Black Friday

sweater: kohls   t-shirt: old navy  belt: H&M  jeggings: walmart  boots: dsw

My favorite day of the year may just be the day after Thanksgiving.  It is the day we go cut down our Christmas tree and spend the evening decorating my parents tree, eating pizza and listening to Christmas music.  
While shopping isn't our first priority on Black Friday the girls in the family do like to do a little shopping! We usually only go to one or two stores and of course Target is one of them.  We definitely aren't extremely early shoppers and usually go in the afternoon when the crowds aren't crazy.  (Although with Addilyn not sleeping much at night lately I may as well be out shopping!)
A few years ago my mom and sister started a tradition to buy some sort of holiday platter or serving dish each year.  It's been fun to add to my collection and last year we ended up going with a big white serving plate, since we started getting a lot of holiday things.  I'd love to get something a little different this year like these appetizer plates or this canister.  
I'd also love to get some Christmas presents like this baby doll stroller for my niece and this soft book set for Addilyn.  I've actually already taken advantage of Target's pre Black Friday sales I bought a few women's sweaters for gifts since they were 40% off.  I may need to go back and buy one for myself! It's definitely a good idea to check out the deals online so you don't miss anything. 
What are your Black Friday plans?  Are you a crazy Black Friday shopper? 

This post is brought to you by Target but all thoughts and opinions are my own.  Follow along at #mykindofholiday.
 

pregnancy self esteem

Want to know how to make your pregnancy self esteem go completely downhill?  

Start looking up and comparing your 17 week baby bump or any week bump to someone else's.  Or read about how much weight others have or really haven't gained by this point.  Because somehow I thought it would be a good idea or help me feel better about this awkward pregnancy stage.  
Well big lesson learned. 
And I feel a little embarrassed to admit this but here is the ugly truth.  I felt jealous and starting wishing that I had this cute, hard little bump rather than feeling like I just look like I gained ten pounds of awkwardness.    I read this pregnant person's blog, who was about as far along as I was, and she was excited and celebrating each pound gained.  In all honesty I wanted to ask her really? Maybe that's because you're a size zero and every pound is placed into a cute little bump on your belly.    And then it was like this slap in the face.  When I realized that I was wishing for something completely superficial, when I have a healthy baby growing inside of me.  A baby that I would do anything for, carry any weight or look however I needed to if it meant he or she would be mine.
So here's to not letting comparisons get in the way of the happiness and joy I have for this baby.  And to knowing that every mama, belly, baby is different.  Probably a good lesson to learn now and try to hold on to throughout this pregnancy and then even after too, as I'm pretty sure that is something all moms and moms-to-be deal with.