Professional Pictures!

Instead of the usual Monday Mashup (because I still need to figure out how to get my pics from my new iphone to the computer) I'm excited to share our professional pictures! We had these done on Conrad's 9 month birthday and they are fantastic! We were very fortunate that someone Sean was friends with in high school turned out to be a professional photographer. She did an amazing job! Here are some of my favs:

My handsome boys!

Those teething necklaces are great!

Love this one!

I'm probably biased but I have an amazing family! We had such a great time taking these. We went to the center of our town  and it was the perfect setting with lots of different options. It was cloudy the whole time and towards the end I thought for sure there would be hurricane-like storms but the weather held out long enough for us to take some great pictures. If anyone needs a great photographer in the DC-metro area, let me know!

Elizabeth

TGIF!

It's finally FRIDAY! Although, not really for me since I have to work for a while tomorrow. But hey - it's still the weekend!!

I'm linking up with some great ladies today for the 5 on Friday!

 

<<ONE>>

So, I bit the bullet and got the new IPHONE 5. I've had Verizon forever so I didn't catch on to the craze initially, then when Verizon started offering it, I still didn't (couldn't - my phone is supplied by my employer) bite. However, I was due for an upgrade as my beloved Droid was dying a slow death and it just so happened that my company approved the new IPHONE for purchase. So why not? Now I'm super stoked and have just purchased my new case:

(via)

<<TWO>>

I get to see my sweet nephew this weekend!! Sean is going out of town to DC for a bachelor party so my sister and her son are coming to keep Conrad and me company. I love it when these two little boys get together!



<<THREE>>

These rings!!! I'm loving the new small ring/band look that's out right now. These are on my "must get" list:

(via)

 <<FOUR>>

The Five Book by Dan Zadra.

My mentor at work gave me this book and it is awesome. It's part journal/part insperational reading/part planner. My motto has always been: "picture where you want to be in five or ten years. Now are you doing anything about that vision? If not, get moving." In trying to figure out what path I want to take with my company and career, this book is extremely helpful.

<<FIVE>>

Menu Planning!!! Being a working mom (or any kind of mom, for that matter!) means you have to plan a lot of what you do in advance. A big piece of that is meals; especially now that Conrad is older and eating a lot more "big people food" I have to be able to get home, have dinner easily accessible and cookable. None of this stopping by the grocery on the way home to pick up ingredients then rush home to fix it all while with an "energetic" 10 month old baby in tow. Yeah, that is what I'm currently doing and it's - for obvious reasons - not working. What ends up happening is he's too much to handle and cook at the same time so I plop him in the high chair and heat him up some Gerber Organic pasta pickups....have you seen those? Good idea but not the healthiest, despite their "organic" label. The times when I have planned ahead, I try to get him to eat what we eat (usually chicken, a steamed veggie, and salad). But if I am waiting at the last minute to shop, prepare, and cook, that means baby isn't eating until 730 at night and he's having none of that. Hence, menu planning! I'll let you know how it goes...

Attempting to keep it together 24/7,

Elizabeth

RANT: Commuting and Driving in General

As I recently mentioned in this post work has been kind of crazy lately. I am very fortunate that my commute is only 15 minutes to my actual office; this is one of the main reasons we sold our previous house and moved where we did last year. My commute was previously HIDEOUS as most people in the DC Metro area can relate to. However, a large part of my job involves driving to client homes all over VA, MD, and sometimes DC. While I love my job and visiting my my peeps in their homes, I think that driving all over is the biggest WASTE OF TIME EVER! Why can't we just create a self-driving car already?? I mean, come on: light bulbs, Man on the Moon, Squeeze Bacon (yes, ew), Justin Bieber...where's the auto-car?

Thank God for cell phones and bluetooth at least. And sending emails at red lights (yes, guilty, let the comments begin). I could be doing so much more in the amount of time I spend driving!

The worst part is when I'm driving to pick up my baby boy. If there's traffic when I'm trying to get to him, I FREAK OUT. But, then I need to remember to keep it cool as there are some terrible drivers around here and I'm no good to my family in a car wreck.

So, if anyone is up for inventing the self-driven car...hit me up and I'll for sure invest!

Monday Mashup: Weekend through the camera phone

 We had a very busy weekend! Naturally, the first weekend we have in town within the past 4 weeks and we cram it full of lots of activity! On Saturday Conrad and I enjoyed a nice long run while Sean did yard work and then we went to a good friend's house for dinner, bringing Conrad with us so he could play with his good friend. Conrad is now in a phase in which he likes to take things out of drawers, boxes, baskets, bags, cabinets - you name it! We really have to watch him (and install locks on the drawers and cabinets) otherwise things like this happen:

I can feed myself, Mommy!

I am working on getting Conrad to eat more finger foods and things with different textures. It's been slightly successful. He has a phobia of things with different textures but he's getting there!

Mmm....nom nom nom.

My handsome boys getting ready to go out!

Wait, why are you wearing your sunglasses inside, Dad?

On Sunday we went to hang out with our neighbors who have a precious 3 month old baby. We just met them recently and are excited to meet more families that live on our street! Then we headed into DC to a friend's rooftop pool so Conrad had a blast swimming and splashing - he was a huge hit! Unfortunately, I had a Mom Fail and didn't take any pictures of that. Despite cramming tons of stuff in this weekend, we had a BLAST and made the most of the two days off.

Attempting to keep it together 24/7,

Elizabeth

Keep it in Perspective

Things have been super stressful lately - I'm really busy at work, taking work home with me every night, and Conrad was REALLY fussy and sick this past week. It turns out our sweet baby had what is commonly known as "Hand, Foot, and Mouth" disease. A virus that is apparently common in babies but causes uncomfortable blisters in their mouth/throat, feet, and hands. Our little guy just wouldn't eat, was fussy, and seemed listless and tired. Sean took him to the doctor, and although there is no medication and he's already seeming better, at least we knew what was wrong. As most moms can probably agree, its HORRIBLE not knowing what is wrong with your little one.

I was thinking as I was driving home how stressed I was - with work, a sick child, money (we have a beautiful home but this area is EXPENSIVE to live in!), keeping the house clean, relationship stuff...you name it. Then as I was browsing Pinterest, I came across this:

Hello!!!! First world problems I have - a job I love that pays me well, a lovely little "small town" in the midst of crazy busy suburbs, a beautiful home (and our second home at that! we were fortunate that we bought our first house very young), and friends and family that love me. Plus, despite him being sick, I have these precious moments with this amazing little one:

So, I slapped myself and said "Wake up, Elizabeth!" And be thankful for what you have. Sure, money is tight, but freaking cut back on your Starbucks!!!!!! Sure, your house is a mess, but hey, you'd rather spend time with your baby, and as mom always said "No one was ever killed by a dust bunny". Sure work is busy but YOU HAVE A JOB. As I said, first world problems.

So, I am now trying to be thankful every day for what I have and keep in perspective all my issues. And you know what? It's helped!

 I highly recommend it.

Attempting to keep it together 24/7,

Elizabeth

Monday Mashup: Weekend via the Camera Phone!

This past weekend we went to visit my family for my sweet nephew, Brayden's second birthday. I love seeing these two cousins together and Conrad is fascinated by Brayden and tries to mimic all that he does. And Brayden is the best older cousin and LOVES Conrad.

I think Conrad was just as excited as I was to head down to see Nana and PopPop. So much so, that he helped me "pack" his bag:

Then, it was off for some wagon rides as soon as we got there. Brayden is telling Conrad, "just be calm, this is fun"!

Then Conrad relaxed and enjoyed the ride:

The big two year old birthday boy!

Conrad not a fan of the birthday hat

Uncle Sean reading his fun birthday card to Brayden:

Happy 2nd Birthday to the smartest, sweetest two year old I know!

Sunday Not Funday

So like all good things, our vacation had to come to an end last week. It went by WAAAAAYY too fast. And let me tell you - beach trips with baby are VERY different than beach trips without. It was pretty relaxing, thanks in large part to my amazing mother-in-law, and taking care of a baby at the beach is better than working all day and coming home to take care of baby; however, still not the same. I'll post some pictures after I upload them.

Knowing you have to work on Mondays do not make Sundays very fun. Especially on days like today where Sean was gone practically the whole day to a Nats game so I was alone with Conrad ALL DAY - I don't know how you stay at home moms do it, IT'S HARD. And did I mention he has been teething and a straight up B-RAT the past week? I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kid so much but sometimes he drives me straight up the wall. I feel like sometimes the only way he's happy is if he's eating. Hence, these pictures:

Mmm...Bananas!

Nom Nom Nom

Trying some watermelon

Yummmm!

Feed me and I'm happy!

It's a tough job but someone's got to do it

Attempting to keep it together 24/7,

Elizabeth