Thankful

We have had a tough couple of weeks as Greg and I were faced with some tough decisions to make for our family. We spent what felt like every minute of "our time" weighing the pros and cons of our decision.  It was not always easy at times, but now that the decision has been made I am able to reflect on how thankful I am for the man I married and the life that we live. 

Our marriage is by far not perfect, but I am grateful to have a man by my side for this crazy journey who supports me, uplifts me, challenges me, inspires me, and most importantly at the end of the day is my best friend.Not to mention, he is pretty handsome to look at :). I know I can be a little bratty at times and probably a pain in the royal you know what, but he puts up with me, and I'm very grateful. I have been blessed to share this journey with a man who is not only a great provider for this family but also a great spiritual leader and continues to be a great leader for this family, we are blessed!

I know Greg doesn't usually read my blog, but this is one I hope he does read, and if he does; Hayes, Rex, and I are so lucky to have you! We love you to the moon and back! 

Manic Monday

Oh, hello Monday!!! I felt like this weekend just flew by and here we are at the start of another week! We had a great weekend!! We got Rex back after his 7 week bootcamp, and I must say we have a brand new dog on our hands!! It is just amazing the transformation we are seeing. We know that it's a work in progress, but I love having him home. Here is a pic of us today walking:

I would have never been able to do this before. He stayed with us the whole time!! Canine Academy is amazing! Here are the two boys after the walk:

Tired both of my little guys out!

Ok, so now on to my next question. Do you Paleo??? I keep reading about how great it is, and I must say my friend Anna has been following the Paleo diet and she looks Amazing!!!! I should have had her send me a pic so you could see how great she looks. Now don't think it's just paleo, she has been doing crossfit,yoga, and running,but she loves the Paleo diet. I'm seriously debating doing it. I want to wait until after I'm done breastfeeding to be on the safe side. I have been doing pilates and running and still am about 5 pounds away from pre pregnancy weight. However, even only 5lbs away there are jiggles there that weren't there before:(!! If you Paleo what are some of your favorite recipes??? We head to the beach at the end of August so I'm thinking of starting Aug 1!! Greg is on board with it, which is always nice:)! Easier to stick to something when the whole family does it together!! 

Hope you have a great week!

Cheers!

JNK 

Homecoming

Yeah for Friday!! This week has me whipped! We have had so much on our plate that I'm physically and emotionally exhausted! We have had this date circled on the calendar for awhile because we get to pick up Rex today after being away from him for 7 weeks! 

We have had 2 appointments this week to learn all the training and he is doing so much better! However, Greg and I have been studying the rules and commands. The training is definitely not easy as there is lots to learn, but it will be nice having a well behaved dog in the house. I'm nervous to bring him home but also very excited! He has to stay off furniture for first 30 days and no sleeping in our bed. I think he is definitely going to test his boundaries with Greg and I. We have a follow up appointment in one week and then again in 30 days. The one thing that's nice about this program is that they have social outings every week, that allows you and your dog to go as a group with other graduates to the local parks and get them used to people and public areas. We can already tell a huge difference in him. He still has corrections but it was amazing to see him on the sidewalk of a busy street with people walking by in a down stay without a leash on. 

This weekend is going to be a little crazy with Rex being home and the plans we have. I'm trying to convince Greg to attend a Pilates class with me on Saturday. Bear is growing up so fast, and is just giggling up a storm these days we are having a blast!!!  Here are a few pics:

Fell asleep while I was changing!

Making faces with Mommy!

What are you doing Mommy!

In his doggie onesie this am in preparation for us taking Rex home! 

Have a great weekend!

Cheers!

JNK 

 

These are a few of my favorite tees....

Hi, My name is Jill and I'm addicted to t-shirts!! I love all kinds slub, cotton, sheer, long sleeve, short sleeve, tanks, you get the drift. Since the warm weather is upon us, no better time than to ramp up your t-shirt wardrobe. The best thing about t-shirts is they can be worn with basically anything and are comfy! My friend Melissa was asking me the other day what my favorite tees were and mentioned it would be a good blog post, so Melissa here you go :)!

I have put my more high dollar tees up front. Not gonna lie some of these are a little pricey for tees, but they feel AMAZING, trust me on this! I am a James Perse and Joie fan, so their tees rank up their in spots one and two when it comes to spending more than $30. They are both known for their knits and their t shirts are ones that become softer after each wear and will definitely be some of your go to favorites.

James Perse:

V-Neck Tee $65

Sheer Slub Tee $155

Love this one, I own it in black and I think I may have worn it once a week, oops!

Off the Shoulder Tank $95

I LOVE this off the shoulder tee, it will definitely add a little sass to your shorts or jean attire!

I found a bunch of stuff at James Perse outlet a few years ago, so look to see if there is one near you! You can score a bunch of stuff at a good price!!

Joie:
Maddie Linen Tee $108

I love this shirt, perfect for a casual day! Joie always runs big for me, so I'm almost always an XS.

Joie Rishy Top $148

A great LS tee, and they have great colors in this t-shirt!

Torrance tee $118

This top will definitely be on of your faves, it's a linen slub, so it's a super soft tee!

Ok, now onto the more reasonable prices for everyday tees   :

J Crew-Seriously you can't wrong with tees at J Crew. I have worn almost every collection from painter, tissue, and vintage. However, my favorite to wear is the perfect fit tees. They simply are the perfect fit :)!

Here are my three favorite silhouettes:

Ballet Button Tee $32.50

Perfect Fit V-Neck $24.50

Perfect fit Tee $24.50

I'm not one for crew necks, but I really like this perfect fit tee crew!

Target:
I'm obsessed with these Microrib tanks from Target. The best part is they are only $7.00 right now, normally $9.99. They are a great long tank with a scoop neck. I think I now own maybe every color! They are a great staple and easy to breastfeed in. Which right now is a key factor in choosing tops to put on everyday!

Mossimo Microrib Tank



Ok, so one last tee I wish I owned is the T by Alexander Wang. I have only tried his tees on, and they are AMAZING!! But they are kind of pricey and never go on sale! Joie I can usually find at Last Call along with James Perse. But here are some of the T by Alexander Wang that are on my want list:

T by Alexander Wang Pullover $225

Pocket T $85

The Pocket T price is more reasonable. I think this would be a great look for Fall with some skinny jeans. I like how Nordies paired it with a skirt though, may have to try that :)!!

Yay for tomorrow being Friday!! Bear will be officially 12 weeks tomorrow!! I can't believe how fast time flies. Here is a little pic of him on our afternoon run:

Cheers!
JNK

The Monday Blues

We had such a great weekend that I did not want Monday to come! Yesterday was probably one of my favorite days we have had here in Michigan, besides Bear's birth of course.

We started the day with a little family 2.5 mile walk and then quickly got ready for Church. We decided to keep Bear with us and not put him in the nursery and he did great. I was a little nervous he would wake up because there was lots of clapping the service yesterday but little man just slept right thru it. After Church we ventured to the farmers market in downtown Birmingham. The farmer's market occurs every Sunday till Fall and we had so much fun. Spoke to lots of local vendors and picked up some great herbs, fresh veggies and fresh meat. After the farmer's market we came home and hung out for a bit before going on another 4-5 mile walk to go get frozen yogurt.  We ended the night just playing with Bear and then cooking up a nice pork dinner complete with a glass of Michigan wine. I was quite impressed with the Michigan wine. And then we decided to stay up and watch the season finale of Game of Thrones instead of waiting to watch it on Monday. I was somewhat disappointed as the episode prior to the finale was so much better than the finale. Do you watch this show? I'm hooked on it!!!

It's pouring rain today so perfect for a house cleaning day when Bear is down for a nap! Hope everyone has a great week!

Cheers!
JNK

Bear's Big Day!!

Greg got the pictures uploaded last night, so I can post pics of our little man's big day!! It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I'm so glad we were able to have the baptism outside in the garden at Lovers Lane Methodist. I am so thankful for my mom and her planning the baptism, the event was beautiful! Thank you to my sister and Zach for hosting our bbq the day before. (I wish we would have taken pics of that! :()Greg's best friend Phil (Bear's Godfather) and his family flew in for the event so we had lots of fun hanging out with them.

Here are a few pics:

 Pastor Ted baptizing Bear. Little man was so occupied with the trees and garden.

 Coop giving Bear a big hug after he was baptized!!

 I should have worn my sunglasses outside because the sun was so bright. Bear is so blessed to have such wonderful Godparents!

 Bear with his daddy and his poppy!

 My Dad with Bear and I.

 A little family photo op! I love Bear's little smile in this pic!

 Me and my Precious Little Bear!!! Love this little boy!!

We have a very busy weekend planned here, hoping to accomplish everything that's on our list! EEK!

Hope ya'll have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

JNK

Back to Reality

We arrived back in Michigan on Sunday evening, and came back to beautiful weather in the 70's! I love packing for vacation but my least favorite thing is unpacking! UGH, I'm still doing laundry from our trip. Bear had a great visit and we loved spending time with all of our family and friends. It was so hard to leave everyone. I had to fight back tears when I was hugging my mom and dad. I was also spoiled with the many sets of hands eager to hold Bear, which was soo nice!

Although we were there for almost two weeks, it still felt like I didn't have enough time to spend with everyone or see everyone. Since we recently sold our Dallas house we were dealing with that, closing accounts, running errands, etc.  When I left for Dallas, Bear was 8 weeks and when we returned he was  10 weeks. In those short two weeks I feel like he has changed so much!! He is just soaking everything in and giggling which melts my heart. We had our first roll over at my sister's house last Friday which was so awesome! I loved that Greg was there to witness it as well.

The Ergo Carrier was a life saver through the airport, he did amazing in it! We did end up buying a BOB stroller down there, even though I swore I would never own two strollers. The Uppa Baby is an amazing stroller, but I do love how lightweight the Bob is. Greg and I have already enjoyed taking him for runs and walks around the neighborhood. If my sister, Jodi is reading this right now, I know she is smiling saying, "I told you so". She tried to convince me to just get the Bob, but at the time, I thought it was too bulky and hard to steer. I also learned a valuable lesson in that I packed WAY too much for Bear. I now know that I will pack way less and do laundry when we go to the beach in August.

One of the main reasons for our visit was to get Bear baptized, which we did on Sunday, June 2nd. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful held in the Garden at Lovers Lane Methodist. I will post pictures as soon as Greg has time to upload them from his camera :)!

This week is flying by for us, probably because I feel like I have a ton of stuff to do i.e. house cleaning, laundry, errands, and father's day gifts! We did buy Greg some golf clubs down in Dallas for Father's Day, but I want to pick a few more things since it's his very first Father's day. Not sure if you follow Peppermint Bliss, but Bailey has some really cute things on her site Biscuit. I've put a few in my shopping cart for my Dad and Greg. Although, I'm debating just going to Lululemon for them both, that's usually a hit!

I hope everyone is off to a great week, the weather here is AMAZING!!! Here are a few pics from our trip to Dallas:

 Family photo op! Greg flew right from Istanbul to Dallas, so he had a long flight but was soo excited to see Bear!

 My Mom aka Nana is amazing with kids and Bear just loved hanging out with her. She has so many great tricks and songs, that we definitely will be putting to use.

 My sister finally got to meet Bear, and Coop loved spending time with his cousin. He was such a good helper with Bear. I can't wait when we go to the beach to see these two together again!

 This is right before his second roll over. I don't think he wanted his picture taken :).

 Bear is smiling like crazy, and I think he loved being in the Lone Star State. He is like his momma :).

We are having so much fun right now playing, I just love watching him grow up!!


Happy Hump Day!

JNK