Dana Burland

I’m sitting in our living room looking at our walls dotted with paint samples and ALL the snow outside. It almost feels like we never left for a holiday break. We spent four days across the state with family, enjoying Cameron’s first holiday season. We met a brand new friend baby Allison, Ben was hit hard and bounced back from a 24-hour flu and we spent lots of time giggling over Cam’s squawky “talk”, toe sucking and generally happy demeanor. When we returned home we were semi surprised by our own fast and furious painting efforts prior to getting out of town. In a night last week we painted the last two bedrooms so they could fume out while we were out of town. While the front part of the house has paint samples everywhere it was fun to feel the satisfaction that the back part of the house is done and feels like ours. It’s bitterly cold in Grand Rapids this week. The below 0 to mid-teen temps combined with a need for a bit of a gut clean out from holiday food binging inspired me...

Happy, happy holidays! This holiday season can be summed up nicely by what you see, and don’t see, in our holiday photo this year. What you see is a happy family in our new house with our best new addition. Look at that sweet little bald boy playing his “who, me?” role perfectly. He really lets us get away with so many antics. He’s the very best boy. What you don’t see is pure exhaustion on behalf of both these pictured parents from that sweet little (at the time) three month old and from moving into that previously mentioned new house. I had a few other bigger and bolder ideas for our holiday card this year but decided on this set up because man, we just needed a quick and easy win. Usually I break out my cheap tripod, set my phone on a self timer and take our holiday picture myself. This year I had a friend coming to take nice photos of us and I figured she’d have the best luck getting a shot with Cam looking at the cam, so I had her do it. And it worked! Our cute boy l...

How, Buster Brown, are we here already?! I say this every time. I mean it every time. This past month has been so fun. Cam is more vocal, we can tell a lot from his inflection. He’s grabbing, reaching and gaining more hand control as evident by how he can spin some of his spinny toys. His neck strength is A+, he can roll from stomach to back and just this past weekend has added “toes” to the list of things that go straight in his mouth. Ben and I have to carry him like a little balled hedgehog now because he’s got those toes in his hands at all times. Several days ago we got our first BIG belly laugh from him. He grins plenty but he really reserves the big laughs for high humor stuff. We’ve started solid foods and he’s doing great! He’s enjoying looking at Christmas lights, all the snow outside, watching me cook in the kitchen and sitting up right in his little lion chair. He’s just the best boy. The very best boy. Likes BEN. All Ben, all the time. He’ll follow h...

Woo hoo! My brother is a graduated Physical Therapist Assistant! E has been working his tail off this past year (and let's be honest the year before that too) in an ultra intense physical therapy assistant program. He's had homework on top of homework on top of exams and presentations and practicals and clinicals and state wide exams and so many other things I hardly understand. It's been a year's worth of REALLY hard work, sacrifices and insane amounts of patience. I'm super, super, came-dangerously-close-to-crying-at-his-very-quick-and-informal-grad-ceremony proud of him. I know he's found the work he's meant to be doing, and I'm so thrilled for him. Go Uncle E!  

Here’s something I regret not doing in our last house: I didn’t make a house binder. This would have been handy when I couldn’t find the paint color I needed to touch up wall scuffs in Cameron’s room. Or when I called the wrong pest control company because I lost the number to the original place. The former owners of our current house left us a ton of great info--manuals for appliances, business cards for trusted lawn care companies, details of paint colors. The other day I was looking for that paint color by room list and almost couldn’t find it. How stupid would it have been to lose such a helpful list? This is why I house bindered. Currently in our house binder is basic info like the year the house was built/our move in date, neighbor’s names and phone numbers, business cards for people/companies we like, our garbage company’s pick up schedule and of course paint color/finish info. I could see adding other good-to-know stuff like age of appliances, to-do lists by season ...

With a 1.5 month old wrapped to my chest and a baseball hat covering my non-washed hair I walked through a house Ben said we absolutely needed to look at. That house is now our house; the biggest reason being it’s in such great shape it needs no immediate attention from two tired new parents. Howeverrrrr… there are things we want to do around here. We’re in no rush, but here’s what’s on our mind and what’s in progress: The Fixtures We’re slowly replacing all gold door knobs/hinges, light switches, light fixtures and ceiling fans. Ben has one sconce down, two ceiling fans up and hardware on two doors swapped. If you squint in the right direction you can see that modern look we’re aiming for start to take shape. Paint When one is married to an expert painter, why would you not paint all the rooms? We have three paint colors chosen thus far and one room 80% painted. That’s pretty good so far! Demo! The upstairs fireplace is very much not our style. So much so that upon putti...

Looking to give a gift to your favorite 4-month old this holiday season? Here's what Cameron is hoping to find under the Christmas tree or next to the menorah this year: Empty candy wrappers So many patterns, so much crinkly noise, so much fun. Noses These face knobs are so great for grabbing! Ceiling fans Spinny, relaxing, confusing, delightful. Chew toys Could it be made for a dog? Who cares! Putting things in my mouth is da bomb. Lights--all varieties Track lighting. Wall lighting. Colorful twinkly lights. Lights outside. Gotta love them all. Dangling things Like toys in the jungle gym. Or better yet, Mom's hair. Invites to all holiday parties With a massive case of FOMO (fear of missing out) a invite to every holiday party in the state would be greatly appreciated. What else is a plaid button up onesie good for if you don't have a party to show it off at?

This was my 10th (!) year in a row running the Detroit Turkey Trot. I wish I didn’t know this because if I ever didn’t do it, it would feel so wrong. If I’m being honest, though, getting up that early and standing at the starting line in the cold rarely feels right. Each year I had a different goal, fitness level, person I was running with, etc. For the heck of it here’s what my last 10 Thanksgiving mornings looked like: 2008: 10K in 1:03 2009: 10K in 58:33 2010: 10K in 1:02 2011 : 10K in 59:12 2012 : 10K in 1:03 2013 : 5K in 30:06 2014 : 10K in 1:21 2015 : 10K in 51:39 2016 : 10K in 1:01 2017: 5K in 33:00 This year did not go as I hoped. I wanted to feel strong in my first race post baby. But that baby, plus getting sick (several times), plus moving meant something had to give and unfortunately that was my training. Such is life. I did run the whole 5K and it felt nice and hard and awful and great all at the same time. Post trot we had a blast taking Cameron ...

Four whole months! Cam seems so big and so little at the same. At four months he talks so much more, grabs more including his toes, rolls more and is making more sense of everything around him. Cameron is a happy, social boy very eager to be where people are. He’s quite independent, too. He can entertain himself for quite a bit just quietly and contently. We’re back into a nice sleep routine of one wake up a night compared to a few weeks ago when he was waking up almost hourly. He’s all about self soothing with his thumb and is showing more interest in objects around him by way of sticking whatever he can grab in his mouth. He’s rolling onto his side more and more--heaving his legs up for momentum. One night I found him sleeping on his stomach (!!) with a tiny arm propped under his head as a pillow. He has MUCH more head strength than a few weeks ago and lifts his chest off the ground during tummy time. He likes: Cause and effect games: repeating our movements as we make...

We've been in our new house for just a few weeks now, but it mostly feels like home. I think all our stuff  being here and also quickly settling into our routines (which is key with baby in the mix) has helped. Our old house didn't really feel like it was ours until we made it that way. We painted and fixed up and really spent a lot of time making it what we wanted. We'll do the same with the new house over time (though thankfully it doesn't need nearly the same amount of love). I'm really proud of our house on Abigail Street, especially of how it photographed for our listing. In case you want to see, here's our first home: (Click through the images to see the slideshow)

I just realized I never posted Cameron’s three month update. Sigh. Well he’s still under four months, so better late than never. At three months Cameron is curious and social. He’s constantly wide-eyed examining the world around him. If something is happening in a different room he’s desperate to be there. The women at daycare agree—he’s got FOMO (fear of missing out). He’s also very social and friendly. He’ll let just about anyone hold him and is pretty liberal in flashing gummy smiles especially to people he recognizes. He giggles in his sleep occasionally but is still holding out on giving me the alert giggles I’m looking for. A few weeks ago he found his thumb and has been all about it ever since. He’ll suck his thumb to put himself to sleep or to calm down when upset. Both are great, especially when it means he can self-soothe in the middle of the night. Go Cam! I can already see how daycare has made him more confident and independent. He does a great job playing on his ...

I can’t stress enough how over the top pumped I was for Halloween this year. In years past it’s been a oooh, fun! holiday, but this year? Cameron’s first? I couldn’t handle my excitement. In the days leading up I kept catching myself thinking— should I be making crescent roll hot dog mummies ? Should we string orange lights from our front porch? Should I be hallowing out a pumpkin and carving out leg holes to plop our little pumpkin in? In the end I was too busy, and perhaps too scatter brained, to go overboard. I did, however, subject Cameron to wearing his costume for many more hours than necessary. I can’t help it, he was SUCH an adorable moose. And really, he did party hard on his first Halloween anyway. Over the span of 3 days he was in (cough, slept through) his daycare’s Halloween parade, he visited both my and Ben’s work places in costume, he went out trick-or-treating to meet two different neighbors and he got to see the big kids in costume as we passed out candy...

Lest it seem like our move to a new home with a 3-month-old was easy breezy—let me fill in the gap with a short story. I tried real hard not to order anything online during the middle of our move. Who wants a package going to the wrong house, or to the wrong person, or to the right house in a neighborhood where you don’t yet know where said package will be left. But aforementioned 3-month-old makes getting to local stores tough if not sometimes downright impossible feeling, and recently I had a very serious need for additional nursing bras—stat. I’ll just be reallllll careful about filling out “shipping address” correctly, I thought. It doesn’t have to go wrong, I thought. But it did. I’m 80% certain there’s a package waiting at our old house for the new homeowner who is a 30-something-year-old single man. I’m 100% certain that package is something he won’t quite consider a useful housewarming gift. Dang.

The previous owners of our new house lived here for 20 years. So, understandably, they tricked the place out to meet their needs. Tricks which, inevitably, do not at all meet our needs. One small (but mighty) case in point: motion detection lights in the bathrooms. I get this in theory--no movement means no person means no need for light so no light stays on. You know, for energy savings and what not. But do you know how often one is stationary, thus not tripping off a motion detector in a bathroom? Often. Like when you shower, or actually GO to the bathroom for a while, or while you put on your makeup or pluck your eyebrows or sit on the floor at 3am pumping out milk for your child which leads to a scene where you must frantically wave a hand every 60 seconds to keep from sitting in pure darkness. At least one of those examples applies to everybody. Why motion detection bathroom lights!? Why!?

When racing in the pool my coaches always told me to put my head down and drive home to the finish. The last few seconds aren’t the time to peek at your competitors--or, even worse, to glimpse at the time on the scoreboard. I operate the same way under stress: head down, get to the finish, come up for air later. On one hand I get. stuff. done. But the result is that I’m worn way, way down by the end of it. When moving week arrived I went into my standard overdrive. I packed our entire kitchen. I carried boxes probably too heavy for me. I unpacked with such focus I hardly stopped to eat. On Friday I was in the middle of a marathon kitchen shelf liner cutting session when my dad called. My great uncle--who treated me more like a granddaughter, who in his early 90s flirted with the bridesmaids at my wedding, who drove cars across the state for Enterprise until a few weeks ago--passed away. At 96 Uncle Hy lived a long and mostly healthy life, but somehow it seems like not long eno...

A few weeks ago we moved Cameron to sleep in his own room. Prior to that his room was mostly a “monument” to him—a space we mostly used to dream about the future with him. His room, like all the rooms in our small house, are treasure troves of memories. Like our office we built desks for only to find the completed tables almost didn’t fit through the doorway. Or the dining room where I sat with sticky notes making our wedding seating chart. Or our living room where we watched the 2015 Super Bowl on inflatable air mattresses because we had just moved in and didn’t have a couch yet. I can’t believe we’re already saying goodbye to our first home. While we knew we wouldn’t be here forever, I didn’t think we’d be on to our forever home so fast. But we are. And it’s wonderful! How lucky/blessed/fortunate/all the very, very good things we are. I mean, honestly, we’ve had a season of SO many good things. Healthy baby. Beautiful new house. Quickly sold current house. We’ve really cashe...

Ben had a VERY important Michigan/Michigan State game to attend on Saturday, so while he was away Cameron and I hung out with Bushi and Uncle E. We mostly spent the weekend loving on Cameron, which is by far my favorite and most skilled hobby these days. We also went down to ArtPrize to scope out the top rated pieces. Was there not as good of stuff this year? Or was the good stuff just not in the typical locations? I don’t know. I do know that in total I spent maybe five hours ArtPrizing so my recaps (http://dbur023.blogspot.com/2017/09/aunt-uncle-and-babys-first-artprize.html) are by no means comprehensive. We did see the red dirt rug, a HUGE and incredibly intricate “rug” shaped and stamped from loose Oklahoma red dirt. This is loose dirt, and super fine. Isn’t it beautiful? I think, given the limited stuff I saw this year, this is my pick for best piece this year.

Cameron is napping in his crib as I write this. He usually takes a morning and afternoon nap—unless one doesn’t happen or one is crazy long or if he passed out during a long walk. Sometimes he falls asleep on his own and sometimes I need the soothie, a swaddle or a 11-hour long YouTube video of a fan playing to help him doze off. You’d be surprised how many very long white noise YouTube videos exist. And thank god for them. I’ve learned so many ways to bond, care and play with my little boy over our almost three months home together. I’ve watched him grow from a six pound bundle of jerky newborn movements to a squishy 12 pound smiley boy full of spunk and joy. And I’ve grown too—from a frazzled new mom who hesitated to leave him unsupervised for a bathroom break, to a frazzled new mom who laughs from the bathroom when crying starts while yelling back “you’re ok, one minute please!” Sometimes I didn’t love my maternity leave. We had some long C- days. (I usually give Ben a repo...

Despite having only missed one (I think?) ArtPrize, I was more than prepared to skip this year. I thought it would be too much with this little boy on my hands, but my sister and brother-in-law were in town to meet him and I was too thrilled to show him, Grand Rapids and ArtPrize off. Sidenote. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—there aren’t words for how much I love introducing Cameron to new people. Regan and Martin were a doting aunt and uncle duo, reading him stories, giving him “bouncy legs” to calm him and socializing/cooking for us. Anyway, we sweat our way through ArtPrize for 2-3 hours (dictated by baby’s schedule) in the unseasonably nasty heat and humidity. We saw some cool stuff and a lot more “meh” stuff, but such is the case in the first week of ArtPrize when word has yet to spread about where the treasures are. We hit a lot of the big spots—Gerald R. Ford Museum, the art museum, Amway Hotel, DeVos Convention Center—and snaked across the bridges and the publi...

Things change at the speed of light over here. Onesies that once fit are now too small and being retired. New toys (all music all the time) have come out. The 900 different sleeping arrangements we tried as new, freaked out parents have gone away for a new routine that works for everyone. And our little boy, well he just seems to shine brighter ever day. At two months old Cameron is super expressive. From his fat-bottom-lip-pout to his full gummy mouth grin we’re seeing new emotion from him and getting lots smiles! We're getting better each day at reading what his cries and noises mean and feel like we're somewhat fluent in baby language now. He’s desperately trying to suck his thumb, but man is it a hard digit to locate. Based on the attempts I’m guessing he’ll be right handed (just like mom). His neck strength has increased a ton, he’ll keep his head up and look all around when he’s chest to chest with us. He’s also quite fond of trying to climb up us with his legs like...

When the dad is away, the girls will play. While Ben was on a work trip earlier this week my mom—a.k.a. Bushi—came into town. It’s so nice to have company during long stretches of solo parenting. I could eat meals, use the bathroom, shower and go for a run when I wanted to thanks to her extra set of hands. It felt like a vacation! And then there’s the pure joy of getting to see someone who loves Cameron get to spend time in person loving on him. We took him out shopping and to lunch, and spent plenty of time cuddling and soothing and giggling with him. Does a mom ever tire of hearing how cute, sweet and wonderful her baby is? This mom doesn’t.

Six weeks ago six week could fly by unnoticed. I’d go to sleep in March and wake up wondering how it was almost May. Today it’s almost September. Six weeks ago I had no idea what this September would look like. Now we’ve made it here. To be honest I’m not tracking time in months right now. Every day feels incredibly similar from the last with little hints of change as Cameron develops. It’s like a treadmill where the speed and incline kick up slowly without me knowing it. Somewhere in the blur of the last six weeks we started getting gummy smiles. Cam may be too young to doll them out with purpose, but when he makes eye contact and beams it’s all the currency these hard working parents need. As time goes by his curled in frog legs and folded in arms are quickly learning about the air around him. Now he’ll spring off us when we hold him as if he’s set on climbing a mountain, and he waves his arms around wildly trying to make sense of bumps and sounds. We’re watching his person...

One of my favorite, favorite things is to see other people love on our little boy. This past weekend my family was in town to do just that. We spent hours and hours in our living room all gathered around him cooing at his cuteness and giggling over his every little move. Bushi, G-pa and Uncle E gave him lots of love and cuddles. They played with him on his playmat jungle gym, cheered him on during tummy time, helped him soothe away his cries, cuddled him when slept and held his hands. We have a few more visitors coming in the next couple weeks. I can’t wait!

How are we here already? How is this itty bitty baby filling out and filling in to his personality? BRB, taking a break to eat a cookie and cry. Ok, I’m back. Let’s get to it. At one month old Cameron is an expressive, squirmy and strong little boy. He’ll lift his head up while on our chests and has enough leg strength to scoot himself around during tummy time. He waves his arms around like a conductor, makes eye contact with people, tracks objects visually and is “talking” more every day. He loves cuddling on his parents but isn’t stranger shy either. He naps for 30 minutes to an hour a couple times a day, sleeps in lovely 3-4 hour stretches at night and lives in a constant sure-I-could-eat mode. I love his stretching routine when he’s freed from his swaddle after a snooze. He has faint blonde eyebrows near impossible to see making his curious and mad faces pretty funny. We’ve caught him cooing, sighing, squeaking and giggling in his sleep. He likes: being wrapped up ...

From meal deliveries to gifts, diaper drop offs to yard work assistance, house cleaning help to email/text check-ins, we’ve been wonderfully spoiled with new baby support and love from family and friends. Living through the whirlwind of bringing a newborn home has me thinking about all this and other ways to help out new parents. Here are some ideas and tips for showering a new parent you may know with love. Food Ready to go meals have been a huge help to us. I’ve especially appreciated meals that include fruit and vegetables. At one point our fridge was packed, but now that’s dwindling a bit. If you want to gift new parents with food consider bringing something over 2-4 weeks out and including things like wine, coffee, lactation cookies and easy-to-grab snacks. Your presence Are you free to go on a walk with mom and baby? Can you hold and rock a drowsy newborn while mom takes a break? I look forward to visitors just for the sake of adult company. So many of our friends and fa...

My days with a newborn are vastly different than they were B.C. (before Cameron), but they’re also rewarding and fun. There’s no routine but here’s what my typical day on maternity leave looks like. 3am Cameron is hungry. Ben has been on the “night shift” and is finishing his second bottle feed and putting Cameron back to bed. Then we’ll switch and Ben will get some uninterrupted snoozing hours while I’ll pump for a half hour then fall back asleep myself. 6:30am Cameron is hungry. I feed him then change him then he chills with Ben for an hour. I shower taking stock of my new stretch marks, unexplainable left eye rash, new oily skin and other labor related wounds. I make myself breakfast and lunch, the latter goes in the fridge so I can grab it fast later. 8am Ben gets ready for work. Cameron and I watch Good Morning America, and by “watch” I mean I entertain him with one hand while feeding myself breakfast with the other. 9am Cameron is hungry. I feed him then change him th...

My boss—who lives and works in France—sent over onesies for C before he was born. The French text on them translates to “little boat in complete freedom”. A free little boat is exactly what this babe is, I’ll tell you. While this parenting a newborn thing is not without frustrations I do love that he’s wildly free to eat, snooze, play and snuggle whenever he wants. Total freedom. This weekend I pushed myself and my little boat to get out on the town. Saturday I wanted to go to the farmer’s market but a fit in the car meant downgrading to a coffee/grocery run and walk in a town closer to home. Sunday we had a mostly successful Target trip, except for a rough ride home. Despite the challenges we made it on the other side of both those events better, wiser and bolder for even trying. I definitely don’t have complete freedom these days, but man I sure do love my adorable little boat.

Today is Cameron’s two week birth day and our fifth day with him home. Cameron is a mostly calm and content little boy. He sleeps for three to four hour stretches and feeds ferociously. Sometimes he gets in a fussy spell but he’s so dang cute even mid-sob it’s hard to get too angry at him. Ben and I have settled into a good nighttime routine taking shifts “on duty”. Thanks to this snoozy babe we’re both managing to clock enough sleeping hours to function the next day. Today was my first day home solo with him. Late last week that idea felt terrifying, but I feel more confident being this little guy’s mom with every day under my belt. Today, dare I say, felt empowering. In theory newborn care is easy—feed, clean, burp, lay to nap, repeat. The challenge comes in decoding a big ugly cry or getting a bathroom/food break when you want one. Ben and I look at each other often and say: “We’re doing it! We’re doing it!” We’re still pretty thrilled this little boy has joined our family...

Last summer Ben and I transferred a Rose of Sharon bush from one corner of our backyard to another. When we left for the hospital on Tuesday it was green and quiet, but when we returned home Thursday night all its flowers were wide open in beautiful bloom. Now that Cameron is here, everything feels different in a way I can’t explain. Maybe our backyard flowering bush gets it. The last few days have been a beautiful whirlwind. We shockingly quickly and thankfully uneventfully welcomed Cameron Asher into the world Tuesday, July 18 at 5:07PM. That morning I went for a walk solo, felt my first contraction during a 10am conference call, called Ben to come home from work at 11am and was in active labor in the hospital by noon. We both ate hospital cafeteria cheeseburgers in our recovery room with Cameron snoozing in a bassinet by our side by dinner time. We, along with our awesome nurses and doctor and doula, were shocked at the speed of it all. Live on the “other side” has started...

Lately Ben has been tapping on my belly trying to coax Bub out. He’s excited and I’m excited, but I also remind him—not yet, he’s not ready. I’ve had this hunch he’s coming on July 24th. He seems too settled in there and heck, in the last three weeks I’ve settled in feeling almost the best I have yet in this pregnancy. All of this peace and (dare I say) comfort wouldn’t just come to an end so abruptly, right? Today I didn’t feel nearly as great. Something felt different and I got nervous. Maybe we’re a few days, instead of a week and a half, away? I’m not as confident in my original hunch of the 24th now. I stopped by the fire department for a car seat safety check. A volunteer showed me how to load a baby doll into my car seat, securing the harness safely. I’m not going to lie to you, blog reader, and tell you I’ve loved being pregnant. I’ve had an easy go of it but I haven't loved lots not limited to needing a rolling start to get off the couch or bathroom breaks ...

In lieu of summer travelin’ we spent our 4th of July weekend adventuring around town. I can’t remember which day we did what—which I’m sure is a direct correlation to holiday weekend success—but here’s a rough recap of our long lazy days. We made lots of big breakfasts and went out afterward on long neighborhood walks. Once upon a time I got a thrill out of seeing Ben struggle more than me on a run/bike ride together. While that hasn’t happened in a long time, I’m pleased to report I did tire him out on a few of our epic walks! We went on a spontaneous date night (a soon-to-be endangered phrase/activity) to San Chez for fancy Spanish tapas. On their back deck we talked about our trip to Europe , Ben’s five year work-aversary and (of course) about Bub. Also, I had a really great virgin mojito that made me briefly consider smuggling a bottle of wine into the hospital for a post delivery celebration. One morning we strolled through the Fulton Street Farmer’s Market and picked up wha...

Oh baby is right. I came dangerously close to crying at work today. A conference room of lovely work friends gateshead on my behalf to celebrate and shower me and Bub with love. There were snacks, treats, drinks, a baby shower playlist, gifts, games, laughs and two of my overseas coworkers connected via video conference. I’m not so great at being showered. I don’t love being fussed over and find even a small group’s worth of attention overwhelming. But dang it if it didn’t feel good to be reminded of all the circles of people cheering for me, Ben and Bub so passionately. Let me remember this on that first, fourth and thirtieth sleepless night waiting for me.

We’ve wrapped up pre-baby prep work which means I’ve had more time to think about post-baby prep. I know thinking about dinner with a new baby will be a struggle, so I’ve prepped food we can grab fast once “the apocalypse” hits. A lot of freezer meals on Pinterest are, to be frank, kinda crap. I've seen mostly casseroles, 900 variations of chicken or CrockPot meals—and while I heart my CrockPot, it still involves mental prep, waiting for cook time, and ew cleaning. Some of these meals I’ve made and delivered to new mom friends before. All of them are yummy, healthy-ish, high-protein and fast grab options for a friend who needs food love or to stock for whatever upcoming “apocalypse” might be on your own horizon. Beef Burritos Brown ground beef, drain the fat, add taco seasoning and water and simmer for 20ish minutes until the beef is soft. Add a finely chopped onion and bell pepper in the last few minutes of cooking. Once the meat is done, put a couple spoonfuls on a tortill...

What it looks like when weekends as you know it are about to change… While Ben was away this past weekend on a boy’s trip, my mom came into town to keep me company. We shopped at the farmer’s market and downtown market (gimmie more of that Madcap coffee milkshake!), explored new construction in Grand Rapids, wandered around the Bizarre Bazar art fair in Eastown and tried out a few new-to-my-mom restaurants. The weather was perfect for lots of walking and with that and this six pound babe I got protruding in front of me I easily conked right out at the end of each night. Ben reported back that his guy’s weekend was equally successful—you know, swap the shopping and coffee milkshakes for beach volleyball shenanigans and beer drinking. He made it back home on Sunday tan, tired and with several big boxes in tow. Turns out Bub’s “uncles” are real excited to meet him, and want to ensure he’s properly diapered and happy. Ben is the first in his friend group to be expecting a ba...

This weekend was full of little celebrations. My neighbor Kate threw me and our little soon-to-be-here baby a beautiful shower on Saturday. She’s got great style and good taste so of course her decorations and yummy brunch were top notch. It was too sweet to be loved on by coworkers and friends. I came home with baskets of adorable little boy clothes, toys and gear. It still feels strange sometimes getting ready for the unknown but man are his little treasures stocked away in his dresser and closet adorable. Today is Ben’s first almost Father’s Day. He got a “I’m the force that awakens you” Star Wars themed onesie in honor of the day, plus a tasty breakfast and dinner and an afternoon of grad school studying—hey, you can’t win ‘em all.

Any friend of mine who gets engaged promptly receives a omg-yay! package from me with a copy of “ A Practical Wedding ”. That book was great in centering my planning on our relationship and marriage versus shiny things and who should have to sit next to cousin Ken*. *Cousin Ken’s name has been changed to protect the innocent yet annoying. Now any friend who gets pregnant promptly receives a omg-yay! package plus “ Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn ”. Our doula loaned us this book and its eased our fears and informed/empowered us more so than the other books we bought. Beyond that book, here are a few other must-haves (for me) that I’d recommend: Clothes - The BumpStart Motherhood Maternity line - Old Navy maternity jeans/shorts - Fitted stretch maternity dresses - Croc flats Nothing knocks your confidence while you’re expanding like a HGTV show house than clothes that don’t fit. The BumpStart line at Motherhood Maternity sells sets of plain t-shirts and leggings great...

At my last doctor’s appointment my doctor told me to stay pregnant until week 35— “then you can do whatever you want.” Well here we are, 35 weeks today, in official whatever-I-want territory. Whatever-I-want is such a strange thought right now. Whatever-I-want is to wrap up this pregnancy adventure—skip the last five weeks of constantly feeling like I just dismounted my bike from a 10-hour ride and to be done with bathroom breaks every 15 minutes. Whatever-I-want is to be in our next chapter—to be past with the unknowns of labor and to meet the little guy who has been growing, kicking, stretching and karate chopping my internal organs. Whatever-I-want is also to stay right here in this spot—this spot where the discomfort and practice Braxton Hicks contractions I’ve been feeling are no big deal. This spot where Bub’s wild man in-the-womb antics remind me he’s safe and healthy, and where my body seems to know exactly how to care for him. This spot where the life and love Ben a...

Currently it’s NeoCon season for Steelcase. NeoCon is one of the biggest design conferences for commercial interior design. We have a big presence at the Chicago show every June—a swanky showroom promoting new research, new product and new thinking on existing product. For the web team I’m on the start of NeoCon marks the end of our busiest season. The new research, product and campaigns we tout at the event need various amouts of web content to support them. Even existing web content gets a facelift before the show. It’s all hands on deck to make sure our website shines. Here are a few NeoCon related web projects I worked on this year. Umami Lounge Seating This lounge product is a big part of our showroom this year. I worked with the product marketing team and design vendor to build the page using layouts that made the most sense for the copy and imagery. We were aiming to organize the content and images in a distinct way to tell a story about Umami’s modularity/custom confi...

I remember our wedding day two years ago so vividly. How fun and loved and in love and celebrated/rallied around we felt. Man, everyone should get that more often. But it’s been more like five years of being a pair in love doing each other’s laundry, tagging along on shopping excursions where someone is after a specific button up shirt that doesn’t exist on the planet, kindly putting up with someone else’s mustard hoarding tendencies even when it takes over the fridge and in general riding through all life’s little and big adventures with. I’m thrilled every day, not just on May 30, that Ben is my person. Happy, happy anniversary to us. I have a feeling the next one is going to be even wilder.

This past weekend I spent up north getting in some short but fun family time. Saturday was the annual 50 mile bike race (http://dbur023.blogspot.com/2016/05/zdm-6.html) I typically take part in. This year I happily left the riding to my dad and brother while my mom and I caught up, went out for lunch and walked around the bay. I love being up north. Even though we’ve gone for just the weekend several times this trip felt even sadly shorter.

What a weekend we had over here. Not only was my brother in town for the Riverbank Run and for partnering in general mischief, and not only did Ben finish up the last project for Bub’s room, but I celebrated my first Mother’s Day too. We had phenom weather in West Michigan this weekend. It was awesome for spectating—and for E to run—the Riverbank 10K on Saturday morning. It stayed perfect later in the day for some sunny naps, walks outside, grilling out and for visiting one too many ice cream shops. Sunday was beautiful too and we made good use of it touring Tulip Time and Lake Michigan in Holland. And Bub’s room! It’s finally, pretty much, mostly 100% complete. We’re missing very few small must-have items for his arrival, but all the furniture and decorations are in place. It’s such a peaceful corner of the house, my favorite spot for sure. All bedding, bath towels and tiny outfits still need to be washed, but we’ll get to that. Doesn’t that look like the perf...