A Little Mini Getaway

Sometimes this busy mama just needs a little getaway to refresh. So, when some of our best friends invited us to LA to see one of our favorite bands, Johnnyswim, play — we happily turned it into a little mini getaway. A family friend stayed with the girls and we booked an airbnb for the night and got to enjoy a fun night out! It’s amazing how much a little trip can help you recharge, even one that’s less than 24 hours! I always miss my babies, but it’s so good for us to get away and have time together to just be young & in love ;)

We took our friends to Eveleigh for dinner (yes the restaurant that inspired our daughter’s name!)... then we headed to The Fonda for the show. And the best part is that we didn’t even know that the opener was another one of Ryan’s (and now mine) favorite bands – Penny And Sparrow. Both bands were incredible live, and I just love seeing these musicians in their element making such incredible music. Seeing people live in their sweet spot as artists is always so inspiring and helps get my own creative juices flowing! Just so good.

The next morning we slept in until 10 a.m. (can I get an AMEN?!) and then hit up The Assembly in West Hollywood for coffee. Their pour over brew was amazing. I don’t usually drink black coffee but it was so good even by itself.

One grateful mama right here. I know a lot of moms who don’t get the chance to sneak away like this for one reason or another, and I am just so grateful that we get to every now and then! Cheers to little adventures and friends and fun and late night hangs! <3

[Slept in until 10 and then got to wake up to a quiet house and the chance to read & drink coffee in peace. It’s the little things ;)]

Cora Beth is 8 Months!

Today, our sweet little Baby Cora Beth is 8 months old! This year is flying by – seriously – even faster this time around. Things have been so crazy busy around here but I am trying to savor every second with Cora, because I know that I will blink and she will be ONE. It’s hard to cuddle these days, as she is a baby on the move, but I soak up those pre-bed snuggles every night and hope they never go away.

She is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything, and is super proud when she does. Seriously, this girl is so strong. She could army crawl before she could even sit up by herself! It amazes me. Evie was just beginning to crawl around 8 months so I am shocked at how early Cora started. She is so fast too! She’s sleeping great for the most part, but would rather play than nap. She has two bottom teeth now and loves to try new solid food. And her most favorite thing of all is hanging out with her big sister. When Evie walks in the room Cora only has eyes for her, and wants to be near her all the time. It is seriously so sweet. I love watching their bond form as sisters.

Love this sugary little peanut and I love seeing more & more of her fierce little personality. So grateful to be her mama!

Mornings with Eveleigh

This week has been one of those weeks where I can’t seem to get anything done, and that always seems to happen on the weeks I have the most to do. So I’ve been staying up late working the last few nights… which is exhausting, but it allows me to be present with the girls during the day instead of stressing to squeeze in my work.

Evie and I love to sit in her room and read & play with her blocks while Cora takes her morning nap.  It’s so nice to soak up some one-on-one time with her. She’s been slightly… umm… moody this last week… (haha!) But she lights up when we’re together and I love having some time to be focused on just her.

I still can’t believe my little baby is now such a big girl! Growing leaps & bounds every month and so so smart. Love our little conversations and our pre-bedtime snuggles! She is all girl and

so sweet (most of the time ;)).

(^I highly recommend Dr. Seuss’s “ABC Book”! It’s really helped show Eveleigh uppercase vs lowercase letters. Through her books, blocks, and alphabet puzzle she has learned all her letters and their sounds pretty quickly!)

Cora's Birth Story

[^This picture is one of my favorites. That beautiful first moment of skin to skin… She’s content & warm on mommy’s chest, those chubby, squishy cheeks all pressed up into me. Ok and now I’m crying just thinking about it.]

It’s hard to believe my sweet Cora Beth turns 7 months in a few days. It has been so amazing and challenging and beautiful and humbling all at the same time. Moments so sweet I thought my heart might explode. Moments so hard I was brought to my knees in tears. But I am truly just so grateful for this beautiful baby angel; her sweet smiles bring light & joy to all my days. And so, I thought it was about time to sit & write out her birth story, as I did for Eveleigh.

As some of you may know from Eveleigh’s birth story, my plans for an all natural birth failed and I ended up having to have a c-section. When we got pregnant again, I was torn on whether or not to have a vbac (vaginal birth after c-section). My pregnancies were pretty close together and so there are some more risks involved, but I decided to try for the vbac. But mostly I was ok with either a vaginal birth or a c-section but I definitely didn’t want to endure both like I did before. That was a lot to go through and to recover from. So what was most important to me was not having a failed vbac that would end in an emergency c-section.

After praying about it all I decided to plan for the vbac, but set a date (about 1 week past my due date) at which point if the baby didn’t come we would have the c-section. I prayed that if the vbac would fail or if uterine rupture was possible, that I wouldn’t go into labor and that she would come via the scheduled c-section.

Leading up to my due date, I actually really started to believe that we would have the vbac. And I actually felt like she might come early. She dropped really low and I felt a lot of cramping, and thought for sure labor was near. But at each check up… 37 weeks…38 weeks…39 weeks…40 weeks… I wasn’t dilated at all. But I still remained hopeful. I walked miles on end every day. I did the stairs. Curb walking. Mexican food. Bouncy ball. You name it. And then I’d go into my weekly appointment only to be disappointed that there were no changes. The hardest part is thinking every single day “oh today might be the day!” or “hmm is this the beginning of labor?” and being let down.

I remember at my 40 week appointment my doctor told me that I wasn’t dilated at all. That I was completely closed up and that she thought Cora would most likely come via c-section. I immediately started to cry right there in her office and just didn’t understand. I tried so hard to trust that this was just God’s answer to my prayer… but it was so hard. I felt so defeated. I realized how much I really did wish to have a successful vbac. And mostly, the complete loss of control over the situation was agonizing.

The following week I still held on to any tiny shred of hope left that I might go into labor… But mostly I tried to just take my mind off of it. I soaked up time with Ryan & Eveleigh, and scheduled fun outings & photoshoots to fill my time. As the days passed and the date of the surgery grew near, anxiety started to creep in. But I did my best to be in prayer and focus on holding my sweet little girl.

The morning of February 10th, 2016 we headed to the hospital excited to meet our Baby Cora. They prepped me for surgery, but it got pushed back because they ended up having an emergency c-section right before mine. Typical that we would finally get there, ready & full of anticipation, only to be further delayed. But we made the most of it, being silly & laughing together, and making bets on how much she would weigh.

Then it was time. They wheeled me to the operating room and so many memories came flooding back of when Eveleigh was born. I was afraid of having a panic attack like I did with Evie, but I focused on my breathing and relied on the strength of the Spirit to get me through. Ryan was not allowed in the operating room at this time. I so longed for him there beside me. I don’t do well with pain meds and as soon as the spinal block was administered my blood pressure dropped and I felt like I couldn’t breathe and was going to pass out. Fortunately, it only lasted a minute and then they gave me medicine to help and it passed… But it all made my stomach very upset and I ended up throwing up right there on the operating table. By then I was crying out for my husband… I felt so weak and just wanted it to all be over. As I lost feeling in my legs I started getting that claustrophobic feeling and was just crying by that point. Ryan finally came into the room and I was so relieved to have him there. I remember crying to him “this is just not how I imagined bringing my babies into the world.”

But soon enough, it was over. And I heard the magical sound of her first cry. They lowered the curtain enough for me to peek over and I got to see her tiny little body, and so much love welled up inside of me. And in that moment I remembered why I go through what I go through, and how worth it it is.

We were wheeled off to the recovery room, and I got to do skin to skin and nurse her for the first time. It all felt so familiar but also like such a new experience. She was so beautiful and tiny and so very precious. It’s funny how you forget how little they are when they first come out. And it made Evie seem so huge.

Later, Eveleigh got to come meet her and my heart was just complete mush. It’s amazing how you can be in so much pain but also be filled with so much joy.

And that’s how our little family became a party of four.

So very blessed. So very grateful.

With love,

Monika

[^I love the way this photo communicates what words sometimes can’t.]

[And here she is. Inside of me one minute, and a new life in this world the next. It’s just… such a miracle. No matter how you birth your children… it truly is such an extraordinary thing.]

[7 lbs, 12 oz. of pure squishy goodness. Only one ounce more than Evie was.]

Weekly Paleo Friendly Meal Prep

breakfastcasserole

So I wanted to share  few simple things that I prep throughout the week to make eating healthy easier. It’s nothing too revolutionary, but having a paleo breakfast casserole ready for the mornings & having my chicken & veggies prepped for salad is so helpful. Being a busy momma of two if I don’t plan ahead it’s so hard to make good choices.

I try to prep on Mondays, either during naps or just doing it as I make dinner (while Ryan helps with the girls, or they play in the kitchen while I cook). The prep routine in the video takes under an hour (and most of that time the food is just cooking in the oven), and yields me breakfast for the week & the ingredients I need to throw together a yummy salad for lunch – PLUS a light little bonus dinner of turkey stuffed sweet potatoes. It’s all simple, paleo/whole30, and economical.

This is the first video we’ve shot for the blog, but it was really fun and I’m hoping to do it more often! The only bad part is it’s hard to hide what a secret nerd I am when I shoot these ;)

Let me know if you have any questions!

With love,

Monika

chickensalad

[For my salads I like to keep roasted chicken on hand. I like to roast it because I can just pop it into the oven and tend to the girls or get some work done while it cooks. We really enjoy boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you can also use breasts. I just toss them with a little drizzle of ghee, and add freshly ground salt & pepper, and little paprika. Cook for about 20 minutes at 400 or until fully cooked. Then slice & store in fridge to add to salads. The salad above is mixed greens topped sliced chicken, a hardboiled egg, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, and chopped bell peppers. Yummy & filling, and comes together in about 5 minutes when you have it all prepped.]

turkeystuffedpotatoes

[This is a light & simple turkey stuffed sweet potato dinner that I make after I prep my casserole. Simply wash your potatoes and poke several times with a knife, and cook at 400 for about an hour or more (depending on the size of the potatoes, I usually use big ones for this). Then top with a spoonful of the ground turkey & veggie mixture and serve with either a salad or maybe some roasted vegetables.]

Ingredients

• 1.25-1.5 lb Lean Ground Turkey 

• About 1/2 cup Chopped Onion

• 2 Chopped Bell Peppers

• 2 tsp Minced Garlic

• 1 tablespoon Ghee or butter

• 8 Eggs

• 1 Cup Coconut milk (or sub regular milk or almond milk) 

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp onion powder

• Sea Salt & Ground Pepper

• 1-2 Handfuls Arugula

• Optional: Top with sliced avocado & cilantro

Paleo Breakfast Casserole

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Optional: After chopping veggies you can reserve some of the bell peppers for salad or other dish

3. Heat ghee over medium high heat and add peppers & onion. Add generous amount of salt & pepper. Saute until starting to brown & caramelize.

4. Add ground turkey and minced garlic and brown.

5. While meat is browning whisk your eggs and add the coconut milk, salt & pepper, and the garlic & onion powder to the egg mixture and whisk together. 

6. When the meat has browned turn off heat and add your arugula and let it wilt for a minute. 

7. Then spoon the meat & veggie mixture evenly into the bottom of a casserole dish (whatever size you want but it may adjust the cooking time). Note: I set aside about two spoonfuls of the turkey mixture aside to make turkey stuffed sweet potatoes one night for dinner. 

8. Pour eggs evenly over the meat.

9. Cook for approx. 45 minutes or until eggs are set & edges start to brown.

10. Cut into squares and garnish with avocado & cilantro, if desired.

11. [Note: I cover mine with tinfoil and store in the fridge so I can have a piece each morning with a cup of coffee for a quick, easy, and healthy breakfast.]