High Five for Friday!

I am still trying to balance life, so I apologize for not posting every day. No matter how hard I try, I seem to only be able to blog about 3 days a week. I'm still working on balancing juggling family, work, my Etsy shop and blogging.

But you know I'll never leave you hanging on a Friday because it's my favorite day and post of the week!

1. For Memorial Day we spent time together as a family and Charlotte got some good quality cousin time.
2. If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably already seen my crazy fabric bow obsession. I figured out how to make these sweet bows using my scrap fabric and now I can't stop! If you are loving them like I am then check them out in my Etsy shop.
3. Speaking of Etsy orders, this week was a busy week for my shop. These are some of the packages going out today and surprisingly that's only about half of it. Whew!
4. Such a fun mail day this week! Christopher's aunt and uncle sent us the sweetest care package for Charlotte. It had clothes, sunnies, toys and a bathing suit for when she goes to the river this summer. Totally unexpected and made my day!
5. This child LOVES any and all sunglasses. You put them on her and she instantly thinks she's Miss Cool. Who doesn't love a good pair of Ray Ban's?!

The Perfect Dress - WIWW

When going through my pictures from past "What I Wore Wednesday's", I realized that I seem to always be in some form of red, white and blue. I swear I wear plenty of other colors! Needless to say, I think it's time to challenge myself and see how long I can go without a patriotic themed outfit!

Since this week draws an end to my favorite color scheme, it's only fitting that I share an outfit that means something. While in Disney last week, my husband saw this dress and immediately knew I had to have it, so he brought it home for me as a nice little surprise. What makes this dress Disney you ask? Look in the bottom corner and you will spy a little Minnie Mouse. I know, nerd alert, but I can't help it, I'm a sucker for Disney merchandise!

Besides being in my favorite color scheme and featuring my favorite mouse, this dress has another amazing element....bows in the back! Seriously?!

I think it's safe to say that this dress incorporates ALL of my favorite things: Red, white and blue, stripes, bows AND Minnie Mouse!

What are some of your fashion must haves? Do you have a particular color scheme or patterns that seem to constantly draw you in?

Linking up with Lindsey for WIWW

Super Hero Baby Shower

Over the weekend, we had the honor of hosting a baby shower for some dear friends of ours, Mike and Janelle. We chose to make the shower coed since I know Mike through work and the people we were inviting were colleagues and friends of ours.  Silly shower games and over the top baby decorations were not the focal point of this party. However, gathering together as friends and celebrating the soon to be parents was. 

This was my first time hosting a baby shower, so the pressure was on! As I mentioned before, I wanted it to be special but not the typical female centric shower we are all used to, so it didn't take long for me to come up with a plan. Mike LOVES Captain America and Spiderman, and with a baby boy on the way, it only seemed fitting that the theme be super heroes!

I found some great Captain America printables on Etsy and used them for the decorations. The package I bought came with tons of stuff, but to keep it toned down (didn't want the men to run away scared), I stuck with the basics: Banner, cupcake toppers and water bottle wrappers.

 

 Thanks to a few other colleagues, we had a GREAT spread! Fruits, veggies, chips and spinach dip, meatballs, sausage balls, sandwiches, cupcakes and oreo balls was the menu. No particular theme, just enough to cover all our bases and to keep people fat and happy.

Part of the Mike and Janelle's gift was this bowtie onsie. I made the bow tie using comic book fabric and sewed snaps on the onsie to attach the tie to the shirt. Simple, yet cute.

Charlotte didn't want to feel left out, so she rocked her Avengers bow to be festive. The best part about this shower wasn't the food, fun or gifts, but the fact that Janelle went into labor that night! She still had two weeks before her due date, but their precious baby boy didn't want to wait. I guess the party got him all excited and he couldn't wait to make his grand entrance any longer! We are so happy for them and can't wait to meet little Kellan!

High Five for a Long Weekend!

1. Went to my first baseball game of the season on last Friday night. It was so much fun to go out with friends and not feel guilty about being out late because Charlotte and my husband were out of town!
2. Disney has a new marketing campaign going called "Disney Side". They keep adding new things to the website such as "build your Disney side". Here you can build your own stick figure family and at the end, they will ship you the decal you created for free! So of course I did one for our little family.
3. The best part about a Friday at work....DONUTS! I know this is super bad for losing the baby weight, but who can resist a colossal sized sprinkle donut? Not me!
4. Charlotte had a blast in Disney. She got to attend her first Star Wars the Weekend and you better believe she was dressed for the occasion!
5. I have been MIA this week, because I was on travel for work in Tampa. I love that when I step outside of the convention center, this is my view. I could think of worse places to have to work from

High Five for Friday!

1. This first high five is more for Charlotte and less for me. She got on her first flight and is now in Disney World with her grandparents and her daddy. I couldn't go because I am already traveling next week for work so logistically it didn't work out. I'm so glad they are having fun, but I will not see her for a whole week! I'm trying to be positive about it though and take advantage of the free time.
2. Since she was going to the Sunshine State, little girl needed her own pair of sunnies. As you can see, she thinks she's super cool in them.
3. After I did the airport drop off, I didn't want to go home to an empty house right away, so my mom took me out to dinner. We split this fun s'more martini for dessert. I loved that they lit the marshmallow on fire before pouring the drink.
4. Last Friday, my friend and I discovered this awesome little farm right by my house that plants different types of flowers throughout the spring and summer. You pay a small admission to get in and then you walk frolic around with a cute little basket picking your very own flowers! You do have to pay per flower but it was worth it, so much more personal to get my mom flowers this way than going to the boring grocery store.
5. This year was my first Mother's Day and it was absolutely perfect! The highlight was getting a card from Charlotte (daycare made it) that had her picture on the front with a sweet poem inside. 

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

Pre-Pregnancy Pants - WIWW

For the past 4 months, every time I got dressed I would optimistically try on a pair of pre-pregnancy pants and about half way up, I would give up and slowly peel them off all while telling myself, "Maybe next time". This morning, like every morning, I gave them another shot. I can't even put into words the excitement of being able to button them and walk around my room while breathing! They didn't look painted on and were work appropriate. Could this day get any better?!

Outfit Details:

Pants//LOFT

Jacket//Old Navy (old)

Top//Motherhood

Shoes//DSW (old)

 



I still have a ways to go, but this was just the breakthrough I needed to keep me motivated. I am finally seeing progress and I can't wait to be able to rediscover my wardrobe all over again!

Linking up with Lindsey for WIWW

Charlotte's Four Month Update

Eating - We have bumped up her food to 6oz every 3 hours and she still acts like we don't feed her! At night we always give her an extra ounce to help get her through the night. She is still spitting up a lot, but that is to be expected with her reflux and underdeveloped larynx. She will eventually grow out of all that stuff, but in the mean time we will just have burp clothes handy!

Sleeping - She is officially in her crib at night and will sleep from about 11-6 which is very nice. However, the last few weeks have been different because she has been congested with allergies and has been waking up in the middle of the night, so it's been easier to keep her in the rock-n-play since it keeps her upright.
I feel like all she does is sleep since by the time I get home she is only up for a few hours before she is down for the night. We let her take an evening nap on the couch while we are still up and then we transfer her to her crib after one last feeding.

I think she is finally accepting Minnie as a friend, but I still can't resist capturing her fascination with this life size mouse!

Overall, Charlotte has such a sweet disposition. We have been so lucky and blessed with a laid back baby. If she's crying, there is a reason; she is either hungry or tired. Other than that, she is happy. Anytime we walk into the room or she spots one of us, her whole face lights up. She is already a Daddy's girl and I'm totally ok with it.

 Last months comparison: She is starting to look less like an infant and more like a baby!

And of course, the last 4 months of her discovering her Minnie Mouse.

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

High Five for Friday

1. Today Charlotte turned 4 months! I can't believe how fast time flies! I will post her official 4 month update on Monday
2. I finally broke down and got a new pair of Jack Rogers. Macy's had a friends and family event where they were 25% off. I can't bear to pay full price when I know a few times a year they go on sale, you just have to be patient. Look how bright and shiny they are! My old ones lasted 3 years of wearing them every day in the summer. 
3. On Sunday Charlotte and I were twins! I didn't know we owned matching outfits until I got her dressed and realized we had the same thing on. You better believe this will be happening more often!
4. I attended my first Gold Cup race and it was so much fun! I'm not going to lie, it was a very long day, but it was nice to brush off my Lilly and enjoy the beautiful weather with friends.
5. Last but definitely not least, I got an early birthday present from my mom; an upgraded embroidery machine! It's very similar to my old one, but has metal parts instead of plastic and does not have the wear and tear of my other one. I can't wait to try it out this weekend!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

Weight Watchers

I haven't done a weight loss update in quite a while so let me take a minute to catch you up: I haven't lost any weight. Ok, now that you're all caught up let's move forward. I gained weight one week and decided not to post about it which only lead to failure after failure week after week. If I didn't post about it, it didn't happen right? WRONG! It's time to be honest and hold myself accountable for both the good and the bad.

I got really down about it all and couldn't figure out why I wasn't successful. It couldn't have been the chocolate chip cookies at work, Chick-Fil-a breakfasts or going out to lunch right? No way! After a brief real talk with myself, I decided to go back to what I know works; Weight Watchers.

I did weight watchers 4 years ago and lost nearly 30 lbs, so it is time I go back to the system that worked. I'm a firm believer that everyone is different on their weight loss journey, so the key is to find the program that works best for you and your lifestyle. Portion control and eating out is my biggest downfall, so as soon as I start counting points and paying attention to everything I eat, I become successful.

So after way too many weeks at 170+ lbs, I am now proud to say I'm 167 lbs!!

I started Weight Watchers on Monday and after just 3 days I've made huge strides. It's finally in my head that I'm going to do this. Instead of officially signing up, because I've done it before, I decided to use the tools I've been given to do it on my own. I simply went here to calculate how many points plus I get a day and then go here and type in the nutritional value of my food to calculate the points plus value.

Eating Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones for breakfast and lunch takes the guess work out of everything. It's dinner that is usually more tricky. Since I am cooking meals for both my husband and myself, I have a hard time figuring out how many points my meal is. It's tedious but you really have to count every ingredient and divide by portion size and then you'll have a pretty close idea of how many points your dinner is.

The nice thing about Weight Watchers is you get 35 points every week to count towards a cheat day or if you go over a few every day. So far I've been using this reserve every day to help me get through the day. I've only gone over my points by 2-3 every day so I don't think I'll use all 35 points which will be good.

I can't wait to share how this next week goes. I'm going to get on a regular running schedule now that the weather is warmer in order to make even more progress. If you're in a similar situation, just remember to take it one day at a time and one meal at a time. If you mess up a meal or snack, just acknowledge where you went wrong, and make the next meal a good one!

Pretty and Simple - WIWW

I haven't participated in a "What I Wore Wednesday" post in a while. Partly because we had a bunch of rain that didn't make for pretty pictures, and also due to my lack of post pregnancy wardrobe. I'm slowly starting to pull out my spring clothes from before I was pregnant to see what fits. It's a daunting and depressing task but also rewarding when one of my favorites fits again!

This dress was one of the few that fit and I couldn't be happier. I had forgotten this dress even existed so needless to say when I found it I was ecstatic!

Not only does this dress fit well, but it's comfortable and light, work appropriate and I don't have to worry about what necklace to wear...WINNING! (I'm the worst at accessorizing)

So there you have it, one of my favorite go-to work dresses is from one of Target's guest designer collections. You can't beat that right?!

Linking up with Lindsey @ The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

High Five for a Preppy Friday

Another sparse week for me and blogging, but I can never forget my high fives from the week! No matter how busy or crappy my week is, I still look forward to my High Five for Friday posts! It 's a nice reminder to celebrate the little things in life. So here are the little things that made me happy this week! Apparently I was channeling my inner prep with all the monograms.

1. I thought I would try something new with my koozies; applique. Usually I just embroider a monogram or team logo, but this week I took it a step further. I took some Lilly Pulitzer scrap fabric and did an applique monogram. I was so happy with how they turned out that I added them to my Etsy shop!
2. My in-laws recently bought a pontoon boat and last weekend it was delivered to the river. We had a nice weekend getting to take it out on its maiden voyage!
3. I made these monogrammed bloomers back when we first settled on Charlotte's name. They were a size 6 months, but she finally got to wear them this week. There is something about a monogrammed butt that is just too cute.
4. Since I am going to Gold Cup this weekend I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to dress up my otherwise boring straw hat. I monogrammed the hat then made a sash out of some scrap material to turn it into a derby hat. It turned out better than I thought and I can't wait to wear it all day Saturday!
5. This picture doesn't look like much, but to us it was huge! Milo has definitely been so good with Charlotte, but that has been because he basically ignores her existence. Well, a few nights ago while she was eating, Milo decided to come lay next to her. It was the first time he showed legitimate interest in "the hairless kitty" we brought home one day.

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!