Oh to be a parent. I'd like to say that it's easy, that it's all playtime and giggles. That every photo you see is a window into my perfect life. Yes, I am happy, I do have fairly well behaved kids, and a good strong marriage but our lives are far from perfect. When you look past the smiles and beautiful photos shared, parenthood is so much more. We have good days and bad and on this particular, for Isla, she was not the friendliest.


This little "Bear" as she has been affectionately nicknamed was not up for a photo shoot. She did NOT want to be in her crib and she did NOT like me taking away the card we kept placing before her feet. I had envisioned this shoot going as well as the last. So many smiles and coos but Isla had different plans.


Jedidiah and I had considered trying again another day, this was turning into a complete wash. I certainly don't want Isla to grow to hate the camera every time I bring it out. But I realized I loved her tears and her truth at this age, so I decided to capture this grouchy moment, as it was, on her 8th month marker. We tried to keep the card from her, so I could save it, perfectly intact but in the end I decided to let her chew on it. The memories from this warped and drool stained card will now carry far more meaning to us.


 Isla is officially 8 months old. My sweet bear is growing fast! Each day she loses that young newborn look. *insert motherly sobs and tears* At 8 months, Isla is very alert. She listens to the sounds around her, even sounds in the other room, she turns to. She does the funniest little flutter with her eyes that brings us all to tears every time we see it. Our passing dogs make her giggle, she has a particular interest in Buffy (our boston terrier). Isla has finally learned to sit up well and is starting to pull herself into a sitting position. She never stays still, like her parents, she is already an explorer. Isla is always rolling and finding things to get into. She isn't crawling yet but she does this wiggle that I can only describe as floor swimming. I know it's only a matter of time before she catches on.


Isla reaches for us now when we come to her (I love that so much!). She loves to put her hands on my mouth when I rock her to sleep. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this bear of mine, tears and all. God is so good!

Photo details:
Crib: Bratt Decor
Outfit: Vintage
Hair bow: Handmade by me
Cards: Lostmy.Name c/o

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather

{This is from March} Let me begin by saying I had hoped to share these at the beginning of the month, shortly after capturing them. I had hoped to be more on top of things by now, but I'm still learning to manage my time and juggle my new daily routine. I had hoped to start chipping away at my yearly goals, better than I have been. But I'm not perfect and I'm definitely NOT a what you would call organized by normal standards. My house is always clean and I'm always cooking new, from scratch recipes, for my family. I've even been working on more crafts, I've missed that so much. But it's also a toss between getting dressed, photos, editing, and getting my social game on or it's tackling daily life. I've yet to reach that perfect middle. How do other's do this? Tell me your secrets! I must know!

Hello and Happy New Year, it's a belated one but better now than never! I'm getting a late start on what goals I'd like to accomplish this year so hopefully, as I get more settled into 2017, things will go more smoothly.

While I'd love to get back into my fashion posts, it's far easier for me to be the photographer hidden behind the camera (likely in pajamas with unwashed hair) than dressed to model. That is however a goal for me this year, to get back into a better routine and make a bit more time for myself and my blog.

For today, I'm excited to share a new milestone of Isla's. This little gal tried solid food for the first time! How did we get here so fast? While it's a bit bittersweet for me to see her grow so fast, I'm also excited to interact with Isla more and more each day.


Jedidiah had the honor of feeding Isla as I captured this exciting first. I probably wouldn't have considered feeding Isla solid food before her six month mark if it wasn't for a friend giving away a bunch of baby food. It sat in my pantry begging me to use it, so naturally I caved. We chose to give Isla vegetables first to build good habits in her before introducing fruits. Today she tried squash!


That unsure look on her face cracks me up! What is this? I'm not too sure if I like it....


But she did and eagerly reached for another bite. Yea! Her first try at solid food was a success! I'm not sure how much she actually ate, as she drooled a bunch but I'm still counting it as a win.


And just like that she was done and ready to get out. Haha I love this grouchy bear.


That's it for now. I'll be sharing more photos soon, hopefully in the next couple days, Isla permitting.

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather

Hello beautiful readers! I'm back and again so soon (insert gasp and surprised emoji)! Although I've been behind on editing/posting photos I've been ahead on taking them. With all this new found energy that my second trimester has brought I find myself constantly picking up my camera.

In these photos I'm 18 weeks and this growing belly continues to be challenging but it's been fun to style, I can't wait to share more photos! I wish I had known more pregnant women in the past. Until recently, I've always been on my own with inspiration. I'll start by saying that I strongly dislike wearing my hair up. I swoon and dazzle over other women and their enchanting up-dos (like you Kristina!) but for some reason I always feel less than awesome when I do. Pregnancy also tends to give me a beautiful glow puffy face. It isn't as bad in these photos (I opted out of a few) but I'm currently feeling it.


I've also been feeling big as a house lately, which is crazy, because when I look back at photos I don't entirely look that way. I think seeing a big belly in front of me really creates the illusion. I can't remember if I felt the same way with my previous pregnancies. They say that when it's all over you forget the bad parts of being pregnant. I think in some ways that is really true, like looking back on a memory with foggy goggles. I remember getting sick and how difficult the after healing was but the day to day I don't. Living in Colorado also has its challenges, pregnant or not. In the springs, we are at 6,035 feet above sea level, that's higher than most. The air is thinner here and for some visiting, you will be affected. Pregnant women often experience shortness of breath but adding thinner air makes it all the more challenging. Walking up stairs while pregnant, and talking on the phone nearly kills me every time! I like to tell my girls I can see little pixies sometimes if I move around too much. While I'm perfectly okay I see stars in Colorado more often than I care to these days.


I'm thankful for skirts, like this one from ModCloth, and it's elastic back. It makes wearing skirts effortless. Actually I prefer elastic skirts all together, pregnant or not. I can never understand the women who complain in feedback about the elastic waist and wishing it didn't have it. Unless I plan to not eat all day or change after I do, I find a great many skirts uncomfortable to wear after eating. Elastic makes them breathe with me and adjust from a sitting and standing position. Not to mention I'm not always the same size during the month! What are your thoughts on skirts with an elastic waist band?


 I love the photo below. It was a bit windy that day and these darn skirts love to fly up on me! That is why I am never found without shorts underneath my dresses and skirts. Thank goodness for Forever 21 and their insanely cheap bicycle shorts! I like to buy these and these.


Outfit Details:
Headband: ModCloth
Top: (old) Forever 21
Skirt: ModCloth
Tights: You can find similar here
Shoes: (old) Pinup Girl Clothing

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather

Hello!! This post was supposed to go out last night but being pregnant, my energy levels aren't always reliable and like a toddler high on sugar I went from full speed to dozing on the couch in no time flat. It's crazy how filled with energy I am from one second to the next. These bursts aren't always long lasting but wow when they are I try my hardest to take advantage of them! I'm getting projects finished left and right around the house. We had a pipe burst last summer and as a result it caused us to tear out our guest bedroom walls... I'm happy to say we finally patched them up! Yesterday we tackled a small portion of our kitchen remodel. Our walls now freshly coated in a bright white. My husband says the kitchen looks sterile (in a good way, he adds). I love color and it's been hard to not paint them anything other than white but our home just doesn't get enough light so I'm revamping around the house and brightening things up! I'll share photos of our kitchen progress a little later on.


With all the projects I've been tackling lately I haven't been very motivated to get dressed. I haven't been feeling particularly fabulous with my growing belly. I'm completely excited about another wee one but I suppose letting go of my figure is still one I'm working on. It's been challenging styling my new little bump. I've out grown most of my pants (not that I like wearing pants) and several of my dresses. This is the first pregnancy I've cared to look my best, it's a little exciting, challenging, and extremely frustrating! It's not easy finding retro modern maternity clothing that doesn't cost $115+ a dress. While I might splurge on ONE pricey dress (This one is super cute) I can't make a whole wardrobe of them. I'm excited to have recently discover an adorable blog by Miss Betty Doll. She is also pregnant and posted a goldmine of maternity friendly clothing sites. Many are a bit too pricy for me but there are a few items at reasonable prices I plan to invest in.


When editing these photos it occurred to me that I've been wearing a lot of red lately. It's funny to me because a few years ago I was completely opposed to wearing red. It always seemed to clash with my skin as some bright pinks still do. But like a fellow blogger (Kristina) recently mentioned, I've found a new love for the color and it's been my new go to color despite the fact that blue is my favorite color to wear.

My sister bought me this beautiful dress for Christmas. I don't usually go for tent dresses but I've been wearing them a lot lately. They are so easy to wear and I love not having anything hugging my belly.


 Outfit Details:

Dress - Local boutique  (similar here, here, & here)
Necklace: Forever 21 (similar here, & here)
Tights: c/o Tabbisocks (similar here & here
Shoes: ModCloth (similar here & here) 

I've run out of things to say, so until next time, thanks for reading my ramblings!

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather

Hello lovely readers! Happy November!!! Well mostly happy, my birthday is in exactly 17 days and as usual I'm not thrilled for it. Good bye fleeting youth. Okay I'm mostly kidding...mostly.

Today I'm excited to share with you photos from this year's Halloween. As some of you may know, I love making homemade costumes! There is nothing more satisfying than wearing something you know no one else is wearing. However this year I was completely behind on getting started. I bought everything ahead of time but with our usual chaotic schedule I didn't actually start making anything till just two days before. Yep reigning queen of procrastination! I once was the craft coordinator for a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. We had over 60 members. I was terrible about waiting till the day before to come up with a craft, get a sample ready, and do all the prep work. Somehow, by the grace of God, I always prevailed and with success! I think I work better with a fire lit under my arss.


This year Piper wanted to be a faerie. Naturally it had to be a blue faerie. Everything with Piper has to be blue, ALWAYS! I love that about her. I did a lot of surfing on Pinterest for inspiration. Some ideas I had planned on doing didn't pan out well but ultimately I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. I'm especially excited about her floral crown. I've never made one before but after reading a tutorial I quickly caught on. These are so much fun to make. I might have to make a few ton more! Her wings, were store bought. I wanted to make them but time didn't allow that...next time! Piper loved this costume so much she didn't want to take it off. She tried to bargain to keep her ears on for just one day of school. I wasn't agreeing to that so we compromised on allowing her to keep a few jewels on her face.


This year I didn't make Chloie's costume. I'd like to next year if she'll let me. Instead we went with a sort of Victorian harlequin, piecing together things we already had. It was really exciting finding pieces from previous costumes and reusing them in a different way.  The necklace was from her Renascence costume a few years back. She wore that same corset last year too, you can see it here. She looked fabulous for such a simple look. She loves wearing that corset.


 At the last moment I decided I wanted to dress up this year. Ever since I became a redhead I've always wanted to be Daphne for Halloween. I whipped up a scarf for myself and an ascot for Jedidiah. Boy did the girls love saying ascot. It made me think of Pee Wees Playhouse and the secret word of the day was "Ascot!" Every time I said it they screamed and giggled. Girls are so silly. I even researched how to tie one of those darn things! I think we must have looked pretty good because we had at least 4 people stop us to take photographs with us.


Our entire day turned out to be so wonderful! The weather was fantastic, making it easy to trick or treat for several hours after it got dark. I didn't even have to wear a coat! Tons of layers but no coat! That's pretty epic for around here.


 Gotta love this last shot! Just like Jedidiah to be goofy when I'm not looking. How was your Halloween? Did you dress up or do anything fun? I'd love to hear about it!

Outfit:
Cardigan: ModCloth
Dress: ModCloth
Stockings: Local costume shop
Shoes: ModCloth


Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather