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Summer Lovin’ // our summer in photos

July 12, 2019 by Rachel 16 Comments

Oh, HI! I didn’t mean to take a 10-ish day break from writing, but I have THE BEST excuse…

… we’ve been doing ALL THINGS SUMMER!

Oh — and we got a puppy. Because obviously, I make the best decisions. Ha! Her name is Lady and she’s a 12-week old terrier mix we adopted from a local shelter. The kids adore her and I am desperately trying to break her of her nipping habit.

But in addition to the puppy, we’ve been keeping busy with all things fun. From going to the library, to hitting up the splash pad, and everything in between.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not trying to keep my kids “busy” all Summer long. We have LOTS of downtime, too. We have quiet time at least once a day (whether it be in the form of naps or iPad or books).

But those spaces in between? That’s where the memories are made. They might not remember the details, but they’ll remember the fun. They’ll remember the fun of their first trip to Waterworks; they’ll remember the milkshakes and the popcorn; they’ll remember they caught goldfish (and named them Goldie + Jonathan).

And I’ll remember their smiles and contagious laughter. And it will be enough to get us through until the next Summer. ♥ ♥

What are you doing

 

to make the most

 

of your Summer?

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, busy mom, children, cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, explore locally, Explore Ohio, family, live happy, mommyhood, NEO, Ohio, parenthood, pictures, summer, Summer Bucket List Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, being a mom, busy mom, children, cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, explore locally, explore Ohio, Live Happy, mommyhood, motherhood, NEO, ohio, parenthood, pictures, summer, Summer Bucket List

Remy Bea // Three

February 5, 2019 by Rachel 11 Comments

One day I’ll be the mom that is on top of everything. This is not that time, friends. Hence, a belated birthday recap for my middle child — the one who keeps me on my toes — Remy Bea.

Remy Bea turned 3 on January 23rd. I’m in disbelief. Absolute disbelief.

It seemed like just yesterday that she came bursting into our world — faster than expected and with a full head of hair!

Since that day, she’s been full of spunk and sass. Her first year of life made me literally question whether or not I could survive my battle of postpartum depression and anxiety. It was really, really awful and I was not in a good place.

But soon after her first birthday, we settled into a routine that was — dare I say it — enjoyable! Her spunk and sass went from “threatening” to hilarious. She was an absolute joy!

Thank goodness, right?? Well, that joy of a child made me so brave in my pursuits of motherhood that I decided to have a third. And at some point between getting pregnant with baby number three and her arrival, Remy Bea turned into a full-fledged terrible two-year-old.

Over the last year, we’ve been learning a lot about one another. I know that she is incredibly strong-willed — which I keep reminding myself will suit her well through her adolescent and early adult years.

 

She is smart and brave and funnier than most other people I’ve met. She will light up a room with her smile and tell you exactly what is on her mind. She will steal your snacks and convince you to share your food with her. She will sing you her favorite songs and encourage you to ‘try your best.’

And I love every part of her — every painful, every stubborn, and every wonderful part of her.

Happy (belated) third birthday, Remy Bea. I love you a bushel and a peck. ♥

Filed Under: #MomLife, birthday, family, live happy, mommyhood, parenthood, pictures, Remy Bea Tagged With: #MomLife, being a mom, busy mom, celebration, children, family, life with a toddler, Live Happy, mommyhood, motherhood, parenthood, pictures

Instant Pot Pulled Chicken Tacos

January 18, 2019 by Rachel 12 Comments

Something I’ve wanted to do desperately over the last 4 years is to feel more comfortable cooking meals for my family. Thankfully, over the last year, I’ve gotten a lot more confidence when it comes to trying and creating new meals — in large part due to my beloved Instant Pot!

One of our absolute favorites right now is this Pulled Chicken Taco recipe. We use fresh tortillas (these are our favorites), garnished with sliced avocados, chopped cilantro, sour cream, and the sharpest shredded cheddar I can find!

I played around quite a bit with the salsa variations (less, more, and different flavors), but this seems to be spot on! Additionally, this is the type of meal where if you want to make it ahead and then throw it in the refrigerator for the next day, the chicken will just continue to soak up those delicious juices!

I hope you enjoy! Please tell me what you think!

[gmc_recipe 13755]

 

 

Filed Under: brews + food, busy mom, cooking, Instant Pot Recipes, pictures, recipe Tagged With: brews + food, busy mom, cooking, Instant Pot Recipes, pictures, recipes

2018 // That’s a wrap!

January 2, 2019 by Rachel 10 Comments

This blog post is coming to ya 3 days late, thanks to a healthy dose of laziness at the holidays! Ha! At least I’m being honest.

But also? I’ve been doing a lot of extra reflecting over the last couple of days. And my emotions are straight up all over the place.

I truly expected 2018 to be SUPER hard. I started the year pregnant with baby number three and fully anticipating that this child would send me down a deep dark hole of PPD and PPA. It turns out she didn’t. In fact, I’ve kinda been flourishing and finding myself kicking butt at this mother of three thing.

We ended our night in perfect ‘parent-of-3-kids’ fashion —  with an 8:30pm Netflix countdown with party hats and sweet tarts. And followed it up with a parents-only movie night in our NEW home, with a bottle of champagne, and homemade lobster rolls.

So while our 2018 came to a slow and quiet end, I looked back through my camera roll to see all of the amazing things that transpired since last January.

January 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jan 8, 2018 at 5:01pm PST

I met up with some great local bloggers for a little networking and brainstorming. It really kicked off my year in a big way by getting the creative juices flowing and reigniting my spark!

February 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Feb 12, 2018 at 5:05pm PST

Visited NASA Glenn Research Center with a special group of influencers for the State of NASA address. We got a behind the scenes look at some really cool aerospace technology.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Feb 23, 2018 at 4:56pm PST

Later in the month I covered the Cleveland Auto Show on behalf of Toyota!

March 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Mar 23, 2018 at 5:30pm PDT

We spent most of the month having fun at Cafe O’Play with the kids (thanks to a Winter family pass!). It wore the kids out and allowed me to get some work done at the same time!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Apr 13, 2018 at 5:35pm PDT

Oh – and Chad and I had a much-needed date night at Hilarities at Pickwick and Frolic, complete with a Barrio dinner-date beforehand!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Mar 27, 2018 at 5:31pm PDT

April 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Apr 5, 2018 at 5:32pm PDT

This was a pretty big month for us. We had (secretly) known about the gender of baby number three for a while, but we finally revealed the news to our friends & family! Baby number three was officially a GIRL!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Apr 22, 2018 at 2:27pm PDT

We also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with little fanfare. And, by little, I mean none! Ha! But that’s what happens when you’re pregnant with your third baby, right?

May 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 1, 2018 at 4:12pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 6, 2018 at 5:34pm PDT

This, the month before my due date, I spent as much time as possible loving on my existing two babies. Lots of small adventures were had.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 24, 2018 at 2:11pm PDT

Oh, and I had some maternity photos done.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 10, 2018 at 4:15pm PDT

And met up with some fabulous bloggers for glass blowing at the Glass Asylum.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jun 8, 2018 at 2:19pm PDT

And then again for a photoshoot meetup at Borrow Rentals.

June 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jun 16, 2018 at 4:01pm PDT

I swear to you I spent this entire month just ready for Mila to arrive. In any spare moment I had, I was walking. Usually with the other two kids in tow.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 28, 2018 at 4:02pm PDT

The kids also enjoyed a LOT of swimming!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jun 20, 2018 at 1:04pm PDT

And then, of course, the arrival of Mila Rose.

July 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 2, 2018 at 4:12pm PDT

We adjusted to life with another little.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 19, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

But I still managed to make it out of the house with all of the kids! Like Mila’s first trip to the Cleveland Flea with me and Remy Bea!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 21, 2018 at 5:40pm PDT

And her first trip to the LEGO Store with Ari!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 25, 2018 at 4:20pm PDT

Oh, and we had amazing newborn photos done.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 28, 2018 at 4:28pm PDT

Then visited Edgewater Park Beach.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Aug 7, 2018 at 4:15pm PDT

And I took a yoga class with some fellow bloggers at Sibling Revelry Brewery. Mila came, too, although she spent most of her time in her car seat. Ha!

August 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Aug 23, 2018 at 5:34pm PDT

My first baby went off to his first day of Kindergarten!

September 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Sep 14, 2018 at 4:25pm PDT

I spent my first week completely solo with all three kids. I survived while Chad went away on his business trip AND I even managed to sneak out with just Mila to see the Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Sep 7, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

Remy and I went out exploring our local Akron neighborhoods.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Sep 30, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

And we visited the apple orchard when Mimi came to town!

October 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Oct 15, 2018 at 5:43pm PDT

Ari turned SIX!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Oct 22, 2018 at 5:32pm PDT

Chad and I went on our first truly solo (no Mila!) date night to the Best of Cleveland party at the Rock Hall.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Oct 31, 2018 at 4:25pm PDT

And we had a fun Halloween photo shoot with the girls!

November 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Nov 16, 2018 at 5:27pm PST

I got to check out the new indoor putt-putt course at Punch Bowl Social in the Flats!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Nov 17, 2018 at 5:43pm PST

The Big Kids went to Kringle’s Inventionasium to see Santa’s workshop!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Nov 26, 2018 at 5:05pm PST

And we decided to purchase our forever home!

December 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Dec 3, 2018 at 3:28pm PST

We closed on our new house!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Dec 24, 2018 at 5:04pm PST

…and between moving and getting settled, we celebrated Christmas.


 

Seriously I could not be more grateful to all of the people who made 2018 the best year yet. I may not have taken a fancy vacation or gotten a big new promotion, but I had the most fulfilling year to date! It was full of everything that is most important — family, friends, lots of love, memories, and delicious food.

Cheers to 2019!

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, bloggers, brews + food, busy mom, children, Christmas, cleveland, Cleveland Flea, Columbus, explore locally, Explore Ohio, fitness, live happy, mommyhood, NEO, Ohio, parenthood, pictures, restaurants + bars Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, being a mom, brews + food, busy mom, celebration, children, cleveland, explore locally, family, Live Happy, motherhood, NEO, ohio, parenthood, restaurants + bars

Mila Rose – 5 Months

December 7, 2018 by Rachel 4 Comments

If I could wrap up this last month in one word it would be the following: bittersweet.

Bittersweet because over this last month Mila has changed dramatically. She’s no longer a squishy little baby that just eats, sleeps, and poops. Nope. Now she laughs, smiles, and watches her siblings play. She’s, like, a real human now! Ha!

But I’m sad because that was the last time I’ll ever go through the newborn stage. My last baby is already FIVE MONTHS OLD — and that just seems crazy to me. I want, terribly, to relive these days again, another time.

In the same breath, I’m really okay with moving on with our lives — away from newborn ‘things.’ I am looking forward to watching Mila grow into an even bigger little human. I can’t wait to see her continue to interact with her siblings (and me!).

Here’s what else we’ve been up to over the last month —

As mentioned before, she laughs and smiles… a lot.

And apparently, she’s a fan of slapstick comedy. We found out by complete accident. The whole family was lying in bed when we playfully pushed Remy and she ‘fell’ back and laughed. Mila cracked up. Like, full-on belly laugh. It was hilarious so we did what every parent would do… we kept on ‘pushing’ the kids. And every single time, she would belly laugh.

A bit of a health update: She’s perfectly fine. Well, mostly.

This past month has been a whirlwind of appointments. We The first appointment was an echocardiogram at Akron Children’s Hospital. The technician let us know that there was nothing that required immediate attention and sent us on our way.

The second appointment was a dermatologist appointment at the Cleveland Clinic. These world-renowned doctors let us know that, again, while it’s odd that her hands and feet are still purple (a condition that should correct itself the first few weeks after birth), there didn’t appear to be anything causing it. At least not outwardly. I was asked quite a bit about whether or not autoimmune diseases run in our family (none to which I’m aware of), and we decided that if she still has this condition at her six-month well-visit, we’ll do a blood draw to test for things like lupus.

Just as I thought we were totally in the clear, I received a call from our pediatricians’ office. They called and said that the echo showed a hole in her heart and they wanted to refer her to a pediatric cardiologist at Akron Children’s Hospital. And, sigh, my heart fell. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I knew that if it was anything serious, they never would have let us leave her echo.

So we saw a cardiologist and it was explained to us that 20% of all grown adults have this hole in their heart (from birth) and they may never be aware of it. She’s perfectly healthy, heart-wise — no murmur, nothing. In fact, she doesn’t even want to see us back! Hooray!

We’ll just be awaiting our 6-month well-visit to see if her hands and feet are still purple. That’s it!

Food? Not yet.

We haven’t yet started on food or cereal. But we are still EBF (exclusively breastfeeding). She’s gaining weight, which is a good sign. Truthfully, I’ve never doubted my ability to nourish my children. But the fact remains — she was born my largest baby at 8 lbs, which means she ‘should’ be following a heavier growth curve than she is. But my children are small — they always have been. So I’m not surprised that she dropped off her original curve and she’s trending more like my first two babies.

We never used cereal or rice with the first two babies (personal decision), but I considered it this third time around. I haven’t ruled it out (yet) but I’m holding off until our 6-month appointment. From her specialist appointments this past month, I have zero weight worries. She gained and gained with every appointment!

Sleep? Sometimes.

We’ve been super hit or miss this last month. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated. She’s been doing an awful lot of cluster feeding lately (thanks to a growth spurt and teething), so there are many . nights where I’m basically pulling an all-nighter. And then other nights she seems to sleep for 6-hour stretches. It’s weird. I can’t find a pattern. I’m just hoping it levels off soon.

We’re technically still co-sleeping (same room, not bedsharing), but as soon as we’re in the new house she’ll be in a separate room. I know it will be an adjustment, but we’ll all be adjusting to our new home, so fingers crossed that helps.

No more babies.

I honestly cannot wait to spend this holiday season with my little (big?) family of 5. I’m finally comfortable saying “We’re good with three kids. Believe it or not, I was considering a fourth just a few months back. But now that we’ve moved into our new home, I’m ready to settle into our family as it is. I feel like this new house may be our fourth ‘baby’. Ha!

So for now, I’ll just be over here eating up this last baby stage. Ever laugh, every thigh roll, every breastfeeding punch, and every sleepless night… I’ll just eat it all up.

Happy 5 months, Mila Rose. ♥ ♥

 

Filed Under: #MomLife, babies, baby girl, busy mom, children, family, life, mommyhood, Oh baby!, parenthood, pictures Tagged With: #MomLife, babies, baby girl, being a mom, busy mom, children, family, life, mommyhood, motherhood, oh baby, parenthood, pictures

Mila Rose // 4 Months

October 29, 2018 by Rachel 15 Comments

Time flies, friends. It truly does. And this past month has been nothing short of a whirlwind. So much so, in fact, that I totally missed Mila’s 4-month milestone. No joke. By that, I mean that it was days — days! — before I realized she was 4-months-old, not 3-months-old.

Third kid problem? Yep. Girlfriend better get used to this. Ha!

So the good news is that the 4-month sleep regression that popped up early for us last month seems to have passed, but we’re now struggling to nap for longer stretches during the day. Sure, it’s a bit of a bummer, but I have a feeling it has to do with the three teeth she’s cutting presently.

The first tooth I mentioned last month still hasn’t made its way through completely, but it’s since been joined by two others cutting through her poor gums. So we’re dealing with the fussiness that comes along with that, but we’re managing.

She’s garnered the nickname Scooter from Mimi + Poppy because she will lay on the ground on her back and somehow manage to scoot all over the living room! And she’s still rolling over from back to belly over and over and over again.

And she’s found her little voice. Her favorite thing to do is laugh at her brother and sister — especially when they pretend to fall down. Between the laughter, babbling, and blowing raspberries, this child is LOUD. I suppose she has to be with two other crazy kids in the house, right?

We also had her four-month appointment with her pediatrician. She’s weighing in at 11 pounds 15 ounces, which puts her at 7.5 percentile on the growth chart. And her medical team is a little concerned because she also has what appears to be a circulation issue (they’re thinking likely Raynaud’s disease), but coupling that with her slow weight gain means that we have to make a trip to see a pediatric cardiologist and pediatric dermatologist to rule out any underlying heart issues.

Other than that, this little lady is doing wonderfully! She is happy as can be and truly a joy to have as a part of our little family. ♥ ♥

 

 

Filed Under: #MomLife, babies, children, family, mommyhood, parenthood, pictures Tagged With: #MomLife, babies, being a mom, children, family, mommyhood, motherhood, parenthood, pictures

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