Foxy's Domestic Side

Monday, May 12, 2014

Mother's Day Weekend

I had the best Mother's Day weekend. I'm sure everyone says that...but really I did. I had Friday off, I met up with some friends for a playdate at a local outdoor mall. Baby Fox took a while to warm up, but he did and had a blast.

What else do you do when there is a Target next door? Go to Target with 8 kids in tow of course. (There was another mom with her two kids behind me, one of her kids was having a meltdown, perfect time to go to Target right?)

Baby Fox with his proclaimed Bestie. His Bestie also told his mom last week (the boys haven't seen each other in a month), that Baby Fox was his best friend, awww..

After nap time, waiting till we meet up with Mr. for dinner

We met Mr. at one of my favorite restaurants, it was just the four of us, which doesn't happen often. Usually we have one of my parents or sister with us. It was such a beautiful day that we let Baby Fox get some ice cream.

Saturday we drove over 300 miles to visit some family, yep in one day, the kids were total troopers. It took us 3 hours and one potty/eating break to get there. But it was worth it. My cousin had never met Baby or Mini Fox, and he now has an almost 2 year old, which we had never met. My grandma also got all three of her great-grandchildren with her. Perfect 94th birthday gift if you ask me!

Look at the smile (on grandma, not Mini Fox)

The weather at the beach was PERFECT!

Group shot, my grandmother always waves in pictures.

After lunch we headed to my Uncle and Cousin's trampoline park. If you are in the Santa Barbara area go to Cloud 10 Jump Club, SUPER fun times!

They even have this HUGE play area for kids under 7, Mini Fox thought she was hot stuff

Playing with the big kids

Mr. has a new fan, she followed him EVERYWHERE, it was seriously the cutest thing ever.

Sunday we went to church and just hung out. But the best part of the day? Mini Fox slept for a whopping 11.5 hour straight! No wake ups nothing for 11.5 solid hours. I guess all that jumping, cousin hang out time and no naps wore her out. As for me not waking up every 2 hours wondering when she was going to wake up, well that's a different story, but I'll take it! I really did wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the day!

Hard to hold 50 pounds of kid and look good, clearly I failed

It was super windy so we decided to fly a kite

We had a great dinner of flank steak, baked potatoes and green beans, and the most delicious looking dessert. Nana loved her gift, a picture of Mini Fox in the same pose I did when I was a baby, one that followed me everywhere!

And these pictures are the perfect end to an amazing weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all those amazing Mama's out there, you deserve a day just for you!

Linking up with Faith, Sarah and Heather
Also linking up with Carly and Molly

Friday, May 9, 2014

The World Through Baby Fox's Lens - Family

Daddy

Mommy

Sister - These turned out pretty good

Ampa (AKA - Grandpa)

Godsister

Godmother and Godsister

In his defense, the lens is right next to where a perfect spot for your hand would go. I should take a picture of him taking a picture, he concentrates so hard!

And just cause he's cute, here another one for the road. Have a great weekend! I have today off, gotta go get the kids up!

Gotta get the selfie in

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Something Serious, Something Fun

Usually this blog is light hearted and fun, but today, today I'm going to get real. My real life.
I like to think it looks like this all the time, snuggling with my kids, while they try to kiss each other.

But in reality that's not everyday life. Enter Mommy guilt. I seriously have never really felt it, when I went back to work both times, nothing, I knew it was something that I had to do for my family. We used to go to 24 hour fitness, but recently we joined a new fitness club (it just opened 2 weeks ago). Cue, major meltdowns by Baby Fox. There are a ton more kids in this daycare area and he's just not used to it. It literally gives me anxiety taking him to the gym with me. I try to get him to like it, to show him what they have to offer (They have a TON to do there, have gymanstics, karate, music, etc) classes for the kids to take, and he cries EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. I feel bad that I get frustrated at him for not liking it. It's how he feels. I haven't really gotten a full workout in yet because they keep calling me to come pick him up. I feel upset that I didn't get workout in, that I'm to feel "fat" cause I haven't legitimately worked out in 2 weeks and that I don't get any time for me (selfish, I know). Then I feel bad that I'm gone at work all day, then want to go workout for 40 minutes, he cries, he hates it, he cries some more. I see all the other kids his age and they are running around having the time of their lives. But my son isn't like that, he's sensitive, he doesn't like large crowds. One of the reasons we are doing this is to get him used to us dropping him off somewhere and coming back later. i.e. preschool that's going to start in the Fall. We are trying to avoid these sort of meltdowns. It's not working. I'm getting frustrated, I hate feeling frustrated and anger with how he is feeling. Makes me feel even worse when he just wants to spend time with me. But he needs to get socialized, maybe it's too early? Then I see the other kids his age playing and know that age wise it's appropriate. Then I feel frustrated again, And then the circle of feelings goes back around to feeling guilty for wanting to leave him somewhere, etc. We're going to keep trying for the next couple of months, and hope that eventually he'll be okay with us leaving for 45 minutes. If not, I guess we'll have to quit the club, which makes me sad. We thought of trying to bring something from home, but he said, I might lose it, I don't want to lose it. Smart kid. I've tried staying for 10 minutes, and then sneaking out, cue hysterical crying and running around looking for me calling my name. The problem isn't that we're not there, it's the quantity of people. It upsets him and I don't know if we can change how he feels about that.

He even likes working out, pretty good form if you ask me!

Then I read this story about Ryan, cue the crying in my mom's arms last night, thinking, how can I feel this way when Ryan's family is going through so much more. There aren't going to be any more frustrating moments for them, all they will have are memories. Puts things into perspective doesn't it? This too shall pass, so I'm going to go and hug my little man and little princess and tomorrow is another day. #RedBalloonsForRyan

She's not a part of our membership, but I thought this was a cute picture! She's growing up much too fast! She'll be 8 months old tomorrow...where did the time go?!

Anyway, enough seriousness for now...onto the fun stuff! So remember when I told you about my new iphone? Well with my new iphone comes social media! I can finally join the ranks with the rest of world and you can see even more cute pictures of my kids. I got an Instagram account! Now to just start adding pictures...hopefully soon! But start following now so you'll know when I do start posting regularly. I also got a facebook page, so if you want to see me pop up on your newsfeed, go ahead and like it, it would really make my day! :)

Please pray for Ryan's parents and family for the strength they are going to need during this very difficult time. Now go cuddle your husband, kids, fur babies or whatever it is that makes your heart happy.

Linking up with Faith, Sarah and Heather

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

You Changed My Life - Thank You

Last week of The Spring Challenge. Still having fun, so thank you Alison for getting me out of my comfort zone and giving me easy outfits that I just have to grab in the morning and don't really have to think much about it. This morning actually, I was tired and didn't know what to wear and one of her outfits popped into my head and bam, I had a great outfit.

In case you missed the other days, outfits 1 & 2, outfits 3-9, and outfits 10-16. Now onto the last few days of the challenge, sniff sniff.

Day 17

Interesting story about my necklace. I wanted to try and incorporate jewelry in my wardrobe, I think this was December of 2011, Mr. got my a bunch of necklaces for Christmas, and my sister got my a fashion book, it was a start. This is the first colored necklace I bought. I thought it was SOO out there and people would point and laugh...who knew 2.5 years later I would be pairing this necklace with pink jeans!

Pink Jeans - White House Black Market (old), Top - Loft (not available any more), Shoes - DSW (no available any more), necklace - Francesca's Collection

I can't tell you how much I love my leopard flats!

Day 18

White on white scared me - to death. I actually didn't even wear the white pants to work, I think I wore jeans or something. But when I got home and had a chance to really try it on, I think this is my favorite. Classic and beautiful.

White Jeans - Loft,, White Tee - Target, Shoes - Toms (similar), Belt - Target,Necklace - Groopdealz (old)

Day 19

It was 100° out, no joke, hot, hot, hot. The original outfit called for boyfriend jeans, white tee, bright sweater, scarf, sandals. Just typing that out thinking about how hot that day was, makes me start sweating...seriously. This was such an easy outfit to wear, but I totally felt put together.

Look I'm actually wearing make-up! I was so tired, that I felt it was mean to go out looking like a complete zombie!

Day 20

Truth be told, I went to the beach this day and wore a bathing suit and a coverup all day.

I didn't have time to take an outfit post on Monday, so this outfit I actually wore yesterday.

Pink Jeans - White House Black Market, Striped Top - Old Navy (old), Scarf - Old Navy (no longer available), Shoes - DSW (no longer available)

Baby Fox wanted to do some photos too, and said No take the pictures up here! I was a good mommy and complied.

Day 21

I love maxi skirts so much, that's all.

Black and White Maxi Skirt - Nordstroms, Bright Tank - Target, Scarf - Old Navy, Sandals - Target (no longer available), Bracelets - GroopDealz (old)

I should add black rubber hair band - Target ouchless kind, I almost always have one around my wrist. Perhaps I should start taking them off my wrist before picture? Nahh....I think it's a good fashion statement.

What I've learned

Wow what have I learned, I have learned that I've come a long way since that color wheel post and my first and my second fashion post:

This was August 2012 - Wow my hair was short!

Look how little Baby Fox was! Still my little photo bomber

Lesson 1: I never thought in a million years this would be one of my favorite outfits, plaid shirt? Who am I?! But I like it, as a matter of fact, I'm wearing almost that same exact outfit today. except I switched out the pants for bright blue pants, and the shoes for some leopard flats.

Which brings me to lesson 2: Leopard print is a neutral, and I don't know why I've live so long without it. I love, love, love my leopard print shoes and am avidly looking for a leopard print scarf and belt.

Lesson 3: There are so many people out there in the same boat as me, totally clueless when it comes to fashion. I always see these fashion blogs, but it just seems so daunting to try and figure out the secret to how they dress. Alison broke it way down and it has really changed my life forever. '

Lesson 4: Don't be afraid to try something new and then post it online. Put yourself out there and you might make some awesome new friends, like all the ladies I'm doing this challenge with. I can't begin to express how much these ladies changed me, so I won't, I'll just leave it at that, because I know they feel the same. Love you girls!

I also loved the way people were so caring about each other and gave each other genuine complements which made my heart happy. To see people who were tired and struggling get a compliment and see how that affected their day for the better was awesome. To see friendships formed through the different threads was amazing.

Lesson 5: I learned that dressing for myself made me feel better about me. Made me feel pretty, when I was running on 3 hours of sleep. Made me feel more put together and made me feel like I could accomplish anything. Just started my day in the right direction. I found myself wearing my outfits all day and not changing into "yoga" (I say it like that people really they're pj shorts cause it's just too hot to wear pants) pants. I felt good about me which in turn made me a better Mom, wife and care taker.

I could go on and on, but this post is already getting super long. So I'll leave it at that. For those of you reading who I did the Style Challenge with, see you for the Summer Challenge, can't wait to rock it with you ladies again!