This week was fantastic.  It started off solid with family night on Monday, planned by Zach.  He decided we were going to take Sloan to the pet store.  She has had a recent interest in animals [except when big dogs get too close] and I thought Zach’s idea was genius.  This way we can hold her off as long as possible, because eventually she will ask for a puppy for Christmas…and Zach and I are not pet people.

Her favorite were the fish tanks and the birds.

 

Zach totally surprised me this week when he told me he wanted to start doing meal prep.  AKA for ME to do meal prep.  He got inspired by a friend of mine and decided he wanted to try it.  Again…for me to try it.  I never go into anything unprepared, so I did a little research and humored Zach’s plan.  Sloan was a great sous chef.  We made 18 total meals (9 days worth) for the two of us.  Mine were all lower calories versions – I replaced white rice with brown rice (or black beans), and white fish with red meat.  Some meals we made were:  Salmon Fresca [from Brio’s menu], tri tip with roasted potatoes, salmon with steamed vegetables, halibut with asparagus, grilled chicken with rice, salmon with sweet potatoes and broccoli…

I have to admit – it was a full day of work.  I cooked a few different meals during each of Sloan’s nap times and then when Zach got home he grilled the salmon and the tri tip for me.  Afterwards I was totally exhausted.  Healthy meal prep is freaking hard work and I give it up to the people that do this each and every week!  Jury is still up on whether or not this will be a regular thing…

 

Since Sloan hit her 5 month mark, she hasn’t been sleeping as well.  It’s been a daily struggle for me.  Since she’s lower on the charts for weight, I haven’t felt comfortable letting her “cry it out”.  I decided I wouldn’t do any sleep training or make any adjustments until she had her 6 month appointment.  Naps have been a little harder, too.  She wouldn’t doze off unless I was near her.  She used to be able to be put down drowsy in her bed and fall asleep on her own, but she has gotten used to me nearby.  I can’t complain, I love to cuddle with her – and her little head on my shoulder makes the sleepless nights and zombie days all worth it.

Tuesday, Sloan and I drove down to Orem to see the progress on the Alder headquarters.  Sloan was on cloud 9 watching all the new people.  I brought her new headphones and they worked like a charm!

The wood wall was going up in the cafeteria, the custom lights in the call center were being installed, and all the glass facades on the conference rooms and partner offices were installed.  Everything is starting to come together.

Another fun project I have been involved with is helping with some more custom fabric.  Jonna of Fingers and Toes contacted me a few months ago about creating some custom fabric for her new line of baby bedding.  She sent me some of these photos from her phone – I can’t wait to see all the other patterns we created once she gets them all squared away.

 

Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo, so once Sloan and I got back from Orem we picked up Cafe Rio [and some movie theater popcorn for her daddy-o for dessert].  It wasn’t super festive, but we can’t miss one of Zach’s favorite holidays!

Friday Zach surprised me again.  This time, for Mother’s Day.  I have to start off by saying that Zach just gets me.  He knows I don’t like flowers or chocolates [ok, I do like chocolate, but you get what I mean] on commercialized holidays.  I would rather get nothing and just be together as a family.  So that’s exactly what he did, but on another level.  He booked a weekend up at the Montage in Deer Valley for the three of us to celebrate my first official Mother’s Day.  I am telling you, I don’t deserve him.

We left after Zach got home from work on Friday night and arrived just before Sloan’s bedtime.  She was stoked for some new scenery.

 

We kept with her usual bedtime routine but she was totally spoiled with a bath – complete with bath pillow.

 

By the time she was all set for bed, Zach had gotten the two of us dinner from the pizza place at the hotel.  Sloan got to join us for our pizza party before it was time for her to go to bed.

 

One of the glorious things about the Montage is that it is ideal with a new baby [or 6 month old, in our case].  Sloan had her own room, basically.  It was a nice walk-in closet, but who’s keeping track?  We spent the rest of the night, just the two of us, up late talking and laughing [quietly].

 

The whole next day was a dream.  Sloan slept really well, better than she had slept in weeks, which meant I was rested enough to feed her as soon as she got up at 7:00 am and then go to the hotel fitness center.  My exercise has been far and few between with my bout with sickness and sleepless nights.  It felt good to get to the gym bright and early.  I had the whole place to myself.

And had my way with the free goodies, too…

When I got back, Sloan and her dad were playing hard and she was already approaching her morning nap.

We put her down to sleep and ordered room service breakfast.  I went all out and ordered two Diet Cokes.

By the time Sloan was up from her nap, I had showered and Zach and I were both in our swim suits.  We had big plans for Sloan before lunchtime.

 

We took her to the pool for her very first time. 

 

I even ordered this hilarious “Fish Float” weeks ago for her and brought it along with us.  It was a huge hit.  We were the only ones at the spa and had the pool all to ourselves.  Her legs kicked 90 miles an hour and even though the water was a little chilly, she didn’t seem to mind one bit.

 

She just did her thing.  Floating like a boss…

 

After our swim sesh we showered up again and left the resort for lunch and some shopping at the outlets.  Zach picked Wendy’s.  It was packed!  Sloan couldn’t stop staring at everyone [especially the children] all around her.  She even made friends with a two-year-old girl named Julia, to the point that her grandmother [who didn’t speak a word of English] came and swooped Sloan right up from me!  It was the first time I had ever had a stranger just come up and grab my baby.  I was a nervous wreck.  Sloan, however, still has zero Stranger Danger and never turns down an opportunity to be social.  She kept touching the woman’s face and babbling at her.  I was a hover mother and didn’t let her take Sloan more than 6″ away from my reach.

 

Tanger was kind of a bust for us again, but I did score at the Nike Outlet.  All of their winter stuff was on sale, so I grabbed a few goodies and even some Mother’s Day gifts!

 

We then made our way over to the St. Regis for our dinner reservation at my favorite over-priced restaurant.  We rode the funicular up to the J&G Grill.  It was snowing and the view was beautiful.

 

Zach had the pork chop and I had the fish special.  It.  Blew.  My.  Mind.  The foam atop the fish was magic.  I still can’t wrap my head around it.

 

These two (three if you count Sophie, she’s like our second child – we can’t go anywhere without her) were the perfect dinner dates.  The restaurant was completely empty when we arrived.  I guess the snowy weather scared everyone away from Park City for the weekend – or everyone was away for the holiday, but we had the place all to ourselves again.

 

We made our way back to the Montage, played a no-rules game of pool…

 

…and retired early to our room.  Sloan went down to bed and Zach and I watched a movie.  But not before he went down to the gift shop and got me loaded up on Diet Coke and a Twix bar for dessert.

I woke up the next morning for my first official Mother’s Day to a 6 month old baby.  It was Sloan’s half birthday on Sunday and we decided once we got home we would celebrate.  We got out of bed, checked out, and made the drive home.

We busted out the new walker Sloan had gotten for Christmas and some new toys.  Turns out she can’t escape her genetics, because her feet still can’t touch the floor.  She didn’t mind.  She was blown away by her new do-dads.  #shortpeopleproblems

 

Sloan looks so much older now that she can sit up all by herself, unassisted.  It made Mother’s Day even more special to celebrate her 6 month mark with her.

 

We spent Sunday dinner with the Fotheringhams and my aunt, uncles, and cousins.  Even my Grandma came for dinner.  I am lucky I got to spend Mother’s Day with my own mom.  She is my polar opposite in so many ways, but I think that’s why her and I love and respect each other so much.  Something I didn’t expect to appreciate was how much I love watching my parents be grandparents to my baby girl.  It is my favorite.My mom and dad surprised me with an imprint of Sloan’s feet in a concrete paver to go in our back yard.  It was very thoughtful and I was totally shocked they managed to do it without me knowing.  They also got Sloan an Eric (stuffed turtle) that I have been searching for.  She loved on him all the way home.  Eric is a whole different story we don’t have time for.  Just another example of how sweet my parents are to Sloan.

Another thoughtful thing my parents gave me on my first Mother’s Day was a letter I wrote when I was 14 years old.  My parents have been cleaning out their basement and found a study guide in a random box of my belongings.  She almost threw it away, but decided to flip through it for some reason.  Inside the cover was a letter to my future children.  (I was a very sensitive 14-year-old, obviously).  It made my whole day.  I am so grateful my mom is a hoarder and saved this for almost fifteen years.  I can’t wait to read the whole thing to Sloan (and company) when they are old enough to appreciate it.

My first Mother’s Day was more than I even could have expected.  This year I have a new and growing appreciation for all the women in my life, especially my own mom and mother-in-law.  Being a mom is the best gig I have ever had.  These past six months have been better than I could have imagined.