Pizza on the Farm

Hi Friends! I am sure that I have mentioned before just how much I love where we live. It's the perfect blend of small town historic living, with great local things to do. One of the things we love to take advantage of in the summer is Pizza on the Farm on Friday's. There is a great local farm (Hawkins Family Farm) and they open up their property every Friday in the summer for people to come enjoy a delicious brick oven fired pizza. People bring blankets, chairs and picnic baskets to make an evening of it. One really cool thing about the pizza too is that it's all local ingredients, so you know exactly where your food is coming from. This just fascinates me and we enjoy eating locally every chance we get! We did it once last year and thought it was so delicious-we couldn't wait to go this year with Lilly! 

We made it out last Friday (6/14) and had the best time! Lilly loves being outside so we thought that she would enjoy it and boy were we right! We laid blankets down and put her right in the middle with a couple toys-it was perfect! The weather was great too, not too hot or too cold. We hope to go back several times this summer and hopefully take Mom, Hunter and Hannah there too! 

Here are pictures from our Friday on the farm...I promise I did more than take pictures non-stop. I also ate my pizza! :) 

just another random post with bullets...

Hello friends! I think I might have a case of mom brain. Oy. I feel like I have so much to say (blog about) but when I sit down at the keyboard I just can't get it out eloquently. It's been driving me nuts to say the least! For my benefit, I am resorting to a random post with bullets so hopefully I can get these miscellaneous thoughts-mostly regarding having a baby-out of my head! ...Ready.Set.Go! 

*I have learned to make the most of my "me" time now that Lilly is born. That means that I inhale my food while she is sleeping, just so I can eat before she wakes up again, that I fold laundry at super sonic speed, and that I can now paint my toenails really fast!

* Speaking of speed, I have learned to do lots of things much faster than I ever did before. It's necessary when you have an infant and you still want your house to be in working order.

*Coffee is necessary for my existence. Even with Lilly sleeping through the night most nights, I need it to get things done!

*I have never, ever felt as productive as I do everyday before 8am. Wow. It takes a lot of effort to get myself and Lilly ready and out the door for her 7:15 am drop off!

* I have learned that planning ahead and packing things the night before (shocker) is my lifesaver! I don't lay out my clothes the night before, but I always know what I am going to wear and where it is located in my closet. I do lay Lilly's clothes out and pack her diaper bag the night before. It makes the morning SO much easier. Not even kidding. I don't think I could do it without planning ahead and packing the night before!

*It's a good thing that I like planning and creating lists because they literally are lifesavers. Lists for things to buy at the grocery store, list of things to do with Lilly, list of chores that need to be done at the house, lists of meals we have ingredients for in the pantry...oh the lists!

* I had my six week PP appointment with my OB  last week...at 11 weeks post c/s. We had to reschedule it twice around trips to Florida and my return to work. I had no idea what I weighed pre-pregnancy so I asked and guess what? I am BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight. I feel like this is a huge accomplishment and  I am proud. Now onto my next weight loss goal!

*At the above mentioned appointment I was officially cleared for exercise, now I just have to find the time. I am not quite ready to sacrifice time with Lilly to exercise so I am not sure what my plan will be just yet. Ideas or suggestions anyone?

*Louie has been a bit of a mess recently. I need to give him more attention because I think that's part of the problem. We were told he wouldn't get as much attention from us when Lilly was here and I didn't believe it...turns out those people who told us that knew what they were talking about!

*We are having root beer floats at work today and I am kind of really excited about this!

*My Mom, brother and cousin are coming to visit for two whole weeks at the end of July. We just booked their flights yesterday and we are all so excited. I am so glad that Lilly can spend two weeks with her Nana!

*Speaking of their trip, they are flying into Chicago and we are going to spend the weekend there. I am a little nervous about taking Lilly on the L though...how does that work with an infant in a car seat/stroller? IF anyone has any experience with public transit and an infant, please comment/shoot me an email.

*I'm thinking of doing a day in the life post of sorts...kind of outlining my schedule and how we get things done with an infant...not sure when it will happen though!

*I have to work until 7pm next Monday and I am NOT happy about it...guess it will make for a nice paycheck though, gotta love OT.

*Speaking of work, sometimes I miss Lilly so much that I'll sneak a peak at my blog from my desk. Just seeing her pictures and our family makes me feel better and remind me why I am working...so help support our family and buy Lilly pretty things!

*Oh, pretty things...I should be able to have a credit card...or shop in online boutiques. The smocking, the ruffles, the bows...it's all so cute and it's calling our names (mine and Lilly's)...

*Do you read articles on LifeNews.com? I have started and it always makes me hug Lilly a little tighter and longer. It's heartbreaking what's happening around our world to babies. I wish we could stop it!

And because no post is complete with out a picture these days, here is our little ice cream cone on Monday night looking oh so adorable!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Weekend Wrap-Up

 Happy day-after-Monday folks! I had yesterday's post scheduled to go up at 9AM, so I held off on this weekend wrap up for that reason. So now you get a weekend wrap-up on a Tuesday. Truth be told, it's my own little attempt at stretching the weekend out as long as possible. For that, you are very welcome! :) 

This first picture isn't actually from the weekend, but from Thursday. I just had to share it! We ordered Lilly's next car seat and it arrived. No, she doesn't need it yet but we have to purchase three so we wanted to spread out the cost a bit. This baby will be located in a box, in our basement until she is 20 lbs...even though this one is a convertible one and works for 5 lbs-65 lbs. Anyways, we were laughing so hard at how tiny she looks in this monstrosity. Y'all, it's seriously enormous! 

Okay, now moving on to the actual weekend. On Friday we were going to go for Pizza on the Farm (I'll post about that later) but we decided that since we hadn't gone grocery shopping in close to three weeks and had just about nothing in our fridge that we should go grocery shopping instead. Hopefully we will make it out for pizza this week. On the way home from grocery shopping we saw a beautiful Indiana sunset that just reminded me that summer is on the horizon. It was beautiful and after 9 pm.  Lilly was a champ and sat in the kitchen watching us put all the groceries away.  She was babbling and talking too-I actually have an adorable video of her from that evening. We'll see if I post it. She seems to really like her Bumbo seat now that she has more head control. It's bittersweet for me though because it's just another sign of how fast she is growing. I need time to slow down with her! She is looking so big to me lately. 

Saturday morning we enjoyed some morning cuddles followed by morning smiles that totally made my day! We spent the morning watching (mostly) while Stephen and Karl (a friend of mine from work) pressure washed the front porch to prep it for painting (hopefully taking place next weekend). We also spread a truck load of mulch in our flower beds and man, it made a big difference. Everything looks MUCH nicer now...at least to me! 

Saturday afternoon we headed out to watch our oldest niece Emma play some softball. Of course, we were running late and the game also started early so we only got to see about three innings. All was not lost though, we went out to dinner with Stephen's parents afterwards and enjoyed some delicious Mexican food. I might have told Lilly that in order to fit in with our family, she needs to love Mexican food. We eat it all.the.time! 

Sunday morning we headed to church per our usual routine. Lilly was all smiles before church and after church. She and I were out saying hi to people after service and she was just flashing her beautiful grin at everyone. It was precious. The most common comment we get from people these days regarding Lilly is how alert and focused she is. It's true. She stays awake and alert for long period of time now-a-days! After church we came home and ate a quick lunch before heading out to see Emma play another softball game (and this time the whole game!). Lilly took a cat-nap on Stephen's lap before we hit the road. She was sans bloomers for some reason that I can't remember...

We were able to catch two softball games on Sunday before heading home. The first game was earlier in the afternoon and it was very sunny. We didn't have anything to protect Lilly from the sun and a sweet lady offered us her umbrella. Lilly just laid on a blanket under the umbrella happy as a clam. In between games we fed her a bottle and then the sun went away so she got to be held by Stephen's Mom where she promptly fell asleep and slept through almost the entire second game. I was so thankful that she woke up happy from her nap...you never know! 

Lilly loves to stand these days! She is always trying to push up on her legs when we are holding her. She's just growing up so fast it's crazy. This mommy needs time to slow down! 

We had a great time at the ballpark, but the drive home was not.so.much.fun. It was bordering on feeding time and Lilly was not happy to be in her car seat, so she cried the entire way home (10-15 minutes). I felt so bad. As soon as we pulled in the driveway I whipped out the already prepared bottle and we started feeding, then it was bath time, time for another little bottle to "top her off" and bed. All the activity (and maybe the crying) must have tired her out because she slept for 10 hours straight Sunday night. She didn't wake up until 6:30 on Monday morning. Hallelujah! 

And that's our weekend in a nutshell friends! Maybe next week I can share out before/after pictures of the work we plan to do on the porch this coming weekend. Most of that will depend on the weather and how much work Miss Lilly lets us accomplish. Things go a little differently and our priorities are a little different now that she is around. Couldn't be happier about the change!