Its a Hero

marriage

Weekend Wrap Up //

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It was another one of those weekends. The kind of weekend that makes my heart pitter-patter. I went to bed SO full of happy on Sunday night. Seriously. I was just… happy!

My mom and dad arrived around noon on Friday. We got them settled in and then headed to lunch over at Retro Dog. Retro Dog has long-been one of my favorite fast-casual spots. Well, because, it’s hot dogs. Obvy. But it’s not just any hot dogs. It’s Sahlen’s Hot Dogs… a freakin’ Buffalo tradition!

Seriously, friends. These natural-casing hot dogs are amazing. And my dad feels like he needs to go to Retro Dog every time he’s in town! Which is totally fine by me.

It turns out Fox 8 was on-site filming a segment for New Day Cleveland. The owner knows us (because we share a strong love of hot dogs, root beer, and Buffalo).

The owner came right up to me and said “Oh my gosh this couldn’t be more perfect timing! They don’t believe that our best customers happened to *just* walk in!” and threw us a Retro Dog shirt to put on Ari!

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The camera crew came over to film us and Ari started cheesing in the worst way. Seriously, THE worst. They said they are going to use the footage, but seriously it’s of Ari shoving hot dogs in his mouth and making funny faces at the camera. Ha!

Post-Retro Dog we headed out to get Ari a new pair of shoes. I know that sounds lame, but it seriously made him SO happy! And we were even able to squeeze in a quick swim at the wading pool with Mimi and Poppy!

Friday evening we all headed out to dinner and then to bed early. Thank goodness!

Saturday morning was rough. Remy had a really rough night and I was desperate for a break from her. I ended up powering through the morning, some way, some how.

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My mom and I took Remy to the Freedom Trail and went for a run. Meanwhile, Chad, Ari, and Poppy went to Lowe’s for their Build & Grow workshop. Afterward we all met up in Kent for lunch at Fresco Mexican Grill. Think Chipotle, but locally owned and wayyyyy better. That’s Fresco!

We also had a chance to walk through Haymaker Farmers Market! It was our first market of the season and it was a beautiful day for it! Ari and Chad shared a popsicle from PopSmith (rhubarb or something?)… and we walked and enjoyed ourselves.

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Oh, and we stopped by the newly-opened Peace, Love, and Little Donuts!

They had a super impressive spread of little donuts! And the most impressive part? Was the fact that they made these beauties right in front of us!

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When we asked Ari which flavor he wanted, he replied that he wanted just plain ol’ chocolate. Kiddo! For real?? But we made sure to get a bunch of different flavors to try out. And they were all delicious! My dad (half-) joked that he was going to go get a dozen just for himself. He didn’t (this time), but he likely will next time he’s in town.

And Saturday evening we headed to Mimi & Poppy’s hotel for a quick swim in the pool. I mean, Ari wouldn’t stop asking to go for a swim in the pool at the pool. Of course, when we got to the pool, he was terrified to go in (I knew he would be). I somehow convinced him to come in with me and he did great!

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Post-swim we headed back to the house for a cookout. Chad made amazing burgers and cucumber salad while Ari played in the backyard with Poppy. Mimi snuggled Miss Remy Bea and finally got her to settle down (thank goodness for Mimi!).

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Everyone passed the heck out after that kind of day! And I was lucky enough to have had a chance to sleep next to a very lovey toddler instead of the very-clingy baby! No, she didn’t take a bottle; but Chad just brought her in once or twice to feed, and then took her right back out! I was so grateful to have had that time with Ari (and a bit more sleep!).

I definitely needed every second of that.

On Sunday my mom and I cleaned the whole house. Well, almost the whole house (Ari’s room is a disaster area. For reals.). Because I was hosting a little in-home shopping party for some girlfriends!

We had so much fun sipping sangria (even if I did forget one fairly important ingredient!), snacking on finger-food, and shopping LuLaRoe!

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Mimi left in the middle of the party (but not before purchasing seven — yes SEVEN — items!) to go home to Kentucky [insert sad face]. But after the party the kids and I picked up right where our busy weekend left off!

I decided to drag the kids on a solo trip to the Keyser Barn for their first of the summer concert series! While it was a short trip (thanks, Remy, for that meltdown), we did have some fun!

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And with that, our weekend is totally, completely, wrapped up! So much fun!

Life Lately // June 2016

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This post originally started as a “weekend wrap up” … OVER A MONTH AGO! Like, I’m talking APRIL. But life just got extra busy and the sleep started to get even harder to come by. So I was failing at putting words into sentences. Heck, most of the time I’m still struggling to put logical sentences together!

I swear, in between the Remy Bea drama (yes, I’m calling her newborn nonsense “drama”), we have had a bunch of fun(ish) things going on, too!

I have, like, 300 things on my to-do list. At least half of which are action-items for this here blog. But last weekend I ditched my to-do list — and my email, twitter feed, and online presence — and I lived in the moment!

Our First Baby-Free Date //

My mom has been up to visit several times over the last month. And one of the days she was visiting, Chad and I took full advantage of “Mimi!” We went on our first date without the kiddos! Yes, I realize that it should be obvious that a date doesn’t include kids; but that’s rarely the case. Seriously.

On our “Big Date Adventure” we went to Choolaah Indian Barbeque in Beachwood. Choolaah is a Chipotle-ish, fast-casual, Indian restaurant. We’ve been meaning to try it for a while, but kids. Always those darn kiddos! Ha!

 

We swore that since we were childless for a meal we would slow down and actually enjoy our food; but of course we inhaled it, as per usual. But we absolutely freaking LOVED our lunch! We both left satisfied and eager to come back to try it again! Next time we’ll even bring the kiddos!

Post-lunch we headed over to Trader Joe’s for some serious shopping. We had just gotten our chest freezer the previous week and we were aching to fill it up with some frozen goodies! We’ve been avoiding the TJ’s frozen section for a couple of years now since we’ve been without a chest freezer (’cause we will seriously buy all of the things!).

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We seriously ended up with a giant cart full of goodies… but somehow we made it out of the store in what seemed like record time. … But that’s what happens when you are shopping with kids! It’s too easy! Ha! When all was said and done, our date ‘day’ ended up being a date ‘three hours.’ And that includes about 60 minutes of drive time. Ha! Pathetic! 🙂

But, ohhh, what a lovely three hours it was! ♥

Playdates in the Park  //

We are so lucky to have a park right behind our house (literally. right behind our house. we frequently find children wandering onto our deck because they want to play with ari’s toys and can see them from the park.). It has a full playground and a wading pool for small kids!

And every single day, Ari asks “Mommy, can we go to the park behind our house?” And it’s hard to say no when he can look out the window and say “I see my friends in the park!”

So we go. Even if it’s just for ten minutes. We go.

Columbus Weekend Trip  //

While I wish my mom and my sister lived closer, it’s nice being able to take a whole weekend away to go to Columbus and visit. My mom will drive up from Kentucky to Columbus (about a 2.5 hour drive), and I’ll drive from Akron to Columbus (about a 2 hour drive), and we’ll all spend the weekend together.

Well recently my brother-in-law had to go out of town for the whole weekend so my mom and I drove to see my sister and have a girls (plus kids) weekend!

 

We enjoyed many a-fun-things while in Columbus! We ate lots of yummy food, went to dinner at the Rusty Bucket, played board games, sipped CBC Bodhi, and helped my sissy register for her must-have baby items!

Also? Donuts from the Lil’ Donut Factory! I saw them years ago on the Food Network and ever since, I make it a point to get a donut on every Columbus trip!

It was a fantastic weekend! It was a fairly ‘normal’ weekend; but it was awesome because I spent it with my family!

LEGO Americana Exhibit  //

The LEGO Americana exhibit toured our area mall recently and I was so eager to take Ari to see it! First of all, historical sites for the win! But also? Legos. All. the LEGOS. Ari freakin’ loves Legos. In a big way.

We walked around Beachwood Place for over TWO HOURS. Ari held his “treasure map” and kept saying “Mommy – let’s go see more legos!”

Be still my Mommy heart! ♥ ♥ But seriously. It was totally, totally, awesome.

Workshops Galore!  //

Home Depot, Art Museum, Legos, and Lowes — OH MY! I absolutely LOVE the kids workshops that are available to us. And I’m surprised how many families don’t even know about them. FRIENDS. If you have kids, register them for as many of these workshops as possible. They are FREE!

Making all the things  //

I’ve been trying my hand at a few recipes. (Related: I hate those “tasty” videos you see on Facebook). They are YUM!

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So yeah. We’ve been busy. A good busy!

PS. Other things have suffered. Mostly cleaning, laundry, etc. But these are the moments, people!! These are THE moments!

 

Happy Birthday //

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Last week my husband celebrated a birthday. Not a ‘milestone,’ but a birthday, nonetheless. And I? I had a blog post half written (which I later discarded, because it was nonsense made of half-written sentences) and a toddler that just wouldn’t cooperate.

But we ended up recovering the whole situation. We had really awesome-ish birthday.

Because, even though I had this big day planned for my husband, nothing went as planned. For one, he had to work. Boo hiss. So by the time he got home from work, he was exhausted. But Ari and I had a couple of things up our sleeve(s)!

First we got the best takeout ever. Sure, we would have loved to have gone out to dinner. But? Toddler + baby + tired parents = takeout. And, although we had planned to make him a cake, we ended up buying him an incredibly decadent chocolate cake! And it was perfection!

So, no, we didn’t have the birthday celebration I hoped to have had for him, we did have a fun family birthday night (which ended promptly at 7:30! Ha!).

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And now? A letter to my love:

I can’t believe what we started was (nearly) 8 years ago.

I can’t believe how much has changed.

But mostly? I can’t believe that what we started.

A life together. A beautiful, tragic, wonderful, exhausting life.

From the moment we started talking, I knew you were the one.

From our first date, I knew I loved you.

Love at first “conversation” is a thing.

I’ve been in love with you from day one.

Sure, things aren’t always easy. But I wouldn’t trade you for the world.

So happiest of (belated) birthdays to you!

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PS. Our children are adorable.

xo

Marriage, Anniversaries, and Making It Work

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Today is our 4th anniversary. I honestly can’t believe it’s been four years already — I’m certainly not saying that in jest. I literally mean, I cannot believe that Chad and I have been together for 8 years. I thought a couple of years together was a huge milestone, but now that we’ve been together for 8 years — and married for FOUR of those!? — it’s pure insanity.

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Ahhh The Pre-Baby Years! AKA the years before marriage! PS. I’m aware that I always take pictures on the right (my left). So in, like, every picture of us, we are on the same sides. It’s funny.

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Ari looks at these pictures and says “Mommy, you’re a princess!” Except he pronounces princess as princes. It’s quite possibly the most adorable thing ever.

I can honestly say that our wedding day was one of the happiest days of my life. And not for the “Oh-my-gosh it was a huge event and wonderful” sort of reason. Because it wasn’t a huge affair at all. Actually, we eloped. And it was the most perfect day — and perfect weekend. ♥

We woke up that morning (in our giant king-sized fluffy bed at the Inn By The Sea) and went straight to our couples massage. None of this “you can’t see me on our wedding day” nonsense. In fact, since we were completely alone with no other family around, it was perfectly necessary to have my (soon-to-be) husband at my side!

Post-couples massage I went to get my hair done at a local salon. That was pretty much the only time we were apart from each other the whole weekend. And everything about it was perfect. Seriously. Everything. ♥

In the spirit of always trying to keep it honest here on the blog, I’ve admitted, fairly openly and honestly with friends, that things were way easier before children came along. Really. Things were way easier before kids were added to the mix. No, children aren’t the problem. But they just make things way more difficult.

I mean, I know so many people who have said “You have to make time for date nights once a week/month/etc.” but it’s not always possible. We don’t have a babysitter we can trust. And it’s awful. Work schedules and exhaustion are for real issues. It can create resentment and communication issues.

We’ve been there. We’ve struggled. And we’re still riding the roller coaster.

So how do you forgive? How do you move forward? How do you reconnect with your spouse?

Enter Marriage Fitness — a program created by Mort Fertel, a world authority on the psychology of relationships. He has an international reputation for saving marriages and an online program to help!

Traditional marriage counseling and most relationship books offer problem solving strategies and communication skills. But tackling marriage problems stress-out a relationship and make a bad marriage worse. And did you ever try to communicate when you’re angry? That doesn’t work either.

Marriage Fitness is an innovative step-by-step relationship-changing system that teaches you how to save your marriage. You’ll learn to neutralize your problems and put into practice a system of relationship habits that will shift the momentum of your marriage. And the best news is—you don’t have to dig into your past, dredge up your problems, or practice communication techniques. This is not marriage counseling; it’s Marriage Fitness!

In addition to working with couples, he teaches individuals how to single-handedly transform their marital situation. People from all over the world schedule private tele-sessions with Mort Fertel and seek his counsel by joining the Marriage Fitness Tele-Boot Camp.

We’ve used this program to work on our own issues. After Ari was born we had a serious breakdown of communication. And not communicating is quite possibly the worst thing that you can do in a marriage. We became strangers just passing each other, barely speaking. But with the help of Mort’s program, we worked through it.

I’m not saying that we don’t encounter bumps in the road still. We do — heck yes, we do. And adding another kid into the mix hasn’t done us any favors; but we return to this program to help get our marriage back on track.

Mort’s Marriage Fitness program is endorsed by marriage counselors, therapists, relationship experts, and mental health professionals. Subscribe to his free report, the “7 Secrets to Fixing Your Marriage” here!

And to the love of my life — regardless of the ups and downs and craziness, there’s no one I’d rather ride the roller coaster with! ♥ Here’s to another 4 more!

Celebrating Real Love.

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I’ve never been one to care much for Valentine’s Day. It’s not out of spite; it’s just that I feel like it’s a totally silly holiday. Personally, I’d rather show my love for my partner throughout the year, in forms of small gestures, than spend one day on one grand gesture.

In fact, the only reason we even semi-celebrated Valentine’s Day this year was by accident. Since my mom has been in town, Chad and I decided to go on a dinner date. We spent most of our dinner in a semi-zombie-like state, in awe of real food without a toddler climbing on us, sitting in silence. Ha. But still, it was lovely. ♥

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Still, I much prefer the small gestures. And luckily, they are aplenty in our home!

Real love is when your husband records The Bachelor for you when you forget.

Real love is letting your spouse sleep in late while you wake up with the fussy toddler.

Real love is having dinner ready when your husband gets home from work.

Real love is agreeing to see a movie that you don’t particularly want to see, but one that your partner really wants to see.

Real love is re-watching a Netflix show you’ve already seen so your wife can catch up to where you are.

Real love is doing the dishes after the other has made breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Basically, real love happens in the simple moments; not in the moments that are well-thought and planned. Nope. It’s those small moments that truly make my heart melt. ♥ ♥

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends. Remember to show love every.single.day. Not just today. xo

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And here’s a little throwback to celebrate my love! 🙂

lessons learned in parenting 2 kids for only 2 weeks. AKA i know NOTHING.

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I’d be lying if I said adjusting to two children has been… easy. ‘Cause it hasn’t. I feel pushed and pulled in so many different directions. And I’ve mentioned to so many Mommy-friends that I feel super busy, but I’m not actually ‘doing’ anything. [and then those friends gently remind me that I’m keeping an infant AND a toddler alive, fed, and healthy…]

But seriously. It seems like I have these moments where everything is going well… and then Remy Bea starts to wail and at that very moment, Ari starts screaming about something from the other room that he ‘needs’ right this second. And I feel torn. My immediate concern, of course, is feeding Remy Bea [since I’m the only person able to do so]; but I also feel so guilty for not being available for Ari when he ‘needs’ me.

In short, that part def sucks.

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Oh – and Chad went back to work Monday. I’m SO happy [and lucky!] to have had him home for two whole weeks to help us get adjusted. At the same time, with him getting back into his routine, we’re starting to find our own routine at home during the day. Luckily, my mom came in from Kentucky to help us for this week. Thank goodness, because it certainly has had its challenging moments.

And then there’s the errands…

This is where I’m super happy to have my mom in town. I had to run like 2 errands with both kids… and of course, it was an epic failure. Remy Bea was screaming; Ari was being a mega-jerk whilst picking his nose in public; and I was just like “HI JUST GIVE ME MY PRESCRIPTION BEFORE I MURDER SOMEONE.”

But I’m celebrating the small victories… like keeping both kids alive. And making dinner before Chad got home from work [like, actually making dinner, ya’ll…]. And having clean dishes and clean laundry [but don’t ask me to vacuum].

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I don’t think it’s harder, per se, because being a new parent to one child sucks probably a little bit more… but it’s been way different than I expected. We shall see what this week of transitions brings!

Also? Please send wine… this being torn in two, three, four and more different directions at once is no joke.