Jesse Coulter

Month 2 of my 6 month NO Shopping Challenge is complete! Check out my latest video for an update of what I've been struggling with, what I've bought, what I've been given and what I've learned so far!

This year started out wonderful with the birth of Walt and Whitney and ended horribly with the passing of my Dad. Sorry to be a downer, but it's the truth. 2017 will be a tough year as my family and I experience a year of firsts without my Dad but we're strong and will get through it together. I pray 2017 is a year of spiritual growth, memorable experiences, and lots of love.

Here's a positive recap of 2016:

One of my favorite new traditions is to order a family yearbook every year to document the stages of our children, marriage, vacations, and more! It's honestly the easiest way for me to print the hundreds of pictures I take throughout the year. I ordered the book through Shutterfly and it totaled $57. I had a 50% coupon and the shipping was free.  I started off with the 20 page book thinking I would be able to fit everything in it, but ended up with 35 total pages! Some of my pages include;

• Turner and all of the firsts he experienced as a 2/3 year old (I have a ton of pages dedicated to him)

• Hawaii Vacation

• 5 Year Anniversary

• Holidays w/family

• Summer Activities

• Weekly baby bump photos

I think my favorite pages are the ones dedicated to pictures of Turner with me or Alex. Those snapshots capture a few of the moments we've bonded as parents with Turner.

We made it to 1 Month! It hasn't been as difficult as I thought, but it's all due to the help of my mom and other family. My in-laws took Turner during the first week, and that was a lifesaver. Turner has been one of the hardest parts of the transition, because he is constantly wanting attention and needing our help (putting on clothes, going to the bathroom, getting food, bathing, bedtime, etc). My mom helped me with the night shifts, and allowed Alex to sleep through the night, then my mom and I would try to take a good nap during the day while Turner was at daycare. After 3 weeks, my mom went home and we were on our own. That's when it really got hard. We've had a TON of support from friends as well, and have had a few meals a week brought over to the house.

Adorable organic outfits by Rainy Lain

Sleep:

• 2-3 hour stretches. Oh, I can't wait until they start sleeping longer!

• For the first 3 weeks they slept in a MamaRoo and RockaRoo, but now have transitioned to Rock n' Plays. I use a sound machine to play white noise.

• They both sleep in their room, and I don't use a monitor. I wait till I hear one of them crying before I get up. I'm such a light sleeper, so I wouldn't sleep a wink if I heard Walt grunting all night.

Eating:

• The first week I breastfed them, the second week they had pumped breast milk supplemented with formula and by week 3 were drinking formula only.

• We are feeding them Enfamil newborn formula, but have switched to Gentlease since they have been so gassy the past week. Whitney is much more gassy and can barely get comfortable eating, and has a very hard time sleeping due to gas pain.

Growth:

• Clothing - Newborn
• Diapers - Newborn

Likes:

• Sleeping and eating (sometimes). What do most babies like other than these at this stage? 
• Whitney takes a pacifier, Walt not so much.  
• Taking naps on my chest

Dislikes:

• The process of being swaddled. Walt usually grunts and tries to get out a few times during his naps, but I know that it ultimately helps him sleep better.
• Walt absolutely hates having his diaper changed, and has the highest pitched scream the second a wipe touches his bottom.

Fun Facts:

• Walt:
• My jumpy one. He reacts so easily to sounds, and throws his hands up constantly. He's also my grunter...constantly making noises.

• Might have torticollis, so we're watching him closely. I he has a hemangioma forming on the left side of his noise. I noticed it when he was 3 weeks old, which is about the same time Turner's began to form.

• Whitney: 
• She has the cutest double chin, and I'm OBSESSED with her strawberry blonde hair.

• Also has a hemangioma like her brothers, but hers is on the bicep of her right arm

• I love putting tiny bows on her. I currently have RosieOutlookTX and TinyTurban bows. I only have a small window to dress her how I want, so I'm taking full advantage.

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It's starting to become a tradition for Alex's parents to take care of Turner the weekend of our anniversary. They get quality time with their grandson, and we get a weekend where our activities are determined by nap time and bedtime. This year our anniversary fell on a Friday which was awesome, since we already had Monday off for Memorial day. A 4 day kidless weekend was just what we needed!

FRIDAY
Friday morning, 6am to be exact, Alex rolled over and said, " Pack your bags, because we're not coming home tonight." I was ecstatic and completely surprised! I had been trying to find an Austin hotel for the past few weeks, but couldn't find anything we could afford (Memorial day prices were insane). Thankfully, Alex's co-worker was extremely sweet and gave us a ton of her Hilton hotel points.

We left the house by 8am and headed downtown to stand in line for the famous Franklin Barbecue. We brought lawn chairs, and waited in line from 8:30am till 2:15pm while it rained off and on. Thankfully we had great people sitting next to us line, so we had great conversation while we waited. It was surprising how fast the time went by.  Alex was on Cloud 9 after he met Aaron (the owner of Franklin's). Once we got in, we had brisket, sausage, a chopped beef sandwich and some sides (they were out of everything else). It was insanely good!

Afterwards, we headed to the Hilton and went straight to the pool/jacuzzi. My favorite part of our hotel stay, other than our comfy bed, was the steam room. It was completely relaxing, and made me feel wonderful.


We took a late nap, and then things took a turn for the worse.  Alex felt very sick, and all of the sudden he was face down in the bathroom toilet. It was like a scene from the exorcist...so romantic huh? He blamed it on the fat and sausage from Franklin's...he was sneezing pickles.  Prior to this we had planned on doing a bit of bar hopping, but instead we headed to a late night showing of Mad Max at the Alamo Drafthouse.



SATURDAY
We slept in (8:30am), spent some time in the steam room, and checked out after eating breakfast at the hotel.  Alex wanted to stop by REI, so I did some browsing in Anthropologie....BIG MISTAKE. Holy moly, I fell in love with everything and cringed at the price tags.


We headed back to Round Rock, grabbed lunch at the Blind Squirrel, and spent the rest of the afternoon painting and binge watching BroadChurch.  Later that night we had dinner with our neighbors at El Monumento in Georgetown.


SUNDAY
Lots and lots of painting, a trip to Lowe's and Home Depot, then my sis and bro-in-law came to Austin to celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a big dinner at Perry's Steakhouse, and headed home to watch a movie. Have you tried the famous pork chop at Perry's? If not....put it on your bucket list!


MONDAY
We enjoyed a big breakfast at one of our favorite diners, 620 Cafe, and then I spent lots and lots of time painting while Austin flooded. Alex headed north to pick up Turner, and was actually in a minor accident on the way back due to the rain : (. Thankfully no one was hurt, but our car is likely totaled since it's pretty old. We ended the night with a neighborhood crawfish boil.

It was such a relaxing weekend, and I'm very grateful for family that took care of Turner during that time. I feel rejuvenated and not ready to head back to work tomorrow.

I attended my last event at Austin Fashion Week last Friday night, the STARS Runway Show featuring 8 of Project Runway's top designers. I picked up my blogger bestie, Erica, and we headed downtown. Straightening my curly hair wasn't a great idea as it began to pour the second I left my house, but I embraced my frizz. I chose to wear this comfy a-line skirt and a crop top to keep it simple.

Top: Forever 21. Skirt: Express. Shoes: Chelsea Crew via Creature's Boutique. Clutch: Thrifted.

Kaleigh, Michelle, Brittany & Celine - These ladies are wonderful. I wish we had more time to talk!

Oh my goodness, the La Miniatura by Jeffrey Sebelia show was amazing and these little boys make me want to NEVER cut Turner's hair. I also need to get him a suit asap. I used to watch Project Runway religiously, and Jeffrey was one of my favorite designers of all time.  I was excited to see him in person!

La Miniatura by Jeffrey Sebelia

Melissa Fleis

Daniel Esquivel

Anthill by Anthony Ryan Auld

Amanda Valentine

As you can tell, my Gap camo jacket has gotten a lot of good use lately. Texas weather is finicky this time of year, so I love to wear this jacket on cool mornings (it's 80 by noon). It's not the camo I really ike, but the comfy material and perfect amount of warmth. I wish I had the exact same jacket in tan or gray.

Jacket : Gap. Tee: Forever 21. Jeans: Old Navy Rockstar Skinnies. Boots: Gap. Necklace: Handmade

Jacket: Gap. Tee: ASOS. Shorts: Handmade. (thrifted men's Levi's 501 - see my DIY tutorial HERE) Shoes: Target.

Jacket: Gap. Tee: Forever 21. Jeans: Levi's. Shoes: Birkenstocks.

Sources
(left to right: clockwise)

1. Globe: Target, Gold Frame: Target
2. Magnets: Target, Photo Frames: very old, can't recall where I bought them
3. Be Kind & Work Hard Print: Elm & Gray FREE here, Lamp: Target
4. Gold Tray: Target, Clear Organizer: Target, Black & White Frame: Homegoods

P.S. They just opened a Homegoods 2 minutes from my office. I'm in trouble.

Sweater: Forever 21. Scarf: ASOS. Jeans: Gap. Boots: Kork-Ease

Dress: Langford Market. Jacket: Nordstrom. Boots: Nine West.

Top: Forever 21. Scarf: Luxe 7 Boutique. Jeans: Banana Republic. Shoes: Gianni Bini

I've been thinking about starting a new blog for about a month now. A blog that's more focused on local (Texas) activities, food, travel, etc. Putting this new blog in to action actually took a lot less time than this blog here. Once I had the idea, it took me about 3 weeks before I pulled the trigger. A part of me wanted...a perfect blog template, beautiful graphics, professional photos, etc. BUT, I don't have the money for that, and my blog will never be perfect so I might as well start now. So that's exactly what I did.

My new blog is called, THE BEST OF TEXAS, and it's not perfect. Although, I am proud of what I've accomplished in just a few short weeks. I am a bit worried about making time for my 2 blogs as well as my posts for Austin Mom's Blog, but I'll take it day by day and see how it goes. I'm passionate about blogging, but I won't let it get in the way of spending time with my family. I usually blog once Turner is in bed, so that leaves me about an hour or two before bedtime. Wish me luck!

I've got a contest going on Instagram right now for this 8x10 Gold Texas Print to celebrate my blog's launch and Texas Independence Day! Super easy entry on Instagram.

These are my people. That's what I think when I'm surrounded by bubbly, creative and ambitious bloggers. I had an absolute blast at the 2nd ATX Blogger Mixer last night at Benji's Cantina. Benji's made us feel like stars by giving us rounds of margaritas, special shots, and amazing food.

Erica was amazing and made the cutest sequin heart pins for all attendees (she stayed up till 5am making them...crazy girl!). Big thanks to Frames Direct and Etcetera, Etc. for the awesome giveaways!


I met bloggers I've stalked on Instagram for months, maybe more, and brand new bloggers. Many of them we'll be attending CAMP this month, and I was able to talk a few in to going as well! I know how intimadating it can be showing up to a social event like this and not knowing anyone, so thank you to those women who came out. There may be some akward or uncomfortable moments, but that's life. Putting yourself out there is worth it. We all left with new friendships and feeling extremely encouraged and motivated to keep blogging!



Here's to the next #ATXBloggerMixer. Erica and I have already started planning so stay tuned (likely in May)!