Exciting news – Riese went on her first hike this weekend!
The weather was absolutely lovely this weekend – in the low 60’s and sunny – so clearly we had to take advantage. It was so fun to introduce Riese to one of our favorite activities! 🙂 We met up with a few friends on Saturday early afternoon and everyone, Riese, included, enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine.
Riese definitely takes after her mom because she loves being outside and moving! She slept for most of the hike and only woke up towards the end, but was alert and interested vs. fussy. Yay!
We all wanted to keep hanging out and enjoying the weather but Riese needed to eat and we also needed somewhere dog friendly, so we invited the gang back to our place to enjoy some beers and cheese and crackers on the deck. I fed Riese right when we got back and then she was surprisingly content to just hang out and look at everyone – that’s definitely not always the case so we were grateful she was mellow enough for us all to enjoy the impromptu party. 🙂
Everyone headed out around 5:30, just in time for a quick shower before Matt’s parents arrived! It was great to see them again and for them to see Riese so much more alert and interactive. The last time they saw her she was only 1 week old! Crazy… time flies. We ordered Thai for dinner via Postmates – yum.
As for yesterday morning, we had a homemade brunch feast with Matt’s parents. Delicious!
Unfortunately the biscuits weren’t great – they were frozen ones – next time we will have to try homemade! Any good biscuit recipes to recommend?!
After brunch we all took a nice long walk since it was lovely out again.
Matt’s dad headed back home to Pittsburgh solo after our walk – Matt’s mom is staying this week to help with Riese because Matt went back to work today! We’re grateful to have her here so I can keep on top of my work responsibilities… lots of blog-related stuff to get done this week, and I’m also starting back up with my ongoing, long term AnneTheRD nutrition clients this week. (I won’t be taking on new clients for another month most likely… need to get into a routine first.)
We were also grateful that his mom hung out with Riese last night while we met friends for dinner and games! There’s a cool new bar/restaurant in Arlington called “The Board Room” – they have all sorts of fun board games to play while you eat/drink. Loved it! We started with Jenga (plus a glass of prosecco for me) while working on some shared appetizers. That pretzel with the mustard sauce was soooo good. It was like cheesy mustard!
For dinner, I was feeling something lighter so I got the kale quinoa salad with chicken. It was really good, but I was hoping it would be an actual salad with fresh crunchy greens – it was a warm salad with a TON of quinoa and a little cooked kale. Still good but not exactly what I was in the mood for. I have leftovers for lunch today, though, so I’m going to add some fresh greens to the mix – should be perfect! With dinner, we moved on to the game Pictionary – so fun.
Also, miracles do happen – when we left the house Riese had just fallen asleep in the Rock ‘n’ Play, but we figured it wouldn’t last long. Well, what do you know – when we got home she was still asleep! We were glad she was easy for her grandma… evenings tend to be her fussiest time! (Don’t worry, grandma was keeping an eye on the blankets and making sure they didn’t cover her face!)
Other food highlights from the weekend included some delicious avocado toast on Saturday morning (yep, still obsessed – don’t forget to check my Avocado Toast Recipes post for more ideas!):
Amazing homemade chili that our friend Koko brought over for lunch on Friday while meeting miss Riese:
And some yummy Lebanese delivery (via Postmates again) enjoyed at my parent’s place on Friday night.
I’ve got a lot on the agenda today so I better get back to it… going to be a busy week! In exciting news, though, we hired a nanny! She’s Bolivian which is fun so Riese can learn Spanish, and she has a really sweet grandma-esque vibe. We’re hoping she ends up being a good fit – her references were all glowing! We decided to go for full time so I’m not stressed about fitting everything in, and so I also have some time for self care during the week. Plus, all the really good and experienced nannies we were finding understandably wanted full time gigs. She starts next week and will be here from 8 to 4 every weekday. I’m nervous but excited!
One more funny thing – a couple of you shared with me that we have been counting Riese’s age wrong – whoops! We were definitely counting based on Fridays since she was born on a Friday, but, duh, that would mean she’d end up hitting 1 year before her actual 1 year birthday. So, she’s actually not quite 2 months yet – she will be on Wednesday, the 24th! Makes more sense that our 2 month pediatrician appointment is this week (vs. last week). Lol! Thanks for the heads up, guys! I blame sleep deprivation. 😉 As a thank you for helping us figure out how to count, I will leave you with this adorable dream smile photo. She’s hilarious to watch while she’s sleeping – so many expressions!
Have a great day!
