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capitol christmas tree 2020
December 7, 2020

Capitol Christmas Tree + Ferris Wheel-ing + No More Naps

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Hi friends – thank you for all the enthusiasm on my pregnancy #2 announcement post Friday! We appreciate the love so much and it’s nice to have it out in the open now. <3 

This weekend, I got out for a couple fun adventures. First was a run/walk from Hains Point over to the Capitol Christmas Tree! 

capitol christmas tree 2020

My friend Kathleen joined me for the adventure; it was great to see her and to catch up and really fun to see the beautiful tree. I always forget how big it is!

It was a game time decision to go check it out and I’m so glad we did! 

capitol christmas tree 2020

We did a run/walk combination – running feels okay physically and the belly doesn’t bother me yet, but I get really out of breath super easily so luckily Kathleen was up to take lots of walk breaks when I needed them. 

capitol christmas tree

You can see the bump a bit here! This vest is juuuuuust about too tight now. Any recs for a maternity winter running jacket or sporty vest? I didn’t need any warm fitness maternity gear last time since I was mostly super pregnant in summer!

run at tidal basin dc

It was cold and windy but felt good to be out there. I think we made it about 3.5 miles total including the walking!

The other big adventure this weekend was that Matt and I took Riese down to the National Harbor in Maryland and went on the Ferris Wheel! There’s a Ferris Wheel in one of Riese’s little books and Matt had been promising her a ride on one, so we decided to go for it.

It was pretty empty down there on the water since it was so cold, so probably a good day to go! Our masks felt nice as face warmers… having to wear a mask in winter is way better than wearing one in summer heat, that’s for sure!

walking along the water at national harbor

Hi, Ferris Wheel!

ferris wheel at national harbor md

The view. Riese loved it! And it was really nice to get out of the house and do something fun together. 🙂

view from national harbor ferris wheel

The sun was just setting as we were leaving – beautiful!

sunset at national harbor pier

We came home to some leftovers from Friday night – spaghetti bolognese. The sauce had ground beef and lots of veggies (peppers, onions, mushrooms). Spaghetti has been hitting the spot lately so I didn’t mind having it twice!

spaghetti bolognese with beef and veggies

Also hitting the spot lately: BLTs! Sometimes with a fried egg, sometimes not. 

blt with fried egg

And my flour free protein pancake (<- recipe, I usually do the microwave version nowadays to keep it easy) is still a huge breakfast favorite over here, too. It’s Riese’s most loved breakfast by far!

flour free breakfast pancake with blackberries

The other thing we did this weekend was set up our Christmas tree! We ended up getting a fake one this year because we’re planning to drive to Pittsburgh soon and hunker down there for the rest of the month with my in-laws, and I was worried about having a real tree in our house for almost a month while we were gone/not here to water it. 

I figure we can use this fake tree anytime we’re going to be gone for the holidays but still want some cheer in the house. 🙂 Riese loves it because there’s a button you can push to change the lights from multicolor to white, to a mix, to blinking vs. solid, etc. Very exciting!

toddler and christmas tree

She had fun helping us decorate it, too, although after we were done she decided to take all the ornaments off the bottom half… 

toddler helping decorate christmas tree

And put them on this tiny tabletop tree instead. Whatever works, right? 

tiny christmas tree

In other news, Riese is officially done with naps. (Gahhhh)

Ya’ll were right when I asked for sleep advice last month because Riese was staying up WAY too late every night; many of you said it sounded like she was ready to be done napping and I honestly didn’t want to listen because naps have been saving us during the workweek with almost no childcare – it’s when I get most of my work done, and it was even reliable enough that I could schedule nutrition client calls during naptime, too.

I used to do a fair amount of evening work earlier in the pandemic but once I got pregnant that stopped because I’ve been too exhausted to stay up later than 8:30/9 most nights.

Anyway, we had been trying to just wake her up earlier from her nap but after a particularly rough night on Thursday where she was up until 11 p.m., we decided it was time. We skipped nap entirely on Saturday and Sunday and she was so much easier to get to bed – we had her in her room and settled by 7:15 and she was actually asleep by 8 both nights.

Having our evenings back felt pretty amazing, and for the weekend it was actually fun to not have to worry about nap and to be able to be flexible with timing and have earlier afternoon adventures. Especially with it getting dark so early, it felt like there wasn’t much time to do anything fun with Riese in the afternoon because it was dark an hour after she woke up from her nap! 

We didn’t bother with trying to do any sort of quiet time this weekend, but I think we are going to try to start to introduce that sometime soon. A couple friends sent me this very appropriately timed post from the “biglittlefeelings” Instagram account that has some tips for starting a quiet time routine, so going to give that a go at some point soon and will see how it goes! Any further tips for navigating the post-nap world with a 3 year old are, of course, welcome. 🙂 

I hope you have a nice week – stay tuned for a fun recipe on Wednesday that makes a really cute holiday gift for local friends/family!

- anne
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14 comments
  • Linda December 7, 2020 · 9:41AM:
    Jansen from the blog Everyday-reading.com has some posts about quiet time with her girls. Good luck. And congratulations
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 7, 2020 · 12:54PM:
      Awesome, thanks for the rec!
      Reply
  • Alison December 7, 2020 · 10:12AM:
    Still mourning the loss of naptime - and my kids are 9 and 10 ?
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 7, 2020 · 12:54PM:
      Haha I bet!!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner December 7, 2020 · 12:31PM:
    What a neat outing on the Ferris Wheel. Nice that Riese wasn't scared of the height! And love the decoration of the little tree with the ornaments from the lower part of the big tree! Good luck with quiet time!
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 7, 2020 · 12:55PM:
      Thanks!
      Reply
  • Lindsay December 7, 2020 · 1:46PM:
    Busy Toddler had a post about setting up quiet time. Her youngest is 3. I definitely plan to implement some of these strategies when my toddler gets there! https://busytoddler.com/2020/04/quiet-time/
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 8, 2020 · 10:58AM:
      Great, will check it out - thanks!
      Reply
  • Heidi December 7, 2020 · 10:32PM:
    I have four and my youngest is Riese’s age. He actually quit napping just after 2, and I love it so much because we can do whatever we want on the weekends and not have to back for nap. So it has a huge upside! If he gets overtired or cranky I try to build in some time where he can be in a stroller or his car seat to either just rest or snooze. Enjoy the no nap life till your next one arrives!
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 8, 2020 · 10:59AM:
      I know, from a weekend perspective it's a huge positive because we can be so much more flexible with adventures now (until #2 arrives, that is...!)
      Reply
  • Susan December 9, 2020 · 7:40AM:
    My 14-year old son is crazy for Christmas and decorating and always has been. I learned from the time he was two that the ornaments he could reach were fair game, and he rearranged them daily. I ended up putting the ornaments I did not want broken up high and the less-valuable, sturdier ornaments on the bottom along with a little gold basket for him to use as he would walk around the tree rearranging. He still decorates the tree but does the whole thing now and has a little tree in his room he can do what he wants with. Great memories!
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 9, 2020 · 1:48PM:
      So sweet! We definitely learned quickly to put any breakable favorites at the very top... :)
      Reply
  • Mary December 15, 2020 · 12:03PM:
    Congrats on your pregnancy! I'm a longtime reader and mom of two: an almost 4 year old daughter and 16 month old son. I can certainly relate to being pregnant while taking care of a toddler!! My daughter also dropped her nap right around the age of 3. Initially it was a tough adjustment, but the flip side is she goes to bed by 7:30 and is exhausted! That leaves the evening free for my husband and I to have some quality time together. And I've found that I truly enjoy the alone time I get to spend with her vs. her napping. While her brother naps, I get that precious time with just her and she is so fun! I feel like the thing with baby/toddler/kid sleep is that it's always changing! Good luck :)
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 15, 2020 · 12:56PM:
      Yes, always changing! Thanks!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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anne mauney

I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

When I’m not writing or cooking for fannetastic food, you can find me running, coaching nutrition clients, or on an adventure with my family. Feel free to reach out - I'd love to hear from you!

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