Christkindlmarkt

One weekend a year Salt Lake hosts a German Christmas Market! I went last year with Lydia and a few med school wives and loved it, so I convinced Michael to join us this year. A few major differences - one, last year Lydia was young enough to sit on Santa's lap and not freak out (meaning this year did not go over so well ;) ), and two, last year we frooooooze our booties off so this year we came a little more prepared! Which of course made it more enjoyable. We beelined to Santa so we could see him before Lydia got too tired/cold. As we waited in line Lydia kept pointing at him and shouting, "Ho! Ho! Ho!", so naturally we were ho ho hopeful that she would sit on his lap! But of course by the time we actually got up to him she flipped out and wouldn't go near him without me holding her - hahaha. Maybe next year!                                                         

Lydia sampling her favorite food - popcorn.

LOL. Santa was super nice! "Here mom, how about YOU sit on my lap with her?" Hahaha.

Baby blues.

Such a fun evening! And ya, this jacket looks ridiculously tight - I wasn't planning on buttoning it with the bump but it was so cold I had to force it shut ;). I don't want to spend money on a maternity jacket, but boy it's getting pretttty cold here!!

Jacket: Target, old

Leggings: H&M maternity 

Socks: J.Crew

Boots: Nordstrom

Bow: American Apparel

Lydia's Jacket: Old Navy

Lydia's Leggings: Target

Lydia's Boots: Zara

Lydia's Beanie: Nordstrom

Grand America Christmas Windows

It is SO NICE having local friends who know about all the cool events going on.

For instance, the Grand America Hotel has a free window display event! They have a dozen windows each representing a different country, all decked out for Christmas. Not to mention the gorgeous trees everywhere and of course just the pure fun of walking around such a fabulous hotel. And bonus - it's all indoors! 

Lydia wanted to do everything Lyla did :). She wants to be a big girl so bad! Haha.

Also on a big girl side note - lately she's been super into watching mommy and daddy go potty and our body parts down there. So.... that's been interesting! So far we've just stuck with anatomical names, but pretty soon we're going to have to teach that you can't just go around poking people's bums. Ha! Oh the joys of parenting.

ANYWHOO. Christmas!

This humongous gingerbread house is made entirely of candy! Lots of sheets of rice krispy treats were used for the roof/walls since they are so lightweight, and then it's gallons of icing and gingerbread and candy for the decor. It really is incredible! (Not sure if Santa's legs are candy...)

Speaking of candy, the toy store in the Grand America is pretty spectacular. It is filled to the brim with upscale plush animals, beautifully sleek trains and cars, gorgeous mobiles hanging from the ceiling, and of course this colorful candy display all along the back wall.

Love this little crew of mine :).

Coat: J.Crew

Turtleneck: Target maternity 

Denim: H&M maternity

Boots: Sam Edelman 

Bag: Fawn Design 

Lydia's Sweater: Target

Lydia's Leggings: Target

Lydia's Boots: Zara

Lydia's Bow: etsy 

PKS Awareness Night!

Earlier this year, my adorable niece Lucy was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Pallister-Killian Syndrome (PKS). This means instead of two copies of the 12th chromosome, Lucy has four. My sister-in-law Paige helped draft the official document for the state of Utah that makes December 4th PKS Awareness Day! So on the 4th she hosted an ice cream social to spread awareness and celebrate our angel Lucy :).

Thanks Paige for the fun evening! To learn more visit her blog here.

Top: J.Crew

Denim: Old Navy maternity 

Flats: J.Crew, old

Life Lately

I've been trying to get over my sour puss attitude about the weather and just embrace it! Easier said than done... but a few things have helped. First and foremost, this girl:

She is in her happiest phase yet. She's been sleeping in till 8am every morning, she has the sweetest conversations with herself all day, she is sooooo lovey and touchy-feely (totally my daughter - I'm all about hugs and back scratches and cuddles). I'm just trying to soak it all up since I know it could go away any second! Because #toddler.

Anthro really nailed it with this one. 

Family of (almost) four! We're a week away from third trimester and I'm starting to get all those concerned strangers asking, "So when exactly are you due?" aka, "Should I be worried that you might go into labor right here in aisle 7?"  

Loving this Trader Joe's wreath on our front door!

And this mini one for our kitchen :).

Look at the fear! Lydia is now officially scared of the doctors office. She remembered it!! The moment we walked in for her check up a few days ago she started crying and clinging on to me. And when we had to put her on the table for her shots she started screaming before the nurse even touched her! Poor thing. Although I'm obviously 100% for vaccinations it is pretty heartbreaking watching them look up at you with those big terrified eyes. Now at all my OBGYN appointments she insists on me holding her the whole time - ha. Makes for an interesting fetal heartbeat check ;).

Nachooooooo! Name that movie.

It's getting really hard to get dressed every day. Hmm.. leggings and a huge sweater - again!

Also I've been trying to figure out how to hide the ring of hair breakage at about cheek level that circles my entire head. I'm telling you, I've had more hair problems than anyone I know! Between bad coloring jobs/bleach screw ups that fried my hair/postpartum hair loss, I am struggling in the hair department. See this post from a few months ago. And though I've finally got the color back to where I want it, the breakage cannot be fixed!! I literally have a layer of hair that ends at my cheek bones and goes around my whole head. My stylist even said, "It looks like you're one of those people with super short hair trying to wear extensions." Ha! Boooo. It's bad. So hats and beanies have been on regular rotation, and when I curl my hair it's not AS noticeable, but the past few days I've been doing half-ups like I used to do in high school and it's hiding the ring! Granted it's probably very 2008ish of me, but whatever. At this point I'll take outdated over breakage.

(See the hair ring?? Ewwwwwwww)

And no filter could hide my dirty mirror/pile of clothes I need to donate/enormous pregnancy pillow ;).

PS I think my goal this week is to do a blog facelift! I've been looking into some templates on etsy that are relatively inexpensive and cute. Has anyone bought a template before on etsy? Any recommendations? 

let it snow / let it snow / let it snow

Helloooo winter!

We are working real hard to embrace the temps over here. As a novice mom I'm quickly learning some pros and cons to snow with a toddler. 

For instance, loading and unloading the car used to consist primarily of Lydia roaming the backyard for 5 minutes while I raced in and out. Now she insists on trekking through the snow. Which means I have to bundle her in 4 different layers. And then she gets wet. And cold. And dirty. And then I don't want her sopping shoes in my car, so then I have to run and grab another pair of shoes. Which means we've already changed outfits before even making it in the car! It's really quite impressive. 

But first thing every morning Lydia bolts to the window and points in awe at the snow, and it's magical and humbling all rolled into one big emotional lump in my mommy throat. And the way her little mouth forms "ho! ho! hooo!" when she sees the Santa ornament. And her darling rosy nose in the cold. I guess there are a few perks.

Okay winter, just maybe we'll survive.

(Also for the record she had a long sleeve onesie under this and a jacket and beanie I took off right  before! So please don't go reporting me.)

Snow capped mountains! 

I was really envisioning us both holding matching mommy and me wreaths butttt that never quite happened ;).

Cheers to boots and hot chocolate and mittens and blankets!

Sweater: thrifted 

Denim: H&M maternity here

Boots: Hunter

Lipstick: MAC Impassioned here

Hair clip: J.Crew

Lydia's sweater: Gap

Lydia's leggings: Carter's

Lydia's boots: Nordstrom Rack

Lydia's bow: A Little Lady Shop

Lydia's mittens: Walmart

I Got Dressed {Velvet I Heart You}

Blessed Arizona! 

Where else can you go to 9am church in November in short sleeves?

K probably lots of places. But AZ weather this time of year is just hard to beat! 

It was actually pretty depressing coming home to Salt Lake this week and bundling up. It's only been two days of snow and boots and jackets and I'm already bored wondering what on earth will I do all winter with a toddler? 

We can only play inside for so long before we both start to go crazy. And my bank account won't allow me to roam Target every single day - so we will be the only two people bundled up at the zoo I guess! I'm considering a museum pass. Any pro tips on surviving winter with littles?

I'm gonna make a bucket list of wintery activities. Lists always help me feel happier. There really is quite a lot that needs to happen in preparation for bebe! Thank goodness. I can only handle so much unstructured time. I need projects yo. And lots of em, since once I get a project going I work on it round the clock till it's done. Meaning I can't actually start planning for Baby Boy till January because once I start it will take over my life and then I'll be done in a week. Ha! Anyone else have this problem??

Also yes I realize I am enormous. And yes you should all give me air fives for not photoshopping the heck out of these pictures and decreasing my hips and booty and arms by about 600% even though they could desperately use it I'm sure. Realtalk. Aren't you glad we're so close?

Oh! By the way, this dress on Lydia was mine when I was a toddler! My mom bought it from ESPRIT (talk about a throw back!), which was a Big Deal back in the day. Amazingly it's held up perfectly after all these years. Good work Mom! Naturally I had to match my daughter with some velvet of my own ;).

Dress: A Pea in the Pod

Shoes: Nordstrom, similar here

Watch: Michael Kors

Lydia's dress: vintage! 

Lydia's bow: etsy 

Lydia's shoes: Old Navy