Category: Our Life

Friday Favorites {05.29.20}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I love a short week. The extra time to get things done around the house. I think nesting mode has taken effect because I’m realizing that I only have two more months before baby comes, and we have a lot to do to get Harrison moved into his big boy room before then!

It seems like these days, we all look forward to super simple things in life. For us, it was having Evie, my sister, and her husband, Spencer, over this past weekend to splash together. The things that we seemingly took for granted before this pandemic have an amazing way of reminding us just how special little moments like that are to us.

Harrison and Evie’s sheer adoration of each other and getting to play together after all this time completely filled my heart.

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What’s Up Wednesday {05.27.20}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

The days of May seemed to move faster and faster. At the beginning of this pandemic, days seemed soooo slow. And now, maybe we’ve gotten used to it a bit more – our new routine, spending time outside, or the impending countdown to baby, but May seems to have flown by.

Here’s what our calendar has looked like this May…

It could most aptly be characterized as “didn’t even bother to fill it out.” 🙂

I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you what’s going on in our life lately!

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK:

  • Sunday: Cheesy Baked Ziti
  • Monday: Leftovers
  • Tuesday: Pork Chile verde enchiladas
  • Wednesday: Leftovers
  • Thursday: Italian sausages & peppers
  • Friday: Leftovers

2: WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:

I feel like most of my reminiscing these days is thinking back to what was life was like at this time last year. The simplicity of being able to go and do everything that we wanted to do!

We’re missing our Splashin’ and Smokin’ Saturdays with Cousin Evie in particular.

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Pregnancy During COVID

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Back in October, Nathan and I eagerly awaited the results of an at-home pregnancy test. Hoping there would be two pink lines, but fully expecting that it may take us months upon months to get pregnant again. And there they were. Two perfectly visible pink lines. We smiled, I teared up with joy that we were going to be blessed to do this whole parenting thing again. And so our journey began toward baby #2.

There were the usual stressors of the first trimester: the utter exhaustion, nausea, uneven hormones. The eagerness of wanting everyone to know this special little secret we were keeping to ourselves, and at the same time wanting to hold on to that little secret for as long as we could. It was an uneventful first trimester, punctuated by an anniversary trip to New York in November and the most perfect Christmas morning sharing this awesome news with our family.

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A COVID Mental Break…

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I kind of hit a wall this weekend. Again. Every time I think I’ve accepted this changed world and reality that we’re all living in, a new wave of grief seems to hit. This coupled with some sad family news of Nathan’s grandfather passing away, led to no blog posts being written for the week.

Instead, I took virtually no pictures, spent as much time as possible outside digging in the dirt, and enjoying the beautiful weather we had here.

I’m truly sorry for those of you that look forward to them each week! I’m going to take a quick detour to try to right my mental state, spend some time in the garden planting and installing drip irrigation (I’m so excited and so scared!), and try to get back to it next week.

Until then, enjoy this beautiful peony that’s blooming in my garden this week, and have a wonderful, relaxing Memorial Day weekend with your quaran-team!

Let’s Look At…Your Weekend

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Once a month, I link up with two of my favorite blogs (Shay @ Mix and Match Mama and Erika @ A Little Bit of Everything), to share a “look” into some little aspect of our life. Before we get to this month, here’s a peak back at what we’ve “looked” at so far this year:

And today we’re looking at our weekend! I imagine when these topics were picked at the end of last year, the thought was that Mother’s Day weekend would look very different than most of the world’s current realities. But that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have fun around the house!

Fridays start our weekends, because I’m off of work on Fridays to hang out with Harrison. We spent the morning playing in Harrison’s playroom variations of soccer, kitchen, and puzzles. Harrison thinks it’s hilarious to cover Sawyer up with the couch throw pillows and then ask where Sawyer is.

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Activities I Did Growing Up

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I love hearing about what activities friends participated in growing up. It’s a small peak into the lives that made them who they are today, and sometimes are so surprising! There are the cross country stars, people who showed goats at 4H (I didn’t know even know this was an activity before meeting them!), black belts, and the list goes on.

I was involved in a couple of things growing up – primarily from middle school onward. So I thought I’d reach far back into the few pictures I have at my house to share and really truly embarrass myself. The best ones, though, are at my parents’ house. Maybe someday after quarantine, I’ll dig those up for you!

I started doing theater when I was in fourth grade, and this continued until I graduated from high school. My very first show I was a tap dancing kangaroo in Neverland for a community theater production of Peter Pan. And I LOVED it. Every last bit of watching the show come to life, the rehearsing, being backstage, and getting to perform.

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Friday Favorites {05.01.20}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Holy smokes. That does in fact say May 1st. This marks day 49 of quarantine for us. What day are you all on?

Harrison and I have big plans today. To stay home. :). Here’s what’s bringing me a smile this week…

I’ve got to brag on this little guy this week. Today marks the third week of potty training for little man, and he is doing so so well!

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What’s Up Wednesday {04.29.20}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I remember so vividly writing my last What’s Up Wednesday at the end of March, and just having no clue how this April would unfold with the virus. There was so much uncertainty and anxiety, and while things don’t seem that different in the sense that we’re all still at home, and there’s still this crazy virus out there, somehow living a month plus of this has led me to a bit of acceptance and less fear. I don’t know how you all are hanging in there. I’d love to hear in the comments what’s been going on for you guys this past month!

I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you what’s going on in our life lately!

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK:

  • Sunday: Leftover Italian sausages and brats
  • Monday: Pot roast in the slow cooker
  • Tuesday: Leftovers
  • Wednesday: Cheesy Gnocchi Florentine
  • Thursday: Leftovers
  • Friday: Take out from a local restaurant!

I’ve blogged about this before, but right now, we’re very blessed that we are both still fully employed, so we’ve been trying to get take out from one of our favorite local restaurants at least once a week to do some small part in helping all of these amazing places that we love stay afloat during this time. It may seem small and petty, but it’s a great treat for us and we’re hoping that it’s some small part in keeping restaurants afloat.

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Friday Favorites {04.24.20}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Today marks our 42nd day of the whole family in quarantine. Holy moly. I can hardly believe it’s been that long! This week was marked by celebrating my Dad’s and brother-in-law’s birthday. They share the same birthday! Many hours spent playing kitchen and mowing the patio with Harrison, and we started watching a new TV show that Nathan and I are really into now!

We’ve spent the last couple of Friday evenings watching a Disney movie and getting our fill of popcorn. Turns out that Harrison is a HUGE popcorn fan. He’ll finish most of this big bowl by himself. And this past week, we made popcorn the old fashioned way. Well, with the help of an Instant Pot.

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The Habits I Do to Positively Impact a Self-Quarantine Day

Posted on by Lauren Lane

It’s pretty easy to have a ‘blah’ day lately being stuck in quarantine. Not having the freedom to run simple errands or go play at a playground are amazingly impactful on mental health. Not to mention that so many of us, Nathan and I included, are trying to balance working from home and caring for a very active toddler.

The truth is that there are whole days that I’m just in a real funk about it, and I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling. A new piece of news comes out: lockdowns are extended, the peak of this virus hasn’t happened yet in our state like they thought it would, we may be living a life something similar to this for a year until there is a vaccine. It’s so easy to just get weighed down. And if I’m honest, there are days where I find myself there. Just bummed.

I do find, though, that even those days when the news is not good when hope seems hard to find, that engaging in certain habits does dramatically improve my day and outlook. Here’s what I’m doing to stay sane, and I’d love to hear how you all are doing to keep yourself out of the funk during this weird time!

Sticking to a Schedule/Routine

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