Life Lately...

{love print}

It was a whirlwind weekend to say the least. Instead of driving out to Chicago with Bill last Wednesday afternoon like we had planned, I ended up flying in Friday morning since Camden and I were still getting over our nasty colds. On Friday we saw 8 houses in the Naperville area and a few in Plainfield (neighboring suburb to Naperville). We've narrowed it down to one house we think will be perfect for us, so just trying to finalize everything for an offer!

Saturday morning we had a listing appointment with our realtor and finalized paperwork to get our home on the market this week. We also had the cleaners come on Saturday afternoon to do a deep clean of our entire house (totally worth the money!). Yesterday morning the realtor's photographer came to take photos of every room in our home. Talk about pressure to get your house clean when you know there will be photos online and open to the public! I think we did a pretty good job of tidying up considering how busy we've been! 

Although it's been a pretty stressful week (and throw in this really annoying head cold), I am really starting to get excited for the upcoming months and the big changes to come. I can actually picture our little family growing in this certain house and for some reason it just feels right. At the same time, I am super anxious and nervous about leaving behind my close friends and my parents who have been such a huge help with Camden over the past 14 months. I told my mom that she needs to move in with us for a few months after baby #2 comes! And I am not joking! I'm all about asking for the help this time around.

I really do want to start getting back into a routine and normal schedule. I even have a few ideas for posts up my sleeve and now that I'm starting to feel a bit more like myself, I'm hoping to finally publish some of them.

I'm also extremely excited to share this new journey our family will be starting very soon! Stay tuned! xoxo

Nasty Colds + a BIG Announcement!

(thought I'd throw in the photo above to symbolize the fact that I've been in my PJs for the last 3 days...)

So, I'm going to sound like a broken record here but I am sorry for being MIA from the blog recently. Cam and I BOTH have come down with nasty colds over the weekend and have been hibernating the past 3 days. I feel so bad for Cam because he can't blow his nose and hearing a one year old coughing is just the saddest sound in the world! We've had a few rough nights of him waking up and having coughing fits. I've tried everything from the cool humidifier in his room, sitting in the steamy bathroom, saline spray, warm baths, etc etc. I'm hoping we only have a few more days of this hot mess express!

This week is going to be busy because we are not only hoping to get our house listed this weekend (yikes!), but we are also planning to take a trip to Chicago to look at homes and neighborhoods for our move.... 

That's right... You read correctly... We are moving to CHICAGO! 

(source)

(source)

Well, most likely a suburb of Chicago. Bill received a job offer we couldn't refuse which will be based in and around Chicago, so we decided as a family that it would be the right time to move. If we had kids in school, it would be a lot more difficult to make this decision. However, since we have at least 4ish years to worry about Cam and his brother going to school it will be perfect timing. There may even be an opening in his new company back in Columbus over the next 3-4 years that could potentially bring us back, but for now we are excited for this new journey. 

Our goal right now is to be moved into our new home by late Feb to early March, so we do still have some time to prepare. 

With that being said, I've been a little side tracked with not only trying to get us healthy again, but also finalizing plans for our house and the trip to Chicago. I still have a few blog posts scheduled for the week, so stay tuned!

Thank you for continuing to follow along! I will have so much more to blog about in the upcoming months with our move!

I don't want to forget...

There once was a time when I would post monthly Camden updates. I would write about his weight, height, how much he's grown and what milestones he's crossed. Now that my baby is almost 14 months (whaaaaaaat?), I realize how these little numbers on a chart don't really mean as much as the memories we are creating. 

He is at such a fun age right now! We are really starting to communicate with him and it's so fun to see how his little brain operates and changes daily! He is constantly pointing to things and squealing with excitement. He points and sqeals when ever he sees our dog Charlie like it was the first time he'd seen a dog. It is truely the funniest and sweetest thing! These are the little tid bits I don't want to forget. He's also started to take some steps on his own here and there, but still doesn't seem to eager to walk yet, which I'm totally fine with. Take your tme baby!

What I don't want to forget about Camden at 13 months...

• How he pokes his head up over the crib to greet me in the morning. 
• The way he studies new objects.
• The way he dances and sways to music.
• The way his faces scrunches up in a smile and says "ahhh" when he sees a dog or cat or any furry animal.
• The way he open mouth kisses and hugs his stuffed animals.
• The way he lays his head down immediately when we say the phrase "night-night."
• The way he giggles and squeals with delight when he plays with his daddy.
• The way he smiles and points to his daddy when he comes in the room.
• The way he smiles and points to Charlie (our dog) when he sees him.
• The way he smiles at babies and other kids when he sees them.
• The way his head smells after a bath.
• How cuddly and sleepy he is when he wakes up or after a nap.
• The way he will look at me in the eyes randomly while we are playing and then and smile.
• The way he giggles when we tickle him. 
• The way he runs around the kitchen in his 'car.'
• How little his nose is and how blue is eyes are. I just want to kiss that face all day!
• How he waives bye bye to me everytime I drop him off at Grandma and Grampa's.
• How he says mama when he wants me to pick him up or when he's hungry.
• The way he smiles when I open the car door and see him in his car seat. 

There are a million other things I want to write down to remember. I'm so glad with our technology now that we are able to take photos and video clips of our little ones so easily. Now, just tryin to organize those photos and videos is such a huge task! Something to work on in 2016 and before baby #2 arrives!

1st trimester recap...

top {similar non maternity here} | leggings {non maternity option here} | boots | hat

I can't believe I'm already into my second trimester with baby #2!

I will say that I am happy to say goodbye to the 1st trimester. It has been rough on this mama! The nausea and fatigue this time around have been 10x worse than it was with Camden. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I'm also taking care of a 1 year old and don't get as much sleep as I used to? But, this baby is definitely making me work for him!

However, I am slowly starting to feel more like myself everyday. I've found my little tricks to help with the nausea during the day and at night when it's at its worst. Peppermint anything seems to help the best for me. I have gum and mints stored all over the house, in my purse and in the car just in case. I've also been sipping on caffeine free Peppermint tea at night before bed. I have noticed if I don't make sure I eat something every few hours, I start to feel sick again. So, I've also made sure to have plenty of healthy (ok, sometimes its Sweedish fish or chocolate...) go-to snacks in the house.

The cravings and aversions are all over the board this time. One thing that is consistent with my last pregnancy is that I crave fruit and fruit juice constantly. I always have to have a glass of OJ or juice in the morning. Sweets are also the norm, but it's more cookies, chocolates and fruity/chewy candy this time instead of ice cream or frozen yogurt (although, I wouldn't say no to a bowl here and there). I'm hit or miss with meat. Chicken or white meat doesn't really appeal to me, but I've recently been having a craving for spaghetti with meatballs. I really try to make sure I get enough protein for the day which is supposed to help with morning sickness. I've been making these protein pancakes (the 1st recipe) for breakfast with low sugar syrup and it helps me get going. Veggies are also hit or miss. Anything green is not appetizing, but I do crave salads every now and then.

We had our gender ultrasound last week (when we found out we are having another boy!) and it was so amazing to see baby #2 squirming around in there! I haven't yet felt any kicks, but am looking forward to when I do!

Again, sorry for the lack of posting as of recent! We are so busy with cleaning and decluttering our house to get it ready to go on the market. Our goal is to get it market ready and list it by the end of this month! We are also starting to search for our new home next weekend! I will keep you all posted!

xoxo

It's a......

Sorry for the lack of blogging and social media posting the last few days! We found out the gender of our new baby Tuesday morning and we've been on cloud nine ever since! We didn't do any type of fancy gender reveal this time around, just told our parents immediately after our appointment. 

We took Camden to the ultrasound appointment with us so he could be present when we found out. He was very anxious and would not stay still the entire time ha! Our little baby #2 was making us wait for it and would not uncross it's legs for a long time. The technician even had me get up and walk around a few times to get him to move! Finally, he uncrossed his legs and it was official haha!

We are going to have another BOY!!!!

I was a little sad about not having an excuse to buy all the frilly, pink, girly things... but, then I thought about Camden having a brother and a forever buddy to play with and it made me so happy! Bill and his brother are 18 months apart and they were so close growing up (and still are today). And I'm also happy we get to use all of Camden's baby clothes! I actually started going through all his little NB outfits yesterday and got a little teary thinking of his little brother wearing them again! And of course, I had to celebrate by getting a blue gel mani ;)

Thank you all who liked and commented on my announcement post on IG yesterday! We are so excited to add another baby boy to our family! 

Hello 2016!

Can you believe we are already 4 days into 2016?! 

This year will bring a lot of change for us. We are not only preparing to add another bundle of joy to our home, but we are preparing to expand our space to accommodate our growing family! We have started the process of de-cluttering our house in preparation for listing it on the market. I'm hoping we can move while I'm in my second trimester (while I still feel ok and have the energy), which will give us enough time to settle and 'nest' in our new home before the baby arrives. 

So, this year is going to have a theme. The theme is to 'SIMPLIFY'. I want to simplify my life in all areas. Starting to clean and de-clutter our house has made me feel so cluttered inside. Why did/do we have all this stuff. Sure we need more space, but we do not need to fill it with unnecessary items. It feels so good to rid our lives of these things that are cluttering up our space!

The goals I have for the new year are pretty general and I'm sure you may have similar ones. 

Eat Healthy & Plan Meals || This one is something I really want to work on this year. Now that I'm out of my first trimester (14 weeks yesterday!), I'm hoping this nausea is on it's way out. My appetite has been all over the board the past few months. I'm hoping to get back on a regular eating, cooking and planning meals schedule each week.

Work on Time Management || This one is going to be pretty important this year as well. It's hard enough to find the time for myself or keeping up with house chores with a very active 1 year old, let alone TWO babes under the age of 2! I will have to work on preparing a good schedule ahead of time to make sure I can work in things like work, blog, house chores, preparing meals and exercising!

Include Exercise in my Weekly Schedule || This is part of the time management. I've really fell off the wagon after the half marathon in October. Once I found out I was pregnant I haven't really taken the time to work out. I haven't been feeling the best nor have I had the energy to go to the gym, but I'm hoping that will change as I go into the 2nd trimester and hopefully get a burst of energy!

Minimize and Simplify Life || I already briefed you above on why it's important for us to be de-cluttering our house. I'm hoping when we move into our new home to have a fresh start! 

Create Memories for Camden and our Family || I really want to start planning events and creating memories with our family of 3 while it's still just the 3 of us. 

What goals do you have for the new year?

PS - We find out gender of baby #2 tomorrow! I can't wait! I will definitely share once we have shared with our family and friends! Any guesses what we are having?