Weeks Go By

The title to my post could describe a couple of things right now - the nauseating weeks of my first trimester (12 weeks as of yesterday!), as well as the amount of time that seems to pass between my blog posts as of late! I really do appreciate all of your words of concern and statements that you miss my posts - so very sweet. I'm hopeful that now that I am in the home stretch of the first trimester, the morning sickness eases up. My OB/GYN told me this week that my blood work at my last appointment tested borderline over active for my thyroid. She said this is typical in the first trimester and could explain my overwhelming nausea - she checked it again this week and if it continues to be somewhat over active we will see about treating it with suppressants.

So...my little bean is 12 weeks! We had an ultrasound this week and got to hear his or her heartbeat for the first time, which I believe is just the loveliest sound in the world. He/she jumped around some during the ultrasound, and just like that, I was transported back to 3 years ago during my pregnancy with Alexandra. It really is amazing how time flies. Alexandra started her "big girl class" at daycare this week, and now plays on a new playground (the "big playground" she explains to me with eyes as big as saucers) and eats breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria with her class. I dropped her off a little late at daycare yesterday morning and left her with her friends in the cafeteria, eating Cheerios. I found myself standing in the doorway, just watching her - and then cried on my way to work. I can't believe she is getting SO big! Man am I in trouble when she is ready for kindergarten, if I am getting this worked up over the cafeteria!

Wanted to leave you with a picture of the little bean (which Alexandra has already named with a REAL name, not just Elmo or Mickey Mouse or something like that. We will see if the baby ends up getting the name his or her big sister picked out.). This is a 3-D scan at 12 weeks - I know it's difficult to tell parts, but the baby is facing the screen. I labeled the various parts, but I know even that probably won't help!


I'm off to Little Rock this afternoon for a deposition...have a wonderful weekend!

Birthdays & Baseball

Sunday nights always make me a little sad, don't they for you, too? The work week drags by until it is Friday afternoon and you are giddy with excitement at the prospect of two whole days of nothing (well, not nothing - Kroger, Target, laundry, and cleaning always seem to wiggle their way in there). The weekend flies by in typical fashion, and the next thing you know it is Sunday night and you have another long week that lies ahead of you.

This weekend was particularly wonderful for us, full of a birthday celebration, family visiting from out of town, and almost pleasant temperatures (around 90 as opposed to 100 - hey, I'll take it). Friday was my husband Ryan's 35th birthday and I picked up a dozen cupcakes from Gigi's to celebrate.


These cupcakes are downright sinful - every one of them (and I do mean EVERY LAST ONE of them) that was eaten this weekend was devoured but there was a huge gob of buttercream icing left on everyone's plates. The icing is as tall as the cake part itself.


They are about as delicious as they look, though some were better than others. My personal favorite was the Strawberry Shortcake that you see in the middle of the box. Ryan's pick for his first taste was the White Midnight Magic.


Ryan's dad and step-mother, and our nephew, John Michael, came up Friday night to visit for the weekend and stayed through Sunday early afternoon. After breakfast Saturday morning, the kids headed outdoors to play with sidewalk crayons/chalk.


Maybe I'm just a bit OCD, but man are those things a mess - chalk was all over every square inch of Alexandra's skin. Plus, the texture of chalk really makes my skin crawl. Perhaps I am just a bit sore because one furry and lovable misfit of ours made off with two of the sidewalk crayons and had a green tongue as proof of her shenanigans.


After our adventures in chalk and a little time spent on the slide, we headed in to watch a movie - John Michael was adamant that Ryan and I had to watch "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", which he assured us was hysterical. It actually was a very cute little movie, we were glad we watched it with him. Alexandra climbed into the seat right next to John Michael and seemed to be spell-bound for the first 15 minutes before she got distracted.


She did love sitting next to her big cousin, and he seemed to enjoy himself as well. This picture is my favorite from the weekend - Alexandra had just leaned over to give John Michael a hug, and just laughed and laughed afterwards! He's a pretty good sport!


Following lunchtime and naps, we headed out to the backyard again so John Michael could show us what a great t-ball player is and how he could knock the wiffle ball over the house or across the fence, which he did repeatedly. What surprised me was how much interest Alexandra had with the wiffle ball bat - she picked it up and did NOT want to let go.

This series of pictures cracks me up...

Biting her lower lip with excitement...


Showing Pappa how far she will hit it...


Wrinkling her nose in concentration...


Pure joy!


With so many wiffle balls flying around, Pearl was beside herself with excitement - you could see in her eyes that she was just begging for one of the balls to play with and call her own.


I finally lured her away from the wiffle ball bat with promises of the water table. I ask you, is there anything cuter than a toddler with bouncy curls and a little ruffle on the butt? I think not.


Hope you all had just as nice a weekend!

Farm Fun

Hello friends! I am pleased to announce my return to the living! Work has settled down (a bit) and the morning sickness is starting to ease off (hopefully there won't be a rebound). I've been woefully inadequate with blogging (posting, reading, and commenting) as of late, but I'm hoping to rectify that in the coming weeks.

I'm so behind in blogging, I'm just now posting pictures from our trip to my hometown of Harrodsburg - which trip was over a month ago! Alexandra and I drove the hour from Louisville to see my parents and some of my extended family - she has such a love of animals that I also wanted to take her to my grandmother's and uncle's farms to see a few of her favorites.

At my Mamma's farm, Alexandra and Mimi (my mom) were greeted by Lily, the sweetest dog that has ever graced God's green earth.


Alexandra was intrigued by the rooster and chickens. In case you haven't had an up-close experience with chickens, they are the dumbest and meanest animals EVER. No, I'm not being cruel, that's just how it is. Alexandra would have walked right into that chicken coop if we would have let her.


Alexandra wanted to search for some cows but alas there were none at my Mamma's farm - so instead she enjoyed standing on the fence like a little cowgirl and watching Kit and Kate, two horses my grandparents have owned for years.


Looks like a natural, doesn't she?


From Mamma's, we headed to my Uncle Steve's to see some more horses and to see those elusive cows that Alexandra kept issuing demands for.

Horses are my personal favorite...I snapped dozens of pictures of this handsome guy.



Alexandra was a little skittish around my Uncle's large tractor, but she thought the riding lawn-mower/tractor was just her size.


We headed out of the barn in our continued search for cows, though I couldn't seem to turn my attention away from these beauties.


At long last, we found the cows, who were smart and had chosen to stand under trees for shade, out in the field. Uncle Steve wanted to make his little great-niece happy, so he called for the cows and summoned them closer with a bucket of feed. Alexandra wasn't content with just observing them from outside of the gate. No, my child wanted to go out in the field and stand with the cows while they ate. I swear, my daughter has absolutely no fear - at least when it comes to large animals. I guess the fact she has been around an 80 pound Lab all of her short life has made her pretty confident around animals!

Uncle Steve leading Alexandra out for a closer view of the cows:


I swear, this one looks like he was actually sticking his tongue out at the camera....rude little bugger.


Enjoy your weekends! Today is a special day for us, it's my husband's 35th birthday. Happy Birthday Ryan, we love you!

Remember Me??

I'm still here....I promise.

Life has been a little...hmmm, how should I put it...crazy lately.

We have a case that is gearing up for trial in about two months and I've been swamped with expert depositions. The morning sickness (aka all day sickness) is also in full effect and is worst at night (which is usually when I do my blogging). Most evenings I have collapsed in bed after getting Alexandra down for the night.

So stay patient with me - I do intend to blog again, hopefully picking things back up this weekend!

Boston Med - This is THE WEEK!

Hi all! Thanks for your kind words about the morning sickness - it comes and goes, and right now it's not too bad so that is the good news. However, I'm leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for a business trip to Boston, and I'm not entirely confident as to how the plane ride will impact the nausea - hopefully not much! I'm not looking forward to what will inevitably be two very, very long depositions of two expert witnesses in Boston, but am so excited that I will get to spend a little time with my sister, who is a chief resident at Mass General and Brigham & Women's Hospitals.

I've talked alot about my sister, Rachel, on this blog - she is an incredible physician and is gorgeous, brilliant, compassionate and funny. In her relatively short career as a physician, she has accomplished alot - be sure to check out prior posts here and here which discuss the case she had that ended up being profiled in the NY Times and Good Morning America.

I'm not sure if I have posted it on here before, but Rachel is one of the physicians that will be featured on Boston Med! In case you haven't heard of it, Boston Med is an 8 week documentary style show that is being aired on Thursday nights at 10pm on ABC. Cameras followed select physicians and nurses at Massachusetts General and Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, two of the top hospitals in the country. The series is halfway complete and so far I have been so impressed, the stories of the patients and the medical staff are AMAZING. Rachel is going to be featured on this Thursday's (July 22) episode, as well as next Thursday's (July 29) episode. I'm really interested to see what footage they end up using - actually, they came with Rachel to Alexandra's 1st birthday party last year, so that might even make it on TV, who knows?!

Here is the video profile on Rachel that ABC released shortly before the series began:



You can also read Rachel's profile on the official Boston Med website here. The profile contains a slideshow of pictures (including one of the two of us from Derby a few years ago when I had dark brown hair, if you can believe it!), as well as videos featuring Rachel.

Needless to say, my family cannot wait to see it! Unfortunately, I will be up in the air coming home from Boston when the episode airs - thank goodness for DVR! I hope you're able to tune in as well.

New Friends

In the past few days, I've become very close with a few new friends, and I'd love to introduce you...




So there not be any doubt, let me make this clear - MORNING SICKNESS SUCKS...for a variety of reasons:

(1) It isn't just the morning, but afternoon sickness and evening sickness, too.

(2) No food sounds appetizing, but you basically have to eat your way through the sickness to feel better (oh hello there, early extra poundage!).

(3) Of course, it's always a gamble as to whether the food you eat will make the nausea that.much.worse.

I guess I've been pretty lucky, it's just mild to moderate nausea off and on throughout the day - I haven't actually gotten sick. I had very little morning sickness with Alexandra - just a couple of episodes where I made something and the smell turned my stomach and then it was over within a matter of minutes. I'm very hopeful that this ends in a couple of weeks!

Oh, and in case you were wondering about my third friend - that is a product with the unfortunate name of "Preggie Pops". (And speaking of unfortunate, isn't that the worst packaging? I don't know any pregnant woman that even remotely resembles that woman with her terribly ugly sunhat and sundress.) They are hard candy drops that have ginger in them and therefore help alleviate some of the nausea. Interestingly, when my sweet Pappa was battling nausea as a result of his daily morphine in the last year of his life, I suggested to my Mom that they look into these for Pappa, figuring what the hell, they might just work. The crazy thing is that they did help him! I bet the manufacturers never anticipated a man in his 80s using Preggie Pops! The container I have right now was a leftover container of Pappa's pops that my Mom brought up for me this weekend.

The Answers - Jumping Ahead to the BIG ONE

So after concluding the first part of my answers to your questions in Monday's post, I promised that I would be back on Tuesday with the next set of answers....and obviously here it is Thursday night and there have been no posts in between. So to make up for it, I'm jumping ahead to the question I was asked the MOST....

From Rory: "Is Miss A going to be a big sis anytime soon??"

From BC: "I am curious if you think you may have another baby someday?"

From Mel: "I was also going to ask if A is going to have a sibling anytime soon & how many kids do you want?"

From California Wife: "I'm most curious about if you want to have more children."

Inquiring minds certainly want to know! :)

So, I thought I would turn the blog over to Alexandra and let her answer the question.....

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(Is the suspense killing you yet??)

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(Please excuse the terrible fuzzy picture - Alexandra lets nothing, including Mommy with her camera, get in the way of a good afternoon Elmo video.)

Yes, I am pregnant with our second child!! It's still pretty early, but I wanted to go ahead and share it here as the cat is out of the bag with a lot of our family and friends, and I was very excited to share the news here with you all!

I hope this helps to explain my lack of posts in the past couple of days. Morning sickness has hit me pretty hard - except in this case, it consists of morning, afternoon, and evening sickness. Walking around all day with mild to moderate nausea just does not lend itself to getting much accomplished, including blogging, so please bear with me till I get over the first trimester hump. I promise that I will very quickly publish some posts that address the rest of the great questions you all asked of me here.

Shew, glad I could get that out in the open and answer that BIG question!

The Answers - Part One

I have had a wonderful time sorting through the questions you all posed and thinking out my answers - some were incredibly tough, ya'll are keeping me on my toes! I quickly realized that the answers were too much for just one or two posts, so I'm going to spread my answers through a few different posts this week. I thought I would start with the easy questions, and work my way up to the more serious questions - which also seemed to be some of the most popular (including whether we plan to have more children).

BC, Ashley, Lauren and Elaina all asked me about where I love to buy clothes. I have to admit, I do not go shopping too often - ever since I fell prey to the addiction that is little girl's clothing after having my daughter a couple of years ago, I sadly find that I put more energy into her wardrobe! When I DO go shopping, I usually hit up some local boutiques in Louisville (Chartreuse, Collections, Boutique Serendipity, to name a few). I also love Anthropologie, J Crew, Ann Taylor Loft and Forever 21, and I also regularly check out online sale sites like Rue La La, Ideeli, Haute Look and Gilt Groupe.

My favorite makeup products also seemed to be a popular question (asked by Pinot After Playdates, Same Sweet Girl, Elaina & Melissa. (Elaina & Melissa also asked about favorite hair products - girls, go here to read about my latest obsession with Moroccan Oil). You had no idea you hit such a nerve with this question ... I will freely confess that yes, my name is Sara, and I am a makeup junkie. I don't know how my love affair with makeup began, but I'm a sucker for the latest trend and some pretty packaging. I'm pretty sure Ryan's eyes filled with dread when he first saw that a new Sephora store had opened up in town! Here's an odd bit of trivia - somehow, I have ended up doing makeup in 6 weddings. I by no means consider myself a pro, I just think my friends know my love of product!

Here's a sampling of my go-to favorites:


Top row, left to right:
(1) Dior AirFlash Foundation (this stuff is incredible but is definitely a splurge I only treat myself to once or twice a year)
(2) Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer
(3) Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage

Middle row, left to right:
(1) Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
(2) MAC eyeshadows (Do NOT let some of the wild colors scare you - they go on very light. MAC has the best colors, hands down, and the texture is great. Favorite colors of mine include Dazzlelight, Seedy Pearl, Satin Taupe and Mystery)
(3) DiorShow mascara

Bottom row, left to right:
(1) MAC Pressed Blotting Powder
(2) Hoola Bronzing Power by Benefit
(3) Nars Blush in Orgasm (a cult favorite, it is universally flattering)

There were a few questions asking me my favorites in a few different areas...

BOOK (from Melissa). I've discussed my love of reading on here several times. Some recent favorites include the Twilight series, The Help, and Water for Elephants. I also have a soft spot for the two Bridget Jones books, Fried Green Tomatoes, and anything from Maeve Binchy, Jennifer Weiner and Jennifer Lancaster. However, I have to say that my favorite book of all time, hands down, is To Kill A Mockingbird.

I remember reading this as a little girl in school and it was the first assigned reading that I could not put down and finished far ahead of the scheduled completion date. As is usually the case, the book is better than the movie, but it's a close draw - Gregory Peck IS Atticus Finch. I wish more individuals in my profession could strive to be more like this incredible lawyer found in literature.

Mel and Melissa asked about my favorite vacation spot...I've been to several very neat places, but if I had to narrow it down to a favorite, it would definitely be Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean, where Ryan and I spent our honeymoon. The beauty of this place will take your breath away, with the prettiest beaches I've ever seen.



Shannon asked me about my favorite guilty pleasure. I'm so embarrassed to admit this, but I find myself reading US Weekly regularly. I also STILL watch the train wreck that is The Bachelor/Bachelorette. This show has a TERRIBLE track record and is such a joke, yet I can't seem to force myself to stop watching this. Seriously, as I type this I am watching the current Bachelorette, Ali, go on her hometown dates with the final four guys. I'm officially humiliated - these are definitely guilty pleasures!

Shannon also was curious who is my celebrity crush....

Ryan, please ignore this brief little section...

It's definitely a toss-up between Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper - I've included head shots of both for your viewing pleasure.


YOU ARE WELCOME.

Melissa also asked about my favorite dessert...I must say that I don't think there is a dessert I've met that I DIDN'T like! I do tend to gravitate toward cheesecake in any form. I also will always be devoted to Graeter's ice cream. Graeter's is based out of Cincinnati, but there are many stand alone stores in nearby Kentucky (including one a couple of miles from our house - good for my taste buds, terrible for my waistline!). It is the richest, creamiest ice cream - Oprah has also previously declared Graeter's as one of her favorite things.


Finally, Stylish Suburban was interested in the paint color in our living room and paid a really nice compliment to my window treatments. You can kind of see both in this picture:


The paint is a favorite of mine that I have used in two homes now - Rye Grass by Sherwin Williams. As for the window treatments - I am incredibly lucky in that my mother is very talented and has made all of the treatments in our home (yes, I am very thankful!). The fabric is a Waverly print from a few years ago - unfortunately, I believe it has been discontinued. However, there are several similar prints on Waverly's website.

I will be back tomorrow with more answers to your questions!

You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine

First, thanks for the response on my last post, opening the floor to any questions you have for me! I've gotten quite a kick out of some of them, and many have made me stop and think. If you haven't posted one yet, please leave a comment and ask a question - I'm going to work on my answers this weekend and hope to do a post early next week covering all of them.

Alexandra had her 2nd birthday photos in late June ... you know, just two whole months after her birthday, oops. I had Priscilla take them - you can see some of the beautiful pictures Priscilla took of Alexandra's 1st birthday here. It's incredible how much she has changed when looking at those pictures from one year ago! Priscilla is AMAZING and if you live in central Kentucky or Louisville and need a photographer, I would give her the highest recommendation. She always captures our emotions so perfectly.

For this session, I told her that I really wanted some with sun flare. (You can read a little bit about flare here). Priscilla asked if I wanted to be in any of the pictures, and I responded that I actually would, since I always seem to be behind my camera and never get pictures with my girl. These are some of the last ones she took during our session and I am in LOVE with them. These shots with the setting sun are especially perfect since I sang "You are My Sunshine" to Alexandra many, many nights when she was a colicky infant. I hope you enjoy these pictures, too. Happy Friday!!

(All Photos credited to Priscilla Baierlein Photography)

Ask and I Shall Answer

I have recently been tagged with the same award by Trish and Julie (thanks girls!), and the rules are that you must list ten things about yourself.

Sounds easy enough, right?

Not so much! I thought of a few random tidbits about me that I could share, but then I thought it would be much more fun to turn the tables and invite you all to ask away. I occasionally get questions in comments (usually about my camera), so I thought this would be a good opportunity to answer any questions at once. I'm fair game for (most) anything and will (most likely) answer your questions (within reason)! The sky is the limit, so please feel free to ask whatever you would like.

This could totally backfire on me - you might not think there's anything interesting enough in my life to ask a question about! Oh well, one must be willing to take chances! I plan on doing a post at the end of the week providing my answers, and look forward to seeing what is asked!

Our Weekend in Review

I wish I could fill this post to the brim with pictures of picnics, parades, firework displays and pictures of my little one all decked out in red, white & blue for the holiday, but that was not the case for our little family. While we were certainly happy that the holiday was here, we have had so much going on in our lives that we needed a 3 day weekend to just relax and hang out as a family unit. I will say I saw and heard fireworks from the comfort of our living room couch, so I guess that counts for something. I have vowed that next year, we will have more of an Independence Day celebration!

Ryan's dad and step-mom (John and Jackie) came up Saturday morning and promised Alexandra before her nap that they would take her for ice cream and a toy - she did not forget, asking for ice cream and the toy store immediately upon waking up. They did not disappoint. We headed out to The Comfy Cow, a relatively new ice cream and sweet shop in Louisville. The ice cream was delectable - especially John's "Brownie Delight" sundae. He ordered it first, and while he waited for us to place our orders, he was told to go ahead and sit down and they would bring it out to him. Here's why:


This was a MASSIVE, sinful dessert that caused passersby to stop in their tracks and come up to our table to discuss how one should go about tackling this incredible Mt. Everest of desserts. It had the most incredibly dense and chocolatey walnut-filled brownies as a base, and I've been dreaming about them ever since.


After ice cream, we headed over to Toys R' Us for Alexandra to pick out a toy. She was absolutely mesmerized and wanted to stop and check out EVERYTHING - suffice it to say, we didn't move through the store very quickly!


I wasn't very shocked to see that she headed straight for a singing Elmo book - does the powerful grasp that this cute furry red monster hold on my daughter know no bounds??


Alexandra is definitely her mommy's girl and it looks like she has adopted the motto of "go big or go home" when it comes to shopping. She was lured by the beauty of the Barbie Jeep:


We were eventually able to lead her away to the aisles containing the smaller ticket items, where she settled upon a very girly keyboard piano. I love how she just sat down in the floor and started playing with it!


Alexandra wasn't the only one who seemed to have fun at Toys R' Us - the big kid did, too.


After our busy afternoon, we settled in for pizza with our good friends, Andy and Amanda. On Sunday morning, we headed out to our favorite Louisville brunch spot, Wild Eggs, but not before taking a few turns on the swings and slide.



While I didn't have a red, white and blue outfit to put Alexandra in for the holiday, I figured a dress hitting 2 out of the 3 (and also paying homage to her favorite snack of watermelon) was a pretty good choice.


We followed brunch with time spent with the beloved water table.


We also filled up the inflatable pool but I think the water was a little too cold for my little girl. It was NOT, however, too cold for my furry girl, who proceeded to run through the pool several times before plopping down in it with one big splash - water EVERYWHERE.


After our play outdoors, I got to run to the movie theater to see Eclipse and LOVED it (Sorry, Lavin, I couldn't help myself! Don't worry, I promise we'll still go together to see it very soon!). If you have read and loved the books but have not yet seen this film, do yourself a favor and go see it soon - it is the most in line with the book and is by far my favorite of the three films.

We had a lazy Monday morning and my parents came up for the afternoon to visit, which we always love. Before I knew it, it was Monday night and I realized that a 3 day weekend had just passed as quickly as our usual 2 day weekends!


Hope your weekend was equally enjoyable!