New ink

New tattoo from my pal Derrick at Daddy Jack's Body Art Studio in Fort Worth

Drastic Hair Change

New hair! Funky, edgy, cool and easy to style any way I want to. It's shorter on one side than the other and the front part is long. The back is cut up high enough so you can see the star on the back of my neck. It matches my funky unique personality and all of my friends are loving it, as am I.

Here is what my hair has looked like in the past, so this is a drastic change for me.

this is my favorite pixie cut

the straight, plain boring hair

trying to spice up the plain, boring growing-out hair

What do you think, my friends?

More Than Words

It is a very silent day today... perhaps because the kids are both sick, or that Stella is napping so it's especially quiet.. but overall, I haven't said much. So today's blog will be things that say more than I can with words. I'll let the images speak for themselves.

Hair, There & Everywhere

This momma got a new freelance job so I've been trying to balance bringing in some bucks with designing and writing copy for the new Tattooed Hippie Pirate Mommas website. I'm waiting on the photos from Stewart so I can start putting together the calendar. It's a lot of creative projects at once and I love it. My husband has been working extra hard on it and I'm so appreciative.

Been feeling bored with my hair.. straight and mid-length for so long - so I took a little trip to Sally's and ended up spending my first few days of freelance pay on hair supplies. A crimper, new rollers, a curling iron, feather extensions, the works. Even bought a little tube of red lipstick, wow!

Here's my hair with feathers in and crimped. No makeup; it was late.

My friends made comments like, "Get in the delorean we're picking up teen wolf and going back to the future!" and "Don't forget to roll your z cavariccis...." Haha, but I love it. It makes my hair thicker and alternating strips of crimped and straight hair is retro chic. I'm totally bringing it back. (Besides, my stylist's assistant had her hair crimped during the THPM calendar shoot and it was adorable.)

This is a style I'm loving too, especially for running out with dirty hair.

Onto other parenting things... My friend and fellow momma/calendar model Samantha is featuring some parenting stories on her blog starting this week, so head on over and check them out. Who knows? Yours truly might even have something to say. ;)

The Good & The Bad

Today my kids were in tag-team mode. From this morning until right before bedtime, they managed to play in toilet water, sneak into the dog's water bowl to have a second splash party, broke one of dad's prized possessions, dropped my birth control pills in the toilet, spread an entire box of chickadees (cheap goldfish) and Life cereal all over the kitchen floor, take all of the dirty clothes out of the laundry basket and spread them across the bedroom floor, feed the dogs their dinner, and threw water cups across the room.

And I got yelled at for not being a good enough housewife. Okay, well, I kind of got grilled by my hubby about smoking in the new car and how it smells like spoiled milk already... so I drove to the corner store and bought cigarettes. Right after I cleaned out the car.

So I should be writing about the third day's shoot and how fabulous everything went, but I'll leave that for a happier post. ;)

Thrifting Saturday

Thrifting Saturday may have to become a weekly event, because I had the best time with Skye and Myles today at the thrift store. Or I should say, the biggest most crazy thrift store with the best stuff hidden in it. We have a Goodwill, vintage stores, and a handful of random resale shops, but this generic thrift store is the best.

I went in with a plan and as soon as we hit the store, I said "I don't even know where to start." So we hovered together picking up dresses for each other and holding stuff up. Skye picked out this silky floral tunic that would never have made it to my closet without her, and I'm psyched to wear it. Also got some basics like a white button-down from New York & Co. ($3), a denim American Eagle skirt ($3), a couple tunics since they're my current obsession, and an awesome black doctor bag in great condition. Oh, and the most perfect little black dress that fits like a glove that was too small for Skye. Score!

Here are my finds, for a total of $39.

NY&Co shirt, AE skirt, unlabeled black dress, unlabeled floral tunic, cream striped button-down tunic with ruffles, and an unlabeled black and grey military style tunic that matches my hubby's (it was too big so i found my own!)

I'll style them later for y'all since it's raining outside and my 10-year-old loves taking photos.

Five Things You Don't Know about Me Friday

Since I've been blogging nearly every day, perhaps it's time for some theme days. So, I'm making Friday "5 things you don't know about me Friday." Little tidbits of info about me, favorite fashions, crushed dreams, reoccurring nightmares, dresses I'm obsessed with.. whatever comes out that day.

5 Things You Don't Know About Me Friday

1. Growing up I wanted to be a writer and photographer for National Geographic who traveled all over the world.
2. I never planned, or had any desire, to get married or have children until I met my wonderful mister.
3. My son Cole's name came from my late grandfather, who wanted to name my dad that.
4. Stella's name is a combination of Stacy and Shellie, only I wanted an 'a' ending. St-ell-a.
5. I've always been a bit of a trendsetter in a wear-what-I-want kind of way.

The other day's themes will be:

Mood of the Day Monday -an outfit based on my mood and things that piss me off or make me happy

Two for Tuesday -an outfit and a  bonus

What I Wore Wednesday - post my outfit of the day

Thrifting Thursday - incorporate a thrift store find into my outfit or show off new 'old' goods 

What do you think? This is my first go at this.
I don't have a tripod or know my camera lens, nor am I a fashion photographer. I don't shop at high-end stores, but still believe you can look good on a budget with clothes from Target, Kohl's, and thrift store finds. I'm a stay-at-home-mom with no reason to get dressed every day besides the fact that I like to dress up. Oh, and the occasional play date with my Tattooed Hippie Pirate Mommas. :)

Closet Makeover: Halfway There

hubby's clothes pushed aside made more space for my stuff! :)

long sleeves and jackets on the bottom row

makeshift shoe storage

shoes and bags - i <3 this built-in even though all my stuff won't fit

top row for short sleeves and tanks

 Spot any pieces you want to see me wear? You pick it, I'll put it together! :)

Thrifting and Toddler Photography

Lately I've fallen in love with Feathers and Freckles.. she is the most adorable thing who loves to thrift. Since moving to Dallas from Southwest Missouri, my sense of fashion has changed quite a bit and my love of thrifting was forgotten. So thanks, Megan, for reinspiring me!

Last week we visited my mom in Missouri and I actually did a bit of thrifting in her closet! It was the best because she is a tiny bit bigger than me and her clothes fit loose on me, the way I'm digging wearing them right now. I ended up with a load of cute things, including a cropped white sweater, purple corduroy shirt, plaid button-down, and tons of adorable sweaters.

some of my finds from mom's closet

Since the mister is out of town I'm going to hand my 3-year-old the camera and let him have a go at capturing my outfit today. Wish me luck!

edit: So this is what happens when my good camera is dead and I tell my 3-year-old to take pictures with my crappy camera phone:

What you're left with are these sad shots of today's outfit:

belt & shirt: thrifted   jeans: Mossimo flares from Target

necklace: gift

2nd edit: the mister came home and took this full shot of me. this outfit coulda used heels instead of these old Payless flats and a scarf to add some flair, but it was hot and we didn't leave the house today.

When Dad's Away...

When Dad's away.... Mom takes the kids to the toy area at Target to save her sanity as she waits three more days for his return.

Seriously, what can you do with two accident-prone speedy children for that many days straight without a break? Even my nights are kid-filled as the boy insists on sleeping with me.

We have a two-story house with all of the bedrooms upstairs. Half of the living room is set up as kid space with a shelf and bin of toys, with the other half the TV space with two couches, a chair, and an ottoman. Being that our living room is already the size of a dorm room, it becomes a problem with only so much space to wander around in. However, I'm not comfortable with letting my 14-month-old daughter climb the stairs with the assistance of The Boy, so it's baby gate central over there. I can't even go upstairs without a kid crying at the bottom stair.

There has to be an easier way to make our house more open. Can anyone recommend a gate that you don't have to remove every time you want to go upstairs? I'd love a solution to this stupid 'we bought a two-story house before having kids' issue.

So what did I buy in the toy aisle, you might ask? A slide. Oh yeah. Because of all the space we have and how easy my kids are, it was the perfect idea. *smacks forehead*

Hey, the mini trampolines were out of season.

Stella's birthday pics

As if they aren't late enough..... we celebrated Stella's 1st birthday on Dec. 25 at the great-grandparents' house.

Today's Kidisms

• I can't decide if it's cute or creepy watching Stella walk around saying her own name in Cole's voice.
• After this week's falls, I now greet everyone when with my beat-down looking children with "I didn't do it."
• At Kroger and the boy's unders are sticking out the top of his pants, which is hilariously entertaining... until he mooned the Starbucks barista. Yes, this IS my life.

No Coffee? No Problem. I'll Pee On Your Rug.

This week my lovely mister had a business trip to Vegas (I know, poor him), so I packed up the two kiddos in the car and headed for for my mom's house in Missouri. The drive wasn't a total disaster like expected, so by the time the trip was over and we had another successful drive home, I was - and still am - feeling like Supermom. But I digress.

Since it was the middle of the week, my sister Rachel invited us to tag along with my niece Lily, 4, and nephew Ethan, 9 months, to their weekly story time at the library. I happily grabbed my morning coffee and donuts from the best local place in my hometown town, Daylight Donuts, and met my sister in the parking lot at the library down the street.

As we walked in, Cole took off running with Lily and I called (rather loudly, my sister said), "Cole! Come back here!" My sister shushed me. Then the librarian approached and said, "Ma'am, you can't have your drink in here." I looked down at my coffee and back at her. I wanted to strangle her, being that The Boy had already disappeared into the enormous book shelves and my daughter was trying to climb me. My sister volunteered to watch them while I returned my sweet, hot coffee to my freezing cold car.

Story time went well for the first five minutes, with Cole on Rachel's lap and Stella on mine. Some serious woman in a silly hat read Dr. Seuss books to the small crowd of really, really silent children and mothers. All I could think was how quiet it was with a room full of babies and toddlers, like some freaky twilight zone. Then my son discovered the doors to this community room were open to some really cool hallways and stairs, and of course, his sister quickly followed him.

At first we were a little worried he'd climbed up these steep stairs, but he quickly - and too quietly - called out my name (Mom, of course) from a dark room across the hall. With the girl in my arms - captured after too many retrievals from the stairs of death while searching for her brother - I saw him peek out from behind the door. "Cole," I whispered. "What are you doing?" I went closer and he pointed to the corner behind the door. "Pee," he said. Horrified, I looked down into the darkness to see a tiny puddle of pee on the carpet.

Story time ended after that. I guess the moral of Cole's story is if you don't let my mom have her coffee, I'll pee on your rug.

Wagon Ride

It's gorgeous here in Texas so we spent lots of time this week outside. Took Stella for her first wagon ride and told Cole he had to hold her tight, so he did. <3 I love these kids.

Cole's view of Mom

That's enough, I'm walking.

Crybaby

The majority of my days as a SAHM are spent cleaning up, picking up, moving things around, and cleaning up some more. Luckily my son has learned how to clean up his own spills and runs for a towel before Stella can climb into the liquidy mess. Unfortunately, he has this game where he hides with his cup or Stella's bottle and pours it out. Usually all over my nice rug.

We've had baby powder explosions, crayon on the doors, marker on the floors, paint on the kitchen chairs. All of which I handle quite in stride, I might add, because I AM, after all, the mother of a 1 and 3 year old. Magic Erasers are a gift to moms everywhere and the Dustbuster is one interesting gadget to a 3-year-old, often enticing enough to make him clean up his own messes.

This morning, however, we decided to play upstairs, where all the bedrooms are. While I was hanging laundry in my bedroom, across the upstairs I could hear the kids playing in Cole's room and then go to Stella's room, which came across my bedroom monitor. When Cole giggled and ran to the bathroom, it was obvious something was up. He had taken Stella's Advil down from her dresser, poured it all over her floor, blanket, bed, and my antique couch, a gift from my late Aunt Diane. I had to send him out of the room so I could cry.

Some days I'm a real crybaby.

Like a Teacher

what I wore today... please excuse the messy hair, red eye and tiny hand prints on my jeans. it was the end of the day and my girl had climbed me too many times.







My husband told me I looked nice when he came home, so he must have approved. (I'm never dressed when he leaves.) White shirt and green cardigan set from Old Navy, jeans from Target by Mossimo, boots by Nine West.

(I always splurge on boots. The other day Kev told Stella, "I hope you don't like boots as much as your mommy because she likes boots so much she needs an entire closet for just boots. She wears boots until her feet hurt and then she wears them some more." haha)

Let's hope photobucket changes my photos soon so you don't have to turn your head to view them, ;)

Such a Follower.

If you haven't noticed, I've become quite obsessed with Polyvore to keep up with looking fashionable daily. Sometimes it's a challenge to put on nice clothes when you haven't had a shower and know you're not going anywhere that day, but it still makes me feel good to look good. Know what I mean?

I've also become quite an addict when it comes to Pinterest, having found tattoos and fashion and other really cool stuff. My friends posts stuff about rooms and furniture but until the kids are older, updating our house will have to wait and there's no WAY we're buying new furniture just so the kids can color on it.

I'm sure the obsession will die down, but if not, I'll still try to get some posts in here anyway. ;)

On the kid front -- The sibling rivalry seems to be over the bad hump and now S and C are best buddies. I can spend hours watching them play and never get bored. I pull out the video camera quite a bit. Stella walks around saying "Momma" about 80 times a day. She has a fever from her shots last week; the doc said it'd show up in a week or so since it was MMR. Still have to go back for two more shots since we stagger vaccinations. Four at a time is just too much to put in her little body. She had the pouty lip going all day... so cute and so pathetic. I fell over the dog today and hurt my foot and Cole was so sweet, saying "shhh, it's okay Mommy," and patting me. He can be the sweetest, most loving boy in the world. I adore my babies.

Striped.

standing on the dog bed, haha

cardigan: Old Navy  shirt: Ralph Lauren Polo   jeans: Delia*s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming Soon

My sweet mister loves taking pictures of me, so we pulled out the good Sony camera yesterday for some non-iPhone pictures. It's charged and ready to go.. all I need is the outfit to shoot.

It's hard getting dressed some days when you know you're just going to sit around be taking care of kids all day. Rarely do we get out of the house because right now it's cold in Texas, and it's never cold in Texas, so it scares me a bit. haha. You'd think I'd be less of a wuss since I grew up in Missouri, but after 9 years with awesome warm weather, the cold makes my bones shake.

Today I wore a navy sweater that used to belong to Kev until it was shrunk in the dryer (oops), long white and navy striped shirt underneath, skinny jeans and black motorcycle boots to our morning playdate. As I post this I have changed into black pajama pants that are now covered in baby food - squash, to be exact.

Highlights of our Day:

• Stella knocked her head into the train table at Barnes & Noble, leaving a blue knot on her lower eyebrow bone. The nice Starbucks guy gave us ice and she actually sat still, so it must have hurt. That was the end of our playdate.
• Hanging with Brit and Rach, two of my favorite tattooed mommas.
• Buffalo chicken pizza my hubby brought home.
• Cole peed at Barnes & Noble without freaking out about the automatic flushing toilets, hurray!

Have a lovely evening, whoever is reading this... Sweet dreams!

Quitting is Always What I've Done Best.

That's right, I'm a cloth diaper quitter. After three years of full dedication to making my babies have 'fluffy bums,' I've had enough. After Cole did so great with them and even potty-trained at 2.5, it was just a given that Stella would inherit his old dipes and be a cloth diaper big butt baby, too. Only recently when we noticed they were giving her bad rashes, we decided to switch to disposables.

It feels sooooooo good. (i hate to admit that. sorry, earth. i still love you.)

No more washing stinky diapers out in the sink and toilet, no more worrying about dipes being clean all the time. It frees up just a little more time in my day. I know some of you reading this are probably rolling your eyes, but it's not bothering me.

Three years > number of years left diapering = most important thing to me

I'm so glad the Tattooed Mommas were supportive - they even praised me for being dedicated for so long. I hung in there as long as I could. But with that second baby... well, she turned 1 and started walking while the 3-year-old discovered his new trick of climbing up on the back of the couch, and well, there just isn't the time to step away to rinse out a diaper.

On that note, Stella is climbing up the couch....