Musings...

Thinking back to // our weekend.  It was full of all my favorite things.  Friday night, we entrusted our kids to Miss Jennifer, our faithful and loved baby-sitter since Cruz was a baby.  This was Mila's first chance to be under the care of someone other than family, and we are so thankful to have someone so capable of watching our littles so the two of us can reconnect and enjoy a meal without bouncing a baby or coercing a three year old to try his vegetables.  It was beautiful outside and we spent the night on the parkade.  We had drinks on the back patio at Tony's Pizzeria, ate ourselves silly at the Montage, and ended the night with beers at Single Speed.  And we returned home to two sleeping babies tucked away in their beds.

Saturday included a road trip to Des Moines to shop for Mila's baptism party this Sunday.  It was a quick trip, but a fun one - we hit super sales at Baby Gap, I stocked up on peach salsa and cheap wine at Trader Joe's, and we picked up some fun and unique treats for Mila's baptism table on Sunday. 

After missing my kids after a day away on Saturday, Sunday's cold and rainy forecast was the perfect invitation to stay inside all day.  We ended the weekend in my favorite way - a pajama and popcorn movie night followed by a dance party to "Let it Go" before bed.  All of us in sweats, each with our own bowl of buttery popcorn, with a baby sandwiched in between on us on the couch will forever be one of my favorite snapshots of family life.   

The best kind of weekend - quality time with my main squeeze, my babes, and even some time to myself.      

Looking ahead to // The month of May.  Spring tends to start a little dreary and dirty, but it all starts to turn around in the month of May.  May means blossoms on Seerley Blvd. and the end of another semester.  It means packing away those winter coats and carrying lighter loads in the car seat.  It means sandals and skirts and cotton dresses for Mila and the start of another summer bucket list taped to our chalkboard wall.  It's the start of the carefree days of summertime and lots of new adventures with this family of mine.  We have so much in store for our summer. 

Eating // Our dinner schedule was a little sporadic after Mila was born, but we've finally found our groove around here again and I'm once again enjoying my meal planning, grocery listing, and clean eating endeavors around here.  As we plan to plant our garden in the near future, I'm motivated to find creative ways to put our produce to good use and not let it go to waste this year.  I'm finding success in a few little things that help me stay intentional and eat healthy during the week.  I've been cooking chicken breasts on Sunday and dicing them up to mix with leftover vegetables or invent a chicken salad to eat for lunch during the week.  And since Saturday is typically my grocery shopping day, we've been using Friday as our clean out day - taking all the leftover produce and either stir-frying it with our favorite sauce or making a cold quinoa salad for lunch.  This week, I enjoyed this curried chicken salad on arugula and mixed the rest of my chicken with some leftover broccoli and brown rice.    

Watching // I look forward every week to a new episode of Game of Thrones and am excitedly anticipating the return of Jack Bauer in a new season of 24.  Beau and I used to go on 24 binges when we were first married and I've missed the sound of that stopwatch ticking before every commercial break.  When it's not a bunch of walker zombies attempting to eat Rick and his clan, it's Jack Bauer attempting to stop the next terrorist threat.  We're suckers for good tv, I tell ya. :)

Loving // the new Target maxi skirt I scored for $17.99.  I, of course, went to Target to return an item and left spending two times more than I walked in with.  I wasn't even intending to shop but I curse those brilliant marketing placement people for putting this skirt right on the aisle next to that really cute pair of sandals.  I also bought a cake pan, a $1.99 Avengers Assemble placemat for Cruz, and a swim cap for Mila.  She wore it in the tub the other night and looked like Esther Williams.  And Cruz cleaned his entire plate because I kept telling him Thor and the Hulk were watching him and cheering him on from his placemat.  Turns out I may have a future in product placement as well...

Feeling // Content and maybe happier than I've ever been.  I'm in a good place right now and I keep having these moments where I stop and let it set in.  These are days I will look back and remember as some of the best. 

A few pictures of our week...