Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, friends! This week was my first week back at work. It was definitely harder than I anticipated. And while I am glad to have a somewhat normal routine again, I sure do miss that little boy while I'm away. So we're spending this weekend just loving on him as much as possible and soaking up two whole days of family time. What are you up to this weekend? Anything fun? We're going to a 2-year-old's birthday party and installing a ceiling fan in the nursery.

Have a great one! XO.

Emerson Fry FW 2014:

I am a long-time fan of Emerson Fry (see here, here, here, and here) and they just released their FW 2014 collection preview. This is a seriously beautiful collection of clothes. High quality, made in the U.S. by skilled seamstresses, and such beautiful, comfortable pieces. I am in love. But since I'm still struggling to get back into my pre-pregnancy wardrobe, it doesn't really make sense for me to purchase any of the pieces. They'd just sit in my closet until, let's face it, next fall. So, excuse me while I drool:

that bag! that scarf!

that coat! those shoes!

that tee! that watch!

that shirt!

Now that I'm a mom and my clothes are usually covered in spit up, I am starting to gravitate to classic, easy pieces made from natural fibers. Easy to wear, easy to wash. Clean, simple, and timeless. That's me.

Their collection will be available to purchase on the 25th. Get your wallets ready.

Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, friends! It feels good to be back in the swing of things. What are you up to this weekend? I start back to work on Monday and as much as I'm looking forward to being around adults again, I feel a little sick to my stomach about leaving my little guy. So our weekend will be spent cuddling a sweet baby. Juggling a full-time job and a kid is going to be a lot tougher than I anticipated.

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately:

1. Our birth announcements have finally come back from the printer! We will be working to get those out soon so look for one coming to a mailbox near you.
2. I recently got a really helpful book on lawn and garden care and have been pouring over it to absorb as much information as possible. I will spend this fall/winter coming up with a plan of attack for our yard so come spring, we can hit the ground running.
3. I have pretty much become obsessed with cloth diapering. It's a sickness. And after looking at some of the ones that ladies make and sell, I'm convinced I can put my sewing skills to work to make some myself. Who knows, maybe I'll make a name for myself in the cloth diapering industry.
4. Since my return to work is imminent, I've been trying to figure out the whole postpartum work wardrobe thing. I'm pretty sure they won't let me wear yoga pants and a t-shirt to work every day.
5. We're getting ready to start phase one of the kitchen remodel. It's really just some improvements to make it livable until we can do the actual remodel but I'm excited to pick out paint colors and everything. Since this phase is only temporary I've decided to not play it safe and experiment with bright colors. Why not, right?

Tomorrow I'm running my first race since last October. It's a 5k to support the Arkansas Breastfeeding Coalition. I'm happy to get back to the racing scene and support a great cause. It will be baby M's first race as well! Wish us luck!

Have a great weekend, everyone! XO.

Mini makeover:

My maternity leave days are almost over. And all the things I wanted to get done around the house still haven't happened. So, in an attempt to help myself not feel like a huge failure, I decided to tackle some of the small improvements I had planned with the days I have left. One of the things on my list was to give the front door a makeover.

Since we moved in, our door has been, well, pretty basic. Completely unremarkable. I felt like it was a wasted opportunity. Plus, I have always hated that gold doorknob.

So last week I picked out a color (Valspar's La Fonda Teal), some new fixtures, and got to it. It only took me two naps (the way I measure time now) to complete. 

We are very happy with how it turned out. I love the color. It pops against the white trim and compliments the red brick. And those oil-rubbed bronze doorknob and knocker? In love. Just don't pay any attention to those awful holly bushes in the front. They are the next thing to tackle on my list.

New reads:

When I was preparing to go on maternity leave, I thought it would be three months of lounging around with a baby. I thought I'd get lots of reading done. I was looking forward to finally knocking out all the books in my "to read" queue. I was ready for a summer spent with my favorite characters. Silly me. There were a few months there that I didn't pick up a single book. Months, as in plural. Not that I didn't have some down time. Newborn babies sleep a lot. I was just so exhausted for the longest time that when he slept, so did I. But now that baby boy is almost three months old (unfathomable), I've actually had the time and energy to get some reading done. My most recent read: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness.

The Book of Life is the last of the All Souls Trilogy. I first discovered these books three years ago and loved them. The first, A Discovery of Witches (see here), was deliciously exciting. I ate it up. The second, Shadow of Night (see here), was the same way. I took that book with me on a beach trip and spent most of the time curled up on the porch of our beach house reading. Needless to say I had been eagerly anticipating the third and last installment for over two years. It finally came out this summer and a few weeks ago, I managed to find the time to read it. 

It was good. I liked it. But it wasn't waiting-for-two-years kind of good. I felt like the author rushed through the story in order to wrap it up. I wish she had taken her time. I would have been okay with a longer book (obviously, considering I've been working through the Outlander series for over a year now). I also felt like she focused on some things but oddly enough, ignored other details that I considered pretty integral to the story. It felt strange. And there were times where I felt the writing and/or story line were pretty cheesy. But I'm happy with the way she ended things for all the characters and I felt like she wrapped the series up well, with no huge holes or missing resolution.

If you've been looking for a good read, I would recommend this series. I liked all of the books (but the first was probably my favorite). Give them a go. 

And we're back...

Sorry for the radio silence, people. But I am just now feeling like I have a handle on things around here. And now that things have settled down a little, I'm ready to rejoin a world populated by adults. So, in an effort to catch you back up, here's what you missed:

1. M was diagnosed with silent reflux. I'm told it's pretty common in infants and his is a mild case so he will probably grow out of it in a few months, but it's still scary. Some nights I lay there worrying about whether or not he is going to suffocate on his spit up. Needless to say I don't get much sleep on those nights.
2. We experienced our first of many rounds of immunizations at M's two month appointment last week. He cried, I cried, Andrew cried. It was rough. We gave him lots of snuggles and he came through it like a champ.
3. He's over 12 pounds now (a super chunk) and is finally fitting into his cloth diapers. And let me tell you, I don't think I've ever had more fun buying something that it going to be covered in poop. Seriously, it's more fun than buying shoes. I might be just a little bit obsessed.
4. We've had many visitors over the past two months: Andrew's sister, his mother, and his brother is coming on Friday. We have loved getting to spend the summer with family and introducing little M to the world.
5. I've been trying to work on the house while I'm home. I had huge plans to get a lot done. So far, I've fallen short on just about all of them. I can only really tackle things during nap time and to be honest, I'd rather be napping too. So, that's what happens most days.
6. We had M's newborn pictures done and are in the process of deciding which ones we want. It's so hard when they are all so stinking cute. But unless we want to spend his entire college fund on photos, we've got to make some decisions.
7. I'm back in the running groove. I took almost 6 months off (I walked during that time) so getting back up to the level I was at before has been really difficult. Not to mention the summer heat is oppressive. I'm up to 4:1 intervals and working towards increasing my speed and distance before October. Soaring Wings Half or bust!
8. Andrew got a promotion and a new office. He's now a Senior Web Developer and I couldn't be more proud. He works so hard!
9. M's sleeping through the night now. He has been repeatedly giving us 8-9 hour stretches for almost a week now. As someone who needs a lot of sleep, you have no idea how happy this makes me. Now if we could just get him to go to bed a little earlier at night...
10. M's started smiling now. And it is the cutest thing on the planet. He is changing so much, it's unreal. I try my best to soak it all in every single day. Last week, I bought him some clothes for next summer (during the end of summer clearance sales) and I had to buy 12-18 months. I cried.

I'm trying to figure out this whole schedule thing and how to do the things I used to do and still make time for my little man but it's difficult. Maybe I need better time management skills. Maybe I need to give some things up. Maybe I just need to have patience. Probably it's all of the above. Just hang in there as we resume our regular programming.