weekend shenanigans

Oh, hey there 2018! Like…what??? I am still in denial that Christmas is over to be honest. We took our tree down yesterday though, and basically that is the most productive thing I could do for us to get a kick off to the new year. I love Christmas and I hate taking down all of the decorations and going back to normal….until around the 1st when I am like ok….this shit has gots to go!!! I want my house back!

We had a magical Christmas with Zoe. She was so into the Christmas movies, music and decorations. She decided that she did in fact like opening presents and figured out that gift bags are her favorite thing ever. And cards. Give that girl a card and she is happy forever. I think the biggest hit was her car. She is so adorable when she asks for a ride.

She loved getting to decorate cookies for Santa. Though, she was more interested in eating his cookies. Pretty much my face when I consume cookies too!

We started a new tradition of building a gingerbread house together too. I have never done one before, and I have always wanted to. Our roof kept trying to slide down and that was annoying…but we had fun decorating anyways!! I think next year we will start from scratch instead of getting a kit.

We started a new tradition of going to Pappadeaux on Christmas Eve for lunch. Zoe had her first taste of filet and it is safe to say that she loved it. We really enjoyed ourselves there and we had the best service. Other than one other family that came towards the end of our lunch….we pretty much had the room to ourselves.

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve at Chris’s parents house, as we do every year.

It has been cold here in Alabama with “artic air” that has moved through. It was 15 degrees when I woke up yesterday morning. We still got out and enjoyed ourselves a few different times between Christmas and New Year. We even headed up to Chattanooga for an afternoon. Of course, we had to take Zoe to Taco Mac while we were there! It was her first time out of state, and technically she was in three different states that day because we have to drive through a little part of Georgia to get to Chattanooga.

We checked out a new bar in Leeds that is actually kid friendly, so Zoe got to have her first bar experience. I had the most delicious passion fruit and guava beer from Trim Tab while we were there.

And we had a delicious meal at Hickory Tavern where Zoe had her first experience with crayons. Obviously, she is a natural. I was impressed that she didn’t even try to eat them.

I started my third round of Whole 30 yesterday. Of course, I had to go out in style the day before. We ordered Mexican to go from our favorite local place on NYE for lunch and my last meal of the night was nachos. Had to have one last hurrah! Truth be told, we were in bed before the clock struck midnight. I just don’t get into NYE and we do have a one year old. We watched the two new Dave Chapelle show’s that dropped on Netflix though and watched several classic movies that we love. (The Proposal, Blindside, Heartbreak Kid, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, American Wedding.)

Honestly, I am really glad to be getting back on track again and having some structure with my eating. For the most part, I do decent during the week but I had been letting a lot of treats and processed crap back in my life over the last several months. And let’s not even talk about the holiday treats, ok? Day one was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.

At first I was like…why would I start Whole 30 on playoff day????? And when Georgia went into their SECOND overtime….I was ready to pull out the drinks and M&Ms I had hid from myself the day before. But then the Alabama game calmed my nerves and my two favorite teams are going to the championship next Monday!!! I will be pulling for Alabama…but I honestly can’t be mad if Georgia wins. It has been a long time for them. So next Monday is a win win for me!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! You wont be seeing any resolution posts from me. My main goal in 2018 is to work on my health. I was in a really good place before getting pregnant and sort of been lost ever since. I was more focused on being a mom this past year and have let my needs and health on the back burner. I feel like we are a lot more settled in to the parent life now and I can’t really consider myself a new mom anymore and use that as an excuse as to why my work outs aren’t happening or why I am snacking on crap. You know? So Whole 30 for January, and by next Monday I hope to have had a few workouts under my belt too.

I cannot believe that next Monday is Christmas!!! Speaking of Christmas, spam me with your favorite Christmas breakfast recipes and ideas. I am going to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas Eve, but I want to make an extra special breakfast for Christmas and start a new tradition. I am thinking a breakfast casserole or crockpot recipe or something. Clearly I will be spending all week on Pinterest, but I want your suggestions too!

This past weekend was wonderful. Well, until Zoe got sick on Sunday. Luckily she is doing better, but I am working from home today to keep her away from all the germs to be sure!

On Saturday, Chris and I set out to knock out a big chunk of our Christmas shopping that we had left. We went to Bargain Hunt in Irondale and found a ton of good deals and left with a cart full of stuff. I then headed over to The Summit with no clear destination in mind, only to realize that we really needed to be in Hoover instead. A quick jump back on 459 and we were at the Bargain Hunt in Hoover pretty quick. Found a few more things at that one, and then had lunch at J Alexander’s.  We shared the spinach queso and I got the Thai Kai salad. We ordered Zoe smashed potatoes and she shared my chicken from my salad with me. She is such a good eater these days!!!

We then walked around 2nd and Charles and then headed back to Trussville. We were on the search for Fingerlings for our nephew all weekend, so we wanted to check out the Walmarts and see if they restocked. No such luck at either that we went to, but I did find some this morning!!!

Chris mentioned that Olive Garden to go sounded like a great idea for dinner, so he ordered it and we hung out at Best Buy until it was time to pick up our food. We had a wonderful day, and it was so much fun Christmas shopping for Zoe and our family. Zoe was so amazing all day, but eventually she was over it. Pretty sure she may get her inability to hide facial expressions from me. At least we will always know where we stand with her?

Sunday we headed out early to get our grocery shopping done. That was when we realized that Zoe really wasn’t feeling well, so we quickly headed back home and hung around the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and snuggling.

Oh, I forgot to mention on Friday when I dropped Zoe off….one of her sweet teachers handed me a bag that had Zoe’s picture on one side where she is wearing reindeer ears and her little tiny hand prints on the other made to look like reindeer. Inside was the most beautiful plate with her foot prints on it. Have I mentioned how much I love her daycare  and teachers??? I hate not being there with her 24/7, but I know that when Chris and I aren’t with her, she is getting lots of love. How precious is this???

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! We are in crunch time for Christmas shopping! Have you finished or are you in the party that waits until the last weekend to go? Linking up with Biana.

You guys! My heart is so full of joy this morning. We woke up Friday to see that the snow had started coming down. We had started out with a 2 hour delay at daycare and it turned into a snow day. Hurray! Zoe was so excited to see all the snow. She kept going to our back door and looking out on the deck and pointing and squealing with delight. We went out together for a little while just the two of us, and then again when Chris got home from work. We had so much fun and got so many cute pictures!!! It snowed just a little last year, so this isn’t technically her first snow…but it was the first time she got to go out in it and have an official snow day.

Zoe pulled all the clothes out of her bottom drawer of her dresser and laid down on them for a few minutes, clearly the snow wore her out!

I seriously cant believe how much it actually snowed and for how long. This has to be a record here for as long as I have lived in the south. It was the perfect powdery wet kind too and the roads were pretty decent because we didn’t get a ton of ice like we usually do. We got to make snow cream and watch the Grinch.

Saturday, we headed out early to Bass Pro Shop to get our pass to stand in line and see Santa!!! This is Zoe’s first time meeting Santa too, I felt like she was too young to take out last year. She did so well and didn’t cry at all!

I loved that the snow still hung around on our drive to see Santa. It was soooooo pretty!!!!

After Santa, we headed home for lunch and a nap because we new we were going to head back out to meet up with Laura, B and Sheffy! We ended up at CommHouse. We had the best time just hanging out and watching the kiddos be totally adorable. Clearly they have plenty more play dates in their future!

We enjoyed snacking on the totchos, wings and Kung Pao Cauliflower. Zoe ate a lot of the totchos. She loves carbs.

Saturday night I got the Christmas tree up and partially decorated. I need to finish the rest of it this week and get the one up in Zoe’s room!

Sunday, we headed out early to Target to get our grocery shopping done. We stopped at Casa Fiesta for lunch, and then headed over to 280 to Best Buy and Bargain Hunt. We didn’t get home until close to 3pm. We settled in for lots of Christmas movies (Badder Santa, Elf, The Santa Claus, Santa Claus 2 and Home Alone) and I made some bacon pasta. (Recipe to come later!)

And just like that the weekend was over and it was back to work! Oh, it needs to be noted that Zoe had her first tacos on Friday. And then she ate some at Casa Fiesta Sunday too! Obviously, she loved them. I mean, she is my kid!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Linking up with Biana.

It is always so hard to come back to work and reality on  Monday after a long weekend. Especially when that weekend included so many delicious eats, shopping, and one frustrating football game. But I dont want to talk about that last one, ok?

We kicked off the holiday with an early dismissal from work on Wednesday. I didn’t hesitate to pack up my stuff and head on out to get Zoe. She was so excited to see me so early! Her and I went and picked up some snacks for the weekend and ordered her smash cake and birthday cake!

I decided to make French toast for us on Thanksgiving morning while we watched the parade. Hopefully a new tradition. Zoe didn’t care to much for the parade, but she loved her French toast and ate the entire slice I gave her, crust and all! She was a good eater all day, and tried a bit of everything at both lunch and dinner! Here is her first Thanksgiving lunch plate! She even had ham and turkey (not pictured).

We go to Chris’s parents house for a late lunch and then my mom’s for dinner. We were all beat after all that eating and traveling and headed home. Chris went back out that night with our BIL to do some shopping, while Zoe and I snuggled up and watched a Christmas movie.

Zoe with her all of her cousins on Chris’s side of the family

Friday, Zoe got her first Black Friday experience. My mom and I have been shopping every year (except last year when I was hella pregnant) since and this year it was so surreal having Zoe out with us! Next year she will probably stay home with daddy since she will be more mobile, but I think she liked all the excitement this year. She was really good the entire day and only got fussy once when I was in the fitting room at Nordstrom Rack. Grandma walked her around while I finished up there and she was happy once again when I took her to go try on some shoes. That girl loves shoes. She did give me a look before lunch that told me she was over it. Hahaha. I don’t know where she gets those facial expressions from. Me.

Parmesan truffle cheese fries from Cowfish for lunch

We had a lot of fun shopping with my mom and I even got someone crossed off the Christmas list.

Saturday was Iron Bowl and after we got a little cleaning done around the house, we headed over to watch the game with Chris’s dad. We spent a lot of time shaking our heads and yelling at the tv. We still have hope that *maybe* we can make it into the playoffs?!?! That evening after we got home and got Zoe to bed, Chris hung out with J in the basement and I decided to try a Christmas movie on Netflix. You guys. I have never cried so much during a movie since Marley and Me. I chose The Heart of Christmas with Candace Cameron Burre and….just cue the tears. The movie is about a woman who learns of a little boy that is dying of cancer and it changes her outlook on life. I didn’t realize the movie was based off a real family and so at the end, I wasn’t prepared to see pictures of the actual little boy. It was such a good movie, but so so heartbreaking. I had to watch Home Alone after to get it off my mind!

Sunday, my sister and one of my nephews came over and went grocery shopping with us. I picked up some Mexican on the way home for lunch. When we got back, we put Zoe down for a nap and started prepping props for her smash cake pictures!!! We did them ourselves because our photographer wasn’t available before her birthday and I really wanted them done now. I think they turned out pretty good and I will be sharing them soon!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Thanksgiving!!! May your Monday be filled with coffee and go by quickly! Linking up with Biana.