Weekending: Teething + Lilly

April 20, 2015April 20, 2015 / LeopardandGrace

This weekend was beyond nuts and exhausting. I will spare you the mundane details and do a quick recap of the important stuff.

Linking up with Biana and Meghan

Teething Sucks: Gracie is cutting her top two teeth and she is pretty crank. The day before her teeth pop through, she is just very clingy and tired, and wants all the cuddles with her mama. So while the teething experience is so exhausting, I adore her sweet snuggles.

Lilly for Target collection: Since I was up at 4am on Sunday morning with a sad Nugget, I decided to check my Target app for the new Lilly collection!! Of course, the site crashed. #totallycalledit

I got up at 7:50 and got to my Target at 8:12 – and I couldn’t believe the madness! The lot was full, but the racks in the women’s section were totally empty. I immediately beelined it for the kids section and grabbed the LAST two jumpsuits for Gracie. Then headed back to the housewares section, and grabbed a wine carafe and beach blanket. People were just standing around, and I couldn’t decide if they were waiting for more items to be restocked, until I noticed people “trading”. I made my way to the changing room area, and waited patiently for people who were trying things on to decide on something they didn’t want. It took me almost TWO hours, but I finally managed to snag a dress for me, a beach cover-up, a scarf, three dresses/rompers for Gracie, some girls items for a friend, and the carafe and beach blanket.

Cart full'o'goodies — Cart full’o’goodies

While I was pretty proud of my goodies, I knew I would never get away with spending $300!! When I finally told Keith Sunday night, (he had a mini heart attack) he helped me decide what to keep and what to go back.

Gracie's new outfits - Urchin shift dress, Boom Boom jumper and Rosie Posie Romper — Gracie’s new outfits – Urchin shift dress, Boom Boom jumper and Rosie Posie Romper

My finds - beach coverup (went back), Upstream shift dress (KEPT!), and pom scarf (gave to a friend) — My finds – beach coverup (went back), Upstream shift dress (KEPT!), and pom scarf (gave to a friend)

The only item I am still on the fence about is the beach blanket!! I don’t have one, and I know it will be so awesome for picnics And it was only $30 – keep or no??

Beach blanket (LOVE) and wine carafe (took back)

Other weekend highlights: my sister came home for the weekend and brought her new ten week old puppy and the stomach bug! My stomach is not feeling so well as our weekend winds down, so I am praying she didn’t give it to any of us!

Meet "Nani" - she's a Bernese Mountain dog pup! — Meet “Nani” – she’s a Bernese Mountain dog pup!

We wrapped up our two weekends of pre-cana at our church, and I’m so amazed at how much we got out of it. We met some great couples and had a nice time sharing our experiences with these couples. I’m hopeful that this is a ministry that we will be able to share in on a regular basis!

Today is Marathon Monday here in Boston, a very proud day for us! Reflecting on the events of two years ago, I am so proud of how strong and resilient we are. And to our friends running today, know we are all rooting for you!!

Happy (Marathon) Monday!!

PS – did anyone catch the ACM awards? I’m pretty obsessed with Thomas Rhett

What Gracie Eats

April 16, 2015 / LeopardandGrace

It’s pretty crazy to me that my little baby is already eating pretty much just table food. Her eating habits have changed so much over the last month, so I thought that this would be a fun post!

This is what her eating schedule looks like:

5:45-7:00am: Gracie wakes up anytime between 5:45 and 7:00, and has a bottle. 3oz of organic, farm fresh milk and 3oz of formula (Gerber Good Start Gentle). We are weaning her off formula and bottles, only three more weeks to go!

8:30am: Breakfast! She loves scrambled eggs with cheese, pancakes and fruit (watermelon is her favorite!)

Scrambled eggs, peas and breakfast sausage

11:00am: 6oz bottle (again half milk, half formula) but lately she is starting to not want this bottle. So, instead I’ve been making her a fruit & veggie smoothie and she loves it! Milk, yogurt, a handful of spinach, a whole apple, half a pear and a cup of mixed berries – blend til smooth and add water until it’s the right consistency to easily come out of a sippy cup. This makes about 10 ounces!

12:30pm: Lunch! I usually pack her leftovers from dinner- diced ham, mac’ n ‘cheese, grilled cheese, chicken meatballs, chicken sausage, ect. Then I throw in veggies (girl loves her peas!) and maybe some pasta or rice.

3:00pm: Another 6oz bottle – she usually drinks this one!

4:30pm: Snack – Yogurt or fresh fruit, yogurt melts, cheerios or puffs

6:00pm: Dinner! Always similar to lunch – it depends on what we have in our fridge! We don’t eat dinner until well after she goes to bed so whatever our dinner is, is usually her lunch the next day I’m starting to branch out more and give her new types of food – fishsticks, homemade meatballs, mashed potatoes, ect.

7:15pm: Her last bottle of the day, another 6 ounces, and she always drinks every last drop!

Her favorite foods: peas, watermelon, cheese, diced ham

Her least favorite foods: She will eat anything we put in front of her, but for some reason, she really doesn’t like vegetables that aren’t green in color!

We love taking her out to lunch and ordering her meal from the kids menu. It’s always a good portion and lasts her several meals.

I’m so grateful that she’s such an adventurous eater with a very big appetite! I’m sure we will face our challenges as she gets older and more vocal

Enjoying some rice and beans at Chipotle!

Stuffing her face with orzo, green beans and chicken nuggets

Dinner out - impatiently waiting for more food — Dinner out – impatiently waiting for more food

What do you feed your babes? I’m always interested in hearing new recipes!

I’m linking up with the girls for Thoughts for Thursday!

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Upcoming Events: Five on Friday

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 / LeopardandGrace

It’s quite possible that this blog will go a little radio silent in the next few weeks. With next week comes the end of tax season (halle-freaking-lujah!!!), and the last two weeks of this month are just JAM-packed. So as a nice Five on Friday twist, I thought I would share a few of these events!

{one} Blog Beautiful Boston: I signed up for an all-day workshop on how to better use photography for blogging, and I am so excited. I joined the Boston Bloggers network, and have started to make some great connections. I’m looking forward to meeting some of these lovely ladies in person, and learning a few tips!

{two} Pre-Cana Marriage Prep classes at our church: This class covers two weekends (Friday nights and Sunday afternoons) and is a big time commitment, but we loved our class so much, we didn’t hesitate when we were asked to participate. We have parts on a discussion panel on “the decision to love, and a 7 minute talk about family, what it looks like, is and means to us.

{three} Eric Church: For Valentine’s Day, we bought tickets to see Eric the next time he was in town. We have never missed one of his shows – he is our absolute favorite and our wedding song was to his song “Like Jesus Does”. My mom is even keeping the baby overnight (only her second sleepover ever!) since it’s on a weeknight and the concert will likely end late. Not gonna lie, looking forward to a mini date night!

{four} September 2012 Brides Aquarium Day: Let me explain Before I got married I joined theknot.com and found my “month board”. Eventually we branched off to a Facebook group and for the past four years, we have been involved in each other’s lives on a near daily basis. Since everyone is spread across the US and Canada, we don’t have much of a chance to meet in real life! But every now and then we’ll plan more regional meetups, and there are several girls who live near me that I’ve become great friends with. We are planning a meetup in the next few weeks and bringing our kids to the aquarium for the day, and then going to dinner. I can’t wait to see Gracie’s reaction to the fish and penguins!

{five} Chicago the Musical: A few Fridays back, I posted about my friend Meghan, who is an amazing singer. She is playing a lead role in Chicago at a local theater, and a few friends are getting together for dinner and then the show. I know she is going to rock it, and I can’t wait!

Above and beyond all of this, a month from today is Gracie’s first birthday! We have special plans for her actual birthday, and then her birthday party and a cake smash photo shoot! So if I’m a bit scarce around these parts for the next few weeks, I hope you won’t forget me! I’m always on Instagram, so follow me there for updates! @gentelly

Anyone have a crazy busy spring planned? What’s going on in your world?

Leopard and Grace

Month: April 2015

Weekending: Teething + Lilly

What Gracie Eats

Upcoming Events: Five on Friday