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11.30.2016

holiday gift guide | toddler (1-4 years)


having kiddos during the holidays is literally the most fun everrr.  I have so much joy in spending this time with my girls and the magic of the season. I get a little hyped up about all the shopping and browsing and decorating.. 
and eating..
my girls have really changed their interests over the last 6 months. I feel like Baker doesn't care about all the age appropriate toys and activities, mainly because she just tags along with the big sisters all day and wants everything the two almost 4 year olds have.  and the twins are getting into things that I am completely clueless about.. obsessed with shopkins and after staring blankly in the Target toy aisle, and clearly looking lost, I had a polite mom school me on these tiny toys, which helped a lot, actually.

for my 16 month old, I kept her Christmas list simple.  I wasn't super worried about getting
her a ton of new toys- we still have so much from the twins, even after donating buckets and bags of toys.  we do have lots of Little People toys and the big girls still love to play with them! when I came across the farm house I thought it would be perfect for all three of my girls.
a couple weeks back at a birthday party the little girl got one of these beat belle toys and Baker basically confiscated the toy for the entire time- so I added it to her list!  this toy is apparently super popular this season, and I was excited to snag it on sale recently at Target.
there are always jammies on our Christmas List- and HOW ADORABLE is this pom beanie?!  baby Gap, you KILL me.
if you are looking for a couple of gender neutral gifts, you can never go wrong with the B. Blocks - I love this brand of toy, and the Tickle Monster book set is a giant hit in our house.  Auntie got the twins this set for Christmas when they turned a year old and we have never tired of this silly book.





for the big girls.
arts + crafts. building. coloring + painting..
you name it and my big girls are way interested.  I randomly grabbed a couple of new coloring books while picking up a few more sets of lights for the tree at Hobby Lobby and their day has started and ended with these coloring books for the last four days.
sticker books and an awesome mosaic activity book I saw on Amazon while browsing for artsy things are definitely going into their stockings this year.
Parker somehow picked up the interest in building legos.. not the big blocks like I would expect, but the tiny little lego pieces that I have stepped on and bruised the bottom of my foot about a million times over the last month or so.  I grabbed a big box of lego juniors at Costco and have since seen it at Target for a great deal.  how awesome is it that there are legos for girls??  we did not have that option when I was a kid.
on that same note, floor puzzles are a big deal in our house, too!  Jordan has such a fun time putting these puzzles together with his big girls- and Jolie is remarkably good at them!
AND- baby gap.. once again.  do those slippers come in my size??



11.28.2016

holiday gift guide | for her

I'm sitting here covered in glitter from head to toe after decorating my house over the last two days for the most wonderful time of the year!! (!!!) I fall into one of those categories of "uber fanatical" about the holiday season- party because of the pure magic of the season and also because I LOVE gift giving.  over the weekend I was out and about shopping with all the crazy people  for that perfect gift to give the people I love.  this weekend marked the start of the amazing sales and deals on a few of our favorite things and I'll be sharing them on the blog this week for my annual holiday wishlists..
starting with the lady in your life.. or yourself:)
nothing wrong with that.

here is a great start to your holiday shopping- and everything is $200 or less!

as I've gotten older, and keep adding numbers to the bunch, my wishlist gets shorter and shorter. this year Jordan and I even exchanged the idea of not getting anything for each other.  we have a nursery to plan and paint and fill with all the baby boy things, so focusing on that and on sharing this last holiday with our three little girls is all I want.  
that being said.. 
my newest obsession has become dry bar.  I used to have to drive into Dallas to get a blow out but they are popping up all over the place and I completely appreciate it!  my checkbook isn't super impressed, which is why this would be the best gift ever to the lucky gal in your life.  I find every reason to make a trip- and a great blow out will last me three or four days before a wash.  ohhh I'm telling you this is a great idea!
every year I always want a watch.  and I always want a new handbag.  mainly because I'm one to wear the crap out of those items until they are basically falling apart by the next Christmas after repeat wear and tear.  I do the same with my shoes.  I wear the same neutral pair over and over.  I saw the shearling TOMS sneakers on zulily last week and snagged myself a pair because the last time I bought myself a pair of casual sneakers (outside of my cross trainers) was probably before I had kids.  I was due for some shoes, I think.  
of course there is the most comfortable and affordable grandpa cardigan in the basically neutral olive color- I have a thing for oversized cardigans and even wear them around the house over my pajamas.  I have linked the one shown above and a couple more I love love love and have found them to be super cozy, too!  
you can also find my favorite lip gloss (Dolly is a great color to go with if you are unsure) and a staple pair of drop earrings from the one and only Kendra Scott.  rose gold errythaaang.
lastly.  for my fellow list making ladies, these are most most favorite notebooks.  I use them for everything from grocery lists, to reminders, to jotting down my daily thoughts or taking notes at a meeting. I got a set of three for my birthday a couple years ago from a co-worker and have bought several sets since! 
its cyber monday!  what are you shopping for??

11.25.2016

photo every hour | thanksgiving 2016

thanksgiving was a busy day!  a good day filled with food and sweet family and amazing friends (that are basically family) that hosted us for the delicious meal.  
--
eight.
I cant leave my bedroom without brushing my teeth immediately.  first brush then coffee.  so backwards but thats just how I do it.
nine.
time to wake sleepy head!  she's usually the last one out of bed in the mornings.
ten. 
my sweet Jo.  LOVES fried eggs.  especially when they come off daddy's plate.
eleven.
the girls take over our bathroom to get ready to leave for the day!
hairspray + flat irons + velcro rollers
what is this baby boy going to do with himself??
twelve.
the littlest sister.
one.
the feast.
two.
we attempted nap time.. which didn't go so hot in a place she wasn't super familiar.  she was all about sleeping on her daddy's shoulder but the moment we laid her down she was NOT having it.  
three.
the dallas cowboy game + homemade pecan pie.  
four.
cousins!!
five.
feeling like a stuffed turkey!
six. 
the outtakes are always better than the real deal.
seven.
home just after the cowboy's tenth straight WIN!
jammies + chocolate milk before bed.  and more nose picking.
eight.
baby booties in the air are the sweetest.
nine.
quick check on the sleeping babes..
ten.
juuuuust barely after 10pm I'm ready to hit the pillow.  I almost didn't make it to this last hour:)
I hope everyone had a VERY happy and FULL Thanksgiving!! 
XO!

11.23.2016

a little bit of brady | 22 weeks + pink blush giveaway

time for another bump-date!  at least I'm not gracing you with my belly every week like I have in the pregnancies past.  I wouldn't be able to commit to that right now.. life is SO insane. but I do like to give a little update every time I get to go to my OB for a check up and especially when I get to see our little guy. 
OMG, but little HE IS NOT.  lets talk about our growing babe for a minute, shall we?
weighing in at 1 pound and 5 ounces he's measuring about 2 weeks ahead for gestation.  which makes sense because my preggo belly is also measuring over 24 weeks when I just hit that 22 week mark on Sunday.  LOOK at those legs.  and his feet!  my OB likes for the perinatologist to follow all her pregnancies, so I met Dr. Koster when I was pregnant with the twins and have continued to see her a few times while pregnant since.  I always go between 22-24 weeks for a sonogram because according to my OB thats the opportune time for measurement of brain development. when she started the scan the first thing I saw was his foot. my eyes got big and I said out loud- what that his FOOT?  it was huge! 
I feel so bad for him so cramped up!  I don't ever remember having my girls curled up in a ball like that.  sweet guy.  I couldn't help but laugh and laugh every time I got a full view of him laid up in there or a shot of his legs or his feet.  truth is that it doesn't surprise me at all one bit about his length- my dad and three brothers all are 6 foot 3 and above.. my middle brother is about 6 foot 5.  I could have potentially been very tall.. and I am for a girl. Jordan isn't a little guy, either.
brother is just growing along just as the others before him did.
he's healthy with a strong heartbeat at 143bpm and while he is measuring on the larger end for gestation my OB assured me that he's totally symmetrical:)  he did have some fluid around his kidneys- everything else seemed to be filtering like normal but we just have to watch that to make sure the fluid doesn't increase or cause other problems.  apparently thats really common to see in baby boys in the womb and it usually resolves itself by the time he's delivered.  my fluid is a little elevated like it was in my pregnancy with Baker, so with both of those components in the mix it means I'll get serial sonograms to follow and make sure all is well for both mama and baby boy.
fine by me!
 as for this mama.. feeling "great" finally, I suppose.  two weeks ago when we all had a stomach bug it took me 5 days to feel back to normal.  it really knocked me on my rear and I couldnt help but be so exhausted after the smallest amount of activity.  my eating habits haven't been normal since then, either.  I also have been getting REALLY full after eating even the smallest of meals.
my daily meal schedule might usually look like:
breakfast: toast or cereal with coffee
lunch: grilled cheese or a cup soup with a small salad
dinner.. more cereal.
after lunch is usually when I feel the most uncomfortable and am so miserable for hours!  which makes it hard to eat a solid dinner.  I don't feel sick, just full.  
basically, this is common for me in pregnancy but not until around 32-35 weeks.  its happening way early this time around and with the stomach bug a couple weeks ago and me not being able to eat a lot at all.. I lost a pound in the month since I last went to the doctor.  my OB isn't super concerned because he's growing well and above average, but I need something to help speed up my digestion and make it easier for me to eat so he doesn't eventually reap the effects of me not eating well in the most important times of growth for him.  
so she prescribed me a low dose of protonix once a day to see if that helps.
other things.. I haven't been working out very much, I'm sleeping like a rock, and I feel him move ALL DAY, which I totally LOVE.  I love to feel him move.



I STILL cant believe we finally have a name for this little guy.  I feel weird calling him little after seeing his outrageous legs and feet at our scan yesterday..and his hands were huge, too.  I am still laughing about it!
we went around and around about naming this boy- we had a girl name set and ready to go.  we were excited, ready, good. our fourth girl on the way.  but when that balloon popped BLUE we both were like.. 
holy cow.. now, what in the world.. is this real life??
I immediately threw out all of my "original" boy names- boy names that we had been discussing for the last 8 or so years since we started talking about kids.  they all of the sudden weren't "good enough" because part of me was doubtful I would ever get the chance to be a mother to three babies let alone FOUR.  and then other parts of me, and Jordan has admitted this as well, thought that having a boy just wasn't in the cards for us.  SO, who knew if I would ever get the chance to actually use those names I had listed on the "boy" column. 
this new adventure was a giant leap into uncharted territory for the both of us- and it started with the very best name we could settle on.  so much freaking pressure.  
Jordan is very adamant about using a family name for the middle name.  All of our kids have been named after a matriarch of the family, and so when it came to naming our fourth, he also was going to follow suit.  Parker Jane is named after Granny Jane on the Fort side of Jordan's mom's side, Jolie Grace is named after Jordan's Meme on the Massey side, and Baker Bree is named after our tremendously loved BB.  there are a lot of women on both sides of the family.  A LOT. so we ventured over to the Huey side (my family) so see if anything we loved.. which again, I thought just wasn't ever in the cards for me and still nothing stuck out as perfect.  
with all three of my girls I had this feeling of peace and "oh my that is it, thats the name" and I just wasn't having it with our baby boy.
Brady has always been one we like, and like the name Baker, it was a name that I wasn't completely struck by or even remembered that I had threw it on the list at some point.
but when it came down to naming a BOY it was good.  we loved it.  but the giant problem was that we didn't love any middle name we came up to go with it.  

I was drinking coffee one Saturday morning shortly after the gender reveal- maybe even that next weekend.. and texting back and forth with a friend about name ideas..Jordan was at the fire station and it hit me. 
what about Brady Jordan?
I texted it to Jordan, as it was officially one of the very first name ideas either of us had thrown out there.  he loved it, but he didn't feel the need to use his name as a middle name since he was getting to keep the Massey name alive.
but, dude, you will be the most important man in his life- so why not?!
over the last couple months we have been playing around with other names, calling him by those for a couple days and still nothing felt right. we started to get way off base from what we had originally discussed and I was getting anxious.. so on our road trip to visit my parents a couple weeks back I cornered Jordan in the car for the three hour drive we had ahead of us with threats from his pregnant wife. 
"we are going to decide on a name." 
..and so we did.  we went back to our original name and finally felt that ah-ha moment that we had with the three before him. 
there were many reasons we didn't share Baker's name before she was born.. one of which was the family name we had decided on to use for her middle name.  this time we didn't have a single reason to keep it hush hush.  I was SO proud to be naming our boy after his dad and I wanted to tell everyone.  our closest friends and family knew his name the moment we decided and so many parts of me thought it to be fun to let the surprise be when he finally arrives but then again I have typed his name out a million times when talking about him on this blog and finally decided that it was worth the excitement BEFORE he arrives to share the name we ultimately decided on.
those long legs.  that button nose- a classic trait we saw on sonograms of Parker + Baker. and his big ol' belly.  We cant wait to meet you, Brady!
--
In celebration of my 22 week bump and naming baby Brady I've got something special for you courtesy of my friends at Pinkblush! 
I was introduced to pinkblush when I was pregnant with Baker.  looking for something to cover this bump, their maternity style of clothing was right up my alley.  their trendy line of maternity clothing has grown tremendously since the last time I was dressing a baby bump.. and I actually didn't even realize they had a full (and amazing) line of women's clothing completely outside of maternity clothes until recently.  I've been looking for some true wide leg maternity denim and of course I love the romantic style of anything floral + lace!   
I've teamed up with pinkblush to offer one lucky winner $75 gift card to this trendy online boutique  towards anything they wish!  I know you mamas out there could use some easily transitional staple pieces in your closet, and every little bit helps to kick off a fresh start to this holiday season's wardrobe, right?  RIGHT!! in the meantime, pinkblush has a promotion going right now, just use code BLACKFRIDAY for 40% site wide!  I might have just stocked up on a few of their super soft lounge pants- I have these and just couldn't pass up these in stripe and these in grey (more floral!). I plan to be as comfy as possible while in the hospital and definitely postpartum, too! I also got my hands on this maternity robe for delivering baby Brady in a few short months! I cant believe how quickly March is approaching!

Enter for your chance to win in the rafflecopter giveaway below. 
Giveaway runs through SUNDAY November 27th at midnight.
good luck + happy shopping!

GIANT thank you to pinkblush maternity for their gracious sponsorship and to stephanie rose photography for her patience + outrageous talent.

wide leg jeans c/o pinkblush maternity
charcoal floral + lace top c/o pinkblush maternity
leather choker // nickel + suede
alphabet blocks  c/o smiling tree toys

11.21.2016

motherhood maternity style | 4-ways

date night.
if "bodycon" were made for pregnant women everywhere..  
I honestly feel slimmer and more beautiful when I am showing off the bump in something form fitting.  this dress is true to size with plenty of give and comfort in the jersey type fabric its made of.  I would totally wear it without the cardigan whereas other dresses of similar style I have seen, for a much higher price, I feel the need to cover my backend or cover up the dress all together:) 
worn with booties or sneakers, this one goes both ways, but for dinner + movie with my man this one is a fantastic and comfortable option.
dress + cardigan (similar) + necklace + boots 




christmas tree hunting
I wish so badly we could get a real Christmas tree for the house.  but for the sake of my sinus cavities we forgo the real thing every year.  even though we don't end up buying anything, walking/running/skipping up and down the aisles of trees at our local tree farm is still the most amazing time, especially with kiddos. and the smell of fresh pine is unreal!  
this kind of outfit is what I call maternity basic when dressing this bump.  sort of my go-to when I think of being "put together" but still super comfortable. I have a huge love of vests and layering pieces during this time of year and have about every style and color you can think of.  its just what I love to wear and finding items I feel comfortable in while carrying around an extra 10+ pounds is important to me- layers are always good in my preggo book:)








girls night
while I don't always make the time to get out and about with my gal pals every week, the occasional dinner (and non-alcoholic beverages) has become a regular occurrence on my list of "me things" I accomplish outside of my day to day as M.O.M.  right up there with solo trips to the Target Starbuck's and 45 minutes getting a manicure- equally relaxing, amiright?  

it is SO tempting to leave the house to meet my girlfriends in a topknot + sweatpants after a long busy day, but I'm always thankful when I take time to get myself ready before going out.  I also love this outfit option for church or for date night and I even might recycle it for Thanksgiving dinner.

t a r g e t run
also known as the momiform..? this is about every single day for me.. but really this photo is SO false.  simply because my hair is down and clean and fixed, although somewhat windblown- ha! truth be told i love love love the topknot but I cant really wear it ALL day long because my hair starts to "hurt" after several hours of being in a bun- anyone know what I'm talking about?
totally beside the point of this last outfit.
the most comfortable over the belly leggings and a cozy sweatshirt is my kind of outfit.  
I love the three before, but I saved the best for last:)
bag + hoodie + leggings + sneakers (super old) + sunnies



a GIANT thank you to motherhood maternity for their gracious sponsorship and to stephanie rose photography for her patience + outrageous talent.

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