Peyton's 1st Thanksgiving

Baby's firsts are so exciting, which makes every holiday extra fun this year. It also gives me a good excuse to buy Peyton an adorable "My 1st (insert name of holiday here)" outfit for every single occasion. Although Peyton isn't big enough to fully enjoy this glorious day of food, football and family that we call Thanksgiving quite yet, I was excited that she was big enough to sit in a high chair and eat some of her own real food with us anyways.

Peyton hopes everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families!

 Grandma's little turkey!

Auntie Erika feeding Miss P some sweet potatoes for her Thanksgiving dinner. This was the first time she ever sat in her high chair and she loved it. What a big girl! 

 We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with our families at my mom's house

 Miss P with her Auntie Erika

 I'll give you one guess as to what I'm most thankful for this year :) 

 I'm very blessed to be her mommy. 

 Miss P and her Grammy

Every family get together now revolves around what we call "pass the baby"...and Peyton loves every minute of it. I don't think this child gets enough attention. 

These are Peyton and Daddy's "mommy you are taking too many pictures" sad faces. 

Happy Thanksgiving from The Roche Family!

Peyton's First 4th of July

Peyton celebrated her first 4th of July this past Friday, as well as turning 3 weeks old! We took her over to our friends' house for her first cookout, which did not go as well as I planned, but we still managed to have a good time. She was doing great at first, sleeping and letting us pass her around so everyone could hold her. Then, it was time for me to feed her. As I was burping her after she nursed, she turned her head toward the middle of my chest and spit up a lot all in between my boobs and into my bra. The spit up got all over her face and hands, which made her freak out, and I was covered in it as well. Great. This child hardly ever spits up, but of course the one time I'm not at home and I want her and I to look nice, she spits up everywhere. After that incident, she was super fussy and just could not be soothed. After Jared and I took turns trying to soothe her, she finally exhausted herself into falling asleep...and then the fireworks started outside and we were back to square one. Eventually, I was able to calm her down enough to get her back to sleep. After that, she managed to sleep through the rest of the fireworks and mommy was able to go outside to enjoy some fireworks and a few well deserved beers.

I also realized at this occasion that I am officially a mom. Apparently, I now see everything from the "mommy" perspective. Things that I used to find fun and entertaining, I now find dangerous. While the boys were shooting off fireworks, the only thing I could think about was everyone's safety. I have always loved sparklers, but this year I only lit one sparkler and I instantly wanted to put it out as soon as I lit it. I guess being super cautious and protective about everything comes with my new mommy territory. Welcome to the new me.

 Our first 4th of July as a family of three!

Mommy couldn't resist taking a patriotic photo of Peyton for the occasion. PBR loves America :)

Peyton and mommy all dressed up in our red, white and blue...ready to celebrate! Glad I captured the two of us looking pretty before we left the house, since she spit up all over both of us later that evening. 

 Cookout at the Bush Family home!

Happy 4th of July from the Roche Family!

Baby Shower #1

This weekend, I had my first of three baby showers. Needless to say, we have a busy few months ahead of us. I realize that 24 weeks is a little early to be having a baby shower, but we had to do it now because of the very special mama-to-be that I was sharing this shower with.

This shower was given by our amazing church small group whom we have grown very close to over the past year. One of the other couples in our group (including one of my pregnancy buddies) is moving to Seattle at the end of this month. Therefore, we had to do her baby shower before they left and since I really wanted her to be at my shower as well, we just decided to have a joint shower!

The mamas-to-be (Ellen and I) with our awesome cake! 

The theme of our baby shower was the Olympics which was a super fun surprise for me because we all know how much I love the Olympics! I loved our adorable Olympics-themed cake complete with a baby girl on top for Jared and I and a baby elephant for Josh and Ellen since they aren't finding out the gender of their baby until delivery.

We were split into teams to compete in the Baby-lympics! What a cute idea! 

I was on Team USA...we ended up winning the Baby-lympics!

 Jared was on Team Mexico...they came in 2nd place.

 Team Greece came in 3rd place.

We competed in games such as diapering a balloon, molding babies out of play-dough, guessing fun facts about Jared, Josh, Ellen and I from childhood...

Chugging from a baby bottle...which is so much more difficult than it actually looks. All the games were really fun and we had such a great time together. 

The dads-to-be with their daddy diaper-changing tool belts.

Thank you to everyone for all our beautiful gifts and an amazing shower! We are truly blessed!

Winter Olympics

I absolutely love the Olympics. I get super excited for them every two years and I have been anxiously awaiting these games for months now. I love how patriotic everyone becomes during this time and it always serves as a good reminder of what a great country we live in. Plus, it's nice to just set all that political crap aside and focus on the amazing athletes from all over the world. These athletes work unbelievably hard dedicating their entire lives to get to this point, for just a few moments of Olympic glory. I love hearing their stories and sharing in their triumph.    

The Winter Olympic Games are being held in Sochi, Russia this year. While it looks absolutely beautiful there, I highly doubt that I will ever actually travel to Russia in my lifetime. I know a lot of people have been concerned about terror attacks, safety and the conditions of the accommodations for the athletes and visitors attending the games in Russia, so I pray for the safety of everyone involved for the remainder of the games.

My favorite part of the Opening Ceremony was when they incorporated ballet into their storytelling of the history of Russia. As a former dancer, I love a good ballet. If I did ever travel to Russia, the number one thing on my must do list would be to see the Russian ballet.

Of course, figure skating is my absolute favorite sport in the Winter Olympic Games. The team competition for figure skating has definitely been the best part of these games for me thus far. Obviously, the skaters from the USA are my favorite, but this 15 year old girl from Russia, Julia Lipnitskaia, is out of control. I'm not really a fan of her performance quality because she skates with very little emotion or facial expression. She doesn't really get into character or act while she is skating, she just goes through the motions in a very serious manner. She is purely technical; however, she is virtually perfect in her technique. Watching her tricks and unbelievable flexibility is completely mesmerizing. Her two amazing routines this weekend helped Russia win gold in the team competition. She skates again next week for individual medals.

My favorite figure skaters of this Olympic Games are a pair that has been skating together for 17 tears. Representing Team USA, Meryl Davis and Charlie White are amazing and very entertaining to watch. Not only are they incredibly talented skaters, but they are so good at portraying a character and being emotionally involved in every performance. They did a fantastic job in the team competition, helping Team USA win a bronze medal. I can't wait to watch them skate again this week and hopefully win a gold medal because they are definitely the best pair in this Olympic Games.

Watching the Olympics is a little sad for me this year because it is missing two of my favorite things, wine and girlfriends. For the Olympic Games in the past, I always spent my evenings snuggled up on the couch/bed with a bottle of wine and some awesome girlfriends watching the events and cheering on the good 'ole USA. One of my favorite memories of living in my sorority house in college was watching the Olympics with my sisters. I vividly remember a group of us rushing into my room every night and piling on top of my twin-sized bed with our plastic cups of wine (yes, this was one of very few occasions in which I actually snuck alcohol into the sorority house. Sorry, Lori and Kelley). It was such a blast. In fact, to this day whenever I see anything that has to do with the Olympics, I think about those girls and that memory.

During the most recent Summer Olympics in 2012, my sister-in-law, Erika, was living with us. This totally worked out in my favor because her and I would always out vote Jared on what we should watch on TV every night :) Poor guy had to spend the entire summer watching gymnastics and The Bachelorette. During the Olympics that summer, Jared would come home from work to Erika and I camped out on the couch with a bottle of wine and some snacks getting overly excited about whatever event we were watching. We got especially rowdy when gymnastics was on.

Now, this year I am all alone in my love for the Olympics. I just have to sit here and watch all by myself while Jared works on his MBA school stuff at night. No wine and no girlfriends. Sad face. I did get to watch two nights of the games with my mom this weekend which was fun. And on the nights I'm at home watching by myself, Erika and I usually text back and forth throughout the whole thing so it's kind of like we are watching together. The Olympics hold a very special place in my heart. I get so overly invested in people and sports that I know absolutely nothing about, but I love every minute of it.

I can't wait to see what the remainder of this Olympic Games will bring...hopefully a lot of medals for Team USA! Go America.

I Remember

Today is one of those days that you never forget. Year after year it pops up on your calendar and you always remember. Remember exactly where you were, exactly what you were doing and exactly how you felt when it happened. Today, we remember September 11th.

I remember every detail of September 11, 2001. I was in the 9th grade at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. I was in my ballet class that morning when the Director of Dance at the school came into our studio and whispered something to our ballet teacher. Our teacher immediately started messing with the television and told us to continue doing our barre exercises. Each dance studio had a TV cart in it, used for watching performance tape. There we all stood, at the barre facing the mirror focusing more on our teacher's reflection and wondering what she was about to put on the TV screen, than what our feet were supposed to be doing. As soon as it came on the TV screen, we all stopped dancing. The music kept playing, but we all froze. No one even turned around to actually face the TV. We just stared at the reflection in the mirror, watching in horror. At that moment, while we were still staring into the mirror, another plane crashed into the second tower. Our ballet teacher started crying, other girls were crying, and I couldn't believe that this was really happening. We tried to finish our ballet class, but it was obvious that no one was focused. So we all huddled together on the floor watching the TV until it was time for our next class. 

I was in shock. I was so deeply saddened that something like this was happening in a city that I had come to love. A mere month before that tragic day, I had been in the city. I had just spent that summer in New York taking ballet classes. My mom came to pick me up from my program and we spent some time enjoying the city before we came home. We walked among those buildings every day and I'm still sad that I never made to the top of the World Trade Center.

The first time I returned to the World Trade Center site was my senior year of high school, 3 years later, with my dance studio team. The area was still in complete destruction; however, a fence had been erected around the site so that visitors could look in. There was a giant hole in the ground filled with rubble. The only thing still standing within that fenced area is a cross that had been made out of the melted beams from the Twin Towers. You can sort of see it behind us in the picture above. 

We more recently returned to the Ground Zero site this past Christmas to visit the 9/11 Memorial which has been built over the original site of the World Trade Center towers. I enjoyed coming back to this site to see how it has developed over the years. It's good to see that a beautiful memorial has taken the place of what was once devastation and destruction.

Being at the 9/11 Memorial is a surreal experience. Here you stand in the middle of New York City, surrounded by thousands of people, and yet it is completely silent. Visitors come from all over the world to quietly stand and admire. To reflect and pray. To honor all those who were lost. Yet, no one speaks. Everyone just walks around reading the plaques, admiring the fountains and the newly built Freedom Tower, in complete silence. It just feels wrong to talk while you are there. I imagine that all those silent people around me were thinking and doing the same thing that I was. Quietly gazing upon this site, praying for those who were lost and thanking God that I have been blessed with the freedom and the ability to stand here in this moment. 

Take a moment today and say a prayer for all those who were lost on this tragic day, and for their families who are left to carry on. Thank you to all of our service men and women who give it all everyday so that we can be free. God Bless. 

North Carolina {Day 1}

Jared and I went on a little mini-vacation last week for the 4th of July. We stayed at a cabin that his family owns in northwest North Carolina. They have owned the cabin since he was an infant and it is definitely a little rustic, but full of character and good memories. I have only been to the cabin one other time and that was when Jared and I first started dating in 2006. It was so nice to be back in the mountains again, I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed this place. I will definitely not let another 7 years pass by before we go back.

Now, onto the trip recap...I am going to split this trip up into multiple posts because I obviously took a lot of pictures. I know, shocker. Jared refused to pose for any pictures for me, so all of the pictures from our trip are of me. Only me. Also, it rained the entire time we were there so you are going to have to look at a bunch of pictures of ugly, frizzy hair me. Sorry in advance. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Thursday, July 4

Jared and I actually left Florida on Wednesday afternoon and drove up to Asheville, about 1 hour from the cabin. On Thursday morning, we went to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville to celebrate the 4th.

Jared and I had both been to the Biltmore years ago when we were little and neither of us had been back since. I love visiting historical sites, especially big, pretty mansions. First, we went on a tour inside the house which was absolutely beautiful.

Unfortunately, it was raining on and off all day, but I was not about to let that stop me from dressing festive for the holiday. Just had to add rain boots :)

We spent the afternoon frolicking around the gardens and grounds of the estate.

  

I know Jared just loves it when I make him pull the car over so I can pose in front of something. He's such a wonderful husband.

We were eager to finish our house tour, escape the crowds and get on over to the winery. First, we went on a tour of the winery and learned all about how they make their wines on the property. After the tour, it was time for a tasting!

They make 25 different wines on the property at the Biltmore and at the tasting they invited us to try and many as we wanted. Wait, you are actually allowing people to sample 25 glasses of wine for free? That sounds like a challenge that I will gladly accept. Ok, so I didn't actually try all 25 of them. We decided to divide and conquer. We split the list in half, Jared tried the reds and I tried the whites. It was a glorious afternoon.

Of course, I now see that this "try 25 wines" promotion is just a way to get you drunk enough to buy all of their wine. Well, it totally worked. Well played Biltmore, well played.

We left Asheville and made our way up to the Smoky Mountains. Once we hit the mountain road that takes us up to the cabin, we ride with the windows down to take in that mountain air. Rain or shine. It's a family tradition.

We finally arrived at the cabin and I was so ready for a relaxing weekend with no distractions. Yes, the cabin has electricity and running water, but that is about it. No air conditioning. No television. No internet. No cell phone signal. Surrounded by nature, it is so quiet and wonderful.

I told you it was rustic. I may have forgotten how rustic. After a little sweeping, dusting and some Clorox, it was ready to be inhabited by this girl for the next 4 days. 

I love the country, mountain decor inside the cabin. It makes it feel so cozy and it looks pretty much the same as it has for the past 27 years.

My favorite part of the cabin is relaxing in this swing on the porch with a beverage listening to the creek.