Car 2 Go - Team Marathon Relay

At the last minute, Derek ran a marathon relay with our Missional Community group.  He had a blast and only limped afterwards for one day- ha!  Each person ran 4.37 miles and they even had to toss a baton.  This was an impromptu fun race; however, for the team just coming together last minute they did an awesome job!

- Placed 8th in our division out of 44 teams!
- Placed 50th overall, out of 198 teams!! That's including all the open male/open female/mixed teams.
- Averaged 8:28/mile.

The Hams and Yams Team: Mark, Casey, Griffin, Katherine, Ryan, Derek, & George the Mascot.

Cherrywood Children's Brunch

Casey introduced me to this amazing band that takes regular songs and turns them into fun Children or Mom themed songs.  She had them play at Locke's 1st birthday - so Fun!  They played at this coffee house right down the street from us, so it was a perfect Brunch opportunity to catch up.  The kids got to run around and play while the parents chased them around with a Mimosa.  It was actually really fun, and can't wait to go back in October when the weather is cooler.

 

 Locke and Eli meeting for the first time.  They don't know it yet, but they will be best friends!!  Eli is so lucky to already have a BFF to drive him around in high school :)

 

 

 This boy loves the outside with a little breeze.  He slept in my arms for over an hour. Love him!

Locke was so cute and love his little crate.  Boys will be boys!!

Happy Birthday Casey!!

We had so much fun celebrating Casey's birthday at a new French restaurant -- LaV.  We enjoyed great food, drinks, conversation -- but really, who could have a bad night with these two?!?! We always tend to start the night with the intention of being good.  After all, I had to eventually get back to Eli to put him to bed; however, you always think ahead with this group - I left an extra bottle for him just in case.  And good thing I did, because we always stay out later than we say we are.. (Thank you Derek for mama's first legit night out!! :).

You know it is a good night when you shut the restaurant down and then continue texting with your besties for 3 more hours right when you leave each other...

Some of the PG highlights -- (I am primarily writing this so I can remember, but hysterical none the least):
- Casey's Uber and the Ferrari
- Vicki earned the new nick name of Voov - #voovisthenewvroo (except who knew that Voov autocorrects to Wood or Boob - ha!)
- Casey: "You know you had a great night when you can't stop texting the friends you were just with!! #hashtagthat#micdrop
- #grownups : Common them for the night.  Vicki had an interview, I had to get back to Eli, and Casey had to get up early with Locke. But clearly this did not stop us!!! 
-#forever32

#Forever32

 Love these Ladies!!

You know its a great birthday when you receive Veuve and Chloroseptic (or so I think :)

Crossfit

Well it has been a long hiatus, but I officially got the OK to start working out again. Not going to lie, I was EXTREMELY nervous. I felt like I was going to throw up before I started my first workout.

I continued Crossfit through my second trimester, and then stopped when I had the sciatica nerve pain at the beginning of my 3rd trimester in April, and then in May I had to stop everything all together.  When Eli was 2 months, I was able to walk short distances.  So needless to say, the last time I truly worked out feels like ages ago.

Luckily I have the best coach.  Jaime is amazing and is helping me ease back into everything - physically and mentally.  It is definitely mentally challenging when your "used to be" warm up weight is now your max and so difficult to complete.  However, we are getting there and each time I feel like we are getting better and better. 

The best coach Ever!!  Watch out y'all - she's already qualified for Nationals in Olympic Lifting.  I only train with the best of the best :)

 My new early morning group - Sarah, Caroline, and Cheryl.  They were probably wondering who this new girl is taking pictures after the first workout - (I know, so weird and random), but I had to prove that I was back. They were troopers --Thanks ladies for letting me join your group!  And P.S. - I like how I still tried to pose after a crossfit workout.  There is no way to look good when you are gross and sweaty!

 

I was scrolling through Derek's phone and found some honeymoon pictures.  My jaw hit the ground!!  This is my goal and motivation -- we are going to get back to this soon.  I look at this picture all the time, plus it reminds me of our lovely time in Belize.  Here we go!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

So, it has almost been about a month back into the real world.  I would say that Eli and I have adjusted pretty well.  We are starting to get more of a routine down after work, and it seems to work for us -- at least for right now: Finishing napping from the car ride, feeding, tummy time, books, and then bed.  I just wish I had more than 3 hours to hang out with Eli before he goes to sleep --Oh well, we do what we have to do!

 We went back home for Labor day.  Eli has so much fun playing with Ryder.  He watches her every move when they are together.  Love Cousins!

When I came back to work, I had my doctors submit for a standing desk.  I have always wanted one and you need a doctors note with an ergonomic review.  I thought blood clots was a good enough reason :).  With that being said, I had to take pictures of me sitting at my desk at all angles so our Ergonomics team could assess me properly.  (So no, I don't take random pictures of myself at work).

 I love these sleeping pictures.  I workout at 5am on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I "dream feed" Eli before I leave, and then Derek is on Dad duty.   This is what I come home to after my workouts.  They are so precious together - just melts my heart.

 There was one week where Eli had some fevers.  Nothing major, really just elevated temperatures, but high enough where I had to pick him up from daycare.  Luckily we have the means to work remote.  Not going to lie, I secretly loved my office that day and my company.  :)

 Eli is really getting into his books.  I love this picture - you can tell that he is really studying each and every page. He likes Goodnight Moon, LOVES Brown bear Brown Bear, and the Hungry Caterpillar.

 Saturday morning cuddles!

 There was one afternoon that Eli would not sleep when we put him down.  We even tried the "cry it out" tactic, but it was not working.  Good thing we have the Bjorn!  He slept and we were able to do our chores.

 Impromptu Wednesday visit from Mimi!!  I think Eli might be her Wednesday boy :)

Eli exhausted after his first Sunday School class - Love our Church childcare!

 Since I have started Eli at day care during work, it has been easier for me to allow other people to watch him ... well really just the church.  Derek just started a Leadership Development class that meets every Wednesday.  Our church is generous enough to offer FREE child care that night.  This actually works out great - Derek takes Eli with him and I get to have a few hours to myself that day, whether a girls night or just doing some chores around the house.  I thought there would be a ton of kids there, but it turns out that there was one other child besides Eli - even better! (Or is there something wrong with me sending him off - ha!)

  Eli still loves his Westlake Childcare school.  One of his teachers was so sweet and sent me this picture of him.  He is so content and loves it there.  We could not have asked for a better place!

Surprise Drinks with my Dell Besties!

These 2 girls are too much!  Carie and Renee are absolutely amazing and were the comic relief to working at Dell.  They are the one thing that I truly miss from Dell.  When I joined the healthcare team, they were one of the firsts to reach out  -- Carie was actually my "mentor" ... at least she was supposed to be :)
Anyways, Carie literally lives around the corner from me, so we get together for the occasional walk or coffee at the food trucks.  We finally got together at night, and low and behold, she surprised me with Renee!!!  I had no idea Renee would be there.  Renee lives north of Round Rock, so its a little bit of a hike for them.  It was such a wonderful surprise, and we had so much fun catching up.  Everybody got to meet Eli for the first time as well.  Our next get together is on Renee's ranch where they raise bulls, horses, chickens (I think :) ... we are going to have a fall festival, and I am so excited!!

 Carie and Eli.  Thank you for inviting us to your beautiful home!!

 Carie and Renee.  I am so bummed that we forgot to get a picture of the 3 of us ... next time!

Eli was so relaxed in Renee's arms.  She has the magic touch.  His whole body was limp and so comfy, his little legs were just dangling.  Perfectly content!