‘Sup? Hope you had a nice weekend!

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We’ve had a big week up in this piece!

Lincoln had not one, but two newborn photo shoots, the first one done by my amazingly talented friend/photographer Lindsey Koch, who really thinks outside the box. She brought these adorable headphones to snap this photo as an homage to Ben’s obsession with all things hip hop. I think we’ve got a budding DJ on our hands!

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Last Thursday Ben and I also got out for our first post-baby date night. I was so excited to spend some one-on-one time with my (big) guy. The grandparents were itching to babysit, so we headed over to our favorite restaurant in town – Miyabi 9 – for some sushay.

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The first sushi I’ve had in 9 months!!! Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we ate about 3/4 of this massive platter. Salmon nigiri and an Asahi for dessert. : )

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Afterwards we strolled down to the nearby riverwalk and attempted to grab another brewski by the water. I had maybe 1/2. Boy did it taste delicious, but it was putting us to sleep! So far Lincoln’s been a pretty predictable sleeper (we have him on a 3 hour schedule during the day and 4-5 hour schedule at night) but broken sleep is still broken sleep. We actually joked that we might go rent a hotel room and sleep for our next date night…or just switch houses with my parents for the evening. ; )

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Determined to continue our streak of getting out and about, the three of us went out for brunch on Saturday to Jethro’s (we seriously need to stop eating out…but it’s just so good!) Just three weeks ago we were here without a baby – weeeird! I started with a hot cup o’ (decaf) joe…

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And face planted into an order of breakfast quesadillas. Crispy tortillas stuffed with scrambled eggs, cheese, and smoked pulled pork, slathered with guacamole. Brilliant.

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Later that day we hit the trails for a nice long walk. It was hot but there was a great breeze, and the sound of the cicadas reminded me that while summer is winding down, we’ve still got a little time left. Thank goodness. I reckon we went almost 3 miles.

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It’s hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago I was hobbling around the hospital hallways and now I feel 90% back to normal. Ok maybe 80%. Not ready to run by any means, but gosh, the difference 2 weeks makes is night and day.

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Saturday evening we had some friends over for a BBQ, and I enjoyed something I’ve been waiting ALL summer for – Hell or High Watermelon Beer! Long story short my Father in Law went to NINE places in Minnesota a couple weeks ago to locate this beer for me. They don’t sell it in Iowa and I’d been seeing it all summer long in my Minnesota friend’s social media feeds. I love a juicy, sweet beer, but the watermelon flavor in here was super subtle, almost an aftertaste. Even so – LOVED it! Sadly I think it’s now out of most stores for the season (hence the reason for having to hit up nine different ones.) Good thing he got me three 12 packs to last all Fall – muwahaha!

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Ahem. In order to ration them I had one and called it a day. Someone else wasn’t able to control themselves quite as well. ; )

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I hung out until the full moon appeared then hit the hay. L was fussy-boots in his crib, and our busy day had tired us all out. A 9pm bedtime is the new normal for this gal!

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IGE Survey Results!

In other news, I am SO jazzed about the response to the IGE survey! Over 10,000 people weighed in, and I am so grateful for your honest reviews. Here’s what I’m taking away from the results:

  • More lifestyle posts and continue with a mix of dinner, breakfast, lunch, and dessert recipes
  • More chicken and vegetarian recipes. I always knew vegetarian recipes were in demand, but not like this! Will work to get more of those in the mix.
  • The majority of you find the step-by-step photos very helpful. I’ll continue to do those, though I may scale back on showing individual teaspoons of spices, for instance.
  • The vast majority was very interested in seeing baby posts/pictures, which is good news for the baby channel that I still plan on launching. The channel won’t have a set schedule for posts, so I’ll probably include a link to them on the main channel here, advertising that they’re up.
  • You love Friday Favorites! There were many requests and emails to continue Friday Favorites. At this time I haven’t had, well, time, to surf the web, which is why they’ve been on hiatus. I hope to work them in once or twice a month in the future though.
  • Several people requested improving the search function on the site. Will definitely look into this.
  • Several people also requested easily printable recipes. There is a link to “Print this recipe!” on every recipe, and you can also print recipes from the “Recipe” section of my site, accessed by clicking the Recipes link in the main navigation bar.
  • Thank you for all the post ideas – I saw a lot of requests for gluten free recipes and info. Will definitely look into this!

Plus many more! Here’s to the future, and thank you again. I’ll be emailing the winner of the $100 VISA Gift Card later today.

Have a great week, everyone!