Bee in DC

Buzzing in and around Washington D.C. and pretty much everywhere else.

Love Is In the Air!

Happy Valentine’s Day ya’ll! I’m starting to write this before my little family is up and at ’em this morning. I thought I would share a few photos of the excitement the day will bring. Tommy and I will be leaving work a bit early today to attend Ava’s preschool Valentine’s Day Party. 🙂

Ava’s school Valentine’s Day cards.

Ava’s teachers Valentine’s Day gifts.
We couldn’t forget our beloved Dede! A little self-care package ala Target.

Since Christmas was just a couple months ago, I didn’t want to go crazy with Valentine’s “gifts” for Ava and Luke, but I did want to get them a little something each!

And Luke wears it so well!

Hope ya’ll have a great day!

Ava’s School Valentines

Not going to lie ya’ll, one of the reasons I was so excited for Ava to start preschool was so I could partake in all of the fun, holiday activities and celebrations they do at school. I loved participating and attending the Thanksgiving potluck they did in November, then watching the holiday show the kiddos put on, followed by a “Holiday Feast” in December, and this month they are having a Valentine’s Day party and musical show for parents. (Don’t get me started on what I will be doing for her school birthday celebration in May! 😉

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Things That Make Me Happy – 23

Happy Thursday night, ya’ll. Hope you’re having a good week so far. My work week in Tucson is flying by. Pretty soon I’ll be back home with my sweet family and I cannot wait. Let’s dive into this month’s “Things That Make Me Happy”. As always, please feel free to play along in the ‘Comments’ section!

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Tuesday Tidbits – 273

  1. As this post goes “live”, I am in the air on my way to Arizona for a work trip. It is my first time away from Luke and the first time Tommy will be on his “own” with the kiddos for longer than a day. Wish us ALL luck please! 🙂
  2. I have always thought these nursing rooms at airports were amazing, but especially now as a traveling-breastfeeding mom. Both airports that I will be going to on this trip heading to Tucson have these rooms (Dallas Fortworth and Tucson). YES!
  3. Bought these knives for Ava to help cook with Tommy and/or me in the kitchen.
  4. Excited to be heading to Nashville for a gals trip in April!
  5. We loved having Aunt Christy come visit us this weekend!
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Off to the Mountains We Went – MLK Weekend Recap

Hi friends!

Hope your short work week is going well. What did you all do for MLK weekend? My little family and I rented a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley and it was the perfect little weekend getaway. You may remember we did this in 2017 over the same weekend, and I told Tommy I wouldn’t be opposed to making renting a cabin somewhere local an annual MLK weekend tradition. 🙂

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Ava vs. Luke Observations

Happy Friday everyone!

I thought it would be fun to post a few observations on how my pregnancies and baby days with Ava and Luke were different. 

Pregnancy

Food cravings:

  • Ava – Couldn’t tolerate the sound or even the thought of red meat during the first trimester. I wanted sour cream and onion chips from time to time and I found myself craving sweets a lot more than I ever had in my life.
  • Luke – I wanted all the chips and BLTs. All of them. Once I hit the third trimester, I craved wine…

Body Changes:

  • Ava – sore lower back, two skin rashes – early  second trimester – broke out on my stomach and third trimester broke out on my neck. 
  • Luke – sore pubic bone/groin area a couple weeks leading up to labor and feeling really crampy during the same time period.
Breastfeeding:
Breastfeeding was much easier with Luke. I was more confident with the whole process, as I had done it before and knew what to expect and not do. Tommy and I also decided to hire a night nursing service right out of the gate and continued using night nurses up until early-December. We didn’t use night nurses with Ava, primarily because we had my mom helping us out a lot, but in hindsight, I kind of wished we had. It was so nice to be able to ask someone else with recent baby care experience, any and all questions, to have them help me improve and perfect my breastfeeding techniques. And let’s not even talk about how wonderful it was to get more shuteye during the first two months or so! Both Tommy and I would highly, highly recommend this service to new parents, whether they are first-timers or having another baby. We used Hush Hush Little Baby. 
Ava at a couple weeks old.
Luke at a couple of weeks old.

Luke is almost 5 months already (on January 24th)! We have noticed two different things about Luke than when Ava was around this age. He is definitely a lot more smiley and chiller than she was. Don’t get me wrong, Ava has always been a really happy and extroverted person, but Luke is always just grinning away. He’s also (usually) more than happy to just sit in his Bobby lounger and watch people do their things. While Ava was an “easy baby”, I wouldn’t say she was a chill baby, if that makes sense. Luke is also very patient when it comes to his sister climbing on him and smothering him with kisses. 🙂

One thing that amazed both Tommy and me was how identical Ava and Luke were, especially in the first few weeks. People even confused the two of them when they saw framed photos of Ava when they came to visit after I gave birth. They exclaimed “how have you already gotten framed photos of Luke up, Maya?!”

Not gonna lie and not surprising, Tommy and I think we hit it out of the ballpark with two fabulous kiddos!

Hope you have a great weekend!

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