ANNIVERSARY DINNER

On Tuesday, I hosted a formal dinner in honor of my parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. It went flawlessly, of course running around right up to the minute the guests of honor knocked on the door.

My sisters and I stocked a buffet table filled with a roasted turkey, a vegetable dish, a baked potato bar, cheesy garlic bread, and three options for dessert!

After dinner and cake, we presented their gift. All of the children pitched in to book the Venetian Suite at Villa D’ Citta, a luxurious bed & breakfast in Chicago. They have reservations for the weekend of March 8th, so, very soon! We honestly didn’t want to give them an option of dates, because we were afraid they would try to get out of it, and we think they deserve this relaxation!

I loved the next portion of he evening. After presenting gifts, we gave them a jar full of a questions to answer as small talk. During the week, I had written down questions I wanted to know about their relationship that I hadn’t ever thought to ask while we we were growing up. Some questions were, “Who said ‘I love you’ first, and did the other person say it back?”, “How long did you date before getting married?”, “Talk about all the houses you lived in together.”, and “How did Dad propose?”. Both of my parents really got into answering the questions! Perfectly, each question seemed to branch off into another memory. We sat there for hours listening to their stories.

My sister reported back to me the next day to let me know she overheard mom on the phone at home gushing about the celebration. Those are the moments that make all the planning worth it!

xo

DRIVING TO MOMMYCON

We’ve been in the car for about three and a half hours now, driving to Chicago. Tomorrow we are attending MommyCon!

This trip’s mixtape:

1. Animal – Def Leppard
2. Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
3. Gin and Juice – Snoop Dogg
4. The Greatest Man That Ever Lived – Weezer
5. Happy – Pharrell
6. I’m the Man – Aloe Blacc
7. Separate Ways – Journey
8. Dig It Up – D-Tent Boys
9. Burnin for You – Blue Oyster Cult
10. Watch My Feet – Dude N Nem

Genres all over the place? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.

Tryson did great during the drive, he slept the majority of the way up. We stopped at a bank and a convenience store on the way, and at both stops we let Tryson run around a little in the back seat. He did so well for us!

I’m so excited for MommyCon tomorrow!

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY

Happy 25th anniversary to my parents! Here’s to twenty-five more loving years.

PREPARING SURPRISES

I’ve been extremely busy today making last minute preparations for a big dinner I am hosting tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my parents’ 25th anniversary! Many more details on tomorrow’s festivities to come, I don’t want to spoil any surprises.

Today consisted of much cleaning, setting up tables, mapping out tomorrow’s cooking timeline, washing all the good dishes and doing as much decor as I could crank out. Keep in mind, I did most of this with a sleeping baby wrapped to either my front or back… now would be a good time for a back rub. I’ve done as much as I can for now, but I’m hoping to do a little more decor when Tryson finally sleeps for the night. Tryson is being unusually bearish tonight, he’s crying at everything and wants Mama to hold him, but when Mama holds him, he doesn’t want Mama to hold him. Does that even make sense? I didn’t think so either.

MY WOVEN WRAP STASH

Babywearing has been near & dear the past none months. I have twenty baby carriers; soft-structured, ring slings, a mei tai, some pouches, but I have eight wraps.

The wovens are my go-to carrier because you can do more than one type of carry with each length of fabric. I can have Tryson high up on my back, snuggled close on the front or happily riding on my hip.

1. Natibaby Feathers, graphite, 100% cotton. Size 6. This was my second woven ever purchased. I am in love with the feathers!

2. Didymos Mermaid Indio, 100% cotton. Size 2. As you can tell in previous posts, this wrap is my favorite! I love taking it on the go for a quick back carry as I’m walking through stores.

3. DIY ice-dyed osnaburg wrap. Size 6. I made this pretty easily around the time I bought my first woven.

4. DIY Galaxy osnaburg wrap. Size 3. I have hardly used this, but I got the effect I wanted when I dyed it. I think it turned out amazingly gorgeous! Hopefully I can get more use out of it outdoors in the spring.

5. Didymos Anthracite Hemp Niño. Size 6. This was my first-ever woven! It helped pave the way to me finding woven-love.

6. DIY wrap. Size 2. I found jacquard weave fabric in the fabric store clearance bin, and hemmed it into a shorty. At the time, it was my only red wrap, and I loved having the pop of color!

7. Girasol Native Red. Size 6. This was slightly an impulse buy, and I have yet to use it. Again, I hope the springtime brings many wrapping opportunities!

8. Girasol Ikat, Mayan Blue. Size 6. I obviously have a thing for blue wraps, yes? It’s funny that I’m so in love with this bright blue print, when blues usually are not my favorite when it comes to clothing.

Tryson knew he was getting wrapped soon! Or he just wanted to knock over the stack of wraps.

Jordan will be awake in a half hour and I then I will finally feel like I can start my day, that’s a bad mindset, I know. I really hope he will be moved to day shift soon!

Hoping for some craftiness today,

MOM + BABY STYLE

ON MOM:

Beaded top: thrifted Tropica
Sheer skirt: Forever 21
Gold shoes: thrifted Etienne Aigner
Gold necklace: Body Central

ON BABY:

Jean jacket: Children’s Place
Green flannel: thrifted Old Navy
Grey leggings: thrifted Carter’s
Brown boat-shoes: thrifted Faded Glory

We are now home from spending some time in Normal, IL, where my sister lives. Jordan and I had a nice date night while Jolene babysat, then this morning (after a lot of lounging laziness) we visited a few shops in Bloomington before coming home.

Right now both of my men are sleeping, taking much-needed long naps. I feel like I slept okay away from home, but Jordan seemed to be up all night, probably just habit from working nights.

Tryson tossed and turned what seemed like all night, but each time it was a quick fix since he sleeps next to me – if he rolls over and whines, I just have him nurse until he falls back into sleep. He has been very restless during the night for the past couple of weeks. Judging by this incredibly long (and sound) nap he is taking right now, I wonder if he has his days & nights mixed up a bit? I know that happens to newborns, but could it be possible for a 9 month old? Hmm I may have to start shortening his afternoon nap.

Until next time,

ANOTHER BABYWEARING ADVENTURE

Tryson & I joined my mom on Wednesday to explore some incredible record stores in Peoria, IL. My mom got a record player for Christmas, and ever since, it seems, she has been on a mission to buy just about every record ever made! I was more than happy to join her, and afterwords I felt even more satisfied with my decision to go!

As soon as we walked into Younger Than Yesterday, someone called out to me, “Papoose!” referencing Tryson on my back. I thoroughly enjoyed the nod at babywearing.

I had a very happy baby up on my back as I searched through rows and rows of decades. I was searching for a crazy variety of Blue Oyster Cult, Bellamy Brothers, Def Leppard and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I found a few others I may go back to buy. It was so fun looking through countless titles!

Along with all the vinyl, this shop also had a breathtaking display of memorabilia! KISS dolls in boxes, prized Beatles items under glass. We spent longer in there than we had expected, but we didn’t stay nearly long enough to see a eighth of it. I’m glad we made some purchases to hold us over until we visit again!

From there, we headed downtown to our next stop.

Downtown, we found Ribbon Records. Well, we had to walk across some ice to get to the store front (yikes, it was scary with Tryson on my back), but we made it.

Now this place was basically straight out of my dreams. As soon as you walked in, you could see the huge collection of vinyl, but the shop was also scattered with amazing vintage! Lamps, wall art, statutes, chairs. The back half of the store was vintage clothing! I spent quite a bit of time back there thumbing through dresses and skirts and somehow, just somehow, I made it out of there without any impulse buys. There was a stunning full skirt boasting the most whimsical hot air balloon print… I almost instantly regret not buying it as I wrote that. I did find a vintage rugby shirt for Jordan. Oh there was so much to look at!

Tryson started to get a little fussy as I looked through the clothing racks, so I walked back out to the records to bounce a little. Poor thing was getting tired so I popped him out and snuggled. I put him in a front carry and we looked through the records.

I will be happy to revisit to look a little harder with a happier baby. I didn’t get to look as much as I would’ve liked (and Tryson didn’t get to crawl around like he would’ve liked). But I did find a few titles my mom wanted to buy, and I found a Def Leppard album for $1. They had,seriously, countless crates of $1 albums on the floor. I really can’t wait to look through them all!

There was a third record store on our list to visit, but I seriously think we could’ve spent all day at either of the two we visited and we would still have wished for more hours in the day to take it all in. My mom and I plan on going back to do more wandering at each, including the third on our list.

At both Younger Than Yesterday and Ribbon Records, you can tell the owners/employees are living their dream! How seriously cool it would be to spend your days around music and vintage!

xo

MY DAY IN PICTURES

Babywearing for the win, always.

Tuesday, I went to the city with my mom. We stopped at the Asian market to buy some special items we can’t find in other grocery stores. I wrapped Tryson up onto my back, and he enjoyed all the new views!

A pummelo. They had them marked as grapefruit, which is Jordan’s favorite so I bought one for him. When I got home, I examined the sticker and it said ‘red pummelo’… I really should’ve known what it was from the size. I guess we’ll see what Jordan thinks, I’m sure he’s never had one before!

My favorite isle, all the colorful snacks. The child in me comes out every time!

REAL LIFE – 2AM

Tryson has been struggling while his two top teeth are pushing through the gums. Tonight, he fell asleep before 8pm, and I thought it might be the end of the teething pain which caused the few 11pm+ nights he had been handing to me lately. Soon after he fell asleep I could tell tonight was another bad night; it seemed he could never reach a deep sleep by the looks of his tossing, turning and near constant nursing. Fast forward to now, and we are both wide awake hanging out in the living room. Tryson is alternating between playing with his toys and biting the couch… well, and more comfort nursing. This mama won’t be getting rest anytime soon.

SIMPLE PLAY

Monday, Tryson was up early, after having stayed up very late the night before, go figure. Although he really didn’t get as much sleep as he is used to, he was as happy as ever. I took advantage of that adventurous smile & created a simple tunnel for him to crawl around in!

Tryson has this obsession with socks. He will pull the socks off his feet just to play with, feel the texture in his hands, or put them in his mouth (yum). He will head straight for the sock pile as I’m folding laundry, maybe because of all the colors. He also crawls at my feet, stroking whatever textured sock I’m wearing that day (those fuzzy chenille ones that you wear indoors in the winter? Those are his favorite). When I came across this idea on Pinterest, I knew he’d love it!

The photos are pretty self explanatory; I took a large box, and turned it into a tunnel, having two open ends. I poked holes in the top and stuffed the socks through each opening from the inside.

He LOVED crawling through and would laugh when the socks touched his face. It was a new experience for him to crawl through a small, enclosed space. I showed him I was at the end of the short tunnel, and soon enough he was a pro. He would stop halfway and turn back around.

The tunnel isn’t incredibly sturdy, and it was taken down during the day. I would love to do it again and experiment with different heights and lengths!