Monday, September 30, 2013

Per food friend's request...

... a Monday update! I hope all three of you that read these enjoy ;)

Friday, Caroline and I got off of work/school early and killed some time shopping. Dinner was at home in the crockpot, so we were in no rush to get home! The pork chops I made turned out perfect. They were tender enough that Caroline could gum a few bites. She also tried eating some asparagus, which was a surprising hit!

Saturday, Josh made the usual: pancakes and bacon! We are so predictable. But they're SO GOOD. We then headed out for a shopping adventure! He wanted to stop at Tropical Smoothie to get a muscle booster smoothie - he is on a roll with this weight gaining stuff and has been eating as much as, if not more than, me... whoa. I did some dress shopping while Josh took Caroline to Home Depot; apparently she LOVES the lighting section. I found the perfect little, black, lacy dress for my reunion. I'm in love with it and it will now be my go-to fancy-pants dress - perfect! After I found my dress, we went to Momo's for some pizza and beer. I was craving their house stout, which they didn't have, so I opted for a Guinness, with a veggie pizza on the side ;) We had a lovely lunch outside and then headed to the mall.

A thing of beauty.
Even more beautiful <3

We had an appointment at JC Penny's for a photo session at 2:00. Of course, they were running behind, so we had to keep Caroline entertained and happy for 45 minutes. That's not an easy task for a crazy 10 month old. Sidenote, Penny's needs to clean their floors. During our 45 minute wait, Caroline found a dead cockroach (which we thankfully stopped her from playing with) and part of a weave (we weren't so lucky with that one; thank goodness for hand sanitizer). By the time it was our turn, she was still happy but definitely getting tired, so she wasn't as cheerful and smiley as she would have been at 2:00. She was SO GOOD in the studio, guys. We were really proud of her. I went in planning to only leave with the three images and two prints that came with my Groupon purchase. However, the pictures were all too cute so I forked over $85.00 extra to buy a CD with all of the images... oops :) Here are some of my favorites!

OUTFIT ONE


Beautiful baby girl.


OUTFIT TWO


rub-a-dub-dub!




After our photoshoot, little lady took a nap in the car while we headed home. Josh then watched his FSY football game with Caroline while I headed to the store to get dinner. We ate boneless wings (for Joshua) and jalepeno poppers (for me). We drank Pumpkinhead Ale and it was DELICIOUS. We went ~crazy~ and had two each. Drunkards, I tell ya!

Sunday, we had the usual for breakfast. We then headed to the park so Caroline could swing. Due to the sun acting like a giant jerk and blinding her through her sunglasses, the swings were not a hit. However, there were about 20-30 kids playing in the playground, so we set her in the grass and she watched for about 20 minutes. It was the sweetest thing ever, ugh. I love her. 

Baby Converse.......... tooo cute!


We then came home and she took a nap. I ate leftover enchilada chicken for lunch (boring, yes, but food friend cares). I went on a Target mission where I got food for dinner, a new toilet seat, a bin for my "do not put in the dryer t-shirts," baby formula, and baby food; my life is so exciting, guys. I then came home and we all went outside and enjoyed the weather on the porch. Josh and I each had a Pumpkinhead Ale and a Blue Moon Pumpkin Wheat (don't judge, don't judge). Caroline had cheese! I then had mommy bath time (with a glass of wine, oops) and watched 50 First Dates. Josh and Caroline cuddled on the couch and watched Avatar together. Guys, she cuddled on the couch with him for the whole movie. Big girl loves her daddy :) We ate chicken marsala for dinner and I was in bed by 9:00, bwhahaha, I'm old.

Caroline went to bed at 8:00, but then decided she wanted to be awake at 11:00, after Josh and I were already snoozing. She woke up crying (highly unusual; she ALWAYS sleeps through the night), had a bottle between us in bed, and then started crawling on me and nuzzling into me. She then sat up, grinned, squealed, and bounced up and down... she thought midnight was playtime apparently. So we took her to the living room and put her in the swing, and I volunteered to sleep on the couch until she fell asleep. She watched Friends until roughly 12:30 and then finallllllllly went to sleep. Strange night for a little one that slept 12 hours straight both Friday and Saturday nights.

And now, I face the work week. Tomorrow I'm taking Caroline to the doctor as a follow-up for her ear infection, which we don't think is healed :( Have a nice week, everyone!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Bloggity Blog Blog!

Ugh, it's Monday. Nothing worse than a rainy Monday when it's still dark when you leave the house. Rawr!!! Anywho, I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Here's my Monday blog for you guys.

First, a tangent (AKA an excuse to add these photos to my blog). How cute is her new habit of complete destruction in the mornings?

Mr. Diapers, I WILL DESTROY YOU (please note the love handles)
Gosh, mommy. I was just picking out my outfit for school!
And can we also just touch on how cute she is when she eats her cheese? We have another cheese lover in our family!

Nom nom nom nom CHEEEEEEEEESE
I am so lovely when I eat my cheese.

Okay, tangent over.

Friday, Caroline and I went shopping after work/school. When we were in Kohls, we got a call from Josh. You know that Bill Hader commercial where he has a cracked phone screen and he cuts his finger every time he answers a phone call? Welp, that was Josh. He dropped his phone in the parking garage while calling to say he was coming home. So, to Best Buy he went! This is funny, because last weekend we were at Best Buy getting my phone replaced due to a broken speaker. Those people probably think we are crazed! This through off our burger plans, so I ate tilapia stuffed with crabmeat with brussel sprouts, and he ate pizza.

Changing room baby! (thank goodness I didn't actually birth quadruplets)

Saturday, we had our bacon and pancakes, and then headed out for a shopping adventure! We went to Babies 'r' Us to get some more baby proofing supplies, fruit-veggie mixtures for Caroline, and travel formula (our life is SO EXCITING, guys)! Because I'm a gangster with my coupons, we only spent 10 bucks - yep, I'm awesome. Afterward, we walked around the mall and I now want these shoes in brown. Thanks. As soon as we walked out of the mall, it started to POUR, so we sprinted to the car with poor Caroline. We decided on Panera for lunch and Josh ran little Carolin inside through the pouring rain. Of course, the second we walked through the doors, it stopped raining. Boo, Mother Nature, you're mean. We had a lovely lunch, and then headed home and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. I received the box from my cousin Scott and Margaret filled with adorable hand-me-downs from their daughter, Lena. Caroline's closet is now overfilling with cuteness :) We once again passed on the burgers, and opted to eat fried chicken for dinner. Publix has GOOD FRIED CHICKEN, guys. I have been eating healthy and haven't had fried chicken in a LONG time and it was SO GOOD.

My husband makes beautiful breakfasts. BACON!!!

Did I mention it rained? Poor baby girl.
WILD CHILD ON THE LOOSE!
I think I gained ten pounds just uploading this picture.


Sunday, we had our usual breakfast and relaxed all morning. I went on a Kaitlin shopping adventure, where I bought nothing. I was looking for a cute outfit to wear to our high school reunions, and I swear I just hate fashion right now - I saw nothing cute. FAIL. I did buy Ellie a new collar. WIN. After my shopping adventure, I went back home to my husband and baby (who insisted on being held by her daddy the whole time I was out) and we finally ate those burgers! We stayed around the house all afternoon. I made some nasty pasta salad for dinner, tossed it, and ate popcorn instead. We video chatted with my parents. Caroline did her new "trick" with them (I speak like she's a dog) - they shook her head and she imitated them. She had been doing that with us all weekend, but it made my heart happy to see her do it for my parents on webcam! I then watched the Emmy's on the couch but they were boring and I went to bed, zzzZzzzZzzzzZzzzz.

I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good.
Popeye the sailor baby.
Her only real nap this weekend... Cuddling with the bottle.


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Slacker Post.

I apologize for the delay in my weekend blog. Please forgive me, all three of my readers. I'm going to make it short and sweet, though, because I must do work!

Friday, we ate steak for dinner and watched Star Trek: Into Darkness. The movie was good and the steak was even better! Josh is apparently a Star Trek nerd and explained the villain for me to help me understand things. The movie was good, but I always enjoy my eye candy, Spock and Captain Kirk, most of all.

Saturday, Josh made us breakfast. We then took a field trip to Best Buy because the speaker on my phone, yes my brand new phone, decided to die. We were there for what felt like foreverrrrr. Caroline was SO well behaved and everyone in the Geek Squad line loved her.



By the time we got out of Best Buy, we were hungry, so we went to get Indian. Apparently, the Indian restaurant we frequent now has a lunch buffet. Good for them, but we still like ordering off menus. Trust me, I eat a lot, but not enough to justify spending an extra two dollars on buffet food that has been sitting out for an hour. Josh is the same way. We're just not buffet people. Oh dear, we made the staff at the Indian restaurant SO upset, though. They were absolutely confused as to why we did not want to eat from their buffet, and opted to order from the lunch menu (which clearly states that it's available on Saturday). Literally three different employees came up to ask why in the world we wouldn't want a buffet. Ugh, it made lunch awkward, but it was still delicious and I especially enjoyed my Taj Mahal beer!

Once we got home, we relaxed for a while before watching the FSU game. I made buffalo chicken dip and we watched the game. Caroline "watched" it, too... and by watch I mean she walked laps around the coffee table, crawled toward everything she's not supposed to play with, and was an all around wild child. I love her :)



Sunday, I made breakfast while Josh bathed the pups. It didn't turn out nearly as good as when he makes it, but oh well! Caroline and I headed out for a bit of shopping and then Josh met us at a new Southwestern restaurant, Barberitos. It was okay - nothing great, nothing bad. We prefer Chipotle. After that, Caroline and I went to Target and then we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. We got to video chat with my parents, and Caroline got to "meet" Aunt Linda and Tom. Josh grilled us steaks again, and we had a lazy evening.



Today, we're taking Caroline for her nine-month checkup. They'll probably tell us she's enormous and perfect, of course :)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Mommy and Caroline Night.

Last night, Josh went to an awards ceremony for the Public Interest Law Center, followed by a criminal defense attorney social. So, it was a mommy and Caroline night at our house. I took photos to document our night together. Here we go!

First, we took a field trip to Target, 
where she decided to share baby food with the floor.

Hello, Mr. Floor. Would like like this food?

When we got home, we played in her room for a bit.
She enjoyed standing up and throwing her toys to the ground.

Hi guys, look how absurdly tall I'm getting. This is an 18-month dress!

We then  moved into the kitchen, where I had to put her down.
She did not approve of my behavior.

*cry cry cry cry screeeeeeeeam cry cry cry cry*

LIFE IS SO HARD, MOMMY!
WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

Mr. Floor, please comfort me in this difficult time.

I then put her at the table and gave her a "toy."
It kept her occupied long enough for me to clean her bottles.

Oh, Mr. Oatmeal, I would like to eat you *nom nom nom*

The dogs kept a close eye on her, and by that I mean
they stalked her and begged like a couple of crazies.

Hey doggies, lemme figure out how to open this for you...

After I finished the dishes, she ate her dinner. And by ate, 
I mean took a few bites and then decided she was over it.

Mmmm, chicken and apples. Mommy, this is gross.
 Her favorite part about dinner is no longer the food,
it's the water she gets to drink with her dinner.

I LOVE WATERRRRRRRR. I WILL SPIT IT EVERYWHERRRRE.
We then had a giggling fit after dinner, because 
mommy said the word "BOOM." Hilarious word, guys.

Look at my bottom teeth, guys! I have four coming in up top, weee!
She then ate a rice cake while mommy ate her dinner.
Ellie stayed right by her to catch the crumbs...


Nom nom nom nom, I'll make sure to drop some for you, Ellie!
Oh, and would you look at that?
There's a Wrangler on the other side!


Okie, Mr. Wranglers, I will drop some for you, too!
Then, we had bath time! All of her toys joined her,
and it was a marvelous time with lots of squeals!



And just as this picture was taken, daddy walked in the door
and happy girl tried to climb out of the tub to get him.


THE END.

Monday, September 9, 2013

A boring Monday post.









I really don't have much to blog about considering we had a very uneventful weekend. See those pictures up there? They pretty much sum up what we did. We watched Caroline explore her surroundings and crawl all over the house and it was SO much fun. She loves trying to stand up, loves crawling, can balance so well now, and can take steps assisted. My baby is so darn bed!

They only noteworthy thing we did this weekend was visit Bass Pro Shop. It was nice, though nowhere near as nice as the one in Richmond. Caroline enjoyed looking at the fish in the tank and LOVED the area with the wind chimes and bird feeders. We got a new doormat for the back door and Josh got a new arm guard for his archery practice.

Too busy playing with her sunglasses to pose.
We then had a delicious lunch at Texas Roadhouse. We split an onion blossom (which Caroline tasted and wasn't so sure about), each had a roll, I had a sirloin salad, and Josh had boneless wings with a side of fries with cheese and bacon. I had a large Octoberfest mmmmm. I'm feeling lazy and don't feel like uploading pictures. They people who care already saw them anyway :)

Sadly, we woke up this morning to see that Caroline looked like she potentially had pink eye. She spent the morning at my office, which was a bit rough until she discovered my recycling box. We then had lunch with daddy at Zoe's, a new restaurant near my office. I had the shrimp kabobs and they were very tasty! I won a coupon on Facebook and we received two free entrees, so our meal cost under $5.00! Josh kept Caroline home for the rest of the day and she was very well behaved. It ended up working out well, although it's so sad to see Caroline not feeling perfect.

That's all, folks! We are boring, old folk with not much to report on. It's about 8:40 and I'll probably be in bed embarrassingly soon. Goodnight, everyone!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

20 Random Things About Me!

I saw someone else do this on the interwebs, and figured it would be a fun change of pace for my blog. So, here we go... 20 random facts about me, complete with random images from around the interwebs.

1.  I really do not like caramel. The strange thing about this fact, is that I think I liked caramel as a kid. I have no clue when I started disliking it. I'm not even sure if it's the taste I dislike, or if it's the consistency. I also dislike taffy, and other ooey gooey icky nasty things like that. The husband loves caramel and knows that if he buys a treat with caramel, I won't go anywhere near it.

Ma'am, would you like caramel on your cheesecake?


2. I truly, truly love being a mom. I know this is a pretty obvious one, but it's oh so true. Before I became a mom, I had never held a baby, changed a diaper, or really even talked to a baby (fact is, they scared me, and I still don't know how to properly speak to other people's babies). But, I was so excited to be a mom and everything came very naturally to me. The moment she was suctioned out of me and thrown onto my chest was the first time I had held a baby.


3.  I am a rather tall lady standing at 5'10". I have learned to embrace my height and love being tall. However, when I was younger I hated being tall. I had hit about 5'9" by the sixth grade and, trust me, there are no sixth grade boys even close to 5'9". My pants were all too short for me because I was about a size 0-2 and nothing but legs. I had to wear boy sweatpants in gym class. I used to hunch over in the lunch line to be the same height as my friends. I'm in the back row of pretty much every elementary school class picture. But, as I stated above, I learned to love my height and discovered that "tall" sizes in pants are my best friend.



4.  I am terrified of Paula Deen. The woman has crazy eyes. When she was in the news recently, and her face was plastered all over the internet, I was so sad. When I see her face on the cover of her magazine in the grocery store, I recoil in horror. I am sure the woman makes an amazing batch of cookies using her secret ingredient, butter, but the fact is she freaking scares me.



5. My taste buds have changed post-pregnancy. I used to love sushi and I now find it gross. I tried to eat it once a couple months ago and was just disgusted. I also used to LOVE hummus, but haven't enjoyed it since pregnancy. It's just not tasty to me anymore. My sweet tooth has also disappeared, which is a good thing. I'm still trying to lose that extra bit of doughnut weight!


6.  Everyone knows I take a lot of photos. However, I think everyone would be shocked when they saw how many photos I store on my computer. I have hundreds of folders, separated by year and event, which take up tons of memory on my computer. I have tons of photos, but they are SUPER well organized, so they're easy to find. Sadly, a lot of the original versions of my early college photos were lost in computer crashes. There are probably a ton of fun pictures that were forever lost (including the photoshoot of the pickle jar from sophomore year).

Guilty.

7.  My husband and I are very strange when we are around the house together. I'm sure this goes for every couple, though. We have voices for every animal, and we often carry on conversations with the animals, and the animals even have conversations with each other. We also tell each other we stink and try to come up with crazy things the other smells like (I often, according to Josh, smell like Fran farts... Fran is my disgusting ex-roommate from college). I feel all of our weirdness is being passed along to Caroline who, like the dogs, has a specific voice and often carries on conversations with her parents.

8. One of my newly found pet peeves is how much new moms judge the decisions other new moms make. I have noticed a lot of "judgey" moms online, and it drives me absolutely crazy. When Caroline was first born, I frequented baby message boards to see what other babies were up to and learn some tips and tricks from fellow moms. I was a lurker and never commented, but it gave me reading material during the 12am, 2am, 4am, and 6am feedings. However, I had to stop reading them because of the "judgey" moms. "Oh, you give your baby formula? You must not care about their health." or "Oh, you're going back to work? You must not love your baby." or "Oh, you're using premade baby food? You are obviously a lazy piece of crap." Ugh, there are clearly moms like that on Facebook, too, just not as straightforward. Every mom has a unique parenting style that works best for them and their baby. Judgey moms are the WORST. Grr at all of them. Women need to stop being so hard on each other. (this fact turned into a rant, bwhahahahahaha!) Exhibit A: this blog post which is perfect.


9.  In case you couldn't tell from my blog title, I love coffee. However, this was not always the case. I didn't like coffee until college, and even then it took a while for me to like actual coffee and not just the fancy flavored stuff. At ODU, part of our meal plan was "flex points" which could be used at different places around campus. I was always wasting time on campus between classes, and started getting treats at Starbucks using my flex points. It started off being just frappucinos, and then I discovered the latte, and then I discovered the amazingness of coffee (although, I'm not a big fan of Starbucks coffee). Now you know the story of the love affair between Kaitlin and Coffee.


10.  I loved college, but the first week or so was rough. My roommate, whose farts were so fondly mentioned above, hated me and was just plain rude and disgusting. I didn't really make many friends the first week (the two friends I did make that first week had transferred by the time second semester started), which was pretty rough. However, as I was eating one of my many solo meals in the dining hall, a tall boy from New Hampshire sat with me and the rest is history. I'm sure I eventually would have found a group of friends at ODU, or perhaps I would have remained lonely until I made my Outback friends, but I'm glad Josh sat with me (obviously) because we met some great friends together.


11.  I like Tallahassee and dislike Tallahassee at the same time. It's a gorgeous place to live and not freakishly crazy like the rest of Florida (considering we live ten minutes from the Georgia border, we are not in the heart of Floridian craziness). It's a growing city and we get awesome new stores monthly. We recently got a DSW, Sephora, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Home Goods. We are soon getting a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, PF Changs, and Bass Proshop. I also love the house we have here and am really proud of it. However, it's too freaking far away from everything! It's expensive to fly in and out of the airport, driving anywhere entails a trip down I-10 or the "Twilight Zone" as Josh and I call it, yadda yadda yadda. I love my city but wish it wasn't so isolated and hard to get to.


12.  I am so super awkward in certain social situations it's ridiculous. If I know everyone around me I'm totally fine and relaxed. If I'm at a party with a bunch of strangers HOLY COW do I get nervous. And if I don't have anything to hold (like a drink or, my new favorite option, a baby) I feel even more awkward because, seriously, what do cool people do with their arms? Am I supposed to cross my arms? Put my hands in my pockets? Let them hang lazily at my sides? I do not understand! I'm terrible at small talk with people I don't know. I mean, if it wasn't cliche I could easily begin every awkward social encounter with, "wow, how about this weather?" I just don't understand how social butterflies know how to properly engage strangers. I'll never be good at it. But, like I mentioned above, bringing Caroline along helps! I have something to do with my arms and if conversation starts getting awkward, would you look at that, someone needs a diaper change BYE! Google image search "socially awkward penguin" and it pretty much describes my thought process.


13.  I have terrible vision and want, no need, Lasik. I don't think Josh understands quite how bad my vision is because he has absolutely perfect vision. Let me tell you how bad my vision is. I usually don't wear contacts or glasses in the shower. Usually Tollie joins me during shower time and hangs out somewhere in the bathroom, so I talk to her during my showers (as noted in the fact above, she often answers my questions in "Tollie voice"). I once (okay, more than once) got out of the shower, put on my glasses, and realized that Tollie was not in the bathroom at all; I had been talking to a gray sweater. I cannot even tell the difference between a cat and a sweater. Seriously, they need a Groupon for Lasik.


14.  I truly do love food. I am not sure how I made it to number 14 without blurting out this very important fact about me. Josh makes fun of me for how excited I get about food. Husbands just don't understand! I love eating at new restaurants, trying new recipes when I find the time, and, well, I just really love food. If I could afford to try a new restaurant every night I would. I should have become a food critic, for real. A good meal is just very exciting to me, especially when matched with a delicious beverage!


15.  I don't curse much and when I do I think it shocks people. However, that completely changes when you put me behind the wheel of a car. Good lord do I have some road rage. Anyone who knows me would be shocked by some of the words that come out of my mouth when I'm driving. People are just SO FRUSTRATING, guys. I have toned it down a lot now that I have a baby in the backseat who is probably absorbing everything I say. That doesn't mean I'm not calling those stupid drivers every bad word possible in my mind. Ugh, so much RAGE.


17.  As clumsy as I am, this one will come as a shocker: I have never broken a bone or had to get stitches. We think I may have broken a toe while jumping off the swing set barefoot as a child, but it was never confirmed as broken. I did land myself on crutches while in high school after I tripped up the stairs at home, but nothing was broken. Oh dear, I hope I didn't jinx anything by adding this fact.


18. I hate, hate, HATE when people use poor grammar. Some of the statuses I see on Facebook make me want to cry. Do you know what really makes me upset about them? The majority of the poor grammar I see on Facebook comes from elementary school teachers. These are the people teaching our kids the fundamentals of English, and they don't know the difference between your and you're. I wish it was socially acceptable to correct grammar on Facebook. Oh, and don't even get me started on the people who use "ur" instead of your, or "r" instead of are... it's not that hard to type the few remaining letters that make you look like you have a brain.


19. My baby is goofy and I love it. Yesterday, Josh picked her up to go to the doctor (she has a double ear infection, whomp whomp) and the daycare teacher told him Caroline is "goofy" and "not like the other babies." Apparently, when all of the other babies are quiet, Caroline sits in the middle of the classroom and busts into maniacal laughter. Some parents would probably be worried about their other kids being categorized as, for lack of a better term, weird. However, I think it's great. I'm weird, my husband is weird, our friends are weird, yadda yadda yadda. Normal people are boring. Weird, goofy, "not like everyone else" people are freaking awesome. Therefore, my baby is freaking awesome!


20.  I was a math nerd in high school (took AP Calculus and AP Statistics), which led to me getting a math based scholarship to ODU. I'm sure they were shocked when I used that scholarship to become an "Occupational and Technical Studies" major. What is that? Fashion Merchandising. A lot of people think this means all I did in college was make clothes. Nope. Not one clothing design class was taken. I took a lot of math based classes (no actual math classes though thanks to my AP credits), tons of business classes, a lot of marketing classes, a good deal of art classes, and a lot of merchandising classes. It was such a fun major, my classmates were awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone. However, unless you're moving to NYC there really aren't many fashion merchandising opportunities out there.


Disclaimer: I apologize for any typos, but my computer is starting to freak out so I don't want to risk scrolling up to reread this.