the end of an era

Who woulda thunk that the very last time I'd breastfeed Reuben would be the last day of World Breastfeeding Week?!

We'd been doing the "don't ask, don't offer" thing for the last few months because I was kind of over it, but I could tell he wasn't. We were down to a definite morning session that was basically his coffee. He was groggy and angry until he was done. And every once in a while he'd ask for it throughout the day and depending on how I was feeling, I may oblige.

Then, Monday morning he woke up at 4AM and didn't ask to nurse like he normally would have and then when we got up for good, he asked for it while I was facetiming with my parents, I said no, and he hasn't asked since!

I can't believe almost 18 months of nursing is done, just like that. I'm 99% ok with it, since I was ready to be done anyways, but the other 1% of me can't believe my baby doesn't need me in that way anymore. He just wants to "cuggle", which I love, but anybody can do that with him. It's just more proof that my baby is well on his way to becoming a little boy.

And I LOVE it.

stomach bugs are for the birds.

Do birds even get stomach bugs?

I sure wouldn't wish it on them if they don't.

Reuben had one this week and it was disgusting and pitiful. No throwing up, thankfully, but pleeeenty of other things happened and it was just gross. Not the more glorious of mom weeks.

A WHOLE lot of cuddling was had.

Praise the Lord for Netflix. Daniel Tiger, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Tinkerbell movies got us through. The Tinkerbell movies may've just been for me ;-)

We survived though and now he's a ravenous pig, eating everything in sight! That's a good thing because the boy was getting noticeably skinnier.

Ohhhhh the life of a mom.

the little gym

Once I found out we were moving to Knoxville, I decided to try to find some good mom groups and resources to learn more about the area. I, of course, went to Facebook and just searched "knoxville mom" and stumbled upon the Knoxville Moms Blog.

YES! I love Knoxville. I love moms. I love blogs. Therefore, I will love this.

So I started following them and noticed they had an awesome giveaway going on so I decided to enter and ended up winning! Part of the prize was a week of camp at The Little Gym but once I realized the camps don't start until 3 years old, they were gracious to switch it out to a month of weekly mommy-and-me gym classes.

I got SO excited on the morning of our first class. I put him in his "gold medalist in training" shirt for kicks and giggles and majorly talked it up to him.

Unfortunately, the smile was short-lived.

The kid LOST it. Like panicky screams and clinging to me like a spider monkey. That made circle time really fun for everyone...

Once the circle time stuff was over, I worked him down my body to where he was just clinging to my leg and eventually pried him off of that too and he slooooowly started wandering around. He found a mat he could step on and off of over and over again and was loving life. He still wasn't a fan of doing anything we were supposed to be doing, but he wasn't screaming so we just let him do what he wanted.

Then. the BALLS.

All was right in the world after that.

After the balls and a little more ignored circle time, it was time to go home and he was OUT in seconds.

This Saturday was our second class.

It was night and day, y'all!

He loved every single second of it. He participated in every single activity and had a smile on his face the whole time.

We've got two classes left and I can't wait to see how much more he grows to love it in that time!

SAHM life

Since our move, we've reworked our budget to allow me to stay at home with Reuben. It's something I've wanted for his entire life, but we couldn't make it happen at our previous jobs because of the cost of insurance. Apparently you need that stuff or something.

Anyways, it's mostly been a dream come true.

We play in fountains.

We visit dad at work and destroy his bookshelf.

We go on playdates.

We visit the Disney store way too much.

We got to a mommy-and-me gymnastics class (more on that later because it's awesome!).

And we explore outside.

It really is such a joy to be with him all day. It's trying, for sure, but I wouldn't trade this season for anything!

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

Whew, I've missed this place! 

Since moving to Knoxville, I've hardly had any access to a computer. I love blogging and all, but not enough to type one out on my phone. That'd take for-ev-er.

We finally closed on the house (YAY!) and used some of that money to buy me a new computer (DOUBLE YAY!) so now I'm ready to get back in the swing of things.

Knoxville is wonderful and we're so happy here! I'm officially a full time stay at home mom after 15 months of working, so it's taking some getting used to, but we're finding out footing. I've felt like a truck hit me the last couple of days so there's been a LOT of movie watching going on. I know every word to every song of The Lorax.

But seriously, we're loving it. I'm so excited to keep this up to date now!

best. photographs. ever.

Amelia Moore has done all of our photographs for the last 3.5 years.

Our wedding.

Our first anniversary.

My pregnancy.

and Reuben's newborn days.

We wanted to get one more session in with her before we moved. She reccomended going down to Riverside Park so we could get some in front of the skyline to remember our beloved Nashville.

You guys.

I'm BLOWN AWAY with how amazing they are!

I'm SO in love with them and can't wait to print them all out and cover the walls of our new little town house with them!

If you live in the Nashville area and are looking for a photographer, I HIGHLY recommend Amelia. Check out more of her work HERE!

life lately

This strange season has been full of a lot of repetition.

A lot of outside time.

A lot of mug making.

A lot of hanging out in my room while I get ready and playing with necklaces to stay entertained.

A lot of baths. Boys are apparently naturally stinky.

A lot of laughing.

A lot of time at Papa B and Bella's. Home gets boring.

And a whole lot of missing Dada.