Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic
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Personal

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Personal

Week in Review

Happy Monday, and happiest 35th wedding anniversary to my parents! They are such a great example of a happily married couple, although Sasha should not take notes from my dad who has never turned on an iron, loaded a dishwasher and apparently never changed a dirty diaper. Thank goodness for Super Mum! Ha. It’s amazing how this “new generation” of dads are way more involved in the nitty-gritty. Perhaps our sons will learn how to help with middle-of-the-night newborn feedings?

I cannot believe that Halloween was just a week ago! Isla dictated the group’s costume theme this year, and although from January until August we had all been assigned Moana characters, the 11th hour change of plan was to be the Trolls crew. So Isla was Poppy, Sasha was Branch, Ivana was Bridget/Lady Glitter Sparkles, Bob was Biggie, Milly was Mr. Dinkles, I was Guy Diamond and Emi was the cloud. It was so much fun getting all costumed out! Photographic evidence below, of course.

How about that time change? Ah, to be without kiddos and actually get to enjoy an extra hour of sleep and not be woken up by two little ones at 6am! Alas, we’ve had two very productive mornings? Silver lining people!

The last week was very busy week with photos – some highlights listed below!

  • Trick or treating in the new neighborhood! We are so excited to actually be living there next year and not just pretending via Ivana and Bob!
  • Catching up with my friend, Alexis, over lunch at Adair – we had our two littlest ones there who, now that they’re eating, kept our hands very busy the whole time! Ha.
  • Going to Orange Theory Fitness twice – I’m still trying to decide what type of membership I want and if I should give up my Lifetime membership to get it! Decisions, decisions! But I do love OTF!
  • Taking photos at the new Sugar & Cloth Color Wall with Meredith and Monica (who later had a sweet cakepop delivery for Isla!)
  • Meeting Meredith again at The West Studios for some fun maternity/blog photos!
  • Visiting Brittany for George’s four month photos!
  • Taking Leah’s, Sydney’s, Nina’s and Ivana’s family photos (now to edit them all!!!!).
  • Going to Courtney’s for our family photos and then back to Montgomery on Saturday for her twins’ birthday party!
  • Eating family dinner at Peli Peli! Speaking of family, Sasha’s mom is back from a long trip to Serbia! We’re so happy to have her home!

Hope you’ve had a great weekend and that your Monday is off to a fantastic start! xo

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Our 2017 Family Photos by Courtney Leigh Photography

Yesterday evening, we went to Montgomery to take photos with my sweet, insanely talented friend, Courtney Brown of Courtney Leigh Photography (who also took Emi’s newborn photos and our family photos last year). Y’all, they are my favorite photos ever. I cried looking through them and haven’t stopped scrolling since I got the album in my inbox (in legitimately the most record timing ever). These two girls of mine and that handsome husband – what more could I ask for? Oh wait, Belle!! We forgot to bring her! Ha! Poor pup. Our neglected first babe.

In all seriousness, I am going to print these this weekend to update galleries around the house! Sweet Emi isn’t in a single frame yet. Whoops! I was so worried about her being happy given that the drive is about an hour and she is much happier in the morning than evenings, but she actually did better than Isla. She seriously loved Courtney!

I tried to be selective, but as always, I am terrible at that! She did send 164 photos and it was a struggle to narrow down 100 favorites, then even more difficult to cut that in half for the blog. So alas, a ton of photos of the Petrovics in 2017!

PS Thank you, thank you to Maggie of Bramble & Bee for the gorgeous floral crowns and wreath! I loved these little touches. It was nice to feel a bit festive in 91 degree, humid Houston (in November, nonetheless!). Oh, and my dress is sold out, but the girls’ are still available at Gap! Isla’s here and Emi’s here.

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Mom Talk

Regaining Confidence Post-Baby with SmileDirectClub

Being able to carry a baby is not something I take for granted. I am so, so incredibly grateful for my two daughters and am in awe that our bodies are able to create and grow human life. I am not one who loves being pregnant, but I pray that we’ll be able to go through that journey again at least one more time (calm down, Sasha!). Like everyone else, I try to embrace my growing curves during pregnancy, as that’s a part of the process. After giving birth to both girls, I was on a postpartum high for awhile – especially with Emi. We went on a long walk to the neighborhood park with her only 31 hours after she was born! I was able to workout until the very last day with both girls, so while I was not in peak shape (ha), I felt in shape going into labor. And then baby… and there goes your time (and ability to exercise for awhile!). With both girls, I distinctly remember seeing photos about 5 or 6 weeks postpartum and thinking, “Is that really how I look?!?” Pregnancy had left me with terrible melasma (discoloration on my face, which is very typical for pregnant women to get) and varicose veins, breastfeeding had put stretch marks on my boobs, middle of the night feeds had created deep bags under my eyes, lack of exercise had soften any remaining muscle, and overall exhaustion had seemed to suck the life out my skin (hello, wrinkles!). Things that once never bothered me now did, and I realized that my confidence had taken a big hit. Again, all of this was so worth it! I realize that!

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Emi at 8 and 9 Months

A few days ago, Miss Emilia turned 9 months old, but we were down for the count that day, so there wasn’t much celebrating to be had. On Monday, we rallied and took a few of the (now dreaded) monthly photos. Emi is, much like most 9 month olds, constantly on-the-go, and doesn’t want to lay still for photos. Action shots are where we’re at now, or ones where she’s being held by me, because she still loves that.

At nine months old, Emi loves crawling, scaling walls/furniture, watching her big sister do just about anything, her Lulla doll, her blankets, eating (aggressively), saying, “Dadadadada” and lots of “b” sounds. If she’s anything like her sister, she’ll start off her speaking by calling to our dog, Belle. Ha. Why is Mama so hard?!

On Monday, Sasha took Emi to her checkup, and she is 17 pounds, 12 ounces (43rd percentile), 28 inches (65th percentile), and her head circumference is 18 inches (92nd percentile). How about that big ole head?! Just like her dad.

Sweet Emi Girl loves going to school – she always lights up when she sees her teachers, Mrs. Anto and Mrs. Juanita. They do lots of arts, crafts, playtime, music class, etc. and she loves hanging out with her one friend in class, Abby. She goes for 10 hours a week, which is just perfect for her to get out of the house and for me to get some work done during daylight hours.

Emi sleeps 7pm to 7am and typically naps two to three times per day (depending on how much running around we’re doing!). She eats all types of food, and claps her hands in appreciation of her favorites. She especially loves Silk yogurt, black beans, oatmeal, bananas, Mum Mums, fried eggs, macaroni and cheese, and raspberries (her favorite!). She could drink water all day long, which I’m totally jealous of because I rarely want it!

She now looks forward to her two books at night – one of which is always, “Good Night, I love you” which we always read to Isla. It’s wild to me that they can be so young, but get so excited at routine things you do!

We love this sweet girl. I cannot believe she’ll be one in less than 3 months!

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Week in Review

Well, I’m glad we made it to Monday, because if you asked me yesterday at noon if I was going to survive the day, I would have told you ‘no.’ I haven’t had a stomach bug in years, but Isla and I were knocked off our feet with one this weekend. It hit me, then Isla, then Ivana, then Bob. Down for the count. Sasha, Emilia and Milly fortunately managed to avoid the bug, which I’m so grateful for – the babies, most importantly!

The other low-point for the week was saying farewell to one of my best friends, Destiny, who moved in with her parents in Vegas on Tuesday while they build a new house in Utah. I am so sad to see her, Sid, Truman and Tatum leave, but we are happy that they get to be closer to their families. Destiny is one of the sweetest people I have ever met – she has the biggest heart. I always tell Sasha, that she’s one of the rare people who I will meet with for lunch, and I feel like she is asking more questions than she is talking. She genuinely cares about what you have to say, and that is just one small example of how she cares for others. Des and Sid are going to Paris with us in February, which makes me SO HAPPY. I cannot wait! I hope we get to see them beforehand, but if not, a reunion in my favorite city on the world will be just perfect.

Despite the bout of sickness and a sad goodbye, the week was a good one, with some highlights being:

  • Celebrating Milly’s 6 month-iversary a few days late!
  • Doing a trial run of my photo course which I’ll offer very soon! I taught four friends and it went so much better than I anticipated! I am so excited to teach everyone!!
  • Taking Alex’s photos at our house – she gave Isla some bows and bracelets in these cute boxes, and it’s like Isla won the lottery. Every day, she goes over and looks in the boxes and picks one or two things to accessorize with. The cutest!
  • Going to the girls’ fall festival at school – Isla loved the bubbles and Emi loved the Chic-Fil-A cow!
  • Taking photos for Destiny, then saying the dreaded farewell!
  • Photographing Gaby’s gorgeous and ridiculously well-dressed family!

I hope y’all have a wonderful week and a very spooky Halloween! xo

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