SHOPPERS come in! =P

you guys - reading another blog this morning, I re-discovered the coolest thing in consignment shopping since, well - consignment shopping!

thredUP has got kids, baby, maternity and adults!    clothing!!     accessories!!



And now that summer has (finally) and officially hit with Memorial Day Weekend passed, I'm ready for some new clothes for a body that has definitely changed more after baby#2 than it did after baby#1... (must have something to do with Ms Mack's positioning (head down!) versus Button's breech the entire time - I'm all, "Wide Load coming through!" lol)

Check out what I got this morning!!!

Of course - I don't shop anymore without stopping for something fun for at least one of the kiddos...

I've been on the hunt for a cute long-sleeve guard for Ms. Mack, and this was the first thing I found during my shopping spree foray on thredUP this morning!

And those belts, how could you not for those prices??

And to go with the belts, first of all, the pants...
I "usually" (i.e. used to before kids...) wear typically size 6 pants... those are definitely a bit snug on the thighs/hips area now (oh THAT was fun, trying on all of my old work/dress pants from storage recently... WAAAH!)

So I am really excited to get these and try them all on!

And I'm always looking for new styles/fashions to wear to work (I change things up so often, I probably don't repeat outfits but just a few times a year...) so I jumped at these"tops" finds:
  Do you guys see those prices?! (I can't wait to wear the peach cowl neck sweater with some dark denim jeans, a white long-sleeve shirt underneath and some brown riding boots!!) - wait, we wanted SUMMER and I'm already jonesing for boots?! lol

speaking of summer - nothing says it more than some nice sundresses!

(I had removed the middle one from my cart at first, but then pictured it again - off the shoulders, my large floppy hat and cute sandals, sipping a margarita... (frozen, with salt please!)

Or even better, a sharp pair of shorts:

 how about for girl's night - a sparkly tank or tee, some long earrings, a bit of sushi and a pomegranate martini!

And what better tops off a girl's night style than this lovely azure lady...

YUP - that's a Kate Spade clutch, for just $32... And - with a promo code for 40% OFF - I actually got my Saturday Envelope clutch for UNDER TWENTY DOLLARS!!!

HOW can I get those bargains?! you may ask...

Well just head on over to thredUP and SHOP! 

(oh, you might want to use the code "KELLE40" and get your 40% off, courtesy of this fabulous blog!)

5 Months... Holy 'ISH

Can't believe this girl is...

Eating: no more 100% boob juice... she's a mean-eating-machine! While she still gets 3.5oz bottles (three each day) sent to daycare, and will eat anywhere from 1.5 to all 3 bottles, she's also getting two meals a day of Banana Oatmeal cereal (2-3Tbsp) and an oz or so of a fruit or vegetable (our repertoire so far includes apples, bananas, peaches, carrots and avocado - tonight we'll be trying butternut squash!

 (and I recently got those cool freezer storage "jars" to make our own food - not to say "boo-store-bought-baby-food" or "we're so crunchy-hippie" but more to save money!!! A jar of baby food averages $1 each, but I can get a bag of carrots/butternut squash/peas for the same price, boil/steam and puree them and get a large batch of baby food made!)

(I still have Wednesdays off, so then and weekends we still nurse on demand! (averages every 4 hours during the day around food...)

Sleep: her naps can be hit or miss (she took a great 2-hour nap recently at daycare!) and I think eventually she'll settle into a nap schedule (thanks to daycare) but nighttime?? Three consecutive nights she recently slept 11 straight hours!!!! (And then followed that up on the fourth night with three wake-ups, the first she was rocked back to sleep... and the fifth night with two wake-ups, again the first she was rocked back to sleep for another 3.5 hours before waking to eat... It's like, I know now you can make it 11 hours! Growth spurts aside, you can do it little girl!!! SLEEEEEEP!

Weight: no clue right now, next doctor weight is at 6 month appointment (AGH! SIX MONTHS NEXT?!?!)

Length: same as for weight...

Wearing: size 2 diapers (daycare had her in 1's the other day, which resulted in a huge blow out. lol) a few larger-brand 3M onesies, like when Mommy is in denial that she is moving up a size, and still wants to get wear out of that cute pair of 3M pants/outfit... (she can only wear 6M sleepers or larger, and 3M pants are definitely too short. lol)

Hates: getting dressed/undressed, hates having her nose/face wiped

Loves:bathtime (non-stop feet kicking and splashing!) and loves to watch her big brother and doggies play, loves being worn (ring sling, moby, ergo - it don't matter!)

Doesn't mind getting her nails did (still filing, haven't tried clipping yet!) and likes to play with her feet (happy baby yoga pose!)

Milestones: Can pretty much grab toys/hands/mommy's coffee on the first try, and with determination! She also reaches out and plays with her carseat toys all the time!

FIVE @ FIVE
1. When you nurse, you get all kinds of crazy - kicking feet (still) to grabbing and playing with my necklace to making sure the other boob is still there...

2. Your hair has recently gotten long/thick enough to make some really cute hairstyles (As we also saw in the very first picture of the post)

 3. Your baptism is this coming Sunday, and I cannot wait to see you in the cute white dress and bonnet! (complete with monogrammed bloomers... lol)

4. You and I love to occasionally go to a Saturday ballet class together - you snuggle tight in your carrier and usually snooze out a few minutes into class!

5. You love your foods! Each meal time we get you situated in your MamasPapas chair and bib, and you intently watch Daddy or Mommy prepare your food, and as soon as the spoon's airborne, your mouth is baby-bird-wide open!



BIG BROTHER:

Button has been having a blast at daycare, enjoying things like Monarch butterflies visiting and getting ready for the summer camp: water play, yoga, FitKidz - we're ready for the warm weather to come with it!!! (Swim lessons possibly soon!)

damn you text-predictor...

I was trying to type a text out on my phone this morning, something about "walking" somewhere...

and my phone text-predictor kept changing it to "waddling"...

perhaps I shouldn't have skipped my hot yoga last night...

Except - it was skipped for good cause! I still have Wednesdays off work ("the better to nurse on demand, my Dear!") and yesterday E took off as well - to do "something on our family day" and that something was LEGOLAND!

(We took this green-screen picture, hopefully I can get it loaded onto Photoshop at home and have some fun with editing...)

There was a station to build and race cars (E's car won, but Button took second place out of three cars!)

There was a station to build towers and test their strength against simulated earthquakes!

 There was also this really cool giant Lego Man... =P

My favorite part (aside from Lego Friends karaoke... LOL) was Miniland and all of the miniature NYC/NJ landmarks (like Rockefeller skating rink, and Statue of Liberty (complete with Ellis Island!) and Giants Stadium (boo Giants) and Empire State Building (complete with a climbing King Kong!)

They even had One World Trade Center (I only have this "nighttime" shot - the daytime was more impressive...)

Left most building: Empire State Building
Center building with silver spire: Chrysler Building
Far right building (turquoise lights): One World Trade

Little Miss hung out in my ring sling the whole day, just quietly taking it all in (we even nursed in it, twice!)

 both kids were done and worn out!

Button conked out nicely at bedtime, while Little Miss Mack fought it a bit - she arched and fussed so much, we tried gas drops, and were about to try tylenol for possible teething, when E pulled the "Maybe she's still hungry" card... to shut him up, I put her on the boob - but 5 sucks in and she was LIGHTS OUT!

 "How many sucks does it take to make a baby fall asleep??"

(She then proceeded to wake up at 12:45, when I rocked her back to sleep pretty easily, and she next woke at 4:45 to eat... closer to getting back to STTN, which she did three nights last weekend!!! we're talking 11 straight hours!!!)

water in my hair... I don't care...

I swear toddlers walk slower in the rain...

As water is pouring in the back of my trench, down my neck, Button is all strolling down the walk to the car... hooded rain jacket, what does he care?? OOO look a puddle to splash in!

Anyways - we had our pictures taken last weekend, and they came out SO FREAKING ADORABLE...

It is by far the best investment we'll ever make (at only $50?!?!) especially when Button's daycare asked for a family picture to go on their Family Tree, and I looked... and looked... and looked, and could only come up with a badly lit picture of the three of us from Cancun. Taken LAST YEAR...

And one of my favorite (I have probably 50 "favorites" from the 500+ pictures taken that day!!!)

Also - Ms. Mack has been sleeping in her crib now almost a week, and I do think it's helped! the last few nights she's gotten down to 2 wake-ups (and feeds)... the going down can be a little rough (last night we tried from 7:30-9pm, then I brought her down to her swing, and then she chilled in E's arms until I went to bed at 10pm and brought her up, nursed her to sleep (I KNOW... ugh) and put her in the crib...) but two nights ago was smooth as buttah! (in the crib at 7:30, asleep by the time I left Button in bed at 8:30)

All that to say - last night she slept 10pm til 2:45am (relatively awesome for us!) and then til 5:15 - and at this point I usually bring her to back to bed with me, for fear of her waking up Button mad early (and him waking US up...) but I put her back in the crib, and they were both fine in the nursery until we all woke up at 7:40 - YAY!!

So her first night spending all night in the crib, I feel rested (probably because I woke up between REM cycles as opposed to during one) but hopefully this chick starts to get the idea of STTN!

She's been eating enough for sure - 3Tbsp at a time of cereal, plus a fruit (banana, peaches or apples) and I think tonight we'll try avocado! (She has this at breakfast time and dinnertime with us...)

(maybe we'll try avocado... we might be too crazy, as we'll be flying around (as usual) after work tonight, to take the kiddos to Open Swim at the local indoor pool... maybe swim lessons for Button soon!)

((also - I get to attend Button's daycare's Muffins with Mom for the first time in three mother's days! MIL is down with a stomach bug today, on the day she usually watches Button, so I used that as an excuse with work - "I won't have to call out, but I do have to leave early to get him from daycare, they didn't originally have him on the schedule for today..." hee hee - I'll leave early and have Mom Muffins with my kiddos!))



To the mommies with babies in their arms...
to the mommies who hold memories of their sweet babies in their hearts...
to the mommies who hold dreams & desires for babies in their whole being...


Happy Mother's Day...