THIS WEEK

This week...

• Had record breaking temps
• We had several pool play dates
• I was finally able to get my eyebrows done...FINALLY
• Addison had pancakes for the first time (100% grain/dairy free, made with coconut flour)....she LOVED them
• She was the snuggliest she's ever been
• We had dinner with my parents & mum cooked a roast chicken for MSG
• I couldn't get enough fruit & veggies
• I was able to lay out for a bit while Addison napped
• "no-no" with the head shake became accompanied with the finger point...le sigh
• I started planning Addison's first birthday
• I set a new dead lift PR of 195 lbs
• I did laundry...I really shouldn't wait for it to pile up so bad

We have a super busy weekend ahead.

BABY'S CURRY

I have said it before...I LOVE Indian food.  I love the aesthetic of the bright & beautiful spices, I love the bold flavor & the aroma that accompanies the dishes.  When it comes to Indian all food...the spicier the better. Addison is a girl after my own heart in that she is adventurous & the more flavorful the more she loves it. I tend to be a little cautious when it comes to "heat" but it doesn't seem to phase Addison. Nonetheless, I am still not ready to serve up Indian-hot to my 9 month old.
Here's the version of curried chicken I make for Addison: 

Recipe adapted from Cooking for Baby

As with all food for baby it can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I always wind up having extra cauliflower left so I throw it into a pan, saute it with some kale, add a little more spice to it & serve it with an over easy egg...so so so good.

SORTING THROUGH

I spent the majority of the afternoon sorting through Addison's closet.  HOLY MOLY this girl has a ton of clothes!?!  As she has outgrown things I have been putting them all in a tub to make room for new things.  The tub was overflowing onto her closet floor so I decided it's time to sort through them.  I made piles of absolute must keeps (just in case there is another tabor tot down the road), consignment items for Babiology, stuff for friends & give away.  I then narrowed the piles by season. I am sure it would have taken way less time had Addison not been trashing my piles & if I wasn't being so indecisive & emotional.

Regardless of whether or not we have another baby I want to keep certain things like her take home outfit, etc. Being so petite has allowed a ton of wear out of her clothes. I was getting so excited about the things she hasn't worn yet. I am seriously jealous of her wardrobe!

A CASE OF THE MONDAY'S

I have a serious case of the Monday's which thankfully I rarely ever get.  Monday's are usually a little more slow moving for us since I am operating off of 4-ish hours of sleep but today I feel like I am moving in slow motion.  I didn't get home from the ER until well after 4 this morning & after showering etc it had to be close to 5 before I got to bed {blah}.  Per usual 8:40 struck & my body was telling me it was time to get up. I have to admit that seeing Addison's face light up (before she even sees me) as I come down the stairs makes my heart completely melt & I totally forget how tired I am. Today is a bum day for me...my motivation level is pretty low.   Addison is still in her jammies & had I not had a class at work at 11 I would be too.  In theory it's the perfect day to lounge at the pool...only pool lounging doesn't exist anymore. LOL.  When she wakes up from her nap we may venture out there for an hour or so barring the heat doesn't suck what little energy I have out of me before my CrossFit WOD.  The laundry, food prep & other household chores can wait until tomorrow.  I think I'll spend the rest of my day with the best part of Monday, all those sweet smiles.

THIS WEEK

This week...

• the blog got a little makeover (new look, categorized archives)
• my MacBook pro died & won't turn on...I think I can thank Addison for that
• it's been ridiculously hot so we had lots of playtime at the pool
• I am pretty sure that Addison's hair grew inches
• Philip was in Atlanta so it was just me & my girl
• I painted my nails a robins egg blue color with pink glitter...super fun
• Addison spent time with her Grammy so I could go to the gym
• We celebrated 7 years of marriage
• We set up an appointment to tour a space for our business for Saturday
• Addison & I had a dinner date with my mother in law at Cafe Caturra
• We had a mystery door bell ringer/door knocker at 9:45 at night...totally freaked me out
• We took a trip to Lake Shelley

ROASTED CARROTS

I came across this recipe, red roasted carrots, on Pinterest several months ago & have been dying to try it. As I am starring at my plate in disappointment that they are all I gone, I keep asking myself why I waited so long to try it! I am completely in love with the spice combination & Addison enjoyed them just as much as I did.

SITE CONSTRUCTION

The blog is getting a makeover...there will be lots of changes over the next couple of days.  I have hit a few kinks that I can't seem to figure out & I am too tired to work on it any more tonight. Excuse my mess.

7 YEARS

I married my best friend 7 years ago today. While the allure of the "wedding fantasy", beautiful white dress, Jamaican honeymoon & all the festivities has faded, I still have those same wedding day butterflies when he tells me he loves me. If you would have told me we would have lived I the Midwest, gotten In a bad car accident forever injuring ourselves, gone though several years of fertility treatments/testing/procedures, have been blessed with an amazing baby & be getting ready to open our own business I would have laughed & said you were CRAZY!?! I am sooooooo thankful he ignored my "rules/regulations (not getting married until I was at least 28) & proposed anyway.

Our night went a little like this:

We went Margaux's,a lovely French-Inspired restaurant. He had ancho chile dusted snapper with veggies & a fresh watermelon salsa. I had yellowfin tuna on a bed of toasted romaine, anchovies, diced artichoke/egg & fresh veggies. it was absolutely delicious.

After dinner we came home & laughed & reminisced about how much life has changed over the last 7 years. I was such a baby (21) when we got married.

I couldn't imagine my life being written any other way & sharing that story with anyone else. I love you Philip!

FATHER'S DAY

Even though today wasn't "my" day...it was "my" day to celebrate an amazing Daddy. We are INCREDIBLY lucky...you will quite often hear me quote Ben Folds saying "I am the luckiest" because I truly am.  He is the greatest companion any girl could dream of; he is my best friend.  He is a phenomenal father & already has a super fan, Addison. I love to watch her face light up when she seems him come down the stairs in the morning & hear her sweet raspy giggle when he kisses her bare belly & his scratchy whiskers get her in the right spot, it completely melts my heart.  {insert sappy music} no really, click the link below & listen to the song "My Little Girl" by Jack Johnson...it brings me to tears every time I listen to it.

Like I have said on here before we have decided to celebrate EVERYTHING but in celebration we'd rather make memories, cherishing those moments than focus on things. We sort of bent the rules a little bit (so did he for Mother's Day) & he is getting a new grill of his choice. It would have been a disaster with me picking it out because I know absolutely nothing about grills.

Addison & I let Philip sleep in & cooked up breakfast while he slept in.  

eggs, grilled tomatoes, sauteed kale & mushrooms & cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes

We went to church then spent the rest of the afternoon with the 3 of us. When I asked earlier in the week if there was anything special he'd like to do for Father's Day he said he wanted to eat lunch & hang out in the park.  We picked up Zoe's Kitchen salmon & chicken kaboobs & a garden salad & that's what we did.  My parents came by this afternoon & I have to head into work at 6.
I think it was a perfect day (minus having to head into work).

P.S. Our 7th wedding anniversary is tomorrow....CRAZY!

THIS WEEK

This week...

• I made homemade almond butter

• I started the process of dying my hair back blonde.
• I did a coconut oil/egg treatment every other day to help restore moisture...Addison wasn't sure what to think
• We spent some much needed time at the pool with Shellie

• Philip came up with a 23 page business plan, dreaming our little hearts away
• I decided that I am going to open an ETSY shop (completely independent from his business idea) for hair accessories
• I couldnt get enough of fresh blueberries & almonds drizzled with unsweetened almond milk...seriously the BEST mid morning summertime snack

• Lots of veggies started popping up in the garden: zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, squash
• I picked up quite a few extra shifts over the next month
• We worked on Philip's Father's Day gift
• We started planning our Paris trip (we did a lot of Planning this week)

This was a pretty productive week all in all.

SUMMER INFANT BESTVIEW HANDHELD COLOR VIDEO MONITOR

We have been HUGE fans of our Bestview Handheld Color Video Monitor. Countless times Philip & I have said to each other we don't know how people can use a standard monitor. NEW MOMS...a video monitor is a must! Before leaving for Hawaii I noticed the monitor wasn't keeping it's charge as long as it used to but I didn't think much about it (it has been used at least 3 times/day for the last 9 months) so I figured it just needed some time connected to the AC adapter to recharge it. When we returned from our trip, I woke up in the middle of the night to find the monitor completely dead despite being plugged in with the AC adapter. Long story short, the plug completely stopped working thus no longer charging the batteries. We contacted Summer notifying them of the problem & since the monitor is less than a year old they are replacing it! Check out Summer Infant to read about the amazing features of this video monitoring system. 

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INSIDE PLAYTIME

The weather the last several days hasn't been too great with scattered showers & down pours.  We've managed to squeeze in a couple 5 miles runs just before the rain but have been couped up in the house otherwise.  Poor Hampton...lack of outside time leaves a rambunctious 9 month old to torment a lazy English bulldog.  She chased him from the kitchen into the dinning room in her walker while slamming the keys on her walker & waving, all while screeching at the top of her lungs as she smashed into anything in her way.  Hampton hid under the dining room table like he was being chased by a bear or something.  He is probably wondering what happened to his quiet immobile little sister. If she isn't after him, she is trying to find a way to get to his food.  Apparently while I was at the gym the other day she smuggled some of his food in her cheeks, only to be found by Philip 10 minutes after he pulled her away from the bowl. Sheesh. She loves to pick up her blocks and throw them & Hampton seems to be her favorite target...poor guy. She is now walking with a push walker & you better be out of her way if you don't want to get run over because she darts across the carpet like it's nobody's business. She is so brave too...fearless. She has starting letting go of things, standing for several seconds unassisted.  I wouldn't be surprised if she started walking in the next month or so.

I will be in BIG trouble when that happens. She is literally into EVERYTHING!

GARDEN PARTY

I love events; casual social gatherings, themed parties, races, Christmas functions...anything that gives me an excuse to wear something I wouldn't otherwise wear. Over the weekend we attended an all white themed garden party to celebrate a few students high school & college graduations. While I wasn't excited about wearing a dress (I am still covered in bruises from the mud run & climbing the rope at CrossFit), I was excited like a giddy school girl to wear my white floppy hat. Addison had an adorable ruffled collar, white eyelet dress hanging in her closet that I have been dying for her to fit in (4-6 month from H&M) & lucky for me...IT DID. Addison spent most of the time crawling around attacking balloons & eating the delicious salmon & roasted asparagus that was served. Here are a few pics from Saturday:

THIS WEEK

This week...

• We went to the pool almost everyday...she is fearless & LOVES the water
• I realized that Addison likes to crawl around with things in her mouth (like a dog)
• I felt inspired by Julia Child
• Addison started walking while pushing toys
• I caught her snuggling with Mr. McQuacken while she was sleeping
• I climbed a 25 ft rope
• Monday night volleyball started back
• Philip & Addison had a daddy/daughter date
• I didn't take many pictures
• I started reading "Creative Correction"
• We went to the farmer's market
• We got to have quality time with Sarah
• I attempted beet chips....they would have been fantastic had I not forgotten about them & burnt them
• I decided I need to get back into the blogging grove