emma grace: fifteen month

emma grace is fifteen months old.
she's walking, waves hello, touches her nose and pats her tummy.
we love bubble guppies, yogurt in any form, and our jelly shoes.

baby girl loves her veggie pouches, but only when she can hold them herself.
she especially loves eating off the floor, and doesn't really understand why every meal or snack can't be a picnic. worst mom ever. but sometimes (most of the time...) i give in.

she has the sweetest smile, the most expressive face, and the best giggle.
i just love her snuggles even if they only last 2 seconds.
she's walking, running-ish, falling, and rolling around like a mad woman.
i have a feeling she thinks if she stops moving, she might not ever be able to move again.

we have survived (knock on wood...) our first round of major sickies. two weeks of a tummy bug, fever and tears and snuggles and runny noses, but we made it, and we found our smiles again.

oh how i love this baby girl!

spring break fakin'

spring is in the air y'all, and by spring, i mean summer. because let's be real. spring doesn't exist in dfw. well that's a little bit of a lie. it exists for 27 minutes. 

EG and i had a lot of fun parading around town during spring break.  i mean, our lives are pretty busy, so we needed to get away from the daily grind.  #gimmiethebbq

we took a trip to the farmers market, ate a ginormous sandwich at pecan lodge, threw a fun gender reveal party for our bestie, played in the backyard, and ordered chocolate chip pancakes at the local diner.   #allonatuesday 

we also hit some pretty major milestones this week. EG posed for her first passport photo #cheeseplease and fed herself puffs.  she's gotten pretty good at swatting them off the highchair, but now we've moved on to bigger and better things. aka: stuffing her whole fist in her mouth, sometimes resulting in puff-eating success.  raider is pretty bummed about it. he's not blinded by her sweet baby girl grin. #gimmiethepuffs
we also got to hang out with uncle grayson this week!

yay for spring break. it's pretty much awesome all around. even if you're fakin' it.

a little life update

this week, we enjoyed warm sunny days in our jorts, and cold rainy days in our jammies. i'm really not complaining about this roller coaster though.  i'm getting extra wears out of her baby jorts and her reindeer christmas footie pajamas.   

each day is becoming more fun than the day before.  baby girl's personality is definitely starting to shine and it's quite entertaining.  

this week, eg helped her daddy win a few rounds of bananagrams, entertained us on her piano, and helped her juju sew up some new pillows for our couch.  #busybee

oh, and we're seven months old now. is this real life??

 

emma grace: six months

dear sweet emma grace, 

you're a growing machine at 15 lbs, 15 oz and 23 1/2 inches long! 

this month, you discovered your voice, and boy, do you love to hear it! i can't even begin to imagine what opinions and stories you're trying to tell us. you're sleeping a little better, but it's still one of your least favorite things to do. you're a little giggle box and the smiliest baby on the block. even when you're a little fussy, you somehow manage to have a smile on your face. you bring so much joy to everyone you meet! you're a expert in pushing backwards in your walker, and you flipped from your back to your tummy! you had a fantastic first christmas and were spoiled rotten. you have a giant family that loves you more than you know. 

love, your mama

emma grace: five months

sweet baby girl,
we are so thankful for you.
i love watching your curiosity and just love watching your little brain discover new things.
your sweet smile lights up a room and you charm everyone you meet.
and even though you're still not a huge fan of naps or bed time, i really don't mind. more snuggle time for me! :)

baby bump and baby beats

emma grace and i are officially in the home stretch. don't get me wrong, i love having a little buddy with me all day every day, dancing and wiggling around like a fool. pretty positive she's got some baby beats on and is practicing for her audition for step up 6...

i'm just ready to see her little face!

now that the end is in sight, everything is becoming so much more real. for the longest time, her arrival felt forever away. but now that we've crossed into the less than one month mark, we feel a definite sense of expectation and excitement. it's been so much fun getting her room ready, putting together her furniture (well fun for me to watch bub-hub at least...) and hanging up all of her tiny little clothes.

i've really been loving our family time and have been enjoying this season of stillness and calm. i'm so guilty of being a busy-bee and a multi-tasker, but lately, i've been trying so hard to sit still and soak in every minute we have left as a family of two.  i really think my level of exhaustion is a real blessing from the Lord to teach me to step back and let go.  i'm just tired enough to need to sit and do nothing, but not too tired to spend time hanging out with bub-hub and raider.

now the real test will be to see if i'm still feeling calm and relaxed a week from now. :)

two years down, forever and ever to go.

our second year of marriage was full of new things and big grown up decisions. 

we moved to a new city, into a new apartment,

and then into a our first real home.

we found out our sweet baby girl would be joining our family.

we started new jobs and took on new responsibilities,

joined a new church and met new friends.

two years ago, i said "i do" to a beautiful life with my best friend.

i can barely wait to see what this next year will bring.

happy anniversary bub-hub.

you're the bomb[dot]com.

life lately

life just seems to be speeding by, which is good and a little bit not so good. good because tax busy season is over and we have bub-hub back (notice how he's missing from every single photo...oops...) and a little bit not so good because i'm realizing how unprepared we are for baby girl's arrival. that's what prayer and family are for right?



lately

bub-hub
has a love/hate relationship with the mavericks.
somehow talked sg to watch sherlock, and now they are both hooked
has officially dominated tax season and life has returned to normal-ish once again.

raider
won't stop drinking water out of the toilet.
has designated the closet as the most comfy location for a nap.
has completely forgotten his leash-walking-manners. #rebelliousphase

sarah grace
is getting used to her ever growing baby bump and puffy cheeks.
loves using sweet baby girl as an excuse for chipotle and fro-yo.
can't quite cope with season three of scandal being over already.

emma grace
is 28 weeks old and the size of an eggplant.
has a growing collection of the most adorable wardrobe, ruffles included.
is completely worth every backache she's giving her mama.

life lately

lately

bub hub
has been inching his way closer and closer to the tax deadline.
is love march madness.
is an expert curtain rod and picture frame hanger-upper.

raider
has spring fever.
is glad all his toys made it to the new apartment safely during the move.
loves his recently rediscovered rope toy.

sarah grace
is obsessed with her pre-natal barre workout dvds.
loves getting to wear comfy cozy clothes all the time, even to work.
has been rocking her grocery budget goals, but not so much her fun, shopping ones.

baby emma
is already 25 weeks old.
is swimming around and kicking up a storm, especially when we were at the mavs game!
can't get enough frozen yogurt, topped with almonds and m&ms and blueberries.

i'm perfect for this job, oh, and i'm pregnant.

it seems little strange to say it, but i think the hardest part of my pregnancy to date has been telling my new employer about baby.

after a lot of prayer, here's how my "telling the boss" situation went down.

i started my job hunt in january, and began interviewing when i was about 12 weeks pregnant. as i went into the different offices, i tried to put feelers out for any hints of "family-friendly-culture" and get an idea of what the job structure and schedule would really be like. 

after a lot of prayer and reading a lot of articles, i knew i wanted my interviews to be focused on my job skills and my professional capabilities, not my pregnancy. bub-hub and i decided that if i felt the appropriate time came up in my second round of interviews, i would share my news with them. as much as i wanted the job, i wanted to be upfront and honest. thinking ahead to the doctors appointments and other situations i would need flexibility for, i wanted assurance that my workplace would be a supportive environment.

my first round of interviews (for my final position) couldn't have gone better. i met with three different women from three departments. each of them had fantastic personalities and i just knew it would be a great work environment. immediately after i left, i felt a wave of anxiety hit me. i was so nervous to see if they would call me back for a second round.

soon after, i received a call from the recruiter with an offer. uhhhhh say what? nuts. a total gift from the LORD. after talking to the recruiter about a few job details, i decided that i needed to tell her. she told me not to worry at all, that pregnancy is an exciting part of life, and it is not something to cause stress. she encouraged me to give it a few weeks and establish myself within my position and then, once i felt comfortable, reach out to my co-workers.

and that's what i did.

i started my position 16 weeks pregnant and disclosed my pregnancy at 20 weeks. i was blessed with a reasonably small bump, which gave me a little more time than some. the extra few weeks gave me a chance to get to know my co-workers and feel more comfortable sharing my news with them.

i understand that each and every situation is different. not everyone has an understanding work environment. not everyone has strong, working moms in leadership roles within their office. luckily, the LORD provided me with both. although not ideal timing, interviewing while pregnant does happen, and after reading dozens of articles and blogs, i realized that each and every situation is unique. cue the signature pregnancy situation answer...

overall, i think the best piece of advice i read was to make sure the interview remained focus on your job skills. if you're a hard worker, and you have the skills and abilities to do the job well, you can't lose.

what have you had to overcome in the interview process? and interviewing advice tips?

life lately

lately
bub-hub
is studying for his next certification test.
is hooked on chuck and (i think) secretly training to become a spy for the CIA.
handles tax returns like a champ.

sarah grace
is enjoying her new job, especially all of the office birthday cakes & treats.
feels optimistic about the forecast this coming week. bring it on 70*!
can't get the songs from frozen out of her head and doesn't hate it.

raider
loves the outside but is hating the cold.
can't get enough greenies.
has perfected his "please give me crumbs" look.

baby chastain
is twenty weeks old.
is the size of an heirloom tomato and growing more and more every day.
has a fantastic love for chipotle and girl scout cookies.

lately, life has been really busy, but so full of fun and celebration. we are so very blessed and are just soaking in every minute we have together in this season of life.

what have you been up to lately?

training update: week 2

we have officially survived our second week:instead of a plain jane long run on saturday,

we participated in the electric run!

guys, houston is hot.

it was 9 at night, completely dark and 107degrees.

i was sweating buckets.

#notevenabitcute

but it was so fun! and all the hot, sweaty running was worth it because at the end, 

there fully air conditioned dance party!

how was your weekend?

any fun 5k races to recommend??