Travel: Pisa, Italy

Continuing our Euro Trip recap... after our visit to Florence, we continued along Italy's Tuscany region & spent a hot second in Pisa on our way to Nice, France.

We had only about an hour to marvel at the iconic Leaning Tower, which is 180 feet high and 12 feet out of the perpendicular.  It's the bell tower for the cathedral that sits next to it in the Piazza del Miracoli.

Naturally, we snapped all the typical touristy photos of us "holding up" the tower, because when in Pisa...

Since we only scratched the very surface of Pisa, I don't have much exciting to share -- expect for the fact we got to see the Leaning Tower.  Oh, also, it was in Pisa that we had to pay to use the restroom... not an uncommon practice in Europe according to our guide.

Next up on the #EverardEuroTrip2015 is Nice, France!

Make: Five minute breakfast bowl

My mom, sister, & I had brunch recently at The Creamery (OMG their stuffed french toast is BOMB), and Becky ordered the Buddda Bowl, which was basically a bunch of good stuff all just thrown together (think: fruit, almond milk, granola, shredded coconut, dates, etc).  It was delicious, and inspired me to sort of "recreate" my own version at home.

My first attempt at recreating the dish, and I quickly realized that I didn't have any granola, so I decided to use Honey Bunches of Oats cereal instead, and I love how it turned out!


Five-Minute Breakfast Bowl

1 c. Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, crushed
3/4 c. vanilla unsweetened almond milk (can be warmed or served cool)
Sliced banana
Sliced strawberries
Handful of blueberries
Handful of raspberries
Handful of slivered almonds
Garnish with cinnamon

If you make this at home, let me what you added to make this breakfast bowl your own.  The possibilities are endless!

Newborn Essentials: Our Top Ten Must Haves

Now that we've been parents for a month (what?!)  I thought I'd post about our most-used items for making life with a newborn a little less stressful -- if that's even a thing :)

1. HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper
This is something I wish we would have registered for/bought right away, but live & learn!  We had planned on using the bassinet insert to our Pack n' Play, but after setting it up the night we got home from the hospital, we quickly realized that we were not comfortable having Ellis sleep in there.  In short, it felt rickety & unsafe.  We then spent the first week home having him sleep in all sorts of different things, and I just wasn't comfortable with any of them -- nothing felt right.  And everyone preaches -- keep baby in the room with you, on a flat & firm surface.  Back is best!  Well, nothing that we had was flat & firm, so I finally Amazon primed this Bassinet & we're SO glad we did.  We all sleep better now.


2. HALO  SleepSack Micro-fleece Swaddle 
The first few days home, Zac & I were double swaddling Ellis at night time with two receiving blankets.  They did this in the hospital when his temp dropped, and we always thought our house felt cold (even though we had it at 75 degrees!) so we were worried about him staying warm enough.  But then I read that you should keep your house between 68-72 degrees as to not let your baby overheat (SIDS risk), and you should not tightly swaddle your newborn to sleep at night.  We've now been using this sleep sack and it's been great.  After a night feeding, I'll put Ellis in this & he usually melts right to sleep.  I feel confident that he's plenty warn & safe inside this.


3. Newborn gowns / zipper sleepers with hand coverings
You've got enough going on during the first month and the last thing you need to fuss with are tricky snaps and buttons, and trying to keep baby from scratching his face with his hands.  The mittens they sell are JUNK.  They do not stay on.  So any sleeper or gown with the built in hand coverings and zippers are a MUST!  This seems like such a trivial thing, but trust me -- they will save you a headache.


4. Pampers Swaddlers - Newborn
Breastfeeding momma's are asked to record every feeding, poop & pee for the first week or so, and these diapers have a nice indicator on them so you know when baby has peed. *Along with this, the app Baby Tracker is my best friend!


5. Burp cloths
Have plenty of them so you're not constantly doing wash, although you will be anyways :)


6. Breast Pump
I don't care what kind, just have one.  I'm thankful I had this prior to Ellis' arrival.  I made more milk than Ellis needed per feeding, so I use my pump to "get relief".   Plus, I've been able to start a pretty good storage supply, thanks to the pump.


7. Diaper genie
We have this one, but there are a ton out there.  Basically, it's nice to have this within a foot of the changing table to house soiled diapers.


8. Changing pad
This gets used about 15 times a day :)


9. Fisher-Price Newborn Auto Rock n' Play Sleeper
This is super handy when you need to put baby down -- whether he's awake or taking a nap.  It's lightweight, portable, and Ellis really seems to enjoy it.


10. Freezer Meals
Make them ahead of time.  Or, family & friends, this is a GREAT gift to bring a new momma & daddy.  Mom is still healing; if she's breastfeeding that takes half her day (the other half consists of changing diapers), and both mom & dad are getting used to functioning on just a fraction of sleep.  However, everyone still needs to eat.  Having meals 98% already prepared was a lifesaver for us.



What would you add to this list?

Upping our coffee game

Isn't coffee all the rage right now?

I mean, tell me that you haven't seen someone post a selfie with their Starbucks cup...
Fashion bloggers are using coffee as an accessory in outfit posts...
Retailers are selling shirts with the words "but first, coffee" on them & they're selling like hot cakes...
Heck -- I'm guilty of posting a photo of a cup o' jo myself (here, here and here).

Here's the thing.  I like coffee.  A lot.  But I didn't always.
I think coffee is like beer... it's an acquired taste & the older you get, the more you like it.

My coffee loving journey started out as not drinking coffee at all.  It all started with hot chocolate.  Which then turned into sipping cappuccino.  Then I branched into latte's, mocha's, and all that fancy, sugary drink stuff with just a bit of coffee flavoring.  And then I started drinking regular coffee with flavored creamers... which then turned into drinking coffee with just a splash of 1/2 & 1/2... and now I prefer it black with nothing added at all.  Gimmie a nice bold roast, and I'm happy as a clam.

And what's my favorite blend, you ask?  Stumptown's Hair Bender (thanks Lance & Jacki for getting me hooked)!  But do you want to know what makes Hair Bender taste even better?  This pour-over.

I blame this "sorta" spur-of-the-moment purchase on Kelle Hampton & Zac's Birthday.  Kelle wrote this post about daily rituals and paying good attention to herself, and I happened to read it two days prior to Zac's Birthday.  I needed to get him a little something, and he loves coffee too, so by the end of the post, I had already purchased it. That Kelle Hampton... she's a marketing genius.

Quite frankly, this pour-over method is a little time consuming but soooo worth it.  And it kind of makes me feel fancy -- like a real coffee connoisseur -- even though I am far from it.

Cheer friends, to the simple pleasures in life... like good coffee!

Ellis: One Month Old

How has it been four weeks since we welcomed Baby Ellis into the world?
This last month has flown by, but it also feels like just yesterday that we were coming home from the hospital with our new little bundle of joy.

I'm not going to lie, this month has been tough.  Between adjusting to a whole new level of lack of sleep, recovering from a drug-free (read: PAINFUL) labor & delivery, breastfeeding & diapering around the clock, and dealing with a horribly itchy postpartum rash that made me want to die -- it hasn't been easy.

BUT!  We made it four weeks with our little Ellis man, and every day gets a little easier.  Plus, he is wonderfully healthy & happy (most days).

So far, he's a pretty laid back little dude, except if he's hungry or when he's getting his diaper changed.  We've already had a handful of "shooting pee" experiences -- which make us thankful we decided to wait on new carpeting :)  Every once in a while he'll have a bout with spitting up too; we're not sure if it's contributed to something I'm eating that upsets his little tummy or just normal baby reflux issues.

He's pretty sleepy most of the time, but is staying awake for longer periods of time in the morning & afternoon.  And, it seems like after the 2:00 or 3:00 AM feeding, he's WIDE awake -- of course.

We go to the doctor for his 1 month check-up on Tuesday, and I'm willing to bet he grew in length & is over 8 lbs, but we'll see!

Things I love about Ellis this month:

- How limp & lethargic he makes his entire body after he gets done nursing.
- The spot on the back of his head where his hair stands straight up.
- Being able to kiss his lovable cheeks any second I want.
- How anytime he gets startled or hears a loud noise, his arms go flying up in the air, but he never cries.
- The "oh" face he makes with his lips after he lets a good one rip.
- When I pick him up from his bassinet & he arches his back and sticks out his tiny little butt.
- How he usually calms down & melts when I put him on my chest, belly to belly.

We love & adore you little Ellis!


P.S. Happy Birthday to my momma today! We love you Grandma Sue!!