friday favorites | life lately

one. Disney on Ice

we got to take the big girls out for Disney on Ice last Sunday! it was a magical time and the girls had so much fun! we wore our princess dresses to the show, and I was unsure if anyone else would be dressing up because we’ve never been to an event like this one.. nearly every little girl I saw had a dress on! we love these dresses from little adventures. such awesome quality and I can throw them in the washing machine when they get dirty from being worn day in and day out in this house! we bought tickets in the “cheap seats” and we watched the entire show from an amazing seat! this was during the Moana performance.. the girls waited the entire show to see this! we also got to see mini storylines from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Tangled, and Frozen! Baker, at age 2.5yrs, sat well through the entire thing- aside from the occasional potty break she did great. the big girls loved and sang along all the songs they knew from seeing the movies. I loved spending the evening with them! definitely plan to do this again the next time it comes around. 

two. feels like summer + family life

we’ve hit up the park and taken family walks all week! I’m ready for the warmer weather and so are these kids! Brady’s tank is old navy (HERE) and cardigan from beau hudson (HERE)! my necklace can be found HERE. use code AMBER15 for a discount!  we live in a community that has several ponds and walking trails and when the weather gets warm we love taking walks in the evening! we walked 4.5 miles around the neighborhood on Wednesday evening- talk about a great way to wear these kids out before bed 🙂 Thursday nights is BOGO burgers + live music on the patio at Market Street! so we grabbed dinner with BB and Papa and let the kids play their little hearts out! we happened to see some friends of ours there and they bought a box of popsicles for their four boys and shared with us! Parker looking like an 18 year old in this picture. 

three. date night the first of many Rangers games for the season! we have season tickets again this year and love to go to the games! thankful for grandparents to put the kids to bed and giant buckets of tater tots and margaritas in a can to make our evening much more fun!

four. riding lessons (again)I swear I’ll stop posting about their riding lessons every week, but I love seeing them ride and take approximately 500 photos and videos every time! this is the first real activity the big girls have been in, so I’m being paparazzi mama over here.

it was their second week to ride and they are getting the hang of the basics- Parker got to trot on the horse this week! and Jolie is a pro at leading the horse while she rides.

five. April :: c-section awareness month

I didn’t know there was such a thing! I was tagged in a photo a couple weeks ago about it and decided I wanted to document my healed scar in support of other mothers that have been through surgery like myself. I will never forget the first time I had someone comment on my decision to deliver via c-section. it was when I was pregnant with Baker and I was questioned by a former high school acquaintance (on social media, no less) insisting that I see it her way in selecting the VBAC route instead of having a repeat c-section. I didn’t realize before then that people had such strong opinions about how I chose to bring my baby into this world. why does it matter? it doesn’t.

underwear by Calvin. baby bum by Me.after seeing many similar images of mother’s sharing their c-section delivery scars, I posted this image to instagram and have been overwhelmed by the response in support of the message I shared. if you have a minute go read the comments. I’ve read all of them and they are still rolling in-  each one amazing and so supportive. that is why I love this IG community!

I did get a couple comments about my scar being flat, which is NOT the case at all. while my scar isn’t very dark anymore (thanks to Mederma scar gel and ScarAway silicon sheets + sunscreen when swimming), the ‘shelf’ is prominent. I was laying flat on the bed for the above picture, which made it easier to stretch out and appear flat, but as you can see, I have a shelf. I didn’t have the hangover scar after the twins, but after Baker I noticed the puffiness sticking around longer than before so I asked my OB about it and she told me that its because of the giant thread/rope and form of stitching they have to do after surgery to “hold my insides in”.

ok then, I’ll take the shelf.

I work my butt off at bootcamp several days a week and I can still feel the puffiness through my clothes but I wouldn’t change my experience and bringing these babies into the world for anything! 

 

April 13, 2018

  1. Vanessa Spears says:

    You go girl! Love the post!
    I have a question, how do you get your photos from your phone to your blog? I seem to lose quality every time I try to do it. I end up emailing them to myself one at a time, which takes forever! Your pics always look so clear and candid!

  2. Scars are stories from our life! I don’t have C-section scars myself, but I have horrendous scars from spinal surgery and I wear them with pride. When we’re 80 years old, what will be more important in our lives – our flat lovely tummies, or our life experiences with our kids, grandkids, etc.? I sure as heck won’t be wearing a bikini at age 80 (or maybe I will – I will be that badass grandma. Sags, wrinkles, and all!). Props to putting it out there are refusing to be shamed or embarrassed.