Drew and I have been talking and planning and talking and planning trying to get on the same page about the timing of a second baby. The thing is that we already have our hands quite full with Arden. To say she is active seems like an understatement. She. is. always. moving. I'm convinced she has about the same amount of energy as three of the average toddler.
The thing about it is that many moons ago we decided we'd have two kids, and Drew really wants two kids. He's been ready for a second baby since my doctor cleared me from my pregnancy with Arden. And don't get me wrong, I want two, too. The thing is that another baby requires another pregnancy, which is a whole thing for me. I'm apparently not one of those women who has really easy pregnancies where they only gain 8 pounds and, aside from those magical little kicks and flutters, barely notices there's even a baby in there. No such luck for me. And please don't take this to mean I'm not grateful for fertility and my body's ability to grow a baby—I am. But for me, my pregnancy was 9/10 hard and I'm still not quite feeling excited to do it again. There's some fear there.
I say all of this to be #relatable. Life is funny in 2018. Because of our personal highlight reels known as social media (which I love by the way—I'd never knock the magic of Instagram) it seems as though everyone is doing perfectly perfect and you're the only one with problems because LOOK everyone else is vacationing and buying houses and cars and wearing beautiful diamond engagement rings and making beautiful babies etc etc. But it's not all quite that simple, is it?
I just wanted to open this post with a little bit of honesty, because I think we could all use a little authenticity. Drew and I have been asked pretty regularly when the next baby is coming and the answer is, probably soonish. Drew is ready and, like I said, we agreed a long time ago that two was our magic number. Drew agreed to indulge me this summer and let me do some of the things I wanted to do (within reason of course, we still have that second mortgage called daycare to pay for, after all) knowing that soon we'd be pregnant again—and then we'd have a new baby, which would mean no trips for a while.
So a few weeks ago he took me to Fredericksburg—it was number one on my must-do-before-pregnancy list.
I'll admit that I regularly keep my eye on real estate in this area. I would move here and become a wine sommelier, NO problem. These are my people in Fredericksburg. Life is slow and nobody is in a hurry. Everyone is just taking their time, and I feel like I could use some more of that in my life.
We tried a few new spots this time, like Hilmy Cellars, which is where this ^ photo was taken. So trendy. Good wine, too.
I have a whole travel guide typed up of my favorite places in Fredericksburg, so if you are looking to go, let me know and I'll send it your way. We've officially been three times in the past 12 months, so I'm starting to feel like a pro—even though there's still so much I want to do and see here that I haven't just yet.
The grapes were still on the vines this trip. We pulled a few off at nearly every winery we visited and they're all pretty dang good. Definitely don't taste like grocery store grapes, but that's to be expected.
Here's a little look at our Air BnB from this trip. It was my favorite one yet, and we've stayed in some cuties. It was very inexpensive for the area, but still close to all the action and obviously very newly updated. It even had a soaking tub and a separate walk in shower with a rain shower head—which is the way to my heart. The place was definitely small if you have more than two people, but very well appointed with a kitchenette, a sitting area, a large TV and a private porch for drinking more wine in the evenings. I mean, when in Rome, right? I'd definitely stay here again. In fact, I plan to.
Our first time to Kuhlman and it was magic.
Part of the beauty of this old town is that you just stumble upon walls that look like this one right off of Main Street.
Becker is one of the most well known in Fred for a very good reason, friends. You never skip Becker.
This was our first time at Vaudeville Bistro for dinner and it was a hit on all fronts. Sparkling rose, great dessert, and excellent after-dinner lattes? I'm in.
Old German Bakery on Main for breakfast is the place to be. Expect a wait. I definitely loved it, but Fredericksburg Herb Farm is still my favorite brunch spot in town.
These blooming branches were on our back porch. Like are you kidding me.
Don't skip Treaty House for dinner if you love craft cocktails as much as the Clarks do.
It will probably be a while until we make it back and that's okay. C' est la vie.
Arden Gray is officially 18 months old and, like I said before, she's allllllways on the move. Her favorite words are: Hi Mommy, Hi Daddy, Hi Puppy, Hi Baby, ah-ah (outisde), 'wing (swing), ee-ee (eat), bubble, bah (bath), booty, eye, uh-oh, bmm-berry (blueberry), wawee (water), ahdy (Arden), nye-nye (night night), I wuvee (I love you), mah (more), mine, dee-dah (the word she uses for everything she doesn't know how to say) and quiiiite a few others.
She understands a lot of basic sentences like "Arden can you bring mommy the ball?", "Arden can you go put your blanket in the crib?", "Arden will you put that in the trash?", "Arden where's your water?" and "Arden let's go take a bath." Even things like "Arden that's a no, can you say no?"
She can point to her eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, head, hair, feet, and belly button. She understands even more than she lets on, and she imitates almost everything we do—down to brushing our hair, teeth, eating with utensils, spinning in circles, sitting on the couch, laying on the bed—you name it, she's watching and wants to do the same. She loves to give kisses when she's in a happy mood. When she sees Drew and I kiss, she has to get a kiss from each of us, too.
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Arden LOVES Emma. Emma tolerates Arden.
Arden LOVES hiding behind the curtains.
Arden talks and talks and talk and TALKS. Most times she's not saying anything that makes sense to us, but we'd love to know what she thinks she's saying—that's for sure.
She is about as mischievous as they come. When we tell her no, she can't WAIT to do whatever it is we asked her not to do again. It's definitely all a game right now, which is both frustrating and hilarious.
These days she spends more time on the ground than she does standing upright and she's always covered in battle scars on her knees and elbows. She runs far more than she walks and unfortunately she hasn't learned how to pump the breaks just yet—which equals a lot of tripping and falling.
Arden's hair gets longer and curlier (and more red if that's possible) every day.
It's amazing the difference between 12 months and 18 months old. She's a completely different baby than she was 6 months ago. Although she's the furthest thing from cuddly, she is so, so sweet and we are loving this age.
This past week Arden got into a childcare center in town that she's been on the list for for 20 months. That means she'll be transitioning from staying with Mrs. Lindsay and her two sons at the end of August. We're excited, but we're also sad. We've loved Lindsay and Arden loves Lindsay. She's been there since she was 9 weeks old, but this new place will be where she stays until kindergarten. It's the very best full time place in town, and we feel confident and excited about this choice. Arden is so social, she will love being with so many other kiddos. Pray for us and an easy transition.
Just a few weeks until we're heading to the Dominican Republic for our final trip of the summer. We're really excited—neither of us have taken a full week off of work since our honeymoon. Since Drew started working with me it seems like our world revolves around chasing that cute redhead and our work and that's pretty much it. We are both needing a bit of a break.
My best friend from college, Lindsay, moved back to Waco to come work with Drew and me! WHAT? Is this real life?? So this weekend we went on a Waco date—trying to show her how cool Waco has gotten since college. Wine shoppe, Milo, Dichotomy and then Pokey-O's. My kind of Friday night.
She and her boyfriend Preston loved it. And so did Drew and I. We're so happy she's back in Wacotown!
Sunday afternoons are the best and the worst. Lately, the "Sunday scaries" are real for me. Don't know what my deal is—I loooove my job, so there's nothing to really be anxious about. I think things are just different now with Arden being so big and wanting to play and hang out with us. She's not just a tiny little baby anymore who doesn't know the difference between being with us and being away from us, so I want to spend all of the time we can with her.
Just gotta get over that Monday hump and the rest of the week I'm usually golden. I hope everyone has a great week!
