Feelin' 32

My birthday was a few weeks ago, and this is what I wore for family dinner and celebration.  We just went to my favorite restaurant, and then back to our house for cake and presents.  The toddler refused to nap that day, but fell asleep in the car and took a little nap on my lap at the restaurant.  He's so busy these days, it was kind of the perfect birthday present to get some snuggles.  I'm such a mom now.

Cardigan & Skirt: Old Navy
Top: Gap factory
Shoes: JCrew Factory

Goodbye Shorts

Shorts season is coming to an end, so I better get more pants that fit soon!  I've been wearing these shorts a lot this whole summer and really thanking past self for buying a few pairs of shorts when I was pregnant in the winter the first time around.  These shorts were less than $5 and I've worn them roughly a million times.  Okay, that might be an exaggeration.  But probably 50-100 times is accurate.  That's a pretty great cost per wear, especially for a maternity item!

I wore this a couple weeks ago when my sister was in town.  John had a conference, and my sister was planning to visit sometime this fall, so I was super excited that it worked out for her to come while he was gone.  I'm sure I would have managed on my own with the baby and the toddler, but having my sister here made it SO MUCH EASIER!  We had a lot of fun while she was here, going to the zoo and the outlet mall, and the boys loved her.  I was actually a little mad, because Baby2 was smiling at her so much more than he smiles at me!  Not cool, baby!

Tee: Guster concert
Cardigan: Old Navy
Shorts: Loft maternity
Shoes: Sperry

Family Date

Now that we have kids, John and I sing a lot of silly songs, and then have arguments about lyrics or meaning of the songs.  Case in point:

It's raining, it's pouring

The old man is snoring

He went to bed, bumped his head, and didn't wake up in the morning.

We were singing this song the other day and John said, "why isn't anyone concerned? This guy probably has a concussion."

I'm like "No, I think he's dead..."

Being parents has just really changed our topics of conversations. It also makes dinner dates more interesting.  I wore this outfit a couple weekends ago when we decided to take the whole family to the Cheesecake Factory.  The boys did pretty good, but it's always a gamble.  The little one pretty much slept the whole time.  The big one mostly just stared at a kid one table over.

We took a few family pictures when we got home.  Here's one where we are all looking at the camera, at least!

Shirt: Loft
Shorts: Loft (maternity)
Shoes: Sperry

Sunday Best

This is my new dress.  I wore it to church on Sunday, and unbelievably got to sit through the whole service and all of Sunday School!  Baby2 was awake but happy and smiling at me for most of the sermon, so I'm not entirely sure I heard much of it, but hey, it's better than sitting back in the nursery!
Dress & Cardigan: Old Navy
Belt: Madden
Shoes: Target

Police Encounter

I'm pretty much a rule-follower, so I haven't gotten into very much trouble in my life.  Whenever I think I might be in trouble with an authority figure, I kind of panic, frequently cry.  A few years ago, I got pulled over for not stopping long enough at a stop sign (I stopped, I am 100% sure he was just bored), and the conversation went something like this:

Police Officer: Miss, are you crying?
Me:  *sniff sniff* NO *sniff sniff*   yes

Another time, I got caught at a checkpoint because my registration had expired over a year prior, but the reminder thing got lost in the mail, and I never thought about renewing it.  Oops!

So you can see my run-ins with the law have been pretty rare and pretty lame.  Until this past weekend...  (dun dun dun)

We went to dinner and it's always a bit of an ordeal getting all the kids and the bag and our to-go drinks into the car.  As I was backing out, there was a police car that looked like it was waiting for my spot, but then they were motioning all crazy to me, and I totally panicked.  I didn't know if they wanted me to go or stay or what.  I just pulled back into my spot, while John was like "what are you doing??"  The cops pulled up further and hollered at me "There's a drink on your roof!  That's a party foul!"  Ohhhhh, that makes sense.  My life of crime continues.

(this is what I happened to be wearing that day)

Shirt: Old Navy Maternity
Jacket: JCF
Shorts: Loft maternity
Shoes: Sperry

Zebra Tee

So here's an outfit that I wore about a month ago.  If I remember correctly, Mr. Baby and I had lunch with John, and then walked around the mall a little bit before going to a doctor's appointment.  But then we were getting onto the elevator for the doctor's office, and they called to cancel, because the doctor had to go deliver a baby.  But then I went up to the office to reschedule, and they said that the doctor actually had time to see me before she left.  So I felt a little awkward because I was worried about the woman who needed to give birth!  But I assume the doctor was being responsible with her time, right?

These are the boring OB visits.  I know baby is fine because he's kicking me all the time, so hearing the heartbeat isn't as important to me as it was during those earlier visits.  It's mostly just "how are you?"  "more uncomfortable than last appt."  "Okay, sounds about right! See you in a few weeks!"

Cardigan: ON
Tee: Everly Gray via Bella Gravida
Jeans: ON Maternity
Shoes: Target

Elevator Etiquette

Can I just complain for a minute?  Since having a baby, I need to use elevators.  Once you actually FIND the elevator (which is generally hidden in the furthest darkest corner of whatever building you happen to be in), you have to deal with other people who are also using it.  

The number one problem I have with the other elevator patrons is that they stand with their strollers RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR.  I think they don't realize that whoever is in the elevator might need to get out, before they can get in.  And then they look annoyed when I am like "um, excuse me.. can I sneak past you there..."  This is not rocket science, you guys!  If I stay on the elevator with my stroller, you won't fit.  Just stand to the side and we can all get on with our lives much faster. 

Another common issue is that the people on the elevator are slooooooow getting off, and then the doors close before the new people can board.  Just consider holding the door when you see a pregnant lady with a baby in a stroller.  It's the nice thing to do.

And once we are all on the elevator, if you must stand in front of the buttons, maybe ask the other riders what floor they need?  It's not hard.  

Someday I will use an escalator or stairs again.  But until that day, I just request some common courtesy.  I don't think it's too much to ask.  Of course, the rude elevator patrons probably aren't reading this, are they?  

Cardigan: Loft

Tee: Target maternity

Jeans: Old Navy Maternity

Shoes: Sperry

Bugs and Bugs

Last week, it was randomly summer one day, and I was happy to dig out my shorts!  My legs just like to live out in the world, so winter is not my friend.  I also figured it was an appropriate time of year to wear floral print, even if I do kind of hate the bugs that are also included on this shirt.  John was surprised that I would wear a shirt with bugs on it, and I confessed I would not have bought it if I'd have noticed, but it was only like $4, so I'm not too upset about it.

Mr. Baby and I went to a park to have lunch with John.  It was so easy last summer when Mr. Baby would just lay on the blanket where we put him.  Now he wants to crawl off into the grass, eat some leaves, wave sticks around, steal our french fries.  He's a very busy child these days.  There were some ladybugs that came to visit us, so we were trying to show Mr. Baby.  He promptly tried to eat them, so that experiment was short-lived.  And I realized I am now the type of woman who will purposely touch a bug, in order to share the wonder of nature with my child.  What has happened to me???

Shirt: Old Navy (similar)
Shorts: Gap maternity (similar)
Shoes: Sperry (similar)

Playdate

It's really fun to have a baby close in age to your best friend's baby.  Our boys are about 2 months apart, so we are making them be bffs, even though they currently have no idea what is going on (like at their first meeting when they were both just confused). Anyway, after both babies were sick a lot in the first 6 weeks of the year, we finally were all healthy enough to get together last week.  This is what I wore.  

Let me tell you, it was a lot easier to let the boys "play" while we talked back before Mr. Baby was crawling all over the place.  Now I'm like "so, how are things going?  MR BABY!  Don't go over there!  Stop stealing toys from your bff!  You cannot eat their tv remote!"   I'm sure it will be even more crazy when both of them are crawling, which I suspect will be any day now.  

My kid just stole that ball from his best friend.  And he's proud of himself!

I also realized while putting this post together that I'm almost entirely wearing Old Navy.  My shoes are from Gap, but everything else is ON.  This is my new $1 shirt, and I really like it!  My hair and cardigan is blocking the lace yoke, which is pretty cute.  I think it would have been a good purchase even if it had cost $8 like the tag said!

Cardigan: ON
Tee: ON Maternity
Jeans: ON Maternity
Shoes: Gap outlet

Family Walk

On Saturday, the weather was just ridiculously gorgeous, so obviously we decided to go to the zoo.  As did everyone else in a 200 mile radius apparently.  When we too the exit ramp off the highway, and saw the zoo parking lot, we abandoned our mission and decided that walking around downtown would be just as fun and probably a lot less stressful.  

This was my attempt to be comfortable while still feeling slightly cute.  I think it worked okay, except the wind was like "cute cardigan - let's make it be a cape instead!" so most of the pictures we took ended up as outtakes!  

And of course, I have to include a little family selfie, because these guys are my favorites.  

Cardigan: JCF

Tee: Gap

Jeans: ON maternity

Shoes; Converse

Carrying the Banner

About a week ago, the Newsies broadway show was in town.  I have been waiting for this for years, because well, I was OBSESSED with the movie when I was a kid.  I'm not exaggerating when I say I watched it several times a week (maybe daily) over summer break for at least a few years.  I could probably still quote most of it by heart even though I have no idea when I last watched the movie. So, you can imagine my expectations were high for the show.  And while I was watching it, I just felt very conflicted.  Apologies in advance for my crazed ramblings here.  I obviously care a little too much about this particular topic.

As a standalone show (not comparing it to the movie), I think it was pretty fantastic.  The performers were super talented, and the dancing was insane.

When I compare it to the movie, I just felt disappointed.  As with any book-to-movie type transition, they made changes.  Some of them I liked, some I didn't like but understood, and some were just unnecessary.

For example, in the movie, Jack falls in love with David's sister.  She's basically in 3 scenes.As a boy-crazy elementary kid, I didn't understand why he liked her because she barely said or did anything, but that's beside the point.  The reporter in the movie is a middle-aged guy who helps the newsies.  In the musical, they combined these parts.  So Jack's 17.  The girl is working as a reporter, so I assume she's older than that?  And the whole dynamic is different.  And then she's randomly Joe Pulitzer's daughter?  I understand why they made this change, because they wanted the love story to be more central to the plot, but I hated it.  The actress was great, and I actually loved her songs and chemistry with Jack, but I didn't like the way it changed the plot dynamic. And I hate hate hated how it made Pulitzer less of an enemy by the end.  No, Jack would never have gone to work for the paper directly.

But can anyone explain to me why they changed SO MANY of the song lyrics?  And Medda's songs were completely different!  Where's High Times, Hard Times when you need it?  Santa Fe was the first song (and then showed up several more times), which started things off on a slow note.  And the "full" version of it was a lot different than the movie version (which is fabulous, even if Christian Bale is embarrassed about this role).  Besides, if musical Jack is an artist, shouldn't he love living in New York?  Musical Jack wasn't even in the diner for King of New York!  And don't even get me started on the missing Spot Conlon quote "I object... on the ground of Brooklyn!"

And I never really thought about it, but the Newsies rally all the other child laborers in the city, and then Jack makes the deal with Pulitzer, but what happens to all the other kids?  Do they get better treatment??

Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about this particular topic, but I should probably stop ranting now.  This isn't a Broadway review blog!


Scarf: Gap
Cardigan: Gap
Belt: NY&Co
Dress: Loft Maternity
Boots: Madden

Sweater Dress

Here's what I wore to church last week.  We didn't go yesterday because we all have colds and didn't think we should share them with anyone else.  This was another LeTote dress, which was slightly too short, but I think okay with tights.  They definitely don't expect you to be tall and somewhat modest.

Anyway, this was my last LeTote item, so I'll be done with box clothes for awhile.  Unless I have any pictures that I haven't blogged yet.  There might be one or two outfits still in line.  I'll write up a final recap at some point, and share my thoughts after subscribing for a few months.

Dress:  LeTote (similar, similar)
Coat: Old Navy (similar)
Shoes: JCF (exact)

Currently February

File this one under "felt cute in it until I saw pictures."  I do think I'd like it better if my hair was down.  There's just too much torso going on!  I wore this on Saturday to get a pedicure and have lunch with friends.  Full disclosure: I wore flip flops most of the day so my toenails could dry.  It was about 50 degrees, so not too bad.  

Anyway, February is here, so it's time to link up with In Residence and Dearest Love to talk about what I'm currently up to.  

sending my last LeTote back this week.  It's been fun, but just doesn't make a whole lot of sense in my current life.

eating candy **hangs head in shame** Target got me with a sale.  Bad Andi.  

dreaming about summer.  It's been snowing for the last 24 hours or so, and while it is very pretty, I'm just ready for warmer weather so we can get out of the house more easily.  

smelling dinner.  As I write this on Tuesday evening, Mr. Baby is napping, Mr. Husband is shoveling the driveway, and dinner is in the crock-pot.    

hearting this stage of Mr. Baby's development.  He's so funny right now.  Babbling nonstop, always making silly faces, mimicking the things that we do.  He's so close to crawling, which I am excited for and also nervous about!  We need to get serious about baby proofing our house.

Sweater:  LeTote
Jeans: Old Navy (similar)
Shoes: Target (exact without captoe)

Zoo Jacket

Friday was a pretty warm day, so Mr. Baby and I took the opportunity to go to the zoo.  I'm so glad we got an annual pass.  We've gone 4 times since October, and I love it!  There are enough indoor areas that we don't get too cold, but on the days where it is 40 or above, we can walk around a little bit and get some fresh air and sunshine, and I can stretch my legs.  Mr. Baby doesn't stretch his legs because he is so lazy and makes me push him around in a stroller.  Also he doesn't know how to walk yet.  Typical baby.

Highlights of this zoo trip:

• The tapirs are usually just laying in the mud, but they were swimming!
• We saw 2 giraffes sit down. I don't think I've ever seen that before.  Their legs go all wonky! 
• Baby orangutan!
• The big male lion was pacing back and forth.  I call him Aslan for obvious reasons.  Anyway, he winked at me.  I wish lions were for snuggling.    
• We sat in the aquarium tunnel for quite awhile.  I think that is Mr. Baby's favorite place because he can see all the different fish swimming around.  

Disappointments:

• the bears are all hiding in their caves.  It's almost like they hibernate or something.
• The gorilla building was significantly colder than outside.  We walked all the way through and saw exactly zero gorillas.  
• Mr. Baby lost his mind in the rain forest.  I guess he's scared of humidity or bats or something.  I had to carry him and hurry through.  We will have to try again.  

shout out to the random stranger who took our picture

Outfit note: this jacket is from LeTote.  I don't remember seeing it on my list when I approved the tote, so I was surprised to find it, but I really liked it.  The buttons are a little weird.  At first I thought one of them was broken, but then I realized they were all different for FASHUN reasons.  It was a perfect jacket for a moderately nice January zoo trip.  

Jacket: LeTote (exact)
Sweater: Gap (ridiculously priced option, tunic option)
Jeans: Old Navy (similar)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Errands Outfit

Well, happy Friday!  Here's a super casual outfit that I wore for running errands the other day.  This is a sweatshirt from LeTote, which I really like, except why the 3/4 sleeves??  I just don't know what kind of weather would make a 3/4 sleeve sweatshirt necessary.

Also, vests.  I really don't get winter vests.  If I need a coat, I want it to have sleeves, thanks.

Sweatshirt: LeTote
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Converse

Giraffe Sweater

I'm pretty jealous of Kate's giraffe sweater.  I've never seen a similar option, but this one from  LeTote was close enough for me to request.  On their website, it looked more black than gray, so I was surprised when I got it out of the box.  As with everything from them, it was a little short, so my tank tops get to make a little appearance.  Cute enough, but I'd still love a striped version like Kate's.

This has been the first normal-ish week in awhile.  December was just crazy, and then I had a terrible cold and John was out of town the first week of January.  So it's nice to be somewhat back to normal.

We even had some above-freezing weather this week, so the boy and I went to the zoo!
Ironically, given the title of this post, we did not make it to the giraffes.  I'll be honest, I love the giraffes, but they are down a pretty steep hill and I didn't feel like pushing the stroller back up it.

This sweatshirt cardigan thing is also from  LeTote, but I didn't take official outfit photos, because I was at the zoo, and babies are terrible photographers.

Sweater:  LeTote (closest option I could find)
Jeans: Gap (exact)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Bird Sweater

So 2016, huh?  That's crazy.  I just realized that this will be the year I go from having lived most of my life in the 20th century to living most in the 21st century.  If you are good at math, you know how old I am now!

Anyway, this sweater was from my recent LeTote.  Again, I really liked it, but it's so short!  Is there a clothing rental service for tall ladies??  I intended to cancel, but I missed sending my tote back because we were out of town, so I guess I'm in it for another month.  I'm trying to pick more casual options for my SAHM lifestyle!

Sweater: LeTote
Jeans: Old Navy
Flats: Target

Playing in the Leaves

This is what I wore to church last Sunday.  The skirt is from LeTote, and of course, I liked it because it's a knit pencil skirt and it is striped.  Two of my favorite clothing categories.  I'm sad to be wearing tights already, but it's getting cold around here.  

While taking pictures, John decided to throw leaves at me, because fall.  This is the only picture where I don't look terrified.  

Mr. Baby was significantly more excited about the leaves.  We built up a pile for him and let him play the other day.  It was basically the greatest moment of his life.  He loved it. 

Jacket: Target (similar)

Shirt: JCF (similar)

Skirt:  LeTote (use my code to get half off your first month) (similar)

Boots: Madden (exact)

Labor Day

So, this is what I wore on Labor Day.  I was pretty excited to fit into these shorts!  I've hardly worn them in the last 2 years because they were a little too tight, but I tried them on just to see and they fit!  Hooray!  

We spent the day with the Smith side of the family, just eating good food, and hanging out.  We played Clue, which is so stressful (especially when I was only half paying attention due to the adorable baby I was also playing with).  My MIL found the game at an antique shop, I think, and it's missing several pieces, so the revolver is just a black bead, and Professor Plum is a marker lid.  It's pretty funny.  I did not win, but I was right about Mr. Green.  You can tell just by looking at him that he's likely to murder someone in the billiard room.  I already forgot what the weapon was.  

And we're trying to be good about taking family pictures, so I lured the boys outside while I had my camera set up.  I promise you our baby is quite happy most of the time.  He just looks hopeless in photos.   

Cardigan: JCF (exact)
Tank: Gap (option, option)
Shorts: Loft (navy option, )
Shoes: Sperry (similar)

Challenge Accepted

Here's an outfit I wore last Friday.  And a bunch of words not about outfits at all.

Spoiler alert:  having a baby kind of wrecks your body.  Especially if your body wasn't in the best condition before getting pregnant, like hypothetically if your immune system attacks you.  Anyway, I gained a bunch of weight in the year and a half or so before getting pregnant, because I was dealing with RA, and some of the medicine I was taking made it impossible to lost weight.  Plus, it's hard to exercise when your body hurts so bad (also, cookies made me feel better).  So fast forward to now, almost 4 months post-partum, I'm trying to figure out how to get as healthy as possible.  But like, I have this baby who needs me all the time, and my body still hurts, and I still like cookies.  

Since I'm working with a busted body and limited free time, my plan is to start small.  I hesitate to even blog about it, because I tend to be a quitter, and then it will be embarrassing, but you know, accountability and whatnot.    

In August, I started 2 of those 30-day challenges that I always see popping up on Pinterest.  Squats and planks.  I'm almost done with both of these (and doing more than 100 squats in a row is super hard!), so I'm trying to think of what to do next.  I'm might pick up this challenge on day 6, to continue working on holding planks for longer, and maybe try these variations on squats .  Or maybe try to get my arms all sculpted in time for winter when they are covered.  

I don't have a real specific goal (I mean, I'd love to lose about 50 lbs), but I'm hoping to build my core strength back up so I can start actually working out (true story: I tried doing this ab challenge and couldn't even do the first day, because I have absolutely no core at the moment. I'm hoping that we will have a couple months of cooler-but-not-freezing weather so I can go on more).  Also, my baby is heavy, and I want to get stronger so it's easier to haul him around.  Rumor has it he is going to get quite a bit bigger before he can walk everywhere himself!    

Anyway, that's my story.  Any advice on easy/fun workouts to try?  So many on pinterest are like "Beginner workout: do 10 pushups!" and I'm like "I can't even do 1 pushup, thanks!"  

*and now I need to go do 190 squats before I go to bed.  Who thought this challenge was a good idea??

Cardigan: JCF

Tee and Skirt: Gap

Shoes: Sperry