Another favorite

 top: c/o shein  sweater: c/o shein   leggings: gap   boots: zulily 

I wore this outfit on Thanksgiving and it's one of my favorite maternity outfits.  I wore this top a handful of times this last spring and summer, and love that I can wear it in the fall and winter, and pregnant.  Loose, flowy and comfortable.  My favorite things.  

Hope you all have a great weekend! Happy almost Friday! 

Joy in the Messy Moments

Last Thursday was a bad day.  Addi woke up with a fever, bad cough and runny nose.  We had to cancel our morning plans with a friend and she was definitely not herself.  I did not mind the snuggles and extra tv watching and we had a decent morning considering.  But after a bad coughing fit ruined her nap, the rest of the afternoon was a mess.  She was so crabby and clearly not feeling well.  My sister's whole family made trips to the doctor that day and were all positive for strep. With plans this weekend, I decided to take Addi.  Her doctor didn't have openings so we went to a Walgreens clinic.  I naively assumed we wouldn't have to wait long, so when the lady told me it would be an hour and a half I started crying.  Both Addi and I were in sweats/pajamas, no make up, not showered and I just stood there crying.  I said we'd be back, although I felt embarrassed to return. Addi was super fussy and cried most of the car ride, there and back and there again.  
Thankfully she pulled it together for the most part when we saw the doctor, minus the throat swabbing part.  She did test positive, which I was almost relieved after two hours of waiting.  Then the medicine wasn't ready and it took forever to get home.  We got home and gave her medicine, only to have her cough so much she threw up ten minutes later.  Bedtime took awhile and then she woke up two hours later coughing and threw up again.  
Let's just say I was a crabby, tired, emotional mess.  Chris and I took turns sitting with her in her rocking chair, singing, talking, trying to get her to relax and go to sleep.  She asked me if she could say hi to her baby brother, lifted up my shirt and put her arms around my belly, resting her head on me.  She does this quite often but just laid there for awhile while I sang.  It was just so sweet.  Here I was rocking my toddler, who's hugging my baby boy.  
Motherhood is so not easy.  It's tiring, and messy.  (Did I mention that I stepped in her throw up the second time?).  But I am learning that there are these little pieces of joy in those hard moments.  The day sucked and I was so ready to be in bed and be done for the day.  But that is not motherhood. Motherhood is rocking a sick baby to sleep, cleaning up throw up and getting little sleep.  And I wanted for this for a long time and felt thankful in that moment that this was my job.  To take care of my babies.  Good days and bad days.  Any hour of the day.  
It may just be ten minutes in the string of a long 24 hours, but it was ten minutes that made me so thankful for my baby girl.  Thankful for my job as a mama and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  
I should add that during this moment, I was sure that Addilyn was asleep and that I'd cherish this sweet moment of rocking my sick girl to sleep, then laying her in her crib.  To which she popped up and loudly said laughing, "You stepped in my throw up?!"  
Thank God for those funny moments too.  

Addi says what

"This is my new smile mama." 
We have given Addilyn a lot of breathing treatments with her nebulizer this Fall, and one day she found an extra mask and told me it's time for my breathing medicine.  She put the mask on me and sternly said "Sit still.  I'll hold you down!" and then at the end "You did it! I'm so proud of you!" 
Addi burped and said, "My mouth tooted!"  She could not stop laughing, once we started laughing. 
I sat on the toilet and Addi said, "You can do it honey!"  I peed and she said "Yea! I'm so proud of you! Want a Skittle? I'm a grown up."  She goes and gets me a Skittle and says, "I'm so proud of you mama." 
A few times lately she's found a toy or something and said, "I used to like this when I was a little boy." 

When we were picking out our Christmas tree Addilyn found this little branch with a few leaves and told me that was the tree she wanted to take home and decorate.  She carried for a little while and then looked at me, held it out and said "This is getting heavy and heavy.  I need to sleep so I can get stronger."    One morning we walked out by the Christmas tree and she said "Let's stand back and look at the tree.  Woooooow!"
I went in Addilyn's room again after bedtime and she wanted me to sing hush little baby. She said "that song is not for big girls, but sing it to my baby brother."  So I was singing it while her eyes were closed and I was sure she was asleep in her crib.  Then she rolls over and says, "baby brother is going to have a penis! A penis like daddy does!"  

We had a huge snow storm a few weeks ago and I took Addi outside.  The snow was up passed her knees and she just kept falling over.  She could not stop giggling and saying "This is just so fun!"
At church after Sunday school I heard a mom say something about watching the Bible lesson on tv, so I asked Addi if they watch a lesson on tv and she said, "Yes.  I asked if I could watch Daniel Tiger and she said NO, NO, NO!" (shaking her finger)
I took Addi to the doctor and they tested her for strep throat.  When we got home she was telling Chris what they did and said, "They shoved bobby pins in the back of my throat.  Special bobby pins. They shouldn't do that." 
The other day she pulled her pants and diaper down a little bit in the back and said, "Hey! Look at my boot crack." 

Christmas tree day

My favorite day of the year.  Every year since I was little we would go get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  We go to the same place, about a half hour away, that is a family owned, adorable place and we love it.  We take a tractor ride out to the trees, cut one down, bring it back and eat donuts and hot chocolate inside.  Later that night we decorate my parents' huge tree and eat pizza together.  Chris and I decorate our own tree the next morning.  I love family traditions and this one is at the top of my list.  It was so fun with Addilyn this year, as she kept saying "It's Christmas tree day!" 

I will say finding something warm and cute when you're 26 weeks pregnant is a challenge.  None of my coats zip or warm clothes fit.  Leggings and big sweatshirt it was! Now for a picture overload.  I love them all!

And my favorite one.  So thankful to have been doing this with this man for the last ten years.

Minted Wishlist

I often have a hard time coming up with things for my Christmas list.  Honestly I have sheets for our guest room on my list.  Exciting, right?  But really, home decor tops my list these days as things I want.  I had no idea until recently that Minted has other things besides paper products and photo gifts. They have so many cute things for the home that I love.  Here are a few things from their site that I would love for Christmas: 

Table Runners.  Now that we have a great wooden farm style table, I love decorating it with table runners and centerpieces, but I only have one I really like.  I am in love with the ones from Minted. Perfect bright and cheery for after the holidays when are not feeling either of those! 

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Cake Stands.  Now I don't make cakes often, but I do bake quite a bit.  I don't own a cake stand and think either of these would be super cute on my counter with cookies, donuts, bread or whatever I baked.  

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Pillow Covers.  Aren't these fabrics so cute?  Two of them match the table runners, which since our dining room and living room are open and connected, it would be perfect.  I love all these patterns!

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Garlands. I have three different garlands currently hanging in our house (which isn't big), so clearly I love them! The ones I have up know are Christmasy for sure, and I always struggle with how to decorate once Christmas is over, but it is far from Spring.  These two would be perfect.  

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I love all of these things!  What are some things on your Christmas list?