Father's Day 2015

We made a trip down South to visit my family over the weekend for Father's Day. My mom was so sweet and threw me a surprise baby shower. I'm so blessed that my family came together to do something special for me and the baby. 

We made some time to detour to Padre Island for a day so my husband could fish and Anabelle could swim! It was a beautiful day, sunny with a nice breeze. I even made the trip more exciting by forgetting my swim bottoms. I had to wear my husband's briefs on the public beach. Pregnant much? Why yes, yes I am. 

Sunglasses last season (similar) // Pink Feather Bow // Beach Blanket // Striped Linen Bow // Saltwater Sandals 

I hope your daddy's day was everything and more!

xo,

Valerie

Summer Sandals for Toddlers

With all this drenching rain we've been getting, I've been day dreaming about summer sandals for my gremlin. I know I should probably be thinking more about a Father's Day gift, but isn't Anabelle responsible for that anyway? Totally.

Salt Water Sandals // Birkenstock // Jellies // Scalloped Sandals // Havaianas

I'm about to have a son, and I can't even pick out sandals for a boy. At least Birkens and Havaianas are unisex, because I have no idea what I'm doing.

Any other sandals I need to know about?!

Our (Brief) Beach Getaway

Life gets busy and we have to get away from all the hustle and bustle of grown up and toddler responsibilities. The weekend was filled with the beach and beautifully sunny days. Doritos stained fingers and fedoras. Swimsuits and sandcastles. Pregnant bellies and fluffy pancakes. Crazy curls and fingers sticky with Ben and Jerrys. And best of all, hand holding and lots of love. 

Toddler One-Piece // Toddler Fedora // Faux Birkens // Mama's Bikini Top // Mama's Fedora

We're soaking in all the time we have left with our baby big girl before our family of three turns into a family of four. 

I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours!

THE SHOP IS NOW OPEN

The shop I've been pouring my heart and soul into for the past several month is now LIVE. These are just a few of my favorite products to start with. I have so much more in store for you guys that I can't wait to share in the next few weeks. 
FREE THREADS. get stoked my friends, because I am :)
http://freethreads.bigcartel.com/

Bump Update - 19 Weeks

How far along: 19 weeks.

Gender: We found out we were having a boy around 11 weeks. So exciting!!

Weight gain: Last I checked, it was about 6 lbs. I don't have a scale, so I won't know it until my next doctor appointment.

Maternity clothes: Nope. So far maxis and the belly band are my go-to items. I really despise maternity clothes, so I've been using a few select pieces that I can also use after the baby is born. 

Sleep: Blissful. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I am out.

Best bump moment so far: When my husband felt the baby kick. His face was melted my heart :)

Miss anything: Beer! No really. I even had a dream I was at a bar watching everyone drinking their delicious craft brew. It was pure torture. I woke up and told my husband my disturbing nightmare and he laughed at me.

Exercise: I'm consistently exercising 2-3 times a week I was put on low impact exercise during my first trimester since I have placenta previa. I hope I'll get the clear from my doc during my 20 week check up to get back to high impact. I never missed jumping so much in my life! 

Cravings: Fruit and cake. Because they pair so well together. 

Symptoms: Sore boobs and exhaustion. My boobs need their own rail guards, because this is just ridiculous. 

Looking forward to: The 20 week anatomy scan. I can't wait to see little mister squirming around!

A BIG Announcement + Rebranding + Shop News!

 Top (similar) // Shorts // Jellies

Anabelle is going to be a big sister! She couldn't be more thrilled. Well, really right before I snapped this picture I asked if she wanted some chocolate and she jumped up and down, and squealed, "yes!" So let's pretend she was really squealing for her future baby brother, okay?  But really, she is super excited and talks about lil bro all the time. 

Let's back up a minute. I took this picture during a brief rain intermission while it was incredibly windy. Before we even got out of the car, she said, "no pictures mom." She wasn't having it. I even had to bribe her with chocolate to get a smile out of her. After I told her, "okay, let's go home and paint" before the rain got us, she immediately let go of the remaining three balloons. Ensue toddler tantrum the entire way home. 

But anyway, we're having a baby boy! I'm 18 weeks along, and I have to admit, it's been the most exhausting 18 weeks of my life. Being pregnant with a toddler is no joke. Hence the lack of blogging, reading or being on social media. Whew. Luckily the second trimester has given me a break.

In other BIG NEWS, I'm opening a shop for mamas and their little free spirits! I've been working on this for months, and severe fatigue and a cold delayed the shop opening. But it's almost here. In just a few short weeks, the shop will be open! I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I am! See all the exclamation points?!

I hope you'll follow me on this new journey and update your reader to the new site: freethreadsblog.blogspot.com. The new site will go live TOMORROW, so don't miss it.

Thanks for sticking with me this far :)

Spring Books for Toddlers

Now that Spring is here (hooray!) we've been reading some of our favorite spring books that Anabelle just can't get enough of. Sometimes she'll be playing a little too quietly in her playoom and when I peek in she's reading a book to herself. It melts my heart.

Where the Wild Things Are: A classic favorite I grew up reading about a boy that visits a far away land with terrible creatures that adore him. My favorite part has to be when he returns home to find his dinner waiting for him. What a sweet mother he has!

Sleepyheads: I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love it because it gets Anabelle in sleepy mode, but I hate it because it gets me in sleepy mode to. Then I want to pass out at 8:30pm after pointing out all the other creatures that are sleeping. 

The Pout-Pout Fish: Anabelle loves to read along with me when we read this. It's about a sad pouty fish who gets a different outlook on his life. There's no reason to be gloomy forever!

Guess How Much I Love You: I love that this book is about the love between a father and son. They go back and forth on how much they love each other. Come on, how sweet is that?

Are there any books we need to add to our collection, even though the bookshelf is overflowing?

Easter 2015

Did everyone stop talking about Easter? I know it was four days ago, but man, I've been slammed with a cold that knocked me on my feet for eleven miserable days straight. I let my body straighten itself while eating copious amounts of oranges and cucumbers. Let's just say, I'm thankful my husband stepped up to the plate because when you're falling asleep while your toddler lays in bed watching Mickey Mouse, it's not good. Anabelle ended up getting sick too, so there was lots of slumber parties in the bed. 

We had so much fun this Easter visiting local festivals and eating ridiculous amounts of candy. We arrived at an Eater egg hunt that was literally seven minutes down the street from us, just in time for them to announce "0-2 year olds, go!" So we ran to the hunt and Anabelle grabbed about eight eggs and said, "all done." I started laughing and encouraged her to knock some babies over to grab the remaining eggs. Hey, it's a rough world out there. Afterwards, this little nugget was so patient and waited nearly an hour in line to get a pink monkey balloon, which she promptly popped less than five minutes in the car ride home. She also surprised both me and my husband by going in the bounce house and down the slide by herself. Twice over. She usually wants me to get in with her, but I guess standing in line for an hour watching the other kids go in and out, she decided she could go in solo!

Cardigan (similar) // Skinny Jeans // Gladiator Sandals

Of course, we dyed Easter eggs and stuffed a few eggs with candy. Anabelle was totally into dying the eggs, but decorating them is where she drew the line. She stuck a few gem stickers on an egg and ran away from me. So I slapped some random stickers on the eggs, and told myself we would have better success (and a longer attention span) next year.

We also had a mini Easter egg hunt at her grandparents house. She was so excited to "ea egg" hunt again. Little did she know, I recycled all the eggs and candy from the previous 3 hunts she went on. I don't think she minded at all, because she had no problem opening and trying every piece of candy. Her blonde tip curls and baby muscles melt my heart :)

Jellies

Happy (severely belated) Easter!

Simple Toddler Trail Mix

I'm always looking for a creative and fun snack to feed my hangry toddler. Easy and to the point. I can't even begin to explain why Anabelle has a severe dislike for any and all foods that are mixed together, or even worse, touching each other. The horror!

So what other natural thing should a mother do but force a mix of delicious goodness together so she can get over her little OCD escapade she's been on for the past four months? A simple toddler trail mix of course. And what do you know, as soon as she saw it on the kitchen counter in all it's mason jar glory, she pointed and said, "me?!" Oh yes, just for you. I served her a bowl, she laughed in delight and it was a mom win for sure.

Ingredients:

2/3 cups of raisins

1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

2/3 cups of marshmallows

1/3 cup of pistachios (or any toddler-friendly nut)

2/3 cups of Cheerios

2/3 cups of dried banana chips 

Before mixing, enjoy it in all it's non-conglomerated glory. 

Store in an air tight container. 

Enjoy!

our weekend

Oh hey! I've stepped off the social media radar for a week (or so?) to work on a few tricks up my sleeve. Don't you just wish time could stop for a minute so we can catch up? I certainly do.

The weekend weather was so beautiful! We finally got a chance to hang outside, in short sleeve shirts and sunglasses, no less. After a rainy and gloomy week, it was pretty incredible. 

Anabelle got a Schwinn bike for her birthday and she's been riding circles around the kitchen for the past week. Cool kid. 

Weekly Target run, top knots and messy tees. Real life, folks. 

Training this new puppy is hard work. Anabelle is the best big sister showing her the ropes and easing her fears of new sounds, smells and people. My heart swelled after watching these two walk around the block together. She wanted to grab the leash from me, but I kept seeing Lacey drag her face down on the sidewalk and a trip to the ER in my mind. So instead, she led the way! They both started to slow down 3/4 of the way home. Toddler + puppy walking is tiring, let me tell you.

Anabelle has been begging me to make pancakes for several days, usually after breakfast is already ready and we're running low on time. Mommy compromised, and we made pancakes for lunch. I think it was a win.

Anabelle had her first pinata experience this weekend! She was a little freaked out by the whole concept at first, but once the candy started flowing, she got over it. All the bigger kids shared way too much candy with her. She obviously didn't think so. 

Enter sugar delirium. Hey, you're only a toddler once!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was incredible.

Two Year Old Birthday Girl

It's official. I have a two year old child. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that. Time flies is a cruel understatement. 

I wanted to surprise her as soon as she woke up in the morning to make her feel extra special. I splattered some gold and black paint on a few balloons and placed them throughout her playroom. As soon as she saw them, she was like "bawoo!"

Of course, she immediately saw her present waiting for her and couldn't wait to open it. I bought her a couple of books, including Where The Wild Things Are (aka the best book ever!) and a tutu she can play around in. I'll surprise her at her birthday party this weekend with a little something I've been working on.  She can't stop talking about her birthday "par-y." I've been gearing her up all month for it. She can actually comprehend and get excited about a birthday party this year, and I can't wait to see her face.

We are in full two year old mode, let me tell you. I usually wake up about 5 am and get a few things done before I get a workout in. Yesterday, while waiting for my coffee and rice cake to digest I whipped up a batch of funfetti birthday pancakes to surprise Anabelle when she woke up. When I lit the candles and tried to sing happy birthday, she bucked away from the fire and screamed, "no!" Rude. The pancakes were awesome though. She ate them all and I ate the rest. She's a feign for anything covered in maple syrup. 

After nap time, I took her to get some birthday cake ice cream. She had a choice between ice cream or the playground and she chose the former. A girl after my own heart :) I'm also pretty sure she didn't want to spend anymore time outside in this freezing weather. Freezing our insides is way better anyway. 

Post ice cream coma, we went to the store and I told her to pick out one birthday gift for herself. Bad idea. I was tortured for nearly half an hour trying to convince her to make a decision. She eventually chose a 45 piece Elmo puzzle that I'm sure is going to take some work to put together. I was never the best at puzzles and I certainly can't rely on her nimble fingers. Yet. 

At two years old, Anabelle is sweet, kindhearted with a gentle, sympathetic spirit. She is always smiling and laughing with every chance she gets. This kid absolutely adores affection and requests "mo" hugs and kisses until I suffocate her in love. Her manners are on point too. She's always saying, "dank ou" (thank you) and repeating it until she hears a "you're welcome" in response. Let's see how long she can keep this politeness going.

Cheers to two, my delightful girl! Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy.

Life Via The Camera Roll

I cleaned up my office area during an organizational fung shui move and put my DSLR inside a shelf drawer out of reach from grabby toddler hands. In a punishment move from fate, I keep forgetting to bring it with me. Or even take it out of the drawer. So, here are a few snapshots from our weekend, courtesy of the camera roll.

Waiting for breakfast inside her baby's stroller. The baby rolls safely on the visor. Hah!

Being 4'11 has it's advantages, like hanging with my best girl in her wagon on the way home from the park.  

She doesn't want to swing in the toddler swing, so I have to jump on with her. Sans makeup and sweatpants. It was a lazy Saturday :)

Post lunch (which she barely ate any of) she played in the sandbox while I hovered like the helicopter mom I am. I keep telling her, "I'm always watching you!" Always. Like a creeper.

We're making progress with these two. My tomcat is still trying to boss everyone around, and doesn't want anyone to forget he's the "man" of the house. Even with three other animals and a toddler fighting for attention. 

As soon as she woke up this morning, she yelled, "Elmo!" And brought the vday cards her grandparents bought her from her bed. She slept with them last night, because, you never know when you'll need to hand them out to your friends.

Happy Monday!