Weekend Recap

We had such a GREAT weekend! Not only did we have some fun stuff to go to but the weather was GORGEOUS!

Friday night, Tommy and I had our first date night since our anniversary in May! Yes Emma was 3 weeks old then and now she is almost 5 months old. Way overdue! Our friends, Caroline and Drew Stelling, babysat for us and we headed out to Chastain for the Ben Rector concert. We got there just as they were opening the gates and got a drink and went to our seats. We just hung out and ate dinner waiting for the concert to start. It wasn't a full concert. We had decent seats in the left side of the orchestra and reallyyyyy enjoyed it. Ben was great live!

Saturday morning we got up and got ready for the day. We packed our cooler and car with tailgate stuff before heading to Athens. We left home around 8:45 and got to Claire's house around 9:50. We made great time! We hung out at Claire's for a bit so I could feed Emma and we gathered her friends up. Claire made us some pumpkin pancakes before heading out to tailgate. We went to meet up with James and his friends at Beta. We scored a parking spot RIGHT next to the Beta house which couldn't have been more perfect. We didn't have to lug our stuff far and I had a place to go later that afternoon to feed Emma (wasn't looking forward to sneaking away into a fraternity house bedroom to try and feed her so this was just perfect!). We set up our table and chairs in the shade on the front lawn of Beta and enjoyed the day with both James and Claire's friends. It really was the perfect day. They were so excited for us to meet their friends, Emma was so well behaved and a hit at the tailgate, and we just got to enjoy some time with them. We left Athens around 2:30 when everyone was about to head to the stadium for the game. We had set the game to record so we could start from the beginning when we got home. I won't even go in to how depressing the end of our game was. Let's just say it was a heart breaker! We spent the rest of the night watching football and the Ryder Cup with Mexican take out. Perfect Saturday in my book!

Sunday morning I had a tennis match at 9am and we played horrifically and lost 4-6, 4-6. I need to practice big time! I came home and Emma took a stellar 2.5 hour nap for us so I got to eat lunch, shower, put out my Fall decor, laundry, and switched out my Summer clothes for my Fall clothes. Thank you Emma! Once she woke up we went over to Tommy's parents for a visit for a little bit. Emma was WIDE awake the whole time and really only got fussy just before we headed home for her afternoon feeding. We just hung out the rest of the night at home watching the Ryder Cup. It was awesome! Tommy is all about making himself a trip to the next one that is in the states in four years because he had so much fun watching it this weekend! 

Tomorrow morning very early Tommy heads out to Dallas until Thursday night for work.  Getting myself ready, cooper "walked", Emma fed, ready, drop off at daycare and get myself to work by 7am should be VERY INTERESTING! Pray for me!

Leaving you with this because I can't handle how much her giggles (I have to work to get them) make my heart sing! She is just the best the thing that ever happened to us. 

Nursing so far

This post is really for myself to remember this journey later on. Ive been nursing and pumping since Emma was born. 

We had a rough start because she wouldn't latch well and we needed to supplement because my milk was taking so long to come in. Finally on day five my milk came. Those first few days were so stressful and traumatizing. I knew breastfeeding was going to be a learning experience was boy it was harder than I anticipated. 

Emma is a great eater now and does really well switching between the bottle and nursing with me when we are together. I've been very fortunate that I have a really good milk supply. I was really nervous about how I was going to keep up with pumping at work but I've gotten into a good routine and it's going well. 

I pump every morning while I'm getting ready for 25 minutes or so. I usually get between 11-15 ounces every morning. I make her bottle for Tommy from the milk I pump in the morning so I don't have to heat it (she almost always leaves an ounce or two so this way I can use it the next day because it hasn't been heated). Then I put the extra ounces in the fridge to use to make her bottles at night for the next day at daycare. Depending on what my schedule is like at work that day I try to pulp when she would be eating (10 am and 1:30pm) but on days I have all my SST meetings I end up pumping at 7:45, 11:15, and a shorter time at 2. I then nurse her at 4:30 and at bedtime (around 7:15). Between the extra ounces I get in the morning and the extra ounces I get on the weekends I always have enough to make her three 7oz bottles each day.  I always pump for about five minutes after I feed her on weekend mornings because I know she hasn't emptied me out. 

The next phase is going to be interesting once she starts solids. I've been told to keep pumping that feeding she no longer will have once starting solids so that I can have extra milk to mix with food and just to have for emergencies but my only question is what to do on the weekends when I typically wouldn't be pumping. Do you still pump just one extra time as to not throw your body off? Any tips or ideas on how you did it would be appreciated! 

That's it for now on this journey. We are starting with rice cereal in two weeks or so once she turns five months. I know it'll be a transition for both of us but I think she will be ready by then for it. 

And because no one likes a blog post without any pictures!

What's Up Wednesday (September Edition)

I haven't linked up for awhile for What's Up Wednesday so I decided to join back. 

What we're eating this week....Sunday night we had leftovers from Thursday which was this 

Monday: Chicken Enchiladas with homemade guac

Tuesday: Dinner at my parents

Wednesday: Pepperoni, pesto and mozzarella calzones

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Picnic at the Ben Rector Concert at Chastain

Saturday: Dinner out 

What I'm reminiscing about....All the good times I had at football games with my friends in college and living in the same place as all my girlfriends. We haven't all been together in the same place since last September for Lizzie's wedding (we were even missing a few then too) so our trip to Texas in October is going to be so good for the soul. There are 16 of us going to Austin and 3 of us live in Atlanta. My friends are ALL over! They live in Puerto Rico, New York, Orlando, Columbia, DC, Nashville, Memphis, Napa, LA, Kansas City, Richmond, and Panama City (which Lizzie is unfortunately the only one who can't make it). It's going to be such a great weekend with I'm sure lots of reminiscing going on! 

This picture was from our senior year Red Rose weekend field party. 

What I'm loving.... I'm loving that the weather is slowly starting to change. The nights are getting a bit cooler. BRING ON FALL TEMPS

What we've been up to... Lots of football watching, tennis, snuggling with Emma, Emma's baptism, lake trip, beach trip over Labor Day and enjoying our weekend. Tommy just started a new job last Monday working for James Hardie doing sales for them and is really enjoying it so far.

What I'm dreading... I'm dreading work in October. For some reason October is always so stressful/disjointed/high anxiety for everyone in the school building. I always look forward to when October is going to end! I know I'm not teaching anymore but the work in a school building never ends no matter what position you are. 

What I'm working on... I'm working on balancing when to say "no". I'm not always very good at saying "no" to activities and such. I have a hard time when I think I'm going to miss something but I know that it may be too much for Emma to handle in one day. Life is different now with a little one and being able to balance both without isolating us and without overwhelming me/her. 

What I'm excited about... I'm excited about all the changes Emma is going through and how much her little personality is making its BIG way out. She is the light in our lives and I can't get enough of her. I rush out of school every day because I can't wait to get home and play.

What I'm watching/reading... Grey's is back for another season and because of all the posts the other day about the new NBC show I'm going to start watching that. I would like to see Stranger Things as well because I've heard it's awesome too.

What I'm listening to... Ben Rector because I'm excited to go to his concert on Friday (or maybe I'm more excited for a date night with my husband. Haven't been out just the two of us since our anniversary in May!)

What I'm wearing... my same old same old. Nothing new to report in this department

What I'm doing this weekend... Concert Friday and then going to tailgate for the UGA vs. Tennessee game. So excited to take Emma to Athens for the first time and to see my brother and sister. Can't wait! 

What I'm looking forward to next month... Looking forward to pumpkin patching (yes I made that into a verb) at Burts, Emma's first Halloween (oh babies in costumes!), my girls trip to Austin, TX. So many fun things in October! 

Bonus Question: What is your favorite fall recipe? I love all things pumpkin! I am hosting my supper club in October and I'm hoping to try out a pumpkin cornbread recipe (to go with my Chili recipe. Tommy said "Do not stray from the classic chili recipe. There is no need for that!" ha!) and some kind of pumpkin/chocolate dessert. 

Emma's Baptism Weekend

Yesterday (9.10.16) we went to Tommy's parents to celebrate Aunt Marsha and Tom's birthdays since Beth and Danny were coming in town for the baptism today and SURPRISE we also got to celebrate Beth and Danny's engagement! We are so excited for them! 

Today was Emma's Baptism (9.11.16) at our church, Peachtree Presbyterian. It was a wonderful morning celebrating our beautiful Emma. Peachtree will always hold such a special place in our lives no matter where we live or what church we attend because we got married there and now Emma was baptized there. She did great minus the little mishap of spitting up while Chuck Roberts was holding her up speaking to her about her name (cue mother embarrassment!). We were surrounded by both our families and some of our closest friends. Emma is one loved little lady!

Following the service we came back to our house for a brunch. Emma was given some very special gifts to commemorate this day. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love Emma as much as we do. 

 Mimi and Emma

 Mimosa and coffee bar

 Menu: deviled eggs, cinnamon twists, fruit salad, ham rolls, chicken salad croissants, yogurt parfaits, and donut holes

 Book for everyone to write a note to Emma

 Strawberry Cake from Cecilias in Athens (thanks Auntie Claire for picking it up. This was also what was in our wedding cake!)

Tpop, Marsha, Danny, Beth and Tommy

 Cookies from Pastry Shells

 Uncle James, Grandpa, and Auntie Bonnie

 Auntie Claire and a very distracted Emma 

 Mimi, Kyle Hartman, and Coco

 Ansley Reynolds and Elizabeth Mitchler

 Brad Mitchler, Matt Reynolds, Drew Stelling, and Andrew Hartman

 TPop and Emma

 This is Emma's great great grandmother's wedding ring (on Tommy's side). Very special gift and oh so beautiful!

This weekend was very special. There is nothing better than being surrounded by all the people you love most. We are truly blessed. The verse we chose for the church bulletin today was: Proverbs 3:5-6 "trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." 

Emma Claire our wish for your life is that you will know the love of Jesus and you will follow his way through all your life. We hope you know how much love you are surrounded by and how many people care for you. 

We love you sweet girl! God bless your life, Emma!