Life Lately + This Week's Menu

Happy Monday, all! 

How was your weekend? Heck, how was your past week? I am feeling refreshed and excited today because I'm coming back from a week-ish hiatus (it was a tough week, which I'll get to more below), and I have a ton of fun content ideas stored up and ready to go. Looking forward to sharing with you!  

Instead of a typical "weekend recap" post, I thought I'd share more of an overall "life lately" post explaining a little bit about why it's been quiet around here, what we've been doing and enjoying, and - of course - our weekly menu. 

+ Pregnancy Announcement! 

So probably the biggest excuse for my radio silence lately is that I've been busy (and tired!) growing a new little human! ;) I announced over on Instagram last weekend (send me a request if you'd like to follow along!), but had yet to announce here on the blog, so... here we go again! We are all so excited over here. The girls are over the moon and love looking at the sonogram pictures of their new little brother or sister. I'm feeling well and will be 13 weeks tomorrow! Almost to the second trimester already! Stay tuned for a full Baby #3 post/pregnancy update coming later this week. 

+ Layla girl.

With the highest of highs inevitably seem to come some lows, and we've had a rough last few days with our sweet golden girl, Layla. Last Wednesday evening her body collapsed as she was attempting to eat dinner, and she couldn't use her back legs for about a half hour. We thought it was probably a seizure (she's had a couple of those in her 13 years, which isn't that uncommon for her breed) and she seemed ok that night. The next morning, she couldn't stand up and wouldn't eat and we knew something was very wrong. We took her to the vet that morning and their best guess at diagnosis (after over two hours of checkups and blood tests) was Vestibular Disease. It's basically like vertigo for dogs, and can be caused by a middle ear infection, old age, or something worse -- which I can't seem to stop thinking about, but I won't even go there. They did say one of her ears seemed suspicious, so we put her on an antibiotic for that and brought her home to rest. Thursday was rough, and Friday was worse. She could barely walk, we had to carry her everywhere, she wouldn't eat, and the worst part -- she just seemed depressed. It was terrible to watch. I held it together all Friday while with the girls, and then Friday night I just lost it. We felt too close to the end that day, and it all happened so abruptly. 

Happily, Layla made some improvements over the weekend and can now walk pretty easily (although she's still staggering and needs to be carried up and down lots of steps), is eating her meals so long as we mix rice in, and is generally acting more like herself. I love that pup so much -- she's been by my side since I was 19. I know nobody can live forever, but I want my first baby to be comfortable and happy for as long as possible. I'll keep you updated on how she's doing! In the meantime, if you have any experience with Vestibular Disease, let me know. Thank you so much for your thoughts and well wishes for our girl.

+ Porch updates.

One of the things I first loved about our house is the front porch! I grew up with one very much like it and have so many memories of doing homework out on the rocking chairs, taking all sorts of pictures out there, and just people watching/reading/relaxing on the porch. Our porch has been sitting mostly empty for 2.5 years, but we recently added two black rocking chairs with some outdoor pillows and a fun new spring wreath for a mini makeover! This coming weekend, Steve plans to power wash which will really brighten it up. We're using the plant stand I had as a table between the rocking chairs for now, but the plan is to makeover an outdoor table we already have and use it there, and put the plant stand back by the door with either a fern (the only thing I can really keep alive) or some colorful flowers. Do you have a front porch? 

+ Weekend happenings.

Besides mostly staying home and caring for the pup this weekend, C got her hair cut on Friday and the girls and I tried a new pizza place next door for a spur of the moment lunch afterward. It was so tasty! I love discovering new places. On Saturday morning, C and I left bright and early to attend one of Steve's cousin's bridal showers for a few hours, so that was fun. C felt so grown up, putting the cloth napkin on her lap all by herself and drinking orange juice out of a glass. ;) Meanwhile at home, Steve and Hadley had a Barnes and Noble date. Lucky!

Sunday we were supposed to attend my cousin's gender reveal party in New York, and I was so sad to miss it, but we couldn't all leave Layla for the whole day. So I was FaceTimed in when the announcement was made -- I'm so excited to welcome a new little nephew to our family! Other than that, we mostly played outside all day since the weather was (finally!) really nice.

+ This week's menu.

Finally, this week's menu! What's on yours? I'm always looking for tasty new dinners to try!

Sunday - Baked potatoes with broccoli, cheese, and bacon

Monday - Crockpot creamy tortellini soup

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Crockpot honey garlic chicken with rice, veggies

Thursday - Beef tacos with leftover rice, and corn

Friday - Breakfast for dinner! Scrambled eggs, tater tots, and sausage

Saturday - Out