updates

the weekend + our first day of school.

September 10, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Guys. GUYS. I have a preschooler. My heart hurts and is, simultaneously, so overjoyed. What are these feelings!? Ugh!

OK, so this weekend was, simply, lovely.

Saturday Miss Bea woke up early (of course), and we ended up taking a nap by 8am. We woke up just in time to get ready to go to the Akron Zoo as they opened. Surprisingly, the zoo wasn’t busy at all. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! Zero humidity. No warmer than like 80 degrees. Just absolutely amazing.

We met up with some friends and their two kids. Ari gets so excited whenever there are “friends” for him to play with. The girls, just a tad bit older than him, quickly took him under their wing and helped to escort him from exhibit to exhibit. I wore Remy in the ErgoBaby and she was content.

It was great catching up with friends we haven’t seen in nearly ages (it’s Chad’s best friend from high school — we’ve seen him since high school lol. But it’s been about a year).

We all went to bed at 7:15pm Saturday night and it was glorious!

Sunday was completely low-key. I mean, like, everyone took naps, and I went on a trip to Target. That’s it.

But Monday we woke up and went to the apple orchard. Honestly, I keep remembering “our last family outings” and they were basically a year ago. Sure, we’ve done things here and there over the last year; but since I was pregnant and Remy was born we’ve kinda been in hibernation mode (thanks to sickness and then a super awful baby). So it feels like we were *just* at the apple orchard when, in reality, it was a year ago…

We walked through the orchard, tasted peaches and apples, and eyed up the pies. We ended up getting home before it got too hot and spending the rest of the day napping and prepping for our first day of school!

That’s right. Tuesday was not only my first day of teaching gymnastics to the preschoolers at the Y for the Fall, but it was Ari’s very first day of preschool! He’s going to preschool at the Y two days a week. And each day during his class he gets swim lessons built in! Bonus!!

We’re officially at the “super sassy toddler” stage. This was the best picture I got (after many, many, attempts) at his “FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL” pic!

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Sep 7, 2016 at 9:28am PDT

Dude had no reservations whatsoever. And was totally in teenager mode when it came to me asking for a picture. Insert toddler eyeroll and refusal to smile!

I didn’t cry nearly as much as I expected to as I dropped him off. Then again, I didn’t really have an opportunity to. I was so busy getting the gym ready for classes myself! When I picked Ari up after preschool he had, like, zero to report. Seriously? Such a threenager!! “How was school?” “Good.” “Anything exciting happen??” “No.”

It turns out, he did go swimming (and he liked it!) and he sang a new (to him) song! So see? Exciting things did happen in preschool. He just failed to report them — initially!

Aaaand now this blog post is coming during yet another weekend. Ugh. I just cannot be caught up on life. Or sleep. Or my DVR. 🙂 But for serious, friends… have a good weekend!

Remy Bea // 4 Months

May 30, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Let’s call it a constant state of delirium. Yep. Let’s call it that. Because I can’t for the life of me find another explanation as to why I took Remy Bea’s 4 month pictures with “three month” blocks. And I’m way too tired to retake the photos. So, here they are.

And here’s a Four Month Update:

She is rolling to her sides, but she hasn’t quite yet made it all the way over to her belly.
Still no teeth. Blah!
But still lots of drooling.
And she LOVES her hands! Last month she had started to bring her hands to her mouth and chew on them; but now she’s officially reaching for things and bringing them to her mouth! Her binky, her teething rings, my hand, and her blankets. It’s crazy to me how awesome her hand-eye coordination is!

OMG she laughs! Well, she giggles. And it’s a belly giggle. The cutest belly giggle you ever did see!
And she still loves to follow her brother and daddy around with her big eyes.
I can’t tell what color her eye are just yet. They look like they are turning to a dark blue/gray.
She’s got a teeny dimple on her right cheek! I’ve been waiting for a dimpled child!! ♥ My husband has giant dimples, but Ari didn’t inherit them. So I’m happy Miss Bea may have received the dimple gene!

She weighs 11lbs 6oz — which is keeping her steady on the 5th percentile for weight! Ha! My teeny peanut! She has been consistently gaining weight and is still on the curve for her weight.
She is 23 and 3/4 inches tall, which is the 25th percentile. Again, right about where she was before.
Head circumference? A completely laughable 15inches! Girlfriend isn’t even on the percentile curve for head size! However, she is on a curve for her!
I saved the worst of the news for last. We are awaiting blood test and urine test results. Baby Bea will not stop screaming. And before you get all “Oh yeah, our baby had colic, too,” it’s not that. It’s a painful scream. Like, a something is wrong, scream. A scream that cannot be comforted in any way, shape, or form. She will scream for hours and hours and hours on end. And nothing will comfort her. It’s heartbreaking.

So yeah. This last month was rough. But they all have been, honestly. And I’m at my wits end. My PPD has been in full swing. I’m exhausted. I’m anxious. And I’m just ready for Baby Bea to be happy. I mean, aren’t babies supposed to be happy?? Sigh. But I’m lucky to have an amazing support system (thank you, friends!!). And also? The doctors took me seriously. THE DOCTORS TOOK ME SERIOUSLY!! I was terrified that they would write me off as ‘crazy mom’. But they didn’t. Score for Mama Bear!

More updates to come! Thanks for all the love and support friends! xo

a new chapter //

May 20, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

A week before Christmas, my life turned around completely. I lost my job of 10 years at 36 weeks pregnant. It felt like an absolutely horrific life event. But? Life really and truly does have a way of working itself out.

I never could have imagined that just a couple weeks later I would be coaching preschool gymnastics for the local YMCA, my huge preg-belly and all! But I did. I was super nervous. I mean, who starts a new job at 38 weeks pregnant!? And gymnastics!? I haven’t done gymnastics in YEARS!

But fate is just funny like that.

I’m not going to lie, my first couple of weeks teaching preschool gymnastics were rough. The kids have been great, but finding my ‘balance’ was tough. But by the grace of my village, I made it through!

And my village has gotten bigger in the process! Not only has the staff been incredibly welcoming to both me and the kids, but getting to work with amazing preschoolers has been awesome!

These kids? They are so fun. And SO funny!! I, naively, had no idea how rewarding a job could be. Even when I’m not teaching their classes, the kids will see me in the hallway and yell “Hi, Miss Rachel!” … And my heart melts into a million pieces! ♥

And today they graduated from preschool. And my heart is so happy for them and so sad, selfishly, for me! Because somewhere over the last few months, I’ve grown quite attached to them! 🙂

I can already tell that this new path in my life was put here for a reason. And I will forever be grateful! ♥

Remy Bea // 3 Months

April 29, 2016 by Rachel 1 Comment

I’m quite possibly the worst mom ever. OK, OK. That’s quite dramatic. But I may be the worst bloggy mom ever. Because not only am I horrible at updating my blog, but I’m completely awful at taking pictures of Miss Remy Bea.

I swear I took a picture of Ari every single day as a baby. But this child? Ha! I was 5 days late with taking her 3 month photos. Oops!

Here’s how our 3rd month went:

Her teeth haven’t broken through quite yet — and her teething seems to have subsided in the meantime. Thank goodness! I can still seem them under her gums — and she’s still drooling nonstop and chewing on nearly everything — but the pain has subsided momentarily.
She brings her own hands to her mouth… if only to chew on them! 😛
Miss Bea started to coo and smile and it is everything that makes my heart happy! It’s so incredible. She’s like a real human baby! Ha!
Speaking of human babies… She’s no longer a newborn. Sometime over the last month she turned from a newborn to a baby!
She loves to lie on her back and watch her brother and her daddy play. I will set her in the middle of the floor and she will just follow them around the room with her eyes. I can already tell she is completely smitten with her brother! ♥ And I know she will adore him for all of her life!
She’ll let me pull her to a sitting position — and she loves sitting in the Bumbo! To be honest, I wouldn’t have even attempted the Bumbo, but the sitters at the YMCA say she loves it! And it turns out, she does!
Since we’ve attempted the Bumbo with success, you should know she has excellent head and neck control. She has pretty much from day 1. Weird little infant.
As a surprise to me, this little baby can roll from her back to her side with no problem. Thank goodness I discovered this when she was on the floor! Oops! She can also kick her legs like crazy AND hold on to my fingers while she pulls herself up into a sitting position!
Her hair is freaking beautiful. It’s dark (super dark!) and flowy and sometimes it sticks straight up. But I just love it.
She sleeps for a few hours here and there throughout the night. Believe it or not, that’s amazing! Also, thanks in large part to the girls who watch her at the YMCA, she has learned to nap! She now naps for 2-3 hours in the afternoon! ♥
She loves to be held. By me, by Chad, by pretty much everyone. Girlfriend loves loves loves to be held.

See these truly awful pictures!?!?

THESE are the result of: 1. Having a toddler in the room to also take care of; 2. A very mobile 3 month old who had absolutely zero interest in staying even remotely still for a single picture; and 3. Exhaustion. I just wanted to get the pictures over with. She wasn’t cooperating. And they are done.

So yeah. It’s been a fun month. OK, well not all of it has been fun. But the one thing that is HUGELY different between Remy and Ari is that I see a light at the end of each tunnel (aka – a light at the end of each ‘pbase’.). I can recognize that not everything is for always. However, this time around I will totally let housework go to the wayside so that I can nap instead. See? There’s something to be said about experience and second children!

To be updated soon, friends!

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! ♥ ♥ ♥

life lately //

November 22, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

I swear even when we have “nothing going on,” we have nonstop stuff to do! Does anyone else feel that way!? Well, it’s clear we’ve definitely been plenty busy with doctor appointments and hospital visits, etc. Blah! We’ve had our fill of all of that.

But besides that, we have had a little bit of other stuff going on, too!

Playing outside. We’ve had an unusually warm November. Sure, we’ve had spurts of ‘normal,’ cold weather; but we’ve also had several 70+ degree days… in a row… in November… in OHIO. Amazing! So we’ve been hitting up the local parks and playgrounds. And Ari has been begging to ride his new bicycle! So we’ve done plenty of that, too! [I was totally afraid that he wouldn’t be able to use it until next Spring!]

Cooking class. Chad gave me the gift of cooking for my birthday! And it took me a little while to get a class scheduled at the Western Reserve School of Cooking, but when I finally did, it was awesome! I rarely cook (mostly because my husband is such an awesome cook, so I feel intimidated), so pending my upcoming maternity leave, I decided “quick dinners” would be a good match!

The Quick Dinners class almost got off to a rocky start… the owner of WRSOC seemed a bit pushy and not-at-all welcoming, which was very off-putting for someone who: a.) isn’t feeling well; and b.) is there by themselves. However, I pushed through and had a super enjoyable experience with the chef and other students! Plus? I learned a TON and ate lots of amazing food!

Watching lots of movies in “mommies bed.” It’s seriously the only place that Ari wants to watch movies. And, honestly? It’s totally fine with me. It’s much more comfortable for me to lie in bed and watch a movie than to sit on the couch. And Ari can be such a snuggle-bunny, so it’s super nice to get this time in with him.

The LEGO store. Want to keep a kid entertained by simply going to the mall? Visit the LEGO Store. It will be impossible to get your kid to leave. Luckily, we’ve had a couple of gift cards to use [from Ari’s birthday], so we’ve actually left with items, too! Ha! But mostly he just likes to play with all of the cool LEGO stuff he doesn’t have at home! Why is it that toys, even toys that are much like the ones you have at home, at the store, are WAY more fun!? But seriously. The Lego store is awesome.

Chick-fil-a craft night. Our local Chick-fil-a partners with Michael’s Stores to host Tuesday night family craft nights! I’m not sure if every Chick-fil-a does this, or if just some do, but it’s wonderful! Ari loves doing crafts and he loves Chick-fayyy, so this is a win-win for us!

Lots “Spring Cleaning” and organizing. I wouldn’t call it ‘nesting,’ because, truly, I am not at all energized. But I have been knocking some semi-major things off my house/chores to-do list. Like washing the carpets. Or moving things around.

Sure, things aren’t exactly ‘glamorous,’ but it’s real life! 🙂 And I wouldn’t change it for the world!