We are eight days into November but it kind of feels like eighty-four.  Waverly got sick for the third time this year already (hello, kindergarten!), and had to stay out of school for four days, we’ve been battling some time restraints on trying to complete some big projects at the house, and by far most importantly, my family has been focusing on the recovery of my grandfather since his heart surgery on Halloween day.   The surgery didn’t go quite as planned, and we had a few scary days afterwards, but I’ve never been happier to report anything (just about ever!!) than that he is finally awake and on the mend.  We are currently feeling like we witnessed a miracle and certainly have a lot to be thankful for this season.

  The girls have a couple days off school this week, and then it’s only one more full school week before one of our favorite weeks of the year — Thanksgiving!!!!  As a teacher, I have always loved this time of year so much, that half-day on Wednesday is full of so much excitement and anticipation for all the fun (and days off!) that are near.  I have to laugh this time around though, Waverly loves school so much that she gets sad on Sunday mornings when I tell her that the bus isn’t coming to pick her up for the second day in a row, so I know she is going to have a hard time with all the breaks over the next couple of months.  Oh sweet girl, how that will change one day.


Sharing some pictures from a few weeks back, when the weather was much warmer and pumpkin patches were still acceptable every weekend.  We have now moved on from sleeveless floral dresses to sweaters and boots and are LOVING IT! 

 

Happy November to you and yours!!!! XO

PS — You know we are BIG Hunter boots fans over here, there a few kids pairs currently on sale on their site, you can find them here!

When Waverly Maye was just over one month old, I took her to my school to see my students and co-workers for the first time since officially becoming a mom.  I will never forget, I woke up at four am so I could dry my hair and get myself ready before her next feeding, even though I hardly had any sleep the night before.  I so badly wanted to look like I had this whole mom thing figured out, and to come seamlessly strolling in with my sweet baby girl like I had done it forever.  Of course all of it backfired, three minutes into drying my hair (while it was still dark outside), she had a huge blowout and I spent the rest of the time until we had to leave cleaning her up and keeping her calm.  I did get to school, however I looked anything but put together, with no make-up on and covered in sweat from the August heat & my postpartum hormones.

I share this now, because four years later, I can’t help but laugh at that story, maybe even mostly at the fact that I can’t believe I thought I would have the “mom thing down” one month into it.  Honestly, some days I still don’t — and that’s ok.  One of the many things that motherhood has taught me is humility, and lately I have really been working on giving myself some grace, the grace I so deserve along with all the other mom warriors out there.  Our days are not always perfect.  My four-year old mini me tests me daily and I find myself googling “how to raise the strong-willed child” more than once a week.  My almost two-year old currently doesn’t like naps or any foods that don’t have sugar in them.  We don’t co-sleep and the thought of it actually scares me, by the time bedtime hits I need my space.  Motherhood is messy, it can be so freaking intimidating, exhausting, and scary.


Yet with all of that, it is (and no doubt will forever be) the greatest joy I have ever known.  I always knew I wanted to be a mother, but nothing could have prepared me for how happy it would make me or for the unconditional love I would have for my girls.  How did I get so lucky to be at the front row, watching every magical and frustrating moment of their little lives?!  How are they mine?  They are everything, two little people who fill my heart to the brim and who gave me the best role I’ve ever had.

Sharing some pictures from Mother’s Day weekend, it was such a good one with lots of relaxing and quality time with my family, and even a little alone time for a Target trip and pedicure!!!

Hope all the mamas you had the most wonderful Mother’s Day!!!!  Of course I have to send the HAPPIEST Mother’s Day to my own mama, the one who showed me what this thing is all about.
XO

Happy spring, friends!  I don’t know that there is any other season change I like more than winter to spring, by this point we are always dying for some fresh air, and of course we love pastels, floral, and all the Easter things!!!  Waverly & I both have our spring breaks in just a few weeks, and we are SO EXCITED!  Because of the snowstorm and random week off shortly after Christmas, pretty much all of our holidays since then became make-up days, so we are currently in desperate need of a week with no routine and no schedule.  It will be the perfect practice to hold us over until summer!

I thought I would round-up some of my favorite images from this winter, I sometimes wonder if I take too many pictures (ha!), but then putting these all together to look back on makes me so happy.  I am a true believer that looking at a picture can take you right back to the moment, and these all remind me of what a sweet, sweet season of life we are in!  I will always remember this as the winter that Waverly really “grew up”, from a toddler to a big girl, and that Avalon started talking and really came into her own as a toddler.  The girls bond is stronger than ever, they fight more than they did before but also make up just as quickly, and it’s in these past few months that I’ve really stepped back and let them do their thing.  Life with two kids has in some ways become harder (with two really on the move and opinionated), but in other ways easier, and as always, this stage of life is just flying by more than my heart can take.


See ya next year winter, thanks for being so good to us!!!
XO

Happiest Friday, friends!!!!  Hope you are as excited as we are for a weekend all about L-O-V-E, since it’s our last before Valentines Day hits on Tuesday!  I’m stopping in today to share some pictures we took a couple weekends back, on a little outing with just the four of us, along with the details on a new watch I teamed up with Jord Wood Watches on for my husband.  It’s completely random that this is my second watch post this week (you can see my new one here!),  but when Jord reached out to send something our way for Joe, I couldn’t resist.  It’s always us girls getting all the fun stuff, so I loved being able to get him something as well.
Both Waverly and Avalon are 150% daddy’s girls right now, and as jealous as I am about it (because I totally am), I can’t help but love it.  There’s just nothing sweeter than seeing your high school boyfriend become a dad, I will never get over the fact that this all started EIGHTEEN years ago in my tenth grade math class.  Oh, how far we have come! 🙂

Jord has so many options for both women & men, and they are all wood which I love so much!  The feel is a bit rustic, which fits our style perfectly, and it’s also very versatile.  Joe does not dress-up much (and is way less into fashion than I am), but this watch is perfect for him, it’s stylish without being too much.


You can shop his watch style here, and of course there are lots of other options as well!  Wishing you & yours the happiest weekend full of pink, red, and heart-shaped everything! XO

I’m finally getting around to posting some of our family photos we had done back in September, and to be honest, I probably only found the time to go through them because of the snowstorm that hit and kept us at home for four days straight!  It was just so hard to narrow them down, I love these images so much and could have easily chosen twenty more favorites.  Brooke is the best about hanging with us for as long as our girls will last and taking a million pictures, mainly of us just being “us” and doing things we normally would.  One of the many reasons I am obsessed with her and will treasure all the moments she has captured of our family over the years forever & ever.

It’s crazy to think about how far we have come since September.  We actually did these the weekend before I started my new job, something that came after a pretty stressful few months, and something we were so excited for but also pretty nervous about.  Turns out, it was the best thing that could have happened to us.  Fast forward four months to now, and we have settled into a routine, the girls are thriving, and not for nothing, the countdown to my three month summer vacay is already on (one of the best perks of my teaching job!).  Everything happens for a reason, my friends.  Forever thankful for this life and these people I get to spend it with.

All images taken by my sweet friend Brooke of Brooke Tucker Photography.  Love her!

Happy, happy weekend friends!
XO