suuuuuper cute wedding. Hey guys, some of these pretty girls are single ;)

Any wedding where the main menu items include chocolate chip pancakes and champagne are A+ in my book. Congrats, Bill and Madi!

What do people say? Oh yeah, my "forever wedding date." 💗 PS - Madi painted this backdrop herself because she's amazing. It was HUGE. 

About a month ago Drew and I booked another trip to Colorado for August. My only request for my 25th birthday was a "fun trip." (I like to travel about 900x more than Drew, so anytime we go anywhere it's definitely for my sake.) But after we booked it and thought about it more....we decided to change our plans and go to NYC. We've been wanting to go back, but it's much more expensive than Colorado, and we LOVE Colorado so that was the original plan in order to save some $.

But after all my working the last month, we thought HEY—It's been a big, busy year, and we've honestly earned it. We didn't do much for my birthday, we weren't planning much for Drew's birthday...heck, even our 2nd anniversary got beat out by our (at the time) one-week-old. 

SO WE'RE GOIN'. 

We canceled our cabin in Colorado, changed our flights, booked a room in Tribeca, and it's a done deal. August in NYC is gonna be HOT, but we couldn't care less. We got tickets to Wicked (I've never seen it, and I'm good and tired of every human in the world saying YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WICKED?

No, I sure haven't. Ask me again in September.

We also got tickets to Hamilton. What?! Drew is probably so sick of listening to the Hamilton Cast Recording around the clock. It's all I've been playing. But you'd better believe that I'm going to understand every single aspect of that musical before I set foot in the theater. 

Can't wait. Oh, and no, Arden Gray girl is not coming on this trip. She will be staying with our parents, and Drew and I will sleep full nights. What a strange concept. 

This is a short week—Drew and I took off Friday to go to Fredericksburg this weekend with Lindsay and Preston! So pumped.

That's it, friends. That's all I've got. 

Everyone have a GREAT week. 

Saturdays in Waco

It's hard having a newborn—cabin fever kicks in very quickly when you can't leave the house. But since ours officially had her first shots and flu season is coming to a close, we can finally leave the house without having to worry. GAME CHANGER. So Drew and I decided to spend this Saturday actually doin' stuff.

This morning the baby slept until 5:15 (A BIG DEAL) and then after she ate she slept again until 9. AKA Drew and I were able to get some REAL rest. *praise hands*

It was my sister Kamryn's senior prom today(!!!)

So, per tradition, my mom and I spent the day getting her all ready to go. 

It was actually so windy that this chick's false lashes almost came off.

Thank goodness for friends with lash glue, amirite?

It's hard to believe this little thing will be off on her next adventure so soon! 

Her date was a good sport, obvi.

After we sent her off, Drew and I took the baby downtown. It was so beautiful out! We had to take her for a walk by the river. We also stopped for a smoothie per my request.

As you can see, she spent a lot of the afternoon asleep. Saturdays are hard.
After we left, Drew got an invite from a friend to go to a concert tonight. So Arden and I sent him on his way, and spent our evening watching The Notebook.

I came to the conclusion today that our new normal includes a stroller permanently taking up too much space in our trunk, and Saturday nights spent blowing raspberries on an infant's belly.

I like it.

When sleep becomes currency

Two things are precious and hard to come by when you're a new mom—sleep and time. I'm permanently and insatiably exhausted. Even when Drew sweetly takes the baby on a Saturday morning so I can sleep two extra hours, I find myself wishing for a nap by 2 p.m. I don't understand it. 

Arden started going to stay with Lindsay this past week. Lindsay's husband works at Magnolia, which is how we know them! She has two boys of her own and stays home with them. I couldn't have dreamed up a better situation for Arden. I had sooo much anxiety about the daycare situation for so long and then BOOM, one day God came through in a big way. It's so perfect.

Being away from Arden was hard and easy all at the same time. I missed her during the day, but more like "I wonder what she's doing" kind of a miss. Never once did I worry about her. What a blessing. 

First day!

Second

Third

Fourth

Aaaaand fifth...

(More on this later)

Drew takes these pictures when he's dressing her every morning. (I have to be at work at 8, but Drew is 8:30, so he dresses and takes her.) I look forward to them every day!

Being back at work was a little surreal. It felt like I'd never left, but at the same time nothing was the same. We have a BEAUTIFUL new office space and that makes going to work so great. 

I have to pump three times a day—10, 1:30 and 4. It takes 15 minutes every time. I. Hate. It. There's not a good spot to do it, it interrupts my work flow, and putting the thing together and then breaking it back down three times is just obnoxious. Everyone at work is supportive, which helps, but I just know THIS will be the thing that turns me off of breastfeeding. My goal all along has been to make it to 6 months. So 4 more! 

Just unpacking and repacking the bags to get ready for a day at work is tiring. At night, I pull my pumped milk out of the tiny cooler I take to work, label and freeze it. Boil pump parts. Transfer frozen milk to the fridge so it's defrosted for the next day. In the mornings, I make sure there are diapers and wipes in the diaper bag. Lay out baby clothes. Make sure I have workout clothes/socks/shoes for barre/spin after work. Remember my water bottle and laptop. Make sure I have milk storage bags in my pump bag. Remember to grab both coolers for storing milk and pump parts. It's a WHOLE thing. I FULLY understand why moms go straight to formula, and I support you fully. You wont get any mommy judgment from me.

So why do I keep doing it if it's so much trouble? Heck, I don't know. If I'm being completely honest, maybe a lot of people told me I couldn't and I'm out to prove to myself that I can. Maybe I like burning 600 extra calories a day while I lose the last of my mommy weight. Maybe I like that Arden likes it. Maybe I want to be an example for other working moms that YOU CAN DO IT. (Even though I'm strugglin'. Hey, nobody's perfect.)

Arden started getting sick Wednesday night...I thought it was just allergies, but by Thursday evening she was running a fever. Drew and I panicked. I worked from home Friday and took her to the doctor. Hence the "day 5" picture being in her carseat with sad eyes. They ran blood tests and all kinds of junk. She was fine, there was nothing to worry about. But it didn't stop this new mom from worrying. (I read too many mommy messenger boards.)

First set of shots were Monday. Arden did pretty well! She cried, but she was fine. I did not cry, but I was ready for anything. At 2 months old, she's 11 lbs, 8 oz and 22 inches long.

Arden still doesn't sleep through the night. (Thank you, Lord, for the gift of coffee.) Typically, we put her down at midnight and she sleeps until 4. Back to sleep at 4:30 and awake for good at about 6:30. Every evening from about 7(ish) to 11, she has to be held or she cries. We're not quite sure what the deal is there. She usually starts a tantrum RIGHT as dinner is ready (her timing is impeccable), so Drew and I have to take turns eating. The house is a mess because after the whole day is done and we have a crying baby on our hands, we don't have energy for laundry or dishes. Shoot, we barely even have energy to watch TV. 

But don't be fooled, it's good. It's really good. Sometimes (okay, always) we are tired. When my alarm goes off, sometimes I daydream about taking Arden to Mrs. Lindsay's house and then coming back home and passing out for eight uninterrupted hours. Like I said, sleep is currency. But she's such a gift. We love her more than we could ever put into words. 

I'm extra thankful for Drew. He is patient, so supportive and SUCH a helper. He washes dinner dishes without me asking. He gets the baby to sleep like no other (we call it "daddy magic"). He boils my pump parts and defrosts milk and picks out hair bows and grocery shops and sucks out baby snot without ever complaining. He's the least lazy person I've ever met. I like him. 

Things arehard, but they're good. We're head-above-water.
More updates to come. Stick around.