Post-baby shopping

I don't think I've tried to hide my love for shopping at all.  I love it.  The rush of a new pair of jeans.  The cool breeze you feel in a new tank top.  Imagining the number of outfits you can wear that new cardigan with.  The thrill of a new pair of shoes.  And now, the excitement of dressing your daughter in that new adorable fall dress.

Well shopping for myself post baby has really sucked.  I feel so limited to shoes and jewelry and make-up. Not that I have a problem shopping for new shoes...ask my husband.  I just feel so crappy about my new body that even trying on clothes doesn't sound like fun at all to me.  It doesn't matter how many people tell me that I "look great", because I don't feel that way.  I feel like all of the clothes I wore prior to getting pregnant accentuate all of the areas that I really hate.

I know I have control over this, and that's why I made a few exercise goals on my 101 list.  But I need someone to be accountable to/with.  I don't enjoy exercising on my own.  I need a partner in crime.  I want to join a gym where I can take some spin classes and pilates classes and have a set time that I feel like I'm letting the instructor down if I don't show up.  Plus, I'm so freaking tired since I think we got dealt the short end of the sleeping stick as Kayla is really not a good sleeper, I don't have any energy to do anything after carrying around my little 15 pound weight all day. (Not to mention my back and hip are KILLING me.)

I just feel crappy about my body and the one thing that was my favorite thing to do to improve my mood is no longer fun.  Maybe one day.

For now, I'll stick to buying these:

3 generations later...

I've always felt so blessed to have all four of my grandparents.  I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but the only time I teared up at our wedding was during the "anniversary dance."  For those unfamiliar, this is when the DJ asks all the married couples to come to the dance floor and gradually tells people to continue dancing if they have been married for X number of years, otherwise take a seat.  We specifically did this because I knew my paternal grandparents had been married the longest out of all of our guests, and their anniversary is the day after ours, so for ME it was sort of a formality and nice way to show my love for my grandparents.

Little did I know that all of the married couples had sat down at around 35-40 years, except for BOTH sets of my grandparents, who continued dancing as the DJ called out, "40 years?...45 years...50 years..."

My paternal grandparents in the foreground, and my maternal grandparents in the background

And then something happened that is one moment I will never forget.  All of our fabulous guests rose to their feet, clapping for my 4 grandparents.  I remember so clearly turning to Justin with tears in my eyes, saying, "See, I have good genes!"  And I do.  Very good.

I know I've said how much I love seeing my family members interact with Kayla.  I've always been close with my Nanny.  I spent 3 of 4 spring breaks from college with her in Florida.  Two of those, it was just me and her.  So when we went to the park the day before the fourth of July, and my sisters, brother, aunt and cousin all made their way to the big kid swings, I quietly walked away from Nanny pushing Kayla to take some photos of the big kid swingers.  When I turned back, I snapped some very heart warming photos of my grandma and my daughter.  I love seeing the joy on her face to be spending time with her great granddaughter!

I desaturated the color a bit to make it look a little "old school" and added a lens vignette (aside from my normal white balance, exposure, contrast and sharpening edits)

Fourth of July Midwest Road Trip Leg 1

The first leg of our trip was 3 days and 4 nights in our hometown of Glen Ellyn, IL.  We were initially going to be driving through the night on Friday night the 2nd of July so that we didn't have to waste a whole day driving.  But Megan ended up deciding to take the whole day off work instead of just half a day and we left at about 5 am with Kayla and Samson in tow.

The drive started out ok.  Kayla slept and Samson wasn't SUPER annoying (despite his constant attempts to climb over Kayla in her car seat to get to the window.)  Things seemed to progressively get worse, but that could also be attributed to the increasing time in the small car.  (Later in the trip we decided to switch up the seating arrangements which I think worked out a bit better.)  I caught a rare moment of peace for Megan and I on my iPhone:

Notice Kayla sleeping in the mirror...

We arrived at Nanny & Gramps' house (my maternal grandparents) at around 6 pm on Friday.  I fed Kayla her cereal and put her to bed and we soon followed.  We (the girls) spent most of Saturday shopping as I mentioned here, and Sunday my dad came down for the day to spend some time with Kayla.  Megan went to lunch with a friend from high school, and Lauren and I took off to Buy Buy Baby for some essentials.  I left my dad and Nanny to put Kayla down for a nap (which didn't go very easily on this vacation).  I recall them saying she screamed for a bit but eventually, my dad was able to walk around holding her and she slowly began to fade.  My mom's sister and her two daughters came over to spend a little bit of time with us before her whole family came out for the Fourth.  We all went to the park and enjoyed some swinging time.  It's so nice to be able to feel like a kid (not me personally as I was the photographer but I live vicariously.)

I had to really try to recall what exactly we did on Sunday, but I can tell you without a doubt what we ate: Portillo's, Barones pizza and fried mushrooms from Alfie's- things you pretty much can't visit Glen Ellyn/Illinois without.  Is it sad I recall the food so clearly? :)

Monday was the Fourth of July which I posted a bit about here.  But to expend on the day filled with activities:

Megan and I were up at 5 am to stake our claim on a spot on Lake Ellyn for the fireworks.  I haven't done this before (I haven't actually been in Glen Ellyn for fireworks in at least 5 years), but I have to say I was a little disappointed.  I was expecting some elbowing and yelling out "Don't you THINK about putting your blanket down there.  That's our spot!" and maybe some intentional accidental tripping of opponents...I'm not competitive at all.  However, all I got was my grandma, Megan, me and the dogs (since they were going to wake up the whole neighborhood if we didn't bring them with) walking calmly to the very edge of the lake and a guy riding by and telling us to go ahead and put our blankets down.  What?!?  BEFORE 6 am?  Megan assures me in previous years there are lines of people waiting just outside the sidewalk at 5:30 am biding their time until they can rush to their "spot" at 6 am.  Not so much this year.

After placing their blankets down, people like to sit there and admire there spots...

When we got back, Kayla was awake and Megan and Lauren got ready to run the Freedom Four (miler).  I walked with them to the start since Kayla was getting a little fussy.  The dogs barked/howled at us the entire way.  You could hear them from the high school where the start was.  Kayla was MUCH cheery-er after our short walk so Nanny and I stood on the corner by their house to watch the runners at the beginning and the end of the run.  The dogs "cheered" too.

After the run, everyone showered and got ready for the day.  Then Nanny, Megan, Brendan and I headed down to the parade with Kayla.  Kayla didn't cry once, in fact, despite the loud bands, bagpipers etc, she practically fell asleep.  It was hot but it was so great for me to be there again, seeing superman (see Megan's post), the bagpipers, the old fashioned cars, and the horses.  There may have been too many politicians but it was still fun.

After that, my aunt's family got there and I spent the rest of the evening trying NOT to overstimulate Kayla with the amount of people there.  I finally got her to sleep before the fireworks.  I had researched how to take good photos of the fireworks with my camera prior to the show so here are some of my favorite shots:

Pre-show practice with glow bracelets (one of which I burst all over my cousin Kelsey)

Too much smoke, I didn't try to edit any of these yet...I just love the silhouettes

Kayla did get woken up due to the EXTREMELY loud finale and it was a bit of a rough night, but I vow to NEVER not see fireworks on the fourth of July as long as I live.

Lauren's dog Layla

Kayla loves volleyball :) and eating...

Oh I forgot to mention, within 2 days of being there, Kayla learned how to sit up on her own:

We headed up to Evanston to stay with my parents for a couple days on Tuesday morning...

NMM 7/11/11

Today's edition is one of my favorites!

There is nothing quite as sweet as baby toes.  Kiss them often!

I have nothing to say besides I seriously may kiss Kayla's toes a bit too often!  (Sorry this edition is a little late...I got caught up on our road trip how yesterday with entertaining my daughter and falling asleep.)

I'll try to post about our trip later today...maybe I'll post in segments!

Baby toes:

Trying hard to crawl...likes to push into plank position

Lauren's List of 101 Things To Do In 1,001 Days

1. Get a tattoo

2. Kiss in the rain

3. Don't complain about anything for a week

4. Get a massage

5. Go on a road trip

6. Ride in a hot air balloon

7. No fast food for a month

8. Go horseback riding

9. See 10 classic movies I've never seen

10. Do some volunteer work

11. Complete a coloring book

12. Go skydiving

13. Run a half marathon

14. See a drive-in movie

15. Host a dinner party

16. Go to Las Vegas

17. Take a Yoga class

18. Go to 5 different museums

19. Make a custom recipe book

20. Make ice cream from scratch

21. Read all the books currently on my shelf

22. Take a dance class

23. Identify 100 things that make me happy

24. Visit the Grand Canyon

25. Get a facial

26. Go rock climbing

27. Go to a concert

28. Read at least 10 books from the Modern Library 100 Best Novels

29. Make myself a dress

30. Give a 100% tip

31. Go without TV for a week

32. Visit a foreign country

33. Learn to surf

34. Get rid of 100 things

35. Buy a Wreck This Journal and finish it

36. Learn to pole dance

37. Make a list of the 100 best experiences of my life

38. Visit Miami

39. Go to Brookfield Zoo

40. Go speed dating

41. Play hide and seek in Ikea

42. Build a snow fort

43. Learn how to snowboard

44. Find the perfect pair of jeans

45. Say yes to 100 things I want to say no to

46. Learn to shoot a gun

47. See every film on IMDB's Top 250 movies

48. Climb a tree

49. Go to a theme park

50. Learn to make crepes and perfect them

51. Make a blanket fort and play in it

52. Hike the Appalachian Trail

53. Get scuba certified

54. Donate blood

55. Take a cooking class

56. Take a girls trip

57. Try 10 new foods

58. Go skinny dipping

59. Go on 5 different brewery tours

60. Go to a costume party

61. Find the perfect LBD

62. Take a pottery class

63. Go paintballing

64. Play lazer tag

65. Take a picture of each letter of the alphabet (each must be unique)

66. Buy a sewing machine and Learn to use it

67. Make regular trips to the park with Layla and Kayla (2/month)

68. Take Layla to the dog park at least twice a month

69. Splash in puddles barefoot with my mom, sisters, and Kayla

70. Visit my friends from Dayton

71. Visit my first roomie, Ashley Wallace

72. Write 5 letters to 5 people who have impacted my life

73. Participate in 5 races

74. Ride a Segway

75. Go through a corn maze

76. Learn the alphabet in sign language

77. Go to a movie by myself

78. Bathe under a waterfall

79. Spend an afternoon reading at the park

80. Buy flowers and hand them to strangers

81. Use my fondue set

82. Learn how to write with my left hand

83. Buy a piece of artwork

84. Go one week without swearing

85. Bake an apple pie

86. Do 50 consecutive push-ups

87. Spend an entire night out with friends and don't return home until daylight

88. Throw away all my underwear and start again

89. Sleep in a hammock

90. Take a mud bath

91. Complete a 1000 piece puzzle

92. Get a psychic reading done

93. Host a games night with friends

94. Buy a new bed and Tempur-pedic mattress

95. Throw a message in a bottle into the ocean

96. Find a poem that means something to me

97. Stay in a haunted hotel

98. Go to a rodeo

99. Go to a Packer game at Lambeau Field

100. Ride a mechanical bull

101. Take a self-defense class