Feel Good Vibes

I am always looking for my next happy fix.  Weather it's a new shirt, latte flavor, a show to watch, pajamas to roam my house in, or a song to dance around the kitchen with my favorite three year old.  Lately I have found so many new things that give me that mood boost I so desperately need this time of year.  The newness of the New Year has worn off, the pretty powder snow is brown, I have a Christmas tree on my lawn, I procrastinated too long to get rid of and now it is frozen there... but I just HAD to have it out of my house Christmas day (insert all the eye-rolling from friends and family).  Here is a taste of the randomness that fills my life right now and makes me happy!

Are any of you watching Homeland?  I binge watched it from beginning to the current season in one week.  I don't have much of a life, and when the sickness hit I dug out Leavitt's iPad put us all in pajamas and we lived on the couch while Homeland consumed my every thought.  I have to say the main character drives me insane.  I kept watching hoping someone would come to their senses and fire her for being such a whack job.  Nope.  At times I am cheering for her, other times I want to throat punch her.  I guess I am addicted to being frustrated, because I kept watching and honestly enjoyed the show.  I am desperate for Designated Survivor to return... is it March yet?

Local mamas, have you ventured to Orono's new coffee shop, The Nest? I am obsessed.  Bagel Central bagels, coffee, and mostly the sweetest little backdrop for doing my favorite pastime; mom talk.  I have a standing date there with a gal pal of mine who just went back to work but has a couple days off during the week.  We drop our older babes off at school and then catch up over coffee and carbs.  We hit up a cute library after and it really is the best way to waste a morning.  I'm hooked, I even went alone last week to answer e-mails when she had to cancel.

Ed Sheeran's new song "Shape Of You" is the jam I have on repeat right now.  I have been dancing all over my house with Leavitt to this song.  It's peppy and kind of makes me want to hit the gym.  I'm actually listening to it right now, while Dory plays in the background... another show that makes me extremely frustrated.  Haven't they ever heard of the buddy system?! Haha.  Folks, these are the things that consume my thoughts!

The mom uniform has been tragically the same for some time now.  Black jeans, button down shirt, booties or flats,  real basic.  I did find the most heavenly pair of black jeans from the Gap Factory store.  They are the mid-rise legging style.  Lets be honest two kids means bending over about a billion times a day.  Low rise is a thing of the pre-baby days.  The legging style is my favorite because they keep their shape all day long, and if you are like me and wash your jeans every couple of wears you need them to hold their shape.  The legging part is fab, but the top is styled like a jean.  Pockets, belt loops the whole deal.  Best of both worlds.  If they are wrong I will never be right again! You can find limited sizes in the black online right now here, but they have other washes that are cute too!  I grabbed mine in store and am just waiting to see if they roll out a white pair soon.  I'm pairing them with my favorite button down tops from beachlunchlounge.  Their brand name is basically my life goals to be at the beach, lunching, and lounging.  You can shop their website here but I find all of my tops at TJ Maxx.  I have linked things from there in the past and people who have shopped them have told me they love the material.  I couldn't agree more, they wash well, are super soft and the loose fit is flattering without being overwhelming.  I have found a bunch at various TJ Maxx stores all over Maine for around $19.99 and every time I see one I find it harder to resist!

 I recently have been pretty uninspired around here with blogging, and thought I would start doing the "Who, What, Wear" posts again then I realized all my outfits look the same.  Maybe I will do one just to force myself to switch it up.  I am about halfway through a massive clear out of my closet so maybe I will strike up some inspiration soon! I would love to know what everyone else is wearing for their standard mom uniforms, or if you recently found something that is giving you the feel good vibes!! 

Photos by: Danielle Brady Photography and no they don't really have anything to do with this post but I had to give you something to look at right? 

Valentine's Day Gift Guide

With Valentine's day in a couple weeks I have rounded up my favorite pink items currently on my watch list.  If any of these items go on sale consider them mine! In the meantime I can help you make the lady in your life very happy, or help you leave a subtle hint for the guy in your life!  Happy Shopping loves!

|| Handbag ||

This Tory Burch tote is one of my favorites, because who doesn't love a classic tote bag?  Even better that this gorgeous bag can be used when out with the kids with its generous interior space, but it isn't so oversized that you couldn't take it on a date night.  The bag goes for $295 so while it is a splurge for valentines day it will get tons of use.  

|| Ring ||

This ring is to die for.  I love everything about it.  The shape, the rose gold, how dainty it is.  It will run you a cool $250 but hey it has diamonds and a whole lot of style so its practically a steal.

||Water Bottle ||

This water bottle had me at pink spikes.  I may actually want to hit the gym with this little beauty.  It will run you $40, which makes it the cheapest thing on this little list of mine.  

|| Flats ||

I have been eyeing these pink flats since they came out.  I will admit I don't love the travel flats.  I have a pair in gold, and while I love the look of the gold, I prefer the solid rubber bottom of the Reva flats, not the folding bottom the Mini travel flats they replaced the Revas with.  I mean who really folds their shoes in half to travel?  They come in at $225 which is $50 less than the old Reva style.  I will say they are nice and light though, and this color just screams happy feet!  

|| Handbag ||

I always like to add a splurge to the list.  Something fun for a special occasion.  I always buy the neutral basics I know I will use a lot.  I love this bag.  I love the color.  I love the fact that it's small, meaning it's going out for dates with my husband, and for drinks with the girls.  

|| Jelly Sandals ||

I would be lying if I said I don't love a jelly sandal.  They are cute enough to wear with casual summer clothes, but are able to be worn at the beach.  The multifunctional aspect, and then the fact that they are less expensive than the leather sandals from Tory.  They will run you $125 but that is a steal for a Tory item, not to mention bright pink flowers... yes please!

Farewell 2016

 || Photo by Danielle Brady Photography ||

As we leave 2016 behind and start anew I can't help but feel like this one may have aged me more than any other year.  Personally there were high highs and low lows.  I lost my Dad in the spring to cancer.  But by fall I welcomed a my precious little P, who brings me such peace and joy.  A few health concerns of my own that seemed to work themselves out, have left me especially grateful to be walking into 2017 with a clean bill of health.  My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a quick trip away right before the birth of our second son.  Life is sweet.

Last year I had set very small goals for myself with the blog just to keep myself motivated and interested.  Along with those goals, some highlights from last year were becoming a Nuby parent blogger, working with nuts.com, and partnering with Freshly Picked.  I was interviewed and featured on a London based mommy blogger's site, which connected me to some really sweet readers I have loved getting to know.  I also have connected with other mamas who blog about their crazy lives.  Connections are what makes this all worth it today.  The catalog of memories is what will make it worth it years from now.  

This year I hope to continue to connect with those of you who enjoy this little space of mine.  I also have answered the burning question I get the most, which is what will I do about the name of the blog now that I have two babes.  I will be re-branding the blog within the next month and am so excited to share it with all of you.  It really was a hard decision on what to name it so I hope you all like what I came up with... we will save that for another time!

Sitting here writing this to you all I really want to thank anyone who reads my posts, sends me messages, likes, comments, scrolls by with a smile, or casually pops by when they have an extra minute.  I do this for myself, for the memories, but I also do it because I really love the connections we have made.  I promise good things are to come this year around here, I also promise to keep it real and not put on a fake social media front for you.  No over filtered and staged photos, no fluffy stuff.  Just the real nitty gritty reality of raising my babies, loving my husband, dressing this twice over mom bod, hanging with the girls, and keeping my faith in the lord.  Life isn't perfect, but it is so beautiful.  Cheers to the New Year loves!! 

The Christmas Experience

I hope you all had the Merriest Christmas this past week.  I have tried really hard to be present this season, and enjoy what life has already gifted me.  I am without a doubt a very blessed person.  I have children to hold and love, a warm cozy house to celebrate in, and we all have our health.  We also have so many luxuries that I try really hard not to take for granted.  Along with the luxuries it's been a tough year.  Everywhere I turned there was death, illness, heartbreak, political drama... 2016 was brutal on so many people I care about.  I think about this last month and am happy to see all the memories made.  We really experienced the season this year.  We went and saw, baked goodies, had a fun party with my friends, packed our days with more doing and less buying.  Well, sort of less buying.  I still bought my kids more than they needed but hey tis the season right?  My iPhone camera roll is full of things that make this old heart of mine brimming with love.  So instead of writing a few posts, I am going to give you the highlights reel in no particular order from December courtesy of my phone! 

Waiting to see Santa with his Gramp at L.L. Bean.

Someone was interested in that beard.

I have decided I REALLY want a reindeer, they looked so soft.

     

Preston wants none of the photo taking and more of the reindeer gawking.  We loved all L.L. Bean had to offer!

Christmas Eve pajama party with these cousins!

I forced my family into a Christmas Eve photo and this is all Leavitt could muster up for me.

Preston getting a Christmas morning snuggle in with his Great Nan.  The buffalo plaid shirt and lobster pajamas are serving up all the Maine Christmas style I can handle! 

Hot cocoa is our jam lately! 

Starbucks at L.L. Bean, because one trip is never enough!  I went back with my husband, who is staring at me from our locked car watching me take this photo while he freezes to death and is doing all he can not to scream at me.  

Painted ornaments in memory of my niece Charlee who celebrated the holiday in Heaven.  We miss her but have a lot of fun keeping her memory alive.  

Lobster shaped sugar cookies for breakfast... and yes that is mac n cheese because sometimes that's also whats for breakfast!

Live nativity and hot cocoa at a local church.  Yes, that is my precious angel abducting baby Jesus.  

These middle of the week moments are really what make the season for me.

My nephew and I having some fun with the party hats from my cookie swap party.

Cookie swap with my gal pals.  I have some good looking friends, huh?

Day trip to the Rockland lobster trap tree!  

Hot cocoa with my Maine man on the porch at Greentree coffee.  I want to live there.

Gingerbread house decorating was fun.  Gingerbread house eating turned out to be more fun.

Helping hang the ornaments.  Snapping a picture helped ease the crazy in me who wanted to do it by myself.

Just a boy looking for the perfect tree.

Taking a break from kid activities to get some quality adult time in with the girls!  

Some good old fashioned movie watching in front of the fireplace in his Santa sleeping bag!

I hope you all had a very merry season, and were able to not just get through the holidays but really live in them.  Thanks for hanging with me this year!

Christmas Card 2016

Well its that time of year again, when all your friends and family, near and far, send their love in a holiday card.  Some will send a random candid taken at some point in the last year.  Others a generic bi fold card.  Then there are those who go all out and book the photographer, plan the outfits, and sweat it out for a couple hours until the photographer says "we've got it!".  

I fall into that category of trying to get the perfect shot.  Mostly its the perfect time of year to book family photos, I get a Christmas card photo and Leavitt's birthday is close by so I get his yearly picture at the same time.  My multitasking means that the husband's arm is easily twisted into submission and I get the family photos my little photo hoarding heart desires.  

This year I had an almost three year old, an eight week old, and my husband to style and keep happy.  Not to mention my eight week postpartum bod wasn't exactly begging for a photo shoot.  With the odds stacked against me, I booked the session with my talented gal pal Danielle Brady, ordered my dress, organized the guys outfits and threw up a hail Mary.  

On the way out the door I caught Leavitt rubbing white nail polish and lotion allover his body.  In a fluster I forgot pull-ups and could smell poop half way there.  I ended up using an infant diaper on my two year old and hoping for the best.  We took them at Piper Mountain and within five minutes Danielle showed me a card worthy photo on the back of her camera to ease my nerves.  Leavitt really let his crazy hang out and gave her all the sass a tiny person could contain.  How she managed to snag good pictures is beyond me.  I live for the blooper pictures so she always snaps away when things go rogue, but this was one time I was worried we may not have many happy candids.  

Of course she delivered and I have silly happy family photos, a card worthy photo, and plenty of good old bloopers that make me smile.  I honestly love that she captured these last two of Nick and I giving our signature "are you serious" looks... I am saving these so that some day our boys will look at them and make fun of us the way we make fun of them now.  I love our card and while I am going to save that just for those special people on my mailing list, I hope you all savor the moments of crazy that make up your days.  It is so easy to only share the card worthy moments, its the mayhem in the middle that makes up our lives.  I always am so encouraged when Danielle shows me the perfect shot because amongst the chaos is the perfection I strive for even if I can't see it, but the crazy eye rolling, frustrating and real moments are what our life is made of and honestly they are not only so funny they are so much better than the card because it is who we really are.  Happy Holidays, friends! We love the real you!!!XOXO

Holidays with Nuby

Tis the season to be on the go, and living by the seat of your mom pants.  We have been so busy preparing for the holidays and all the fun that comes with being a parent this time of year.  I have to say that while I like to make things look perfect and magical, it feels frazzled and messy most of the time.  Can I also just say that schools and daycares always seem to take a break when I need the help the most! What is that?! Some weird cosmic joke the universe plays on us when we have even more on our plate!  I have a few new little things making my life so much easier I can't wait to share with you!

We had the amazing Danielle Brady lined up for Christmas card photos, that usually double as Leavitt's yearly pictures since it is so close to this birthday.  He basically turned his crazy on and acted like a tiny monster at the tree farm.  Of course we had to take breaks so that sweet baby P could eat.  I am bottle feeding and during our little break she snapped a picture of me feeding him with Nuby's new comfort 360 plus bottles.  These bottles are brand new and will be launching at Babies R us' January 2017.  They are anti reflux and colic (no baby puke on my dress, or sad gas faces for the camera!)  There is a weighted straw in the bottle that pops out when your baby no longer has reflux symptoms.  My little guy doesn't have reflux but he has been very congested thanks to big bro bringing home all the germs.  The Straw allows for upright feeding which is recommended for reflux  but also is great for stuffy noses!  Who wants to drink milk laying down with post nasal drip... no one.  I also love the straw because the weighted part of the straw sounds like a blender ball when you shake it which to my surprise, it had the same effect of a blender ball and left no lumps of formula in the bottle after shaking! Easy convenient feeding is invaluable to us.  As a formula feeding mama, I often get asked if other relatives can feed him... which I hate to share this duty.  So much of his day revolves around his brother that feeding him is our special quiet time.  As much effort as I put into being the one to feed him, I also need the process to be fairly effortless.  After all motherhood should be working smarter not harder right? I also can't give the toddler tyrant any extra time to really mess things up for me! 

|| Plate || Utensils ||

Speaking of toddlers and messes, I love that he can share meals with us now.  He really loves eating dinner with us as a family.  He especially loves having dinner with extended family because being the center of attention, and having free range to try new foods is his jam.  Lately he has this adorable fascination with cutting his own food.  We enrolled him in a Montessori program, and have watched him blossom with independence.  I go between really loving his independence and having a mini stroke over the mess.  I feel like I am watching a slow motion horror film while he eats simultaneously talking with his hands.  There is an actual stain on our ceiling from a breakfast gone wrong.  Recently I started letting him use a small, more importantly dull, knife to encourage his new skill, and a suctioned plate to avoid his plate slipping while he cuts his food.  Holy crap, what an invention! This super cute, easy to use plate, sticks to the table as he moves around while he eats.  Leavitt isn't one of those kids who would pick up his plate and toss it, but he is fairly self unaware as he spins around and talks with his hands.  I love this thing so much I found one shaped like a bear while shopping at TJ Maxx and bought another one for his Santa bag!

Although I love traveling to see family to worst part for sure with a new baby is that there is never the same comforts of home.  He loves his seats and laying flat on the floor.  He also loves playing with soft toys he can put in his mouth.  I end up holding him most of the time we are with family and he tends to get his tiny little fingers tangled in my necklace.  When I got the teething necklaces I was kind of wondering at what point they would be a good idea for him, and the answer quickly became right now!  When I am holding him for extended periods of time he can hold this soft silicone necklace instead of my gold one which hurts his little fingers.  He sucks on it and tugs on it.  I love that I can wear it as part of my outfit but that it serves a purpose for him as well.

|| Necklace ||

We are loving getting out and seeing everyone this holiday season! I love watching my babies be loved by our families, and I love baby gear that makes getting out stylish, enjoyable and fun! I hope you guys sang some of these awesome things for your kiddos! They make great stocking stuffers and would be wonderful gifts for grandparents who are lucky enough to babysit!

As if shopping for new baby swag isn't tempting enough Nuby is giving away the bottle starter set to one of my lucky readers!  The pack has four bottles and two pacifiers which is an incredible deal!  To enter find me on Facebook here or Instagram @bringingupleavitt or both for an extra chance to win!  The giveaway will run until December 14th at 10pm EST.  U.S. residents only please.

Good luck & Happy Holidays Mamas!

Bringing up Leavitt is a Nuby parent blogger and was given products in exchange for reviews.  All opinions are and always will be my own.

Wedding Dress: Take Two

 || Photo Danielle Brady Photography ||

A couple weeks ago I put my wedding dress on for the first time since our wedding.  A little over a year out from our wedding and a two month old baby later, the dress still fit (yay, for corset backs) and I still loved it as much as the day I bought it.  While it might sound like I am a bit sentimental, the dress left Bar Harbor where we got married and lived its first year of married life in the trunk of my husband's sports car.  Sentimental I am,  kind of.

I had a sweet conversation with the seamstress that altered my dress for the wedding about wanting to trash it.  She was so much fun to work with and suggested we re purpose it into something useful.  My love of all things Christmas and Christmas ornaments had me thinking it needed to be made into something I could bring out and use once a year.

We decided to turn my dress into a Christmas tree skirt, by taking the skirt off the dress and using the satin corset lacing for the ties.  I am so in love with it already, and can't wait to dig it out every year!  Being that I love all things fashion I really hated the idea of having my most special dress sit in some weird box under my bed.  I wanted to give it new life, and I think we did just that!

Now for some of you who have daughters and want to keep it for her to use pieces of, or wear herself that is super cool.  Some other ideas I love would be to have your dress made into a baptism/dedication gown.  Using the satin for the edging or backing of a special blanket.  My dress was tulle, but the under side of the dress was satin and would be adorable on a blanket.  I love the idea of having a table runner made for a dining room table.  You could have a large satin or taffeta  quilt made for the end of your bed.  Anything is better than a dress stuffed in a preservation box, the fashion equivalent of a coffin.

I have been busy buying loads of precious baby things to put under the tree, and cannot wait to gather with my family around the tree while they open their gifts.  I think I will wait until the last minute to cover the tree skirt in gifts so I can look at it in all its blush fluffy glory as long as possible.