Birthday Weekend

I feel like I am still recovering from the weekend. A weekend where I turned 32. Wow, I really can't believe it, but I think it will be a great year ahead. I have this weird thing with even numbers. I love them, so I always think even number years (like 32) will be great years. So here is to 32!

Friday started off with work, then a delicious sandwich from Paisan's deli (one of my favorite Reno sandwich shops since 2005-ish), followed by a manicure and then my baby girls helmet appointments.

 

Sutton is very happy to know that her helmet comes off soon!

The girls helmet appointments were for an adjustment to the inside of the helmets. See my baby girls are rockstars and their heads have grown a ton in 5 1/2 weeks (major growth spurts). This meant that the doctor needed to shave down the inside of their helmets in certain areas to allow a bit more growth and ease the discomfort.

The good news is, Avery only has up to 3 mm left of growth and Sutton only has 4 mm. This is so small. And the news was confirmed yesterday when we saw their neurosurgeon who took measurements again and said the girls can take their helmets off in 2 weeks. Their heads are in the normal range which is a 6 or lower, and the girls are at a 4 and 5. So these next two weeks are bonus and will only help them out more. By the time 2 weeks is up, the helmets won't fit and they will have gotten full use out of them. And that will be around 7 1/2 to 8 weeks total which is less time than the neurosurgeon and helmet doctor have ever seen! Amazing news!

After their appointments, we went home to feed the ladies and then go out to a new noodle (udon and ramen) place in town. It was really good. Sorry no pictures.

Saturday was spent getting chores done, errands ran and hanging out at home.

Sunday was my birthday and it was an amazing day. From homemade lattes in bed to snuggles in bed with my baby girls, the morning started off right. Plus my husband got me the tieks in ballerina pink that I have begged nudged him about.

My little family and I went to brunch and had the best huevos rancheros, mimosa and coffee.

Bonus...I even got to curl my hair and pretty myself up for the day sans babies.

After brunch, we stopped at a few cute shops in midtown and bought myself a birthday present. Then we went home to feed the girls and have them take a nap before our next adventure.

 Someone was supposed to be napping.

At 3, we headed to my friend Stacey's house for her housewarming party. Love her and love her new house. So much fun. Plus friends brought their little babies and there was a baby fest. The girls have new best friends.

At 5:30, we headed home to meet my sister. She was kind enough to watch the girls for us that night, so my husband could take me to a birthday dinner. We went to the Atlantis Steakhouse. It has been forever since I have been in a casino, but it was worth it. I haven't been to the Steakhouse since 2006-ish and my husband has never been. It was really good. So full of yummy steak and wine! 

We came home to the girls sleeping and some catch up time with my sister. It was the perfect end to a great birthday!

Monday, we had the appointment with the girls neurosurgeon and as I said above, it went very well. And bonus, we only had to work half day yesterday. Win win for a Monday.

How was your weekend?

Leslie Sisti - A Blonde Ambition

 Leslie Sisti from her post It's Name was Joy

My heart hurts today. Yesterday I learned that one of my favorite bloggers, Leslie Sisti, from the blog A Blonde Ambition has passed away. She passed away on Monday, and left behind her husband Stephen and her two gorgeous daughters Caroline and Ainsley.

When I first started reading blogs, I came across Leslie's blog. I was pinning an outfit she wore and clicked on her blog. I instantly knew this was a blog I would want to follow, so I bookmarked it and visited it every time I was catching up on my blog reads.  I loved her fashion sense, her Tim Tebow doppelganger of a husband, her recipes and her baby girl Caroline (and now Ainsley). She was such a sweet southern woman.

Even though I didn't know her, I felt like I knew her. We became friends on instagram and I was always asking her where she got her children's clothing from, tips on making baby food, where she got something she used while she was pregnant and sweet comments on her girls. She always took the time to respond to my comments and commented on pictures of my girls.

Her husband has set up a fund to help pay for Caroline and Ainsley's college and weddings. Please, if you have anything to spare, donate to this family. She touched so many lives, especially mine. And please read her blog (it will be kept up so her daughter's have a keepsake of their mom). She was an awesome woman.

Be blessed, lovelies (#beblessedlovelies as that is how Leslie always signed off on her blog)
  
 

Butler Babies are 7 Months!

Butler babies are 7 months old! Time is flying. Soon I will be planning their 1st birthday party. Oh wait, I already have a secret Pinterest board for that (sorry, not sorry).

So much has happened this last month with our baby girls. And they have grown like weeds.

 Avery and Sutton

 

nicknames: Avery: Avery Girl, Avey, Bunny, Chunky Monkey  Sutton: Sutton Muffin, Sutte, Bear Cub, Little Miss

weight: At the girls 6 month appointments Sutton weighed 13 pounds 4 ounces and Avery weighed 13 pounds 12 ounces. I am guessing Sutton is 14 pounds or more and Avery is closer to 15 pounds. I know they are growing because the progress they have made with their helmets suggests they have been going through some major growth spurts. Keep growing babies!

sleep: Again, we go back and forth on this one. Last month, Avery had her sleep regression and Sutton slept like a princess. And now Avery sleeps like a princess and Sutton wakes several times each night. And when I say wakes up, it is usually some crying, put the paci back in, rub her belly and we are good to go. Sometimes they don't even wake up, they just cry a little and are still asleep. So cute. But not so cute when mommy and daddy look ragged in the mornings. I had to up my game on concealer and foundation to cover my dark circles. Oh how I wish for a full nights rest again. Hopefully Sutton's sleep regression is almost over.

eats: Well we just changed their schedule once again. But this time it was due to adding some purees in. The girls have had two new items since rice cereal...sweet carrots and honeycrisp apples. Sutton loves to eat. She reaches for the spoon, waves her arms around and opens her mouth. She is an eater! Avery has gone back and forth on this which is surprising because she showed interest in food first. Avery will sometimes gag or refuse the spoon. But if I put the food on my finger, she will take it and even "chews". So we are doing a mix of finger and spoon. I hope to have the girls try avocado and sweet potatoes next.

And since we added in purees, the girls bottle feeds have changed. They now get 5 feedings per day wit 180 to 190 mls per bottle (30 to 31 1/2 ounces per day per baby). I am hoping they like this new schedule and we can even move to bottle feeds 4 times per day and add another puree feeding in there. The girls love to eat and love to eat at the exact moment they are ready, so let's hope this 3 1/2 hour time between feedings works for them. 
 
loves: Sutton: Baby girl loves her hands. She chews on her hands non-stop. And if her hands aren't in her mouth, her toes are. Baby girl loves her feet. She still loves her Wubba Nub so much that she steals her sister's from her all the time. Sutton loves rolling on her side to see her sister and grab toys. Speaking of toys, she passes her toys back and forth between her hands and loves everything soft and cuddly. Sutton loves to sit and watch everything around her. She can sit for a bit on her own, but still needs help with it (we are working on it daily). Sutton also loves to bring her legs under her when she is doing tummy time (I see a crawler in our near future). Sutton will scoot around when she is on her side or turn herself 180 degrees to see what is going on. Sutton still loves raspberries on her belly, touching mommy's face/clothes/tummy/arms. She is talking more and more everyday and lights up when we walk into the room. She has been going through a phase lately where she wants her mommy all the time. Sutton has loved bath time this last month. We bought a new holder for them in the tub and they love it. Now she can splash and see us. Total game changer. She is the sweetest baby.

Avery: Avery Girl loves to talk. She will squeal and babble all day long now. It is sweet to hear her little voice. She has been chewing on her hands, but also will chew on her sister's hands. Avery loves her sister so much. She always has to touch her or be near her. She just loves her big sister. Avery still loves her Wubba Nub. Avery loves to scoot around. She spends most of her time on the floor on her side. She can grab things easier that way and pester her sister that way too. Avery has been rolling from her back to her tummy lately, but sometimes her arm gets stuck and we have to move it. Avery has been big on toys lately. Especially ones with sound. Avery loves to sit up and has been working on doing it all by herself. She is so close to being able to do it for long periods of time. Avery loves being talked to and carried in the Ergo 360. She has also taken a liking to bath time. She will splash and play in the water and loves her head being washed. She is the sweetest baby girl. 

dislikes: The car seats are still ify at best. They don't mind them in the mornings, but don't care for them in the evenings. They also hate their helmets being taken off or put back on. Mostly when we put them back on, but when they are on, they don't bother them.

clothing size: They are wearing 3 to 6 month clothing and even a few 6 to 9 month items.

diaper size: Size 2, but may need to change to size 3 soon.

Baby girls, I can't believe you are 7 months already. You are the light of our lives and we couldn't love you more. You came into our lives early, but we have cherished these last 7 months. We love to soak in every inch of you and can't wait to see what your futures hold. We love you baby girls.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

The Bachelorette

Bachelorette Kaitlyn

I am a Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise fan. Ugh, there I said it. It all started a few years back when Ashley was the Bachelorette. I only started watching it again (I watched the two seasons of Bachelor and first season of Bachlorette and then got bored) because my girlfriends were watching it and I wanted to be able to chime in. Well I got sucked back into it and lived for it. I love the drama! I love the sappy proposals and the fashion.

But this season was lackluster at best. Were ratings so bad that they cut the budget for travel and proposals? It felt like Kaitlyn and her suitors spent 6 weeks in Ireland. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful there and a place I would love to visit, but what happened to a new place each week? What happened to the hometown dates? Instead everyone went to Utah, to a hotel resort to meet the families. And the proposal happened in the LA mansion? A not so special place where many scandalous things have happened.

And it seemed like contestants were dropping like flies. How long was this season compared to others?

I am happy that Kaitlyn chose Shawn B. I am not happy that it was spoiled through snapchat and made this season even more boring.

Step up your game Bachelor franchise and have them travel. And please oh please don't let Nick be on any other season.

Even though this season wasn't great, Bachelor in Paradise 2 starts Sunday, on my birthday, and you guessed it, I will be front and center watching it this season. Oh the drama.

What did you think of this season's Bachelorette (show and star)? Do you think Ben H. or Ben Z. will be the next Bachelor?

And there you have my two cents...

Weekending

Monday again. I can finally function after having two strong cups of coffee. And speaking of coffee, I finally bought an electric tea kettle, a french press and coffee to drink at work. I usually grab coffee and a pastry in the morning on the way to work, but we just don't have time in the mornings with dropping the girls off at daycare. Plus when we added it up, we were spending $50 to $75 a week. So now with an initial investment of the kettle and french press, we will spend $15 every few weeks on good coffee.

Anyways, back to the weekend. After work on Friday, we grabbed some lunch and then headed home to feed the girls and hang out. We didn't do much Friday night. Saturday we grabbed brunch and did a bunch of errands. We were in desperate need of groceries, pet food, coffee supplies and household items. This took quite a bit of our day along with feeding and playing with our girls. That night I made dinner (so much easier to make dinners on weekends) and we caught up on some of our tv shows.

 Cuties

 Sunday selfies with mommy. Sutton is unimpressed.

Baby chilling time.

Sunday was spent moving furniture. A couple months ago we got a new couch from family and just put it in our living room. We had other plans to move it and make it more permanent. But then I had surgery and couldn't lift anything heavier than 15 pounds for a month. Now that I can, we moved our entire living room around. This meant moving heavy couches, a heavy entertainment center, coffee table, rug, console/storage piece, all the items on and in these things, cleaning all those areas, etc. It was a lot of work. And we had two babies to entertain the entire time too.

I am tired and sore from it all, but it looks so good. I am so much happier with the layout and gives us more room to hang out with the babies. And more room for them to crawl and move around (in the future).

After the moving, we made dinner, tended to the babies and went to bed earlier.

This weekend also meant trying another food for the girls. This time...honeycrisp apples. Sutton loved it. She was so excited for it and even "begged" for it. Avery on the other hand, gagged and wasn't too sure. I think she doesn't like the spoon because when I used my finger, she loved it. So we will give them apples for a few days and then hope to give them avocado next.

Sutton eating applesauce.

It was a pretty good weekend. A fast one, but a good weekend.

Friday Five

You know the drill. It's Friday and that means Friday Five. So let's get right down to business.

One. My Birthday is in 9 days. I can't believe it is almost August. Shout out to my fellow Leos out there. I added two other items to my birthday wish list.

 A Sonnet James Dress

Some new sunnies like these Ray-Bans

Two. Sleep. The girls are in a bit (an awful) sleep regression. Between the two of them, it seems like we wake up hourly from 1 am to 5 am. Mommy and daddy really need a full nights rest princess girls.

Three. Down the Rabbit Hole: Cautionary Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny.

  amazon

I am just a few pages away from finishing this ebook, and I love it. Holly always seemed so happy and in love with Hef (yes I watched the Girls Next Door religiously), but in her book, it shows a much different side to her and the mansion. Great little fun read.

Four. My umbilical hernia surgery. So I had my surgery almost 5 weeks ago. My incision has healed, the bruising is gone, and I am left with a scar and semi innie. I am not sure I am happy with the results. The surgeon who did my surgery did my breast abscess and the scar looks amazing. But this new one has some folds and isn't as "clean". And while my belly button is way more in than before, there is still a slight bulge on one side. So I am making an appointment (which I needed to for my final post op) to have it checked out and see what he can do.

Five. Jeans. I am still wanting, needing and dreaming about those comfy DL1961 jeans from my Stitch Fix box. But I need to wait until I am fully weaned from pumping and let my body figure itself out before investing in a pair. And speaking of weaning, next week starts the month long process. I will go from 5 pumps per day to 4. And each week I will take a pump out per day. Sad and bittersweet, but it is time.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Weekending

Oh, blog how I feel like I have neglected you. But I am so tired. This momma is having a rough time staying awake today due to the massive amounts of fun I had this weekend (#natyouraveragebach).

Friday was a crazy, stressful and fast day. After work, I got my nails done. Felt so good, but took a long time. I had to rush home to get Walter and take him to his grooming appointment. Then rush home, so my husband could help my dad and his friend fix a leaky faucet outside. But then Walter's appointment went too long and it was almost time for my hair appointment (I really thought I could get all these appointments done in one day...nope). So my husband had to pick up Walter, and I stayed at the house as long as I could (my appt was only 5 minutes away) and then my dad took over watching the girls temporarily until my husband got back.

I got my hair done and it felt so good. Blown out and all, I looked gorgeous. Then I came home to the babes and proceeded to get spit up on (story of my life) and had to pick up dinner and somethings from my trip. So I headed out with fabulous hair, spit up on my shirt and sort of put together. Life as a mommy, I tell ya. And then I still needed to pump and pack for my trip. I think I got done at 11 pm. Ugh. And I had to be up at 4:45 am for my trip.

But then the fun happened all weekend. I can't keep up with the girls as much as I would have liked to, but I still had a great time. I love those girls and can't wait to share Nathalie's wedding day by her side.

Here are a few pictures from this weekend...I have so many more (over a couple hundred), but these will give you an idea of all the pretty amazing ladies I hung out with this weekend.

Even though it rained a ton (tropical storm with massive lightening and thunder) in San Diego, we went to a pool party, nightclub, bars and so much more. Thank you so much to T and M for planning this weekend. Now hopefully my liver recovers in time for Nathalie's wedding (one month from tomorrow)!