8 months old! I feel like this is the point where I should be getting teary about my baby being 2/3 of a year old, but you know what? I’m just happy. I’m enjoying every age and stage as it comes. Instead of rushing to get to the next milestone, I’m heeding the advice I’ve received and just enjoying Hailey, as she is at this very moment.

What’s she been up to this past month? Well…

She bounces to songs. I think she’s going to like to dance.

She nurses 4 times a day.

She is an adventurous eater and usually eats 2 meals a day. She will eat anything we put in front of her, though she has her preferences (likes: peas, broccoli and black beans. will tolerate: avocado and eggs). Her pincer grip has gotten really good and she can pick up peas with ease.

She still enjoys books and walks. Relaxing in her swing will keep her happy for long stretches of time. She likes to bounce in her jumparoo while I blog.

No teeth yet, though I can see two under the surface on the bottom. I don’t think it will be too long.

She likes to bang these together and slap the top of surfaces, which is making eating out more and more of an adventure.

She goes to bed at 7:00 and sleeps until 7:00. She takes 2 naps. Usually 9:00-10:30 and 2:00-3:00 or 3:30.

We no longer use the noise machine. We just turn the sleep sheep onto rain and after 40 minutes, it shuts off. The transition was surprisingly seamless.

She is tolerating tummy time better and better. She pushes up on her arms and can wiggle backwards and in circles.

She doesn’t pull herself up, but can stand while holding onto the couch.

She prefers sitting and has learned how to scoot her butt and move. She mostly goes backwards.

She is as expressive as ever. Funny faces are a daily occurrence. As are babbles and saying dadadada. She likes to whisper, especially to herself when she thinks we’re not around.

She will sometimes shreik, then look around to see who heard, then laugh at herself.

She loves to shake her head no whenever we nod our head yes. Uh-oh

She is finishing up the last of her size 2 diapers and will be in 3s by the weekend. She wears 9 month, 12 month and 6-12 month clothes.

She gives kisses now. Open mouthed slobbers on the cheek. Nothing so gross has ever felt so sweet.

She loves Koda.

Her giggles still melt me. And her dad.

Hailey is such a joy. I look forward to sneaking into her room every morning and peaking my head over the crib. The moment she sees me and smiles makes my whole day.

How I got blessed with such a happy girl is beyond me, but I’m so grateful.

Happy 8 months, little monkey!

I know, I know. Why do I feel the need to always be doing some sort of food challenge, right?? I just find it interesting to try and see why people become so loyal to a way of eating and wonder how I’d feel eating it that way. I never really understand something until I try it out, so for a couple days this week, I’ve been eating (mostly) paleo. ‘Mostly’ because I’m still not sure I know all the rules. Like sweet potatoes… yay or nay? I’ve been yay. And bacon? Allowed? Anyway…

Breakfast was a 2 egg scramble with mushrooms, onions and spinach. A slice of all-natural bacon on the side.

I attempted a wog outside, but between being sore, the humidity and perhaps the lack of carbs in my breakfast, I felt zapped.

I got in 1.1 miles. Haha. But 1.1 is better than none. I am still, today, seriously sore from a PiYo class I took at the gym. It’s a blend of pilates and yoga, but upbeat (think Usher’s OMG song).

It was an odd class and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but the time passed quickly and I’m still sore two days later, so maybe I’ll give it another go.

Post run was a smoothie with organic frozen berries, half a frozen banana, MILA, spinach and almond milk. Plus a spoonful of almond butter, since peanuts and peanut butter isn’t paleo approved. Almond butter reminds me of eating batter. It’s good, but it doesn’t stand up to my usual peanut butter.

I had a lunch meeting at BluStar Grill and opted for the salmon salad. It was incredibly hard to pass off my corn muffin, but I did.

After a two hour meeting, I was whipped. Thankfully Hailey slept for 2 hours (!!!) yesterday afternoon, which gave me time to play in the kitchen.

I snacked on homemade jerky (it’s unbelievable) and dried apple rings (x2) while I made my favorite, cool ranch kale chips from the Fitnessista.

I proceeded to eat a tray and a half of those while I made dinner.

Paleo cobb salad! Iceberg and mixed greens with natural bacon, boiled egg, tomato, avocado, red onion and leftover chicken. Topped with Newman’s Own light balsamic. It was so good that I surprisingly didn’t even miss the bleu cheese and ohhhhh my gosh, was it filling. I didn’t know a salad could actually make me feel so stuffed.

A special thanks to my personal paleo consultant, Maria, for answering all my twitter questions!

I feel like Regina George, but the paleo version… Is butter a carb?

What do you think of Paleo?

If you eat paleo, what is your favorite paleo meal?

Have you heard of coconut oil? Probably. I’ve heard of it for a long time, too. Heck, I even bought some, but it’s been sitting in my pantry for a couple months now.

Perhaps you’ve heard of coconut oil because it is being touted as the next miracle food. It’s been said to prevent Alzheimer’s. It’s said to help in weight loss and skin conditions, such as eczema, psoriasis and dry skin. (I’ve even heard of people using it for diaper rash)

But wait, it’s saturated fat. That’s bad right?

Well, coconut oil is made up of medium chain fatty acids, which are easier for your body to absorb than the long-chain fatty acids that are usually found in other fats and oils (source). It also is better for cooking than olive oil because it has a higher smoke point (350 degrees vs 320 degrees), meaning that it’s more stable and holds up better in cooking.

Nutritionally speaking, coconut oil has (per 1 Tbsp) 120 calories and 14 g fat (13 saturated) versus olive oil’s 120 calories and 14 g fat (2 saturated).

I’m not a scientist and won’t pretend to know or prove whether coconut oil is the next cure-all or not, but I have heard enough positive things to want to give it a try.

Only one problem. I don’t typically like coconut-flavored food.

I decided to try it anyway. I diced up one large sweet potato and divided it into two bowls. One for spicy, one for sweet.

Then I scooped out 1 Tbsp of coconut oil (which is solid at room temp, since it is a saturated fat) and melted it over low heat. It melts very quickly.

I drizzled half into each bowl and tossed with spices. In the first bowls, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and a bit of cayenne. In the second, a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar.

Then I roasted at 350 degrees for about an hour.

They were delicious! I loved the spicy concoction and Hailey loved the sweet.

The best part, to me? Perfectly browned without a trace of coconut flavor.

But what about it’s use as a moisturizer? I was concerned about feeling like an oily mess after my shower, but for the sake of research, I decided to try some coconut oil on my legs. It melted as soon as it touched my skin.

I cringed and got ready to feel like a greased pig, but kept rubbing it in. To my surprise, my skin absorbed it beautifully!  I rubbed it on my legs and feet, then loved it so much I proceeded to use it as a total body moisturizer.

I really didn’t feel greasy at all and surprisingly I didn’t smell like a giant coconut either. It was subtle.

Am I a convert?

Somewhat! I don’t have anything against other oils, but I will be using coconut oil now, too. I used it to cook eggs this morning (maybe 1/4 a tsp? You don’t need much) and I couldn’t taste coconut at all. I also am interested in trying it on ice cream.

What about you?

Have you tried coconut oil?

Do you like it?

How do you use it?

Good morning! It’s thundering here, which is making Koda a bit jumpy, but there’s nothing like a good gullywasher to get rid off all the pollen! Finally, my eyes aren’t itching my face off (because that statement makes a lot of sense, right?). Hoorah!

…does the word gullywasher make anyone else think of Fern Gully?

Fantastic flick. But I digress…

My first Mother’s Day weekend was wonderful. It began Friday with a neighborhood event. We all gathered with blankets and food and set up a picnic while a band played.

Veggies, grapes, hummus, pretzel chips and sliced turkey make for tasty finger foods that you can grab while holding bouncing babies and petting pups.

Unfortunately the littlest one didn’t nap so well that day, so it was an early night. No matter, I knew I had to get up Saturday morning to volunteer at the Girls on the Run 5k. Girls on the Run is a wonderful program that focuses on building character and self-esteem in young girls, and it just so happens that my friend, Tanya, is the Council Director.

(I know, I’m so far past due for a hair cut that it isn’t even funny)

It was really inspirational watching all the girls get excited for their 5k. They warmed up, stretched and sprayed their hair different colors. You know, the pre-race norm.

Cheering on the girls and handing out lap-counting beads has me really interested in being more involved next year. Maybe I’ll coach?! Can I do that with a baby? Can I do that if I’ve never run more than a 5k myself?

Sunday was Mother’s Day and I can honestly say it was exactly what I wanted. After David made me an omelet, we proceeded to spend the day as a family, doing whatever I chose and I didn’t have to change a single diaper. It was bliss.

With a whole day to plan myself, what did I choose?

A turkey burger salad from Bad Daddy’s (H demolished some mandarin oranges and black beans) and a family trip to the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market!

Please notice my desperate attempt to get a bow into Hailey’s hair. It’s hanging on by about 5 strands.

The family date was perfect; the farmer’s market slightly disappointing. It was smaller than my beloved Davidson farmers market and didn’t offer as much variety.

Once home, we played in the kitchen. As a family.

We went a little nutty with the dehydrator and made some incredible homemade jerky (with thinly sliced and seasoned flank steak) and apple chips (sprinkled with cinnamon).

Why the dehydrator? And why the new toaster oven? Well, the Mother’s Day fairy paid us a visit and finally killed our oven, which means…. I’m getting double ovens!!! …in about a month, so I’ll be using the toaster variety until then.

Excited?! You betcha!! People say you never use both ovens, but I really think I will. Am I fooling myself?

If you have double ovens, do you use both?

If you don’t, do you think you would?

Last night the time finally came to hire our first nighttime babysitter. Someone that would have to give Hailey a bottle and tell her good night. Although it was difficult to leave (and I wrote down every tiny detail and about 15 phone numbers), it was so great to attend the Mixology event at Discovery Place in Charlotte.

Driving into the city always gets me so excited! I can’t imagine how I’ll feel if I ever see New York.

David and I arrived early to wander around. I’m so glad we did because I got to meet and pet Princess, a rainbow boa constrictor. She was described as feeling like an expensive purse, though John said they’d never do that!

Finally the event began and started off with David speaking to the crowd while I awkwardly stood behind him grinning like a cheese ball. (I’m not disappointed I don’t have a picture of that!)

David and I both really love Discovery Place and their mission. They take the intimidating subjects of science and math and make them enthralling with hands-on exhibits, experiments and plenty of fun creatures to look at.

Maybe I’m a big nerd, but I think we need to start making smart cool again and get rid of the educational apathy that has perforated our younger generations. I know that is a blanket statement and that many young people are brilliant and driven, but I only want the future of our nation to keep getting better and brighter, especially now that I know Hailey will be living in it.

This Discovery Place Mixology event was pretty amazing. Groups circulated around to different stations. Each station had a science experiment, a specialty drink and a bite to eat. Each experiment was sponsored by a different restaurant.

The food was delicious.

Fried green tomato sliders from Something Classic Catering.

And the drinks were flowing! There were craft beers, wine and specialty drinks made with FUZE, an event sponsor.

This delightful mini-martini was made with FUZE Slenderize Cranberry Raspberry, Triple Sec and champagne!

To satisfy the sweet tooth? How about treats from Cupcrazed? The winners of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars? Yes, that’s the one!

Heather’s mini cupcakes were amazing! The glowed under black light! How? Well, tonic water glows in black light, so she added some to her buttercream frosting, and magic happened! She also used a little vodka, so it was like a vodka tonic, glowing cupcake.

Is that not the coolest dessert you’ve ever heard of??

Also at the station was an adult scorpion. All scorpions glow under black lights, too.

Scientists still aren’t sure why.

It was Discovery Place’s first event like this, and it was a huge success! Hopefully there will be similar events in the future. David and I even got a quick sneak peak behind the scenes with John Mackay, Discovery Place President and CEO.

Great photography, no? Clearly I was a bit too excited to see all the fish, frogs and jelly fish and 2 FUZE cocktails deep. Interesting fact: Discovery Place grows all their own coral and jelly fish. They are actually working on growing their own living coral reef and they are 2 years into the 3 year project. I can’t wait to see it!

We had such an amazing time and I even got to meet a blog reader. Hi Emily! You made my night! Thanks for saying hello

I loved sipping, snacking, socializing and learning. I was even taken by an exhibit on combustion engines, two words that would usually put me to sleep. However, science in application is pretty neat.

I guess you can tell that I’m pretty passionate about what Discovery Place offers. I highly encourage you to visit if you’re in the area and check out their website to learn more or to get involved!

What is a cause you are passionate about?

Yesterday I was dragging. I’m not sure if it was the rainy weather or allergies keeping me down, but I could have easily curled up in bed all day reading Steve Jobs biography. (Yes, I’ve been interested in reading it for so long that I’ve delayed reading 50 Shades of Grey in favor of learning more about the Apple icon. Don’t laugh.)

Anyways, of course I didn’t have the option to stay curled up in bed because duty called (or actually coo’d) in the form of a smiling, wiggly baby girl. No bumming for me.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve slept past 7:00am, weekend or weekday. I don’t remember what it feels like to truly have a whole day to myself to fill with whatever I choose. Heck, I don’t remember what it feels like to be able to pick out what to wear without thinking about Hailey’s access to “lunch” if we’re out and about.

Sunday is Mother’s Day, and much like my birthday, this holiday has taken on a whole new meaning to me this year. I’ve always called and sent a card and tried to make it a point to thank my mom for all the things she did for me growing up.

I know there were nights she’d sit outside my door, checking on me every few minutes until I went to sleep because I was scared. I remember her patiently wiping my face with a cool rag when I got sick. I remember the trip to Europe my parents went on and how she left me an entire Little House on the Prairie book she read aloud on tape so she could still read me a bedtime story before bed, even from an ocean away. I remember her becoming a vegetarian with me for 5 years and making sure we always had healthy food to eat. I remember her tirelessly rolling my super thick hair into curlers before dance and cheerleading competitions.  I remember how much my mom loved me through these everyday actions.

But what about all those things I don’t remember?

Now that I’m a mom, I realize how much my mom put into me before I even knew it. Long before I was keeping her up all night out gallivanting in my teenage years, I was keeping her up all night with kicks in utero and then as a crying baby. She went through the sleepless nights, the dirty diapers, the missed social gatherings and all. How do I ever go about thanking her for that?

I realize I probably can’t, no matter how many times I say thank you.

Only now can I appreciate all the things she did for me that I never even recognized, but now I can see why she never demanded recognition or praise. Being a mom is a gift in itself. Is it hard work and trying at times? Absolutely, but it’s the most gratifying, satisfying job I could ever have and I’m so grateful to be a mom.  Plus, now that I’m a mom, I see the thank yous everyday from Hailey.

I feed her and she grins back at me with that gummy smile. That’s her thank you.

I read her a book and play peek-a-boo and she giggles. That’s her thank you.

She bumps her head and I pick her up, rock her and she quiets down and grabs onto my shirt. That’s her thank you.

And many times I want to say thank you right back to her. Thank you for filling my life with more love and joy than I ever imagined.

So happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there. To my amazing mom-in-law, thank you for all you did to raise such an honest, loving and strong man that I get to call my husband. To my Nannie and Grandma Betty, you two obviously worked hard and raised some fabulous kids, and I’m so grateful you put in all the time and love you did.

And to my mom, thank you a million times (…plus one I’m sorry for that awful year when I was 14 ). Thank you for all the love, sweat and tears you put into raising Kris and me. I hope I brought you even half as much joy as Hailey has brought me.

Homemade Chick-fil-A? Yes, you heard that right. But first came breakfast.

Something about eggs in warmer weather make me happy. I know most people turn to smoothies, but I love fresh eggs. Yesterday I made a Mexican egg scramble consisting of 2 eggs, black beans, red onions, mushrooms, Jack’s fresh salsa and cilantro. I also ate half and peach. Hailey ate the other half of the peach and black beans.

After a 4 mile walk with a friend, it was snack time.

Cherry Chobani (quite possibly my favorite variety) with some Simply Oats LOVE Grown granola (also, a favorite) topped with 3 cherries, fresh from the freezer.

Clearly Mexican flavors never get old to me and I downed a salad at lunch consisting of romaine, spinach, cilantro, sautéed mushrooms and red onions, avocado and salsa.

After lunch we ventured into the rain for an afternoon of errands and voting. I ended up standing in a line that wrapped around a building, while holding an umbrella and a baby, but it was all worth it because after about 45 minutes,

Afternoon snackage was a hodgepodge of my favorites.

Hummus, carrots, pickles, pistachios, string cheese and cantaloupe.

It held me over until I could get to the main event… HOMEMADE Chick-fil-A. Do say I was excited about the prospect of a healthier version of their delicious original sandwich is an understatement. I grabbed a Blue Moon seasonal (pictured with the beautiful lilies David brought me on our anniversary- my fav!) and got to work.

I used this recipe I found on Food Babe, but had to do a little modification (because I don’t own spelt flour… or even know what it is).

For the marinade
-3 chicken breasts, pounded and cut in half
-1 cup pickle juice
-paprika
-salt and pepper

The day before, I pounded chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thick, then cut them in half to create 6 roughly equal sized pieces. I covered them generously in paprika on both sides and salt and peppered them, too. Then, I let them marinade overnight in pickle juice.

For the egg wash
-1 whole egg
-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

For the breading
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-1/4 tsp dry mustard
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-1 Tbsp powdered sugar
-1 tsp paprika
-a pinch of cayenne (if you want the spice)

I set up my dredging station. First I dunked the chicken pieces in the egg wash, then thoroughly covered them with the flour mixture.

Then, I placed them on a rack on a backing tray, so they could bake and get crispy on all sides.

I sprayed both sides of the chicken generously with olive oil, then stuck them in the oven at 450 degrees. After 12 minutes, I flipped them and put them back in for another 13 minutes before pulling them out and letting them rest for about 5 minutes while I toasted some whole wheat buns and sliced up some of my Nannie’s pickles.

Then, I assembled.

But the true test… did it taste like the real thing??

Kind of! I wouldn’t be fooled into thinking I’d just been through the drive-through, probably because it wasn’t as greasy, which is a good thing! However, biting into the juicy sandwich was very reminiscent of the classic Chick-fil-A sandwich. The flavors were spot-on, but the intensity was lacking slightly. Overall, it’s my favorite chicken sandwich I’ve ever made at home and will definitely be making it again!

Plus, how often do you get that crispy, delicious look and taste without frying?

Homemade Chick-fil-A for the win!

What restaurant item do you wish you could copy cat at home?

I receive emails every so often with Hailey questions, so after a few repeats, I find myself wanting to post about it. I love talking about what Hailey is up to because it helps me remember. If I didn’t write down everything that happens, I wouldn’t remember a thing and I’m only 7 months in! I also like posting about Hailey because I know I like to hear what is going on with other babies. Basically, I write this to share, NOT because I think I am an expert, because I’m not. I have experience… as much as any other mom out there with a 7 month old. So here are some answers from my point of view…

When and how did you establish a schedule with Hailey?

Hailey’s routine has evolved every couple months. In the beginning I wasn’t concerned with scheduling. I wanted her to eat when hungry and try to go to bed at night when we did so I could maximize my sleep. After she was a few weeks old, I tried to follow the eat, play, sleep routine that Baby Wise recommends. This didn’t exactly work for us, because it didn’t follow Hailey’s natural pattern and I ended up feeding her more often, and I felt like I was encouraging snacking over meals, so I came up with my own eat, play, sleep, play, repeat pattern. This worked for us. I never allowed Hailey to fall asleep while nursing. Her naps directly after eating were always short and didn’t allow her to get quality sleep, so if she started nodding of, I’d pull her away and play with her to keep her awake. Once she played for a while, I’d put her down for a nap. We even keep this pattern today and she eats once she wakes up, not before, because when she eats before she doesn’t nap as well.

Since she was born, I’ve always written down the time she ate and how long she nursed for. After a few weeks I started recording her nap times and even wet and dirty diapers. I wanted to see if any pattern appeared. Slowly, it did. As soon as I noticed Hailey’s sleep signals (rubbing eyes and yawning), I’d get right on putting her down for a nap because waiting too long would result in a missed window of opportunity and an overtired baby. By writing down the times that these things occurred, I began to see a pattern of when she needed to nap and was able to put her down before she got overtired.

I really think that Hailey put herself on a schedule and I just paid close attention to her signals. It’s morphed over time as she dropped from 3 naps down to 2 and now from 5 nursings during the day to 4.

I have a 5 month old and I’m interested in hearing about when Hailey hit her milestones like rolling over, sitting up unassisted, etc.

Thank goodness I wrote stuff down because I’d never remember! Hailey was able to lift her head for short periods from her first week. Her first real smiles were around 4 weeks old and wow, they were amazing when I realized she was actually smiling at us. She rolled over just before 3 months. She rolled from back to front and front to back, but was incredibly inconsistent. One day she’d do it, and the next she’d lay there and scream. She started sitting up on her own just before 6 months old. She’s just now starting to overcome her hatred of tummy time and now pushes up on her arms, but is not up on all fours. She rolls and wiggles and can move in circles, but no crawling. She first ate solids right after her 6 month birthday. She started babbling a lot right after around her 7 month birthday (before that it was mostly coos and giggles), while babbling was more distinct sounds, like her new favorite, dada dada dada.

I think that’s most of the big milestones… did I miss anything?

Did you rely on any books or other resources to work through developmental stages, growth spurts, tough times, etc?

I always thought I’d read a million parenting books, but I ended up not really reading much. I loved Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and The Bradley Method. I read most of Happiest Baby of the Block and Baby Led Weaning and some of Baby Wise. I really think the 5 s’s of The Happiest Baby on the Block helped us out and I learned a lot about the stages of labor through The Bradley Method, but in all my 7.5 months of experience, I really learned to rely on myself… and twitter. Hahah. Seriously, though, I must have had some mommy instinct kick in because I feel like I trusted myself to learn what worked best for Hailey, since every baby is different. I still asked my mom, friends and my twitter friends plenty of questions, and found the support helpful on sleepless nights caused by growth spurts (shout out to the #zombiemoms!), but I try not to compare developmental stages because every baby grows at his/her own pace and if I get caught up in who is crawling or talking early, I’d drive myself crazy.

How many times she having milk now that she’s eating table foods, sleep schedule, etc.

At 7 months old, Hailey’s day looks like this:

7:15 wake up and nurse. 9 minutes on one side, 5 on the other. Change diaper, get dressed. Play in jumperoo while mom blogs and makes breakfast.

9:00 Diaper change and nap until 10:30

10:35 nurse 5 minutes on each side. Diaper change. PLAY by going on a walk or playing with her kitchen in the playroom. Read books with me. I’m very interactive during this time and talking to her constantly.

11:45 Meal time! In the high chair for the mid-morning meal of the day. Eats until 12:05 or so.

12:15 More play, sometimes solo, or running errands out of the house.

2:00 Diaper change and nap until 3:30.

3:35 Nurse 7 minutes on one side, 4 on the other. Then we swing, go on a walk, work on tummy time, etc.

4:45 Meal time! Into the high chair for the second meal of the day. I watch her and prep dinner.

6:30 Final nursing of the day. 6 minutes of one side, 4 on the other.

6:45 Bath time. Splish splash and have some fun. Get dried off, clean diaper and put into jammies.

7:00 I kiss her good night and David takes her to her room, rocks and reads her a book and puts her to bed.

I think I’ve been wordy enough for today, but if you have any questions, keep sending them my way! …or leave them in the comments

I live for weekends like this. After all my worry, our Cinco de Derby party was a smashing success! Smashing? I either turned British or am referring to our outdoor umbrella breaking in half and lights shattering on the deck just as the party started. Oh yes, that happened. No matter, everything turned out alright!

In fact, things started off on the right foot (pun intended). There was a local 5k charity happening Saturday morning, so David, my two besties, Christen and Alexis, and I decided to run it.

It was warm. It was hilly. It was the perfect way to start the day! I ran with the stroller and was shocked that I finished in (according to my poor man’s Garmin) 31:45! My average pace was 10:17, my fastest pace was 7:31. It felt awesome.

Afterwards we found some time to play on the lake. It was Hailey’s first trip out and she wasn’t thrilled about the neck brace, ahem, life jacket.

Then it was time to set up for Cinco de Derby!

We set up our Kentucky Derby pool, and the fun began! People started arriving at 4:00 bringing delicious sides and desserts. All my worry started fading away as people began mingling, eating and laughing. In fact, I started having so much fun myself, I forgot to take many pictures! I don’t have any of the decorations or the food, but I captured a few of the fun!

(Susan, Kate, Britney, Cindi, Molly and me)

We all gathered inside to watch the Derby.

It was pretty exciting, but I was bummed that my El Padrino didn’t pull it out. Then it was back to eating and playing and not much picture taking.

The party went late and I finally turned in at 2:00am after a few hours of chatting under the super moon.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve been up at that time, but I’m pretty sure it involved nursing and not socializing! I really appreciated everyone that came to hang out because, like y’all said, it’s really the people that make the party and I had a blast with every single person who came.

Somehow Hailey didn’t get the memo that her mommy stayed up late, so we were still up at 7:30am, resulting in this a few hours later:

Totally not staged, by the way.

Then we got moving, hit up the farmers market and prepped healthy food for the week

before finishing off the weekend celebration with baked nachos.

It was a happy seis de Mayo, too.

Did you celebrate cinco de Mayo?

The derby?

Both?

Yesterday Hailey and I attended a party sponsored given by Jenn of Mommy B Knows Best. The party, sponsored by Frush, was a great way to get some ladies together, most of whom I’d never met.

It was so much fun watching the kids run around, chatting it up with some new friends and trying sampling Frush, of course.

Hailey had a ball mingling with Jessica, Tricia, Jamie, Jenn and Lindsay. She even got to tell Lindsay how excited she was about her little girl, who is due to make an appearance in September! They’re practically due date buddies, one year apart.

We left the party smiling, and a little sweaty because I didn’t realize how hot it was and wore a long sleeve shirt (genius), which had me down to my  undershirt mid-party. You stay classy, Brittany.

We really had a fun time, which switched my focus to a party David and I are throwing this weekend. We’re throwing a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta! I’m so excited because we’ve talked about doing it for so long and finally we’re going to make it happen… and are expecting about 40 or so people (!!!).

I’m pumped, but this situation also brings out my inner nervous nelly. I always want to make sure everyone has fun, so much so that I tend to stress out and talk a mile a minute in a high pitched voice.

Maybe I get nervous because David stays SO relaxed, but I just want to make sure people have a good time. So help me out.

What makes a party a success to you?

Good food? Music? Decorations? Drinks? People?

Any tips on how to throw a successful party?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!