I hope you had a hoppy Easter and a most eggcellent weekend (the only puns I’ve got!). We were in New Orleans on Friday and Saturday for our good friends’ wedding, and drove back to Houston early on Sunday in order to spend Isla’s first Easter together. We carpooled with two friends and so we quickly dropped them off, then headed to my parent’s house for an Easter lunch and to see what the Easter bunny had delivered. Thank goodness that bunny knows what we want, as our baskets were filled with dried mango (Isla’s favorite too!), Bananagrams (you need this!), J. Crew and Starbucks gift cards, as well as other little treats.
Saturday was Isla’s 10 month-iversary, and we were sad to miss it, although we did FaceTime multiple times with her, as she was with my parents in Katy (and having the best time ever!). I cannot believe our tiny little baby is almost 1 year old, and that I’m already in the throes of planning her birthday party (we’re gone the two weeks following up to it, so I’m trying to get ahead).
Every day with Isla is better than the last. I grow to love her more and more each morning – it’s incredible that our hearts are capable of such expansion. She currently loves clapping, waving, being in charge of peek-a-boo (normally behind pieces of paper – see photo below), hitting me with balls to get me to say, “Ouchie!”, going to music class, popping bubbles, swinging at the park, taking naps in the stroller while I run, standing up, and walking everywhere with her walker (getting faster day-by-day). She eats everything except for raw beets, but most especially loves berries, cereal, sweet potatoes, avocados, mushrooms, chicken, pasta, quinoa, dried mango, puffs, clementines and chia seeds (weird, yes). Isla’s biggest dislikes are the blender, cold water at swim class, the first 4.3 seconds in her car seat, laying still while getting her diaper changed, getting her face wiped and when I take my cell phone away.
Isla is still sleeping from 6:30pm to 7:30am, but does not like to get into her crib unless she is accompanied by her lovie, a pacifier (or multiple), and at least two blankets. She is the DJ to her Cloud B Sleep Sheep, and constantly changes the tunes. She loves her bedtime stories, which we’ve now memorized. Going to get her in the morning is one of the happiest moments of the day, as she is still so excited to see me. That will never get old!
Although the week flew by, we had some very exciting moments, including:
- My best friend from childhood, Alisdair, and his wife, Erica, came to Houston on Monday and stayed with us, so we had a handful of our friends over for dinner, wine, cheese and vegan treats – we had the best evening catching up, which doesn’t happen often, as Ali and Erica live in Scotland.
- Another one of my closest friends, Andrew, was in town from Boston and came over for dinner, wine and good chats – as well as the Bieber roast, which was absolutely hilarious!
- Meeting sweet baby Brooks and taking his newborn photographs, which you can see here.
- Celebrating Amanda and Scott’s wedding at the Southern Oaks plantation in New Orleans – I cannot wait to share more photos this week! Every single detail of the weekend was perfect, and you will die when you see the video that was taken of the Long sisters’ performance at the wedding.
- Spending Easter with my family (in our matching Gap outfits!), and knowing that we’ll get to do the same next weekend, as Serbian Easter is a different date than the rest of the world!
- Having Sasha’s grandma come and visit for the day, and then spending the rest of the evening with his mom (Isla’s ‘Baba’).
- Getting pieces of Isla’s birthday party in the mail and finalizing her invitations, which are being designed by Papellerie – I am way too excited about them. There’s an exciting custom confetti package that will be on its way to our house soon – have you checked out The Confetti Bar yet? I love it.
- Isla’s swimming class was much more enjoyable this week, as she only cried once or twice. Everyone says it gets better every week, so I’m praying for even less tears this Thursday! She also is starting The Little Gym this week, which I’m excited about.
- Getting my new desk and mirror delivered from West Elm – I am obsessed with both!
How was your week? I’d love to hear about your highlights in the comments below!
With almost three weeks passing since Isla turned one, we’ve now gotten to use many of the wonderful gifts that she received on her birthday. She is one lucky lady to have been spoiled rotten by family and friends. We got cute clothes, learning toys, plush stuffed animals and “bay-beeees.” I’ve had a few people ask me what was most useful, as they were going to be buying gifts for a one year old girl (most gifts work for boys too!) and didn’t want to get a gift that would be returned or left in a box.
And the best part of all is that L.L.Bean, Carter’s, Dr. Brown’s and MAM have all partnered with Snapshots & My Thoughts to offer one lucky reader an entire baby hospital bag set, which includes every single ‘necessity’ item. The winner will get to choose between the boy or girl options (or gender neutral) and pick the color and monogram of their