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!

Weekday Wardrobe in Quarantine

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Earlier this week, I shared our weekend, which included most of the things I’d normally include in my Friday Favorites post. So instead, I thought I’d do a bit of a funny take on what I’ve been wearing lately. It’s a cross between quarantine-chic style and what I’ve been wearing this pregnancy while WFH.

SUNDAY!

Making a pre-pregnancy shirt work just a bit longer. Invested in these comfy joggers from Amazon. Perfect for pregnancy and post-pregnancy.

MONDAY:

Ready for a morning of working from home. These slippers are getting worn pretty much all day. And my favorite maternity camisole that I wear under everything is super cheap at Target.

TUESDAY:

This is another pre-pregnancy sweater. I love the Emma 525 sweater. They hold their shape so well, and they come in soooo many colors.

And ironically enough, I forgot after Tuesday to take any more pictures. 🙂

I did a post on our Mother’s Day weekend HERE, which includes SO many of my favorites from this past week. Until next week, have a good weekend!

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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7 Quick Takes (v. III)

Posted on by Lauren Lane

If you’re new around here, every once awhile I like to round up seven quick things that I’m loving and finding amusing about Harrison. It’s my way of memorializing these small little bits of his personality that he will likely outgrow in hopes that someday I look back at them and remind myself what Harrison was like growing up. Harrison is 2 now, and he’s on his sixth week at home with Nathan and I during full time quarantine. That means I’ve got loads of material watching, playing, and hanging out with our little man so much!

-1- The number of times a day I ask him, “Harrison – are your listening ears turned on?” As he points to his ears to show me – “yup – heard you, Mom. Just choosing to do my own 2 year old thing. K-Bye.”

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Designing a Flower Pot Basics

Posted on by Lauren Lane

It’s that time of year when I know I have so many friends who are itching to plant something pretty that they can enjoy all summer! Just going to the garden center and trying to pick something out can be overwhelming, and I’ve had so many friends lately ask for suggestions of different plants and wanting thoughts on where to start. So, here’s my suggestion if you’re TOTALLY overwhelmed. Start with a few pots.

You can buy pretty inexpensive pots at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Costco, even Target. If you want a nice pot, garden centers have LOADS of them. Many of them will have sales from time to time that you can even get a deal on a nice flower pot. But if you’re not really wanting to fully commit to anything yet, get a big inexpensive pot, and give it a shot for a season. You might surprise yourself!

First off, a few fundamentals:

-1- Pick your pot, and make sure it has drainage in the bottom. That is, I’m assuming you’re putting this pot outside, so make sure there’s a drainage hole in the bottom of your pot. You want excess water to be able to run off. When water just sits in the pot, it’s really common that it can cause root rot and kill your plants.

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Pregnancy: My Second Trimester

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I’m sharing a little bit about what my second trimester with baby number 2 has been like for me. For those of you who are new around here, I’m due at the end of July with our second little one. Harrison, our first baby, just turned 2 in April, and we found out in the winter that we were going to be adding a second little boy to the family!

I blogged about my first trimester HERE, and since I just finished up my second trimester of pregnancy, I wanted to share what the alleged “easiest” trimester has been like for me.

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