Life Lately

Sorry for the radio silence over here lately! Life has been busy which means the blog is the first to get neglected. And then Charlie is second. Kidding. Kidding.

So let's play catch up! Good news first...

Photo credit: Caroline

I got promoted at work! This July marks my fourth anniversary at the firm and I've worked so hard (and been so patient through many scary organizational changes) to finally get to this level in my career. 

So this is what it looks like to be a Senior Business Development Coordinator. Okay, not really. I brushed my hair and spent 15 minutes clearing my desk of random papers and highlighters just for this picture. But I do really wear my amazing headset most of the day for conference calls and the best part is it stretches all the way down the hall to the water cooler.

 

 In exciting professional news for Matt, his Firm is building out some new space in a really fun part of Charlotte and will move in next month. I am so proud of how hard he's worked to grow the Firm to where it is today. In fact, Matt and his partner have worked so hard they've outgrown their current office and need to hire additional staff! (And duh, personal plug: if you need a Charlotte family law attorney, I highly recommend him). 

 - Under Construction -

In some sad news, Matt and I made a trip to Winston last week to say goodbye to his Grandad. You are never really prepared to say goodbye to someone you love so much. In Matt's case it was exceptionally difficult because his Grandad was such an important person in his life. He grew up super close to his grandparents (much like I did) and his Grandad was such a huge influence in shaping him into the man he is today. We will deeply miss him but we also know how happy he is to be in Heaven with Matt's Grandmom.

One last picture at the Grandparents house together!

Thomas Dean {9 Months}

Another fun month in the books for our little Tom Tom! He is all over the place now, crawling at 15 mph, climbing up any stable (or unstable) object, getting into everything (dog bowl, tupperware drawer, dishwasher and more). He keeps us on our toes more than Caroline these days!

In aphakia (absence of the lens in the eye) news, Thomas is doing pretty good. At his last eye doctor appointment he was officially diagnosed with stabismus (eye misalignment) and his left eye is stronger than his right. We began patching his "good eye" to make him use his "bad eye" for two hours every morning and we've seen tremendous improvement. Without patching, we risk his bad eye shutting down and turning off (blindness) so we're happy to now be on the patching journey. We were strongly warned that patching is pretty terrible and that he would likely rip the patch off 6 times per minute until we'd just give up. But again, our angel boy has taken it like a champ. He hates when we place it and remove it from his face but once it's on he really doesn't mind. I honestly don't know how we got so blessed with such a laid back baby. 

So we're going to be patching until a little after Thomas turns one. Sometime late summer or early fall Thomas will need a surgery to correct his strabismus. And we've already been warned that this procedure sometimes takes up to 3 surgeries until the eyes are perfectly aligned. So we're already praying that Thomas will only need one surgery.

On to some really fun stuff this month...

 

Nine Month Highlights:

• 16.5 lbs (8%), 27" (6%), 43.7 HC (14%)
• Celebrated his first Easter!
• Treating his fourth double ear infection. 
• Size 3 diapers and 9 months clothing
• Still CRAWLING everywhere and now pulling himself up on EVERYTHING. Also attempting to stand (unsuccessfully) and taking a few steps (assisted) with the Sit-to-Stand Walker.
• Eating what we eat as well as all of Caroline's leftovers after every meal.
• NO contacts lost this month. Hallelujah!

Nine month favorites: Play Kitchen / Mickey Mouse Ride On Train / Bella Tunno Happy Knees / Wonder Bibs / Hide N Squeak Eggs / Sit-to-Stand Walker / Aquaphor (for dry cheeks) / Refresh Rewetting Drops / Ear thermometer / Fisher-Price Lights Piano / Sippy Cup / Plum Organics Puffs / Mustela PhysiObebe No Rinse Cleanser / Dohm Sound Machine / MAM pacifiers / Motrin / Bella Tunno Pacifier Clips / Hope Frog / Nose Frida / Boogie Mist Saline Spray

Thomas & Caroline at 9 months

Five on Friday!

I've been meaning to write a "life lately" post to share some of our most recent happenings but instead I'll condense it into the top 5 today!

- one - I am happy to report we are still sticking to our new year's resolution to escape from the kiddos for a monthly date night. Last Friday we tried a new restaurant, Comida, that I'd been dyyyyying to try in one of our favorite neighborhoods. It was somewhat difficult to get a reservation since it's only been open for two weeks so we gladly accepted an early dinner. It was sooooooo good. The margaritas were served on snow cone ice, we enjoyed some yummy nachos and the taco choices were unreal. We will definitely be back! After dinner we decided to walk down the street to a new bar, The Workman's Friend, for a fancy prosecco cocktail for me and a whisky drink for Matt on the patio. Our last stop of the night was at our old stomping grounds - Whiskey Warehouse. Apologies if you were still viewing my snap chats at this point. Ha! It was a super fun night out!  

- two - We celebrated Supper Club at Lisa's house this month on St. Patty's Day! She is the best hostess!

For dinner she made quinoa stuffed peppers and pear salad. She's made this exact meal for my family after Thomas was born and it is super duper delicious. For dessert she baked a homemade hummingbird cake too!

- four - In bittersweet news, I am saying goodbye to my beloved Jetta. After some fun years of whipping around the city in my compact ride we are turning it back in. We leased this car three years ago thinking we might be pregnant or have one munchkin towards the end of the lease. Ha! Two kiddos later my backseat is at max capacity with two ginormous car seats and a trunk just big enough to hold my stroller. And with the exception of daycare drop-off and pick up (half a mile from the house), we don't normally take my car anywhere with both kids. True story, I've put less than 8K miles on my car in 3 years! We know VW makes really safe cars too (which is why we originally picked the Jetta) but after Matt's accident we just prefer to tote the kiddos around in his monster truck. 

We really weren't sure what to purchase for our second car. Would we bite the bullet and get the inevitable minivan? Or would we still try and pretend we're cool for a few more years? We just didn't know! And seriously, minivans are so dang expensive!!! Anyway, it was perfect timing that Matt's parents were getting ready to purchase a new car and they offered to sell us his mom's car at a suuuuuper incredible deal that we quickly said "YES!!!!!!" to. We are so grateful and will absolutely be driving my sweet new ride until the wheels fall off.

- five - We just started our HelloFresh deliveries back up! We skipped a few deliveries while my mom was here post-surgery and while things were a little wild. I'm technically still not supposed to be doing much in the kitchen but Matt is a super hubby and does most of the work. So here is my recent most favorite HelloFresh meal - Fiesty Fiesta Fish Tacos with grapefruit, avocado and cabbage slaw! And you can make them yourself! Just search for the recipe on their website!

Want to try HelloFresh? Use promo code MG8GKD for $40 off your first box! That means you can try out HelloFresh for $29 and then cancel after your box arrives or keep on going.

Also, I received another promo code to give my friends a FREE box of HelloFresh meals! I'd be happy to send the first FOUR people to leave their email address in the comments a free week of HelloFresh to try!

- bonus - Couldn't stop at five! A few weekends ago I got to celebrate April's little babe on the way! Her shower couldn't have been any sweeter and April looked gorgeous. I absolutely cannot wait for this baby to arrive!

Wanna join April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!