Since it’s almost a year to the day that Nicole took these photos for us {& that the new mom Suz was too spent to post them}, I thought I’d belatedly share these here.
It’s wild & amazing to see how much they’ve grown & changed since that session!
My fabulous friend Nicole did it again. We loved the maternity photos she took of us. She was kind enough to gift us a newborn session when Zach & Lucy were just 1 week out of the NICU. {Just realized I never shared those! Post to come!}
We met at a local park the Sunday before their first birthday. It was one of the first hot, humid days we’ve had & while it was overcast, Lucy’s blue eyes didn’t love the sun {I was trying not to squint too}.
I love these shots of the four of us & of us each with Lucy & Zach. So hard to choose favorite photos!
Lucy & Zach wouldn’t nurse right before we left the house, so of course, they got a little cranky & hungry. Thankfully I’d brought snacks & managed to nurse Zach in the van which brought the smiles back for him.
Lucy was over it all by the time we brought out the cake. Top that with the fact that the girl doesn’t really love to get dirty, & she was a bit dramatic before we scooped her up, cleaned them both & headed home.
Thanks again Nicole for capturing their personalities so well for us to remember them at one year!
I was just glancing through my phone & wanted to share these here. Some of these photos were posted on instagram & thus made their way to fb & twitter. But too often, I don’t end up sharing enough of Zach & Lucy’s lighter moments here.
This was Memorial day after being cooped up in the van for 3 hours. Lucy loves to hug Zach {& us too}. He likes it & laughs for a minute before yelping. She’s a fierce hugger.
Last weekend, after i got home from a fun bee themed brunch baby shower, J ran out to old navy & to lunch while I played with the babes. I put L on the musical car & Zach jumped behind to push her. When they hit the black chair, they got stuck & laughed!
We took advantage of Moe’s free burrito deal & ordered Tuesday night. All four of us ate at Moe’s for $5. Lucy & Zach had fun taking in all the kids there {also kids night} & enjoyed parts of our burritos. Welcome to Moe’s!
Once we arrived home, they still seemed hungry. Lucy had done pretty good work on my burrito but most of what J gave Z ended up on his face & onesies & lap. Z thought eating yogurt & animal crackers in just a cloth diaper was hilarious. Not sure what was cracking Lucy up {me, I guess}.
Their smiles are so amazing right now!
I’ve always been a breakfast person. And I don’t limit traditional breakfast items to before noon. Some of my favorite pregnant snacks were yogurt & cereal.
In the past, I sat down & had {usually} cereal every morning before work. Occasionally Eggos or bagels if we were lucky enough to have the pantry stocked. Yummy items like homemade waffles, pancakes, eggs & French toast were reserved for lazy weekend mornings.
These days there are rarely ‘lazy’ anythings. Especially not mornings. I’m doing good if I’m throwing back cereal while nursing or packing my lunch or waking up a kiddo. And a Quaker banana nut soft baked bar with a banana {easily thrown in my purse while running out the door} are my mid-morning favorite.
But I do pass a Bruegger’s Bagels on my way into work. {& thankfully also a Kangaroo express for the 25 cent diet coke Roo cup refill!}
Bruegger’s has always been a lunch/brunch favorite since NCSU college days. I got hooked on the Herby Turkey sandwich {on an asiago Parmesan softwich please}. I rarely deviate from my order. But if you recall, I partied with the executive chef Smith for their 30th anniversary & realized limiting myself to my beloved sun dried tomato spread wasn’t doing me any favors.
I’ve recently stopped by the Bruegger’s across from work for a to-go breakfast sandwich {with bagels for snack & the next day in tow} & on another occasion for lunch. While I admittedly got my beloved Herby Turkey for lunch, I did switch it up & also try one of chef Smith’s new salads too. I loved the sweet tangy taste of the blue apple salad.
The new Sriracha Egg sandwich kick started my morning.
I went with an asiago Parmesan bagel versus the traditional plain bagel & as I said on instagram, holy flavor party in my mouth. I loved the spicy chili sauce!
The following morning, husband & I both enjoyed the Morning Glory bagel with cream cheese. It has a perfect sweet flavor & for busy moms like myself, can be fairly neatly eaten in the van on the way to work!
I was sent coupons so that I could try Brueggers new summer menu items for purpose of this review. I wasn’t otherwise compensated. Nor were my ravings on their new menu persuaded by their generosity.
Divergent by Veronica Roth has been recommended to me for a long time. I threw it on my library wish list a couple months ago & instagrammed recently when I picked it up. Over & over, friends said, you have to read it! NOW! {I should have listened to them sooner.}
I decided to bring it with me to OIB. And while I didn’t have much relaxing beach reading time {hello, babies’ first day at the beach & afternoon in a baby pool!}. Lucy & Zach chilled on the car trip home & napped at the house Monday long enough for me to finish Just One Day & start reading Divergent Monday night. Y’all, I had all 400+ pages finished by Wednesday night. It was too good to put down. And Insurgent better come quick from the library as I can’t wait to read more of Tris’ story!
Divergent is of the YA genre, so it’s an easy, quick read. It might remind you of Hunger Games & Matched in that it’s a story based in a future, dystopian North America {Chicago area}. There’s PG rated teenage romance that’s sweet & cute. And crazy drama & action that makes you glad to be living now.
Before I was finished, I saved the date {10/22/13 for those interested} when then third book, Allegiant comes out. If you’re looking for a cant-put-it-down, addicting read that isn’t “light” in the story but won’t make your brain explode from thinking too hard, find these novels.