We’ve hit the 4 month mark! We celebrated this milestone by retiring the first of our 3-6 month clothes that she’s already outgrown. Our little girl is growing steadily – she’s 14 1/2 pounds (75th percentile) and 24.5 inches (60th percentile). Her happy-go-lucky...
No lie, this African-inspired version of Coldplay’s Paradise by the Piano Guys is hypnotically entrancing. I hope you delight in it as much as I did. It’s hard not to feel your spirit lift when taking in all that beauty! Sure hope a trip to Africa is somewhere in my...
We are pleased to report that we made it (mostly unscathed) through the first 100 days with our little one. We attribute our success to 1.) Our parents’ assistance, 2.) Caffeine and 3.) These 5 Amazing Products. I’m not one to keep great things a secret, so bookmark this link...
Big week in the Novak house – Nia has learned to roll at 14 weeks old! What amuses us most about this is that she has to get really agitated before she’ll start contorting her body enough to do a complete roll. The not-so-amusing part is that she hasn’t yet figured out...
Love the contrast in this video: The lyrics tell the story of suffering and separation while the ensemble models collaboration and connection. No wonder it’s been watched over 42 million times already! BRAVO! A shout out to Kate for introducing it to me.
Yowzers, what a week! I just got back from a mind-blowing 6 day Leadership Retreat in beautiful (and rainy!) Sonoma, California. The course was an advanced Leadership Program put on by my Coaching School, the Coaches Training Institute (CTI). It was a live-in program that started at 7 in...
So we started at the gym this week. I was beyond excited to find a place that would accept an 10-week-old. I’m allowed to leave her for one hour, which is the perfect amount of time for me to do a class (or so I thought). Unfortunately, Nia isn’t so keen on being in daycare...
Every year I choose a theme song to help keep me focused on what I want the year to bring. However, the problem with this year is that I feel so unfocused that I can’t even select a theme word for my year. Instead of beating myself up for what feels like mush brain, I’ve...
When we’re in the States, it’s easy to get lulled into the familiar routine and forget that we’re heading back overseas soon. By the time we leave in May, I’ll have been here for almost a year and Manila seems but a distant memory. In fact, with all the Nia...
Much like Christmas, our New Year’s Celebration had a bit of a different feel to it this year. The biggest difference would be that it all took place on New Year’s Eve DAY since we knew we’d be fast asleep by 9 o’clock that night and too sleepy to party the night...
It was a very DC Christmas for us this year. Nick wasn’t allowed to take any vacation days during his language training, so we spent the holiday in DC instead of traveling to see our families. Thankfully, this lifestyle has taught us how to make do with whatever circumstances...
Just wanted to share one of my favorite holiday songs with you to celebrate. It’s not very well-known, so perhaps you’ll love it so much that you’ll have to add it to your collection! Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, wherever you may be…
Since Nia and I are spending Christmas Day with Nick in DC, we celebrated early with the Miller family. Nia was the belle of the ball in her new Christmas dress (and by new I mean ‘new to us’ – that’s right, this Baby Gap beauty was $4 at a Garage sale)! We had a...
Friday was a big day for little Nia. It was her first visit to see Dr. Tonnie. As many of you know, I’ve been doing Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) with Tonnie for several years now. My work with her has helped me eliminate my chronic back pain, deal with my anxiety better and have a...
One of the biggest things that has surprised me about Motherhood is how draining simple things like diapering, feeding and rocking can be. None of them requires much brainpower, but the energy expended in caring for a little life is way more depleting then I ever would have imagined. I...
“Hey, where are we? Who are all these other babies? I’m going to be extra cute to make sure I get noticed!” “This yoga stuff is a piece of cake. All I have to do is lay here.” “Hey, give me back my arm! It wasn’t meant to twist like that!”...
We have lots to be thankful for this year, including this little munchkin!
Every year I select an ornament that captures something representative of the year. It gives me a way to collect meaningful ornaments for our tree and also helps me remember the major events. I was in Caribou Coffee the other day with Nia and came across this adorable Caribou ornament mug...
We are in the habit of making videos for Nick each day. This one was so good I thought we’d share it with a wider audience!
Warning: Projectile Vomiting at min 00:25. Watch at your own risk…
Well, we finally got Nia’s Photo Shoot proofs back. Actually, they were better than I expected given how uncooperative she was. You can see all 16 final shots HERE. Would love to hear which are your favorites.
Nia got to meet her Minnesota Aunties for the first time this past weekend. They’re helping me take care of her while I get a hang of this parenting thing.
Auntie Emily
Auntie Beth
Auntie Jenna
So last night I decided to make my first solo trip out to Target to get some miscellaneous baby items I needed in Minnesota. My Mom was happy to watch Nia for a bit and I was excited to get out after what felt like a successful day of Mothering. I was flying high, finally feeling like I...
Oh friends, it’s starting to become laughable how many things have not gone according to plan. Of course, I’m still shedding a few tears over each miss but I expect that I’ll eventually get to laughing about it, right? Pretty sure part of my problem is that I hold myself...
So, I’m afraid I’ve hit my max. With a diagnosis of Shingles yesterday, a dead car battery today and Nick going back to work on Monday it’s just not looking so optimistic for Mama Sarah. The Shingles particularly worries me because although it’s not painful yet and...
I was starting to go a bit stir crazy in the house and decided it was time for Nia and I to take our first outing (Dr’s visits don’t count). It was a WILD adventure. We started by going through the underground in an exciting tunnel… and ended up at Caribou Coffee...
It’s hard to believe, but Nia turns one week old today! As most parents would attest to, it’s been a complete and total blur. Nothing could have prepared me for the delusional state that results from the lack of sleep and intense hormones! We’re just taking it 1 hour at...
We are delighted to announce that after a 14 hour labor, we welcomed a healthy baby girl into our family. Her name is Nia Marisa Novak and she weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz. She was 20 inches in length and born at 12:39 PM in the afternoon on Saturday, October 22nd (we went into labor at 10 PM...
So, tomorrow (October 21st) is my official due date. I had what I **HOPE** will be my last Doctor appointment this morning and was THRILLED to finally get some uplifting news. Here’s what we found out: I am 1 cm dilated! I am 50% effaced (that’s where the cervix thins out from...
This is very amusing (and definitely makes me sound more important than I am). Browhaus, my favorite eyebrow threading place in the Philippines, turned my blog post into an endorsement of their shop! I can’t stop giggling – it makes me look like some authority on the matter...
Patience has never been one of my strong suits and honestly, these last 10 days have been downright torturous for me as I await Baby Nia’s arrival. So much open space on the calendar and nothing to do but stare at my belly and will her to come out… Sensing my growing distress...
Here’s an insanely catchy tune by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas that’s garnered over 7 million hits on Youtube. Check it out for yourself, it’s sure to brighten your day! In fact, I’m so enamored with it that I’m thinking of making it my new personal theme...
I had an experience on Wednesday that gave new meaning to the phrase “Rolling Out the Red Carpet.” It was, hands down, one of the most exceptional service experiences I have ever had. I imagine you are trying to guess where this incredible service took place. Nordstrom’s...
Baby is slowly starting to make her way down. Hopefully it’ll be any time now that we’re welcoming Nia into the world. . .
In case it isn’t obvious, I’ve got some MAJOR control issues surfacing around this whole birth thing. This is frustrating for a variety of reasons, but most notably because I’ve done a ton of personal work on this in the past and largely eliminated it from several areas...
As we’ve been preparing our household to welcome Baby Nia, I’ve noticed that my old money fears are popping up like mad (as they often do during transition periods). Thankfully, this article showed up in my inbox today and totally put me at ease. It comes from one of my mentor...
A Brief History of My Relationship with My Body I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about when I say “my relationship with my body’. Surprisingly, we all have one. Think of it as a lens that we view our body through. Much like any relationship...
Well folks, we’ve reached the 37 week mark and with all the recent pain in my legs from her compressing my sciatic nerve, I’m VERY ready for her to come out. And technically, I’m full term, so we’re good to go at any point from here on out (even though my official...
It started out as one of those normal Thursday mornings. I woke up, got dressed and headed out for my short walk to Caribou Coffee to get my morning mocha. There was however one fun small change-up in my morning routine that I was looking forward to – it happened to be National...
I am officially registering a complaint! At 36 1/2 weeks, pregnancy is no longer fun. Yes, up until Saturday, I would have told you that I was having a jolly good time being pregnant. I felt like my tummy was relatively compact and sitting higher up (which was nice for my bladder). My...
Fact: 10-15% of women are affected by postpartum depression (PPD). Fact: If you have a history of depression in your past, you are 30% MORE LIKELY than the average woman to get postpartum depression (PPD). Reality: Given my history of anxiety/depression, there’s a strong chance I...
I’ve been a girl on a mission this last week. While the setting up house was important insomuch as it made Nick and I feel more at ease, the critical issue at hand was putting together our birthing and postpartum team for Baby Nia’s delivery (who is due five weeks from...
I thought you’d enjoy seeing a couple pictures of where we’ll be living for the next few months. The decorating could definitely use some work (the downside of pre-furnished housing), but the view of the Washington Monument more than makes up for it! We’re already...
With less than 6 weeks to go now, I’m starting to acquire quite the bump. Â Honestly, it doesn’t feel that much bigger than the 30 wk bump and I’m crossing my fingers that it just stays right around this size! Nesting is in full force and I’m taking advantage of...
It’s been a heck of a week folks. Â Last Friday we pulled out of MN at 6 AM, headed for our nation’s capital. Â Given that I feel like humpty dumpty now at 34 weeks pregnant, I convinced Nick that we should split the drive over 3 days (roughly 5-6 hours a day). Â It ended up...
We had our 7th ultrasound of Nia today and I’m pleased to report that she’s thriving in my womb. She is up to a robust 5 pounds now and is measuring in the 78th percentile. I let her know that it’s just fine if she slows down her growing, as there will be plenty of time...
After three months of being transient, I am pleased to say that we are finally en route to DC where we’ll reside for the next nine months. The car is stuffed to the gills with all my garage sale baby finds (and yes, for those who are curious, we do need to ship some additional items...
Nick and I started our 8-day Road Trip in the Pacific Northwest on Sunday. We left from Bend, Oregon in our borrowed mini van (thanks to the in-laws) and motored our way west to the Oregon Coast. We spent our first night in Newport and enjoyed the best fish and chips the area had to offer...
What a fantastic second week in Bend, OR! We got to check out a couple of the hot spots including Smith Rock (top 3 photos) where rock climbers do their thing. Unfortunately we went at a time of day when not many were climbing, but the beauty of the place was still impressive. So cool to...
We just wrapped up our fourth week of home leave (two more weeks to go). A week ago we transferred from Minnesota to Bend, Oregon to visit Nick’s parents. This is my first time visiting the Northwest and WOW has it knocked my socks off. Perfect weather every day, fit people as far...
