WEEKEND + FIVE THINGS

Holiday weekends are the best, right?

Ours was the perfect balance of getting out and staying in, and having Ben home for three days in a row was such fun. I love those days.

I had some friends from South Carolina who came for a visit on Thursday and stayed for a couple nights, and my sister came with them, and my mom was still here…so we had a houseful of women for those few days. Baby Ayla (and Ben) probably didn’t quite know what to do with the increase in noise level! I always forget how fun and full of laughter it is to be with old friends…and I was really glad my birthing soreness was pretty much gone by the time they arrived since laughter was a little uncomfortable up until then, hehe. We went out for lunch on Friday, and I left Ayla with my mom and sister…and then I realized that I’m one of those moms that text every twenty minutes to make sure my baby is ok and make my friends take their coffee and dessert to go because I feel anxious and ready to get back home to my child.

My mom and sister flew home on Saturday, so we had lunch out with them at my favorite spot and I had this super scrumptious turkey sandwich with a cherry mayo that I pretty much never wanted to stop eating…seriously, breastfeeding hunger is no joke, and it’s actually worse (or is it better?!? haha) then pregnancy hunger. I get like HUNGRY these days. When we got the airport after lunch, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was an air show going on at the same time, and so we sat in the cell phone lot watching while I fed Ayla (and i realized that discreet public nursing is a lot more difficult than it looks). We ended up getting to see the Blue Angels actually, which was such an incredible show!

Sunday was a do-nothing-and-catch-up-on-sleep day for us, and it was the best. We went to church in the evening, and Ayla was such a champ and slept for most of the service. Then we came home and had a nice crying session for a while (Ayla, not me…although i may have been tempted to join her). She generally does so well and is not a fussy baby at all…but she does have her evenings where life just gets a little difficult. It’s tough being a newborn, you know.

We spent most of the day at home on Monday, but decided to take Ayla for her first stroller walk in the afternoon. It was a gorgeous day, and it felt so nice to go on a little walk again. We walked to our favorite local ice cream spot and treated ourselves to some double-scoop ice cream bowls. It was the best! Ayla slept the whole time, but I’m sure she had a fun time as well, hehe.

This week we will be on our own and figuring out a new normal as a family of three. It was so so so nice to have my mom here for the last two weeks, and I was endlessly spoiled with being so well taken care of! I joked that I won’t even know how to take care of my home anymore since I haven’t done any cleaning, laundry, or dishes since Ayla was born. My mom took such good care of us! We miss her, but it’s also time to figure out this new life together.

Here are five things I love:
– this video
– this challenging article
– this dress
– this butter idea
– this nook

Have a great week!

What about you: what did you do to celebrate the holiday weekend?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!