18 Months of Macy

Although I often neglect this blog, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to document this special time in Macy's life. She is officially 18 months now, a year and a half! She is such a fun age and she is really starting to understand words, commands, and is becoming a good communicator herself. We are the best of friends and I love how much she loves me. She chooses to sit on my lap, hug me, kiss me, and wants me to hold her verses me doing it for her because she is a baby. I love how she will grab a book then walk over and cuddle in my lap -it's truly the best! She is so smart and catches on to things instantly. It is amazing! I am always in awe over how quickly she learns things and how advanced she is at this age.

Macy at her 18 month checkup - Her pediatrician said she was perfect!

Weight: 25lbs (50th percentile)

Height: 35" 

Once again Macy is off the growth chart in the height department. She is so tall and I have no idea where she gets it from!

Diaper Size: 4

Clothing Size: 24m or 2T

My big girl- I found her in her room reading to herself one day. Love!

Feeding: My good eater has proven herself to be picky at times now. She went through an eating regression starting about a month or so ago where she barely ate ANYTHING at all the whole entire day. I have learned she would much rather snack than eat a legit meal in her high chair. I'm torn if this is a good or bad thing. I need to do some more research on it. The way our kitchen is set up she has direct access to the pantry which can be bad. She think she runs the show in our house, including the kitchen. She will open the pantry or fridge and grab food or a bag of shredded cheese and demand to eat it. I literally have to hide food from her.

Eggs with cheese are still a staple breakfast item

Sleeping: As always, no complaints in this department. We are officially rocking one nap a day, at some point after lunch. If we are lucky she will sleep 3 hours, most of the time it closer to 2. She goes to bed sometime between 7:30-8 and wakes up around 8:30 every morning. Homegirl loves to sleep. If you tell her that it is nap time or night-night time she will drop whatever she is doing, say "Nigh Nigh!" and lean in for a kiss. Such a weirdo. I am certain this is not the norm, and our next child will probably hate sleep, but this is by far the easiest department for us. Honestly, I really attribute that to consistent schedules from the time she was born and following the Babywise method. For any moms with difficult sleepers at any age- give it a shot! Everyone I've ever known SWEARS by it! (including me)

A little tea time before bed one night

Milestones: So many to count! Her language development and word recognition is probably her biggest milestone right now. She started saying more words right after her first birthday but it seems like every day now she learns something new. A lot of words that she says aren't perfect, but I can definitely tell what she is saying. I have flash cards I use with her and I am amazed everyday at how good she is. I started off with a few at a time using simple pictures (cat, dog, cow, sock, shoe) and add a few every time. Even if she can't say the word she can pick out the image, like I say "Macy where's the square?" She will grab the card with a square on it. She mastered her animal sounds a few months ago and loves when she finds a picture of an animal- she will excitedly point to it and say "moo! cow!" Her pediatrician made me feel good at her checkup and said she is very smart and above the learning curve with the amount of words she knows. Just like we say, "cute like daddy, smart like mommy!"

Cuddled up on mommy's lap after nap time

Loves: By far her favorite thing in the world is our iPad. She is obsessed. It started with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse addiction that turned in to anything Disney Jr and fun apps addiction. It is seriously amazing how well she can control it. She pushes the center button, swipes the slide bar, and browses each screen until she finds the app she wants. She will watch a little Doc McStuffins and when she is bored with that she will get out of that app and start playing Peekaboo Barn, or Talking Tom, or wordcat, etc. She would play on it 24/7 which I obviously do not allow but if she sees it in the room she will throw a conniption fit until she can have it. So we have to keep it out of sight/out of mind for her. She also loves to color and its the cutest thing ever. She lays on the floor on her tummy and doodles away like a 12 year old. We still give her a paci at night and with naps. When she wakes up I say, "lets put paci away" and before bed I'll tell her to go get it. She gets really excited when it is time to get it but otherwise she doesn't think about it at all.

Color time with daddy

Dislikes: Not getting her way. She has mastered the pouty lip and temper tantrums, which started when she was about 16 months. She would much rather be down walking around exploring than being held or in her stroller/grocery cart which can make simple tasks and errands difficult. She has a pretty quick recovery time when she doesn't get her way but she has no problem letting you know when she isn't happy.

Perfect example of the pouty lip

Adventures: We celebrated Halloween and her first trick or treating experience, went on her longest road trip to date to see my grandparents for Thanksgiving (6 hours) and her future BFF was born!

Visiting my sweet Meme in Tennessee.

What we couldn't live without: Necessities to make our life easy include: goldfish crackers, her iPad, and her Bunny/paci/sound machine for night time. Otherwise she is a golden goose.

Love her to pieces!

Sweet Baby Kate, Macy's cousin/future BFF 

Macy had to crawl up on her Aunt Sass' lap after she had Miss Kate

Life Lately

Things have been a changin' around the Regal household once again. I completed my first 2 clinical rotations this semester and am now at a different location, on different days. It took about 2 weeks for everyone to adjust to my new schedule, but I think things are finally back on track.

Macy is now 17 months as of October 24, and boy has she been growing/developing/learning every single day! I finally transitioned her into taking one nap a day, which was feat. She was taking 2 two hour naps but they were starting to get sporadic and she was showing signs that she was ready to go down to one. We lay her down at 1pm every day now and she usually sleeps for 3 hours, waking up around 4. When we first started her on one nap she was only sleeping 1.5hrs so it was rough on us all. Luckily she got the hang of it in about 3 or 4 days. After mourning the loss of her morning nap, I've actually learned to love her new schedule too. We can get a lot done in the mornings/early afternoons and still have time after her nap to do things too. She is also sleeping in later, until around 8:30, every morning now. It has been SO nice. We lay her down around 8pm so she is getting a solid 12-12.5hrs each night. She likes her sleep like her momma! I'm going to write a post all about her after her 18 month check up.

Even though I have mentioned before that I am a summer girl, we have welcomed fall with open arms and have tons of fun adventures. I love living these experiences through the eyes of a child. It makes every time of the year that much more fun!

I was SO excited that it was jean jacket weather. Too cute!

First time carving a pumpkin. She loved the guts!

Pumpkin carving assembly line at my brother's house.

I opted to decorate fake pumpkins. Seems more fiscally responsible to me :)

I am still only working one day a week which has been so nice. It is such a privilege to focus on school and being a mommy.

A typical week for me looks like this:
Monday: OFF! We go grocery shopping, get the car washed, etc
Tuesday: Women's clinic clinical at the VA 8a-4p and community group in the evening
Wednesday: School from 10-12, homework after until Kyle and Macy get home
Thursday: Work 6a-2:30p, pick up Macy and discipleship group in the evening
Friday: Women's clinic clinical at the VA 8a-4p

I do my best to try and get school work done in the off hours that Kyle and Macy aren't home. Sometimes I have to work at night, but it hasn't been too bad. I love everything I am learning this semester and wish my brain was more like a sponge so I can soak it all in!

One of my favorite fall traditions so far  has been going to a pumpkin patch. Let's be honest, the only reason I wanted to go was to get a cute family picture. We never buy pumpkins there because they are outrageously expensive at those places! It is fun to walk around, and the day we went was absolutely GORGEOUS.

Apple cider.. check! Kettle corn... check! This girl was in heaven!

My friend Betsy got this family shot on her FIRST try! I couldn't believe it. I can count the number of pictures that we are all looking at the camera on one hand. It was seriously a MIRACLE!

The cliche pumpkin patch family picture.

Having a busy body at home with me has made me realize I too have become a busy body. I get cabin fever so bad so we are constantly making trips out of the house to the park, mall play place, or wherever little Miss can get her energy out. We are all better people that way. Being bored at home is not good for anyone's soul. I have a hard time thinking of new ways to keep her interested. One thing she has loved lately was to color on paper with pencils/markers. Any moms out there have any other ideas to entertain a 17 month old?

Sometimes I can't handle the cuteness.

I have quickly realized that parenting is all about living and learning and here is an example of a recent parent fail: While at our friends' house I opened up a Reese's cup to eat and Macy quickly asked to try it. After the first bite her eyes opened widely and she said YUMMMM really loud. I caved and just let her eat the rest of it because it was so cute to watch her experience the chocolatey goodness. About half an hour later she found another one and begged to eat it. Because we were still waiting for dinner to be ready I, once again, caved and let her eat another WHOLE one. In about 30 minutes my child was coo coo bananas and was going BONKERS. She didn't eat a bite of her dinner and screamed nonsense for about an hour. Whoops. So note to self, don't let your child eat 2 whole Reese's cups on an empty stomach. =)

Cup numero dos. Before the crazyness began

Overall, life lately has been a blast. I love being a mom and I love being a student too. Macy is at such a fun age and I am amazed at how quickly she learns new things every single day. Her personality is so sweet- outgoing with a touch of sass. She is so much like me its scary. Thank goodness she has her daddy's blue eyes and dimples.

Rocking some Halloween gear at church this week

Favorite thing about fall? Sweaters and boots for sure!

Catching up

I am catching up, 5 on Friday style. I am trying to be better about writing posts so I can look back and remember these moments. The whole reason I ever started a blog was to keep a pregnancy journal, which turned in to a new baby journal, which turned in to a "life as a new mommy trying to balance it all" journal. It is such a fun time in our lives and I want to remember it all!

{one}

Last week we hosted a gender reveal party for our good friends Scott and Betsy. Betsy is always hosting and serving others and I wanted to do something special for her once I found out she was pregnant with baby #2. We had a "Princess Crowns or Touch Downs?" party and it was so fun! We ate yummy dessert, caught up with good friends, and smashed a pinata that was filled with fun items representing the gender of their baby. Which was PINK!!! SO exciting, especially since they already have a boy :)

Scott, Betsy and sweet baby Hank

We also threw an engagement party for my brother and his fiance Carol that week too. It is such an exciting time, as I have always thought of my brother as the perpetual bachelor. He has found his PERFECT match and I am so freaking excited for their wedding... I feel like I'M getting married again!

My brother and his bride to be!

{two}

Well if you read my last post you know that my half marathon was challenging to say the least. So what does one do? She signs up for another one! Yikes! My good friend Janet has convinced me to train and run it with her. I think that it will be fun, and since it is in November I am confident that it WON'T be a million degrees and super humid. So it will already be better!

Training for another half has commenced!

{three}

The semester is in full swing and I feel like I have a really good grip on time management, for once in my life. I am only working one day a week, and have school/clinical three days a week. Some days I get home before Kyle and Macy so I try to do my best to get all of my school work done so I can just enjoy my evenings with them. It also frees me up to just enjoy my Fridays off with my Macy girl. I am very grateful that I can focus on school and not work full time anymore. Such a blessing!

Doing a little catching up on school while Macy was in the tub. It is all a balancing act!

 

{four}

Speaking of having Fridays off, last Friday we went to the Children's Museum and checked out the new Playscape. If you live in the Indianapolis area you have to check it out! There are endless hours of things to do and Macy had a BLAST! I loved watching her explore all of the exhibits and how excited and enthused she was to try everything out. We will definitely be going back!

The water table was by far her favorite. And the smock... I die!

{five}

I know am on this island by myself, but I am not the biggest lover of fall like every other person on the planet. I am summer girl! Not only is it July 4th and my birthday, but summer brings a since of freedom and the best memories. It's not that I don't enjoy the cooler weather or excuse to wear cute boots, I just don't look forward to the fall as much as others. It's more like... Oh I guess its fall again, before you know it there will be snow. However, since I can't deny the falling temperatures I thought having a fall themed Pinterest crafting party might help me get in the spirit. I do love a good excuse to get some girlfriends together! These are two things I am eyeing to try out:

A fall inspired burlap wreath, and some festive painted pumpkins

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

 

Indy Women's Half Recap

This past weekend I ran my first half marathon in over 4.5 years. I decided to set a goal and go for it. I wanted something that would keep me accountable with working out and finally getting rid of the baby weight. At the time I signed up the most I was running was 3 miles at a time. But I was ready. I trained by myself and didn't sign up with a buddy because I was doing it for me. To prove that I could do it and get healthier for me.

I have ran two half's before, once back in college and once with my hubby (when we were just bf and gf). Both times it was the Indianapolis Mini Marathon, which kicks off the Month of May in Indy (Indy 500 race month), and it is a big deal. They sell out every year and it is the largest half marathon in the country, with 40,000 runners. Throughout the whole route there are DJs, music acts, dancers, cheerleaders, you name it. You run around the Indy 500 motor speedway track. It is also the first of May so the weather is usually cool and mild. This race, the Indianapolis Women's half, could not have been more different. It is obviously all women, but I didn't really know what else to expect.

The morning of the race I got up early and ate about half of a Think Thin bar and drank some Gatorade. I was out the door by 6:30. I parked downtown not too far from the start line, and I was getting out of my car when I realized the most sad and devastating thing. I forgot my ipod. My heart sank and tears filled my eyes. This couldn't be happening. Instinctively I turned the car back on and was going to go back to the house, but then I realized there would never be enough time. I panicked. There was no way I could run with out music. I considered just not doing it all, trying to run with out music (as I thought of the entertainment from the previous runs), but after frantically digging around my car I found some knotted up headphones in the backseat and decided to bring my phone. I had no music loaded on it but just decided to use Pandora. The problem was I didn't have any way to carry it. So I found a paper towel, wrapped my phone in it, and stuck it in my sports bra. True story. I was so sad about this that it really took me the whole walk from my car to the start line to get over it.

A quick selfie at the start line. Nervous!

I got to the start line and I was surprised to see there were no corals or people with pace signs directing you were to start. I got little emotional because I had been working so hard for the last 12 weeks all for this moment. For this race. I felt a since of pride that I stuck through it and was here, by myself, completing a goal I had set out of myself.  Everyone just kind of stood around and when it was time to go off we went. I was so glad I decided to bring my phone because there as no entertainment through out the course at all.


My other issue with the race was the heat and humidity. I was sweating before we even started. It was 93% humidity outside and boy could I feel it. Once the sun was up from behind the buildings and trees it was miserable. I pretty much felt like my skin was melting off and I couldn't breath. The first 8-9 miles were OK. I think my pace was around 10:20, which I was fine with considering the heat. The scenery was enough to keep my mind off of how uncomfortable I was but once I hit mile 10 I was ready to be done. Looking back, I think that running only 10 miles before hand was probably not long enough but rather I should have done a 12 miler leading up to it. Mentally, once I hit mile 10, I wasn't confident that I could keep going much further. But I trucked along. Around 10.5 miles I started to get really dizzy and felt like I was going to black out. There had been no shade at all since around mile 8 and I was struggling. I made sure to grab water at every single water station but at mile 11 I actually stopped to drink the water and walk a little while I was finishing it. The last 2 miles were the worst and the way the course is you actually run near the finish line around mile 11.5 but you keep going and loop back around. I literally considered just running right to the finish where I knew my husband was waiting for me and getting the heck out of dodge. But alas, I kept going knowing that the end was near.

Once I turned the final corner I saw Kyle and Macy cheering me on, which was just what I needed to get my through the finish line. When we met up he asked my how I felt and I got really emotional. I honestly think it was because I was just so physically drained. In a way I was disappointed because it was so hard. But after I got home, took a shower and ate some food I was starting to feel a lot better. I just RAN A HALF MARATHON! Hello! I went to bed early every Saturday night the past 12 weeks so I could get up early Sunday mornings and run. I put in the time and effort and I completed a goal. That was something to be happy about!

I am considering signing up for another half in November. I would train and run with a friend, which would be a nice change. Although I am not super excited about doing it, I would like a better race experience before I hang up my running shoes for the winter. We will see!!

My cheering section!

"Whyyyy am out in this heat?!"

The moment I saw Kyle and Macy. Check out that stride... I was basically just shuffling my feet at this point.

I did it!

5 on Friday

It's been a super crazy time between moving and starting school back up but I'm finally feeling settled. No better way to recap than with a 5 on Friday linkup :)

{ONE}

We are unpacked and loving our new place! Saying goodbye to our first home was bittersweet but the closing went smoothly and we actually love the sweet little home we are renting! It's one story which I love, the neighborhood is fantastic, and the old charm is so different than what we had. The 3 days it took to move everything were absolute torture but once we were settled it didn't seem so bad :)
 

Saying goodbye to her first home

Nothing like fresh flowers to make your new place feel like home!

{TWO}

I am a mere 8 days out from my first half marathon in 4.5 years. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. This last weekend I ran 9 miles, and it was pretty tough. During the run around mile 7.5 I thought to myself "I am NEVER going to be able to do this" but afterwards I think... ok it wasn't THAT bad. I am hoping the adreniline of all of the people and the new sights will help me push through it. I will run 10 miles this weekend and I am going to make it a "practice run through" by eating what I plan to eat next week in the morning and I am going to try out some GU blocks around mile 7 as well. I have been meaning to try them out earlier than now but sometimes life just happens.

9 miles. Slower than normal. But I did it.

How I have been feeling after my last couple runs. Whoomp whoommp.

{THREE}

Going back to number 1- Can I tell you how much we love our new neighborhood? Even though living downtown we were only 15-20min away, it has been so nice being this close to all of our friends. I feel like we see someone almost every day. It so nice being around all of our church friends. It makes babysitting, D-group, or staying up late after a festival so much easier because we know that we are just down the street from the house at all times.

Babysitting Halle one night. Macy LOVED having a friend to play with all night. ((insert baby fever here))

Of course we had to have datenight with Macy's boyfriend our first weekend in the 'hood.

{FOUR}

School is back in session! And it is my LAST YEAR in this Nurse Practitioner program. My 4th year. Holy Moly it seems like I have been in grad school for an eternity. I am at clinicals 2 days a week and my oh my this first week was EXHAUSTING! It is definiretly a new role I have to learn to be in and my brain isn't quite conditioned for it yet. Plus I worked and had class this week so today I am *stoked* to have the day off with my little babe.

Feeling "official" in my long white lab coat. =)

{FIVE}

This man. Sometimes I just have to brag! I always talk about how cute and amazing my sweet little Janie Girl is but I rarely give credit where credit is due- to my hubby! He is seriously the glue that holds us all together. He pretty much single handedly moved our entire house himself (he did the moving, I did the unpacking), is the sweetest most precious daddy in the whole world, and spoils me undeservedly. I am a lucky lucky girl! And so is Macy.




Date night last week. Handsome man!

Have a great weekend everyone! We are having garage sale tomorrow... wish us luck!


On the Move

The Regals are on the move! After months of prayer and discussion, this spring Kyle and I decided to put our house on the market. We currently live downtown in a 2 bedroom townhouse. The perfect first home... Right in the middle of the action and manageble for first time home owners. But clearly not our "forever home". Once I found out what my schedule was going to be like the last year finishing up my Nurse Practitioner degree I realized that I would be committed to school 4 days a week. So that left me two options: work full time (and be gone 7 days a week) or back off work and focus on school. I chose the latter, but not lightly. This meant we were going to be a one income family while I finished school. Selling our house was no the hard part, but the fact that we were going to be downsizing and possibly living in an apartment was hard to accept. I knew it would be worth it though because I would be able to spend time with Kyle and Macy. My ultimate priority.

We originally planned on living in an apartment as renting a house seemed too expensive. I was super bummed about this. It felt like we were "taking a step back", even though I ultimately knew it was for our future. If we rent we could live off one income plus put money away for a down payment on a house to buy after I graduate. Clearly this was all meant to be as God has cleared the path for us in this endeavor. First, we had an offer on our house within 24 hours of putting it on the market. Wahoo! Second, we wouldn't have to close until the end of the summer, which left us one last summer to enjoy living downtown. Also, we found a house in the perfect neighborhood! We are going to be moving to Broad Ripple, which is only 15 minutes north of downtown, and is packed full of young families, culture, art, and local restaurants. The house is within walking distance to many yummy places and we have several friends with kids in the area, as well as the Monon trail that I can run on or we can go on family bike rides on it as well. The house itself is an old bungalow, only 2 bedroom 1 bath, but it has a dry basement for storage and a fenced in backyard that Macy will be able to play in. AND it's about $100 cheaper per month than the apartment we were looking at! I truly could not have asked for a better option (well maybe a dishwasher, but beggars can't be choosers!)

It all seems surreal as we are currently in the thick of it all. This was the first house we bought together 4 years ago, the home we came to after our honeymoon to start our lives together. Where we put together Macy's nursery and made so many memories. But I am definitely looking forward to this next step in our lives. I definitely feel blessed that it all worked out so well.

Where it all began....

A Texas Getaway

We finally got to take our one family vacation for the summer, and boy were we ready! Since I had school all summer we had to wait until the end to take off anywhere. We headed down south to Dallas, TX to see my family and spend the week in my dad's backyard oasis. All we wanted was to relax and lounge by the pool, and all of the extra hands loving on Macy were an added bonus!

I was SO nervous about flying with Little Miss. When we flew down there over Christmas she was so easy. But she was also only 7 months, took a bottle still, and could easily sleep anytime. We had plenty of snacks (squeezies, yogurt melts, goldfish, water and juice), our ipad downloaded with tons of new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes, her blankey and her bunny. This was a recipe for success! Both there and back we changed planes in Kansas City so the flight was broken up a little bit. I think that helped too.

Drinking a squeezie on take off. (no, we didn't buy a seat, there was an extra!)

Wahoo! Made it to KC with no tears, screaming or breakdowns!

Daddy on duty in the airport.

I think another huge factor to our success was the fact that both times we flew it was first thing in the morning. Macy is her most calm/sleepy/chill in the mornings so that helped.

Once we got there we headed straight to my dad's house and set up shop for the week. His backyard is truly like a resort, a free resort, so it just seems silly to go anywhere else when we can spend the week here!

The pictures just don't do the landscaping justice.

I also loved that we got to spend time with family all week. My dad, step mom, little brother and sister all ADORE Macy and fight over who gets to feed her, hold her, change her, walk with her, put her in her car seat, sit by her in the car/at a restaurant, etc. Them loving on her makes me feel loved AND it gives me a break!

Playing on the piano my grandma brought over for her. She loved it!

I wanted to make sure I kept up with my training schedule while I was gone too, especially since I skipped last weekend when we were in Nashville. I texted my friend Brandi a couple weeks before hand and told her I needed her to go run with me while I was down there to keep me accountable. She put a running group together and we all met early Saturday morning for a 9 mile run around White Rock Lake. Oddly, the weather was perfect. It was cloudy with a cool breeze which NEVER happens in Texas summer! I had only planned on running 7 miles, because that's all I needed to according to my training schedule. Once I hit mile 7 I stopped my Garmin and started walking. About 3 minutes later I hear Megan approaching me and says, "How are you doing?" I said "Ran my 7 miles. I'm good" and she was all "Oh heck no, you can't waste this awesome weather... let's go!" So off I went with her for the last 2 miles. It was nice getting to run and chat with her since I have read her blog for awhile but had never met her. She is super sweet and was a great motivation. If preg-Meg can run 9 miles, dang it so can I!

Skinny Meg's picture of our group after our run. I didn't have one on my camera

That night was the annual Fields' pool party. Boy do my parents know how to throw a party! First and foremost is the food, the Texas bbq that my dad starts cooking the night before. Next comes the margarita machine, their best friends' helped and brought their DJ booth set up with lights and karaoke machine, and the rest is history! We ate, drank, and danced in to the wee hours of the night. It was so fun hanging out with family and friends in Texas that we don't get to see often.

My Texas family

The girls! And of COURSE we had to color coordinate our outfits!

My handsome hubby and handsome little bro, also matching

Fun with the Laughlins

Dance party on the patio!

The rest of the week was spent relaxing poolside. Macy LOVED the pool and would often go to the backdoor and scream and cry to go outside.

Besties

The beach entrance in to the pool was absolutely perfect for her. She is not a fan of being in a float, or in deep water. She hung out right here all week.

Water baby

A little naked piano playing. Completely normal.

It was such a great week relaxing and enjoying quality family time. I loved being able to go watch Taylor at her tumbling class and take her to cheer camp in the mornings.  I was 15 when Taylor was born, and Taylor was 12 when Macy was born. Taylor and I are so close and I can't wait for her Macy to have a relationship like ours one day. Trevor and Kyle got some good QT together as well and did their own "guy" things during the day together. It definitely makes the geographical distance between us sad!

Basically the same person, 15 years and a hair color apart.

Eventually we had to head back home and get back to our daily lives. We are moving in a mere short week and we should probably start packing. Although, I could have stayed for the rest of the summer!

The ultimate set up on the way home. Lucky for us, we got another seat for her!

Annnnnd they're out.