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

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!

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.

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!

Low Key Weekend

The weekend is over, but we had such an amazing low-key weekend. And the weather was BEAUTIFUL. I loved every minute of it! On Saturday, we went to an indoor playground and ran into some old friends. I love seeing people I haven't seen in a while. It's kind of a wake-up call and reminder of how quickly life is passing by. 

Anabelle is infamous for taking about 5-10 minutes to warm up to any new place, so we spent the first few minutes walking around the playground until she decided to brave it up and play with the other kids. I love watching her interact with other children when she doesn't think I'm watching. She is certainly not a kid to push around. There is no hesitation in her voice when someone is getting a little too close to her bubble. And since she is talking about a storm, she's got plenty to say. I could never imagine how well she could communicate at 23 months. It's crazy!

I wish I could have captured a few photos at the playground, but she's always on the go, and it's nearly impossible not to get a blurry shot of her. At least I have memories. Memories of shoving myself in the "3 and under" bounce house to save her from the slide that she was afraid to go down. Memories of her sweet, relieved face when she saw mommy to the rescue! We bounced like there was no tomorrow. She reminds me to slow down to enjoy all the little things.

After the playground, we ran into another friend at our favorite joint and ate copious amounts of chips and queso. With margaritas. Oh yes. Margaritas for life. This kid loves Mexican food. Thank gosh, because I could seriously eat it every single day.

The best part? Anabelle is finally letting me put bows and headbands on her head! So I made her a knotted headband and she loved it. I even made a matching one for myself so we can be twinsies :)

Happy Monday!

Christmas Tree Farm-ing

We went to the Christmas Tree Farm this weekend to scour the rows and rows and rows of Christmas trees for the perfect one. Neither my husband or I had ever been to a Christmas tree farm, and it is hands down the best family tradition to start. All of the trees were perfectly manicured and look edstraight out of a storybook. As a bonus, they had a hayride, bounce house, BBQ, a train and a few farm animals. 

Before we took the hayride deep into the farm, Anabelle wanted to hop on the bounce house. With mommy. Not allowed, they said. So, we hopped on the hayride, and off we went. Anabelle absolutely loved getting pulled by a tractor! She loves farm equipment and trains. It must be that Texas blood in her ;)

Always with a snack. And juice. Juice is her new jam. 

You see that sad, dead spot on the tree? It's faced towards the wall. The tree itself is absolutely gorgeous and fluffy. I love it. It's sitting in the middle of our living room waiting to be decorate. Tonight, I promise. We had a few, okay a lot, of technical difficulties trying to get it to stand up straight. User error, I bet.

Leather Jacket // Cardigan // Jeans // Puffer Jacket // Leggings (sold out) // Moccs 

Before we left, Anabelle wanted one more shot at the bounce house. She totally understood she I couldn't go in with her (even though my husband didn't fail to mention I'm child size, anyway) and she did it!

Bounce house win.

We also went to visit Santa, but after a meltdown and a protest, they didn't become fast friends. Oh, don't you worry my dearest, we will attempt the Santa picture another weekend. And it will be glorious.

Cheers to Monday. 

A Little Sunday Failed DIY

This time change has thrown me for a loop and has officially put me into a winter hibernation of some sorts (hence the reason for being MIA). Anyone else having trouble? Anabelle sure isn't. She doesn't seem phased in the least. 

During Sunday nap time, while the Cowboys killed the Jaguars, I wanted to try my hand at an Indian headband. It looked so perfect in my head, but I ended up buying the wrong kind of feathers, so I couldn't paint the entire feather the way I envisioned in my head. I made the most of it and I quickly put this one together with what I had on hand. 

While I was outside finishing up, Anabelle fell and busted her top lip on the hardwood floors. Grandma was on duty, and I came inside to show her the headband, and I noticed red blood all around her mouth. I asked my mom, "what is that?" She said, "isn't that juice?" 

Insert panicked mama, a flurry of cleaning up her lip and applying ice. It really wasn't that bad, but I felt horrible because I was outside for like three minutes and she gets injured. 

Needless to say, she wasn't excited to take pictures with the headband I slaved over. Most of her picture-ready face looked like she was pouting. 

American Apparel Tee // Cheetah Jeans // Moccs

I love her independent free spirit :)

Happy Veteran's Day! I have the day off, so of course I have jam packed our mama and daughter day. Enjoy the day lovely ladies!

Yet Another Pumpkin Patch: The Narrated Version

We went to another local pumpkin patch, with pumpkins galore, ponies, farm animals and face painting. I love to support local businesses, and I thought this would be a wonderful way to spend the day with my little nugget.

I decided to throw caution to the wind, and disregard nap time. I shoved that little voice in my head that said, "this is a horrid idea" behind a locked door. Let me bring you yet another pumpkin patch visit in the narrated version via my interpretation of toddler gibberish.

"Look, mommy, a playground! And a slide! It's my favorite!"

"Let's burn this joint. We've already been to a pumpkin patch this year. Who needs another? It's free anyway, so we've got nothing to lose."

"I told you, I don't want to ride the pony. He could turn on me at any moment! You can't fool me into thinking he's a docile creature that wants to be my friend. None of my friends look like that."

"No! I don't want to ride this dumb pony! Since you won't listen to me, I'm going to scream at the top of my lungs and jump off this animal. You can't make me ride this damn pony!" 

"Hey, this train ride is cool. It's so calm and relaxing. Oh, look! There's that evil monster pony! Hey, Mr. Pony!"

"Don't you see how flush my cheeks are? I'm over it. Let's go."

"All of these pumpkins are mine! Tell those other kids to back off. We've got some pumpkin pie to make later, anyway. You promised." 

"Weeeee! Pumpkins! Anabelle, you are totally missing out."

"Sure, I'll fake smile for a quick photo op in this dirty wagon. Let's pretend we are having the best time EVER because I'm about to throw down another tantrum in 3...2..."

"One."

Until next time, friends. I hope your pumpkin patch visits are heavy in entertainment and light in tantrums.