TIGF

Hosted by Ashley, Laura and Nay
In my opinion, there is no better time than November to focus on the things in your world you're grateful for.  I understand that there are folks out there who are very antsy for and already starting to celebrate Christmas and you have my love and respect on that - but I still champion the sweet holiday stuck between Halloween and Christmas.  What can I say,  I just love the turkey.  We also have several (and by several I mean almost every member of our family) birthdays that fall the week of Thanksgiving, so you'll just have to forgive me for not jumping on the Christmas bandwagon quite yet.  So, I'm all about the thankfulness, I'm all about the gratitude (I'm also all about that bass, but that's not what this post is about).  So anyway, I don't always do the weekly TIGF posts, but I most definitely will every Friday in November in the spirit of Thanksgiving.  So, here is what I'm grateful and thankful for this week!
New goodies from the Gnarly Whale and freebees - shout out to one of our TIGF hosts Ashley and her shop Gnarly Whale.  I started using these products late in the summer and I tell you the Tea Tree toner has saved my life.  I will always have some form of cystic acne, but this toner really keeps it at bay more than any I've ever tried.  So even though I am still on a project "use it up" for most things, when I ran out of my toner I had to get some more.  They were running a special if you spent enough you'd also get a free pumpkin cheesecake lip balm, so I picked out a body spray too that reminds me of my favorite Snowcake scent from LUSH cosmetics.  Anyway, my package arrived yesterday and Ashley not only included an extremely sweet card, she also gave me some freebees that are amazing - the pumpkin shampoo???  I want to use it every day until the end of time.  So anyway, gush fest over, but if you haven't checked this awesome shop out you should.  And you should also check out Ashley's blog because she is awesome as well.

My furballs - Oh these kitties.  I heart them so.  I love when it starts to get colder outside, you will almost always find them sleeping together somewhere.  They may not love each other more than about 50% of the time, but they certainly do love each other in the winter.  I'm so proud of Taylor too, we seriously thought she'd be the one to have a hard time with Oliver, but she's been so good to him.  He adores her, chases her, grabs her fur, tries to pet her (usually ends up hitting her a little) and she just puts up with it.  She doesn't lash out, if she has enough she just walks away.  Pippin still is very leery of Ollie, but she just keeps her distance for now.  I think she'll come around more when he less jerky in his movements, so you know, when he goes to college.  They're both good cats though and they've put up with a lot from Ollie.  They both get rewarded with pets and cuddles at night while we watch TV after Ollie is in bed.

This boy - I know, I say it a lot, but I am still so amazed he's mine.  I can't believe a year ago we were mere weeks from meeting him for the first time.  Sometimes I get a little nostalgic for those days - not to be so heavily and uncomfortably pregnant (it was an easy pregnancy but the last month definitely was the hardest) - but for all the things Nate and I did together, we took a lot of time for the two of us as it would be the last time we'd be just us two.  But, I wouldn't trade where we're at now for the world.  I thank my lucky stars every day for this amazing little boy and I will never stop shouting it from the rooftops.

Living in an awesome place to raise a kid - We have so much culture in our city, so many great places to explore.  We took Oliver to our Science Museum last weekend and it was so fun.  They have a live butterfly house exhibit right now and it was just so fun to walk around and let butterflies land on you.  Ollie was more interested in crawling around than really looking at the butterflies.  It was just a great place to hang out on a cold day.  I look forward to taking him to our Children's Museum, History Center and when he's a little older, our Children's Theatre too.  We have a great aquarium at the Mall of America that I also want to take him to.  And I have talked a ton about the wonderful zoo in the middle of our city too.  This is seriously a wonderful place to be raising a child, there is always something to do!

So there you have it for this week!  I am also always grateful for all of you who stop by here to share in my life just a little bit!  I wish I could reach through the computer and hug every one of you!  Have a great weekend!

Inspiration Monday - Cat's meow

Hello everyone!  Happy Monday!  I decided to participate in two birds' Inspiration Monday today - I saw this cozy get up from Kate Upton and thought it looked kind of fun.

I chose a very laid back approach to this that was perfect for a lazy Sunday with my boys.  Well, I wasn't totally lazy, I spent a great deal of time working on tagging for a baby/kid consignment sale that I'm putting some of Oliver's clothes in that is coming up this weekend.  I swear it was more work than a garage sale, I'm not sure I'll do it again.  But at least I was comfortable!

Sweater - Mossimo (Target), Jeans - Tommy Hilfiger (From cousin)

Headband - Target, Sandals - Soft Walk (Clothes Mentor) 

It was a pretty warm day yesterday, but my hipster cat sweater is pretty lightweight, so I wasn't too uncomfortable.  Late in the day we set up a kiddie pool for Oliver and I sat and splashed in it with him, that was pretty fun!  He was a little unsure, but got used to it after awhile!

Saturday we went to our favorite flea market this weekend and were rather successful there with some good finds.  We also had a family playdate with some friends who have two daughters, one of whom is not too much older than Ollie, so we joke she is his girlfriend.  Oliver had a blast playing with her and her sister.  I am glad he is getting comfortable with being around other kids, he just doesn't get the opportunity too terribly often.  Overall it was a nice weekend!  I hope you all had a great weekend too!  Be sure to visit two birds over here for other Inspiration Monday outfits!

Life lately

Just thought I'd share a few random updates today.  If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen one or two of these, but I can't remember what pictures I have or have not shared places off of my phone (that good old mommy brain!)

A couple of weeks ago we got ourselves a nice new cabinet from IKEA for our games.  We had been storing them on a bookcase and realized that once Oliver is mobile, he could easily pull the games off the shelves and hurt himself or possibly even get into the boxes and take the small pieces out.  So, we did some looking online first and saw that IKEA had a nice cabinet with doors that we can put a lock on and decided we should get one.  We had been dragging our feet a bit on doing so, but then Nate wanted something to store the NES games he's been collecting on so I made him a deal - he could have the bookcase that the games were on if we finally picked up the cabinet we'd been talking about.  So, now it resides in our living room and I love it!

Oliver's adventures in solid food continue.  We find he is actually quite interested in trying to feed himself - so we let him take the spoon and go nuts!  He loves his spoon so much he doesn't want to give it back sometimes to get more food!  I highly recommend this spoon - it's a brand called Spuni (link because I love, no compensation) and it's been awesome for him.  We actually got it in our Bluum box last month (fun subscription box of baby goodies - I'll do a post on one soon) and since we've been using it we haven't tried any other spoons because he does so well with this one!  We have just finished sweet potatoes and are moving on to carrots now.  Every four days we try something new - that's the recommended time frame to watch for allergic reactions.  It's pretty fun watching him try new things!

And then there are these gals.  I feel bad that they don't get as much love on the blog as they used to - but I promise they are still around!  They're good cats, they really have done so well with Oliver.  Pippin is finally starting to come around to him.  I wouldn't call them best friends, but she can at least handle being in the same room as him and will even sit near me now when I am holding him.  She hasn't done that since he was a few weeks old.  Once he got more active she kind of freaked out, so I'm glad she's coming around.  I snapped this picture of them last night - I was trying to catch them sooner, they almost looked like they were having a meeting of the minds.  Of course they moved - but I still thought this one was pretty funny of them kind of looking at our friend's beer keg - maybe they're waiting for a pint?

So that's what's new in our world.  I'm looking forward to the weekend - it'll be another busy one, but hopefully our last busy one for a little bit.  August looks a hair calmer than July was - though I said that at the beginning of July too and then it ended up as hectic as ever.  I kind of don't mind though - I figure a full calendar means we're enjoying summer to the max right?  What's new with you?

Hipster mom and son

It's the return of Hipster cat!  I knew when I bought this sweater that I would absolutely be pairing it with this skirt. I still can't believe all the ways I've found I've been able to wear this bad boy!

Sweater - Mossimo (Target), Skirt - two birds vintage (b. resale)

Tank top - Zulily, Sandals - Merona (Target)

Bracelet - Bead for Life 

I was pretty excited this weekend - when I went to Once Upon a Child, I found a larger size of one of my favorite onesies that Oliver had outgrown - this adorable fox one from Old Navy.  So, since I was wearing Hipster Cat today, I decided he had to wear Hipster Fox.

I had my mom take our picture together this morning - the result wasn't perfect, but we tried!  He's getting rather distract-able these days, so it can be hard to get good pictures!

We're hip together!  Or just nerdy.  Or maybe we're both!  Either way, I think he's pretty cute, I'm excited to have this onesie again and hope he can wear it for a bit longer!

Feline Friday

I haven't talked about the cats in ages here.  I feel for them, they most definitely have taken a backseat to Oliver, but we have done our best to show them as much love as we can, especially when he's sleeping.  His new evening schedule is working well for this, he goes to bed, we eat a little dinner and then we get kitty snuggle time.  And even though I mostly share pictures of Oliver here - believe it or not I still take pictures of my fur babes too - they were my first babies and I still love them like crazy!  Here are a few:

Pippin loves to sit pretty much anywhere she shouldn't be.  She was hanging out on the top of our basement bar the other night.  Maybe she wanted a beer.

Taylor has made friends with Oliver, it's really quite cute.  I really thought being that she's a little older and has some emotional issues (a lot of rescue cats do) that she'd have a hard time with him, but she seems to be handling him just fine - she'll even jump on my lap when I'm nursing or playing with him and lick his head. And he thinks she's the bees knees, he gets so excited when she comes near him.  I've slowly started teaching him how to "pet the kitty" - I fear for her when he really figures it out though!  I think Pippin will like him a bit more when he's just a little older and a little less noisy.  At least I hope so.

We have a giant homemade diaper bag that a friend of my mother-in-law made us and I use that to take back and forth to my parents house each day.  After I got home a week ago, Pippin decided it would make a nice bed.  Pippin is a huge cat - so that should give you some idea as to how big this bag is!

As you've heard me complain, it's been a freaking cold winter.  You know it's a cold day when these two are cuddled up together somewhere - and I found them like this quite often when I was home on maternity leave. They'd keep Ollie company when he'd be napping in my bedroom.

They're good girls and really, they've taken the whole "new baby in the house" thing pretty well overall.  It could be much worse, my parents had to re-home a cat after I was born, so I'm glad things haven't gone that badly at all!  Of course my son comes first, but I sure would miss these little furballs!

Inspiration Monday - Cat craziness and a request

Hello friends!  Happy Monday!  Did you all have a nice weekend?  Ours was a little busier again, but not too bad.  More on that in a moment, but here is today's Inspiration Monday look from two birds - Jessica Hart.

So I have never found a trench coat that I've ever liked.  And layering is getting to be more of a challenge for me these days, so this is kind of a loose interpretation - I kind of went for the overall color scheme more than anything else!  I'm excited to be wearing a Megan Mae obi belt today - I had been thinking, there's no way I'm going to wear them again until after I have the baby, but actually, I like how it changed up the look of this sweater and kind of accentuates the bump.

 Sweater - Motherhood, consignment

Obi belt - MMD

Leggings - Simply Vera, Kohls

Boots - Target

Necklace - S&D

So yes, our weekend was a little hectic - mostly due to the cats needing to go to the vet.  It was an interesting experience bringing them both at the same time - though the vet was nice and offered us a discount for doing that.  My Pippin cat was NOT happy about being in her carrier at all and wasn't afraid to let us know.  Taylor on the other hand just kind of resigned herself to the fact that it was happening and curled up in silence.  Thankfully the vet is five minutes from our house.  Both girls seem quite healthy, though it makes me sad that Taylor is over 7 years old so she is now considered a "senior".  She has a lot of spunk and I believe will have many more good years with us yet, it's just strange to think of her that way!

After we got them home they pretty much hid from us the rest of the day, no surprise there, but at one point before we were heading out to rehearsal with our music group, we could not find Taylor anywhere.  We called for her, looked under every bed and piece of furniture and started having a panic attack when the Pants Monkey remembered he had left the front door open for just a second when bringing in some groceries.  The cats have never snuck out before, but there is a first time for everything.  So we frantically looked outside, kept on calling for her, then decided to do one more sweep of the house and thankfully found her under one cabinet we must have somehow missed.  She was just lethargic and out of it from her shots so she didn't hear us calling her and she wanted to be left alone.  Thankfully she was better yesterday! Never a dull moment sometimes.

One more thing before I go today - I am putting out a request for guest posts to be used when my son is born and the first few weeks I'm home with him - obviously blogging will be put on the back burner for me a little during that time, but I'd like to schedule some posts to keep things active around here.  So, if you're willing to submit a guest post for me, I'd love to have you!  Suggestions for topics include holiday shopping tips, holiday dressing tips, thrifty Christmas ideas, DIY, recipes, mom styling tips if you're a mom or even just a plain old OOTD post - I'm really not picky!  I'd like the posts by November 25th so I can start scheduling them.  I may reach out to some of you personally too, but I wanted to throw this out here for anyone to respond, I'd love to have each and every one of you!

Head on over to two birds for more Inspiration Monday posts!

My Birthday/Christmas wish list

Just wanted to say thanks for letting me be in a somewhat grumpy mood yesterday.  The day did improve as it went on, especially because I chose to do something fun - I made my Birthday/Christmas wish list.  Well my wish list at least as far as clothing is concerned!  I have chosen to participate in a No Shop November along with Heather at Style Journey - which means no clothes or accessory shopping for myself.  I tend to do this at this time every year with my birthday (Nov 25th) and Christmas so close together.  It's a good time of year to do it.  And I have enough maternity items to get me through to the end I think, so no more shopping for me. Plain and simple.  

This doesn't mean it isn't fun though to "window shop" through the magic of the Internet and pick out things that I might enjoy having!  Here is my wish list as of this moment!

This peplum cardigan from Target is adorable.  The peplum would hide my extra belly after baby is born and cardigans are going to be great to throw over a nursing top.  This red and blue stripe is festive for the holidays too!

What does the fox say?  I am obsessed with all things fox.  My poor son already has a ton of fox themed clothing - might as well have mom match with these fun socks from ModCloth right?

I have been loving the embellished sweatshirts I've been seeing all over the place this year.  I know once the baby is here I'm not going to want to take the time to accessorize as much if I am going somewhere, so this would be a good option instead!  And it'll still be cozy because it's a sweatshirt!  The one above here is from Target, but there are some really cute ones at Old Navy too.

Even though I don't shop there as much as I used to, I still love me some LUSH products.  My favorite time of year for LUSH is always the holiday season - this fun hat box is awesome, it has all my favorite bath bombs and bubble bars.  I may not get a lot of relaxing time after baby comes, but this might be nice to have for relaxation before he arrives!

I have been really pairing down my purses but I can't help but love this one from Nine West.  I saw it at DSW a few weeks back, but it's not on their website.  It's available a whole host of other places though. What I think is awesome is the matching wristlet - I could throw that in a diaper bag with my personal items or throw it in the bag if I'm out sans baby.  And the colors match everything!  Brown, black, gray, etc.

How could I not love this scarf from ModCloth with black cats on it??  It looks nice and warm and is a great way to pay homage to my furry loves.  Cause even if I'm having a baby, I am still a crazy cat mama too. Always will be!

Another scarf and another fox item from ModCloth.  This one is more of a fashionable scarf, less for warmth, but I can think of plenty of sweaters in my closet this would go with.  I see scarves working into my new mama wardrobe quite nicely!

I've been ogling these adorable handmade bags from Rouge and Whimsy for quite some time now.  I love this polka dot crossbody fold over and also the polka dot tote bag that she has for sale.  The crossbody seems like a logical choice for after baby - again, I can put most of the stuff in the diaper bag, but a few things for me in this little guy, throw it across my body for hands free access to my little guy and I'd be good to go!

And finally we have this lovely Aztec sweater from H&M.  Again, I'm seeing Aztec print almost everywhere, but I do love H&M quite a bit so I chose this one.  This sweater seems perfect to me - warm, cozy, easy to wear with leggings while I'm still losing baby weight, can again be worn over a nursing tank pretty well. What's not to love?

So there you go!  I've been telling my family to pretty much just do gift cards for me since I don't know quite how my body will be post baby quite yet, but I wouldn't cry if any one of these items showed up as a birthday or Christmas gift for me (PS, hey Pants Monkey?  You reading this? wink wink nudge nudge).

Are you already looking ahead to Christmas?  What's on your wish list this year?

*All stores and websites mentioned are because I enjoy, no compensation is received from these mentions!*