Happy Monday, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Today kicks off our teacher inservice week, in other words, my first week back to reality.  Like the other two years before this one, it’s pretty painful & I’m already missing Waverly Maye like crazy.  Yet I know tons of other people do this, I can too, & soon enough it will be our new normal once again.  Still, keeping it real, it hurts my heart right now.

On the major plus side, I am super excited for fall!  I actually can say that I am over the hot weather & ready for it to cool down so that we can embrace lots of fall festiveness.  I recently enrolled Waverly back into her little gym class, so far she is loving it & it feels good to be back on some sort of a schedule again.  We both got new bags for the new school year, & Waverly’s sitter ordered her “curriculum”.  I can’t believe we are already to this point, weren’t we just registering for bottles yesterday?!

In fashion news, I spent some of the weekend bringing out some of our cardigans, sweaters, & boots, three of my very favorite things!  I can’t wait to actually put them on both of us soon.  In the meantime, we are rocking neutrals, which for us, are a great transition color from season to season.  I kind of die over Waverly in this leotard & tutu combo, it’s one of those outfits I wish she could wear forever.  

Rock Your Kid Tutu & Top
For mama’s neutrals (not nearly as fun as hers, but are they ever?!), I recently got this maxi skirt from H&M.  I am all about how versatile it is for the months to come, & that it’s a way to be dressy without really having to be dressy.  I bought a pair of heels a couple weeks ago to actually act like a grown-up again, just to take them back a few days later.  Who am I kidding?!
I thought it would be fun to round-up some of my favorite neutrals out there right now, for both mom, dad, & the babes!  Anyone else thinking holiday photos already (or is that just me)?!  Neutrals would be such an easy way to coordinate without being too matchy-matchy! 🙂
Hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful weekend!
XOXO

TGIF, friends!!  I really wanted to thank you for your encouragement on our first trip without Waverly this weekend & also, for relating on our crazy (yet oh so lovable!) toddlers.  Once again, this community is so supportive & I am so thankful!  We are excited to have some time apart from toddler tantrums, runny noses, & bibs, but even more excited to reunite with her belly laughs & impressive dance moves when we get back. 😉
In the meantime, I felt like one of these posts were due, there is so much out there to love right now!

1.  A new donut shop opened about five minutes from our house a few months ago, it has kind of changed our life. 😉  They are those kind of donuts that are hot when you get them & pretty much melt in your mouth, I don’t know if I have ever tasted anything better.  We go at least once a week, yet I do have to (unfortunately) admit that while I take a bite or two, I (sadly) go with the healthy breakfast sandwich option instead.  Way less exciting for sure, but way better for my waistline.  These two, however, take down about half a dozen on their own.  I can’t decide who likes them more.

Headband
2.  We still have some work to do before it is complete, but Waverly’s updated, big-girl room is coming together!  I ordered these curtains & am so anxious for them to get here, I know they will make a big difference.  I did end up ordering the black-out panel to put behind them, the ones she has now are like that so I definitely didn’t want to make any major, major changes. 😉

3.  Kind of like I have a shopping addiction, my husband feels the same way about fishing.  Even though Waverly is a girl, he is convinced they have many, many boat dates in their future (I’m sure she will be down).  We randomly took her down to our park for her first fishing adventure the other evening, she was so into it & of course, the first bite came when SHE was holding the pole.  It was too cute, she couldn’t stop staring at the fish & then when we went to throw it back in the water, she said “night, night fishy!”.
Fishing Pole
4.  Waverly’s eating habits are kind of random & unpredictable lately, some days she eats all day & others, I can’t force her to take a bite.  I decided to try out the lunch in muffin tins idea, she loves it!  We have pretty much been doing this every day for the last couple of weeks, she gets really upset if we use a normal plate!  I’m thinking of using some holiday versions in the upcoming months?!

And I have to share, after a rough few days, Waverly of course melted my heart once again.  I had put her to bed the other night, she layed down, (just like every other night) & was quiet for about twenty minutes.  All of a sudden she started calling for me, which occasionally happens but usually she quickly quiets down.  This time, “mommy” turned to “mommy, come sing to me”, & then “ASHLEY, please sing to me!”.  I mean, how could I resist?  So I held her & sang for about 15 minutes (best 15 minutes ever), then told her that we were all going to sleep so we could be ready for the next day.  She nodded & laid right down to go to sleep, which she did for the rest of the night.  I just couldn’t love her more.

HAPPIEST weekend, everyone!
XO

It has been quite the few days around here, we have had a pretty emotional toddler on our hands.  Waverly has been living up to her new two-year old status, going from laughing hysterically one minute to true toddler tantrums the next.  We had one of the worst grocery trips of all time, it was so bad that three separate people (at different times) told me I should have gotten a few more bottles of wine in addition to the one in my cart.  And then, as I was checking-out, the soft-spoken guy leaned over to tell me he had packed all of the frozen veggies around that wine so I could drink it immediately when I got home.  I think that was right around the moment Waverly knocked the entire display of chocolate bars down.

Using my best mom intuition, I’m going to blame this one on lack of sleep.  I mentioned we have had an early-riser, in addition to that, Waverly has started to fight her naps during the day (I don’t think she wants to stop having fun).  I really can’t blame her for being a little emotional from a lack of sleep, I’m totally the same way.  We are working through it, already seeing progress, & hope to be back to normal ASAP. 🙂

In very positive news, I have to give a shout-out to the waterpark for making our summer probably my best one ever.  We are soaking in all of our last days there, I know Waverly is going to miss it come fall.  It really is one of her favorite places to be & it does deserve some major credit.  I’m convinced the shallow water is what taught her to stand last summer & this summer, she is learning to swim!

My husband randomly had off a couple of Fridays ago, we were both so excited to take Waverly to the waterpark together!  I always send him videos of her in action there, but he has never seen it in person before.  We made a day of it, had a big breakfast at home & then headed to the park.  I felt like such a proud mom watching her show off all she can do, when in all actuality, we all know that his genes are the reason she is like she is.  My mom said I wouldn’t even get near the water at her age, I don’t think I came close to swimming until I was five.  She totally impresses me, watching her is so much fun (& definitely makes up for all those crazy times!).

Waverly’s Suit
My Suit Sold-Out, Similar Here on MAJOR Sale
I hope you ladies are having a fun week so far!  See this post if you need a reminder on now to link-up, we are so happy to have ALL of you each week! XO

After completely overhauling our backyard for the month or so before Waverly’s party, we decided that we needed a break from house projects (um, for the most part) for a little while.  It feels so good to have my husband back for the weekends again, I’m starting to realize that during my summers, if it wasn’t for that, I might not realize that the weekend had even arrived!

We recently took Waverly to the boardwalk for some random weekend fun with my side of the family.  We honestly don’t go down there a lot during the summer since there are so many tourists, we try to stick to the bay or other areas where there isn’t so much craziness.  Yet it was actually a ton of fun, Waverly of course loved that craziness & even surprised us all when she actually sat in her stroller the entire way down there.  We took her to a little carnival & ate ice cream, total toddler heaven!

My Tassel Necklace & Shirt
Waverly’s Scarf (Similar)
Of course, it was all fun & games (literally), until Waverly wanted to go on the giant ride with a major height restriction, one she didn’t even come close to hitting.  And probably won’t until she is five.  
Total toddler tantrum. 😉 
I mentioned that we had family & friends over for my husbands birthday last weekend, our birthdays are actually pretty close & mine is a few weeks away.  We tossed around the idea of celebrating both our birthday with friends by actually doing something not kid-friendly, possibly past the little ones bedtimes, with lots of alcohol.  Then we realized that there was just too much going on (& that our lives revolve around our kids, plus we can’t hold our alcohol anymore), so now, we have decided to still celebrate together, just the two of us!  We are going out of town next weekend, only 45 minutes away, but my parents are keeping Waverly Maye overnight for the very first time.  We haven’t both ever left her so it’s a pretty big deal for us, we are excited & looking forward to it (especially the sleeping-in part).  I know it will be good for all of us but something tells me she will be all we talk about the entire time. And that we will miss her so.
Waverly’s Headband
Romper Sold-Out, Similar Print Here

Happy, happy Monday to you all!  Wishing you a wonderful week!

XO

Happy, happy Friday, friends!!  Our days have been kicking off a little bit (or a lot) earlier lately, out of nowhere, Waverly started waking up around 6, about an hour & a half earlier than she used to.  It’s definitely not my favorite timing since it pretty much coincided with my summer break, I love her something fierce but had been looking forward to waking up once it was actually light outside for months.  We tried pushing back her bedtime, changing her nap schedule, & attempting to rock her back to sleep, none of it worked so we gave up.  Instead, we decided to welcome our early-riser with open arms (& halfway closed eyes) each morning.
It’s honestly become one of my favorite times of the day, Waverly is not much of a “sit still” kind of girl so the fact that she actually sits with us in bed for a good amount of time each morning is pretty incredible.  We watch Sesame Street, cuddle, & laugh, it makes me appreciate her, our family of three, & this extra time we get together.  One day I know I will desperately want these moments back.
We recently had some family pictures taken, I’m so excited to share some of our favorites!!  I love the ones of the three of us & also am officially obsessed with the pictures of just Waverly.  Our photo wall (& hearts) are very full right now.

Sources:
Waverly’s Dress (Sold-Out, Similar Here or Here) & Headband
My Kimono & Similar Jeans
The biggest thank you to Nicole of N.A. Barrett Photography, we are so grateful for all the pictures you have captured of our family. 🙂
Wishing you all the happiest weekend with your loved ones!
XOXO