5 years of adventures!

Happy anniversary, Josh!

Unfortunately my laptop is totally zapped, so this is the only picture I can share today.  What a way to welcome me back from maternity leave - talk about stressing me out.

XO,

Whit

New York, New Mama

New York, New Mama

Back to work and back on the road again.  How did that blissful 12 weeks of maternity leave fly by so quickly?  The long days of feeding, snuggling, changing diapers, cruising the neighborhood, running errands, giving thousands of kisses and going on lunch dates with friends came to a screeching halt yesterday.  I completely underestimated how hard it would be to drop off my sweet 12-week-old baby.  The other babies seemed so big next to him and he seemed too tiny to spend his days without his mom.  His teachers seem wonderful, but that didn’t help the huge lump in my throat and knot in my stomach as I waved goodbye and quickly left the building, fumbling through my overstuffed diaper bag to find my sunglasses to hide my tears.  Loading the empty carseat back into my car caused my heart to shatter.  I had a nice little cry on the way to work, aka back home.  I think in the long run working from home will be an easier way to be a working mom, but yesterday it seemed so strange being “home” without Charles.  I would have welcomed the opportunity to go into an office where I’d be surrounded by co-workers and quickly distracted by office chatter and back-to-back meetings.

For us, there was never any question on if I’d return to work (especially since I just started a new job 7+ months pregnant!).  In the long run, I do think it’s the best decision for our marriage & family, but that certainly doesn’t make it any easier to leave this guy.

                                              

I remember a co-worker from my days at McKinney once saying, “I feel like I’m getting a “C” at home and at work.  I’m not able to give either 100% like I’ve always done.”  I’ll never stop trying to do my best work on both fronts, but I am going to give myself some grace to ease back in and figure out our new normal.  I’ve quickly learned “babies don’t keep.”  This time is too precious & fleeting to miss out on, so I’m going to have to be smarter than ever in prioritizing trips away from home.  I have lots of fabulous working mom role models in my life, starting with my own mom.  I can do this. I can do this.

This morning as my alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. my first thought was I secretly hoped Charles would stir.  Sure enough, a little after 5 a.m. I heard him fussing a bit.  I’ve never been so happy to see him hungry before daylight!  Josh went in and scooped him up and brought him back to our bed to give him a bottle.  I was so happy to be able to give him a few kisses before racing to the airport.  And so happy for such a wonderful husband whom I know is going to take excellent care of our baby while I’m away.

Be kind to me, New York.

XO,

Whit

Buy Rachel's house!

My best friend, Rachel, is getting her house ready to put on the market.  Before she lists with an agent I told her I'd post a sneak peak here to see if anyone is interested in taking a look.  It is an absolutely gorgeous home with fully renovated kitchen and baths (she renovated the entire house in 2009).  It has plantation shutters and neutral paint throughout.  The home sits on a beautiful and big lot in a prime location on Canterbury.  It has a screened porch, 3 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms.

Take a look! I think it will sell quickly.

XO,
Whit

New camera lens fun

Josh got me a 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens for my birthday and I can't recommend it highly enough.  It was really reasonable ($125) and I love the pictures it's capturing.  I did ask one very novice question in Peace Street Camera -- "How do you zoom in and out?"  The sweet sales girl replied in a very kind tone, "with you feet!"  Duh, Whitney!

Here's what we've been up to since I got the lens. A photo overload of Otto every day life is about to happen.

Charles went to the beach for the first time over Memorial Day weekend.  He turned two months old - time truly has flown by!  It was actually much easier than anticipated being on the beach with the baby.  We even still enjoyed some adult beverages on the beach.  Shout out to Charles for being such an easy little guy!

Thanks to my in-laws we also got to enjoy a fun night out in Beaufort with 5 couples.  They babysat AND picked us up after dinner.  Who could wish for more?

We had lots of dinners at home al fresco - on both the patio and screened porch.

Jean gave me this silver rose vase / bowl for my birthday and I've already enjoyed it so much.  It's an antique from Quintessentials that they get in from England and polish up.  We've been creating arrangements 100% from our yard.  I'm quite proud of how far we've come (mostly thanks to Josh!).  More on that in another post.

I tried to do a little photo shoot with Charles in the outfit he wore to Marie & Jason's wedding (since I didn't get any of just him on the actual day).  That didn't go so swell.  Bless children's photographers!  He was not in the mood.

Then Julia came to visit and meet Charles.  We love you, Aunt Juju!

4 of the college roomies - missed your Lou & Ceepes!

The Beans

We took Charles to the pool for the first time.

Then Rach and I took the babies to Wrightsville Beach for a few day.  Trying to live up the last of maternity leave!

I should have taken one of the mamas!

Olivia, or "Big Sis" as she affectionately known as these days, got herself a summer haircut - complete with bows and matching bandana.  She's quite proud.

And a little more dining...

Another all Otto backyard arrangement.  I love summer!

Napkins and glasses (Horta Tumblers) from Anthro.

We drank mint juleps with some of our backyard mint to try and cheer on California Chrome.  Sadly, my mint julep cups were so tarnished and my baking soda concoction didn't work to clean them.

And that, my friends, is what we've been up to.

Soaking up every minute tomorrow before my maternity leave winds down Thursday.  I can't believe how much I love Charles - my heart could explode.  I'm officially back to work Monday, but taking clients to the US Open on Friday so I'll be working with Charles on Thursday and he will go to daycare for the first time Friday.  Someone get me a kleenex and a cocktail!

XO,

Whit