Weekend Recap: Date, Dance, Babies & Beyonce

happy monday....not!

I thought not working on Fridays would make the weekends so much longer, but it doesn't, they still fly by in a flash.

It also doesn't help when your stupid cell phone decides not to charge and instead die overnight so your alarm doesn't go off. YUP! Woke up at 7:15 this morning....and hour and fifteen minutes later than I wanted to. While the extra sleep was nice, I got screwed out of my morning with Kenley causing me to leave the house in tears, great start to the week.

Anyways, today I'm linking up with Sami to share our weekend!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

I've been a little mopey lately because I've been missing my husband. No, he hasn't gone anywhere and in fact we are probably together more now than we were before Kenley was born. But as it turns out, having a baby changes your relationship and causes you to work a little harder at it. Anyways, after feeling like we'd never have "us" time ever again, Jason planned a date night for us which was completely wonderful. 

We went to Wildfire for dinner and they just so happened to have my FAVORITE white by the bottle! And then we saw Silver Linings Playbook which we both LOVED! One of the best movies I've seen in a long time and I think all four acting roles deserve the Oscar. After the movie we picked up our little pumpkin, went home and watched our wedding video...it FINALLY came and I have to say it was totally worth the wait. He did an incredible job of capturing every little detail! It was so much fun reliving our day and seeing things that neither of us had seen that day or things we had forgotten! 

Saturday morning I woke up with quite the wine headache but had to power through for an early morning eye appointment, an eye appointment that has been about 4 years in the making. Immediately afterwards, I made a pit stop at Starbucks {gotta rack up those reward points} and was on my way to cheer on my sister and her HS dance team in the Section Finals. You may remember last year that they were runner-ups in the State Kick Competition (and my sister was only a Freshman!)

This year, sadly, they didn't qualify for state in either category, but they danced great and I couldn't be more proud of my baby sister!

Saturday afternoon we met up with some friends for a multi-baby play date. It was so fun seeing our buddies and having all of our kids together. It was really refreshing to spend some time with other parents, I am pretty much the first of my close girlfriends to have a baby and while I absolutely adore my friends, it was nice to be around people who get it and who are going through all the same things we are. We attempted to get all of the kids together for a group picture, but as you can imagine with kids ranging from age 2.5 months to 5 years-old, we had a pretty hard time. This is the ONLY picture I have of all 7 kids:

 Ha! We tried.
And, yes, my child is missing a sock...apparently she's going to be "that kid."

We got home at about 9pm on Saturday, and me and Kenley were POOPED! Playing with all those little kids sure takes it out of ya. We were both in bed and asleep by 9:30 and didn't wake up until 8:45 the next morning! MY BABY SLEPT FOR 11 STRAIGHT HOURS! Which means I slept for 11 straight hours! BLISS you guys! Total and complete bliss! Kenley has been a pretty great sleeper since day one, but this is just insane. And, she woke up just as happy as can be.

And of course, last night, we watched the Super Bowl. We went to our friends Colin & Sharisse's and met up with the beeb and her hubby Jake. It was a good game {thanks to the power outage} but all I really cared about was BEYONCE! Damn that woman! I been obsessed with B since the early DC days...I have all of their (and her) albums and have seen both DC and Beyonce in concert. She is SO talented, beyond gorgeous and down-to-earth. I just adore her and I think she totally rocked the halftime show!

credit
Best half time since Britney & NSYNC! Am I right?

 I hope you all had great weekends!
Off to power through another week of work.

Catching Up!

Since I've pretty much been the world's worst blogger for the past 2 months, I figured it's high time to catch you up on what I've been up to...

For starters, I had a baby (duh!), so nearly 100% of my time has been spent caring for and cuddling with my little love.

Kenley had her first photo shoot with Sara Jayne when she was just 5 days old!

Cannot wait to show you the ADORABLE photos!


We celebrated Kenley's first Thanksgiving!

I celebrated my 28th birthday! I had a coffee date with my mom, step-sister and baby girl and my super sweet and generous family helped me to get pampered with a tanning session, massage, facial, manicure and pedicure!

I also had my first big night out! The Friday after my birthday I met my best girlfriends at Barrio for dinner! I had two margaritas, a Corona and half of a tequila shot and was hurting the next day! Sad story. BUT, it was wonderful to get out of the house and spend some time with my ladies.

Jason and I were able to sneak away for our first post-baby date. We had lunch at Figlio and saw The Hobbit!

Which we loved. HUGE Lord of the Rings fan over here.


Kenley started to smile (and not just from gas)! 
 as well as entertain us with some other interesting faces...

Our friends Erik & Andrea came over to introduce Kenley to her first boyfriend, Vince.

KK took lots of baths, which she absolutely loves!

We cheered the Gophers on in the Meineke Car Care Bowl (which they lost L)

and, finally, we rung in the New Year at my dad's house with Jake & Carolyn.

Top Ten...of 2012.

2012 was quite the year! 

We were surprised with a little bundle of joy and had an incredible year awaiting the arrival of our daughter, going on trips and spending time with the people we love most.
But, for the sake of Top Ten Tuesday...here are my favorite memories from 2012!

#10.

Day with Billy & Jackie

We met Billy & Jackie on our honeymoon and the four of us bonded instantly. We love these two so much and had the best time with them when they came to visit us in Febrauary. (Fun Fact: I am brand newly preggers in this pic and OBVIOUSLY did not know it yet.)

#9.

Christina & Aaron's Wedding

I was so honored to be a bridesmaid one of my best friend's weddings in September. It was an incredible day for an incredible couple and I am so happy I was able to be a part of it all.
Read all about the wedding HERE!

#8.

Trip to Denver

Jason and I went to Denver in April to help my dad run a basketball tournament but I was able to stay a few extra days, meet up with my mom and spend time with my grandparents who live there. AND, have a little fun up in the mountains too.
Read about the whole trip HERE! 

#7.

Leadership Convention in Nashville

In June I was lucky enough to travel to Nashville for a Leadership Convention for my sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. It was a great weekend spent with sorority sisters across the country but the best part was getting to know some of the amazing women who are currently in my chapter.
Read about my fabulous trip HERE! 

#6.

Gender Reveal Party

I was over-the-moon to find out our baby was a little girl, even though I always thought I wanted a boy first. It was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to keep this news secret for almost two weeks, but I am so glad we did because revealing our baby's gender to our family and friends in such a fun way was SO special.
See all the reveal photos HERE!

#5.

Baby Showers

 I was so lucky to have three amazing baby showers hosted by my best friends, mother-in-law, sister and mom. All three showers were so special and it meant so much to see how loved my little girl was before she was even born.
You can read all about the showers HERE, HERE and HERE.

#4.

Babymoon Weekend

The beginning of August, Jason and I dedicated a weekend to US to spend quality time together before the baby came. It was such a fun weekend and I will cherish that time with just my hubby forever.
Read all about it HERE! 

#3.

My Cousin's Wedding in Arkansas

Labor Day weekend I made my way to Arkansas for my cousin Stephanie's wedding. It had been years since I had seen Steph and it was SO special to be able to be there for her BIG day!
Read about the whole weekend HERE!

#2.

My brother's wedding. 

My brother's wedding weekend was such a blast. From the super fun groom's dinner to all the family we had in town to the gorgeous wedding, it was a wonderful and happy weekend.
Read all about the wedding HERE!

#1.

Kenley's Birth Day. 

It's still surreal to me that I gave birth and am a mom. November 15, 2012 is a day that I will never ever forget. The day that our daughter came into the world was definitely the best day of 2012.
Read Kenley's Birth Story HERE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

I hope your 2013 is as happy or happier than your 2012. 

Our Holiday

It was another GREAT but exhausting Christmas for us...especially now that we have a little one. Kenley is obviously too little to understand what was going on but this year made me SO excited for next year when we can start playing Santa and start our own family traditions. 

Our Christmas weekend kicked off on Friday when the Beeb and her hubby Jake came over. Carolyn & I had our 2nd Annual Christmas Cookie Baking Party.

We did 4 all new recipes this year and all but one were a huge hit. 

Chocolaty Melting Snowmen

recipe HERE! 

these did not turn out nearly as cute as the photo showed and they didn't taste the best either. Needless to say they will not be on the list next year. 

Holiday Rolo Pretzel Delights

recipe HERE!

we replaced the pecan with red and green M&Ms to make them festive. They were salty and sweet and a huge hit!

Mint Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

recipe HERE!

these were delicious! We made them a little too big and ended up having to put three kisses on each so that they wouldn't look ridiculous.

White Chocolate Cherry Shortcake Cookies

recipe HERE!

these were my FAVORITES! they were SO-STINKIN-GOOD! 

Sunday morning we went to church to have Kenley blessed. We are baptizing Kenley Lutheran but I am Greek Orthodox, so just like our wedding, I wanted to incorporate my religion. It is a Greek Orthodox tradition to bring a baby to church for the first time when they are 40 days old. Before church the priest did a special blessing and brought Kenley up to the alter. It was very special and meant a lot to me. 

Sunday after church we drove up to Jason's mom and step-dad's to celebrate Christmas with them and the next morning we were at my dad's for a Christmas Eve brunch.

I am embarrassed by the lack of photos I took during all of our Christmases, but after Christmas Eve at my dad's, Kenley had a little outfit change and we were off to Jason's aunt & uncle's to celebrate Christmas with his dad's side of the family. 

Christmas Day we went to J's dad & step-mom's for breakfast and then were at my mom's for dinner. And, of course, Kenley had a different Christmas Day outfit. 

Our Christmas was filled with delicious food, wonderful gifts and our amazing family! It's definitely tough having four Christmases but Jason and I work really hard to make sure we get to see everyone and it makes it really special for both of us to be able to spend time with all of our families. 

I hope you all had wonderful holidays with the ones you love as well! 

xoxo,