green & stripes

pants: WalMart // top: c/o Belly Dance Maternity // shoes: WalMart

I haven't posted an outfit post in a while 

{for pretty obvious reasons... post-partum body woes}

but I couldn't wait anymore to post one of my favorite tops for pregnancy & breastfeeding. 

This whole outfit is a perfect maternity and post-pregnancy outfit. 

My favorite stretchy pants in green and the most comfy, ruched maternity & nursing top.

I received this awesome maternity & nursing top from Belly Dance Maternity the week before Anneli was born. And the first time I actually got to wear it was on my way to the hospital to give birth to my six pound little beauty. 

[This is actually the exact outfit I was wearing on the way to the hospital. I kind of felt pretty cute right before my body was ripped apart. ;)]

I LOVE this top for many reasons. 

Usually I hate maternity clothes. 

I feel so frumpy and ugly in them and I feel like they make me look 10x bigger than I really am. 

So this pregnancy go-round, I really tried to {literally} stretch out my clothes and make them work with my big belly or just buy the next size up in other clothes instead of buy maternity wear. 

But the tops from Belly Dance Maternity became my absolute favorite in just a short amount of time and I wished I had ordered them much earlier in my pregnancy. 

[and gotten a good belly picture wearing them so you'll just have to imagine a big belly instead ;)]

They really are very flattering for a growing belly and super comfortable! 

And then it transitions into a perfect post-partum nursing top!

First of all, it hides my extra flub pretty well and is not clingy or revealing in that way. 

And second, the top buttons down a bit and has a little flap for an easy & conspicuous opening for nursing a hungry, chubby babe. 

matchy gray stripes :)

I have worn this top at least twice a week since having Anneli because the style & functionality of it is just so wonderful. If you are pregnant or nursing, I highly recommend checking out Belly Dance Maternity for all your fashion needs. They have SO many cute items!

And from now until October 25th, you can use the code robinson for 20% off your purchase. 

Happy shopping! 

Inspiration: You Never Know

Tears.  Lots and lots of tears. 
Everything in this video is spot.on. to what I feel like most days.  Even down to what she has written on her to-do list! 
If you are ever feeling inadequate, unimportant, or unfulfilled, I urge you to watch this video and know that YOU MATTER and you are blessing others every day. 
"Many of you think you are failures, you fear you cannot do well...We all worry about our performances. We all wish we could do better. But unfortunately we do not realize, we do not often see the results that come of what we do. You never know how much good you do."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley-

brotherly love

The other night Anneli was having a hard time going to sleep and was pretty cranky. 

I took her in her room to rock her and try to get her to relax. 

Elijah was postponing bedtime [of course] and busted into the room. 

He came in right as I was singing "Whistle Down the Wind" to the baby. 

He got kind of mad and said, "That's my song!" 

I told him that we can share songs and Anneli likes it when we sing to her too. 

I then asked him if he wanted to help me sing it to her. 

He was pretty happy about that and sat on the ottoman next to me, rubbed the baby's head, and sang every.single.word along with me. 

{and it's kind of a long song. I was impressed!} 

As he sat there singing to his baby sister and sharing "his" song with her trying to comfort her, I got pretty emotional over the whole view. 

Some of my concerns over how this whole sibling thing was going to be kind of melted away. 

Seeing the love Elijah had for his baby sister and how he wanted to take care of her helped put my mind at ease that they will be close and love each other, no matter the age gap. 

Going from one to two has been quite a bit more rough than I expected, 

[and also not as as rough as I expected... however that works] 

but that small moment between these two siblings helped me see that there is some glimmer for hope and peace amidst the exhaustion and tears. 

I have two kids!! 

Two of the sweetest kids in the world 
:) 

Inspiration: Words with Friends

totally winning at motherhood #sarcasm

Elijah taking some headshots (cause I refuse to say selfies)

This week has been a rough one for the motherhood books. 

And it's only Wednesday... 

On Sunday Elijah was acting c r a z y 

We had even debated about really taking him to church cause he was already out of control. 

But we decided to anyways and he was... fine. 

After church though it was like all heck broke loose. 

He screeeeeaaaammeeed the whole way home in the car and then I put him in his room where he screamed and cried and banged on his door forever. 

When he finally calmed down enough to come out, he said his throat and head hurt. 

I told him it was just from screaming & crying for so long. 

He brought up that his throat hurt a few more times during the day but I just reminded him that that's why we don't scream our heads off when Mom tells you to be quiet. 

Then Adam said that he actually feels kind of warm...

So I checked his temperature and yep, 

high temp. 

Oops...

So we decided to be lazy... for two days in a row. 

And last night I was up all night between the two kids. 

The baby wouldn't go to sleep til 1am and Elijah was up throughout the night and finally ended up in our bed around 2am. And then was up by 6am. 

I'm exhausted. 

Today, Elijah seemed to be back to his normal {i.e. crazy} self so I figured he was good to go back to school. When I told him he was going to go to school today he told me he was too sick still. 

Knowing that Elijah likes to really milk being sick, 

[cause then he gets to watch movies and cuddle all day]

I figured he was just faking it. 

Plus, he kind of got in trouble on Friday so he wasn't too keen to go back after that. 

I made him go anyways. 

He told me on the way to school that his ear hurt when he closed his eyes (?) but I still dropped him off. Later his teacher texted me to let me know that he kept holding his ear and saying it hurt and wanted me to come get him. 

When I picked him up, Elijah said, 

"Mom, I told you I was too sick for school!" 

[laying on the mom guilt pretty thick don't you think, Elijah??]

To the doctor we went and it turns out Elijah has a double ear infection. 

I'm 0 for 2 now on this whole sickness thing... 

I give up being a mom for the rest of the week. 

At least my babies are good cuddlers when we're all feeling worn out. 

And they have super kissable cheeks that I can smush to help me feel better :) 

{I mean, that's the reason you have babies right??}

#motherhoodisrough

Elijah-isms: new big brother edition

Elijah loves his baby sister Anneli.
{sometimes a little too much!}
He loves to give her kisses and hold her and hug her and get in her face...

Here's some of his most recent funny Elijah-isms now that he is a big brother.

He always goes up to Anneli and says, in a really high-pitched voice,
"Hi!! Good morning!!"

He also constantly wants to "Ugg-Mugga" [from Daniel Tiger] her and give her loud, neck-breaking kisses. He's loving but kind of aggressively loving...

Every now and then he'll remember snippets from the birth and say things like,
"Mom, why were you screaming?"
"Why did the baby come out of your legs?"
I'm hoping not too many traumatic experience surface.

He wants Baby Anneli to be included in everything.
Last night I was singing him his "Baby Elijah" song and there's a part that I sing that goes, "Mommy & Daddy love our Elijah" and he made me add in Baby Anneli too.
It didn't quite go with the tune but I love that he wanted to make sure she was included in our family.

He comes up to me multiple times a day and says,
"The baby is so cute! Mom, why is the baby so cute??"

He gets super close to her face all.the.time. {biggest frustration} and then gets excited and says, "Mom the baby's looking at me!! Why is she looking at me?"
My answer always is, "Because she can't look at anything else!"

Breastfeeding has become a norm around here and I was kind of nervous at first about how Elijah would react. But he's done great and it's funny to hear his observations. He will ask me why I'm feeding the baby with my shoulders. And I'm okay that he believes that for a while.

It's also become so normal that the other day he threw one of my breast pads at me and said,
"Here mom, your milk is leaking."
You're welcome, future daughter-in-law. 

Elijah will ask if he can feed the baby or change her diaper and I'll tell him that he can't do that quite yet. He'll get kind of mad and say,
"But I'm the best brother ever!!"
:)

Overall, even though it's a bit stressful and crazy and frustrating at times, Elijah has done a wonderful job with the transition to big brother!
He loves his baby so much and wants nothing else than to be with her and help all the time.
I'm so grateful that he's been doing so well so far and is so loving.
[even though he's a bit too loving at times.]

So proud of my little boy!

newborn pictures

I get a little teary when I look at these beautiful pictures Chrissy from Let Me See You Sparkle Photography took of my pretty girl. They are so sweet and lovely and capture my baby girl perfectly! 

I can't even believe that this is my little girl. 

And that she's already grown so much since these were taken. 

[I cry about it a lot. Maybe it's the baby blues?]

And that I have two kids! 

And that I have a precious new babe to love on all day. 

It's just all so surreal!

Oh, I love my family so much!! 

Sugar & Spice

{I didn't get to post about this before I had little baby girl since she came so quickly soon after. So I wanted to back up a bit and share the cutest baby shower my friend threw for me.}

[headband making station]

[the beautiful mastermind behind it all] 

On the Saturday before Anneli was born {just in the nick of time!}, my amazing friend Becky threw me the cutest baby shower ever! 

The theme was Sugar & Spice and it was filled with lots of delicious, sugar-filled treats. 

[My favorite, obviously. :)] 

Everything was amazing and perfect and looked straight out of Pinterest. 

There were even sugar scrub take-home gifts!

Seriously I was blown away by everything. 

And really Becky is one of the most talented, cutest, craftiest people I know. 

You should see her house. It looks like a magazine! 

This whole experience with pregnancy and now with a little newborn has made me extremely grateful for good friends who love me, support me, and sacrifice their time, talents, and energy to serve me. 

I know I couldn't have made it through the last 10+ months without so many wonderful people by my side. 

From baby showers to dinners, babysitting to dropping off Oreos & gifts, photography sessions to much-needed adult talk and visits, I owe a lot to my amazingly loving friends. 

I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have so many wonderful friends who have helped me through this crazy time of life! 

{I get by with a little help from my friends.}