We had all planned to get together for a family BBQ at my friend Megan’s house so I had no clue what my friends had in store.

Now lets back up a bit… My week started off great! I have been feeling amazing, I’ve had good energy and I was cruising through the week. Then at my doctor appointment Wednesday morning I was told I was making some progress at 1cm 50% effaced. That’s great news that my body is changing, but we don’t want him to come until I am full term at 37 weeks next Wednesday. So the bad news is bad news that I can’t exercise and I had to find subs for all my classes until my next appointment. I totally understand that I can’t workout but part of me thought I was going to keep trucking along. Again pregnant women are NOT SUPERHUMAN and I know that but lets just pretend that we can do it all right?

I spent most of the day relaxing and trying not to move which was a bit stressful but I kept thinking about not wanting my baby to be in the NICU if he’s born before 37 weeks so that helped me to stay put for the remainder of the day.

Ava went to bed around 645pm which wasn’t part of the plan last night since she was supposed to come to my friend Megan’s house for the BBQ. Marc decided to stay home with her and I headed out around 7pm.

When I got to Megan’s everyone was in her backyard. When I turned the corner they yelled “surprise” and of course I was surprised!!

I knew I was going to hang out with my friends but what was the surprise for???? It was a baby sprinkle that I never expected and I couldn’t help but smile and be so thankful for my thoughtful friends.

They had a clothesline of little baby onesies and bibs plus tons of foods.

I was completely shocked and I didn’t know what to say.

I felt bad that I made Marc stay home with Ava so I called my mom to have her come over to watch Ava while she was sleeping so Marc could come enjoy a beer and the shower with our friends!

It was the most perfect night and celebration of our baby boy.

The girls spoiled him with gifts and I’m still at a loss for words. I didn’t expect any of it but it truly made Marc and I feel loved and grateful for such amazing friends.

The girls know me too well and when I told them we haven’t done anything to the baby’s nursery they picked out some room decor on top of all the clothes. It truly made this pregnancy journey complete!

Now all we need is this little boy to arrive (anytime after 37 weeks!!)

I love you girls, thank you so much xoxo

]]> http://thefitskool.com/?feed=rss2&p=10107 2 http://thefitskool.com/?p=9439 http://thefitskool.com/?p=9439#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2016 11:58:00 +0000 http://thefitskool.com/?p=9439 Continue reading →]]> After back to back AMAZING weekends with friends & family I really couldn’t be happier. My energy is good, I feel great, Ava has been so fun to be around, and we have been able to spend some quality time with friends and family which is always awesome.

I actually didn’t take many pictures this weekend! I know I know, that’s part of my blogging job but sometimes living in the moment is better.

Friday night we had a fabulous dinner at Villa Italia Ristorante in Stamford, CT with my family. I literally had my phone out to take pictures, but when you are presented with amazing food and delicious smells your pregnant belly takes over and you dig in only to realize oops my meal is gone and I forgot to snap a picture to share this lovely meal with my blogging friends.

Well… I had Mussels in a Garlic White Wine Sauce with roasted veggies on the side, and some italian bread. Ava had some meatballs, carrots (from my veggie mix), french fries (from uncle Jeff’s meal) and some bread. She ate so much food.

Marc had lobster ravioli which to be honest doesn’t excite me but he said it was delicious!!! It was a great night and we had fun!

Saturday we were up early as usual, Marc bought us coffees and we went to visit my friend Danielle at her deli The Pemberwick Exchange in Greenwich.

Ava loved all the bacon!!!

We had an impromptu playdate with our neighbors which Ava thoroughly enjoyed

and then we ate a quick lunch. Salads topped with Rotisserie chicken!! yum.

See that belly popping??

I hit up the Gym to get a quick workout in and I will share my workout with you tomorrow. It was pretty good!

The night was relaxing, we ate dinner at home with my family and made meatballs & chicken Marsala.

When they left Marc & I watched Scandal on demand from Thursday night and munched on some popcorn. Love that show and it always keeps me on edge!!!

I worked a little Sunday morning and then the afternoon was spent hanging with Marc and Ava.

We also took Cooper for a nice long walk because the weather was great and did some stuff around the house.

Marc and I also made this delicious Lemon Chicken dinner. Sorry for the messy pic. We were hungry!

After 2 back to back family filled weekends I can’t help but smile. I don’t dread going to work on Mondays and I’m super thankful for that. Now I am off to teach Group Power and get my sweat on with my baby bump!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

Do you dread Mondays or do you not mind them?

Ava showed me a new meaning to Christmas. I saw so much joy in her face that I didn’t care about anything else besides spending time with my family.

Marc and I didn’t go crazy on presents with each other, we were just too excited to give Ava gifts that it didn’t matter what we got each other.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little stressed about the amount of toys we currently have in our house right now. Between all the gifts Ava received on her birthday & Christmas we basically have a small toy store.

I think we need to stash some away so she doesn’t get overwhelmed.

Here is a quick photo recap from our Christmas Celebrations:

Christmas Eve we went to Marc’s parents house in Rhode Island.

We got to watch Ava play with her cousins and we all enjoyed the numerous courses that Marc’s dad served to complete the “Italian 7 Fishes.”

I don’t eat all the courses but I did enjoy some delicious stuffed mushrooms, stuffed clams, etc.

When it was time to open presents I was so excited. Well I was excited to live through the kids. They had a blast tearing through presents and unwrapping the insane amount of gifts that they each received.

Ava truly loves her cousins and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her rocking her little cousin Amelia in her little rocker.

It was such a fun night and went by way too fast.

Christmas morning was hands down my FAVORITE moment of the year.

When Ava woke up we told her Santa came, she got excited and started to walk down the stairs.

She bent down and looked at the tree, smiled, looked at us and started listing some of the big toys she got that she could see (that were unwrapped). She tried to move faster down the stairs and almost fell.. luckily she caught herself.

When she saw all the presents she couldn’t hold back her smile. It took her a while to get through all her presents because each one she opened she wanted to play with for a while.

It was such a fun morning that when we looked at the clock and it said 12pm we were shocked. It was time for my parents to arrive and for us to have some Christmas lunch and open more presents!

The day flew by and we enjoyed each other’s company. To be honest the rest of the day I didn’t take a single picture. I put my phone to the side and just enjoyed living in the moment with my family. It was PERFECT and a great ending to Christmas.

To continue our celebrations a little longer, we had a friends christmas party yesterday.

It was so much fun to hang out, chat with my friends, and of course see the kids open some gifts!

Do you have kids? Were they excited to see what was under the tree?

What was your favorite gift?

Today we celebrate & give Thanks for “the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.”

As usual the weekend flew by. I felt like I never sat down until Sunday afternoon when I started to do computer work.

Friday we went to Stamford Nature Center with some friends to visit the farm with our kids. It was fun to see how excited Ava was when she saw all the animals she reads about in her books.

She loved the cows/ox

Horses

Pigs

It was fun and even better to have a playdate outside during the fall.

Saturday morning we got up early, took Cooper for a long walk, headed to the YMCA for Ava’s soccer kick & play class and then I trained one of my clients at their house.

Marc unfortunately had to work on Saturday afternoon, so I hung out with Ava during the day. I did my 21 day fix Dirty 30 workout while she napped, she ended up waking up half way through my workout so I had to improvise and break up my workout but I did it!

We also did a little shopping and before I knew it, it was time to head to one of my friends 30th birthday parties.

It was a fun night and a late one!

Lets just say I didn’t want to move when Ava woke up at 545am I made her get back in bed with me because I needed more sleep. I’m thankful she let me sleep another 45 minutes!

Sunday was my day of relaxation. After a long busy week I felt like I finally got the chance to kick my feet up and do nothing. Sometimes thats amazing right?

I caught up on laundry, cleaning, computer work, and lounged on the couch watching TV. I rarely sit around and watch TV so that was nice!

We had Sunday dinner with my family and relaxed all night.

How was your weekend?

Did you do anything fun?

I figured I would do a quick photo recap of my Best friend Lauren’s Wedding weekend:

Thursday night we had a beautiful rehearsal dinner at Knapp’s Landing Restaurant in Stratford, CT.

It was a pretty night to be outside on the water!

Friday morning my friends and I were up early and out on the road to head up to the hair salon to get wedding ready.

I loved how my hair came out!

The day ran smoothly and before we knew it we were getting dressed.

The limo picked us up around 4pm and we headed to the ceremony at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven, CT.

The ceremony was beautiful and I couldn’t hold back my happy tears as Lauren and her soon to be husband Sebastian read their vows to each other.

It was an amazing ceremony!

and I’m so glad we got to enjoy the view outside on the water!

We had fun in the bridal suite!

The rest of the evening was spent dancing, eating, laughing, and taking lots of fun pictures with my friends and family.

My mom and I striking a pose on the dance floor!

Thank goodness for selfies because Marc and I snapped a million

This was a group shot of my best friends and their parents!

I couldn’t be happier for Lauren and Sebastian, it was a wedding I will never forget!

(I took so many pictures so I’m sure I will post some more throughout the week!)

I hate to see summer go, but the slightly cooler temps have been beautiful. I love fall and I’m looking forward to fall activities.

This weekend was full of fun stuff so I wanted to share a quick photo recap with you:

Friday afternoon Ava and I took a quick afternoon trip to the beach.

She didn’t want to get out of the water and had a blast playing in the sand.

and EATING the sand. Can you tell by that nasty face?

Saturday morning we took a long walk, went to Ava’s soccer practice and then hung out until Marc’s parents arrived.

I had a baby shower in the afternoon. It was fun to catch up with some friends and enjoy some yummy eats.

Speaking of food I ate this for dinner.

Sunday was a lazy day for us. Well not really we took a 30 minute walk in the morning, but once we got home we all just felt like laying around and watching TV. That’s rare, but I didn’t mind it.

In the afternoon we had a 1 year old Birthday party for my best friend Shannon’s daughter.

There were tons of fun kid activities, lots of food, and football for the guys.

It was a fun day and a great way to end the weekend!

How was your weekend?

Did you do anything fun?

We spent the day hanging out with Marc’s family. The weather ended up turning out to be great and it never rained so we got to hang outside and play in the pool.

There’s something so relaxing about RI to me. I guess 1. it’s vacation 2. it’s my home away from home so I’m comfortable.

Saturday night we did take out from Trattoria Romana.

I ordered Chicken Fiorentina which was chicken with prosciutto, mozzarella & spinach in a marsala wine. It was delicious!

Sunday Ava got to play with her cousin Natalie practically all day long.

It’s so fun to watch them hang out, Ava definitely learns a lot from her big cousin.

In the afternoon both of Marc’s grandma’s came over and we got to see his Aunt & Uncle whom we LOVE spending time with.

It was a great afternoon and we truly do miss seeing them!

These two made me smile a TON.

Sunday evening Marc’s dad cooked us a wonderful dinner as usual. He is such an amazing cook and it’s practically effortless to him. We had BBQ Pulled pork, Grilled Chicken, Bean Salad, and Tomato & Cucumber salad.

YUM I love summer food.

Monday was a rainy day so we did some shopping.

Once the weather cleared up we went to the park.

I spy a dog on the playground!

It was such a great weekend with our family and now we are back home and ready to spend some days around Greenwich at the beach! I can’t wait

How was your weekend?

Have you ever been to Rhode Island? 

Seriously this weekend flew by in the blink of an eye and I can’t say I was happy for it to already be Monday. I love my job but I just don’t know how it’s Monday so soon.

I guess our weekend was filled with fun activities that made the days fly!

Here’s a quick photo recap of our fun weekend!

Saturday morning we went for a family walk to Dunkin Donuts because Ava by accidentally cracked our coffee pot… but any excuse to get an iced coffee is fine by me

Shortly after we went to a friends Country Club in Greenwich to swim in the pool for the morning. We also ate lunch. I’m so thankful for our invite, it was so fun and Ava had a blast! (no pictures because phones aren’t allowed at the pool) I am a huge fan of this because I was able to relax and truly enjoy the beautiful weather and our time together.

In the afternoon we headed to my friend Danielle’s 30th Birthday Pool Party!!

We had so much fun enjoying being outside and celebrating together

We each had a special cup to have our cocktails in! They were so cute. Danielle and I have been friends for 25 years so being able to celebrate with her on her 30th was way too fun and super special.

It was truly a beautiful day full of laughs and good times.

 On Sunday Ava surprised me with an early wake up call of  5am. It’s usually her punishment for Marc and I leaving her for the night. She’s like “I’ll get you back”.. just kidding.

Anyways I wasn’t happy to be up at 5am, but I managed to be productive. I did food prep, made us a delicious breakfast, we took Cooper for a long walk, I made a grocery list, we went grocery shopping, I went to the gym, buybuybaby, and we cooked a delicious Salmon dinner at home. SOOOO I guess it’s okay that I got up early.

She entertained us all day by being her spunky full of energy self. This picture is blurry because she’s waving at the camera!

I’m pretty sure this is my favorite picture from the weekend. Ava’s laughing holding a bone for Cooper to chew on. They LOVE each other.

How was your weekend? mine was too much fun, I’m sad its over.

Are you a beach or Pool Person? I love the beach for relaxation…. but I love the pool too.. I dunno it’s a tie!

I have lots of photos to share with you from my best friend’s wedding weekend. I will try to keep it short and sweet because I really could go on and on about my friend Megan and her new husband Mike. They truly are a perfect match for each other.

Friday night the wedding weekend kicked off with a quick rehearsal at St. Mary’s Church on Greenwich Avenue. The priest was awesome and the rehearsal was simple! We headed to Fairways At The Griff for a rehearsal dinner.

The food was AMAZING as usual and they had a slideshow of Megan & Mike that literally made my eyes water. I have known Megan since I was 3, and we lived 5 houses apart practically our whole life so I vividly remember all the photos!

It was a great rehearsal and I enjoyed laughing the night away with my best friends!

I even managed to snap a picture of Marc and myself (that never happens)!

Saturday morning I woke up nice and early and started the day with my normal routine, coffee, a walk with Cooper, breakfast, a quick workout, and shower before heading to the “bride’s house” for the day to get ready for the wedding.

The hairdressers did such a wonderful job making all the bridesmaids look beautiful

before we knew it we were off to the church!

The day really couldn’t have gone any smoother.

We arrived at the church right on time and waited for guests to fill the church!

After church we took some pictures outside.

The sun was shining and it was a perfect day to be outside!

We also took some beautiful pictures outside of the venue before cocktail hour.

At 5pm we headed to cocktail hour to enjoy some lovely cocktails and appetizers on the water at the Stamford Nature Center. It was such a unique and fun way to celebrate.

The cocktail hour was outside over looking the lake.

Here are the 5 of our men!

My friend Lauren and her soon to be husband Sebastian

My best friends….

My husband!

The centerpieces outside!

After appetizers and drinks we headed inside.

The nature center is truly a unique and memorable venue!

The large mansion held tons of guests and we had fun dancing the night away!

Megan and Mike are probably 2 of the most genuine, caring, and thoughtful people I have ever met and I couldn’t be happier for them both!

Congrats to the new Mr & Mrs Fina!

What’s your favorite part of a wedding? I love seeing the groom’s face as the bride walks down the aisle! It’s such a special moment.

Have you ever been to a unique wedding venue, if so where? This was hands down one of the most unique wedding I have been to and I wish I snapped more pictures so you guys could see all the details!