cincinnati trip - what to do and what not to do

we got back late last night from our trip to cincinnati. even though papa had to work we still had a great time and got to do some fun stuff. i've spent all morning doing laundry and trying to get the house back in order but i took a little break to upload some pictures and relive a few of the memories we made this weekend. so here is a list of things to do if you're ever in cincinnati and of course also a few things not to do ;) 

things to do in cincinnati:

• shop at kenwood towne center right outside of cincinnati - huge mall with stores like nordstrom's anthropologie, madewell, pottery barn, jcrew and the magical place called the disney store. didn't make it next door to crate&barrel and the container store :( maybe next time! 
• play in the water fountains down by the great american ballpark (unless your toddler is afraid of getting his face wet, then just chase after him and try to convince him that water really is pretty cool especially when it's 95 degrees) 
• cross the river into kentucky and have ice cream at the newport riverwalk. then pay $24 a person at the newport aquarium because it's the one thing to do that offers air conditioning. no really, that aquarium was actually worth the money! 
• order take out from rock bottom brewery at fountain square and have a hotel room picnic for dinner. their asiago artichoke & crab dip is to die for! 
• eat lunch at moerlein lager house down by the river. the short rib grilled cheese and smoked salmon salad were super yummy.
• check out glier's goetta fest and the longest yard sale if you happen to be there in late july.
• go to a baseball game and enjoy seeing your team win :) 

things not to do in cincinnati:

• stay at the westin and expect great service. probably one of the worst westin experiences i've had. no one offered to help me with my bags when i got there as well as when i was leaving, both times by myself with a toddler, stroller and several bags. room was ok, nothing special for a westin though. room was at the very end of the hall (normal if you travel with kids) and was quiet for the first night, then they put a group of college students next door... really? hotel is right across from fountain square where they have concerts every night during the summer so expect it to be loud every night up until around 11 pm. no crib in the room even though we had requested one in the reservation. took several calls to the front desk and about an hour for them to finally bring one up. 
• walk through a part of town called "over the rhine". we expected it to be like the artsy part of town with little shops and galleries. most shops where still closed at 11 am on a saturday and the area was run down and kind of scary. if you love the smell of stale pee - by all means go for it! 
• go to a baseball game with a 14 month old, in 90 degree heat, by yourself because your husband happens to be working at that exact game - holy stickyness! 
• eat breakfast at bruegger's which makes each of your family members spend prolonged times occupying the bathroom.

so there you have it! overall we had a great time and i'm sure we will be back next season. then hopefully it will be a little cooler so we can visit the zoo (heard great things) and a few more of the museums. 

life lately, just pouring my heart out

life lately has been pretty good. it really took me a while to settle back in here at home after being in Germany for 6 weeks but things are finally starting to go back to normal. after being gone for so long i inevitably start comparing and complaining about how things are here at home. a lot. 

in the end i remind myself that both places have their good and bad sides and that no matter where i live i'd miss something. 

so i guess what i am trying to say is that we are back to our regular routine and enjoying the rest of our summer. j is back to work and traveling a lot. logan is in love with our dogs and walking. we are now in the "walking while carrying the most possible amount of toys" phase. food and sleep are still his biggest passions which is totally fine with me. who doesn't have a thing for food and sleep? 

kisses are still far and few in between (from the little guy that is). dada is his favorite word, he laughs in my face when i ask him to say mama. every day i am in awe of this little person, his smarts and personality.

i've been cooking a lot and getting my creative juices flowing. i started doing pilates again and it feels amazing. most days i feel balanced but then i put pressure on myself to do more. the dogs crave attention but i can't give them much and it makes me feel horrible. i have a constant fear to disappoint, that i should be making money and providing for this family in some way. 

i'm sure i'm not the only mom asking herself these questions and wondering if what we do is ever enough? putting careers on hold to raise kids, moving to new places and leaving everything behind, dreaming and wondering if those dreams will ever become a reality. 

for me it's always been one giant leap of faith, just going with my gut feeling and hoping that things will turn out ok. i don't know when i became such a worry wart? 

ok, wow don't really know where all of that came from! i really just wanted to write a little update on what we've been up to lately... 

on a more cheerful note, we'll be meeting j on his current road trip in cincinnati this weekend and we can't wait to explore the city while we're there. last time i went on a cincinnati road trip logan was just a tiny little poppy seed. any of you from the cincinnati are and have any recommendations for what to do and where to eat? 

oh babe i hate to go!

pictures from our trip to the stuttgart wilhelma zoo and botanical gardens last week.

i can't even think straight right now with all the packing that's going on here. 

i'm very sad to leave my family and friends again after 6 fun filled weeks but inevitably that day always comes. so there really isn't much more to say than my heart is heavy but also filled with love and so many great memories to take with me. 

the best would probably have to be logan learning how to walk and then of course the way he adoringly squeals at his grandparents and uncles when he sees them. it's hard to put into words how these last weeks have made me feel. i am so grateful we got to be here because in the end spending as much time as possible with the ones you love is really all that matters. 

i want my children to know and love their grandparents no matter how far away they are and i want them to see as much of the world as we can manage to show them. i am excited to see what the next trip will bring... 

tomorrow, while we're crossing the atlantic up above the clouds somewhere, i will try to focus on all the great things that await us at home. i miss the dogs, my in-laws, my bed!!, the quietness of living on an acre of land and the smell of freshly cut grass (because someone is always moving) and as much as i loooove german food, i am ready for a good burger and fries. 

i won't dwell on all the things i am once again leaving behind because these things just can't be changed. the choices we make in life that are hard are the ones that give us courage to grow and shape us into who we are. my heart will always be in two places, sometimes more in one and less in the other and not always content but always grateful. 

so as this blog will now go back to its old (and probably much less exciting) self i hope you enjoyed this little glimpse at where i come from and i hope you'll stick around. i also hope you'll forgive me for not getting back to you on all of your emails and comments. i truly appreciate all the time you spend commenting and would love to answer the all questions you have. just know that time isn't always on my side but i do my best :) 

haircut

i got a haircut and color today and as much as i had wished that after showing these pictures I would leave the salon looking like this: 

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the color ended up a little more like this (minus the sultry hotness that is megan fox of course) and even though it admittedly looks and feels a ton healthier now, i lost well over an inch of precious length. 

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so while i mourn that extra inch and wash my hair twice a day now until i achieve a more subtle look you'll get to enjoy this handsome young man ;) happy thursday! 

stripes and cheeks and sunshine my friends

on a gloomy, rainy day like today i like to think back to this amazing weekend when it was hot and sunny and we spent the afternoon in the pool. 

logan stayed in the water for an hour and a half which is absolutely unprecedented and unexpected. the usual process includes me spending half an hour to get him all ready, lathering on the sunscreen etc... and then he decides that instead of staying in the water he'd rather explore the patio. 

so believe me i was excited i got to spend so much time drooling over those baby cheeks in those striped little pants and listening to him laugh while trying to steal my hat and sunglasses. plus i got to work on my non-existing tan, ha! 

diy: a first birthday party

so i am fully aware that nobody except for me wants to see this many pictures of my child but it was his first birthday and he is the cutest so you'll just have to deal with it :)

we had a great party on memorial day weekend with a ton of cake and a pancake breakfast. he loved it all: the people, the presents, the food. we were so happy most of our friends and family could share this special day with us. logan only had one mini meltdown when one of his little friends started crying and it scared him into a hysterical cry as well. it was actually a little bit funny for us parents to watch.

my mom and i made a banana shaped cake, cinnamon cupcakes, a chocolate coconut loaf, an apple cinnamon loaf and my all time favorite: my godmother's recipe for carrot cake. we also had fruit salad, strawberry and pineapple skewers, a vegetable pizza courtesy of the MIL, iced tea with mint from the garden and freshly squeezed lemonade.

i never got a chance to take pictures of the decorations and food set up before people came so this is all i have. i used streamers and balloons indoors and out on the porch. i made logan his shirt with the appliqued number one on it and he actually kept it quite clean all day long. the birthday invites are my own design as well and will be available in my shop as a diy printable/download later this summer.

so that was his party. low key, all diy, not a crazy amount of people - just right.

i still can't believe my baby is now a toddler.

happy first birthday little man! mama and papa love you so much.

the perfect end to a perfect day

This story has a long introduction but the mushy ending is coming, I promise!

Last Wednesday was one of those days you remember for years to come, one of those days you make great memories. We spent the day as a family, just the three of us, no stress and no obligations, away from all the things that needed done back at home. Jason has been working so hard lately and between all the road trips, different time zones and busy home stands we barely get to spend any time together. So when the first off day in 3 weeks finally rolled around we had great plans to go see the baseball game (how ironic!), stroll through the city, stop wherever looked good, eat great food and finally, instead of driving home, to just spend the night at a downtown hotel.

We made it through 8 innings of the game no problem but then the missed nap time really started to show its evil face. So we made our way to the hotel, a brand new stuffed animal parrot in hand and took a little break before heading back out into the city. We strolled around, bought groceries, stopped for coffee and tea with a sleeping toddler in the stroller and soaked in lots of sunshine along the way. On the way back we had dinner at Atrias and sat outside right by the river while the sun slowly started to set. By the time we got back to the hotel with our full bellies and aching feet it was just past bedtime for the little man. Bath time in the hotel tub turned out to be more of an adventure than in our boring old tub at home and soon our dirty little guy tuned back into that clean, deliciously smelling babe.
Hopeful for a quite night we lowered our usually perfect sleeper down into the hotel crib but quickly realized that he wasn't having any of it. Different bed, new smells and alone in a strange place - not the perfect combination for a quiet night.

After taking the "he probably just needs to cry for 10 minutes then he'll be asleep" route for a while and the hubby trying to rock him to sleep for 15 minutes, I ended up on the hotel couch, with a tired babe on my chest. As we laid there and I was watching him fight so hard to keep those big blue eyes open, staring intently at his mama and making sure she didn't decide to leave I realized how much I had missed these moments over the last months. Oh the warmth that ran through my entire body just holding him like I used to after he was first born and what now feels like a million years ago.

When he finally gave in to sleep and closed his eyes I watched him relax every muscle in his tiny body and even though I could have easily put him down into the crib at that point, I stayed exactly where I was, just holding him for a little while longer, while he actually let me. I started thinking about the past year and remembered the anticipation we felt at that same time just a year ago, how blessed we are to have him in our lives. Sure, times were tough once in a while but through it all we have grown closer as a family and received so much love from such a small person.

When I eventually put him down to sleep and closed that awful squealing door behind me it was late and the hubby and I hadn't gotten to have that quiet evening to ourselves. It really didn't matter though because for me it was still the perfect ending to a perfect day in every way imaginable.