a view from the front pack

Coat: Anthro     Dress: Zara     Leggings: F21     Belt: J.Crew     Shoes: Zara

Whew! I’m beat. Three Christmas gatherings and a very special 4-year-old’s birthday party in 24 hours? Let’s just say I’m in need of a nap. They should make front packs for adults – the mini santa looks pretty cozy up there with his dad.

It’s off to Central Oregon this morning with the fam to play in the snow and ring in 2013 (What? How is it 2103 already!?). I’m excited to see Liam’s reaction to that fluffy white stuff – I’m probably getting all hyped up for nothing, but we’ll see. The kid amazes me every day. All that being said, I’ll be hanging up my blogging shoes for the next week while on vacation. I hope you all don’t miss me too much, and I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures! Follow me on my journey via instagram.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!

Merry Christmas from the front pack! One family gathering down, two more to go. Bring on the egg nog.

Tomorrow is day one of two for family Christmas parties, and I absolutely cannot wait. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, and now I’m even more excited because…well, look at that chubby little face up there. I know Liam doesn’t get the concept yet, but he sure does love the wrapping paper. In his first little sampling of unwrapping some early gifts this week, he about tipped over with delight – the sound it made, the bright and shiny colors. AND just because he thought it was so awesome, he even licked it. Needless to say, it was a big hit all around.

So if you need us, we’ll be playing in the piles of crinkly Christmas aftermath tomorrow while wearing a mini santa suit (Liam, not me. That would be awkward).

shirtless men, weiner dogs and babies – my three favorite things

Late evening is about the time Roxie can be found by the fire, Liam can be found smiling and John can be found shirtless {because Liam spit up all over him again}. I find it funny because I literally walk around all day with baby spittle {or other lovely things babies make} on my clothing or in my hair. It doesn’t bother me anymore and changing five times a day isn’t worth the laundry. But as soon as John gets so much as a dribble on his shirt, it comes off. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’ll take a hot, shirtless man holding my baby any day. But preferably if his name starts with J.

And just in case the world ends tomorrow {I had apocalypse dreams all night}, I want to say how lucky and thankful I am to have such an amazing and supportive husband.

Love.

Top: F21     Belt: Ruche     Pants: F21 {similar}    Scarf: Target {similar}     Shoes: {similar}

So I attempted Christmas shopping in Portland Monday and Tuesday with Liam in tow. Let me paint just a brief picture for you:

I put Liam in the stroller. Liam cries. I literally zig zag and jog though the parking lot trying to get him to sleep (in the snow/rain). Liam still cries. I get into Barnes and Noble and up the escalator (and at this point I’m sweating). Liam still cries – only louder. I pick him up to calm him down while getting sympathetic glances from other women. Flustered, I try to take all my layers off while trying to comfort Liam and drag the stroller into the ladies lounge. The diaper bag spills out onto the floor. I set Liam down to gather the contents (which makes him cry hysterically). I then proceed to lock myself in the bathroom and never come out.

Ok, that last part didn’t happen, but MAN did I want to lock myself in that bathroom. And that was just a ten minute little peek into our two-day shopping “adventure”. NEVER AGAIN, ladies and gents, never again.

Obviously the photos that go along with today’s post have nothing to do with the shopping crisis that occurred this week. The images would have just been a hot mess and don’t need to be floating around the internet.

Oh, and one last thing, Please tell me – why did every other mother/kid duo I passed in the mall look like they were at Disneyland? Seriously – all smiles or sleeping. To those mothers – I’m sorry if I glared at you.

Here’s to Amazon’s two-day shipping and getting a babysitter (i.e. daddy) next year!

So I did a really crappy job of documenting my weekend – which is unusual. Typically I’m instagraming like it’s my job. Maybe next time.

We did finally get our tree, though. My family tradition is to go to a tree lot, while John’s is to go up to the snow and cut it down man-style, axe and all. I won this year, which means a perfectly groomed tree. Happy wife, happy life. Remember that fellas. AND I even haggled the tree price down – proud moment for me.

Roxie continues to be as needy as ever – vying for our attention now that Liam takes up the majority. Poor neglected weiner.

And lastly, I found these awesome vintage ornament hangers stuffed in one of the hand-me-down decoration boxes from our moms. They were listed for sale at 10 cents for a box of 125. Today, you can get the equivalent for $3.00. Wow, inflation. Wow.

Speaking of those hand-me-down boxes – I love them! There are about seven remaining bulbs from every Christmas over the past 30 years. I think next year I’ll use them all – it will kind of  be like the ghost of Christmas past threw up on our tree. Perfection.

Happy Monday!

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Vest: F21    Shirt: Ruche   Leggings: F21     Belt: Ruche    Mug: Anthropologie

Yep. I finally bought some fur – faux fur, that is. Not that I’m morally opposed to the real stuff – my mom has this totally gorgeous vintage mink coat that belonged to my grandmother. (If I were a bit taller, I would probably ask to borrow it on a regular basis, but if you’re 5’2 like I am, it looks like you’re being swallowed alive.) Besides, in my hometown, there are probably at least 10,000 people at any given time wearing some sort of real animal on their bodies. I once saw a man at Walmart dressed head-to-toe in deer skin. Well, I take that back – he was wearing a coon-skin hat, and my bet is that it wasn’t a fake dollar store find.

Another bonus point for the faux fur? Liam loves to bury his little face in it and tickle his nose. I’m sure this vest will eventually become matted with baby drool, but if it means countless hours of snuggling entertainment, the purchase was worth it.

I would love to have snapped a photo of Liam in ‘fur attack mode’, but alas he was sleeping. And you never wake a sleeping baby… 

Unless there’s a fire.

Happy Friday everyone.

p.s. special thanks to my friend Marcella who manned the camera today

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I don’t know how other moms manage to get through the day, but when I notice I’m teetering dangerously close to the edge of mom insanity, I like to pack up and leave the house for a play date.

Now, Jack – who belongs to my friend Kim – and Liam aren’t much for actual playing right now, but I know they appreciate it. Don’t let those looks on their faces mislead you. They’re bff’s (bros for life) whether they like it or not because Kim and I plan on spending a lot of mom time together. It’s not every day you have a friend to go through your entire pregnancy with, and I can’t imagine not sharing the rest of our kid milestones together, as well.

I put together a list of other little blessings that help me get through the day:

1. The smell of Christmas trees (note: we don’t have our tree yet, but I lit a candle).
2. The sounds of Liam entertaining himself. Music to my ears, I tell you!
3. A homemade cup of coffee with peppermint mocha creamer, which I found completely empty in the refrigerator this morning. I’m not saying that it wasn’t me who put it back empty, but this morning I definitely blamed my husband.
4. That first bite of a brownie fresh out of the oven.
5. The moment the UPS man pulls up your driveway with the package you’ve been waiting for. I practically mauled him on our front porch.
6. Pumpkin bread. Anytime. Anywhere. Period.
7.  Snuggling with my weiner dog, Roxie.
8. Watching endless episodes of Bones on Netflix. Who’s with me on this one?! Anyone? No? Ok.
9. Sitting by a warm fire.
10. Thick and gooey PBJ sandwich on Wonder Bread at Midnight (yeah, that happened last night)

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baby leggings found here

I think I could probably tickle and kiss that little chunk of a bare belly all day. Plus Liam loves being naked, so it’s a double win. I’m not risky enough to let him hang out without a diaper though – that’s landed me with pee up the wall twice and all over me at least a handful of times. Speaking of…

I saw the most random thing while at a baby store the other day. It’s called a ‘pee-pee teepee’. Maybe these have been around forever and I just missed the boat, but funniest things ever. AND it comes in weiner dog print – another double win. Sadly, I did not buy them. I prefer to play the ‘see how fast you can change the diaper without getting peed on’ game.

Ahhhh, the little things in life

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Blazer: Nordstroms   Shirt: J.Crew    Leggings: Zara    Shoes: Target

We got outside today before the downpour – which was nice, but man the weather is depressing this time of year. I swear it started getting dark at 1 p.m. It makes me want to crawl under the blankets and hibernate. I think Liam can feel it, too. He’s been super cuddly and sleepy lately (which is fine by this mama!).

On days like this, when my mind has a lot of time to wander, I always think about where I was a year ago, or maybe two or three years ago.  Does anyone else ever do that? Some of my best memories are remembered on days like today.

For instance – last year at this time, John and I had decided to start trying to get pregnant (or maybe it was we decided to stop trying NOT to). Either way, December was a lot of fun because there was this nervous/exciting energy between us. It was a happy feeling, though, and one I will always cherish.

I had a second thought today as I watched my parents set up their Christmas tree. I remembered all those times I had helped pick it out growing up, and we’d come home and it would be this big three-way discussion about which ornament should go where, and whether there were enough lights, and so on. It was a simple memory, but a fond one nonetheless.

And today as Liam and I watched them from the sidelines, I got a little sentimental because I realized that I would never again feel the way I did back then. I know that’s just part of getting older, but it just seems the more you grow up, the easier it is to forget those special memories.

Which brings me back to the beginning.

I’m thankful for these dark and rainy days because I get to sit back and get all gooey and nostalgic, which is what the holiday season is for anyway! So here’s to reminiscing with friends and family this month, and for making new memories and new traditions to look back on next year.

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