The Boys Behind The Blog {Link-up #6}

Happy SIXTH round of BBB!!! 

If you are new to this link-up...welcome! If you have been here before...welcome back!!!  As usual, I'm looking forward to reading all about what your boys have to say! 

Let's hear from my favorite guy...

1. Who is your favorite band/musician? 

Right now I’m really into this whole strange amalgam of music which includes Imagine Dragons, Two Door Cinema Club and Phoenix, among others. 

2. What was your first CD/tape? 

I’m almost certain the first CD I purchased (CDs were certainly the “in” thing at the time; I’ve never in my life purchased an audio tape) was Third Eye Blind’s self-titled debut album. I’m sure the first tape was a radio-copied mix-tape, which was gifted to me. I’m also sure that it went over my head at the time that when someone of the opposite sex gifted you a mix-tape back in the day, there were deeper meanings involved. C’est la vie. 

3. Who was your first concert? 

I’m not so much a concert-goer. I’ve seen many a band in clubs/bars, but my first actual concert was Paramore headlining the Honda Civic tour a few years ago. 

4. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? 

Sweet potatoes, hands down. 

5. Finish the sentence: I am thankful for... 

I have way too much to be thankful for this year, but my number one clearly is going to be my beautiful daughter and of course my amazing wife. I’m not so sure that I’ll be able to top that anytime soon. 

Now grab a button, and link up with us!

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An InLinkz Link-up

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$50 Pearls N Stitches Giveaway

Guess what day it is! It's a lovely day for a special giveaway! 

Jessa is the sweetest lady who blogs over at Life of a Sports Wife, and she is giving away $50 (whoa) to her Etsy shop Pearls N Stitches! Make sure you stop by to give her some love, and enter below to win...

Hi! I'm Jessa and I own Pearls N Stitches. I started crocheting and knitting in 2010 while living in Michigan. I had seen both of my aunts knit and crochet for years, and love the stuff that they made. I finally decided that I want to make the items for myself. I started off making scarfs and now I have expanded to a variety of items. I made Ready to Ship items as well as custom items. I would love to work with you on creating an item for you and your family.

Also starting Thursday I will be doing a giveaway on instagram. It requires you to repost and like me on instagram. Each day is something different that I will be giveaway.

Enter below to win! Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Kitchenspiration {Link-up}

It's time for another round of Kitchenspiration!
Chelsea and I are SO excited to bring you this weekly link-up! Kitchenspiration is all about ANYTHING that inspires you in the kitchen. 

This can be:

-Recipes you've tried or want to try

-Weekly meal plans

-Pinterest recipe ideas

-Food related tips

-Your favorite kitchen essentials

The possibilities are endless!

You can link-up a brand new post OR link-up anything food/meal/recipe related from your blog that you posted within the previous week.

Before you scroll down to link up:

***Check out some Kitchenspiration from this past week on NTSST:
2 Recipes w/ Wonton Wrappers {Amanda's Guest Post Using Mozzarella & Nutella!}

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A Friday FULL of Family

For those of you who don't know...Hubs and I moved to Florida over four years ago from New York. We don't live near any family! Thankfully, I do have aunts, uncles and cousins who live three and a half hours away in South Florida. We do get to see them often, but obviously not as often as we would like. Needless to say, when family comes to visit it's kind of a big deal! This time it's a HUGE deal! My parents, brother, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins are all coming for the weekend for Ella's Christening! What's better than a family visit? Them all visiting the same weekend of course! Stephen's parents just landed, and there is another crew that will be airborne in about 10 minutes! I am beyond ecstatic! It's going to be a fabulous weekend that I've been looking forward to for a while now. Ella has no idea what she is in store for! 

Here are some photos from this past week...

1. I took this today...she is pretty in pink and waiting for her visitors!
2. After a wonderful day out, it was nice to come home and get warm and cozy with my girl.
3. This butternut squash is roasted to perfection. I have a soup recipe coming very soon!
4. Ella's Christening gown is all ready for tomorrow!
5. Her little angry glare just cracks me up...so serious!

I hope you all have a great weekend as well! XO

Linking up:

High Five for Friday & Five on Friday

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What About Mommy?

For months it was all about "me, me, ME" around here! My weekly bumpdates were a big part of NTSST. Naturally it has been all about Ella these days. Now of course no one seems to be complaining about all of the cuteness! "What about Mommy though?!?" Well then, since you asked...I figured I'd let you all in on how I'm doing!

Disclaimer...
If some of this seems a little negative, please don't take any of it the wrong way. I absolutely LOVE being a Mom! Ella is everything to me, I feel so lucky that I was picked to be her Mamma. There is nothing that I would ever want to change! I just want to be completely honest about how I'm adjusting to being a new Mommy! Also, I'm pretty sure many first time Moms will be able to relate!

Life is incredibly different (duh)....and different for the better of course! For some reason the change was not totally how I expected! I'm going to admit that being a Mom is definitely harder than I anticipated. Trust me, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. This was a challenge that Hubs and I were ready for, and we are doing a pretty awesome job if I do say so myself! Throughout my pregnancy I didn't have the common concerns that moms-to-be often have. Basically I never had any of those "am I going to be a good mom" worries. Also I wasn't concerned at all about how our life as we knew it was never going to be the same. Maybe I had a strong sense of confidence since I had tons of experience working with children of all ages - between working at a day care, taking care of the Sergi kiddos for years, and being a Guidance Counselor.

When Ella arrived reality set in fast! It's amazing how much you could worry about a newborn. Being that I'm not one to play the "scenarios" or "what-if" game...this is something that surprised me. Suddenly I was laying in bed making sure I heard breathing, and even getting up every so often to feel her chest. I'm sure almost all Moms do this - but I just never thought I'd be that Mom! It's crazy how you second guess everything! "Why isn't she happy? Is she eating enough? Is she too cold? Is she too hot? Does she have a fever? Does her tummy hurt? Should I give her gas drops? Am I holding her and rocking her the right way?" I've told you all how our first 6 weeks with Ella was rough until we figured out the dairy issue, and changed the formula I was supplementing with around the six week mark. She cried non-stop, no joke it was constant!

Once our family went back home to New York and South Florida...and Stephen went back to work there was a bit of a rough patch. There were more tears than I'd like to admit. I was hardly eating, sleep was non-existent, I felt pretty lonely! I think I was worried to talk about how hard things were because I didn't want people to think that I was unhappy or ungrateful for such a sweet blessing! It was apparent that I needed help and I knew that I could no longer be afraid to ask for it.

Thank god Stephen is as wonderful as he is! We make such an amazing team, we now have our routine down to a science! I felt (and still feel) like I have SO much support! I probably called my mom five times a day often in tears with Ella screaming in the background! My mother in law was a life saver and was able to fly down to help out (twice). Even from a distance I felt so much support and love via the phone, text and internet! All of you...my bloggy friends were an incredible source of help for me too! The point is that once I opened up myself to ask for help and admit that I was struggling a bit, everything slowly started to come together. Gradually each day got a little easier and easier, and once we figured out the dairy situation everything clicked! Now things are GREAT! There was light at the end of the tunnel! You were all right!

We are 11 weeks in and definitely falling into a routine. Life has definitely settled down. Of course things don't always go as planned but it has gotten easier to manage the time and I'm starting to find a balance. I'm really enjoying my maternity leave and loving that I get to wake up and spend the day with my girl! Watching her grow and develop her little personality has been the most incredible experience. When she has her crying fits I no longer panic, breastfeeding is much easier, I'm not AS sleep deprived, and I'm not second guessing myself nearly as much! It's been nice to be able to take care of myself too (I painted my toes the other day)! I've been eating much better, and I've even been able to be in the kitchen much more! Ella likes to watch me cook! 

Throughout my pregnancy I gained 33 pounds, and I now only have 7 pounds left to lose! YAY! Most of my pre-pregancy clothes fit. I haven't even started working out yet. Being active during my pregnancy has obviously paid off!

3 days postpartum 

2 months postpartum

 So that's what has been going on with me! It has been quite the experience so far. I've learned so much in the past two months, and I'm learning so much more each and every day. It amazes me how much joy Ella has brought to our lives! I don't take it for granted for a single second...I'm one lucky Mamma! Life is good! 

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