sunday best!

Well, since we cannot seem to go very long without getting sick (boo) we stayed home yesterday and kept our yucky stomach bug germs to ourselves. But since I didn't share the week before's outfit here it is today! Unfortunately, it is very hard to stay put together when you have a nursing baby. I looked very polished before we left the house (I never get ready in time to take pictures before church though), but by the time we got home I looked a little disheveled...

sweater: Old Navy
top: Old Navy
skirt: New York & Co.
belt: Forever 21
hose: Target (got them for Valentine's day!)
shoes: DSW


I would have also loved to wear a necklace since the neckline was calling for it (at least in my opinion), but until Mr. Oskar stops being so grabby jewelry is out of the question (it's tough enough having hair).

Speaking of Mr. Oskar, I went ahead and snapped a bunch of photos of us just because. I love that I have a blue eyed boy; I never thought I would. But I love that all three of my boys have different colored eyes.

And yes, that is a zit on my face. 27 years old and I'm still plagued with bad skin. Jeesh.

sunday best: baby fashion

So... We're still sick. Thankfully on the upswing (FINALLY), but still sick. So instead of wearing a cute outfit to church yesterday, I wore sweatpants at home with sick kids. So here is another baby outfit I love. Oskar is the only child to wear this since I bought it after Christmas... I figure he can have new clothes every now and then if it's cute enough.

bodysuit: Old Navy. I'm kind of a sucker for monsters.

Also, Oskar did not appreciate being put down so I could take pictures of him in his cute suit. So he made sure I knew it.

sunday best: baby fashion

There is no outfit for me today since we have all been hermits the past few days while the little ones (and now the big ones) have been battling a nasty cold. So instead I present to you some baby fashion! I try to take pictures of my favorite outfits Oskar wears since he's so stinkin' cute. And while I don't always remember to (insert sad face, especially the for the stuff he's grown out of) I have caught a couple. This one is a hand-me-down from Nick, it's one of those things that he didn't really need since I had kept everything from Max, but was too cute to pass up. Although it ended up being awesome that I bought it because it ended up being perfect for Nick's first Halloween when I dressed him up as Pubert Addams.

body suit: Old Navy
socks: Target





He's got such a sweet face! It blows my mind sometimes that he's going to grow into a hairy man.

sunday best once again!

This is what I wore this past Sunday and I loved it. I was really comfortable and felt stylish at the same time. And I'm pretty sure curling my hair plays a large part in how attractive I feel... why couldn't I have been born with curly hair?? I'm so tempted to get a perm.

blouse: Old Navy. I got it after Christmas, and since I online shop I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. I tried to get nicer tops instead of my usual tee's so I look a little more put together (even though I am FAR from it with these three kids and crazy animal). Thankfully I LOVE it!
shirt: Old Navy. It's just a light grey tee, and is necessary since the blouse is sheer.
skirt: hand-me-down from my sister-in-law. It's one of the two skirts I've been wearing since Oskar was born and I was really tired of it. But after finally getting a respite from it for a few weeks I didn't mind wearing it again.
belt: Forever 21
hose: Target
boots: Chinese Laundry from DSW



And since I was feeling sassy I took some head shots too:

The middle one is me cracking up because it really is kind of ridiculous to take pictures of yourself. While trying to use what you've learned watching Americas Next Top Model for years... note: I'm not cut out to be a model.

what i wore to the ball volume three.

We had the annual St. Barbara's Day Ball back in December and I actually left my baby so I could go (thank you Sam and Laurie!!). I thought I was all set when it came to ball gowns between the ones I have in my closet and the couple I have the patterns and fabric for, but then I realized none of it would fit my post-baby/nursing body. Everything was either too small or too fitted in the waist. So I picked up the pattern and fabric at our oh-so-lovely Jo-Ann's (meaning, I made do with what they had available) and made another dress!

Like last year, we were running a little late and it gets dark so early in December so the pictures were just snapped really quick inside when we were dropping the kids off. (so the lighting isn't the greatest) But I did put my dress back on a few weeks later after I had taken photos of my church outfit so you can see the whole thing (just minus the hair and makeup of that night).

So without further ado:

I made Rob get in the picture with me, he wasn't too thrilled with that.




I would like to point out the giant stain on my rear end. On our way over to Sam's house to drop the kids off I sat on some chocolate on the front seat of my car. This chocolate was stuck to one of the kids toys that had been thrown on the seat at some point, and in the rush and darkness I failed to notice it before sitting down. Rob got it off as well as he could, but as you can tell he wasn't able to get it all off. So I got to walk around like this for several hours. The joys of children, I tell you.

I used this pattern, but altered it so the top had a higher neckline in the front and I added some little sleeves to it. I'm really happy how it turned out. It hid my squishy belly so I can't ask for more than that!

And now I have a dress for every body type I go through; pregnancy, post-baby, and normal. Never thought I'd have a whole section of my closet devoted to gowns...

sunday best again.

This outfit was not one of my favorites, but I was in a rush since we are back to the morning schedule (thank goodness!) and didn't have time to mess with it. But I think the spit up on my skirt is a nice touch, don't you agree?

shirt: Old Navy (who else?)
skirt: Old Navy You've seen it before several times)
belt: no idea, it's old
hose: Target
boots: boot store in OK. A lady stopped me in church on this day to tell me how beautiful they are:)
baby: Harmon baby factory



And if you are wondering, Oskar's complete outfit is from Old Navy. He had socks on (also from Old Navy) but he loves to pull them off so by this point I'm not sure where they were.

sunday best: fashion week!

Well, even though I haven't been posting them I've been taking photos of my outfits each Sunday. So in order to catch up you get to see them all this week!

This day I was kind of tired so I went with comfy. I was able to squeeze into this skirt again which made me very happy! And I probably should have ironed my shirt before putting it on, but I was tired so I didn't. That seems to be my life theme these days... (like things like ironed shirts actually matter in the grand scheme of things, right?)

sweater: Old Navy. Rob calls it my grandma sweater.
top: Old Navy.
skirt: New York & Co.
hose: Target? Or Forever 21. One of those. I've got quite the collection of tights now. After the flesh-colored monstrosities of my youth I never thought I would say that.
shoes: Minnetonka moccasins.

sunday best: finally!

I'm so excited to have a Sunday best to share! My postpartum body doesn't have much that will fit it well; I've been stuck with the same couple of skirts for the past few months and I don't find them very inspring this time around. (I have tons of dresses that would fit my larger waistline and chest beautifully but they do not have chest access so no dice. And I know you're thinking the "larger waist my foot" thoughts and I understand that I have nothing to complain about in the body department, but the fact of the matter is I am bigger than my normal size that I am when not pregnant or breast feeding. And no matter how good you look, not fitting into your favorite clothes is always a matter for sadness.) But I was able to squeeze into this skirt this past week and took advantage of it! I can't guarantee this means I will have something to share every week (or almost every week) however. Next week I will probably be back in those darn skirts again.

jacket: Old Navy
top: Forever 21 (I bought this when Oskar was like a week old for family photos. It was the only thing that didn't make my just-had-baby-body look hideous.)
skirt: New York & Company (circa 2002?)
hose: Christmas present from my grandmother! I LOVE what she picks out every year.
boots: DSW. These were one of my Christmas presents from Rob. Didn't he do FABULOUS? I had pinned a bunch of boots on pinterest and he checked them out and bought his favorite. I am kind of obsessed with them and have worn them a lot in the couple weeks since Christmas. Like I told him, "I feel POWERFUL when I wear these boots!"



And don't you love my hair curled?! I wish it didn't take so long so I could do it like this every day.

sunday best: pregnancy edition

As any (or at least most...) pregnant woman knows, the last few weeks of pregnancy are really rough on your self esteem. It's kind of hard to feel pretty or cute when you're getting swollen and humongous. So this outfit did the impossible; I didn't feel like a million bucks but I felt more attractive than normal:) It's the same dress as here, but with different accessories this time.

dress: Gap Maternity (thank heavens for that OCS ball so I could own this dress!)
shoes: Minnetonka Moccasins
belt: supposedly Guatemalan made; I got it at a touristy shop in Estes Park Colorado
necklace: bought on our trip to the Petrified Forest this summer; made by an artist local to that area!

And I'm pretty sure I was around 33 or 34 weeks here.

sunday best: pregnancy edition

Since nothing fits right now and I have a couple pregnancy outfits I never got around to sharing, today we're doing a little flashback to the belly! These were taken right around my birthday so the fancy bright green bracelet I'm wearing is the gift I got in primary when they sang to me. (definitely one of the perks of being in primary!) You can't tell in this picture, but my cowboy boots have some purple stitching in them that this dress matched perfectly. (also, my legs got NO sun this summer. And you can tell....) I'm not sure how many weeks I was here, but it would've been about 2 months before my due date (I know I could figure it out if I tried, but math takes too much effort right now).

dress: Motherhood Maternity
shoes: discount boot store in Oklahoma.

sunday best: pregnancy edition

So, pretty much the only maternity items I own are dresses. This is for the simple reason that I have yet to find a maternity piece that actually fits right... and dresses are the easiest to make work. This one is no different, I absolutely love it except for the fact that it's about a foot too long. I would hem it, but I've discovered that stretch knits and I don't get along when it comes to a sewing machine. And I'm pretty sure it would cost just as much as I paid for it to get it professionally altered. Plus I'm feeling pretty lazy these days (I blame it on the heat). So I just deal with it.

dress: Target Maternity (bought it online, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten it due to the length)
sweater: Old Navy (little girl's!)  (normally I wouldn't have bothered with the sweater since it's hot as hades right now, but I learned last week that the church building is now kept absolutely frigid so I made sure I was covered)
shoes: Charlotte Russe (one of the best purchases I made last summer, they go with everything)
belt: Forever 21

And I'm really glad I started doing these Sunday Best posts because it means I get pictures of myself that I like, a rarity. Especially when I'm pregnant. This week I got a new one to add to my favorites:

(don't you love my ombre hair??? Move to El Paso and you can have it without any effort too!!)

I would also tell you what week picture this is, but I honestly no longer have any idea how far along I am. Baby Center and my doctor both tell me different things, plus I'm measuring off and the baby is measuring off, so who knows when he'll pop out. I'm hoping to get things straightened out at my next visit...

sunday best: pregnancy edition

I tried wearing this dress a few weeks ago and it fit me like a potato sack. But I've grown a lot recently so when I tried it on again last week it fit!! It is perhaps my favorite article of maternity clothing I own. And is also pretty versatile; I first wore it to the OCS ball (I fancied it up with accessories), but it works great for more casual settings than even church.

dress: Gap Maternity
shoes: Target
belt: Forever 21

p.s. This is my 28 week belly!

sunday best: pregnancy edition

Ok, so this is not a Sunday outfit. But I wanted to share and get opinions... Rob has dubbed this the "half muumuu." I made it from this fabric I had my eye on for a long time and FINALLY went on sale. And I don't know how I feel about it and have not worn it outside of the house yet because of that. I'm not sure if my indecision over whether or not I like it is because it didn't turn out the way I had pictured or if I just don't like it. I've been studying the few pictures I took and I think I'll be tweaking the neckline some more, and maybe mess with the shorter side of the hem. But I would really really appreciate it if you'd give me your opinions too! The idea was to have something that wouldn't constrict my very sore belly (all these stretching muscles and ligaments hurt. A lot. Add in lots of Braxton-Hicks and anything tight around the bump is really uncomfortable), with lots of room to grow.

dress: McCalls pattern M6556 (I made lots of tweaks to the pattern to guarantee it would fit the whole 9 months. Some of them really weren't necessary, like lengthening it. The pictures make it look a little short but it hits at the knee as is. Or, I guess I shold say if you're short like me it will hit you at the knee. If you're really tall it'll be like the model. I'm planning on making a non-maternity version closer to the original pattern once I'm done breastfeeding.)

undershirt: Halftee

So again, please let me know what you think!  And I'll probably be sharing pictures of it again once I make the planned tweaks.

sunday best!

Unfortunately, no pregnancy outfit this week. I spent too much time in the sun and heat Saturday and paid for it Sunday. (the one good thing I got out of it is I now know that I'm going to have to take it very easy this summer. The last thing this baby needs is a dehydrated or heat stroked mama) So today's outfit is from the week after Christmas (right when my pregnancy sickness was starting to hit full-force). I apologize for the poor quality photos, my usual photo spot was "taken" so I just handed the camera to Rob (and we know how that goes...). But I loved my outfit so I wanted documentation of it no matter what.

shirt: Old Navy

jacket: Old Navy

skirt: New York & Company (from high school...)

hose: Christmas gift from my grandmother! I never would have picked an animal print (I admit, I'm scared I can't pull it off) but I LOVE these! I can't wait until next winter when I can wear them again. (I'd totally do it now if it weren't so blasted hot already)

boots: Charlotte Russe

necklace: Forever 21 (it's a little turquoise owl. I know, so hipster)

overall "roughness": first trimester

Man, that really feels like a lifetime ago instead of 5 months.

sunday best: pregnancy edition

So... I was hoping to put together such an awesome pregnancy outfit you would all say "WOW!" But the truth is, I have felt very homely this pregnancy and don't feel cute in anything. It didn't help that the outfit I had created in my mind for yesterday did not look the way I imagined on my body. So that was scrapped and this one was thrown on since we were running reeealllly late for church. It's the same dress as here, so not a maternity dress at all. Looking back, I wish I had put a belt on under my bust to help define my belly more (I'm not a fan of clothes that "hide" the belly, I feel like it just makes you look bigger than you are). And a cute jacket or cardigan would have been nice, but I was sweating just getting dressed (it got up to 97 degrees at one point this past week!) so that was nixed. But I have a cute accessory so that makes up for it, right? Oh, and since the last time I showed this dress I got some gladiator sandals! They work so much better! And, I also have to give a shout-out to Halftee, I'm wearing their boyfriend one here... it's so nice not to have the "shirt bump" along my bum when I have to layer! I think I'll be investing in a couple other colored ones at some point.

dress: Target
shirt: Halftee
shoes:  Forever 21

And as I was putting the pictures in, I realized maybe someone out there wonders about the boys clothes too...  So for Nick:

shirt:  Old Navy

pants:  Old Navy

shoes:  no clue.  They're hand me downs from Max, so probably Target.

and Max:

shirt:  Target (I'm in LOVE with Shaun White's clothing line there)

pants:  Old Navy

shoes: boot store here in El Paso

what i wore to the ball: volume two

Rob had another ball last week, this time a Saint Barbara's Day ball (she's the patron saint of artillery). Thankfully I had more notice than the last time so I made my dress. I'm really happy with how it turned out; El Paso doesn't exactly have the greatest selection of fabric stores (just Hobby Lobby and a really crappy JoAnn's... and when I say crappy I mean it in a "the bolts are covered in dust bunnies and other crud" kind of crappy) but I managed to find the the perfect fabric (I needed something that would drape effortlessly, most evening wear fabrics are pretty stiff). Of course they didn't have as much as I needed in the store but I was able to order the rest from the website. I was also really proud of myself because I started making it about a month (maybe more?) before the ball (I usually procrastinate these things), but before I was done I realized it would have to go on the back burner so I could get Christmas presents done and shipped. So I ended up staying up until 3am a couple days before the ball finishing it (so much for being on top of things for once...). And now I have a real ball gown in my closet for all these balls I will have to attend through the years!

Now, here it is. I had planned on snapping a few pictures before we left, but we were running really late (and the sun had already gone down). So here's what I snapped in the mirror (these show the neckline better):

And here's what Rob took when we got home, about 6 hours later (it was a long night so please excuse m very tired eyes and wrinkled dress) (and I deeply apologize for the blurriness and horrible lighting, etc. I love him but he is not a photographer):

front


back

I did my hair this time and was excited it actually turned out (and stayed in all night). It's this hairstyle, with my own twist on the bangs.

sunday best.

For some reason I think I look like a kid in today's photo. Am I the only one? And I love the brown tones of both Max and I; totally not planned. As in, Rob picked out Max's outfit and got him dressed before even seeing what I was going to wear.

dress: Target
sweater: Old Navy
leggings: Target
shoes: Minnetonka moccasins (SO comfy)

(and please excuse my slip hanging out in this photo, Max and I did some jumping photos prior to this one and it got jostled out of place...)

sunday best!

I really, really love this outfit. It made me feel cute even when I was exhausted and crabby 'cause I slept through my alarm and had to get ready at lightning speed.

shirt: Bitten by SJP
sweater: Target (on clearance for $6!)
skirt: Forever 21
hose: probably Target
boots: DSW (they're Chinese Laundry)

sunday best!

I think fall is my favorite season for clothes.

sweater: Forever 21
jacket: Express (but I got it at a consignment shop for $10)
skirt: Forever 21 (same as here)
stockings: I'm not sure (they're some of my oldest), but I think Target
shoes: Target (you've seen them before...)

I hope this weather continues all winter...

sunday best.

Woo Hoo! for some fall weather! FINALLY. This dress is one of my absolute favorites, but despite the short sleeves it feels too heavy to me for use in summer. So I was so excited to finally pull it out of the closet and wear it again. And I just have to say, you know something is cute when your husband asks if you're wearing a new dress:) (Rob didn't ask that this time, but when I first got it. Usually he doesn't notice what I wear) Oh, and this is what happens with my hair when I sleep through my alarm and have to get ready in a hurry... What can I say, I was really tired!

dress: Forever 21
stockings: Target
boots: DSW



And I didn't think it was possible, but this one just keeps getting cuter and cuter.