Yellowstone + Jackson Hole

Hello, again!

Last week I gave a major update on our summer in Utah. If you missed it, check it out! :) Lots of fun pictures.

I am still working on those updates and as promised today I am going to share our favorite pictures from our trips to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. We had a great time. Riley traveled well and we loved taking her out in nature.

She kind of has a ridiculous set-up sometimes. #luxury

Nice work, Jeff.

We saw SO much wildlife. It was pretty amazing. 

Did not take a picture of Old Faithful, but took a picture of ice cream at Old Faithful. Priorities...

Tourists...

Looking for bears. We saw SEVEN on this trip and four were cubs! Don't worry they were all super far away.

An early-morning walk in Jackson Hole.

I have ombre hair now! First time getting it colored in five years. 

Acai bowl at the Lotus Cafe. Very good.

I was not as good at taking pictures on the second trip. In fact it looks like we were there alone, but we went with my family. We had a great time, but some of our activities got rained out. We spent a lot of the time bonding in the condo, playing Bananagrams and watching the the Hulk and Teen Beach Movie, haha.

Tomorrow I will share pictures from and talk about the fourth of July and Riley's monthly updates (that only kind of happened). You won't want to miss it (if you are my Grandma Daryl).

I love you all!

Utah... People Working Together

As announced, I am going to update everyone one day at a time (because I am that behind in blogging). Today I will review, primarily in pictures, our visit to Utah this summer.

At my cousin Victoria's wedding

Let's get started.

Jeff and his mom drove back to the homeland while Riley and I flew. Here's a fun (read: embarrassing) anecdote about the flight for your amusement.

I was scheduled to fly with Southwest Airlines. Southwest does not assign seats; they assign a boarding order. This order is determined by who checks in first. My plan was to check in exactly 24 hours before my flight. Well, I totally forgot and ended up checking in four hours later than I had planned.

To my delight I was the 30th person to check in! I was still in boarding group A. I was so excited that I could board right away and maybe have an extra seat next to me and Riley.

More pleasant surprises came the day of the trip; Riley was in great spirits (asleep the whole time), I got a buffer before my flight, TSA was easygoing and let me keep my baby in her wrap, I got to our gate early and a cute elderly couple offered to throw away my subway wrapper as I finished up my sandwich. People are so nice! I felt so much better than I was expecting.

"You should go pre-board with the other families!" The previously mention elderly couple told me.

"Oh, I'm early. I'm on the next flight."

Haha. No, I wasn't.

I unzipped my changing pad and played with Riley and changed her diaper. I felt like I was killing it in the mom department... Until I heard,

"Any last passengers going to Salt Lake City?"

What?!

I dashed to the counter and asked, "This is the flight to Salt Lake?" I obviously had misunderstood.

"Yes. You must be Claire."

Oh my goodness. I hastily grabbed my things and maneuvered Riley back into her wrap as I stood second to last in line. I felt so dumb. I actually cried a tear or two thinking about all the germs I was about to expose my one-month old to because I didn't board earlier.

When I got on the plane I chose the remaining aisle seat towards the back. I sat right next to the couple that advised me to pre-board. As I slid into my seat, the woman leaned towards me and said, "We are grandparents and we are happy to help you however you need."

I felt relieved and in the end I think it was great that I got to sit next to such accommodating people.

I wish I had a picture from our flight, but alas, I do not. She slept nearly the whole time and all was well. Here's a picture around one month. Cute, little tiny.

Our time in Utah was fabulous. We were surrounded with family and friends. We really enjoyed our time there. We stayed with both sets of parents and it was really fun.

Aside from many a trip to Target, I spent a lot of my time playing with Riley and having mini photoshoots on my in-laws floor. Here are a few early favorites:

We played a lot of games, watched a lot of movies, went on walks, visited with family and friends, oh, and painted these nerdy space marine figurines. 

Jeff has amazing attention to detail, BTW.

A couple activities worth mention include:

Hitting up all my favorite Utah food joints (Cafe Rio, Zupas, Blue Lemon, etc.)

Spending time with our friends Mike and Ally/discovering the Huntsville Barbeque Company

Henry is such a cutie!

Spending time with my sassy, ten-year-old sister, Chrissy

Yes, that is a Pokemon handbook. Pokemon is back like nobody's business.

 Chrissy and I took on the challenge that is making macarons. Not macaroons (the nasty, old lady, coconut cookie), but macarons. Not my picture, but they look like this:

PC: Heather Joan

Our brother is in France and our goal is to master these bad boys by the time he gets home. We are on the right track except not because so far they have all turned out hollow. :/ Oh well. They still taste amazing.

Spent time with my family (which is always amazing)

Visited Station Park

We also blessed Riley while we were in Utah.

Are you kidding me???! Now they have to get married.

I somehow am really tall in this picture. 

I made her dress (bragbragbrag).

Work that skinny arm. I just had a baby after all.  

One set of grandparents. Riley looks so little and indifferent, haha.

I think that will suffice for now. Stay tuned for more updates. This really just scratches the surface.

Next time I will talk about our trip(s) to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. 

Have a great day!

We're Back (in Texas)!

Oh hey you guys!

Wow. Now that summer is more or less over (at least over for my second-year-med-school husband) I will update my 11 12 readers on our life, haha. :)

My hiatus, while unannounced, was pretty much planned. I didn't particularly want the internet to know I was away from our home for the better part of four months...That would be bad. So here we are! Enthusiastic about another round of Texas.

I seriously have so many updates. You know what? We are just going to make it a series. Stay tuned--I'm talking to you, grandmas--I will review the following:

Day One:
Visiting Utah this summer
Day Two:
Two trips to Jackson Hole (and one trip to Yellowstone)
Day Three:
Fourth of July and Riley. Of course.
Day Four:
A stellar family reunion
Day Five:
Our family pictures in beautiful Park City
Day Six:
The sewing projects I took on this summer.
Day Seven:
Random, albeit noteworthy events that aren't covered in the above categories.

It's good to be back.

Thank you to everyone who keeps checking in for updates. Y'all keep me motivated. :)

Birthday and Anniversary Shenanigans

First of all, hey! I have been absent lately for plenty of good reasons but primarily because of this cutie pie:

Yeah, she's precious.

Well, I don't have great pictures today, but I still need to write because this week was my birthday and my anniversary. It's one of those obligatory posts, you know...

So, birthday:

Jeff's birthday was two months ago, but whatever. I like sharing. :)

I have reached one of those arbitrary ages, so it's not too exciting. Yay, birth! Thanks, Mom. :)

Anniversary :

Claire: let's take a three-year-anniversary selfie.

Jeff: okay.

It was too bright for me, but apparently Jeff was unphased, haha. I am a mess. Also, do we look as tired as we feel? Because we are sleep deprived something fierce.

As a matter of fact, I have noticed a serious drop in my brain power since having a baby; the struggle is so real when I try looking at a menu, articulating my thoughts, or playing Bananagrams. It's getting out of hand, but goodness am I grateful for my wee babe. I need a nap, but here I am blogging at midnight while my baby is asleep. It's my life.

Well, here's a little update. Riley is six weeks old! She is really sweet and she gets cuter and more fun each day. She just started smiling voluntarily. 😍

She is still a bitty, little thing. She still fits in all her newborn clothes except for one pj set. She is long and skinny. It is so adorable.

She still has gas and a little acid reflux we think. It's her biggest struggle in life right now. She is fussy about half the time. The other half she stares fascinated at chair legs, walls, and other novel, high-contrast treasures. Haha.

I have been working really hard at eating right to prevent her aforementioned gas and reflux. You. Guys. No dairy, no gluten, no chocolate, no spicy food, no broccoli, no happiness. The list, if you can believe it is longer than that. Think I'm exaggerating? I am not. She has the hardest time if I indulge.

Healthy food. Boo. Just kidding. It is really refreshing and I like getting creative with oatmeal and rice products (feed me normal food!)...

Another update, I bought a great book for my birthday. It's called Permission to Parent. Just good old-fashioned authoritative parenting lit.

Can you believe it? More oatmeal. 

I love this book. I am 65 pages in and highly recommend.

Alright. I am getting my priorities straight and calling it a night.

Have a great week!

Riley is the Cutest

My baby is three and a half weeks old. She is growing up but she is still so tiny. :) I adore her.

Well, here's an update on our lives:

Jeff is nearly done with school. He has a just over a week left. He has been so helpful with Riley and he is still handling school. I am always so impressed by all he can juggle. It's amazing! We are sleep-deprived, but happy.Yesterday it hit me how much I like being a mom. Notwithstanding the struggles of having a baby, being a mom is pretty rad.

Riley likes long walks and laying on her changing pad. She calms down almost immediately when we hold her close to our chest. She likes car rides and being outside. She has got some strong little neck muscles and she has rolled from her stomach to her side three times in the last two days (1. Is that considered rolling over? 2. Is it normal for that to happen this early?) Anyway, she is a little champ. 

I finally made a birth announcement today as well, so, you know... Now it's official. :)

I hope you have a great week!