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.

this little boy.

poor kid got my sensitive skin. El Paso winters are not kind to us.

As my children grow and enter new stages of development I've discovered each one is challenging. People warn you about the terrible twos, but they never mention the fact that three is rough too. And so is four, and five, and so on and so forth. Right now we are struggling with our mouthy six year old. I think homeschooling has spared us the "bad words," but Max can still say some things worthy of soap in the mouth.

BUT, he also says some very hilarious and very clever things too. Stuff that at first I'm like "what in the world?" but then I think about it and can see how he came to that conclusion.

Like today. He got to watch a movie (Brave! We just got it and I hadn't seen it before and love it!) and once it was done he had to turn the tv off. Something he did NOT want to do. But he did it, only to say something not nice to me in the process. He had to come apologize to me for it, and as he sobbed into my side he said "You are killing my feelings." (side note: anytime he has to do something he doesn't want to he tells us we're hurting his feelings)

Which is pretty funny and I told him I was sorry and we laughed together (although I'm pretty sure he was just laughing because I was). And a little later I realized that he wasn't just making up his own phrase, but he was escalating the amount of hurt his feelings received. I suppose he thinks if I realize I am not just hurting, but killing his feelings he can watch tv all day?

Not happening bud. If you have no feelings left by adulthood I take full responsibility.

when did become thursday?

Is it just me, or did this week fly by? I honestly had some posts planned for this week... and here we are. Sorry. Maybe next week?

But while I'm here, I do have happy news! One of my images is part of today's post on Let the Kids Dress Themselves! On Thursdays they do Technique Thursdays where they talk about some aspect of photography, and today is about wide angle lenses. I hope you check it out!

And because I think posts look lonely when I don't put a picture, here is me with curly hair and makeup (this was my test run for the ball we had in December. What I wore to that is coming soon):

(gotta love computer camera self portraits!)

And one last thing, I wrote this entire post one handed. I'm getting quite good at it. (thanks Oskar!)

everything happens for a reason.

Yup, I believe that.

The day Rob came home and told me he had stopped by the Army recruiters I knew that was the path we were supposed to take. I don't know why, and I know that we may never know why, but I'm ok with that.

When Rob got placed in the brigade he's in and we found out he would not be deploying as long as they have their current mission we had mixed reactions. We're (or I'm) glad he's safe and I get to see him when they're not in the field. But Rob really wants that combat patch and as an officer he kind of feels like his guys can't trust him as much as they could if he has a deployment under his belt. And, I'm not going to lie, the deployment benefits would be kind of nice.

But it's not going to happen.

And it's one of those things that we're not sure why he got placed where he is, out of all the places he could have. The odds of not deploying are very slim, so for him to get it when he really wanted to deploy (especially when there are so so many who would not, especially if they've already done it five times) is kind of ironic.

So the question "Why?" comes to mind a lot. And we never have an answer.

Then I got one the other night.

Rob tries to take Yula to the dog park every evening after he gets home. Sometimes it doesn't happen, sometimes we all go with him, a lot of times he goes alone. But we try to get Max to go with him as much as possible. It's for various reasons, sometimes so I have one less kid to worry about, sometimes to get him out of the house since we didn't go anywhere all day, sometimes because Rob doesn't want to go alone.

This particular night Rob convinced Max to go with them. When they came home, their pulling into the driveway coincided with me coming out of the house to toss a poopy diaper in the trash can (poopy diapers do not stay in the house any longer than they need to...). Since I walked out at the same instant Rob parked I figured we'd all walk back into the house together. But as I walked back, they were still in the car. Rob had opened his door though so the lights were on and I could see into the car.

Nothing major was happening, I just saw Rob turned around talking to Max. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I saw Max's face. And the love, the joy, the admiration in his eyes as he talked to his dad.

I know Max loves me, but his dad is his favorite. His best friend.

And I know that is the reason Rob is here. Right now Max needs him.

The time will come for Rob to take his turn and deploy, but it's not yet. For whatever reason that little boy needs his dad right now. 



And I'm grateful I get them both.

am i crazy?

Every time I hear the song 'Home' by Phillip Phillips I think of Star Wars. Specifically, Return of the Jedi. Am I the only one?

Listen for yourself and tell me if you hear it.

Home:


Return of the Jedi Victory song:


And I think I have now proved how big of a Star Wars nut I am...