Family Fair Day

I am so happy we were able to make it to the county fair this year with Ellie! Brian and I have gone just about every year since we have been dating. We make it a tradition to take those silly photo booth pictures and I have them all saved in our memory box at the house.

 

It turned out to be a really nice day out and there really were not that many people there for it being a Sunday. Ellie just chilled in the baby carrier and checked everything out. She totally loves facing forward in the Baby Bjorn carrier.

 

We walked around the little boutiques, ate fair food, checked out some of the entertainment, grabbed a bag of kettle corn and even made our way to check out the new 4Runner...eeek! A lot of the big name car companies like Toyota, Ford, and Chevy bring vehicles there each year so we caved and looked around Toyota. I can say...I am in love with the 4Runner. I have only heard great things about them so we are going to think about it for a little bit (I'll elaborate about this on another post). As you can tell by the picture, Ellie definitely wants her mama to buy this car :)

 

It was a fun-filled day at the fair. See you next year!

 

 XO

 

Father's Day

Late post but I wanted to document Brian's first Father's Day before I totally forget about posting. This was the most special of them all being that it was his first. We celebrated in the morning at home with some yummy breakfast. I was able to get up and get going with Eloise at a decent time so we could make daddy some breakfast. It was a quick whip up of eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. One of out favorites by far. Eloise and I attempted to get ready for the day while Brian went out in the garage to work on his dirtbike with some of the new things he got for Father's Day. Well...Eloise decided to have a major meltdown a half hour before we were supposed to leave. Neither one of us could settle her down and I seriously almost said forget it, we aren't going anymore. Finally, Eloise fell asleep on my shoulder as I was walking around the house so we carefully put her in her carseat and headed to the family get-together on Brian's side of the family. It was a very hot day but beautiful out still. We enjoyed a nice time with family at the BBQ and everyone awed over Eloise. We made it home in the late afternoon and were able to just relax the rest of the evening.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I was able to get for Father's Day of Brian and Eloise, but it is still sweet.

 

Happy Tuesday!

XO

Dairy Free Diet Part II

I am a couple months in to being dairy free. It was a difficult adjustment at first being that I had to start reading the labels of everything I consume. When going dairy free it is important to eliminate ALL dairy...even food items that contain milk like some granola bars for instance. I reached out to some other mommas who have had to do the same for their babies to get some meal and snack ideas. Now that I am so preoccupied with Ellie I find I do not have as much time to prepare food for myself, so easy meals and snacks are a must!

 

Breakfast:

- I honestly have cereal for breakfast most mornings with a little bit of fruit thrown in as well. I love the Multi-Grain Cheerios with Califia Almond Milk. I will add banana, strawberries, blueberries or blackberries to it which mixes it up a bit.

- I also have to have at least one cup of coffee or else I am a walking zombie during the day. I use Califia Coffee Creamer and it is so delicious! Took some getting used to but definitely so yummy now that I have been drinking it for a couple of months.

- On occasion if I find that I have some extra time in the morning to break out the blender I will make a smoothie using banana, strawberries and Sambazon Acai that I get from Costco. Soo good!

 

Lunch:

- If I am not heating up leftovers from the previous night's dinner you can find me in the kitchen throwing together a quick sandwich wrap. I use a whole wheat tortilla and add mustard, turkey, lettuce, tomato, avocado and a little bit of balsamic  dressing. It is a really easy thing to put together and goes well with a dill pickle on the side :)

 

Dinner:

- In our house we are hooked on chicken. We make it probably 3 times a week and serve it in different ways. Brian loves to grill and I love the taste of chicken off the grill so it is a win-win for us! We will toss the chicken over a salad, eat it with some Seeds of Change Quinoa and Brown Rice Mix from Costco paired with some vegetables or baked red potatoes, chop it up into smaller pieces and make chicken tacos. You name it.

- We also love ground turkey so we will add that to spaghetti, have it with tacos or use it in a taco salad.

 

Snacks:

- Apples with almond butter

- Beef Jerky mini packs

- Applesauce pouch

- Hummus with cucumber, carrots, pretzels

- Lara Bars

- Almonds

- Rice cake with almond butter

- Lots of fruit

- Whole Fruit Frozen Juice

 

So those are just some ideas of things that I have changed. Doesn't seem that difficult of a change but when it comes to hidden dairy ingredients...that's the tough part!

 

Hope you're having a great week!

XO

 

Oh and just because...here is little miss Ellie being cute as always :)

 

Eloise: 3 Month Update

Our sweet girl turned 3 months old on 6/6! Boy has time started going by quicker. These have been some of the best moments of our lives- loving on and nurturing this little human being.

 

 

Today I am 3 months old. I love to suck on my hands. I like to smile and coo. Mommy and daddy are impatiently waiting for me to giggle. I usually dislike taking naps during the day. I am happiest in the mornings after waking up. I now weigh 11 lbs ♡

Happy Hump Day!!

Post Baby Ramblings

It is exciting and sad that 3 months have already passed since Eloise was born. I felt that in the beginning time was going by at a good pace- not too fast and not too slow. We were soaking up all the newborn snuggles and watching our little princess sleep alllll the time. Now Eloise is so much more alert and awake during the day. She takes 2 good naps, on a good day, and sleeps through the night minus getting up for 1-2 feedings. We went through some tough weeks where she fought her day time naps, but she seems to be doing better now.

Now that I am 3 months post par-tum I wanted to throw out some of my thoughts about what the past 3 months have been like.

There is no person, book, class or website that can fully prepare you for motherhood.

Being a mom is the hardest job I have ever had, but it is definitely the most rewarding.

I feel proud of the beautiful human being that my husband and I created.

I cannot help myself from taking tons of pictures of her.

I feel sad knowing that she is going to just continue growing up and won't need me in these same ways one day.

I love our middle of the night feedings, even though I am always so tired. These times are so special to me because we share the special nursing bond and it is extra snuggle and smile time.

I have been sleep deprived the past 3 months and I feel like I don't know any different anymore. Who gets more than 4 solid hours of sleep these days anyway??

I love having a little girl because dressing her each day is so much fun. And to my husband...I apologize for buying her new clothes all the time! Hopefully our second baby is a girl.

I spend more time picking out Eloise's clothes than I do my own clothes.

We've had some difficult weeks with Eloise (colic we think) that caused me to completely neglect myself; therefore, I would be lucky to shower every 2 days. Things have since improved.

I cannot wait to hear Ellie's first giggle. We already cannot get enough of her smiles and coos.

We are still co-sleeping which I was not for at first, but it is what works for us and it is going to stay this way.

Every time Ellie falls asleep for her nap it is a mad rush to get as much done in 2-3 hours as possible without being too loud.

I have learned to let my OCD go as far as a clean house because spending time with Ellie is far more important. I still do love to clean though!

I love all of the milestones Eloise is reaching. I hope I never forget them.

Breastfeeding has not always been easy and I have wanted to quit multiple times. At first I thought it was inconvenient having to always cover up in public, use a nipple shield, clear clogged milk ducts on multiple occasions or nurse in the car, but thinking about it...at least I do not have to prepare and wash bottles each and every time she feeds. Plus, I need to be thankful I am a mommy who can produce enough to nourish my baby because there are a lot of women who would die for this.

I am thankful for my husband who loves our baby with all that he has and for working so hard to support our family.

I am thankful for our families who love her so- she is one lucky girl.

Although I love being at home with her during these first few months I have learned I am definitely not the stay at home mommy type.

I feel lucky that Ellie will be going to a really educational and highly recommended daycare on the University campus.

There are times I miss having Ellie in my belly (hehe), but I do not miss the gestational diabetes, preterm labor and bed rest.

I am proud of myself for getting back on a work out routine. I think I am still about 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.

I sit around sometimes wondering what Ellie is going to be like when she grows up. I hope those teenage years aren't as bad as when I was going through them.

This dairy free diet has been a change for the good I think as it has seemed to help Ellie, but it sure is difficult to order things at restaurants.

I used to drink hardly any water throughout the day before becoming pregnant. Water is now the only thing I drink these days besides my much needed coffee every single day.

I love being a mommy and would not trade it for anything else in the world. It feels so good to be immediately and continuously loved by my beautiful baby girl.

Well, I am sure there are a million other thoughts that go through my head that I have missed but this should do for now. Quick- post before nap time comes to an end!

Have a beautiful weekend, friends! It looks like we are going to have some hot weather all weekend, in the 90's!