visitors

Weekend Wrap Up //

April 5, 2016 by Rachel 1 Comment

After a full week of [part-time] work last week, I was oh-so happy to see the weekend! Not because my week was hard (it was fun and exhausting, but not hard!), but because my Mama was coming to visit from Kentucky!

Fortunately (and unfortunately) by the time Mimi arrived Friday night, Ari and Chad were fast asleep! So Remy and I got some solo Mimi time before our very busy Saturday!

Ari was oh-so-excited to see Mimi when he woke up Saturday morning! And equally as excited to go to our first ever Home Depot for our first Kids Workshop.

We arrived at Home Depot at 9:04am for our 9am workshop — and it was totally, completely, packed already. We checked in and got Ari his workshop apron and we (aka, I) started building our butterfly house!

I have to say, although I had to do most of the building parts (because a toddler, hammer, and nails definitely don’t mix!), I personally had a ton of fun! Ha!

Luckily Mimi was with us… because this mom of two thing is hard work! I don’t know how I would have done it by myself! One kid was screaming and the other needed help with the hammer and nails!

When we finished up we hurried to the Akron Art Museum for the start of Crafty Mart, a local pop up shop that features awesome craft vendors of all sorts.

Crafty Mart is located in three locations in downtown Akron: The art museum, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and Summit Artspace! I saw many familiar vendors, but I was so excited to see three awesome (new-to-me) vendors at the library.

My faves were Bucha Bill and his mango-cayenne kombucha; my fave barista, Maryssa, and her pottery at Maryssa Moczan Studios (how did I not know this about her!?), and very new crafty mama, Tara, from Baby Got Crafts. The only purchase I made on Saturday was one of Baby Got Crafts baby headbands! But she also makes baby leggings that are available in to-die-for prints!

After we finished browsing + buying at the library, we headed towards our last stop on the Crafty Mart tour — Summit Artspace! Well when we left the library we took an elevator … and got stuck. Very, very, stuck. The elevator jolted and dropped a couple of feet (umm, scary!) and then it refused to move or do anything. I pressed every button for every floor before Ari started to seriously lose it and scream and cry. I finally got through to the Akron police by pressing the emergency button. They no sooner sent someone to help us than the elevator (magically) started to move again. HOLY scary.

But still. We continued on. Dedicated Crafty Mart attendees right here!

Summit Artspace is by far one of my favorite spaces in Akron. Two floors of the building were filled with tasty treats and crafty vendors (including my friend Kevin from Studio KMR!). And this time Summit Artspace had a DJ on site! It was fabulous!

Macarons, crafts, and shrub mixers galore! What a fabulous way to spend a crafty Saturday!

By the time we made it through all three locations, we were all wiped out! We headed home to sit down and relax for a few minutes before Mim and I took Remy to Mario Fazio’s in Willoughby for an anniversary party!

While we were at the party I had plenty of people to hand Remy off too, which was super nice for me. She was being so fussy and there were many, many, willing participants!

Unfortunately all of our weekend antics caught up with us and Ari ended up with a pretty intense fever on Sunday. We literally stayed home all day long, which was kinda perfect after our fun and crazy Saturday!

Life Lately | January 2016

January 5, 2016 by Rachel 2 Comments

Life has been crazy busy lately. But we haven’t actually done anything lately. Seriously. Here’s the long + short of what we’ve been up to as of late:

Nesting. I’ve been mega-nesting as of late. Like, when I’m not nesting, and I’m trying to do something else productive (like sleep), I’m THINKING about nesting. It’s fantastic. But also, I’m not able to tackle the things I want to accomplish as quickly as I would like (because, belly). But I’ve successfully gotten a ton done.
Food, food, food. I’m not eating a lot (because, belly), but I’ve been eating well! And I’ve been keeping it down! Hooray! And, obviously, at this point I’m enjoying every second of it. And I’m not eating crappy like I did with Ari, either. I’m eating really delicious, mostly healthy foods!
My sister-in-law had an impromptu visit from Colorado last week and we ended up spending a really awesome 24-hours with her, including a trip out to our fave local Chinese spot for some dinner. It’s the little things in life, like food and family, that make life interesting! LOL!
My SIL visited! Well, I kinda let you know about that in the last bulletpoint, but leave me alone! LOL. But seriously, it was a great visit. She ended up getting stranded at Cleveland-Hopkins airport in an effort to get back to Denver from Florida, and she just decided to stay for a couple of days, sans kiddos! Moosh seriously loved every single second of having her here. He completely manipulated her time and attention – Ha! When he woke up and she wasn’t here, he said, “where’s my friend Ashy?” ♥

Fire trucks. Ari got to meet up with his friend Kayden (and my close friend Kristi) to see some fire trucks up-close and personal! In a “private showing,” of sorts, these kids climbed in and out of the fire trucks and even got to go on a quick ‘ride’ around the block! Moosh. was. ECSTATIC. Seriously. I’ve never seen this kid happier than riding in this fire truck.

Pregnancy. Guys, I’m over it. Like big time over it. I’m so over it that I can’t even put together a “pregnancy update” post. Cause here’s what’s new with this pregnancy:
- I’m about ready to pop. Nope, still not as big as I was with Ari; but more uncomfortable than I was with him pregnant at 41 weeks.
- My boobs leak everywhere, always. I think I’ve gone through an entire package of nursing pads before this child has even come. Having pumped nonstop for 12 months with Moosh, I feel awfully guilty that this colostrum cannot be ‘saved’ for Baby Girl.
- Heartburn. I had heartburn, like, twice when I was pregnant with Moosh. With this child I seem to have it all day every day. If you’ve never had heartburn it feels like your chest is on fire and you may vomit at any moment. Every burp you feel coming leaves you to wonder if it’s going to come back up. For me, it doesn’t seem to matter what I eat, when I eat, or how little I eat; I will have heartburn. Suuuuper.
- Lots of movement. I thought Moosh moved a lot in the womb; but that was nothing compared to what this girl is putting me through!
- Contractions. They are coming and going, infrequently. I’m nearly 38 weeks (Thursday), so it’s bound to happen eventually, right?? Only a couple of times have I actually thought “Oh, this might be it.” But nope.
Staying on the homefront. I’m too miserable and too uneasy to ‘go’ far from home. If it’s not Target, a trip to see Kristi, or the doctor, I’m not doing it. Sorry, friends! You can blame me for being antisocial, but to be honest, even if you were around me, you wouldn’t want to be. I’m just not fun. In fact, we skipped out on seeing my favorite comedian of all time, Tommy Johnagin, because I don’t really want to travel too far from home. I know. Lame.

Until this new baby comes, this will be our life. Nesting, resting, and staying close to home.

… and I wouldn’t have it any other way! ♥ ♥ ♥

weekend wrap up //

November 4, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

Hey look at me! I’m doing a wrap up of festivities that occurred just ONE week ago, instead of THREE weeks ago! Ha! #success

Thursday //

Technically, our ‘weekend’ started on Thursday with Trick or treat at the art museum. Or as Moosh calls it, the Art ‘Seum. Moosh loves the art museum! And he loves Halloween. So TWO of his fave things at the same time?? Genius!

<This year was a bit more chaotic than the previous year. There were more activities for kids and, what seemed like, a lot more kids in general. We bounced from activity to activity. But probably my favorite part was the sensory play that Moosh was totally NOT into. They had cooked spaghetti, but it was all different colors. And it had a little bit of water mixed in with it, so it was slimy like worms.

I tried to get Moosh to grab it, by reaching my own hands in. He visibly shuttered… and I died laughing. I couldn’t help it. It was such an ‘adult’ reaction.

Friday //

Besides dragging Ari to the hospital with me for my glucose test + rhogam shot, we did nothing. And we had a super chill Friday night, once Chad came home from a long week of work. He was on-call all week (and had been called out several times in the middle of the night), so spending a nice evening at home was just what we needed.

Saturday //

I woke up bright and early to get a jump on our day. Chad’s sister, who also happens to be my high school friend, had come into town from Denver (yes, all three of his sisters live in Denver!) to visit for the weekend. So I let the boys sleep in while I packed up the car.

Sidenote: Does anyone else feel like they pack up EVERYTHING they could POSSIBLY need in their car for the kids??!! This includes, but is not limited to, a change of clothes (complete outfit with underwear and socks), ‘busy’ activities, snacks, drinks, etc. Ha! Life of a parent!

I love the fact that all I had to do was wake the boys up and get Ari dressed while Chad got himself ready. Easy-peasy. Load everyone in the car and drive the hour+ for our visit!

Ari talked about “playing with his friends” the whole ride there. He’s been saying that about every kid his age lately. It’s the cutest. ♥

When we arrived Ari practically RAN into my friend Nikki’s house to play with his two cousins and Nikki’s two boys. What is it about another kids toys that is just way more fun than playing with ones own toys?? Ha.

The kids played while the parents caught up. After an hour or so we loaded up the cars and headed out for lunch. That’s right. Five kids, 3 of which are 3 and under. 4 Frazzled parents. Two grandparents. In a restaurant. Complete. CHAOS.

Lunch went as would be expected. The kids grew restless; the parents shoveled food in their mouths as quickly as possible. But we ate. And we survived.

Post-lunch we took the kids over to a local park to burn off all the energy they were holding in during lunch. And they played hard.

But, as per usual, Moosh refused to nap on the hour+ drive home. Sigh, kid, sigh… He just stared out the window like a zombie. Dead tired, refusing to nap.

Which, of course, made trick or treating Saturday night just super fun. I mean, he was SO looking forward to it. But we made it one block — ONE BLOCK — before calling it quits and heading home. Our Ninja Turtle was definitely exhausted.

But the houses we did hit up, he did great. He walked up, by himself, and said “Trick or Treat!” followed up by, “Ghee boo!” which is how he pronounces “Thank you.” Super proud Mama moment.

Aaaand then we went home to wrestle him to sleep. Fun times.

And then I forced Chad to watch a spooky movie with me. 🙂

Sunday //

I’m just gonna say it. I LOVE THE TIME CHANGE! I know, I know. Other parents hate it. But I actually slept til 8 (which is really 9) and went to Target by myself — because Chad and Ari were still sound asleep. !!!!!!! Yep. Love it.

Chad and I had a (mostly) chill day of just cleaning and grocery shopping. I napped with Ari (YEP. My kid even NAPPED during daylight savings. Hate me all you want.). We ate. We relaxed. Perfection.

Now, if only I could bottle up that extra sleep and extend it throughout this week! Ha!

weekend wrap up //

September 29, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

This weekend my sister-in-law and her family came into town from Denver for a quick visit. The unfortunate part about this is that I was still very much sick; but I made the best of it (and luckily just spent my nights throwing up, not my days). We haven’t seen them in what seems like ages. My niece and nephew were so excited to play with Ari — it’s been nearly a year since Chad took him out to Denver for a visit.

As much as it was a chance to visit with out-of-town family, this weekend was a chance for us to reconnect, too! Chad + I spent some serious snuggle time with Moosh. I took him for coffee + donuts at the Lil’ Donut Factory (where he requested a “red” donut… I’m not quite sure what that meant, but he seemed to enjoy his sprinkle donut all the same!) before we went to a family cookout — complete with the biggest bonfire I’ve ever seen.

On Saturday, Chad had plans to go with his sister + her family to the Ohio State football game against Western Michigan. He was beyond excited; and I was just as happy to not be going! [Pregnant + around a lot of drunk people = no bueno]. My job for the day was to hang with Moosh, my niece Grace, and their Grammy [my MIL]. We had big plans of our own!

First stop, the North Market! It was definitely busy, but not too busy to swing by my favorite stands + grab some goodies! Moosh seemed to enjoy the Belgian waffles (from Taste of Belgium). I would only let him eat a few bites because we had lunch plans for the Hot Chicken Takeover popup shop.

GUYS. It was amazing! The spicy chicken with warm maple syrup!? Incredible. So incredible that I had to rub it in Chad’s face that he wasn’t there to enjoy it with me! And the kids seemed to enjoy the mac + cheese! In the words of Ari, “It was really good!” Ha! Kid cracks me up.

Post-market we took the kids to Dave + Busters for some fun. I should have known better. I should have known that these kids didn’t even need any tokens… they just pressed buttons! They did end up finding some games they liked to play… like skeeball. It was adorable.

By the end, I was exhausted and so were the kids — SUCCESS! Before we headed home, we got them their prizes (a sticky hand and a Fun Dip each!) and a treat — Graeters Ice Cream!

Believe it or not, Moosh asked to nap afterwards!! Post-nap the kids were pretty mellow while we waited for everyone to come back from the big game. It’s safe to say that everyone slept well that night. Well, except for me — ha.

Sunday morning we went to the Orchard Co. in Plain City for their Fall Festival. Moosh seemed kinda wiped still. And I certainly was. But he managed to enjoy the “train” ride and playing with his ‘friends,’ aka – his cousins!

By the time we arrived home, I was beyond wiped out. I slept for 11.5 HOURS. No joke. But seriously, busy but great weekend. It’s officially Fall, y’all!

weekend wrap up // Easter edition

April 7, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

After last weekend and this past week, we really needed a truly happy and fun weekend. So when Friday arrived we jumped into our weekend with both feet! Ari was hanging with his friend Kayden all day on Friday and when I went to pick him up, I hung out for a while with K’s mom just catching up and chatting. It was SO nice and exactly what I needed to start off the weekend.

By the time Ari and I got home, he was exhausted (life is rough for a toddler); but my little trooper stayed awake until Mimi and Poppy showed up from Kentucky! We visited for a little bit before all heading off to sleep.

Saturday //

We woke up and snuggled with Moosh on the couch before getting started on our busy, busy, day! THIS is exactly what I adore about now having Saturdays off — early morning snuggle sessions! It may have been short-lived but that’s OK. It was great while it lasted.

Aaaand then we were off….

Mimi and Poppy were in town for a wedding; so we were lucky enough to spend an hour or so with some distant relatives that I haven’t seen in a few years. It was a nice visit and Moosh did really well while the adults chatted. He was shy and cute, of course. And then warmed up to everyone and started showing them his trains.

Then the real fun began — we went to meet the Easter Bunny and “hunt” for eggs at the park!

I thought this dude was going to be terrified of the Easter Bunny, but he wasn’t. He was smitten. He had this cheesy grin on his face the whole time. So proud of my little guy for being so brave and just walking up to the bunny!

I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit overwhelmed by the whole egg hunt experience. The youngest section was for 3-4 year olds; so we joined these kids who were like a whole foot taller than Moosh to race for eggs.

Everyone gathered in a huge circle on a soccer field and when they said “GO!” kids just went nuts going for the eggs.

Usually Moosh is too timid to race other kids for things, but with a little help from Chad, he successfully snagged about 8 or 9 eggs and a handful of candy (which was MORE than enough!).

After our egg hunt fun, we went back home to squeeze in a suuuuuper short nap (think like 20 minutes) before we headed to Ewan’s 2nd birthday party. My dear friend Gretchen had Ewan just six months after Ari was born; and they’ve been buds ever since!

We laughed, chatted, played, and had a blast celebrating with Ewan and the gang. When we left it was already after 6pm and our normal 2 1/2 hour napper had napped exactly 20 minutes. We were playing with fire when we decided to stop by Earth Fare to pick up some crab legs and other groceries for dinner.

Luckily Moosh was still in a ‘buzzed’ state of deliriousness. I decided to baby-wear him so that he didn’t go nutso in the store… which made for a lot of fun for both of us! Chad was busy shopping and Moosh and I were busy snapping selfies in the produce section! Ha!

By the time we made it home Ari was more than ready for bed. He fought it though. No, we are not blessed with one of those kids who will sleep in the car or just fall asleep on the floor from pure exhaustion. That is not our kid at all. Buuuut we do have a kid who will sleep a solid 12+ hours in his own bed at night. So no complaints.

Once he was in bed we settled in for a ‘date night,’ which consisted of fresh steamed crag legs and a movie. I am completely spoiled by having a husband that loves to cook amazing meals. And this did not disappoint!

Sunday //

I was so excited for Easter. There’s so much less pressure than at Christmas; but still lots of fun involved! I hid eggs filled with M&Ms and pennies throughout the house. However, I did not anticipate that my child would open up the first egg, notice the M&Ms and stop to eat ALL OF THEM before moving on to find more… Sigh. Mom fail.

Sure, he was excited about his Easter basket; but he was most excited about the candy. Until recently he hadn’t had any candy. Now? Now he knows what it is and we are in trouble!

Mimi and Poppy didn’t help. They brought even more candy over with their basket for him. We were lucky to get him to eat anything other than smarties and M&Ms that day. Ha!

After an earlier-than-usual nap (for all of us), Moosh and Chad went to play in the park while this mama cleaned the whole house (I LOVE cleaning when no one is around!!)… before we messed it all up again! Ha!

And then we did something that we never do together — we cooked dinner TOGETHER! We weren’t rushed or hurried, like during the week. And we used our first Blue Apron meal plan to cook up a fantastic Beef Stir Fry!

It should be noted that Chad does not need recipes; I, on the other hand, do NOT feel comfortable in the kitchen. So having this pre-planned/pre-measured mel was awesome for me! Bonus? It was delicious! And the two-person meal plan had generous portions — PLUS we had leftovers to eat for the next night! Even our picky-“I-only-want-candy”-toddler liked it. Hooray for a successful meal!

Honestly, this weekend was the best weekend we have had in a long time. We didn’t do anything extraordinary, but it was filled with family, friends, and lots and lots of love. My heart feels so happy and so full. I’m so lucky to be surrounded with these amazing people — Chad, Ari, my parents, family and our friends.

And I cannot wait to see what this weekend has in store! <3

weekend wrap up // 4th of July edition !

July 15, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I swear we are still recovering from our Fourth of July weekend. I know, I know… it was over a week ago. But we packed a LOT into a little bit of time.

Thursday night, after work, Moosh & I went on a mini-date… just the two of us! We went to the Akron Art Museum’s Downtown at Dusk. Downtown at Dusk features live music and entertainment every Thursday evening in the summer. Bonus? The museum & exhibits are free on Thursdays, too! So Moosh & I walked around the exhibits (we do this on the regular, actually), then sat at a table inside and watched the band play (a table was the only place I could keep him semi-contained).

[baby-wearing selfie in front of a giant exhibit]

[snacking on a Q-cookie (which is the shape of the exhibit in the selfie above)]

On Friday the 4th, this mama woke up early prepping for a day of fun. ….But Moosh slept in (of course). We had to wake him to get him ready for his first parade! I’ve been meaning to make it to a parade. I feel like it’s a parents’ duty to take their kid to see scary clowns and big trucks driving down a closed street. And it WAS fun. But the waiting for it to start? That was a little less fun.

[thankful Annie’s Organics makes these handy gluten-free snacks in handy to-go bags!]

He was anxious. Super anxious. And running around like you would expect from a toddler with tons of energy.

And thankfully when he saw the big trucks and fire engines honking and their sirens blaring, he was entranced. And we got to take a ‘family photo’ (which these days really means sneaking a family selfie).

We were lucky enough to get him to go down for a short nap before my sister-in-law and her family came over. They were in visiting from Denver and it was Ari’s first time meeting his cousins! Such an exciting day for us!

They played and swam and we all went to the Rib White & Blue Festival in Akron for some eats! Ari was entranced by his older cousins! 🙂

Saturday Moosh & daddy had some downtime while Mama went to work. But by Sunday we were back at it again! My sister-in-law and I actually grew up together and graduated high school together. So we have the same BFF’s from high school (we are SO lucky!). All of us girls got together with the signifcant others & kiddos for a fun cookout and playdate.

Ari got himself drenched pretty early on from the water table. I had just grabbed his swimsuit when he got soaked… and at that point we thought – screw it! – he’s staying in his diaper! Ha! (Parents of the year!)

[he loves corn. and cars. and his cousin!]

[Moosh + Grandpa Mike]The gals were all able to get together for a few pictures before we started to all go our separate ways.

It was a completely wonderful weekend. And this picture of Moosh on the way home really sums up how we’ve all been feeling since. Exhausted from too much fun! 🙂