20 July 2018

Check Check, Is This Thing On?

Do people even read blogs anymore?


I mean, its been close to a year since i've posted anything on mine. We've talked about it a lot over on instagram, but honestly, the joy of writing, of community, of sharing fun DIY and money saving ideas quickly just got squashed by an oversaturated market of like to know it links, swipe ups, loop giveaways, and inflated social media numbers.

I was over it. I didn't want to play that game. I like writing. I like my online diary, sharing pictures and DIY and our family life. I read back on a lot of my old posts with such a smile on my face because it reminds me of that blissfully quiet time in our life, pre-kids, pre-promotions, pre-giant fixer upper lake house. We were naive and had time and I just loved sharing the simple ways we were learning how to be adults.

It's hard to translate that when your day becomes saturated with changing diapers, constant runny noses, deadlines at work, long hours, and little sleep. The tone isn't the same. Add in the pressure of never ending "influencer marketing" growth requirements and it's just a sure fire way to burn out, and quick.

I mean, scroll your instagram feed, how many people on it look exactly the same? I mean sure, they're different people. But I'm willing to bet some serious cheddar over half of your feed today is Nordstrom anniversary sale picks. The exact same picks, from 408 different people. It's hard to stay motivated to keep doing something you love, when the market has pretty much been tapped.

But i'm brought back to this: I love writing. I love our day to day family life, and I think it's a balance. This blog has been such a great way for me to look back on Sawyer's monthly updates and compare them to Isla at the same age. I've loved to look back on the progress we've made in our house, or remember how much fun I had 5 years ago DIYing our entire wedding. It's like peeking back into an old yearbook, or reading your diary from junior high.

I don't want to stop writing those things out, I don't want to stop reading about our life and what my tone was back then in 5-10 years when those words mean so much more to me than they do today.

So ultimately, I have no intention of running ads, of growing my instagram audience, of joining like to know it or even posting at a regular cadence, but I do want to write. I want to write what is in my heart, write about my family, with respect to the fact that my kids are getting older and deserve to have a voice about what of their life is shared to the masses of course, but i've always looked at this space as a space I can just let it all out, and I think i'll continue to do just that.

I don't even know what great blog numbers look like anymore, but I will say, at the height of blogging, I was averaging close to 300k views per month, and this last month there were less than 3k (all on that stinking how to blowdry your hair post, go figure..I took those photos with an iPhone 4!)  so who knows if this will even be read, but it feels good to get it out there, it feels good to have an update on this online diary of ours.

And because there isn't a single blog post worth reading that doesn't have pictures, here are our recent Spring family photos taken by my dear friend and the ever talented Jessica Robinson Photography. The kids are getting so big. They're hilarious and fun and the coolest little people I know and our love for them is boundless. Isla is feisty and a little mean, but loves her people fierce, and Sawyer is sensitive, loving, and dinosaur obsessed. They love each other, fight like nobodies business, and keep Jake and I constantly on our toes. We are the lucky ones.








 


































Thanks for following along.

Until Next Time,

09 October 2017

What I Wore to Work

Hey, friends!

I haven't had a ton of time to blog lately, so my what I wore posts have gone by the wayside! I've been snapping outfits though the last few weeks and thought i'd pop in with a few.

We're honestly getting to the point where I duplicate outfits, so know that I wear the same thing all of the time! I just don't take pictures of the same outfit twice ;) But you'll definitely see me wearing the same exact pieces week after week.


Pants: Gap Top: purchased from Zulily- here is one similar! Shoes: Nine West


Skirt: Halogen Top: WALMART YA'LL Shoes: Similar


Top: Lush Skirt: LulaRoe which means I can't link it but here is a gorgeous navy one that I want bad ;) Shoes: Similar


Top: Walmart Cords: Old Navy Shoes: Sofft


Jeans: Hudson Shoes: Sofft  Vneck: Madewell Blazer: Express


My LOVE. The only way I could take a photo this day was with my girl. Skirt: Allegra K

I hope you all have the most beautiful week!

Until Next Time,

24 September 2017

Isla Rose Grows, 4 Months

Sweet Isla Jane.



4 months have gone by in a blink! It’s a cliché we know all too well, but these babies truly are little time machines. Our Sawyer is going to be TWO next month. TWO! I know I’m going to go to bed one night and wake up and my baby Isla will be the same.



Without a doubt, 4 months is a favorite. Isla really woke up and became a little person with a huge personality this month and we can’t get enough of her. She coos and belly laughs, watches her brother go everywhere, and follows me around the room with her big brown eyes.



Isla is my baldy baby, it’s so funny because Sawyer had a full head of hair, and Isla is a q-tip. Other than that, though, the two of them are pretty much twins in the looks department. They couldn’t possibly be more different in personality, though. Isla likes to sleep flat on her back, next to you, but not being held. Sawyer would only sleep being held or rocked, and Isla wants none of that.



I have this feeling that once she is off and moving, I’ll never get my snuggle girl back. From the day she came out she has been so strong, but lately she tries so hard to sit up, stand, and push herself up onto everything in sight. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is crawling by 6 months. She is desperate to keep up with her big brother.



She’s still exclusively breastfed, and as this isn’t my first rodeo I don’t think we’ll have any issue making it to her first birthday. She had no trouble at all taking bottles when I went back to work, and as much as I despise pumping, it’s going just fine. Isla is absolutely full of chunk now. Her rolls have rolls and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything cuter! I can’t help but smooch those big chubby cheeks and squeeze her michelen arms every chance I get. She weighs 15.5 pounds and is in the 73 percentile. Pretty darn average compared to her HUGE brother who was always in the 99th. We don’t start solids with our littles until 6+ months, but I can’t believe were almost to the age where she can start exploring food. It’s always so fun to see!



Her favorite place to be is on my hip. She has such great head control now she absolutely loves to walk around with you so she can see everything. My curious girl, that’s for sure.



Sleep is a nightmare, but it feels easier this time because I know it will come to an end. She slept so well the first few months of her life, and then 4 months hit and it went out the window! She has been waking up around 3 AM happy as a freaking clam, kicking and talking and its so precious despite the way my eyes burn in those early morning hours. We’re currently working on getting her and brother on a somewhat similar schedule as I’d like to start sleep training her to sleep in her nursery with brother around 6 months.



Things I absolutely don’t want to forget this month:

Her tongue! It is out ALL the time. Once she realized that was in there, she had to share it with the world! All of her drool. Homegirl will soak an outfit in no time flat, and that little grin with slobber coming out just kills me. Her infectious baby smile. You can literally see the sunshine spread across her face when she sees you in the morning. I joke that she is thinking “you! I know you! I missed you alllll night!” Her sweet little belly laugh. She squeals with excitement when you give her kisses and that laugh is music to my ears.

Sweet baby girl is the perfect puzzle piece in our family. She is so desperately loved and I can’t believe all 3 of us are lucky enough to have her. I dream sometimes of the day she and Sawyer are running around together like 2 peas in a pod. Motherhood is the best ya’ll. It’s also the sleepiest, but the best none the less. ;)


Until Next Time,