Blog Love

Happy Monday everyone! As you read this I am somewhere near Council Bluffs, Iowa and/or Omaha, Nebraska on a little road trip with my blog loves Carolyn, Andrea & Dawn visiting another blog love Katie. Before we left for our adventure I was thinking how cool it is to be able to meet blog friends in real life {not to mention go on road trips with them} but also how cool blog friends are in general. 

When I say something about a blog friend to a real-life non-blogging friend, they either roll their eyes or get super confused. And, I get it. Telling non-bloggers you have friends through the internet that you've never met but text/email/snapchat/gchat/or on-the-phone-chat with on a regular basis seems weird. 

But as weird as it is, I love having blog friends. I love having a community of women in similar stages of their life who I can shoot an email to to get mom advice, or commiserate with on how much losing weight sucks, or even just find random similarities between us. The blog world is filled with smart, uber creative and super inspiring women and I just think it's so cool that you guys care about my life and that I can follow along and care about yours too.

I also think it's super cool to be able to meet up with blog friends {Erin & Andrea} on vacation {in Las Vegas for Britney Spears nontheless}...

...or to tell a blog friend {Katie} you are pregnant well before you tell the rest of the world which results in a phone call of her screaming "are you serious?!" at the top of her lungs for like 10 straight minutes and then two years later trusting you with her big news before she goes public {SO excited for this baby!}...

 

photos by Rachel and Jared

...or to find someone {Erin} who is so insanely similar to you, you are just certain that you are long lost twins and as a result causes you to tell each other absolutely everything without fear of judgement because no matter how psycho you seem she is equally as psycho. And when you photoshop a picture of the two of you hanging out she doesn't think you are creepy but instead thinks it's awesome and then you both get depressed about the fact that you aren't hanging out in this exact moment.

 Seriously, I do not know what I would do without Erin. Roll your eyes all you want but this girl is seriously my sister-from-another-mister. And when we do finally meet in person...well...I just can't think about that right now.

The moral of this story is that over the past 5+ years of blogging, I have gotten to know some incredible people. And no matter how often I blog or how long it takes me to respond to emails or how bad I am at catching up on your blogs, you all mean a ton to me and I am incredibly thankful to have this community of bloggers be a part of my life - even if my other friends don't get it.


And speaking of BLOG LOVE and real life friends, KARI, you won my Breezy Organization giveaway!!! YAY!

{I'll text you!}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

XO.

Lifestyle Change

If I had a dollar for every time I said "This isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle change" I'd have enough money to get lipo and just be done with it already. Over the past 6 months, however, I definitely have made a change. Thanks to counting calories and adding exercise to my life I've been able to drop 20+ pounds all on my own. No programs, no gimmicks, no special pills or shakes or cleanses {though, I do love me a good Zula Juice cleanse}. Not that there's anything wrong with using programs or products to help with weight loss because I think ANYTHING that keeps you motivated and helps you achieve your goals is awesome! I just know myself too well and know that I have a hard time sticking with that stuff {and affording it} - calorie counting is literally the ONLY thing that has ever worked for me, and I have tried a lot of things. 

While using MyFitnessPal has been awesome and has got me so close to my goal, I know that I do not want to have to enter every little thing I eat in to that app for the rest of my life. I am at the point now where I want to drop these last 10 pounds and then maintain a healthy lifestyle which will keep me at that weight forever {or at least until I get pregnant again}. I want to eat healthy, I want to be healthy and I want to find a workout routine that will work for always. 

And so, I have enlisted the help of Danielle Zacheretti! My own personal health coach! This girl is AMAZING. Over the next 6 months Danielle is going to be giving me the education and support I need to not only reach my goals but to help me maintain them. She is literally teaching me how to FINALLY make that lifestyle change. We are one week in to coaching and I have already learned SO much and am really excited to share the process, the results and the information with all of you!

I Hate Teeth

These past few days, actually, this past week has been really rough. My happy-go-lucky sweetheart of a daughter has been whiney, mopey, clingy, irritable and crying CONSTANTLY. She had a fever for three straight days, has splotchy skin on her face and isn't eating. Based on the symptoms, constant hand gnawing and parental intuition {and of course a call to the pediatrician} we're thinking it's teething. The hate these stupid incisor teeth so much I may just rip them out when they finally come in.

Seeing my baby in pain and not feeling well breaks my heart. I would do anything to make her feel better and take away the pain. And in addition to her not feeling well, I am exhausted. It is not easy listening to crying all day and trying to comfort all day and trying to do your best to make your baby better all day.And then of course there's the late-night-screaming-in-pain part.

It's been hard, yes, but this past week has made me incredibly grateful. For one, I am grateful that Kenley didn't feel like this for all of her other teeth. For the most part, teething has been a non-issue for her. I really can't imagine having to have done this for ever tooth. I am grateful she wasn't a collicky baby, I am grateful she has never had anything worse than a cold, I am grateful she has been an easy baby and an easy toddler. I know that there are parents out there dealing with SO much worse than teeth. I can't fathom the strength it would take to comfort a child with a serious disease or illness. I am counting my blessings for sure.

I am so grateful for my healthy baby and I thank God for that every day and now when I pray at night I pray that these stupid teeth come in {and quick} and I pray for all the kids and parents dealing with pain far worse. 

Breezy Organization {a giveaway!}

 It's no secret that my blog motivation has been majorly lacking lately. As all you other bloggers know, blogging is a major time commitment - you've got to come up with interesting post ideas, take photos, organize/edit/watermark those photos, write and compose the post, proof-read, preview, edit and publish and then repeat 5-7 times a week! It's a lot! But I love it! To keep this blog going, I really needed to find a way to keep myself organized and on the ball so that blogging didn't have to be such a time suck. Enter Breezy Organization.

 This adorable Etsy shop is filled with helpful {and super cute!} printable organization solutions. Amanda offers everything from blog planners, meal planners, health & fitness planners and even a pregnancy planner {plus so much more}! 

Seriously....how cute are these?

I got the blog planner and am obsessed!

Amanda really thought of everything and my blog binder is single-handedly responsible for motivating me to blog again. It's so nice to have everything for Mama and Mou in one place. And, the fact that it's so dang cute makes it even more fun to use. It's a great place for me to jot down goals, ideas and tasks for my life outside of blogging as well. I keep my binder right by the computer so it's easy to grab and use while I'm getting stuff done. 

And now the awesome part...Amanda has offered to give one of my readers one of her planners - FOR FREE! Yup, you get to choose from any of Amanda's adorable planners {up to $15.00} and she will send it over for you to print and get yo-self organized! So take a look at her shop, decide which planner would help your life and then enter below! I'll be announcing the winner next Monday!
a Rafflecopter giveaway  

When You're Not the Favorite

Happy Tuesday mamas!

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

I'm 19 months in to my relationship with Kenley and so far I think we're doing an awesome job at this mother/daughter thing. We have our little games, she's my coffee, target, walking, pool buddy and I love her more than anything in the world. And she loves me too. I know she does. BUT, Jason is her favorite. 

On the one hand, it makes me really happy. Kenley adores her daddy and he adores her right back. When I was pregnant, I actually was worried that maybe Jason wouldn't bond with her as much because she was a girl - but I was very wrong. The relationship these two have is so special and it makes me really proud. I pray they are always close. 

And then there's the other hand, the hand that's like "um, hello, what about me?" All day long it's "dad, dad, dad, dad." Jason claims she says "mom" a lot when I'm not home, but I find it very hard to believe she says "mom" half as much as she says "dad". But it's more than just how much she says our names. For example, last week at dance {yes, Kenley is in dance, more on that another time} we had a little meltdown situation so I went in to the class to comfort her and dance with her. What does she do? She runs to the door and cries her face off yelling "DAD". So I spent the rest of class in the hall watching her through a window while Jason was in the class with her. It broke my heart. 

The baby responsibilities fall more heavily on the mama (at least they do in our house) and I'm OK with that. Being a mama to Kenley is the best job in the world and while it's a lot of work, I don't mind it one bit. But it makes it hard when I feel like I do so much for her and all she wants is her dad (not saying that Jason doesn't do a lot, because he really does, but you know what I mean).  I try not to let it bug me, but sometimes it just straight up hurts.  

Has anyone else experienced this?

I know that we are bonded. I know we will have an incredible relationship always. I know her favorite will shift throughout the years (and eventually be based on who lets her stay out later and who hands over the car keys easier). And I know I'm probably being too sensitive about it. But, I wanna be the favorite!

Summer Love

Guess who's back, back again...Kristin's back, tell a friend!

For all 8 of you who are still reading despite my severe lack of posting, THANKS! And, HI! I'm back!

I took a much needed bloggy break to refocus and get organized and I am once again feeling excited and inspired by Mama and Mou. 

I have been so busy with a variety of different things I am excited to fill you in on but mainly I've been spending my time enjoying summer. I LOVE summer, it's hands down my favorite season and if it was 85 and sunny every single day of the year, I would not get sick of it.It's been pretty raining these past couple of weeks but you better believe the second we see sunshine we are out making the most of our summer. 

We've been boating, spending time at the pool, celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday, betting on ponies at the racetrack, spending time with friends and family, going on nice long walks, having coffee dates on the deck and playing at the park!

Beebs Do BSB, Alright!

I've been a die-hard, hard-core Backstreet Boys fan since Quit Playing Games was released in 1997, I was 13 years old - that's 17 years of super-fandom for those of you like me who are mathematically challenged. You can roll your eyes, make "boy bands suck" comments and judge all you want but those five boys have been with me through it all. Every song reminds me of some one or some memory. Each album brings me back to a certain period of my life. And when I see all of them on stage singing and dancing to the songs I love so, so, so much it totally brings all kinds of weird emotions out of me. Again, make fun all you want but the Backstreet Boys are something really special to me. This concert, like the 7 BSB concerts before it (yes I've seen them 8 times and I plan on seeing them 800 more), was a night I will never forget and is just one more amazing BSB memory in a long line of fantastic memories.

The boys looked amazing, sounded amazing and as Howie put it "We are just like wine, we get better with time." It was incredible to see a filled arena SCREAMING for the boys, amazing to hear all of their old hits mixed with some of their amazing new songs, and of course it was a BLAST spending the night with my Beeb dancing, screaming and singing so loud we lost our voices. 

This concert was especially sweet because if you recall I saw this same show last summer in Chicago and sadly because of a noise curfew {though I prefer to blame DJ Pauly D} the concert was cut short, so to see the show in it's entirety on Tuesday was like unfinished business.

Now I just need to figure out how to get myself on the Backstreet Boys Cruise in October.

Kenley:: 1 1/2

It's Tuesday and it's time for....

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

As of this coming Sunday, I will have a 19 month old {say what?} I am really loving this mid-year age range because I can get away with telling people she is "a year and a half" instead of using months and watching them get all confused trying to do math. That, and this is pretty much the most fun age ever! It's been MONTHS since I've done a Kenley update, so here's what my crazy kiddo is up to:

Weight: 26 pounds

Teeth: 12 pearly whites. The molars were really tough, now we're just waiting for those pointy ones to come in. Brushing her teeth is also the highlight of her day. She LOVES it!

Words: Kenley's vocab is increasing every day and it's SO FUN! Right now her words include : mom, dad, yia yia {grandma in Greek}, bob {which can mean Ball, BaBa (what we call her milk) or Auntie Bob (which is what she calls her Auntie Tate) depending on the context}, trash, wow, yes, yeah, no, up, done, gone, hi, shoes, socks, hat, hug. She can also make the animal sounds of a dog, pig, cow, lion, snake, owl, fish, and monkey.

Sleep: Bedtime is usually around 8:00 or 8:30pm and she sleeps until around 7:30 or 8:00am.

Eating: Fruits & Veggies. If this child never saw meat or grains on her plate she would be as happy as a clam. Tomatoes and blueberries top the list but she's also a big fan of cheese, olives and LOVES mustard. Seriously, she's such a little weirdo.

Diaper Size: size 4 or 2T in her Pampers Easy-Ups for potty training.

Clothes: A mix of 18 months, 24 months and 2T. Because she's so tall & skinny all of the 18 months fit perfect but are too short. The 24 month & 2T are perfect in the length but fall off her. She comes from a long line of long legged skinny butted people - so I'm afraid this will be a battle she fights her whole life.

Hair Color: Little blondie! Her hair is getting so long and SO thick! This child definitely got my big Greek hair. And it's CURLY!

Eye Color: She has eyes just like her daddy - they aren't really hazel but they definitely aren't blue or green and they have really cool flecks of gold in them.

Nicknames: Kenny, Buddy, Mou, Kenny Kakes, Squeezy, Kenners, KenKen, Kenny Pops

Milestones: I can't keep up. This child learns something new every single day. It just amazes me! And she is such a copy cat, she will see me or Jason do something ONCE and will start doing it. I guess it's officially time to be on our best behavior!

Interests: Kenley LOVES to dance. Every time she hears music she starts to do her own unique dance moves, it makes this former-dancer-mom SO happy. She also love to accessorize. This child cannot be without a necklace or hat or teething rings doubling and bangles. 

She is also OBSESSED with Bailey. Jason and I are a little salty because the puggles gets probably triple the hugs and kisses that we do. Her favorite shows are Bubble Guppies, Wallykazam, Mickey's Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins. Her favorite song is Talk Dirty to Me by Jasn Derulo {that's not a joke}. She loves more than anything to be outside playing at the park, swimming in the pool, chillin' in her stroller, or watching planes on the deck. And, her favorite person in the whole wide world is her mom...sadly, I'm kidding on that one, she is a complete and total daddy's girl.

Currently...

Because I have been disgustingly absent as of late, I've decided to copy my Beeb and a bunch of other bloggers to quick fill you in on what's happening with me, currently....

...loving my Sping VoxBox from Influenster! I already love the mascara and skin firming lotion and have heard great things about the tamps - will be trying those shortly.

...wishing I would just win the dang lottery so I could buy a beautiful house and go on an incredible vacation.

...waiting for July when Jason and I are going to visit our honeymoon friends/best bud soul mates for a weekend of, given our track record, debauchery and my-abs-hurt-from-laughing-fun!

...walking AGAIN! The stupid toe is on the mend and I can finally go for a walk without crying. I might even try a run this week! Wahoo!
 

...planning my friend Christina's baby shower!!! You all know how I much I LOVE planning parties and I can't wait to share this one with you!

...wanting a MacBook Air. Like so bad. I'm working a couple different smaller jobs these days and it would be SO nice to have everything for work and the blog on my own personal computer that I could take with me. Desktops are for the birds I tell ya.

via

...eating Skinny Cow ice cream bars! I have a major sweet tooth and having one of these a day helps me keep it in check without wasting a bunch of calories. The Caramel Truffle and Cookies N Cream Truffle  are my favorites. 

via

...thinking this summer is already FLYING by! Our calendar is craziness this summer and is already booking up for the fall. It makes me so excited for all the fun to come!

...dreading NOTHING! I am so happy and content with life right now, I can honestly say I'm not dreading a thing. Well, except maybe paying bills, I dread that every month.

...watching The Bachelorette. I am LOVING this season, my favorite in a long time for sure. Who is your favorite?

...obsessed with books on conception, pregnancy and childbirth. This DOES NOT mean that we are trying or are anywhere ready for #2. It's simply a passion and major interest of mine and I love reading books on the subject - it's all so fascinating!

...laughing at my goofy little toddler. This girl is seriously too much.

...excited for TOMORROW!!! Me and the Beeb will be tearing it up at the Backstreet Boys concert and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep tonight.