Being that I was pregnant again this Christmas, clothes weren't the most practical of gifts, so this was the Christmas of earrings and shoes for me. And if there two things I don't love spending money on, it's earrings and shoes, so I was super excited about some of the goodies that were under the tree for me this year!
Here are a few of my new favorite things in the earring and shoe department... and I tossed in one jacket for good measure, because I love a good new jacket, and jackets work well with a growing belly.
Kendra Scott 'Tessa' Stone Stud Earrings- $65
(found here)
These earrings come in 7 different colors, but I love the rose gold color shown above. The size is great too- not too big or small (see picture of size here).
These are one of my more recent go-to earrings. They're on the smaller side, which makes me feel like the "bling" can be dressed up or dressed down. They are super cute and currently 50% off!
This might be the third time I've posted about these earrings. So no, they weren't a Christmas gift, but I wear them all. the. time, and I couldn't write a post about earrings without including them. I love, love, love these earrings.
I love the color and style of this jacket! It's cute for rainy days and comfy for the cool, Spring days that are ahead. And it's really comfortable! On sale now for 33% off.
Sperry Saltwater Quilted Duck Boot- $79.90 (found here)
Matt got these boots for me and they are SO comfortable! Like, slipper comfortable. I have and love this color, but there are many more options to choose from. These are from Nordstrom Rack and are currently 33% off. I wanted the non-shiny rubber so they wear better over time, but you can check out all of their options here.
TOMS Classic Slip-On Shoe- $29.97
(found here)
Matt got me the cutest pair of Toms for Christmas, which I was unfortunately not able to find a direct link to, but in my search, I saw that Nordstrom Rack is having some great sales on Toms flats that you can check out here. The ones shown above are 38% off and would be super cute for Spring!
Dolce Vita Kipp Bootie- $79.97
(found here)
These retail for $140, so they're currently 43% off, and y'all they are honestly so comfortable. I know I say it all the time, but I am a comfort over fashion kind of gal. In fact, I had these Sam Edelman booties (also on sale right now), but I ended up exchanging them for this pair because the others just weren't comfortable enough for me. I don't care if they're heels, I need to feel like I could run in them if I wanted to (reason 1,786 why I am not a fashion blogger). I like these because they can be dressed up or dressed down and the color goes with everything.
That's all for today!
If you missed my recipe post from yesterday, you can check it out here.
Tomorrow, I'll be guest posting about managing life and motherhood on Samantha Elizabeth and sharing my goals for February here. See you then!
When Ryan was a baby, I experimented with all sorts of new veggie recipes to expand his little taste buds (and ours). With Natalie, up until recently, she has preferred mashed or pureed food, so I had to get a little more creative with the veggies I introduced to her. Well as it turns out, Matt and I both liked this recipe as well, so this turned into a simple side for the whole family.
The recipe as written below serves 2-3 adults (about 1-1.5 cups prepared), so I would double it if your serving more people or are extra hungry for some butternut squash.
Hope you and your family enjoy!
Ingredients:
12oz. pre-cut butternut squash (I buy Trader Joe's- it looks like this)
Cut slit in side of bag and microwave for 5 minutes. If the brand you buy is not microwavable in the bag, remove from bag, place in a bowl and cover before microwaving. Melt butter in pan. Add butternut squash and milk. Mash with a potato masher until all large chunks are mashed. Add lemon pepper seasoning to taste (I use about 1/2tsp or less).
I was looking back through posts and realized I haven't written one of these posts since before Natalie was born!
So I'm making a new goal to do these Day in the Life posts once a quarter from now on. It's such a fun and easy way to document what our real life looks like right now.
Everybody always talks about the early days at home with kids with such nostalgia, and almost everyone I know says they went by too quickly. So I want to have a way to look back and remember what our "normal" looked like in this stage, because before long our kids will all be school and we'll have a whole new kind of normal!
I realized after looking back at these pictures that they're all pretty blurry or grainy- I really did just snap a quick pic of whatever we were doing to try to best document our "normal" for right now. So if this post is totally boring to you, sorry- it's really meant for my sentimental self to look back on one day. Come back next week for some Favorite Finds, Goals, Life Lately photos, and a Bakeless Butternut Squash Soufflé recipe. :)
Day in the Life
Ryan- almost 2.5
Natalie- almost 1
Tally- almost 4 😜
This "Day in the Life" is from a random Thursday. It felt like it should be a pretty typical day which is why I chose it for this post.
I woke up at 5:00 and came down for my coffee and quiet time. I recently started Jesus Always by the same author who writes Jesus Calling, so I read that and the devotion for the day from Proverbs 31.
Then I started on my Monthly Confessions post. In a couple of weeks, I'll be sharing a guest post I wrote for Samantha Elizabeth on managing motherhood and the rest of life, including my daily routines and schedules, but one of my big things is waking up before the kids and having my "me time" to accomplish a few things before the day starts. One of those things I like to accomplish early is blogging. And I'm not one of those bloggers who schedules in advance, so almost all of my posts that go out are written that morning or over the course of two mornings before the kids wake up.
After writing post, I took care of some emails and bills.
Right around 6:30, both kids woke up. Matt got Ryan, I got Natalie, and we met back downstairs for the daily "milkshake" (bananas, milk and protein but Ryan's always loved it) that Matt and Ryan make before Matt heads to work.
Next it was time for Nonni girl to eat her oatmeal. Ryan is like me and doesn't like his breakfast right away, so we usually eat together a little later in the morning.
When Natalie spotted the oatmeal. Girlfriend loves her food.
Ryan wanted to hop up on my lap and feed Natalie (they're obviously not used to me photographing random events in their day- hah!)
After breakfast and getting the kids dressed, we hopped in the car to head to pilates and church nursery. Ryan is usually singing or talking about anything and everything in the car. This morning, he was into singing "Skip to the Lou" or as he sings it, "Skip to my woo" and then Nonni's in the background saying, "Uh-oh" like she knows the words aren't right. 😜
Post- pilates class- I LOVE this hour with these girls! Getting a workout in NOT in our bedroom staring at my laptop screen feels very independent- hah, couldn't think of a better word than that... but if you're a SAHM, you know "independent" is a not a word used to describe much of the day.
And nothing says we just finished an hour of pilates like white bread with melted cheese, so Firehouse it was for our crazy crew!
Oh these kiddos- love them so! Also Ryan insists that the fire hat is supposed to be worn that way. A future baseball player maybe?!
Starbucks drive through- coffee treat for me (Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte just about every time) and milk treat for Ryan. Mama's gotta use nap time to get things done, so afternoon coffee is a must!
They usually both fall asleep on the way home, but on this day, only Nonni Girl passed out. Ryan always let's me know when she falls asleep and reminds me to use a whisper voice- sweet love.
I got Natalie up to her crib and then went to read to Ryan before his nap.
But first- real life (and TMI)- I had to pee. And I decided to take a picture because I pretty much always have company when I pee. If Natalie were awake, she'd be right there too.
Curious George before nap time
While the kids napped, I did some laundry and cleaning and finished emails and bills. Sometime I use this time to read a little or do a workout, but lately I've been spending most of it checking off my monthly goals, prepping dinner, and doing laundry.
After naps, we played some toys, watched some Curious George, had a little snack, and got ready to walk to the park.
Hiii :)
Heading to the park!
Thankfully Natalie likes to stay in the swing for a long time and Ryan is pretty good at doing the slides and playground all by himself, so I usually stand in between the two of them and watch to make sure Ryan doesn't fall or give Natalie an extra push if she's slowing down.
Matt texted me while we were at the park and said he was coming home early with Toy Story for us all to watch, so we left the park a little early and went back home for a surprise early visit from Daddy!
This girl flails her arms like crazy when Matt gets home. I really need to record it one night so we can remember the sweetness and excitement of her reaction to seeing him. Gah it makes my heart melt every day!
We opted for semi-ruining our appetite for dinner and made popcorn for the movie. Because you have to have popcorn with a movie! And because our kids can't last for a movie after dinner. Our nights end early in this stage of life!
While the boys finished the movie, I gave Natalie her dinner and bath. She drinks half of her bottle on the changing table while I put on her lotion, diaper and pjs and then takes the rest of it in the rocking chair, which gives us the sweetest little snuggly moments from our always-on-the-go girl.
Back downstairs, Ryan was dancing shirtless with his fire hat before dinner. I either do dinner and bath together for Ryan and Natalie before Matt gets home or Ryan eats with us after Natalie goes down. Tonight, the three of us ate together and then gave Ryan his bath before his milk and stories time.
After dinner, we went upstairs and checked on the progress of Ryan's new room. He'll be moving into the empty room upstairs and the new baby will be moving into his current room. We tore out the mini kitchen that was in this room and are building a closet in there for him instead. Basically, we decided a closet felt more appropriate for our toddler than a wet bar. ;)
After bath every night we do what we call "Milk & Stories" time in Ryan's room. He's always loved books and milk so "milk & stories" was coined early on as his cue for the start of the naptime or bedtime routine. Matt and I switch off reading while the other person sits on the little bench next to the rocking chair. We usually read 3 stories, brush teeth, and then tuck Ryan in his crib for the night.
Once Ryan's down, Matt usually goes downstairs to clean up the kitchen and toys while I finish whatever laundry is left from nap time, and then it's Me+Matt time!! haha, always a highlight of the day, even if some nights it only entails us reading next to each in bed and crashing not long after the kids are down. Other nights we wait and have dinner just the two of us and catch up on the day's events, while other nights we just veg and watch a show. We both like to read before we go to bed and are usually sound asleep by 10:00.
So that's it for this edition of "A Day in the Life" ...I guess if I stick to doing these once/quarter, there may only be one more before baby #3 arrives?! I mean seriously, life just flies by way to quickly it seems!
