Smile And Wave

Almost Halfway: 19.5 Weeks Along

So, I still haven't tried the camera remote I ordered knowing my photographer would be out of country. This is why my first official belly shot is being documented almost halfway through. Thanks to a long awaited girls' weekend with some of my besties from Springfield, MO and one from way up there in Canada, I was able to borrow a set of steady hands. 

At nineteen-and-a-half weeks I'm feeling a lot of low movement from this little baby. The nausea is long gone, the constant fatigue has turned into more of an end-of-the-day-single-parenting-is-tiring feeling, and other than not being able to sleep for more than three hours at a time without needing to use the restroom, this second trimester stuff has been pretty easy (knock on wood). 

One of my favorite pieces of clothing has been this jersey dress I made using a tutorial I found on Pinterest from The Crum Life. It was a pretty quick project and I have plans to make at least one more to layer with knee socks and a heavier sweater as the weather gets colder. I love how flattering and easy it is, especially on days when I don't have clean maternity pants!

Here are a few other maternity tutorials from A Beautiful Mess that look both easy and versatile enough to move through a few months of a growing belly. 

Outfit Details: Dress, handmade. Cardigan and belt, Target. Necklace, Anthropologie.

My regular photographer should be back next month. I can't wait for him to see this growing bump!

-Rachel

p.s. Photos by Katie.

What They Wore: Indie Nook

After more sick days than any of us were counting on we decided to layer up and find some sunshine. We missed out on an Aspen drive last fall with Brett being away at training and not wanting to get stuck in the mountains somewhere. This year it looks like that may happen again but we knew we could still find some beautiful yellow trees in town. A few of our favorite regular spots are still closed due to storm damage but Colorado Springs isn't exactly lacking in natural beauty. 

Sebastian was feeling well enough to get out but I could tell even a little bit of running around wore him down so we didn't stay long. Pretty soon the park across the street from our house will be full of gorgeous yellow leaves and I am determined to get the kids out to run around and document the leaf pile jumping.

Outfit Details: Sebastian's pants, shoes, and sweatshirt are from Target. Juice shirt c/o Indie Nook. Hat, thrifted. Ruby's shoes and pants are from Target. Right Meow shirt c/o Indie Nook. Sweater, thrifted. Mama's scarf, Barracuda Bizarre. Hair clip c/o ModCloth.

We haven't had the energy and motivation to get out and do much in the last few months with Brett gone and the yuckiness of the first trimester but we're getting there. We only have a couple of weekends left before we get Brett back so we're hanging in there and trying to finish strong! 

-Rachel

What She Wore: Matilda Jane

I remember first learning about Matilda Jane when Sebastian was a baby. I saw a family with two little girls while we were out to eat in Oklahoma City with the sweetest matching dresses. They looked special so I asked their mother if she'd made them. She showed me the label on the skirt of the dress and I made a mental note to check back if we ever had a reason to dress a little girl someday. 

I've since seen a number of their pieces and usually remain impressed with their pattern mixing, interesting color palette, and quality so I was thrilled to be asked to review a few pieces from their new Paint-by-Numbers collection. They sent over a full outfit - this darling dress and cardigan as well as a pair of ruffled jersey pants. The ruffled pants aren't quite our style but I love everything about this dress and cardigan combo. They are high quality materials that will surely not wear out or fade after a handful of washings and have such sweet details. I love the yellow buttons on the dress and the ruffled trim on the cardigan. 

We wore Ruby's new outfit with a pair of vintage saddle shoes I've been saving since she was a baby that go perfectly. A pair of navy knee high socks or wool tights will carry this outfit right into fall. 

Outfit Details: Atmosphere Dress, Plum Kitten Cardigan c/o Matilda Jane. Vintage saddle shoes, thrifted.

I love how playful this collection is while still being interesting. Here are a few of my favorites: Rose Gold Jane Dress, Elevated Tank Dress, and Color Wheel Tights. They even have a few pieces for women that are quite darling.

Have you ever come across Matilda Jane before? What did you think?

-Rachel

What I Wore: Blowfish Shoes

I love my wedges and clogs but a good pair of comfortable flats to wear to the local splash pad or park in the summer time is so much more practical. I paired these cute sneakers from Blowfish with a sun dress I thrifted last year and my favorite vintage tote. Easy.

Outfit Details: Shoes c/o Blowfish. Dress, thrifted. Vintage tote, thrifted.

I can't believe it's been a month since Brett deployed. We're 1/4 of the way through and you'd better believe I'm crossing off each day on the calendar. More on how we're surviving in a future post but I'm just so thankful it started during the summer so that we can take advantage of the mostly beautiful weather we've been having here in Colorado Springs.

I've got a Blowfish giveaway coming soon and a little show-and-tell of some of the photo strips we've taken at the penny arcade in Manitou. Be back soon!

-Rachel

What I Wore: Rainy Summer Days

Outfit Details: Dress c/o Holly Neufeld. Trench, Target. Boots, J. Crew. Necklace, Anthropologie.

Colorado had a few toasty days near the end of June and then the rains came and cooled things off. It was a nice break in weather and I know my garden enjoyed it. I traded my mocs in for wellies and brought out my favorite trench. My friend, Holly, sent me this pretty dress that she was ready to part with. I remember loving it when I first saw her post it and was so happy when she sent it my way! Holly, it's my new favorite!

Thanks for all of the encouragement from my last post. It does my heart good to feel supported from my readers and I enjoy getting to share the challenges our family faces along with all the beautiful moments. One day I'll look back at this blog and be able to remember more clearly this chapter in our lives and I think it's a great way to learn from others that have already experienced this and have both advice and encouragement for how we can make it through. I appreciate you guys!

-Rachel

What I Wore: Celebrating 11 Years

Brett and I celebrated eleven years of marriage on Saturday, June 22nd. We started off our morning at an Army Spur Ride family event out at Turkey Creek Ranch where we did land navigation with the kids through a field of cacti, learned the Army song, watched the kids throw water balloons at the Lt. Colonels and then get soaked with water guns, and then participated in an obstacle course with all the other wives in our group.

This included pushing an Army hummer down the road in neutral, walking along a railroad tie fence, carrying a stretcher full of sandbags, army crawling through a dirt field in a t-shirt and yoga pants, flipping a monster truck tire from point A to point B, and then running up a hill to the finish line. My lungs were burning and my elbows and knees still have bits of rock and dirt embedded in them! Seriously, I earned a date night!

After baths and naps we dropped the kids off at our friends' house for a sleepover/playdate and spent the next four hours running all over town. We managed to get a few strips from the photo booth in Manitou where we ran into the loveliest blog reader and her family with similar OK roots, grabbed some Italian food downtown, enjoyed a movie at the Peak theater, and then had some dessert at The Rabbit Hole - one of the first places we ate when we moved here last year. We picked Ruby up on our way home and let S spend the night with his buddy, put her back to bed, and enjoyed the rest of our evening. It was one of the best dates we've ever had. 

I had Brett take a few shots of what I wore in front of the theater and also in front of a few staring faces. Two years ago and I would've melted into a puddle of embarassment but it's getting easier and easier not to care about what strangers think. Courage comes with age, right?

Outfit Details: Dress, CharlotteRuse. Denim jacket, GAP from ten years ago. Shoes, Seychelles. Bag c/o Jordana Paige. Belt, thrifted. Necklace, F21. Ring, trade shop in Arizona. 

When I was visiting Springfield for Emma's wedding Katie, Elsie and I went guilty pleasure mall shopping. Elsie talked me into this strapless number and I am so glad she did. Had it not been for an awkward tanline that I earned the afternoon before, I would've ditched the jacket. I also love these Seychelles! I bought them for Emma's wedding and they've been worth it because they're still comfortable after wearing them a few hours at a time. 

Brett and I had a long talk about how tough some of our married years had been and how we're so thankful that we've still got something special between us. All these years later and we're still really into each other! I credit it to a few things but one thing I'm glad we learned early on is to fight fairly, learn each other's major needs (and meet them as well as we can), have regular date nights, and remember nothing is guaranteed and failproof. It will always take some work, lots of grace, and acceptance of each other no matter how we grow and change over the years.

One of my favorite sayings about marriage that I first heard on Instagram is that you choose the one you love and then love the one you choose. 

Here's to growing old together!

-Rachel

 

 

 

What I Wore: Nostalgic for the Nineties

Outfit Details: Dress c/o ModCloth last year. Shoes, Target. Hat, thrifted. Glasses, F21.

I came back from Missouri feeling excited about wearing dresses more often! Colorado is so laid back and casual because there are so many ways you can be active here so a lot of the street fashion downtown includes fitness wear. I am all about sporting my cut off jean shorts and a tank with my moccasins when we're out running errands or staying closer to home because a girl just can't quite build a garden bed in her favorite fit and flair now, can she? 

However, a long weekend full of wedding festivities included a lot of opportunities for something a little less casual and it was so fun. I had this dress down in the basement closet where I had been keeping out of season pieces and it'd been so long since I'd worn it that it felt new again! Pairing it with these shoes from Target had me feeling nostalgic for the nineties and was the perfect outfit for lunch at a downtown French restaurant with my grandparents. 

I still feel more relaxed in shorts and a basic tee but if my mocassin tan lines are telling me anything, it's that it's time to mix it up again.

What do you put on when you're feeling ready for a change? 

-Rachel

What We Wore: Territory Days

So many frowny faces but mostly they just wanted to get to the festival and not stop to take pictures. In ten or fifteen years when they're looking through old photos and feeling nostalgic they'll be so glad we made a little time to document life. Matching All-Stars, the raddest little wayfairers, the sweetest handmade dress - all things I want to remember about this day and this time. 

Outfit Details: Sebastian-Shirt, shorts, glasses, Target. Converse, thrifted. Ruby-Dress c/o Misha Lulu. Converse, thrifted. Me-Dress and Denim shirt, Target. Boots, thrifted. Purse c/o Jordana Paige, vintage scarf, thrifted, sunglasses c/o ModCloth (last summer), necklace, Anthropologie.

I was so excited when I found those gray Converse for Ruby but almost didn't buy them because she's all about the pink, sparkly shoes. Brett played it up that they were for him and that they made people run super fast and suddenly she was into them. Well play, Brett. 

-Rachel

What I Wore: Mountain Mama

Outfit Details: Dress, tights, Target; Denim Jacket, GAP. Boots, Nine West. Belt, thrifted. Scarf c/o Scarves Dot Net. Bag, ModCloth (last year). 

Spring has never been more welcome in my heart than after a full winter here in Colorado with more cold days and nights than we've ever known and a bit more snow than we're accustomed to. Cold in the mornings, warm in the afternoon, and freezing in the evenings always means layers so I've been turning to my ten-year-old denim jacket and this jersey infinity scarf. 

Can you see Pike's Peak behind me? I get to see that every day from our backyard in the winter. It makes all of this cold weather worth it. 

Well, most days. I still can't wait for green grass!

Here are a few more of my favorites from Scarves Dot Net for spring. I love all of the bright prints. -Rachel

What I Wore: St. Patrick's Day

Ruby and I attended the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown without our boys last Saturday decked out in green. We spent Friday afternoon trying to help decorate the float that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were going to share but Saturday morning Sebastian woke up with a fever that lasted through Monday so he didn't get to ride in it. Ruby wasn't about to miss it just because her brother was sick so we joined our friends outside the Pioneer Museum and waved at the brave firefighters and fancy leprechauns. 

Outfit Details: Top, Target. Jeans, Jessica Simpson. Vintage cape, gifted. Boots, Nine West. 

My friend, Jessa, who we watched the parade with found this darling vintage wool cape for me recently and St. Patrick's day was the perfect occasion to wear it. 

We didn't do much the rest of the weekend since we were homebound with a sick boy and I really forgot it was St. Patrick's Day most of the day Sunday. Last year we went all out with a full green breakfast but the kids didn't seem to mind that we skipped it this year. 

I'm so excited we've finally officially moved into spring! It's going to be freezing the rest of the week here and we won't see flowers popping out of the ground quite yet but at least it's close! I'm hoping all of the sickness is on it's way out with winter, too. Time for more weekend adventures!

-Rachel