Goood morning!!! How are you all doing? I am currently sitting in the parking lot at work with a couple extra mins to spare before clocking in. I realized quite a bit has happened over the last couple weeks. I’m looking forward to reliving it all through this little blog capsule ☺️.

March 8th I traded out my usual bowl of oatmeal for a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal with blueberries and blackberries. Sometimes ya just want a good ol’ bowl of cereal!

Quinn has started crawling around with toys in her mouth like Moose. When I picked her up from daycare one day the teacher said, “She’s over there being a puppy” as I see Quinn scurrying about with a toy dangling from her mouth. 😂

She also briefly went through a phase that week where she refused to use a spoon. I considered it could double as a sensory activity as I allowed her to eat a bowl of oatmeal directly off the tray?! 😄 Thankfully she’s using spoons again, but that sure was a messy little phase!

That day I remember being a little rough. Quinn was still in her fussy phase (going through a leap, so it was to be expected), but I needed to get us out of the house STAT, usually the sure-fire way to lift both our spirits. We had a couple groceries on the list, so I used that as the excuse to go to Giant Eagle Market District. This is a fun grocery store that has all the groceries you can want along with delicious freshly made meals for purchase and a great sushi station!

“No photos pls”.

This tomato jerky caught my attention! It’s basically sun-dried tomatoes re-marketed as tomato “jerky”, but I love sun-dried tomatoes, so I very much enjoyed them!

I was feeling good having us out and about, but then things took a quick turn after I loaded the groceries in the car. As I was pulling out of my parking spot I heard a “clunk” and realized part of my bumper had fallen off (this is a couple days after the spare tire fell off the car in front of me, bounced and hit my bumper). When my car was initially hit, I thought the damage was minimal since I was able to pop the bumper back in, but as I saw majority of my bumper hanging off the car in the grocery store parking lot I realized that was not the case. I very slowly and cautiously had to drive the car home. All of a sudden anxiety took over manifesting in an actual anxiety attack which has not happened in a very long time. It seemed somewhat out of the blue since I haven’t dealt with much anxiety at all lately, but I do think my body is going through big hormonal shifts with Quinn eating so many solids/drinking a bit less milk. Curious if any other moms noticed a hormonal swing around 10 months?

As soon as we made it home, I felt relieved. And both Quinn and I were in good moods after our time out of the house. We just played at her different play stations around the home. Even with Leap 7 being the booger that it was, this is still my favorite age yet! I have so much fun with my girl. Each day is a joy, seeing her grow and her personality flourish. We had a giggle fit together the other day, and it is one of the best memories of mine of all time!

That evening, I wasn’t in the mood to mess with dinner, so I thanked my past self for picking up a chicken at the Eagle. I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans to keep things easy. I really think rotisserie chicken doesn’t get the hype it deserves!

The next day we FaceTimed my Grandma and Grandpa in Traverse City right before Quinn’s nap while my mom was there visiting them! ❤️

• 

• 

I prepped for work that day. I give major major props to moms that work full time because it’s a LOT of prep. I make sure all pump parts are washed, packed and the pumps are charged. I then pack my lunch, DJ’s lunch and Quinn’s lunch. I also make sure scrubs are washed, and all bottles are labeled and ready for daycare. I don’t mind the prep, but I sometimes think about how much time work occupies when I’m not actually at work! It’ll be much simpler when I don’t have to pump or make bottles here soon. It’s been such a privilege to pump though, and I may miss it – I actually love my long lunch pump break. (I use the Willow for the other pump sessions, so I can continue working).

I try to double meals when making lunches. So I’ll make whatever I’m packing for lunch for dinner too. For Quinn, I made tempeh (she loves), green beans, kiwi and pinto beans. One tray for daycare and one for dinner!

For my lunch, I made a salad with tons of veggies, tempeh, hummus, baba ganoush and a balsamic/fattoush dressing on the side. For extra protein I packed a Good! brand protein bar and a parfait of oat based yogurt with two scoops of collagen powder and two scoops of chocolate PB2 (it makes it chocolatey & delishhh). For a salty snack, I packed sea salt Popcorners with a slice of smoked Gouda vegan cheese. And a couple squares of Hu dark chocolate to satisfy the afternoon sweet tooth!

Quinn is definitely finding interest with random objects around the house. She is particularly loving pots, pans and measuring cups. She won’t sit in her exersaucer anymore while I make breakfast, so I just plop her on the ground in the kitchen and hope she will find the pans sufficient entertainment, ha. Otherwise, I’ll give her a teether cracker or half a banana while I eat and prepare her breakfast.

March 11th I finally got around to Quinnie Q’s 10 month photo. We’ve long nixed trying to get her to lay flat in the crib for a cohesive pic with the earlier monthly photos; this girl is just too “busy” as her daycare teachers describe her, ha!

I have two big boxes of clothes she’s grown out of in her room, and sometimes Quinn passes the time by taking them out and throwing them on the floor, because why not?! 😄

That weekend was particularly chilly. Our March has been colder than February I’m pretty sure! We didn’t get in our family walk that weekend due to this, but we did spend some quality time with our family that evening at “The Farm”, Gigi and Gordie’s home 😊.

Me and my girl. 🥰

For dinner, Gordie grilled us up the last two steaks from the best-steak-I’ve-ever-had Snake River Farms gift for DJs bday! We also had JA’s salad, roasted asparagus and a baked potato. Hard to beat this combo!

For dessert, Gigi made a vegan pumpkin pie!!! You guys!!! I could have cried I was so excited to be able to eat some pumpkin pie again, and it was soo good!!! Of course, nothing tops Gigi’s own pumpkin pie, but this gave me my fix for sure!

On Sunday, we went to visit Mimi, our grandmother on DJ’s side and Quinn’s great-grandma 🥰. She had this ducky and balls of yarn for Quinn to play with- she was preoccupied for a long time with these!

Mimi has a lot of beautiful birds that come by to snack on her feeders. Quinn enjoyed watching them out the window. We saw a cardinal and woodpecker while there and identified some other unique birds too.

For dinner, I made Quinn mushrooms, zucchini and some beans.

The rest of the day was work prep!

At work on March 13th, a coworker suggested I take a warmed blanket to the pump room since I’m always chilly pumping. I took their advice, and it was the best decision! Perks of working in the hospital I suppose!

For dinner that evening, I kept it easy with leftovers of the steak, JA salad and Alexia sweet potato fries (I have been obsessed with these fries lately).

March 14th, I went to get my teeth cleaned. The dentist’s dog was there to greet guests, and she is the sweetest thing ❤️.

My dentist recommended upgrading my toothbrush to the Oral B power sensor electric toothbrush, and oh my goodness- it’s amazing!!!! Definitely worth the investment. I’m a little harsh on my gums when I brush, and this has a power sensor to let me know when I’m brushing too aggressively. It also has a bunch of other features, and it feels like I have a professional teeth cleaning every time I use it. I love this thing. The things us people nearing 30 get excited about 😂.

For lunch, I made Quinn a little meal of edamame, Japanese sweet potato and Brussels sprouts.

We then went to the store to ride around in the cart and try to knock things off the shelves 🤪.

Quinn loves to play in her nursery, so we spent a good portion of the afternoon up there. It’s also where I like to fold clothes since the dryer is right across the hall from her room. She gets a real kick out of me dramatically throwing all the clothes in her room out of the dryer prior to folding.

I also ordered an edible finger painting kit for Quinn that we whipped out that afternoon! I just sprawled out the blank side of wrapping paper on our kitchen floor and let her go to town with it. It didn’t hold her attention for long but was still fun, and we have a lot more to still use in the future!

For dinner that evening, I made some salmon to go over greens with the JA salad and some fattoush dressing.

March 15th I took us to Nervous Dog to start the morning!

I decided to change things up and get a matcha latte that morning! I don’t know why I forget this is on the menu. It’s so delicious.

Quinn really enjoys flipping through this sign language book. I think it’s because there are other babies in it, she loves any photos or books with other babies.

That afternoon Gigi came by to hang out with us! She captured this sweet pic of Quinnie 🥰.

Quinn is also starting to stand unassisted for a few seconds! It’s so exciting, and it’s just adorable how proud of herself she is whenever she does it.

For dinner that night we had Jovial pasta and roasted eggplant. For Quinn’s pasta, I just used unsalted tomato sauce mixed with Italian seasoning. I like to sneak in greens sometimes in the pasta sauce too.

March 16th I had my usual breakfast of oats, berries and PB.

For lunch, I introduced Quinn to peppers and added some shredded chicken, leftover eggplant and grapes. We are so close to 100 foods for her, I’m debating what her 100th should be! She hasn’t had corn on the cob yet, so maybe that would be fun?! We’re saving actual sweets for her smash cake on her bday.

A little walk with my love bug!

March 17th brings us to St. Paddy’s day! We still have outfits ready to go for every holiday from the shower last year!

These smiles! She now has 8 teeth. She always tries to grab my toothbrush out of my hand, so I got her her own little electric toothbrush. She loves this thing!

March 18th I started the day by making Quinn eggs, avocado, grapes, mandarin orange and toast. She did not eat one bite 🙃. But she did eat half a banana. Her fave.

After her first nap, we went to the mall to meet with the rest of our family for Easter Bunny photos!

She was fascinated by the Easter bunny, but a bit more unsure when I handed her over. They still captured this sweet photo before the whimpering began!

After the cousins met Mr. Bunny, we went to the nearby play area in the mall. I wish this mall was closer because Quinn had a ball! It’s fun seeing her with other kids like this too- we get glimpses at daycare, but this was a treat! This girl is a social butterfly.

Continuing to work on standing unassisted! Small but mighty.

Chillin’ with Gigi!

Amy was in town, and Quinn could not have been more thrilled. Now we just need to convince Aunt Amy to move back!!!

After the mall, we went to CoreLife to grab some lunch to go. I tried one of their menu items instead of the usual build your own bowl: the tofu sriracha ginger salad. I feel like I could eat this every day! It was soo good. I never think to put fresh ginger in my salads, but it’s a great addition! Oh and I forgot how good sriracha is. I need to restock at home.

That evening we went to The Farm for a cookout with the fam! Love this pic of Quinn with her Grandpa 🥰.

I’m kicking myself for not getting any foods pics because it was all so tasty. We always have the best burgers when we’re there- I think they’re Walburgers?

It was so much fun having Amy and her boyfriend, Chris, in town! I hope they come back soon.

For Quinn’s dinner that evening, I made her ground turkey with lentils and green beans that we took with us to The Farm.

She waved around her green beans proudly to everyone, it was adorable. So proud of her green beans 😄.

Sunday, March 19th, we had another fun family filled day! My heart was full after this weekend. We celebrated our nephew, Ender’s, third birthday.

And how amazing is this cake?! My sister in law MADE this!!! We all say she could open a bakery if she wanted. She made the cookies below too. I mean, just incredible!!

It was a vegan cake and sooooo tasty. I was blown away! I actually dreamt about the cake last night, yes it was that good! 😋

A sweet pic of Ender opening gifts supervised by cousin Quinn and friend James 🥰. Quinn was all over the wrapping paper!

We all enjoyed Dewey’s pizza (they have excellent vegan options!), and Quinn had a little of the leftover Turkey, sweet potatoes and asparagus (cut up before she ate it) for her lunch. It was a bit messier than anticipated, whoops!

And you know how much this girl hates the car- well guess who fell asleep in the car on the way home?! This has only happened a couple times ever.

This post is plenty long, so I’ll wrap here. We have some exciting travel coming up- a Florida vacation and possibly a trip to Chicago in the summer! If you have any baby travel tips please send my way 🙂 (especially for the plane!).

Questions for you:

– Do you prefer cake or cupcakes? I’m team cake, but still enjoy cupcakes.

– Anyone watching the fourth season of Love is Blind? I think it’s one of the best seasons yet!

<3,

Mackenzie