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HOW on Earth did I birth a human ELEVEN years ago?

It seems like yesterday that I had this precious, tiny little baby. 

She was SUCH a good baby.

Looking back, I was spoiled by having such an easy baby as my first.

She ate, she slept.

She rarely cried.

She met all her developmental milestones on time. 

She definitely made it easy on me as a first time mom.

It's funny how you remember every second of certain moments. Like the night she was born. I remember it like it was yesterday.

<sigh>

My baby.

She had a sleepover to celebrate her birthday.

When I asked her what she wanted, she said "nothing, just my friends to come over" - GAH this kid.

I was like "no, I mean, pick something out!" and she still couldn't really. I remember as a little toddler she'd struggle with picking something out. I think the anxiety/excitement would get the best of her.

So we perused Amazon a bit. She picked something out and was THRILLED about it. I love that she's still a little kid and wanted a stuffed banana toy that had little monkey heads in it. I know, super weird. But I love that about her. 

Of course I didn't get just that. I went to Target and picked up a few things for my girl.

I took a half day this past Friday to prep for the party without the kids bugging me.

Bonus that it was 85 degrees and sunny. 

In April. 

I was able to pick up some last-minute items, stock up on snacks, etc. 

I was excited to pick up the girls early from school too! 

Once we got home, we got busy. 

Steve left work early so he could be here to help.

Becoming such a lovely young lady

The girls spent a majority of their time outside, on the trampoline

Treehouse chatter

7am and these girls were out there already! 

Breakfast

Steve took all of them down to the creek behind our house. 

I mean, it was the first time in Mila's life that we had summer-like weather for her birthday. It's usually cold (40's), rainy, or even snowing. So this was amazing and it was so nice that they all WANTED to spend the entire time outside! 

The group of girls were just fantastic. Every one of them was nice and included Ava. We invited one of Ava's friends to come spend the night as well so she'd have a buddy. Unfortunately she got homesick around 10:30 and wanted her dad to come get her. But the older girls were so nice and welcoming to the baby sister.

They all arrived around 3:30pm Saturday and we had pick up around 2pm Sunday.

I would probably shorten that next time. 

Usually when we do sleepovers, it's from like 3-4pm until maybe 10am the following morning. Mila begged to extend it this time. 

I want to say it was just a tad too long. I'm really glad they could spend the time outside - I'm not entirely sure what I would've done with them had we been stuck inside!

Everyone was gone by 2:30 and that allowed me to run my normal weekend errands. 

Steve took the girls to his parents house so they could celebrate with them.

Next week we have dinner plans with my mom and sister, so that should be fun!

Here's to another year with my kind-hearted first-born.

She's a thoughtful, sweet kid and I'm so proud to be her mom. This next year or two are going to be big, in terms of development and stuff, so it'll be interesting to say the least! 

OMG it's APRIL. Time To Get In Shape.

You Guys.

As most of you know, I'm an emotional eater.

And for the last 6 months, my life has been a complete rollercoaster ranging from absolute disastrous to amazing accomplishments. 

So I eat when I'm happy and I eat when I'm sad.

And when I'm BOTH?

For fuck's sake that is not a good combination.

I'm now at a nice, healthy 124lbs.

That's like a solid 8lbs up from my summer weight.

So, we need to settle it down and focus here. 

I'm confident some of that is muscle gains.

I have done more lower body/legs/glutes the last 6 months than I have before.

I also spin more - so that's more cardio.

So I'm curious to see where this all nets out when I shed a few pounds.

I've also been working my core harder and realize that I can easily do the core exercises I struggled with before. 

I need to stop snacking.

Reduce my sugar intake.

Up my protein.

You know. The usual.

The thing is, is that I know I can do this. I've done it before.

I just have to be super deliberate about everything I eat. 

So now that it's March - I have about 8 weeks until it's short sleeve weather. Maybe 12-16 weeks until it's hot out. 

LFG. 

Ugh, sorry for the dirty mirror. I see some gains, I think. My arms are bigger for sure. 

"Bangkok Has Him Now"

Know what movie that's from?

Hangover 2. When they lose Stu's fiance's brother? 

LOL great flick.

I've never been.

My sister has traveled to Thailand before. My mom and Dad several times. 

My aunt and her family lived there for years. My uncle was transferred there as part of his job at Stanley Works (the tools) and he raised his kids (my cousins) there.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed traveling, but with little kids it's not so easy. Plus, it costs money. 

Steve and I did some traveling before getting married, but not like overseas or anything. The furthest place we went was Bora Bora for our honeymoon.

I've personally been to Taiwan and Australia. Both amazing experiences.

My mom mentioned a few months back that she wanted to go on a family vacation with the girls. She wanted to travel with us before she got too old. 

So we decided to plan a trip to Thailand during the girls' Easter break next year. 

March 31 - April 10, 2024. 

We will split the trip up - first stopping in Bangkok and touring that city for a few days, then going to Phuket so we can enjoy some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. 

It's going to be a long ass flight with two kids. We'll have three adults, so I'm hoping that we'll be able to juggle/entertain them for the entire trip. 

The flight my mom is looking into is JFK --> Bangkok. Direct. 

So I mean, it's one super short leg, then one super LOOOONG leg. They will be 9 and almost 12 at that point so I'm hoping some maturity happens over the next 12 months as well. 

Steve is not a part of this trip and it breaks my heart. 

Fingers crossed we are able to work on our marriage enough that he'll be around for the next vacation.

That being said, it'll be a fun girls trip for me, my mom, my sister and the girls. I cannot wait to explore the world with my girls. Ugh. It'll be amazing.

I haven't been on a real vacation like this in years. 2018? I think we did a beach vacation that year in Ocean City. Then in 2019 I think my dad visited, so no trip for us. Then the shitshow that was 2020 happened and we started our annual A Bay trip with our friends. 

That's no longer happening...

This vacation on the other side of the world will be good for my soul. 

This is from the Four Seasons Bangkok Hotel's website. I'm not 100% sure we're staying there, but we are considering it. 

There are SO many resorts in Phuket, it's hard to know where to stay.

This picture is from Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach. Incredible.

I'm truly grateful to be able to go on a vacation like this with my kiddos. And my mom and sister. A once in a lifetime trip, for sure! 

I hope to be able to show my kids more of the world.