Round Three.

Thank you guys all SO much for your sweet congratulations on the newest addition to our family!

So... this pregnancy wasn't exactly planned... it came about 4 months earlier than we'd talked about, but we couldn't be happier about it!!

It already feels so different than my other pregnancies- I have not even felt pregnant at all- and I was extremely surprised when I found out that I was. It took a few days to really sink in. I feel like with the last two pregnancies, I knew right away. This one has not been that way.

I am a little over 6 weeks along, which (according to my calculations) would make me due around March 24th. (Two of my best friend's birthdays!) I have an appointment with my midwife around the end of August. I feel pretty good so far. Today has been my first day of any nausea. I'm praying this pregnancy will be like when i was pregnant with Ezra-- I never felt sick even once! Wild.

Chris and I are probably not going to find out the gender this time around. We think that the surprise of finding out in the delivery room will be really special. There's a lot of hope of this baby being a girl, and we both feel like finding out what this baby is when we actually get to HOLD him or her will eliminate any feelings of sadness if it's another boy because... we'll be HOLDING him! And he will be absolutely PERFECT!

I can not BELIEVE we are going to have three children. It feels like such an enornmous jump from two. Also, I feel like I was just pregnant like, two seconds ago. haha. There were four long years between Ezra & Myer, and there will only be two years (and two months!) between Myer & Baby Three. I feel a little scared about that... How exactly does one manage a two year old AND a bitty baby? I have a feeling it might require superpowers.

We are so so so very excited and I will be documenting the journey of baby three here as best as I can!

Hooray!!

This Just In...

Plane and Not-So-Simple.

We are going on a trip to Utah to see my parents soon, just the boys and I. Chris is staying back because it's the busiest time of year with his business.

What this means is that the boys and I will be flying. I have flown with the boys by myself before and we have managed very well, except this time I am a little worried because Myer is no longer a baby-blob, he's more like a... 25 lb. tornado. A 25 lb. tornado who does not actually have a little tornado seat of his own for the flight. He will be in my lap. haha.

I'm thinking duct tape?

Do any of you have tips for flying with extremely active toddlers? In your lap? We flew with Ezra in our lap a couple of times when he was around Myer's age, but Ezra's personality was/is such that all we had to do was turn on a movie and the kid turns into a statue.

Any tips you guys could give would be MUCH appreciated! :)

Sleep Eating.

This is the best video clip in the whole entire world.

Wrinkle-Free.

I am a beautiful mess.

My days look mostly like disorganized bursts of frustration and compassion. I do too much of some things and not nearly enough of the others. I go grocery shopping, only to come home and immediately make a list of five more things I need to get at the store.

Sometimes I feel like my heart is a teenager's bedroom.

Layers upon layers of mess. A mess so devastating that the thought of cleaning it is more overwhelming than the thought of putting the whole house up for sale. I overwhelm myself. All the time. There are ALWAYS so many things I want to change about me, so many things I want to improve upon...

...like cooking. I LOATHE it. It makes me want to break things.

...like patience. If I have any, it's only knee high to a grasshopper.

...like contentment. I've only had a couple of short seasons of it in my life. And that's just ridiculous.

But where does the 'beautiful' part of all this wreckage come in? How can I say that I am a beautiful mess? This mess sure as heck doesn't look very beautiful in the day-to-day. It looks like missed appointments and angry words shot at children who are still just trying to figure it all out. Children who are not adults and should not be expected to act like it.

The beauty of all this oppressive mess gushes in at the very moment that I stop trying to clean it up. At the very moment that I put down my rag and my bottle of 409, it suddenly becomes... redeemable.

I am a mess, it's true. But I was never meant to be my own maid. I can NOT reach the end of the grime. By the time one spot is cleaned, another has built up.

But the very moment that I let go of the stress and anxiety that chases me like a bloodhound, the one that is right on my heels at all times barking, "You'll never be enough!", I become aware that this mess is a megaphone. It is destined to tell of great things.

I am worthless without the grace of God. I am a pile of dirty clothes in the corner. Yet He patiently (oh so patiently!) picks me up, piece by piece, and restores me. He launders me. He hangs me back up in a place of honor and he steam cleans every wrinkle from my form.

I do none of the work. He does it all. I hang limp. The before & after shots... split screened like they do on HGTV... THAT is where the beauty is. Because, if the room had ALWAYS been clean and exquisite, the beauty would be less gut-wrenching! Less real! It would just be... sterile... and somehow beside the point. These hearts of ours long to see transformation, because it speaks to a shared condition. This is why we stay up way too late watching infomercials. We long to be WOWED by the change! We want to see the small things become great! We want to see the weak things trump the strong! We want to see the underdog win!

I am an underdog. Broken, weak, wrinkled, disheveled.

But somehow, right in that disheveledness is my glory. Because I am being transformed... slowly... and my ultimate triumph will not be the result of MY hands, but entirely of God's. The before & after will be stunning, and ALL the credits that roll after the film will be Him.

Him, Him, HIM.

{image credit}

Summer Fashion Week - Sunday!

***LINK LIST IS FIXED NOW, sorry about that!***

Oh, it is the saddest of days... the end to another fun filled fashion week! I wish we all lived in the same city so we could get together and get all dolled up and celebrate together. Wouldn't that be FUN?

For the last fashion day post, I am posting some shots from a fashion photo shoot I did a couple of months ago (WHY AM I GROWING OUT MY HAIR AGAIN?!? Aggh! I like it short in these pics!) with my oh-so-amazing photographer friend, Crystal Miller. We had such a blast taking these, and with Crystal's natural eye and love of fashion, we came away with some great photos! We took shots of four outfits that day-- one for each season. (I'm only posting the Summer one here today because even the THOUGHT of looking at myself in a WINTER outfit in this triple digit heat makes me want to go hug a glacier. And cry.)

We took these in a local boutique that my friend Lindsay owns called Collected Thread. If you live in the Oklahoma City area, you MUST GO THERE. It is so awesome and cute and fun- and they have great locally handmade baby items too! It's the perfect place to find a unique and thoughtful gift for anyone, really.

So here it is, my last Summer Fashion Week outfit... thank you ALL for playing along with me. I will annonce the winner of the Forever21 Gift Card within the next couple of days!

Yellow Bow Headband- From COLLECTED THREAD
Cardigan- thrifted
Cropped Ruffle Blouse- thrifted
Vintage 80's Skirt- thrifted
Wedges- Steve Madden, thrifted

I will miss doing these fun fashion posts with you all, and I feel kind of like I am saying goodbye to a group of friends, but then I remember that HEY! We're not going anywhere, right? So keep in touch you all!! And don't worry-- we'll do another fashion week again next season!

I've been really touched by some of you sharing how much this week has helped you... from boosting your confidence to making you feel more like 'yourself' to bringing a sense of community... all these things are good and I hope you can take those feelings away from this week and knit them into your everyday life. Because you all are amazing, generous, and kind, and too many of us walk around feeling like we're 'sub par' every day, you know?

So, let's all lift our chins, square our shoulders, and remember to speak our kindnesses boldy.

Oh, and of course, look GOOD while we're doing it.

hehe.

xoxo

Summer Fashion Week - Saturday!

So, I was a bad fashion week hostess and didn't get around to taking pictures of my outfit until later when my husband got home and we were in the midst of dinner/playtime/bedtimes for the kids.

I asked Chris to snap my picture while I was cooking dinner, so here's what you get! haha.





A pretty basic outfit for today...

White ruffle sleeve tank top: thrifted
Black skinny pants- Ross
Apron- thirfted
Mutilated fascinator (AGAIN)- Ross
necklaces- vintage




The vintagey tin signs above my stove are form when Chris and I got married. We had vintage tin signs and bowl of citrus fruit on each table with white flowers and tea lights.

So pretty...

Pardon my lack of real outfit posting today... I guess "real life" got in the way! hehe.

Speaking of "real life", here they are:

ezra james, age 5.5

myer elliot, age 1.5

I am so sad that tomorrow is the last day!! Boo to the Hoooooo!

Summer Fashion Week - Friday!

I was totally inspired by Paige yesterday and I had to try and recreate a headpiece like hers! I took some scissors to a fascinator that I had lying around (shown here) that I never wear anymore, and... ta-da! New hair flair!! Thanks for inspiring me, Paige! :)



Mutilated Fascinator- from Ross
Cardigan- Thrifted
Tank top- thrifted
Shorts- Free People, thrifted
Shoes- thrifted



I just have to say that I am so thankful to you guys for playing along with me for Fashion Week so far! I am having so much fun, and it is only because of YOU and your ocean-sized sweetness! You guys are QUALITY. For realz.

We girls need to learn to compliment each other more, am I right? You all have been SO amazing about that this week. Why don't we do it more often?? In every day life?? Face-to-face? It makes the world brighter. For the complimenter AND the complimented!

I feel inspired by you guys, is what I'm saying. Thank you.



Only two more days left!

Summer Fashion Week - Thursday!

***link list is fixed now... sorry about that!!***

word to your muddah.

It's already THURSDAY! Wow. (Remember, it's never too late to join!) I am having so much fun checking out your looks each day and finding some really fun new blogs at the same time! :) You guys are awesome.



This dress was another incredible thrift store find. When it's this hot outside, this is all I want to wear. Something you can just throw on and GO. The colors of this dress make me happy. They remind me of the colors in tiffany's top from tuesday. I think greens & blues are my FAVORITE together.



Dress- B. Darlin, thrifted
Shoes- Madden girl, from 1/2 of 1/2 NBC
Cardigan- Target

Summer Fashion Week - Wednesday!

Here's my outfit for Wednesday:



dress- by double zero, thrifted
cardigan- Forever21
hat- Forever21
Shoes- steve madden, thrifted



This dress was one of the best thrifting finds I've ever come across! I mean, who gets rid of a dress this cute?? Crazy, I tell ya. I love it so much and it is so comfy!



It is currently MAD HOT here in Oklahoma. I am craving the mountains. Only three more weeks until me and the boys head out to Utah to see my parents!! weehaw!

Summer Fashion Week - Tuesday!

Can I just say that you guys are lookin' snazzy?? Thank you so much for playing along with me! It's been so fun already...

Here's my day 2 look:



Dress- thrifted
Cardigan- Forever21
Sandals- 1/2 of 1/2 name brand clothing
necklaces- gifted & thrifted
hairbow- thrifted




Oh and thanks for those who said they liked my hair. hehe. I seriously almost chopped it all off again the other day because I was getting so flustered with it. arg! Growing out hair is HARD!!!

Summer Fashion Week - Monday!

I've been so excited for this week to begin! It's going to be so fun!!

Remember that each day you join in and share your link below, you are entered into a drawing for the end-of-the-week giveaway. You can join in at anytime, even if you just catch the last day or the last couple of days. The more days you submit a look, the more chances you have to win! The prize at the end of this week will be a $50 gift card to forever21! (you can use it online if there isn't a store near you!)

Here's my Monday look:



I am wearing:
blouse: 'fire los angeles' from 1/2 of 1/2 Name Brand Clothing
Shorts: Old Navy, thrifted
knee high tights: TJ Maxx
Shoes: Report, from Ross
Necklace: thrifted
Bracelet: Forever21
purse: thrifted



I can't wait to see what you all come up with! Once you've posted your look on your blog, enter the link below. (Each days' link list will be open for 24 hours.) That way we can all see eachother's Summer fashions and hopefully meet some new faces at the same time! :) Don't forget to click through to other people's looks and leave them happy comments.

hooray!

surprise.

My husband threw me a wonderful surprise party last night-- he invited my friends and secured a venue (called six11, pictured above) and decorated and bought cupcakes and wine and water and coffee and chocolate and then DJ-ed the entire night so that I could dance with my friends until my feet almost fell off.

(I, of course, failed to take any pictures of the spectacular night. Poop!!)

Dancing is something I could do every single night and never get tired of. There is something about it that makes me feel alive. And free. And lighthearted. I love it so so so much. I feel like we were all created to do it, but so many of us are just too reserved or embarrassed because we don't feel like we look "cool enough" when we do it. But, oh! We ALL should dance! You should put on some bumpin' tunes right now and start your own dance party, in fact! It will be good for your heart in more ways than one.

It was the greatest night ever. He also told all my friends to bring me cash for my THRIFT STORE SHOPPING SPREE that he had planned for me the next day (today). Does this man know the depths of my heart or what? He had a wooden clothes hanger up on the wall and as people came in to the party they pinned their $ gifts on it with clothes pins. So clever.

Then, this morning, I got up early and got to go shopping.

The time away spent wandering my favorite OKC thirft stores helped me find that deep breath that I have been longing for for so many months. The days have been grinding me into a pulp and my children haven't known, from moment to moment, exactly what mommy they were going to get. I've felt like one second I'm "happy go lucky", and the next I'm snapping and mad. I just haven't been able to stabilize... I've been walking around feeling like I'm a bright blue sky that keeps dropping random tornadoes down on unsuspecting farm buildings. And cows.

But I am feeling more like myself again. phew!

To top it all off, Chris found a copy of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail" for me to watch while he is out DJ-ing another gig this evening.

My favorite movie.

My favorite man.

I can't wait to show you some of the cool new things I found on my thrift store shopping spree today...

Speaking of, are you all ready for MONDAY?! Summer Fashion Week is almost here! Don't forget to spread the word!



wee!! :)

Old Scrambled Eggs.

Summer is so hard for me. I am horrible at entertaining the munchkins all day while the opressive heat lurks outside. It is just NOT my forté.

I can't wait until August, when I can load the kids up and cart us out to Utah to be with my parents for awhile. I need help. These children are slowly driving me batty, and the precious few moments I have to myself are just simply not cutting it! I come back feeling more restless and smooshed, simply because I know I won't get more time to myself for a long while.

Oh, Fall, come quickly!! I am feeling like a scrambled egg!

****************************

In other news, I am turning TWENTY EIGHT on Tuesday. And my 10 year high school reunion is rapidly approaching. Holy moo! Where's my cane?