I’m back from a whirlwind week and a half of travel and sickness. Our little G got sick right before leaving on a weekend trip to Chicago. Once we returned, it always takes us a week to recover and get back into the groove of life. This week is feeling much more normal – thank goodness.

Dermatologist Visit

I finally got to the dermatologist this week after a four year hiatus. Between completely destroying my skin in my teenager years with tanning and then my skin always freaking out after I have children, I was ready to get into the doctor’s office for a check up. Somewhere in the 15 to 18 months after birth (basically when I stop breastfeeding) my skin gets completely wrecked. After A was born, this really threw me. I had no idea what was going on and had never had horrible cystic acne like I was experiencing. It was also the start of the pandemic, so getting into a doctor’s office was nearly impossible. Long story short, I ended up going on a birth control to help stabilize my hormones (it worked, and my cystic acne immediately stopped) and also having to get a super intense chemical peel to remove the scaring that had happened. This time around, I saw it coming and immediately got on birth control and got a trip to the dermatologist scheduled. I’m the only person I know to have this sort of reaction postpartum, so sharing all of this in case this happens to you or anyone you know.

Getting Into The Fall Groove

The week that A started preschool, I started a new job (as you may have seen on IG). Even though it’s only two things added to our schedule, I feel as though I suddenly live in my car. We then threw a wrench in everything and spent a weekend in the Chicago suburbs two weeks ago. I’m grateful that we have a few weeks of just normal life things before my sister’s wedding next month – which then kicks off all of the holidays. It’s all exciting and I’m so grateful… but it’s also very exhausting.

Clogs

I unexpectedly did a deep, deep dive on clogs this week. It all started with trying to figure out what shoes work well with dresses in Texas since I’ll be wearing a bunch the week my sister gets married. I didn’t want heels (felt too dressy) but I didn’t want just boots. I didn’t want to spend too much money on clogs, because this is my first experience with this type of shoe and I have no idea if I’ll like them. All this to say: I ended up purchasing this pair from Nisolo. I’ve heard and seen this brand around on the socials and blogs for several years. I’m excited to try them out, and also perhaps try them with socks?? We’ll see.

Baby Gear Shuffle

My brother and his wife are having a baby this winter, and I’m so, so excited to get to give our entire Uppababy system to them. I’m weirdly relieved that it’s staying in the family instead of just selling to a stranger. I can’t be the only one that gets sentimental about even baby gear. We brought both kids home from the hospital and birth center in that carseat! Ridiculous emotions, I know….but becoming a parent makes you feel a lot of feels.

Anyway, with them taking our Cruz, that left us with the Thule jogging stroller, a single travel stroller, and a double travel stroller. I decided to sell the single travel stroller (we had the Cybex Eezy Twist) and buy the Bugaboo Bee stroller. This stroller is perfect for where we are at in life. It’s essentially bigger than a tiny travel stroller, but smaller than a big “everyday stroller” like the Cruz. We’ll keep this Bugaboo Bee in our car, and then Thule is what we’ll use around the neighborhood and on walks. We’ll use the double travel stroller until A outgrows it, and then we’ll switch to only using the Bee when traveling. Strollers are so interesting in that as your life shifts, so does your baby gear needs.

We are also trying out the Clek Foonf carseat for G as her convertible carseat. We have the Nuna Rava for A, and it’s fine… it’s just really really wide. I’m excited that this one is a little more narrow.