Random Thursday Ramblings

Anybody else giddy with excitement about the new show on Bravo Ladies of London or whatever it is called..basically Real Housewives of London. I have said to Husband J multiple times that they need to do this show in a different country to spice it up a bit. Well boy oh boy are me and my boyfriend Andy Cohen on the same wave length.

Tomorrow I do my first drive back to Pennsylvania with the kids alone and I am a little nervous. I am leaving super early with the hope to avoid traffic and that Pippa will sleep. I downloaded my new favorite singer Sam Smith and hope that his amazing voice will lull them both to sleep. I have been playing him over and over and over first of all I would NEVER picture that voice coming out of his body it is so soul filled.. he is amazing..

I have been eye balling this dress by the company Jens Pirate Booty. I have ALMOST bought it a couple of time but then chickened out ( pictured jays neck veins when he is going thru the credit card bill ) It is the perfect summer dress 

I noticed I haven't touched much on home decorating here on the blog lately. Don't worry I still love it just as much I just haven't been focusing on it lately because we are gearing up to sell our home soon in anticipation of our move to Texas with Husband Js company. It just does not make sense to put any money into a house that we will be out of soon.. I have been pinning away at what I want out of our home when we move to Houston. This kitchen designed by Jennifer Dyer is amazing.. so filled with light and very inviting, a place where I could picture the kids doing homework and having a after school snack. 

I also love love love the idea of a wall made of doors you could slide open leading out onto a patio. As you all know I am obsessed with the sunshine and warm weather so this is like my dream feature on a house. Husband J says this may not be practical in Houston's 100 degree temperatures but of course I asked him to define practical and followed up by asking if he had met me and finlly argued back we could use it in the fall and winter..This one by Eric Olsen Design is awesome..

Memorial Day Weekend

At least its Tuesday!!! It was a big bummer when Husband J left for work this am after a long weekend of fun. BUT at least its a short week. It is really short week for me, I leave Friday early early to go to Philadelphia with the kids to start our 2.5 week vacation down in Avalon, NJ. We have a lot of wedding festivities down there in the next couple of weeks and instead of bringing the kids back and forth up and down 95 I am staying at my Husbands family beach house for the two weeks. Husband J will unfortunately have to come back to Northern VA for work but my Mother in Law, best friend Allie and sister will be in and out throughout the two weeks so I will have tons of help and entertainment. Before that starts though I am having my first night away from Pippa for a bachelorette weekend. I am very excited but a little but nervous because I am still nursing her 4 times a day and she doesn't love drinking from cups but maybe this is the trick to get her to do so. Husband J keeps assuring me that it is only a little over 24 hours that I will be away from her but I can't help but worry a little. Im sure once I have my first margarita in me the worry will ease a little bit. 

This past weekend was great Husband J asked me to put my phone away and just enjoy each other for the weekend which I will say was a great idea. We spent a lot of time at the community pool that opened this weekend, went to church, played at the park, used our grill, played with my sister and my nephew Gavin and enjoyed all the sunshine. Sunday afternoon I got back on my phone and realized how nice it was to not use it for a day I didn't miss it and felt less distracted and was MUCH more present and patient with the kids. It is definitely something I think I need to do more often. Here are some pictures from our weekend 

Only 11 to Go !

Boy am I glad to see the start of a new week! Last week was just one thing after another. I got the stomach bug on Monday night and was running to the bathroom every 30 mins followed by a day at home alone with the kids because Husband J had to give a presentation at work that he could not miss. By Wednesday I was letting out a huge sigh of relief that I was finally able to hold my head up straight again only to have Pippa throw up. Now Pippa has not been sick ONCE aside from a stuff nose in her 10.5 months. When I tell you the girl was throwing up bile every 5 min for 5 hours I am not exaggerating, which promptly landed her in the ER for some nausea medication so she could rest her stomach and keep down some much needed fluids. If you know me at all you know I was a complete basket case with worry during this and basically didn't sleep till Friday night. Happily we had a pretty relaxing weekend aside from a couple of unrelated but equally as exhausting family issues. Needless to say when Sunday rolled around I had a lot of pent up energy and was ready to start training for the Half Marathon trail run  I signed up for in the fall. I pumped up the tires on my jogging stroller and ran my first two straight miles with Miss Pippa girl and FELT AMAZING. Husband J is always convinced that because my whole life I played sports and was so active my body is not functioning right just sitting and not exercising and I can not be my happiest self he may be on to something because when I came back from that run last night all the silly little petty worries seemed to have washed away and I felt ENERGIZED. A word I can honestly say I have really not felt since having Pippa. 

Obviously my children are the best thing that has ever ever happened to me but I am really not in charge of our days or nights for that matter! It is about when they need to eat or when they need to nap or is this function or event going to mess with their nap or bedtime. Lots of people could say well don't worry about that they will be fine they will adjust but that wouldn't be fair to expect their little bodies to be pulled all over the place in order for me to make more parties or dinners out with girlfriends. Running yesterday felt freeing and like I was having a little met up with my old self. Here below is the the plan I am going to follow and with advice from my best friend and sister who have both completed multiple marathons I hope I can get thru this with flying colors. 

Mothers Day Weekend

I have the Monday Blues for sure this week after having such a nice weekend spent outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, the perfect Mothers Day weekend. Saturday we went over to Husband Js coworkers house for dinner but before hand went for a nature hike thru the trails that run thru our town.

Here is Pippa pretending she is driving to the mall lol..

Keeping with the nature trend on Mothers Day we went and checked out the Botanical Gardens in our area and had a picnic. I love the idea of eating out but on Mothers the places are always jammed packed and with two little ones it is really no fun for anyone.

Kael enjoying the fresh air and some watermelon 

 It was the perfect Mothers Day lunch 

After naps we walked to the Ritas near our house and had our first water ice of the season 

 It was delicious

My two littles are ALL the present I could ask for but since I have a sweet sweet Husband he got me the beach tote I have been eyeing for a while.

5 on Friday

Its Chic Fila Friday over here in the Rogers household!! A little while back I started getting really tired of making three meals a day EVERYDAY so as a treat to myself and Kael I decided we were going to go out to lunch to Chic Fila on Friday for a little treat. As we were driving there I would say " ITS CHIC FILA FRIIIDDAAYYY" and he would laugh and get excited but not really get it. Now that he is getting older and wiser he wakes up each morning and says " ITS CHIC FILA FRIIDAAYYY " not everyday my friend not everyday. I love that he is starting to catch on and get excited for the little traditions I am trying to create for him. I was going to do a sappy " I love my kids " post in honor of Mothers Day on Sunday but I mean I think its pretty clear here that these little nuggets are my moon sun and stars and if you aren't 100 percent positive pops on over to my Instagram feed and get a big ole over sharing dose of Kael and Miss Pippa girl. I hope all you Mommy's out there have a great Mothers Day and take a second to put your feet up and relax a little bit because you deserve it!!

1. I stumbled upon this AMAZING etsy store for little miss girl called brassrazoo  and nearly cried at all the cuteness this romper is really calling my name for one of her outfits for her 1st Birthday pictures.

2. I am currently reading the hilarious book white girl problems  by Babe Walker, you guys may be familiar with her twitter  or instagram account. She just came out with her second book Physco which got a great review in People magazine ( hard core news guys ) so wanted to read her first one first before checking that one out. So far I am giggling up a storm and getting tons of weird looks from Husband J.

3. I have my soon to be sister in laws Bachelorette weekend coming up and I have been having a fun time shopping for a girls weekend getaway ( outfits where I don't have to worry about breastfeeding or yogurt stains ) I recently saw this Champa Sarong in Nordstroms and thought it might need to sneak into my weekender

4. After visiting my best friend a couple weeks back and seeing how organized she was it really gave me the bug. She preps a lot of things ( everything ) ahead of time and is always prepared with a healthy meal instead of finding the quickest thing and shoving it in her mouth. I was really inspired by her organization and been trying to prepare meals for the week this Chicken Avocado Mango Salad is something I could make on a Sunday and enjoy for the week if I added the avocado as I went so it wouldn't brown. YUM

5. I have been looking for a great pair of leopard shoes since the winter and while walking thru Nordstrom the other day I saw these Sam Edelman Sandals and they literally screamed my name. Now I am guilty of impulse purchasing for my children but for myself I definitely take my time and think of it for days ( or months ) and a lot of time I never buy the item. However this time I really can't stop thinking about them so I may be going back to get a pair for the summer.

All Dressed Up with Pippa

A happy and fun day on the blog today little miss Pippa girl is finding standing and cruising with enough confidence that I can step back and snap a couple of pictures of her. Obviously that means she can now be part of the All Dressed Up series HOORAY! The weather was beautiful out yesterday so I put her in a sweet little tank top and jean shorts and headed out to the park with big brother Kael to met up with one of my Mommy friends in the area who has kids the same age. How precious is my sweet girl, so proud of herself these days makes my heart swell. In other big steps for Pippa she is totally over eating her pureed food, so I have had to really step up my game and make her finger foods all week on top of the food that I normally make for Kael for breakfast, lunch and dinner and what I make for myself and Jay. Needless to say it is time to find some recipes that EVERYONE likes or else I will literally be a lady who lives in her kitchen. Anyone have any suggestions? This is our first weekend in 4 that we are actually home and can relax I could not be any more excited to just sit and chill...

Jeans ( were her brothers but you can find similar ones at Gap now )/tank/Sweatshirt 

 As we were walking the trails to the park I couldn't help but notice how gorgeous these trees were.