Back to School!

Here in Florida, we are in the middle of our third week back to school. I'd be lying if I said that we are fully back in the swing of things. Now that we have two kids to drop off, our mornings are more hectic and we collapse in an exhausted heap after putting the babies to bed and fixing everyone's lunch for the next day. I told my husband that I fully expect our lives to be a complete and total blur for the next few years until the kids can do more things for themselves and everyone is consistently sleeping in his or her own bed, and preferably all night. We've got a few years.

But of course I was excited for back to school time because it meant I got to shop for a new little girl's wardrobe for the first time ever! And even though Aminah is only in size 18 months, the options for girls are just so adorable I found myself pulling out my wallet so frequently this summer, that by the time August arrived she was really all set. So when The Children's Place invited me to their annual Back-to-School media shopping event, I decided to use my gift card to shop for Miles.

 I brought him along with me to the store because, all of a sudden he has OPINIONS about his clothing. Like, who knew that a 4-year-old boy could (and would) care so much? He enjoys putting his own outfits together lately. They  never match and make me look like a terrible mother, but he's so proud of himself that I just can't get mad. He has a definite aesthetic already that I think is heavily influenced by my husband's style. At the store he picked out several polos, mesh track pants, some wind pants and a cute pair of rock n' roll pajamas. We splurged on a Sonic shirt, too.

And of course I sneaked over to the girls' side and grabbed a few things for Aminah as well. I couldn't resist this swing dot top in purple, the ditsy chacha top, a tiered cream blouse and a few Hello Kitty graphic tees.

We may be bleary-eyed and exhausted on a daily, but we look damn good. That's all that matters, right?

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The Home Stretch

So we are now doing the final countdown to when our baby girl will arrive (Squee! Yay! Woot! etc). The time seems to have flown in some ways, although these last few weeks have been brutal. I've had a lot of difficulty sleeping and have felt so run down. I don't remember feeling this way at all while pregnant with Miles. It was pretty much smooth sailing except for super swollen feet for the last week weeks that puffed up so big I thought they were going to explode at times. This pregnancy has, in the grand scheme of things, been very easy too, with some notable differences. I was much more nauseous during the first trimester, but still never puked. I also just realized last night that I have a linea negra this time around, as well as some slight "pregnancy mask" darkening on my cheeks. It's amazing to me that it took me 36 weeks to notice, but when you have a job and another kid to worry about, it's funny how little time you have to pay attention to your pregnancy.

Anyway, I signed up for one of those weekly emails from BabyCenter and this week's assured me that since I've gotten the nursery ready and all of the clothes are washed and put away, I can just relax and wait for the baby to arrive. Errrmm, no. I haven't washed a damn thing and the nursery is a jumbled mess. My husband installed the fan and put together the crib and I have bought lots of cute stuff on Etsy to decorate it with, but everything is still in boxes. My diapers need to be pre-treated, we need curtains to cover the closet doors and some decorative pictures would be nice too.

With everything going on, I also forgot to really buy any clothes for the baby. Some generous friends gave me lots of their hand-me-downs which are in great condition and super cute, but I was feeling guilty that already this baby was getting the short end of the stick. Thankfully I was recently invited to do some shopping at The Children's Place to preview their Fall collection. I instinctively headed over to the boys' section before reminding myself that this trip was all about baby girl.

The amount of cute in the baby girl section was mind-blowing and I probably went a little bit nuts. Twee hot pink booties? Sure! Knit floral dress with MATCHING BLOOMERS? Yes, please!

I used to laugh inside when friends would show up to a playdate at the park and their daughters were wearing tutus with matching glittery ballerina slippers.....but then I totally picked up these:

I also completely fell in love with their fall Woodland Creatures collection. These pieces match the cute Happi Tree line I bought for the nursery. I guess this owl motif is very popular now!

I was also happy to see lots of purple in the line (it's my favorite color) so I also grabbed up this hoodie and some purple Tees with matching leggings.

I'm excited about the new stuff and can't wait to put it on the baby! Now, if you see me plastering a giant flower on my baby's hairless head, please tap me on the shoulder and suggest I seek help.


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Summer Splash At The Children's Place

I was recently invited to attend a media event for my favorite clothing store for kids, The Children's Place, at a local mall here in Miami. Although it's only April, it's really been summer here in the Sunshine State for a while and so we'd already packed away the jeans and long-sleeve Ts and busted out the shorts, sandals and tank tops.

Everyone knows that The Children's Place clothing is really quality stuff. And when they have a sale, they have a SALE. Beofre being invited to the event I was in the store stocking up on stuff from their Spring collection, like linen button downs for $3.99 a piece and polos for $4.99. So I knew that armed with a generous gift card I was going to be able to do some serious damage in the store.

The Summer collection seemed like it was made especially for me, as it is full of plaid shorts in various colors, graphic Ts, polos and lots of bright blues. I tend to dress him so that he looks like a "little man" and many of his outfits are very similar to Daddy's. I grabbed up every pair of plaid shorts I could find in a 4T, as well as these super cute skull shorts.

Miles' new summer wardrobe basically looks like this:

I was *thisclose* to grabbing up some adorable baby girl stuff but since we don't know the sex of the new baby yet, I stuck to shopping for Miles. But seriously, HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?!

In addition, I also grabbed a pair of sturdy brown sandals that have become Miles' faves and a cute pair of plaid shoes that he wore over the holidays. We are officially set for summer here! Have you checked out The Chidlren's Place's summer collection yet?

 

Disclosure: As stated above, I was provided with a gift card to shop at the store. Opinions, as always, are my own. No one else would want them.

 

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