FIVE

It's been 5 years since I started this blog!  Crazy how much life has changed.  I had been thinking of starting a blog for months but kept talking myself out of it.  John had his friends over on a Friday night and I was bored and finally went for it.  I thought I'd have more sewing projects and more book reviews, but it's mostly just been outfits.  Nothing groundbreaking, although I am known to wear floral in the fall.  And the last couple years have been pretty weird since I stopped working and had all these babies.  Clothes have been a strange assortment of maternity and post-maternity and days I actually get dressed are rare, much less take pictures.  Sometimes I think about quitting all together,  but it's still a fun outlet for me when I find the time.  

I had been thinking I should do something fun for my blogiversary, but time just got away from me, as it does when small children run the household.  Anyway, happy 5th anniversary, blog!  It's been fun!  

Dress: Old Navy

Jacket: JCF
Shoes: Target

Day in the Life

Sometimes, when you are a stay-at-home-mom, people ask you what you do all day.  And most of the time, I have no idea.  So I decided I'd keep track of a day.  Obviously not all days are the same.  Sometimes the toddler goes rogue and refuses a nap.  Sometimes we actually leave the house (okay, most days we actually leave the house).  And the above picture is from a "go to church" day, which are completely crazy and have no schedule at all.  But this was a standard at home day.

6:30- both kids start stirring in their cribs.  I lay as still as possible and hope they will go back to sleep.  

7 - Toddler is officially up for the day.  Change diaper, play, say goodbye to John.  

8 - Baby wakes up.  Breakfast for everyone!  This involves gathering all of the food for myself and toddler, putting him in his high chair, and then settling in to feed baby while toddler and I eat.  

8:30 - put baby down for nap, clean up toddler and kitchen, read books with toddler

9:30 - baby wakes up.  He plays on the floor while toddler insists we read the Easter bunny book 10 times.  Just for the record, it's November.  Not Easter time.   

10 - fold laundry, talk to my sister on the phone, toddler watches neighbor tree get chopped down and helps sort socks.  He also helps unfold laundry that I have folded, but he really loves carrying it to his room to put away, and doesn't realize that he's messing it up.  

11 - make a few phone calls, trim everyone's nails

11:15 - baby takes second nap

11:18 - just kidding!  Wakes up and wants to eat.  

11:36 - nap two take two - success!

11:45 - lunch for toddler and me

12:30 - baby wakes up. 

12:35 - clean up toddler and kitchen

12:45 - FaceTime with niece

1:15 - toddler naptime

1:30 - start some laundry in the washer.  

1:45 - grumpy baby!  Snuggle him until he falls asleep.  I'm slightly worried he would wake up if I put him in the crib, and also just want baby snuggles, so I just hold him for this nap.  

3:15 - everyone is awake and crying and needs mommy right now!  Put baby down, go get toddler, situate everyone on the couch so I can feed baby and snuggle toddler.  

3:45 - read books and play

4 - put baby car seat back together after taking it all apart to wash.  (Note - realize I put the straps in wrong the next day when we are running late to go somewhere and I have to take the whole thing apart again)

4:30 - read a few more books, clean up a little bit

4:45 - baby needs to nap but doesn't want to! Naps get harder as the day goes on.  

5 - make dinner.  Baby in bouncy seat and toddler in high chair watch me.  Toddler desperately wants to help, but can't be trusted with a hot stove!  

6 - John gets home and everyone is happy.  He and toddler eat dinner.  I feed hungry sleepy grumpy baby.  

6:30 - I eat dinner while John plays with the kids. 

7:45 - baby falls asleep.  We are at that stage where we are not quite sure if this is a nap or bedtime.  

8 - toddler goes to sleep.  I go to take a shower.  

9 -  Baby wakes up!  Wants to eat and play for a little bit.

10 - Baby back to bed.  

Usually once both kids are in bed, we clean up the kitchen and the living room.  Sometimes we watch a show, but sometimes I'm just tired and it needs to be my bedtime, too!  It's pretty exhausting taking care of these guys, but I mostly love it!  I mean...

Family Birthday

This is what I wore for our family celebration of John's birthday.  I love this dress, even though it's maternity.  I'll probably just keep wearing it anyway, okay?  Cool.

I think we had a pretty good time for the birthday.  We went to dinner, and then came back to our house for presents and dessert.

We have this problem when getting dressed to go places.  I dressed myself and the baby.  John dressed himself and the toddler.  And we accidentally matched each other.  I don't want to be one of those obnoxiously matchy families, but it just happens sometimes.

Cardigan: Limited
Dress: Loft
Shoes: Target

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

The Awkward Phase

Fall is sort of here, at least some days, so I tentatively pulled out my jeans from last fall.  You know, the ones that I searched and searched for, and then barely got to wear before I was pregnant again.  Miracle of miracles, they fit!  I was shocked because I still have about 15 extra pounds to get rid of.  

I think I have generally had a pretty healthy body image, but being pregnant for 18 of the last 24 months has sure taken a toll!  I don't even know how to dress myself anymore.  I managed to go shopping this week with both boys, which is an adventure.  My main goal was to find some tops that would be cute and easy to throw on with jeans or shorts.  Most of my shirts are a little snug right now, and would likely start rumors of a baby 3.  Or at least I feel self-conscious in them.  I need higher necklines, because I'm always carrying a kid that inevitably makes my perfectly modest shirt a little scandalous.  Shouldn't be too hard to find some cute, higher-necked tops, right?  Wrong!  I tried on a lot of shirts, and ended up buying one.  And a random dress, because I just can't help myself sometimes.  

So anyway, I kind of want to throw out my entire closet and start from scratch, but as my shopping outing suggests, that wouldn't solve the problem.  I need to remember that it took 9 months and a lot of ice cream to grow each baby, so I'm not going to go back to my old body in 2 (or ever, let's be honest here).  

In the meantime, I should probably start exercising again, and maybe cut back on the ice cream.

Tee & Jeans: Gap
Cardigan: JCF
Shoes: Target

Forty Weeks

So these pictures are from the night before Baby2 was born.  We are talking like 10 hours before, if you really want to know.  I was exactly 40 weeks pregnant, and fairly sure baby wasn't coming any time soon.  We went out to dinner because I was not in the mood to cook anything, and since it was in the 90s all week, my number one priority was staying as cool as possible.  I honestly don't know how people survived without air conditioning!

When we got home, I figured we should take some pictures.  I didn't know these would be our last family pictures before Baby2.

Smiles!  

2 out of 3 smiles

Poor kid!  He didn't know his parents are about to flee in the middle of the night and come back with a baby brother!

Top: H&M Mama
Skirt: Old Navy
Sandals: Target

38 weeks

I'll be honest.  I'm basically still blogging at this point because I think I should be fair and have this pregnancy documented at least somewhat.  Last time, I was taking pictures almost every day, and this time I can barely manage once a week, so it's not quite the same, but hey, it's something.  If I had to guess, the blog will probably fade off into obscurity soon.  It's just not really something I have time for anymore, and my free time is going to be drastically reducing again.  Maybe I'll post every so often, or maybe I'll miss it terribly and come back, or maybe I'll just start posting weird mommy-blogger stuff (probably not).

Anyway, this was me on Sunday, 38 weeks pregnant and significantly bigger than I was at 40 with baby1!  This is the dress I ended up buying for my sister's wedding back in May and I really love it.  Other than the fact that the armpit holes are enormous.  Seriously, what is up with that?  Are my armpits too small for the rest of my body?  This is a common problem for me.

Counting down the days until baby brother arrives!  Could be soon...

Dress: Loft
Belt: Madden
Sandals: Target

Weekly Hello

Checking in from the hottest June I can remember.  We just keep having these 90+ degree days, and I think I might die.  These pics are just from a week ago.  We went out to dinner for my SIL's birthday, and then came back to our house for presents and cupcakes and played Harry Potter Clue.  It was more complicated than regular clue.  John and I were a team because it only allows for 5 players.  We had a lot of trouble with our dice rolls, and doors being closed (one of the HP differences), so we only got to make 1 guess!  But we were still very good detectives and knew the person and the weapon, so I felt like we did okay.

I've been the worst at taking outfit photos.  I mean, I am pretty casual most days, but I get dressed nicer on Sundays and never remember to take pictures.  We also had a wedding about a week ago, and of course, I didn't get any pictures.  Poor second baby is already getting less documentation.

Plus it's harder to take pictures of myself when I have a little helper.  He is very very interested in the tripod and wants to knock it over.   Or he wants to go diving off the deck stairs, or find something dangerous to play with.  Punishment involves being featured in a picture.

Top: ON Maternity
Skirt: ON
Sandals: Target

Paisley shorts

These shorts were a favorite last summer, both before and after Mr. Baby was born.  I've already worn them a bunch again this summer.  But I've learned that when you are due in July, you need more shorts and tank tops than when you are due in May, so I've had to do some additional maternity shopping.  And I'm also much bigger this time around, so some of my maternity shorts are getting uncomfortable.  Not cool!  Luckily, these seem to have plenty of stretch, so I think they should last me through.  6 more weeks!!

Cardi: JCF
Tank: Kohl's maternity
Shorts: Loft maternity
Sandals: Target

April Shopping

"It's gonna be May" tomorrow, and thanks to everyone on the internet, I now have this song stuck in my head.  And I am trying to remember what even happened in April.  For example, this outfit is from mid-March.  This is one of the dresses I got from Bella Gravida, and I loved it, but it was a little short for my comfort, so I wore leggings, even though I don't love how they look.

As far as shopping goes, I know that I bought and returned many items, as I continued my search for the perfect casual shoes, and also a pretty dress for my sister's wedding.  I really thought the Sperry Zuma  slip-ons were going to be perfect, but they were too loose in the heel, and kind of slipped when I tried to walk around.  The casual shoe search continues, with increasing frustration on my part.

I ordered 2 dresses from Amazon, and 3 from ASOS, hoping something (anything) would work for my sister's wedding.  I also tried on pretty much every maternity dress option at the local Motherhood store, and the one department store that actually has maternity.  Fail!   I'm sure I've said this before, maybe multiple times, but you can be tall, or you can be pregnant, but good luck to you if you are both tall and pregnant!  All maternity dresses are made for someone who is about 6 inches shorter than me.  I had my eye on this Loft dress, but didn't want to pay full price, and it was never part of the sale offers.  I finally decided to cave (as a last resort), and it was 40% off!!  Hooray!  It is a little more casual than I was originally wanting, but at this point (wedding next weekend), I'm happy with it.

Otherwise, I bought a couple longer t-shirts at Gap factory, and I also had my Bella Gravida subscription, which I meant to cancel, but didn't get done in time, oops.

2 Gap outlet tees: $4 each
Loft dress: $48 (used a gift card)
Bella Gravida subscription:  $80

Total Spent in April: $136

Earned selling: $50

Since I have barely bought anything this year, I'm still well under my budget.  And I'm linking up with Franish, as always.

Cardigan: JCF
Necklace: ON
Dress:Bellyssima via Bella Gravida
Belt: Madden
Leggings: H&M mama
Shoes: Target

The Coldest Day Outfit

So here's an outfit from a week ago Sunday.  It was the super most freezing day ever (church was cancelled because of the cold), but we had lunch plans for my MIL's birthday, so we ventured out in the frigid temps to a new barbecue restaurant in town.  Mr. Baby was in head to toe fleece and was wrapped up in a blanket as close to me as possible.  This is what I wore, mostly because all of my normal jeans were in the laundry.  And miraculously, I didn't get any BBQ sauce on these!

I bought this shirt back in March, and this is shamefully the first time I have worn it.  I thought a printed chambray would be a fun addition to my closet, but I am learning that I don't know what to wear with it.  Sure, in my working days, it would have looked pretty cute with my red pencil skirt, but now?  I don't like the denim on denim look too much, so normal jeans are out of the question.  I guess it will probably be a "bad" purchase when I get to the March rewind.

Shirt: Loft 
Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Jeans: Old Navy (similar)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Winter Floral

Oh hey, it's this dress again!  I just really love it, so I'm pretty much wearing it any time I need to dress up.  Or any time I can get away with dressing up.  This was for a friend's baby shower last weekend.  It's hard to believe that less than a year ago, I was having baby showers and opening presents that I had no idea would become daily necessities!  And now everything my friend opened I was like "aah!  You will use that all the time!!" Okay, crazy mommy Andi, just calm down a bit.  

Plus, I was just excited to wear my hair down, since Mr. Baby stayed home to have father son bonding time with John.  

Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Dress: Loft (exact)
Belt: Madden (exact)
Boots: Madden (exact)

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)

Off to See the Wizard

Last week, I went to see the Wizard of Oz musical.  It was so much fun.  The crazy thing was people kept saying "oh, I didn't know Wicked was in town!" and I had to explain, "No, just the regular old fashioned version where good is good and bad is bad!"  

Fun fact: even though I am from Kansas and generally love musicals, I have only watched the Wizard of Oz movie in it's entirety one time.  I had never seen it until I was in high school and had my wisdom teeth out.  I got to rent movies to watch all day and I grabbed it from the grocery store video rental place.  Remember when that was a thing?  So that's the only time I have seen it.  There was an occasion in college where some friends tried watching it with Dark Side of the Moon synced up, but we stopped after about 15 minutes.  It was just weird.  Although, the munchkins dancing to Money was pretty cool.

Another fun fact: people think it's funny to call you Dorothy and say "we're not in Kansas anymore" when they meet you and find out you are from Kansas.  If you meet someone from Kansas and want to make this joke, just be warned.  They have heard it a million times and probably don't think it is funny.

Anyway, the show was great, and I was happy for another excuse to dress up a little bit.

Cardigan: JCF (exact in various colors)
Necklace: F21 (similar)
Dress: Loft (exact - on sale and extra 40% off!)
Belt: Madden (exact)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Thanksgiving Eve

Here's this fall floral dress again.  I would wear it every day if I had a reason to.  I actually wore this outfit a couple weeks ago for a Veteran's Day celebration at my MIL's elementary school.  I was overdressed, as usual.  

Anyway, happy Thanksgiving eve!  We are staying in town this year and celebrating with the Smith side.  It should be a pretty nice day hanging out with the family.  

I hope everyone has a lovely day celebrating with family and friends and not getting too caught up in Black Friday sales.  Every year, I say I won't go out, and I usually end up going somewhere.  I think Mr. Baby will be a good influence on me staying away from the stores!  

Dress: Loft (exact - on sale and extra 40% off!)

Cardigan: Gap factory (similar)

Belt: Gap (similar)

Boots: Madden (exact)

Weekend Adventures

This is what I wore to church on Sunday.  My sister and nieces came out for a quick visit, so we had a wild weekend!  We used to be on the go nonstop when they visited, but we are now somewhat limited by Mr. Baby's schedule.  But we still managed to squeeze in quite a bit of fun.  It's so sweet to see how much the girls love their baby cousin!  He's not really sure about them yet, and probably confused about the whole twins thing, but he gives them lots of smiles, so I think he likes them.  

We went to a few of the girls' favorite restaurants that they don't have at home, had a picnic and walked around the lake, did a little shopping, walked to the park and let Mr. Baby try the swing and slide (he wasn't really impressed, even though I told him it was fun).  At home, we played a lot of games.  Sorry lasts forever sometimes.  They liked Scattergories more than I expected, and had some very clever answers.  And we laughed so hard playing Scribblish, which is way more fun with kids.  It's basically like telephone crossed with Pictionary.  My favorite was when "Playing piano with your toes" turned into "CAMEL ATTACK!"

My sister and I finally remembered to get a picture together.  We have failed on the last 2 visits.

The girls weren't interested in taking a nice picture, but I tricked them with Photobooth, and we got this winner.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend!  And I really liked this skirt from LeTote, too.
 
Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Tee: Gap (similar, similar)
Skirt: LeTote
Shoes: Target (similar)

LeTote Green Dress

After a few years of thinking about it, I finally signed up for LeTote.  I'm at a weird place right now with my closet, so I figured it was a good time to try something different.  This dress was in my first tote and I knew it wouldn't work for church, because the front was a little short, and the top was just a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen when carrying a grabby baby.  So I went for the "overdressed housewife meeting her husband for lunch" look.  Is that a thing?  Let's say it's a thing.  

Anyway, the dress was a bit too large, and a bit too short, but it was fun to wear.  I think I dressed it down enough that it wasn't too weird for a random weekday.  

If you aren't familiar with LeTote, it's basically Netflix for clothes.  Monthly subscription, they mail you clothes, you wear and mail back.  Repeat.  You can either let them pick out what they send, or request specific things.  For the first one, I just went with their picks based on my style profile.  Each tote has 3 clothing items and 2 pieces of jewelry.  Here's what they sent me:

I actually didn't wear all 5 items from the first box.  I just wore this dress and the bird shirt and sent it back.  The jewelry was cute, but I didn't have any reason to wear it, and was anxious to send the box back to get my next one.  The striped drapey cardigan thing just isn't my style, plus the weather wasn't conducive to long sleeves last week.  

For the second one, I chose specific things.  I tried to pick a dress I can wear for church, and picked jewelry that should work with the dress and with Mr. Baby.  I just got that box, so I'll be wearing all of those items and sharing my thoughts on it soon!  

So far, I think it's a fun way to get new clothes without buying new clothes and cluttering up my closet.  It's also nice as I'm between sizes and hopefully changing sizes.  I wish there was an option to just get the clothes and not the jewelry, because jewelry isn't something I need to wear right now.  I also wish you could send things back one at a time, like you can with Netflix, instead of each tote coming and going as one.  I'd like to wear the dress, and send it back right away, rather than waiting until I've worn all of the other items.  There are rumors of a maternity line coming soon, which I think would have been totally awesome!  

If you are interested, you can get half off your first month by using my referral code.  It will also give me a $15 credit, so YOU ALL SHOULD DEFINITELY DO IT! 

This post wasn't sponsored by LeTote, although I wish it was.  When exactly do companies start sending me free stuff?  I'm sort of joking, unless you are a company that wants to send me free stuff.  

Jacket: JCF (similar)

Dress: LeTote

Tank: Gap (exact)

Belt: Madden (exact)

Sandals: Target (similar)

On Point

I wore this outfit to church a couple Sunday's ago and one of my friends told me it was on point.  And then we laughed about how kids these days say "on fleek" and what does that even mean?  

Dress: Limited outlet

Belt: Madden

Sandals: Target

Summertime

Summer is almost over for anyone who has to go back to school, but it's still going to be hot for couple months, so I think we should avoid getting too fall crazy for now.  Shorts will still be the best option for awhile.   I keep saying I will stop wearing these maternity shorts, but I just like them so much and man are they comfortable!

Anyway, it's been an awesome summer!  First I had a baby, and then a bunch of family came to visit!  My sister and nieces are here right now and we are having so much fun.  It's super sweet to see how much the girls love their cousin!

Top: Loft outlet
Shorts: Loft maternity
Sandals: Target

Babies Everywhere

Last week, Tuesday was spent visiting some friends with new babies!  It was one of the 90+ degree days so I wore as little as possible while still being decent!

First up, I introduced my kid to his new BFF, who was about 4 days old at the time and about half the size of my giant 2 month old.  You can tell the boys are thrilled to meet each other.

Then in the evening, John and I went to the hospital to meet this sweet girl who was just about 18hours old.  Again, babies are so excited to meet each other.  We joked that this was their first date, but neither of them said anything, so it was pretty awkward.  

My two-month-old looked like a giant next to these newborns!  Then this week we had dinner with one of my friends from elementary school who was driving through town, and her 9-month-old made mine look teensy again.  I felt like I was looking into my future!  

I'm pretty thrilled to have friends with babies so close in age.  It will be so fun to watch them grow up and hopefully become friends!

Tank & shorts: Loft 

Sandals: Target