Hey all! It is a gorgeous Saturday morning here (although who knows what it will be when I actually get around to publishing this!). Anyway, this weather made me want to get out of bed extra early to get things done- starting with this post 🙂 This is another big ol’ recap post.

March 15th Mr. Moose and I went on a walk on one of my days off. It was a beautiful day, so we were able to roll down the window so he could stick his head out.

March 16th I went for my first run outside! My runs are much slower than usual these days, I did 3 miles in about 32 minutes, but it felt glorious getting cardio outdoors.

March 18th I had an OB appt. at 3:30 pm. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and getting ready for my mom & sis to come spend the weekend with us!

I also stopped by The West Side Bakery to pick up some birthday treats for my mom since her birthday was the following week & we had plans to celebrate early that Saturday.

DJ stopped by CoreLife to pick us up some dinner. It’s pretty much become tradition to get CoreLife after OB appts, unless baby vetoes it with another craving.

Moose had a little food coma after his dinner.

My mom arrived later that evening. As she unpacked, we just caught up and chit-chatted until it was time to hit the hay.

The morning of March 19th was a very special morning! My sister-in-law, Renee, got engaged! Family all arrived to a park that had special meaning to the couple right on Lake Erie. We all gathered around to witness the memorable moment. I’m convinced it was one of the most beautiful, heartfelt, thoughtful proposals ever. There was not a dry eye!

We could not be happier for them!

That afternoon my mom and I read books on the couch with Moose snuggled up between us. I continued to read through Newborn 101– which when all was said and done, I had about 18 pages of notes I took on the book in a Word document, lol.

My sister, Halston, arrived that afternoon (woohoo! I hadn’t seen her in far too long). For my mom’s bday celebration, we debated going out to eat or staying in, and the resounding agreement was ordering in sounded best. We ordered Aladdin’s, one of my mom’s favorite restaurants in town (& to be fair, we all love it), for her birthday.

My mom introduced me to their Mujadara Plate with lentils and brown rice topped with lebanese salata and fried onions- this is easily my new favorite menu item!! Also if you ever order Aladdin’s, you must get extra sides of their hot sauce. It is some of our favorite hot sauce and goes so well on all the food.

After dinner, I pulled out the desserts I had picked up from West Side Bakery. My mom has been eating mostly plant-based lately, so I opted for some delicious vegan treats (the tiramisu was the winner!), along with a regular cheesecake.

And serendipitously, Rachel’s mom, who bakes the best carrot cake in the world, stopped by that afternoon and surprised us with one!! This is Halston’s favorite too- and I wish I could have recorded her reaction when I told her we had the famous carrot cake in our house when she arrived a couple hours later. We made a good dent in this that evening!Delicious as ever. Oh great, now I have a craving for it again, hah!

Time to celebrate this one!! Easy to do 🙂

With our dessert, my mom opened gifts and then we played the game Chameleon- it’s a fun one! It’s funny because as a kid/growing up I really did not enjoy organized games like this, but as an adult I just love ’em.

The morning of March 20th, I put out a spread of toppings for a big-batch of a steel cut oatmeal recipe I had made for the weekend. We all added our toppings and then topped it off with honey or maple syrup- so yummy and nutritious! I ate this through the rest of the week.

That afternoon was the shower!

On the evening of March 21st, we picked up CoreLife again so my mom could experience it this time.

March 22nd, my mom’s flight out of Cleveland was cancelled. Selfishly, we were not upset one bit because it meant more time together. I spent the day writing Thank Yous and getting other things done around the house while my mom worked from our house. We dropped Moose off at Marie’s that day. He was one happy boy because his best friend, Oliver, was there.

Marie always tells us how inseparable they are and that Moose will even cry once Oliver gets picked up 🥺. They have the best time together. She sent me this in the morning, and it cracked us up.

He is one happy boy when he gets to play with his friends! She sent us this sweet picture of him too.That evening, my mom spoiled us with an awesome dinner of ribs, corn and homemade mac n’ cheese made in the Instapot. I have got to learn to use the Instapot because this was so stinking good.

This is probably a totally individualized preference, but I think a little green onion in mac n’ cheese is a game changer! SO good. Also I LOVE ribs. Who knew.

March 23rd, I expected to be called into work, but surprisingly didn’t- so I spent the day putting away gifts and organizing the nursery. I have to share this adorable gift from my sister-in-law, Maura, and niece, Kate, that I think is so beyond creative & generous! They gifted an outfit for each holiday along with a book for that season along with a sports specific one with an Orioles onesie (DJ’s favorite baseball team). How fun is this?!? Even the months match up with when she will be able to fit into everything. Genius.

Somehow the weekend snuck back up on us, and after work on Friday March 25th, we had our friends from college, Catherine and Devin, over for the weekend with their adorable two year old son, Levi.

They arrived around dinner time on Friday. Since I was at work all day, I didn’t have time to whip up anything up, but we door dashed some Burntwood Tavern– always a solid option.

For dessert, I made some chocolate chip cookies we all munched on while we caught up late into the evening. The four of us hadn’t been all together since 2015!! And it was soooo good to finally meet Levi!

The next day, we got breakfast from one of our favorite diners, Garretts Mill, and then headed out to the RainForest at Cleveland Zoo.

It was a very snowy day, so stayed in the warm RainForest and didn’t venture into the actual zoo. The RainForest was a great call by DJ who suggested we go- we will definitely be bringing our girl here in the future!

Levi LOVES monkeys- so when we got around to the monkey and gorillas exhibit, he was particularly enamored.

My heart just melted watching these three!

That evening we went to my MIL and Gordie’s who graciously hosted us all for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious dinner from Tre Belle. Ender, our nephew, was there too- and he’s around the same age as Levi, so it was adorable watching the two of them parallel play. After dinner, the kids (including Moose) were fascinated by the deer out the window.

For breakfast on March 27th, I pulled out whatever we had in the cupboard for breakfast and made some Kodiak cakes.

We had an easy going morning, watching Sing 2, and then before they left we said we stopped to get Cane’s for lunch. They had never had it, and we wanted to make sure they experienced its goodness!

We said our goodbyes from Cane’s and promised we wouldn’t let nearly as much time pass again before we all get together. It helps we live on the same side of the country now!

On March 28th, we woke up to this. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. Remember in mid/late February that I thought spring was well on its way? Ha-ha.

On a bright note, that day I did baby girl’s first loads of laundry! The washing and hanging up process took nearly the whole evening, but it was so worth it when it was all finished up 🤗. We won’t have to buy anything for baby girl for a long time!!

This is so random, but the next day while driving I saw this sign and just thought to myself McDonald’s is trying to pull a Jesus. Gave myself a little chuckle.

DJ returned home that evening with the first piece of clothing he picked out himself for our girl <3. I had to document.

On March 31st, I had a breastfeeding course for three hours in the evening. I was in my peak third-trimester exhaustion at this point, and accidentally fell asleep during the class- whoops! I joke that Moose took notes for me.

And this is getting awfully long, so I’ll wrap it up here as we move into April 💐.

Thanks for reading and tolerating my rambles!

Questions for you! 

• Does your pet have a “best friend” (besides you, of course 😉).
• Now that I’m very into chicken fingers as a main pregnancy craving- who do you think has the best chicken fingers?!

<3,

Mackenzie