beach checklist - reading material

After the initial nonstop talking/laughing/gossiping I do plan on having a little quiet time at the beach.   And I can't wait to lay back in my chair and just read.  It is going to be such a treat.

So I did get a long dress today at Old Navy.  Me in a maxi....  I still sort of feel like I'm wearing a nightgown.  Is that how it is supposed feel? 

I tried on a pair of jeggings for the first time in my life last night at Target. Let's just say I won't be wearing jeggings, umm, EVER!  Why the hell do they make jeggings in sizes larger than 6?  I looked like boudin stuffed in sausage casing.  Seriously.  What in my head possibly thought I could pull off jeggings?? And the mirrors in the target fitting room... Horrid. Is it the lighting?  I don't know but wrong wrong wrong.  Don't try on clothes at target if you are having a low self esteem day.  Not a good idea.

Anywho...2 days! Yay!

beach checklist - a maxi

I'm going to the beach this weekend! SS beach trip is happening in 3 days! No boys, no babies, no diet, no worries. Please excuse me if every day up to Thursday is only talking about the beach.

Let’s talk beach style. I want a maxi dress for the beach. Like lounge around, but throw on pearls and heels and head to Florabama. This is what I picture...

I want to look carefree but stylish... and of course I want the comfort of no waistband (ha). But I'm picturing a dress that can go from a long car ride, to drinks on the patio, to the beach. Does this even exist or make sense? I don't know. I don't even know if I could pull off this type of dress with these hips I'm working with. I'm going to stop by target and old navy one night to see if I can.

a bushel and a peck

I don't want to jinx this but Annie has been amazing the last three nights. It might be that I'm figuring her out (what she likes and wants) or that she is figuring out that bedtime and wearing clothes are inevitable...whichever, it has been a dream. Like I have my sweet little girl back and not the terrible twos. Mom says you need the bad days to appreciate the good ones, and so I'm preciating!

Also, Annie is a little parrot repeating everything a say or sing. Last night as I'm putting her in her crib we sang "I love you a bushel and a peck, you bet your pretty neck I do." And she repeated "I dove u, bushel and peck and neck I doooooo." (lots of emphasis on the "do"). I cracked up. It is in those moments that I have total clarity as to what my life is all about. And it is her. It is our little family. It is the laughing and singing and smiles and kisses that define me. Not the tantrums and falls.

We had her dr. appointment this morning and everything was fine. The inward toes should turn back out with time and correct by themselves. We go back in 3 months to make sure it is not getting worse. The end for now.
We are headed to Nola tomorrow! Howya luv dat!

what a girl wants... SHOES!

Annie loves shoes! She loves to wear a variety of shoes throughout the day, and especially mommy's shoes. Flip flops then sandals, and then barefoot. Well, apparently this is becoming an issue at school. Yesterday she got a note sent home saying she won't keep her shoes on. And when they go to put them back on her she throws a fit. The school is concerned that her shoes are uncomfortable and/or too small... Hmmmm. Or maybe she is a strong-willed toddler who does what she wants...

So, now I have an excuse to shop for new shoes for Annie. Annie and I obviously don't see eye to eye on shoes.

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She wants flip flops and mommy's shoes, I want her in Keds. I like her to be in Nikes for school and cutesy shoes for the weekend. I'm searching piperlime, AJ is searching ebay. Any ideas on what will make us both happy? Maybe the pink converse velcro will do the trick.

Little Pumpkin

Fall weekend shout out! Lovely weather, lovely sweet toddlers, lovely friends and fun fall activities for all! We went to the zoo Saturday morning. It was perfect strolling outdoor weather. We met L&O there along with Maggie. We visited the same little pumpkin patch that we took Annie last year. Look at the difference from last year.... She is so grown up now!

Parker's 1st birthday party was that afternoon. Parker took down his football cake like a champ! The party was fun and super enjoyable. I love good weather and easy friends. Just saying. And I especially enjoyed when everyone left and I got baby Maggie and Mommy Sari all to myself! Maggie was cooing at me and smiling. She doesn't just do that for anyone, right Sarah?

We had a football party / fish fry yesterday for the Saints game. Anthony made gumbo too. I headed up the Halloween crafts, of course! I went the easy route this year. I bought the premade cookie decorating kit and just added my own toppings. So easy-peasy... why haven't I done that before? I put out chocolate chips, sprinkles, marshmallows, gummy worms, m&ms and jelly beans for the toppings. Total hit with the kiddos. Also, I wanted to do a pumpkin craft. I originally was going to let the kids paint pumpkins... but it was too much. So instead I bought some Halloween stickers and let them decorate their pumpkins with stickers. They didn't even know the difference. I let Evyn draw on some faces with a black sharpie too. Perfect, easy, no mess. Thank you Semi-homemade with Sandra Lee!

Friday's Five

1.) An amazing lunch with friends at Cafe Pita.  Talking about our crazy babies with their tantrums, starting a book club, and pep talks for all.  I can't tell you how much better life is after a long lunch with girls you love.

2.) Pinterest, my friends.  Just go get on it.  Yes, this is old news.  Yes, after all these months I have finally gotten an account.  Yes, you have to go through facebook.  I'm not quite sure what to do with it, but I like it.

3.) LONG & LEANS.  Of course that is jean that fits me because it describes me to a tee.  Hahahaa.  No, but why do long and leans always look the best?  And I'm kind of fading away from skinny jeans 24/7.  Just saying.  I like a little boot cut in my life too.

4.) Fun print I found on Etsy. Love it!

5.) Glorious weekend countdown in 2 hours! Zoo, birthday party, football, halloween cookies! What more could a girl want?

rough and tumble

I got to see baby Camille at the hospital last night.  She is so tiny and sweet. And can we discuss how cute the name Camille is?  Seriously, Beth and Charles....all of these cute names under their hat.  I didn't feel any baby fever last night holding her.  Just saying that out loud.  No baby fever.

My dogs need a reality check. Or some perspective. Or something.  I want to bring them down to the pound and let them walk down the aisle to see just how good they have it!  Food, filtered water, comfy couch to lay around on all day.  And what do they do? They bark and whine and mope and chew shoes and pretend not to be house trained.  Yes, I know all the psychological reasons why this is happening.  I know the three rules... discipline, exercise, and affection in that order.  Anyway, my dogs are driving me crazy.  And I'm going to make an effort to really get them back on track.

My child fell down a flight of stairs Sunday night.  So I can mark that one off the list. She was sitting at the top of the stairs in the Sommers' gameroom and she leaned back on the gate.  The gate door apparently wasn't closed all the way, so she back flipped down the stairs!  Landed at the bottom and was unharmed!  She cried a little because it scared her and that was it.  We made her walk and move her hands and say her ABCs and count to ten.  All was good.  Scared the sh** out of me and Shala!  We cried for 10 mins after it happened.  It definitely did more damage to us then Annie.  And luckily we had a dr appt Monday morning so she could get checked out.  It is quite uncomfortable to explain to your dr how you child fell down a flight of stairs.... Anyway, she is fine.  She does have an appointment on the 20th with a orthopedic dr to check out her toes turning in.  Hopefully it will be nothing, but I'm happy to be getting it looked at and under control.

And she picked out her own outfit today. I'm trying to take it easy with this wardrobe issue.  But I'm throwing my own fit on the inside.

how to have a sunday funday...

step one:

jump on your bean bag chairs

step two:

assemble your posse for story-time

step three:

fall on your tent 1,000 times because it is the most hilarious thing ever!

step four:

put on your sunday's best

step five:

show grannie-boo how to put on make-up

step six:

practice flying for when you grow up to be a fairy princess

Some Realities...

Did you know my sister-in-law tricked me into signing up for half marathon?!?!?! Tricky tricky telling me it was a 10k! It's the Baton Rouge marathon which is in January. She sent me the training schedule about 2 months ago... and I've yet to start.... Eeeek! How do we feel about that?

I have this overwhelming sense of mortality. Life feels short all of the sudden. Each moment feels precious. When I was a kid, I didn't think about these things. People lived forever and a year was a long long time. Now time passes fast. People around me pass away. It is like this wake up call to adulthood. I feel old. I know this is just a fact but it sometimes stops me in my tracks.

This morning I had a pink shirt waiting for Annie on the changing table just like she likes it. She looked at it and said "No Way! Purple shirt!"... So Super Mom badge revoked! That oughta teach me, huh? LOL.

And finally go check out Milkweed where I will guest posting on Thursdays from now on.

chevron print = COOL

This is probably sooo 3 months ago...but I'm digging the chevron prints. I didn't even know it was called that until Jessica posted it.  Zig-zag anyone?  Ha. Well it's everywhere I look.  Clean sharp lines, bold contrast in color.  I adore this print.  Classic yet modern.  Sophisticated yet playful.  I'm ready for this print to consume my house! How about you?

Pink October

I did some research yesterday on picky dressers. It's always nice to know that whatever (literally whatever) you are going through with a toddler, there are 10,000 other mothers out there going through the same thing. Well, Annie is going through a phase where she only wants to wear pink shirts. Every morning when I get her out of bed she says "pink shirt". Usually I am super mom; ready with a pink shirt in hand. She happily puts it on and we go about our morning. Well heaven forbid I don't do laundry and we have no pink shirts clean... aka last Friday morning! You would have thought I killed Mickey Mouse in front of her when I laid out a purple shirt instead. "No way! No way!" she said, followed by a full meltdown.

So from what I read, lots of kids go through these phases at different ages...wanting to wear the same outfit every day, wanting to pick out their own clothes, wanting to where pajamas only... the list goes on. The main point that I took from it was, let your kids dress themselves. Let them have that independence. So yesterday on my ride home I stopped at Once Upon A Child (a resale shop for children) and picked up about 6 pink shirts. She can wear pink shirts for 2 weeks now without me turning on the washing machine. Brilliant! Point for super mom!

We had such a great weekend. Everything was a total success. Saturday we drove to Ponchatoula for Joe and Amie's Halloween engagement party. It was my first time meeting Amie's family and they were absolutely wonderful! Just easy and fun. Costume parties are a blast! Next year I'm having a Halloween party.  Costumes mandatory.

Cleopatra and her Warrior

Annie and Grannie Cheering for the Tigers

Sunday we drove to Lafayette for a surprise birthday party for Mrs. Patrice. She was so surprised... she forgot it was her birthday. so typ. All of her brothers and sisters were there. In fact, I think everyone I sent an invitation to was there. When does that happen? We were joking that the only way we can get everyone together is for a funeral or someone turning 60. It was so special and a major success for the Bruno kids. Another gold star for the Brunos!! And that is why I love my life.

Side notes to note:

1. I'm on February of The Happiness Project.
2. I made Halloween flag banners for the party last weekend and decided to reuse them in my house. They are now on my mantle, china cabinet and stair banisters. It totally took my decor to the next level. 
3. I'm "playing" golf Friday with my company. I orders some neon multi-colored balls just for fun. Why aren't there any cute golf outfits for girls? Like I'm only allowed to look like an overweight lesbian on the golf course.  Come on.
4. Mom is coming to Houston this weekend since AJ will be out of town. I'm giddy with anticipation. Hurry up weekend. I'm ready for you.