Good morning, beautiful friends! How are you? How was your weekend?
My weekend was relatively low key but after a few busy weekends in a row, it felt good to dial things back a bit and enjoy time with Chase and Sadie. Ryan was out of town this weekend (he left Thursday night and returned late yesterday afternoon), so it was just me and my babies all weekend!
I filled a lot of Chase’s awake time on Thursday and Friday with play dates with friends so by the time Saturday rolled around, I was actually looking forward to staying relatively close to home. I only had one thing on the agenda for Saturday and that involved decorating our house for fall!
Saturday
Our morning began around 7 a.m. when Chase started to make some soft noises in his crib. When I hear his first noises, that usually means I have 15-20 minutes or so until he is really up for the day, so I headed downstairs to make myself breakfast (waffles + eggs again!) and down a cup of coffee with collagen and whole milk.
I had just enough time to finish eating when Chase let me know it was go time for the day! I headed back upstairs to nurse him and change him before bringing him downstairs for playtime and breakfast. I wanted to take advantage of the slightly cooler morning weather and decided to take Chase and Sadie out for a walk around the neighborhood once breakfast was all cleaned up.
I played the Hamilton soundtrack during our walk and tried hard not to sing aloud when we passed strangers on the sidewalk. Jammin’ out to Hamilton inspired me to look to see if the musical has any plans to travel to the Charlotte area in the future and was severely disappointed by my findings. Now I think a trip to NYC may need to happen because I have to see this one! (Get ready for a visit, Merri!)
By the time we made it home, Chase was ready to be OUT of the stroller, so while he walked all over the place with his walker, I got a jump start on decorating for fall.
Now we just need the weather to catch up to my autumn spirit. I am longing for cool, crisp mornings!
Chase’s morning nap was a good one – a solid two hours – and once he was up, we ate lunch together (this involved Chase feeding me 10,000 blueberries) before we said goodbye to Sadie and drove off to a local block party!
My friend Brittany texted me about the Mooresville Gateway Block Party earlier in the day and I thought Chase might enjoy checking out the goats and watching the big kids run around.
We had a great time and Chase was enamored with the animals! He wasn’t so sure about the goats at first but eventually mustered up enough bravery to pet them. Ryan has an odd fascination with goats, so naturally I texted him a picture of Chase with his favorite animal to send him some love!
After our time at the festival, we ran a few errands on our way back home. I cut some of my errands short because I thought Chase needed to head home for a nap but apparently another nap was not in the cards for Chase on Saturday.
I laugh now, but when I initially thought I had a weekend to myself with Chase and Sadie, I thought I’d get way ahead on work. Hahahahaha! Apparently I forgot that Ryan wasn’t going to take Chase with him on his travels. Saturday was one for the books because Chase had more energy to burn than I’ve ever seen! He was a wild man and I couldn’t get him to bed until 8:30 p.m. So much for getting any work done!
Since I kept thinking Chase would eventually need a nap (or at least go to bed early if he skipped his nap), we stayed at home for the rest of the evening and spent time baking cookies from my favorite cookie cookbook, eating dinner, playing with Sadie and going through my latest thredUP delivery!
By the time Chase was finally ready for bed, I was absolutely exhausted and couldn’t wait to finish reading my book in bed. Phew!
Sunday
Apparently Chase’s lack of sleep on Saturday caught up to him on Sunday because he ended up sleeping in until 8:30! What!? I felt like super mom all morning because I had so much time on my hands! I started typing up this blog post, responded to a few emails and planned our meals for the week.
The day I make each meal may change but here’s a glimpse at the five meals I have planned for the week ahead:
- Monday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs with Green Beans (Recipe from the Meals Made Easy ebook I wrote with Lindsay, Brittany and Gina – More on this coming soon!!)
- Tuesday: Turkey Bolognese with Zoodles (Recipe from Meals Made Easy ebook)
- Wednesday: Cauliflower Crust Pizza
- Thursday: Shrimp Stir Fry
- Friday: Chicken Sausage with Roasted Cabbage and Red Potatoes
By the time Chase was up for the day, I felt awfully productive so it was a good start to our Sunday! I spent the rest of the morning tackling a load of laundry, playing with Chase and Sadie and making a batch of teriyaki meatballs and a frittata to reheat throughout the week. Eventually 11 a.m. rolled and Chase was in need of a nap. After a few weeks of some pretty darn predictable and stellar naps, this weekend was all over the place for our little man! He slept for an hour which gave me just enough time to sneak in a workout and a quick shower.
Sunday’s workout began with a 15-minute warm up jog (that included some lip syncing to “Defying Gravity”) on the treadmill. I followed up my short run with my Back To Basics Arm Workout and called it a day.
Sadie joined me for stretching after my workout. At least someone likes my sweat!
With Chase up again and ready for action, the two of us ate lunch together in the kitchen. This looked a lot more like Chase throwing food everywhere, so eventually I decided maybe a smoothie date would be more successful and we headed off to Clean Juice in Birkdale Village to share a smoothie!
Chase is a smoothie lover for sure and did a decent number on our smoothie made with banana, strawberries, almond butter and spinach. With our smoothie along for the ride, we stopped by the Splash Pad for 10 minutes or so and Chase was quite intrigued by the spraying water.
He’s slowly getting braver around the splash pad. I think next summer he’ll be all in!
We spent the next hour browsing around Birkdale Village until we had to leave to pick up Ryan from the airport. The Charlotte airport has free parking for the first hour and since the stationary cell phone lot and a mobile baby don’t mix, I parked my car and Chase and I headed inside to wait for Ryan at baggage claim.
The airport was a hit and all of the people did a decent job of distracting Chase who was in desperate need of a nap. Chase lit up when he saw Ryan and the two of them spent the car ride home playing silly games in the backseat. We missed Ryan so much!
We spent the rest of our Sunday grocery shopping and spending time together at home as a family before crashing in bed around 10 p.m.
I hope you guys had a good weekend!
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I need to get my fall decorations up now too that Thursday is the first day of Autumn. I love fall decor and the smell of fall candles around the house! What nice weekend with your two babies =)
I need to get my fall decorations out! I can’t believe it’s already that time of year!!
Hi!! Quick question! Noticed chase is drinking from a straw in the picture! My 10 month old will not suck on a straw just chews it! Same with her sippy cups too! How and when did he learn how to use a straw?
My son is the same age as Chase (13 months) and he JUST got the straw cup. Usually when I have a straw I usually just give it to him to see if he could do it and for the longest time he couldnt, until one day last week he got it. Had no idea he could do that. We use the Miracle 360 cups and the take and toss ones. I would just keep trying and they will eventually get it.
It took him a while, too! I think maybe around 11 months? I just kept trying and eventually he got it. I also think using the Lollacup helped a lot. It has a weighted straw so it ALWAYS finds liquid… so basically when they suck on the straw, they’ll always get something! I think it helped Chase learn fairly quickly! I bought two on Amazon -> http://bit.ly/2cCEHoG
What a fun weekend with your kiddos! Chase just keeps getting cuter and cuter! I’m decorating for fall today too!
I decorated for fall, too, but it’s still definitely summer weather haha. Hopefully it’ll catch up to us soon! I’m actually headed down your way for work this week, so I’m excited to get out of the office!
Fun!!! Hope you enjoy Charlotte! It was in the 90s this weekend, so I hope it cools down for you a bit!
I always think the same thing in terms of productivity when I have a weekend alone and then reality sets in – single parent! Phil traveled all of last week, so his return home was a welcomed one for sure. It is fun spending one on one time, but you also realize how much you work as a team!
First off – I absolutely love reading your blog! I’m so impressed your little one loves smoothies so much! Hopefully mine (due in December) will love them too when he is older!
I just have a quick question – when you take Chase and Sadie for a walk – do you attach her leash to the stroller or do you hold it separate? I just wasn’t sure how easy it would be to hold it separate or if it is difficult with the leash attached.
Thanks in advance and sorry if you have already touched on this in a previous post!
Hi Amber! I usually hold the leash and push the stroller with both hands while also holding the leash, though sometimes I will hold the stroller with one hand and the leash with the other. 🙂
Ok great! We have 2 pups so I wasn’t sure how exactly to go about doing it with creating too much chaos and headache! Have a good day! 🙂
Good reminder, I must get Fall decorations from the attic today!
It sounds like Chase might be getting ready to transition to one nap a day soon! Which is good and bad. Now you’ll get only one break each day but it will be nice and long….hopefully! My son usually naps anywhere from 2-3hours and I won’t lie, those three hour naps are wonderful!!
Looks and sounds like a fun weekend with the kids!
I 100% know what you mean about thinking that you’ll get a ton of work done. I at first thought that I’d be getting a ton of work done this week while I’m home in Palatine and Chicago working from my old home office. But I had forgotten that my friends and family here aren’t used to me working from home and don’t fully understand that I can’t be available all day. So much for that genius idea, ha!
Hope you have a great Monday!
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
The block part sounds like it was fun. I’m all about sleeping in too – I’m glad you got some time on Sunday to get some stuff done around the house.
Ha ha I have plans to get a bunch of work done EVERY weekend and it hardly happens, I can’t imagine with a baby in tow! Looks like you did a great job girly!
Hi Julie!
Oh my heart – that picture of Chase with the smoothie – he looks like such a big boy!
And how do you get your hair to look so darn cute in a ponytail and headband? I feel like every time I try that look it looks like I’m prepping my head for a wig! haha.
Ummm THANK YOU for that compliment! I always feel like it looks like a hot mess! And since that’s how I wear my hair 99% of the time these day, I’ll take your sweet words to heart! I will say that I feel like it cooperates more when it’s a little dirty. Dry shampoo gives it a little more texture/volume which makes it work with me a little more. (Seriously, what did I do before dry shampoo!?)
I have GOT to get my fall decor up! I’m so so so ready! I’m already dreaming about pumpkins on our front porch, eeek! Glad you had a good weekend!
You always dress so cute! My son is almost 1 (in a couple weeks) and he LOVES blueberries – favorite food! He doesn’t know how to drink out of a straw yet. He is inbetween one and two naps too, depending on the day. It makes it hard to make plans!
Where is that adorable dress from??
TopShop!
Hi Julie!
I’ve been reading your blog for a while and love the mixture of fitness/fun/healthy eating. I’m wondering what kind of camera you use and whether you use any additional lighting when taking pictures inside? Any tips on your photography would be great. I’m just starting to dabble in it myself.
This seems like a super fun, but productive, weekend! Plus, any weekend that involves cookie-baking is a win in my book. 😉 Can’t wait to hop on board the fall cookie-baking train!!!
-> http://www.poweredbysass.com
What a nice, fun weekend with your babies! Chase is so darn cute with that smoothie! You reminded me that I own that cookbook, now I have to dig it out from wherever it’s hiding! 🙂
WOOH! What a weekend!!!! The block party looked so fun!!! Okay that pic of Chase with the smoothie is so cute!!!! Babies and smoothies for some reason just make my day. Until my son spread it across the floor…he is obsessed with taking the straw out! But for a brief moment it is the cutest thing! I did notice if it’s a smoothie not made at home he doesn’t take the straw out.
Oh man that picture of Chase with the smoothie is so cute! He’s starting to look more and more like a little boy every day!
I really want to know what those cookies are! They look buttery and delicious and now I can’t stop thinking about them! lol Also I am SUPER psyched about an e-book. Good stuff is afoot!
Also I’m super interested to see how you sprinkled that fall decor around, I’m a HGTV junkie, so seeing seasonal home pics is a huge. If you care to share, I’m interested! And you also reminded me that I have not had a designated box for my fall decor the way I should. I have all these red and green totes for my Christmas stuff, but I have just jammed the fall decor hither and dither in my garage – I need to get more organized. Thanks for the inspiration!
I LOVE when you include Sadie pictures. ♥ I’m so happy to see her!