Fly The Friendly Skies

Baby Aviator

2013-05-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

We had a mini photo shoot at home the other day and I couldn't help but share these fun photos.
(Do you like the hat I knitted?)

It's been beautiful here the past few weeks. I was super excited to get outside more this week to take long walks and explore a few more parks in the area. I also found a running group consisting of mom's with strollers. So so excited to run with them!!!

However, the forecast calls for rain and overcast skies this week so instead, we will be looking for things to do that are indoors. While I love the sunshine and heat (I'll be much more excited for it once our pool opens this weekend) I do love a few days of rain every once in a while. It reminds me of two of my favorite cities...

Seattle

and London

I've been to Seattle at least once or twice a year since I started dating Geoff back in 2007. I love going to Seattle to see my brother and sister in law, eat a ton of great food and enjoy the beautiful city. I would live in Seattle in a heartbeat!

I traveled to London back when I was in college. I had a friend that was living there for a year and I took a long weekend to visit her. It was so much fun but London is expensive (especially for a poor college student). Luckily I found some cheap London hotels, a reasonably priced flight and off I went. Those days of not having real bills was really nice...

Lastly, I'm sure you all saw the news about the devastation in Oklahoma. I was glued to the news this morning to see the updates and it just breaks my heart. If you want to help out go HERE- msnbc has a large list of ways you can donate and help.
It's amazing and wonderful that we can text a word and have $10 donated to an organization. In less than a few seconds, we can help someone else in need. Wonderful.

(Don't forget to enter to win a Boba carrier here... ends 5/31)

Sweaty Bands

2013-05-18T14:00:00.000-04:00

We have now hit 5 months since having Logan. I've been working on my weight, exercising and tweaking my diet for a few weeks now. During pregnancy, I couldn't wait to have my body back to being just mine and not a home for my little growing baby. I pictured fitting into my clothes, styling my hair and having lots of cute family photos that I was proud to post all over the place.

Hello reality! After giving birth... I got my body back but this body is not the one I used to know.

Around 3 months after birth, most women go through a stage of postpartum hair loss. Yup, that is right. HAIR LOSS. I'm not talking a few strands... I am talking chunks of hair. It's insane. Like everything else, I read about it and thought I was prepared for it. Nope. Not so much. I've clogged our sink and tub drains and we vacuum three times as often.

So, my clothes don't fit right, my hair is falling out and all I want to do is look nice while I workout to try and feel good again. What is a girl to do?

Well- I know one thing that has been helping me- Sweaty Bands!
I have an oval shaped head and my bangs have been forever falling in my face during all sorts of workouts. I have tried all the drugstore headbands to hold my hair in place during workouts... the thick and thin, they last about 5 minutes and fly off the back of my head. I knew I needed something that would actually stay in place, keep my hair back (and those strands out of my face) and "hide" what I feel like is a thinning head of hair.

I received two Sweaty Bands in the mail and immediately put one on. I decided to test it out during my Insanity workout since it's all about jumping all over the place. 45 minute workout later and the headband was still in place- right where it started. YES!

Cute- check
Functional- double check
What is even better is this is a company from my hometown Cincinnati, Ohio. Even though I don't live there anymore, I still love supporting local companies!

Seriously these bands not only hold your hair back but they are also cute! At around $15 for a narrow or $18 for a wide band, they are not the cheapest out there but they are the first bands I have tried that actually do what they are meant to do.

The bands have a bit of elastic in the back that fits snugly around your head and is mostly hidden by a ponytail. The back of the fabric has an almost a velvety fuzzy feel which makes it stay in place and absorb sweat. Speaking of sweat, you have to hand wash these cute bands... but I'd rather spend a little more and take care of something if it is good quality- so not a big deal to me.

There are many designs to choose from and they also make custom bands as well. (They had Boston strong bands that they were selling at the race expo for the Flying Pig- also available here).

I've been wearing my Sweaty Bands for over two weeks now during everyone of my workouts and I can honestly say that I love these bands! They are even great for a bad hair day when I'm out running errands!

You can check out Sweaty Bands on their website, Twitter and Facebook.

*This product was received for review, no other compensation was provided. All views expressed are honest and my own! :)

Boba Carrier 3G & Giveaway

2013-05-16T13:30:00.000-04:00

First things first... I Love love love Baby wearing!

When Logan was just a tiny little newborn, his favorite place was to be snuggled up on Geoff or my chest. It made for lovely, slow days enjoying his newness and getting to know each other but eventually we had to get back to real life. To keep him close to us, feeling safe and secure, we would wear him in wraps and carriers. This also allowed us to get a few things done like making lunch, grocery shopping or running errands. He was also a newborn in the middle of winter (aka flu season) so it also kept strangers faces further away from Logan when we were out. (People love babies always wanted to "take a peek". It was much easier to cover and turn my body to keep him away from someone coughing or getting too close, then if he was sitting in his car seat or stroller.)

There are many benefits of baby wearing such as
-Physical contact with baby creates a more intimate bond (works for both parents) and their attachment is more secure.
-Walking and movement and hearing the parents heartbeat mimics what was experienced in the womb and have a soothing effect.
-Decreases the risk of "flat head syndrome". Babies are supposed to sleep on their backs due to SIDS and spend a lot of time in their infant days on their backs in car seats, swings, seats. Tummy time and wearing your infant helps to keep the pressure off the back of their heads.

Boba was nice enough to send me a Boba Carrier 3G to try out in their very cute 'Tweet' pattern. (They also have a Boba wrap, Boba air and Organic carriers as well available on their website)

When it arrived in the mail, we immediately took it out of the package, adjusted the straps to fit (very easy to do with the instructions) and tried it on. There are some really cool features that makes this carrier really stand out.

You can wear this carrier with an infant without an extra infant insert.
They have foot straps that attach on for older children to keep their legs from hanging down- it keeps them in better alignment.
The strap for the chest/back slides up and down for a comfortable fit.
My favorite- there is a little strap on the shoulders that you can strap a purse to so it doesn't fall off your shoulder! Awesome. :)

Since the carrier is adjustable, Geoff can also comfortably wear it as well. Lucky for us, we are similar in height so most times i just have to adjust the straps around my hips after he has worn it. (I guess my hips spread a little since giving birth) I do have to caution that his arms aren't as flexible as mine so getting the carrier off is a bit trickier for him to do by himself. After wearing this carrier around for hours, we both agree that it is very comfortable!

He loves looking around while we are out and there is a sleeping hood (removable- just snaps on/off), which is great for sunny days or when Logan falls asleep on us.

You can also wear the carrier on your back, which we have not tried yet since it's meant for babies over 20lbs. The carrier can be worn from birth up until 45 lbs (or your baby is 4 years old) so we have a few more years of carrying little Logan around!

Logan absolutely loves being carried! I think our first big outing was at 12 days old to Costco and since then he has been worn on countless walks, days trips to Portsmouth Nh, Newburyport Ma & Boston, doing chores around the house and my favorite through the airport. (I didn't even have to take the carrier off to go through security!)

If you are pregnant, have small children or want to have a really great gift to give a pregnant friend...

Enter for your chance to win a Boba Baby Carrier, a Boba Wrap or a Boba Air! All products can be seen at www.bobafamily.com. With Boba products it is easier than ever to enjoy Freedom Together as a family and Boba wants YOU to get a chance to use their products. To enter to win, “Like” them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boba) and follow them on Twitter (www.twitter.com/boba).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This product was received for review, no other compensation was provided. All views expressed are honest and my own! :)

Sanur, Bali & Tanah Lot

2013-05-15T10:30:00.000-04:00

Okay... lets finish this trip recap up! We left Pemuteran early in the morning to get started on our drive down to Sanur. It was quite a long drive but made a few sight seeing stops along the way to break it up and stretch our legs. Here are some beautiful views (one of many that we saw from the car) of rice paddy fields.

We had arranged for our driver to make a big stop at Tanah Lot on the way there. We tried to figure out a way to get there for sunset (to get some good photos) but it would pretty much eat up an extra day to do it, so we decided the afternoon was good enough. It worked out well that way because we had overcast skies and light rain, our sunset photos probably would have looked similar to those we took.

Tanah Lot means "Land in the middle of the sea" and is thought to be the work of Nirartha, a 15th-century priest. It is a beautiful rock temple that holds a place in Balinese mythology and we loved it! (I'm only showing you a small amount of the photos we took!)

Once we made it to Sanur, we checked into our hotel, which was right by the water and went walking along the main road for dinner. Our hotel was just a walk away from quite a few restaurants, cafes and bars. I had a huge craving for queso and chips (which we did not get) and McDonald's chicken nuggets (which we did get). Besides eating, we relaxed at the pool, laid by the beach and I sipped on many fresh squeezed juice combos. Yum!

I had wanted to do a few things here, especially swimming with the dolphins but they cautioned against it, being pregnant... maybe next time!

We had an amazing time in Bali! I hope some day we will get to come back and show Logan around!

5 months

2013-05-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

**First of all, I want to wish all of my Mom readers (both children and pets) a Happy Mother's Day!!! :) Hope you get a nice massage, a full nights sleep and a new outfit... or at least 5 minutes to snooze in bed. haha. **

Boy, oh boy! I can not believe my little nugget is 5 months old already. It's crazy that I start out each month exclaiming how fast it went and how big my little boy is... but it's amazing how quickly babies grow! When I see a Mom with a newborn it is actually hard for me to remember Logan that little.

At our 4 month appointment, Logan weighed in at 14lbs 10oz and 25 inches long!
He also had his 4 month shots... and despite getting really mad at being held down and getting stabbed by needles in the legs, he really didn't have any reaction to the shots besides to sleep really good that night.

Let's talk sleep... so I already chatted about how we switched to the Magic Sleepsuit (still loving it).
Apparently there is a magical thing at 4 months where your baby stops sleeping so easily. From what I have read, when they are working on something new developmentally (like rolling over) that can cause a disturbance in their sleep. Good thing we have now mastered that skill and hopefully that extra night wakings at 4 months are a distant memory this month. ;)

Remember when I thought my baby was teething? Well it turns out that he was! He now has 2 teeth and a fun little banana toothbrush which he loves to chew on. We are very proud that we have instilled good teeth habits at such an early age. We will see what happens when he realizes whats really going on. :)

Other than that, this month has been full of new developments and boy, are we having fun! We get smiles everyday and cute little laughs more and more. We've taken day trips to Boston and Portsmouth, NH and lots of walks through the parks around us. Logan and I attend a Mom's Group once a week so he can get used to being around other people and I can have some time talking with adults when Geoff is flying! :)

Logan has a really strong grip and will try and bring anything he gets his hands on to his mouth. I've been letting him touch lots of things around the house to experience different textures and feels. I accidentally let his grab onto a straw for my smoothie one day and when I took it away he got so sad and cried Big Fat Tears. It was the first time that I saw him realize that he couldn't have something he wanted.... oh man did I feel bad! :(

He also does this really funny thing when he is laying down. He pulls his head up when he wants to see whats going on... it looks like he's doing a crunch. The pediatrician thought it was hysterical because he does it ALL day long! I think he is either trying to sit up or working on his Baby 6-pack Abs.

He now rolls over all the time. His favorite is from back to tummy and will play until he's tired and then yell for one of us to roll him back onto his back. He not only found his feet, but he realized that they are just as fun to chew on.

Loves:
His Jumperoo!!!!
Goofy faces and funny noises
Watching us eat
Chewing on everything- especially his feet
Rolling from back to belly
Swinging in the swing
Taking walks in his Carriers and Stroller
Bath time

Dislikes:
Having socks on his feet
Going to sleep
Shots
Teeth coming in
Things being taken away

I am so grateful that I have been able to spend everyday for the last 5 months with this little man! I can not wait to see what changes this month will bring!

Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit

2013-05-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

The time had come to ditch the Swaddle. I am not going to lie... I was scared! Logan had been sleeping so well- getting up usually once during the night (around 3am for a quick meal and right back down to sleep). We were in a groove and it was working well. I was not ready for a change.
However, he was rolling more and breaking out of his swaddle nightly. Even though we have the Angelcare monitor, I didn't like the thought of extra fabric that could cover his face. (Plus, my baby still looked like a newborn all swaddled up nice and tight... sniff, sniff)

A friend of ours had recently told us about baby merlin's Magic Sleepsuit and how well it was working for them post-swaddle. I went right home and googled it to see what it was about.

The Magic Sleepsuit was designed by Maureen a mother of four and a pediatric physical therapist, who was having troubles with her babies sleeping well in their crib. The sleepsuit is designed to help make the transition from the swaddle by providing babies a cozy and secure feeling by muffling their reflexive startles. (Check out the moro reflex for more information.)

When ours came in the mail we opened it right away to check it out!

They have 3 color choices- blue, pink and yellow and I was very happy to have a yellow one since we have tried to keep most of our baby things (besides clothes) gender neutral.

The first night we decided to use it, we were so nervous of how the night was going to go. We did our normal bedtime routine and then zipped him up in his new suit. He looked so cute, like he was ready to roll around in the snow. I nursed him, laid him down in the crib on his back, whispered 'I love you' and tip toed out of the room. 11 and 1/2 hours later he woke up. Whhhhhat!!!!

We have used the sleepsuit for about 3 weeks now and I can say that his sleep is right on where he was in the swaddle. This was pretty much a seamless transition for us. I tracked his sleep on my iphone app (which I had stopped doing) just to make sure I could remember both the bad and good nights.

We hit a rough couple of days where Logan started waking up twice at night, which even though it is still good for his age- is not normal for us. The third night, Geoff wanted to try the swaddle again to see what would happen. He was still up twice and arms were out in no time. Call it the 4 month wakeful, a wonder week, teething or a full moon but I'm glad it only lasted a few days.

(See he already knows Sleepsuit= Sleep. haha)

Most of our naps are either still in the swing or on the go (car seat, stroller or carrier) but I've been working on moving one nap into the crib. Mostly so I can workout without having to tiptoe around not to wake the baby. I've been using a combo of the Sleepsuit and our crib mobile to aid in his naps. Most days he goes anywhere from 45 minutes to around an hour. This is an improvement since crib naps use to only last around 20-25 minutes.

Babies at this age are not supposed to have any blankets in the crib with them (SIDS) so the sleepsuit not only keeps them cozy but also warm. The warmth is supposed to aid them in staying asleep- once they are put down in the crib and not snuggled in close to mom or dad. It has open feet and hands so that the baby doesn't get too hot, or if it's too cold, you can just add socks or mittens. It's also fluffy enough that I don't worry about him rolling over and getting stuck just yet, like I did with the swaddle (since rolling is so fun for him now). It's easily washable and can be dried on the low setting just in case of any accidents.

The only complaint I have is that it does make is a little harder to nurse on the boppy before bed since he is so fluffy. :)

I have to say that I would completely recommend the Magic Sleepsuit to anyone whose baby loves the swaddle but is quickly outgrowing it. There are two sizes 3-6 months and 6-9 months, so you can keep your baby all snuggled up for the majority of his first year.

You can learn more about Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit here.
You can also find Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit on Facebook!

*This product was received for review, no other compensation was provided. All views expressed are honest and my own! :)

Pemuteran, Bali

2013-05-01T11:30:00.000-04:00

We had hired a driver to take us from Ubud to Pemuteran and left after breakfast in the late morning. It looked simple enough on the map but little did we know that Bali doesn't really have highways like here in the States. We traveled winding roads, up into the hills and back down again taking us around 4+ hours. We stopped for lunch and had some amazing views of the rice fields and scenery along the way!

After a long afternoon of driving, we arrived at our hotel. We checked in and were taken on a long walk through the grounds to our little villa. We stayed at Adi Assri Beach Resort and Spa and since we told them it was our honeymoon, they put us very close to the water. I loved how we had the water in front of us and the mountains behind- it was very beautiful!

When I was doing all my research, I picked Pemuteran because I thought it would be a good contrast to Ubud and Sanur which are larger towns and more touristy. I figured that we could have some real R&R with little distractions and boy, was I right. There wasn't a lot to do besides relax, lay by the pool and walk along the beach. I'm going to post a few photos but the sunsets were out of this world- seriously some of the prettiest I have ever seen!

The hotel was right on the beach and had 2 swimming pools, a restaurant, bar and massage tent. The beach was nice with soft black sand! They had a few computers up front with slow slow internet... enough to take a few minutes to email home but we didn't need anything more than that.

A walk along the main road took us to a few shops, restaurants and cafes. Our hotel restaurant was decent but a ten minute walk down the road led to very good food at a fraction of the price. :) We ate at this particular Warung everyday for lunch and once for dinner. So good! We loved that they had coconuts to drink... yum!

Our time here consisted of a lot of reading books by the pool, walks on the beach, eating, napping, a massage and watching the sunset. It was amazingly relaxing with little distractions. I had scheduled the least amount of time here, hoping we wouldn't get bored. I was so relaxed after our stay that I was sad to leave.

next update... onto to Sanur!

Paon Bali Cooking Class

2013-04-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

This deserves it's own post because this was hands down my favorite thing we did during our trip to Bali! If you are traveling anywhere and can book a cooking class making local dishes, I highly recommend it.
Not only did we have a great time cooking, we got to eat everything we made and left with the recipes so we could re-make them at home. Win!

The class started off with a trip to the Ubud Market which is located near the center of town. We were picked up in the morning from our hotels and met the rest of our "classmates" for the day (which were basically a bunch of Europeans and Australians). We got a tour through the market, showing us all the vegetables, fruits and spices most used in Indonesian cooking.

A lovely offering.

Once we had bought the spices and vegetables that we would use, we headed back to the village where our cooking instructors lived. They explained to us how the village is set up, orientation of the homes, the rice fields and how everyone plays a part in harvesting the rice. There are quite a few kinds of rice grown in the village and they harvest enough for everyone to eat. It was amazing how different life is than back at home. I wish I would have written it all down to remember all he told us.

Next, they invited us into their home, served us delicious ginger tea and we watched as they collected the herbs from their large garden. We then got down to business and started cooking...

The Basic Yellow Sauce is very important in Indonesian cooking, so we got started on that first. Here we combined all the ingredients and each took a turn mashing them up in a huge mortar.

A look at all our ingredients waiting to be chopped, sauted and cooked!

I had tons of photos of us cooking but I decided to spare you the majority of them. Here Geoff is working on the Deep Fried Tempe

Cooking the Chicken on Bamboo...

In the end, our spread included-

Clear Mushroom and Vegetable Soup

Basic Yellow Sauce
Chicken in Coconut Sauce

Minced Chicken grilled on Bamboo Sticks

Vegetables in peanut sauce
Coconut and Snake Bean Salad

Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves
Deep Fried Tempe in Sweet Soy Sauce

Boiled Banana in Palm Sugar Syrup

Here is my plate full of yummy food!

First one to serve the desert!

To say it was a feast was putting it mildly. It was amazing! I would do this again in a heartbeat if we ever make it back. The instructors were so nice, they asked us all if there was anything that could be improved upon before we left. One guy yelled out "more beer" and as we got back into the vans to leave, they brought out a few extra beers. :)

Ever done a cooking class in another country?

Body after Baby- update #2

2013-04-26T14:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been 2 weeks so I thought I would check in on my progress.

Geoff and I sat down and thought really hard on what action we should take. We decided that if we weren't going to take Logan to the gym daycare yet, that we would put our memberships on hold and start working out at home. I started Insanity and Geoff has started P90X and eventually we will switch to the other. This works out best for us when Geoff is flying a flight to New York or Florida, etc and he can take a video or two with him (which we couldn't do when we both did Insanity before our wedding). When we are both at home we trade off working out and watching Logan. When it's just me, I can try and squeeze in a video when he is napping. So far, so good. I do have to say that it is hard to keep up my energy along with breastfeeding but I'm hoping my body adapts and it gets a little easier (until I switch to the second set of videos... yikes!)

Logan decided that he is joining in too... He loves ab work and weight lifting... ;)

Two things I have worked on since last check in are-
-Make sure I drink enough water every day.
Water is super important for not only breastfeeding, but also staying hydrated while working out. I pretty much live off of coffee and water. I'm not drinking coffee all day long (even though sometimes I am so tired that I feel like I should) so getting in those glasses of water comes pretty natural to me. However, I've been so busy with Logan sometimes I don't remember the last time I had something to drink. Now I make sure there are glasses of water all over the apartment.

I've seen some neat Pinterest pins on flavoring water with fruits... anyone care to share your favorite combo? (I usually stick a lemon or soak cucumber overnight for extra flavor)

-I also have been revamping my snacks.
It's so easy to snack in the late afternoons when my energy level gets low and Logan starts to get a little cranky. Instead of grabbing granola bars or chips I stocked up on a few healthy snacks to get me through until dinner (which is always after Logan goes to sleep at night around 8-9pm). A few of my favorites include-

-Almonds: I love love love these Coconut ones (which I can only find at the Target by me)

-Celery and Sunflower Seed Butter
-Carrots and Traders Joes Spinach and Kale Yogurt Dip
-Chobani yogurt with fruit

-Cereal and milk
-Fruit
-Hummus and veggies to dip

What haven't I been good at? Constantly logging all my meals into Sparkpeople. It's a work in progress though... I try my best everyday and I think that is good enough.

Here are my stats-
Weight- 158 lbs. Down one lb. (I'll take anything)
left arm- 12" no change
left calf- 14.5" no change
left thigh- 22.75" down about .25
hips-39ish" down about .75
belly- 32" down .75
bust- 36" down .5 (again, not sure how accurate this is based off Logan's feedings)

Bali, Indonesia- our honeymoon... a year later.

2013-04-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

So these posts have been a long time coming. How has it been almost a year since my honeymoon?
Anyways, I'm finally getting through all our photos from our trip. I can not believe how much my life has changed in one short year!

Anyways, if you would like to come along with me in my recaps, then be prepared for a ton of photos. (Oh, who am I kidding... that is pretty much every post...)

Back in May 2012, Geoff and I took May off and traveled to Korea for a wedding and then flew straight to Bali for our late honeymoon. We usually try and non-rev (aka, catching open seats on flights- a perk of working for the airlines) but since this was our honeymoon and we had planned out our trip, we actually bought tickets.

We said goodbye to our friends, boarded our flight, and landed in Bali. I researched a ton before our trip and found all our hotels off reviews on Tripadvisor! I figured since we had a week, we wanted to see as much as the island as possible while not moving hotels every night. We decided on 3 nights in Ubud, 2 in Pemuteran and 3 in Sanur. This was a little ambitious and a lot of driving (little did I know I would be pregnant and car sick- oops!) but well well worth it.

Ubud was around a 2.5 hour drive from the airport. We arranged for a car to come pick us up through our hotel before we arrived. (This is totally the way to get around Bali!) He had water bottles waiting for us and off we went. We had a few choices on where to stay in Ubud. We could stay right in the town where all the restaurants and shops were or a little farther out. Since this was our honeymoon, I opted for a more "romantic" feel to our first hotel, staying at Puri Sunia Resort and it was probably my favorite place I have stayed at yet. :)

It was easy to decide to stay a bit outside of town because our hotel had a shuttle that ran every hour into town, which was a quick 10 minute ride away.
Our hotel offered a free welcome foot massage, yoga sessions, morning walks through the rice fields, a pool, had a restaurant which we ate breakfast at each morning. They had a few different items on the menu for breakfast but these banana pancakes, along with a plate of fruit or fresh juice were my favorite. YUM!

Since I was pregnant and in the beginning stages of morning sickness, we didn't do as much as we had originally planned. Which was ok! We spent some quality time relaxing by the pool and taking a nap each day, which is a great way to spend part of a vacation.

The first afternoon we headed right to the market in the middle of town.

There we found lots of people selling all sorts of touristy knick knacks but also some really cool artwork. There is a painting I really wish we could have bought but trying to talk with the artist on how to ship it to the US didn't get us anywhere. Ubud is known for it's artists. They have so many people who make all sorts of beautiful metalwork, beading, paintings, etc. I absolutely loved the feel of it.

After we had bought a few things, we headed out to find a place to eat lunch. There were heaps of restaurants around and so we just popped into one that looked good. We tried basically a sampling platter or 'Balinese tapas'. I was so excited that most of the places around Bali had tons of choices of fresh squeezed juice combinations. I remember this one had ginger in it... so good!

After sitting outside to eat, we decided to walk to the Monkey Forest. The walk was along a road with tons of little shops, it was almost impossible to window shop because the sidewalks were not even at all. Once we got to the beginning of the Forest, we bought our tickets and got ready to go in. What I had read about the Monkey Forest cautioned not to bring any food or extra bags into the forest because the monkeys would try and grab them. They were NOT kidding. Geoff was carrying a plastic bag with our gifts from earlier in it and in the parking lot he got attacked by a monkey... it was pretty scary actually. Once we had everything secure, we headed inside.
We saw this monkey with a baby and followed them around. It was so cute. :)

It was pretty fun in the Monkey Forest, however, I highly recommend bringing the littlest amount with you in there...

The next morning we got up early to go on a Rice Field Walk from our hotel. We had a tour guide and walked the streets around us, all over the rice fields, past a school and back to the hotel.

When we got back, we had worked up quite the appetite. I had read about a place right in town that had crispy pig and I knew Geoff would be down for that. We had to go at the beginning of lunch because they sell out each day in a few hours. We made the drive into town and feasted on some pig and coconuts. Just like in Thailand, coconuts were readily available and drinking the water straight from the source was not only tasty but made us feel so tropical.

That night we went to a kecak fire & trance dance. There are a few of these around the town each night of the week, so we just picked one that our hotel recommended and got tickets. We had dinner across the street and headed in to get seats once we saw people starting to sit. It consisted of dances along with chants and a big fire finale at the end.

Our last full day we booked a cooking class in the morning that took up the majority of the day. It was so much fun that I'm giving it a full post. :)

Next time we go to Bali, I think I would want to spend a longer time in Ubud to be able so take an art class or two and more importantly some yoga! We had a wonderful time here and I really hope I am able to come back some day.

Next up... our cooking class!

Maternity photos

2013-04-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

Way back when I was pregnant, my BFF Courtney made a trip to come and see me before Logan arrived. She and I met in college, at The Ohio State University, where we were both Photography majors. :)

The good thing about having a photographer BFF is she took Maternity photos for us while we visited Boston one afternoon.
The bad thing about having a photographer BFF is that I was last priority for my photos to be edited and sent out. I guess that's the price you pay... ;)

I was so excited to have her visit me when I was still feeling fairly good and mobile. We had a great time walking around Boston and eating lots of good food!
We just got these in the mail and I couldn't resist sharing... so, here are some pretty photos of me with my big pregnant belly!!! (I can not believe my little boy was all squished in there).

All photos are property of Elson Photography.
Courtney takes photos out of the Columbus, OH area. If you would like to reach her you can check out more of her wonderful photography and contact her on her website. (Tell her Megan sent you)

Boston Marathon

2013-04-16T00:13:00.001-04:00

The Boston Marsthon.
26.2 miles.
Countless hours of running, eating right, recovery days, ice baths and lots of sleep.
Families and friends gather along the sidewalks to yell and cheer.
A day that should have been such a reason for celebration turned into one of sorrow instead.

I cried. It broke my heart to hear the news of two bombs going off near the finish line in a city I live so close to and have been loving so much. I could hardly watch the news....

Since becoming a mom, I look at the world in a new way. When bad things happen it makes me sad that Logan will one day understand that there is evil in the world. I'm afraid one day he will get hurt or be hurt or experience something like this.

But then I watched the news a little bit longer and I saw that right after the bombs went off, people went running towards it- to help. These people went not knowing if that would be the only blast. These people are Heros!

It reminded me that there will always be dark times and I must teach my boy to be a shining light instead. To follow the example of these individuals running to help, and to not be afraid but always be willing to help another.

It's not what happens but how we react to what happens that shows us who we truly are.

I like to believe that there is much more light in the works than darkness.

My thoughts and prayers are in Boston tonight

Guest post- Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy

2013-04-14T16:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Weekend everyone... since Geoff is flying and I am on "Mom duty" all day, I have a guest post for you!
Fellow blogger Katie Moore, over at her blog Moore From Katie, is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! You can follow her on twitter, @moorekm26. So enjoy and go check her out!

Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy

I walked into a local department store yesterday and noticed a man, mid-sneeze, walking towards the cart corral. As he lost his battle with holding the sneeze back, he immediately brought his hands up to his face and caught all the watery spray with them. I watched in horror as he used the same hands to grab a cart, without a tissue in sight. Patting my purse in relief, I felt grateful for the sanitizing wipes I was toting around for just this reason. It instantly flashed me back to my pregnancy, where I took many steps to remain healthy and germ free!

Several friends had told me to be grateful that my baby bump will be gone before summer and shared their miseries of being larger than life during the hottest months of the year. They had assured me that my sweater loving self looked even cuter with my round belly than without, but being pregnant during cold season had its own challenges. Not the least of which was fighting off germs everywhere I go. With people coughing and sneezing all around me, I became vigilant in my quest to stay healthy throughout my winter pregnancy.

My first line of attack was my nutrition. While I followed my doctor's recommendations (I talk to my doctor about everything; breastfeeding, cord blood banking, delivery options and more) regarding my diet and taking my prenatal vitamins regularly, I also concentrated on getting a good amount of Vitamin C. Even though I usually love a good, juicy orange, my dry winter lips were sensitive to the citric acid in them. Instead, I snacked on sweet red bell peppers, which are an amazing source for this immune-boosting vitamin. It was one of my strongest cravings and one I didn’t mind giving in to!

The cold and flu season months are usually busy for me and have me out and about more than usual. This means I was constantly in contact with people and some of those individuals don't seem to mind sharing their germs; thus, my affinity for a travel-sized container of sanitizing wipes. I've also treated myself to pocket-sized hand sanitizers in several delicious fragrances. I use these in lieu of the sink when using a public restroom and have found I prefer these to washing my hands in the grimy sinks.

My friends assured me that my germ awareness was just one of many changes that come with being a mom. Even now, I’ve become more aware of staying healthy and beating the germs!

Thanks Katie for the post!

Body after Baby update 1

2013-04-12T12:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I figured Friday was a good enough day to track how I am doing for the week. I don't know yet if I want to check in every other week or just do a month recap... guess I will just see how it goes!

This week we made a few small changes.
We started to plan out dinners for the whole week.
I signed up for Sparkpeople to track how much I am eating each day.
I worked out and hit up a few gym classes including Body Pump and Spinning.
We limited our deserts to a few times in the week and had fruit the other nights.

Since the weather is getting so much nicer here in the NorthEast, we have been putting our BOB stroller to good use with nice long walks. I figure a walk is better than nothing on the days I can not make it to the gym or when I need a rest day.

There are many benefits to walking that include
-Lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol)
-Raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol)
-Lower your blood pressure
-Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes
-Manage your weight
-Improve your mood
-Stay strong and fit

Here are my stats after week 1:
Weight- 159 lbs.
left arm- 12" no change
left calf- 14.5" no change
left thigh- 23" no change
hips-39.75" down .25
belly- 32.75" down .25
bust- 36.5" down .5 not sure how accurate this is. (probably has more to do with how long ago Logan fed. haha.)

Since Logan's schedule is a little more predictable these days, I'm working on getting myself back into more of a schedule. One thing I need to do is bite the bullet and take him to the gym daycare. This would help me hit the gym on days when Geoff is flying but I still can't bring myself to do it. I've only really left him once (besides with Geoff) and that was with my parents when we were in Ohio. I really thought that this would not be a problem for me but I guess having kids changes everything!

Have any advice on leaving your kid at the gym daycare???

What did you do this week to move your body this week?

Months 3 and 4

2013-04-10T14:30:00.000-04:00

Since I never got around to posting about month 3, I thought I would just double up and make these monthly recaps a tad bit shorter! :)

3 months was a whirlwind. The hardest part was Logan and I got Thrush, which is basically a yeast infection inside his mouth and my breasts. It was very painful for me and I was so worried about how it was affecting Logan but he seemed to be fine and still ate like normal. It lasted about a month, both of us were on medication and I will be honest... I had lots of tears, a few thoughts of quitting breastfeeding and we got a lot of use out of my pump! I was afraid it was never going to end, but it did. I am so proud that we made it through the tough part and I didn't give up. It is so much easier now and I am so proud that my boy is growing big and strong from my milk.

Other than the Thrush, 3 months was pretty fun. Sleep continued to get better. For the most part we would get up once or twice at night. On exactly his 3 month birth date he slept for 9.5 hours straight! I felt like a whole new person.

We celebrated Logans first Valentines Day, went out for sushi and he slept the entire time. :) We also went out for Geoff's birthday downtown Boston to the Aquarium and for hot pot. Later in the month, we headed to Cincinnati to visit with my side of the family. Each time we take him out for a long day, it gets a little easier as we figure out exactly how much he can handle before a meltdown.

3 month milestones:
Lifted your head up during tummy time
Moved into 3 month clothing
Took your first airplane ride
Visit to Ohio and met lots of friends and family
Found your hands
First Baby Smiles and Laughs!
First baby tear... so sad!

It has been amazing watching him go from flailing arms to making an effort to reach out and bat at a toy. He has started to grasp at things now and loves his play mat. We always tell him it's time to "play with your friends" when we place him down on it in the morning. He also does this really cute thing where he stares at his hands as he grabs his fingers together...

We also broke down and bought a Bumbo. He gets cranky when he is laying down too long and wants to be able to see the action going on around him. He sits in it for short periods of time right now while he works up his muscle strength. So far, he is loving it.

4 months old-
My baby no longer looks like an infant. He is a chunky little baby with full big cheeks and cute little baby fat rolls. :) I can not believe how big he is! I laugh because I honestly thought I was busy before becoming a mom and it is no where near as busy as I am now. It's a different kind of busy when you are needed to take care of someone. The days are flying by and I cringe each time my little boy out grows more clothes and I pack them away...

Each month is my favorite month with Logan. As much as I loved him as a smushy little infant, his personality is now coming out and I can not get enough. We get constant smiles, giggles and boy does this baby babble. I think we might have a "talker" on our hands once he starts speaking real words. He started to blow spit bubbles a week or two ago but that has calmed down a bit.

Not only is he completely into his hands (which grab everything... especially loves grabbing my hair and neck skin) but he has now found his feet!!!

He also is very into watching us eat. He will just stare at us if we get any sort of food near our mouths. I can not wait until we start foods around 6 months!!! Did I mention anything he gets his hands on goes right into his mouth... soon instead of blankets and toys it will be purees and soft foods... yay!

4 month memories
Talking up a storm.. coos and babbles like crazy
First St. Patricks Day and Easter
Found your feet
Started rolling over tummy to back
Got your passport
Slept 10 hours straight one night
Starting to out grow 3 month clothes and wearing the few 3-6 month we have
Invited to his first baby birthday party

We celebrated his first St. Patricks Day (isn't his outfit cute? My mom made it) and his first Easter (I made the hat). The Easter Bunny came and brought him a few new toys and a Cadbury Cream Egg for mom and dad. ;)

We found that lately Logan isn't enjoying the play mat as much as he used to. Instead of batting at his toys, he grabs and pulls. I think he is getting frustrated that he can't pull them down and into his mouth. We were lucky enough to have friends gift us their exersaucer and we bought a doorway Jumper (to save space instead of a big Jumperoo) and so far he loves both of these! We also got him a mobile for his crib to help us transition one of his naps during the day out of the swing and into the crib. So far it's going okay. It helps him to fall asleep but his naps are much shorter in the crib.

We've also tried reading him more books but it's hit or miss with them so far. He would rather take them out of my hand and try and get them into his mouth...

We are still swaddling at night. We had to buy the larger size Swaddleme's while we were in Cincinnati because he was barely fitting into them. We are planning to try and transition him into Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit next because I think he still needs something to stop his arms from waking his up. He has rolled over from stomach to back a few times and back to stomach once, but not in his crib yet. I'm sure it's coming soon though.

Even though my boy is getting so big, he still looks like my little baby when he sleeps... and I love every second of it!

A quick Thanks and a move to Bloglovin!

2013-04-08T14:41:00.002-04:00

Well, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you who reached out to me about my baby weight struggles. It really helped to know that I am not the only one struggling here. Thank you!!! You guys are one of the big reasons I continue to blog... I love the community we have here online.

Anyways, since Google Reader is shutting down July 1st, I'm moving over to Bloglovin to keep up with all my blogs. Hopefully, you will move too and follow me. :) Follow my blog with Bloglovin

We've been busy over here this week between not sleeping very well.... (i think it's called the 4 month wakeful???) and starting to house hunt- YAY! We hit up 5 open houses yesterday just to get a look at what is out there in the towns around us. It's a bit overwhelming but we are okay taking our time.

Just wanted to touch base and say hello! Enjoy the beginning to your week everyone.

Anyone have big plans for the week?

Losing the baby weight...

2013-04-04T13:28:00.003-04:00

When I am bored, I like to read others blogs. Sometimes, when I am really desperate, I will read blogs that other people read (listed on their blogs side bar). Over the past year or two I have found a lot of "healthy living bloggers" this way who are around my age and in the life stage of having babies and expanding their own families. I found these blogs fascinating, giving me a glimpse into what pregnancy and life with a newborn looked like. One thing I also took away from these blogs was how easy these women made dropping the baby weight look. Breastfeed, eat healthy and you will be skinnier than pre-pregnancy after a month or two. (Great for you if you are one of these ladies, but these posts can be hard for us who aren't so lucky.)

Well... I am here to tell you that this is not always the case and not to be disappointed or feel alone if you struggle with this as well.

I didn't gain a crazy amount during pregnancy... around 31 pounds.
The first week I dropped 12.
The next week another 3.
And then it sloooooowed to a crawl with a pound here and there.

I've been eating healthy and hitting up the gym a few times a week. I'm almost 4 months out and I still have another 10 lbs to go before I hit my starting weight and about 15 more lbs after that to get to my happy weight. (Thank you honeymoon phase weight gain.) I can get most of my pre-pregnancy jeans to button but they are so tight I would never wear them in public and a lot of my tops are too short.
I know it's not good to compare myself to others but it is hard when it seems like everywhere I read, they make it look so easy.

I am loving my new little man and doing my best to lose the weight while not tanking my milk supply, (Now that we have our eating routine established I would love to make it to a year) however, to be completely honest- holding onto this weight is really hard for me mentally. Also, breastfeeding has given me an enormous sweet tooth... one I didn't have before. I literally crave chocolate every single day.

My mom told me to remember 9 months on... 9 months off. I keep repeating this to myself when I get upset over all the clothes I still can not wear.

My husband has been completely supportive of me and my feelings during this time, which is wonderful. We've been concentrating on cleaning up what we eat and making an extra effort to get moving. With the beautiful weather we have been having lately, it's so nice to get outside for walks!

I originally wanted to train for another half marathon to kick off my "get back into shape" goal. However, I find myself wanting to strength train and hit up a variety of yoga, spin and body pump classes at my gym instead. Maybe it's the fact that Logan gets bigger everyday and carrying him around in the car seat is a beast.

To keep myself accountable, I am going to add an entry to my blog every so often. If anyone else out there would like to join me on loosing a few lbs and toning up- please feel free to do the same and we can link up to each other. I need all the support I can get right now!

Starting weight and stats- (this is really hard for me to put out there but I want to be 100% honest)
Weight- 160 lbs.
left arm- 12"
left calf- 14.5"
left thigh- 23"
hips- 40"
belly- 33"
bust- 37"

(Please excuse my bad lighting, bathroom selfies)

I find it's really easy to want to portray only the best parts of life on a blog or facebook. No one wants to admit things that seem easy for others are hard for them or show less than flattering photos but I can not get stronger if I don't embrace my life right now! (aka- it is kind of scary for me to be this open on the Internet with something so personal!)

If you have had a baby, any wisdom of what worked for you?
Let me know if you want to join along with me...
Or just leave some encouraging words :)

Cincinnati visit

2013-03-30T20:15:00.003-04:00

Man, life with a baby really goes by fast! it feels like just yesterday we were in Cincinnati visiting with loved ones, but here it is almost Easter! Crazy. Anyways, as you already know Logan's first flight went really well! Our week in Cincinnati was basically a meet and greet of everyone who had not met Logan yet. It was a whirlwind week to say the least and I'm pretty sure we wore our little boy out each and everyday! Since the weather was still fairly cold we did a lot of our activities inside. I can not wait until our next visit home in June when we can get out more! Our first visitor was from my Uncle Herb. He rushed right on over as soon as he could and wasted no time talking to Logan, who happily babbled right back at him.

Day two we packed up and drove to Dayton to hang out with my Great Aunt Onie. Logan was all dressed for the occasion and enjoyed our mini photo shoot.

Four generations! Pretty cool.

Day three we got back in the car and headed to Lexington to my Grandma's house! Here we met Granny, Uncle Kyle (my brother) and Aunt Melissa! It is weird because my brother just moved from Kentucky to South Carolina and my Granny is moving south of the city so this is the last time we will be visiting family in Lexington. I think our visit was a little bit overwhelming for Logan as you can probably tell by the sad faces in the photos. They are the best photos we got of the day. Even though he looks miserable, I know he had a great time being loved and held by everyone.

The next day we had a play date with my friends Tori and Elly. They brought over their littlest babes while the older kids were at church for preschool.

Already the ladies man!

Afterwards he was beat and took a nap with Geoff.

Then spent the evening hanging out with Grandpa Warren!

Saturday, Geoff left bright and early (4am) to fly back to Boston. Unfortunately he had to work the rest of the weekend. Logan and myself slept in since we had a jam packed day. In the afternoon we had lunch with friends I have known since Kindergarten and second grade- Cari, Lindsay and their kids (and husband). In the evening we headed over to my friend Andrea's house for a biiiiiig get together of my girlfriends, husbands and kids. Logan wasn't even the newest addition, Andrea had a baby boy Aiden. He was so tired halfway through the night he fell right asleep in a few of my friends arms.

Sunday my BFF Courtney made the drive down from Columbus to hang out for the afternoon. We spent the afternoon hanging out around my parents house since we had been on the go the whole week. Logan needed a break... and honestly so did I. I'm still learning how to be a mom and I realized this week that I need to speak up and say when we are trying to do too much with such a young baby.

Luckily for us, that was the bulk of our week. The next few days we got to relax, sleep in and hang out at home. We ran some errands but made sure that we got in lots of Grandpa and Grandma time of snuggles and kisses. :) My mom and dad were amazing and set up a whole nursery (with a crib) for us in my brothers old room. They even got my a Boppy pillow since they know how much I use mine. I think they are trying to entice us to visit more.

We had a great visit and since we just got Logan's passport in the mail this week... we will be planning a trip to Canada to visit Geoff's side of the family very soon!!!

Are we teething already?

2013-03-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

When Logan turned 3 months, something fun happened... he found his hands! He was already swatting at toys and starting to grab or hold onto everything like my hair, fingers and blankets but all of the sudden he couldn't get enough of his own hands. He would grab his fingers, hold on, stare at them and put them straight into his mouth... all ten... well more like as many as he could fit. :)

We traveled home to Cincinnati to visit my family and introduce him to all the relatives who had not met him yet and my mom kept saying over and over again- he's working on those teeth! I thought she was crazy and that he was way too young to already be working on teeth. We've had over a week of chewing, slobbering and crying. At first I thought we had just screwed up his nap and sleep schedule (which I am sure we did just a little) but, he seems to be back on the schedule we are used to here at home and still the fussiness continues. He seems to be in a little bit of pain and cries until something gets into his mouth for him to gum on.

I went to the doctor that is google and low and behold he has some of the signs of teething...
-Drooling. Yup, it's everywhere.
-Gnawing. Yes, Yes, Yes, Everything goes in his mouth.
-Crying. Uh huh, we've been extra fussy these days.
-Waking. Our up once at night has gone back to twice. (might also be from 3 month growth spurt).
-Flushed Cheeks.
I especially loved the part where it said that a baby could be teething for weeks/months before a tooth even pops through... great...

This is the one time I wish my boy liked a pacifier because I feel like that might help. I've been trying everything... Sophie the Giraffe, teething rings, a wet, cold washcloth. His favorite soother seems to be sticking part of an Aden and Anais blanket with half of his fist and gnawing on that. (Those blankets are miracle workers). We take most of our naps in his swing and I was hoping to transition one into the crib once we got home but I'm putting that on the back burner for now.

I honestly can not believe how fast he is growing up... three months have flown by and time does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon!

Any advice or encouragement on how to deal with a teething baby?

We made it to Cincinnati and back!

2013-03-19T11:01:00.003-04:00

We had a very exciting week, last week, heading down to Cincinnati to visit my friends and family! During our time away, we had a lot of firsts... Logans first plane ride, a first tear, first time rolling over from front to back by himself and my first time flying solo with a baby!

Packing for the trip was a mess. Since, we were flying standby and checking bags gets a little more complicated, we decided to have only carry on bags and tried to pack as light at possible. We decided not to bring the stroller with us, or a carseat (my lovely friend Katie let us borrow hers) and instead brought the Ergo. Geoff came down with us and stayed for the first 4 days before having to go back to work while Logan and I stayed for another 4 days. This meant I had help on the way down and had to wing it myself on the way back. I packed up both my clothes and Logan's clothes in my suitcase. Bulked up the diaper bag with our large camera and finally decided to bring the pump with us. (I wasn't sure how much I would use it but figured I might need a bottle or two for my parents to feed Logan). We did a decent job packing but I did fedex a small box back home so I would have less to carry through the airport. I'm sure next time we will do even better. :)

Here are a few tips from my experience

- If you babywear your baby, you can go through security without taking him/her out or the carrier off. They just swabbed my palms after I went through and I was good to go.
Beware though, taking shoes on and off is very tricky when you can not bend over (remember the feeling in pregnancy?) so choose your shoes wisely.
Also if you are by yourself, going to the bathroom is also quite complicated. A stroller would have made this easier.

-You are allowed to take breastmilk, juice and formula/water through security when you are traveling with a baby. They just placed my bottles into a machine, it took a few seconds to test them and I was on my way. (Make sure to have them already out in the bins when you go through so you don't have to search for them when your bag gets pulled).
I also like to bring an empty water bottle for myself to fill up at a water fountain after security.

-Go say hi to the gate agents and show off your baby when he/she is sleeping or in a good mood. This helped us score empty seats around us both ways. :)

-During take off and landing make sure to give your baby something to suck on to combat the pressure changes. I fed Logan on take off both times and he was completely fine and he slept through both the landings. :)

-You can bring your carseat onto the plane if you purchase a ticket for your baby or there are empty seats next to you. Remember that the carseat has to be strapped into the seat next to the window in case of an evacuation (you don't want to be trapped trying to jump over a carseat). If you check your seat, you can hold your baby during the flight but do not strap them into the seatbelt with you. Use your arms as a seatbelt and hold your little one close.

-Bring an extra blanket! Planes get cold and most airlines charge for blankets (and the ones that dont sometimes reuse them from flight to flight... yuck!) so you want to make sure that you keep your baby warm enough.

-If you rely on electronics for entertainment or soothing (like we do with white noise on our iphones) remember that for take off and landing, those will have to be turned off. Come prepared with other plans for those times of flight.

-Don't forget to keep diapers, a change of clothes (and a shirt for you), pacifiers, a bottle, etc. in reachable distance... aka not packed in your suitcase.

-Relax and try to enjoy this new experience. Once we got going I was less concerned with what people would think if Logan started crying during the flight and more concerned with our little family and the memories we were making.

All in all Logan did great! On the way down he was awake going through the airport and slept the entire flight. On our flight home, it was the opposite, he slept until we got onto the airplane and then was awake the whole flight until right before landing. He loved looking around at everyone and watched the people walk up and down the aisles. I brought a few small toys to play with just in case but didn't need them at all. He didn't even really cry, just had a few wimpers when he got tired and I put on some light white noise to accompany the sounds of the engines and he was out in a few minutes.

Now as we plan future trips this year, I'll be a little more excited and a lot less nervous. I'm sure things will change as he gets older and moves around more but, knowing we have flown with him makes it somehow easier in my mind. Our next trips will have to be over to Geoff's side of the family- taking him to meet relatives in Seattle and Canada. One of the things on our to-do lists this month is to get Logan his first passport!

I'll be so excited for Logan when he gets his first passport stamp taking his first flight out of the country to Canada and then coming back on his first of many flights to america! I have a feeling our little boy will be seeing a lot of this big world we live in!

Anyone have any suggestions for traveling with a baby i missed?
Or advice for bringing along a stroller and car seat?

First flights

2013-03-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

We are taking our first trip next week with Logan and it involves flying! I haven't been on an airplane since October- which is the longest I have gone since I started flying in 2006! We are headed to Cincinnati to visit with my friends and family and introduce Logan to everyone he hasn't met yet. (Basically this is everyone except for my mom and dad.) Even though I feel like I am an expert traveler, it's going to be a little different this time and there is so much more to think about.

Are we bringing the stroller? How many diapers should we bring for the flight? Do I bring my pump with me? So many questions that run through my head when I think about it. With everything else that I've experienced with motherhood, I know that once we get through the first flight... our confidence will soar and it will all seem much easier.

When I was pregnant with Logan and working, I took notice of all the families traveling with kids, especially babies. I wanted to see if I noticed anything new that might help me in the future but all I saw was a lot of bags and a lot of rocking and shushing. :) I know to nurse or feed on take off and landing since that can help equalize the pressure in the ears but other than that, it will be a new experience for all of us. One, that I hope, I can share and help others before they fly. The plan is for all three of us to fly down together, Geoff will come back early for work and I will bring Logan back all alone at the end... eeeek!

As excited I am for this trip (I am literally counting down the days.... I can not wait!), I dream, wishing, that Logan grows to have a love for travel like Geoff and myself. I can only hope that this trip will be the first of many adventures as a family (unless you count Iceland, Korea and Bali when I was newly pregnant). I can't wait to see what his likes and own adventures turn out to be. Will he want to ski in the Swiss Alps? Or backpack around Europe? Study abroad? Will he yearn to live somewhere new like Australia or Thailand? Will he look into moving somewhere permanently? Research buying property in Turkey? Or maybe Argentina? Will he prefer to head to China for a month or Florida for a week? Maybe explore Canada for a summer....

I know my life has changes and now I look forward to little things like seeing him try his first foods and watching when he starts crawling but, I can not help to incorporate him into my dreams of traveling! We will start small, with a trip to loved ones in Ohio and hope this is the beginning of his adventures as a frequent flier. :)

Boston Aquarium

2013-02-28T15:30:00.000-05:00

For his birthday, Geoff wanted to head into Boston for the day. Being a cold day in February, with a two month old, we needed to find something kid friendly and indoors to do. Hello Boston Aquarium! It was very crowded when we got there, which did surprise us since it was a weekday and they are doing construction on part of the Aquarium (note- the penguins are on vacation right now so if you go, you wont see them). While we missed out on a few things we still had a great time! I can't wait to see what else they have for everyone to see once they are finished with the upgrades in July! (In case you are planning a trip- Tickets are discounted due to the construction.)

We went down with two of our friends Jason and Hye (who was also celebrating her birthday as well) and had a fantastic time! They took a few family photos for us, which is nice since we don't have many photos of the three of us together. :) Once Logan woke up, he had fun looking in the fish tanks even though I'm not so sure he knew what he was looking at. :)

After the Aquarium, we quickly headed to Chinatown to warm up over some Hot Pot. We spent the dinner enjoying each others company and trying to convince Logan not to scream in the middle of the restaurant. I think it was the longest day we have had out of the house with him and all in all he managed to hang with us pretty well. Each time we go out, it gives us a little more confidence that we can handle adding a baby into everyday life. (Until we get pooped or peed on and then it breaks that confidence just a little... but that is a story for another day...)

I've been to a few Aquariums and this one, while not the largest, was pretty fun! I can't wait to bring Logan back when he can really experience it with us! Random fact, did you know that in Chinese culture it is preferred to wear red at celebrations like birthdays. We didn't have anything clean for Logan to wear that was red so we made sure he had some on his socks... I must plan better next year! Geoff didn't have to since it was his birthday. The color red signifies happiness, prosperity and good luck! I have a lot of fun learning more and more about the Chinese culture, even after over five years of dating/marriage. It will be exciting to share it with Logan as he grows. Here's hoping this year brings all the happiness, prosperity and good luck to my wonderful and loving husband. :)

10 weeks

2013-02-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

I can not believe it has already been ten weeks that this little guy has been a part of our everyday life. Look at how much he has grown from week one until now. This is a six month onesie and he is starting to fill it out quite nicely. At our 2 month appointment with the pediatrician, this guy weighed in at 11 lbs, 10 oz and almost 23 inches. He's gained 4 lbs and grown 2 inches since birth.

Life with a 10 week old is fun! Logan is more awake everyday and really getting strong. He does great at tummy time which is helping his neck muscles to get stronger. He is much better at head control and we can tell he likes to sit up more than lie down. I'm probably going to break down and get him a Bumbo seat tomorrow in hopes he will like that and give our arms a break. He also loooooves the playmat more and more each day. We caught some of his first smiles while he was kicking and batting at the hanging toys. He is a little stingy with the smiles thus far but, it makes each one we get so special- they really melt my heart! He has also started to coo and babble with us. I love it. It's like we are having a little conversation except I have no idea what it's about. Whatever it is, our talk is filled with lots of snuggles, tickles and kisses.

We are still loosely on the Eat, Play, Sleep schedule which has been working well for us but we are slowly adding in longer outings to see how he does with naps on the go. It's a learning experience for sure and some days work much better than others. As for sleep, most nights he is still sleeping like a champ. He wakes up usually once during the night around 3 or 4 am. Twice this week he slept from 10-5am which was amazing!

As for toys, we were very lucky and our friends gave us an exersaucer and little toy piano for when he gets a little older. This was so nice of them since baby stuff really adds up quickly. However, after bragging about how great we did not overwhelming our little apartment with baby things, I quickly am realizing that this is a short lived victory. We had no where to really put these toys... so for now they are in a corner by the kitchen table. I seriously think if we do not move into a house soon we are going to have to look into renting one of those pods or researching self storage! Geoff used to joke we would need this for my shoes and purses but I think Logan has me beat already. :) I know that we will be very thankful for these toys since Logan is quickly getting bored with us holding hanging toys over his head and we aren't quite enjoying the book reading yet (even though we try everyday).

Likes are still:
Swaddling- they are getting a bit tight on him so it's easier to keep his arms in now.
White noise- This is a must for him to sleep well.
The swing- Thank goodness we have this! Best naps are in the swing but I'm hoping to transition some into the crib.
The Ergo- He loves being snuggled close to us.
Lion King Playmat
Laying on the bed singing and kicking legs and arms around before bed. It is very cute!

He is almost liking Bath time. We go longer each time before he starts crying.

Dislikes-
Diaper changes
Car rides and the car seat- This is new, he is not happy being strapped in where he can not see.
Socks- He is always kicking them off
Being bored- We constantly have to change it up to keep him entertained but it keeps our days exciting. I love how we are seeing him grow and develop. It really is amazing. :)

Weddings, Babies and Birthdays

2013-02-21T10:38:00.000-05:00

It is no lie that I love weddings. Geoff and I have tried really hard to make it to all of our friends weddings over the past few years. We have traveled to South Korea, South Carolina, Ohio... but this past week our friends got married on the beaches of St. Martin on a cruise and we just couldn't make it. I felt bad but I think we had a pretty good reason- this little guy! (Did you know 2 month old babies aren't allowed to cruise?) Considering how we haven't taken him to the gym daycare yet, cruising was definitely out. Maybe next time.

I always love to see how weddings come together and represent the personalities of the bride and groom. I loved our wedding, but planning it was really hard work! Every detail seemed so important and I since I only plan on getting married once, I wanted to get it all right. In my opinion, the hardest decision was picking out our Wedding Venues because once you have secured your date and venues, the rest will fall together. It is so much easier to picture flowers and place settings when you know where they are going. Since we held ours in beautiful Michigan (far away from tropical beaches), I can not wait to see the photos of how beautiful it turned out.

Geoff's Birthday was yesterday so we headed into Boston for the day with two of our friends. (yay for pilot friends and random weekdays off!) It was cold but beautiful day outside so we opted to do something fun indoors- The Aquarium! It was the first full day we had Logan out of the house and we did pretty well. Since we missed coming into town for Chinese New Year, we headed to Chinatown for Birthday dinner. We warmed up over Hot Pot Buffet and really ate "all you can eat". I think they thought we were done 400 times while we continued to order more food to cook in the pots. Oops. :) We made our way home to have chocolate cake before bed. All in all it was a fun day and I hope my husband had a great birthday!

Finally, since no post is complete without more baby photos... enjoy!

How did you pick out your wedding venue?
Did you do anything fun this week?

Year of the Snake

2013-02-10T18:22:00.003-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!
We had an amazing year- adding a baby Dragon to our family as you all know. Sadly, all good things must come to an end but we are welcoming the year of the snake in with open arms.

We had big plans to head into Boston's Chinatown this weekend to celebrate with some yummy food... however, Storm Nemo had other plans and dumped tons of snow on us. Instead we are celebrating all curled up at home in our PJ's. How are you spending the day?

Wishing you all a wonderful end to the weekend!