Almost all of my things to try out from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale have arrived! I had several misses, but honestly so much of that was influenced by the fact that I'm nursing and things are fitting differently than I'm used to. Just being honest, haha! :) I thought I would share the things that I'm really excited about as the sale goes public so soon!

My original post with all things I thought were worth looking at from the sale can be found here!

Unrelated photo of me and my girl, because any selfies taken while trying on would have scared y'all away! Haha!!

Free People January Tee: I ordered three colors of this to try out.. ivory, navy, and lilac. I got it in a small and it's soooo comfortable but also light. Perfect for fall and winter in the South. It would be perfect to layer with a vest of some kind. I'm a little undecided on which color or colors I'm going to keep, but it won't be all three. I can already tell this is going to be one I wear all the time. It would also be perfect for travel, with leggings.

Ugg Poncho Pullover: I shared this in my previous post as my #1 pick and that stance really stays. I loved it just as much as I expected to. As a busy mama, during the week athleisure is my jam. I love items like this that let me feel a little more put together even in my leggings and tennies. I know this will be an item I wear multiple times a week. I ordered the gray and the maroon and am still deciding which one to keep. Are you noticing a theme, haha?

Waterproof Booties: When I showed Ben that I ordered these, he said they were edgy and he was surprised that I ordered them! Haha! I don't think they are... Two years ago I bought a pair of booties in the sale that I have worn and worn and worn. I love them. Even though they've now probably seen better days I won't part with them, but I thought having another option to throw into the mix would be a good idea. These ones are so cute on and extremely versatile.

Halogen Tunic Tee: I'm not actually going to keep this for reasons I mentioned above.. but this might have been the perfect tee. The size I want now is sold out at this time, but my eyes are peeled for a restock.

Mini Melissa Shoes: These shoes won't fit Sophie for at least a year, but they're SO sweet in person I have no regrets about hoarding them in her closet!

Tea Collection Romper: This romper for the winter was so much cuter in person than I even expected! A favorite for sure!!

Smocked Leggings Set: I'm so excited about this outfit for Sophie- although I'm not so excited for time to keep flying and making her big enough to fit in it, haha!

Gorjana Earring: I'm really bad about wearing earrings that aren't just a pearl stud, but these are so simple I think that they'll be easy to integrate into my wardrobe.

Camisoles: This sale is always the best for stocking up on staples. I love these!

Annnnnd I snuck in ordering these because I've been dying to try out a pair of mules and these looked great!

Tips for a Fresh 48 Session + Sophie's Session

I went back and forth so many times on if we would do a Fresh 48 session. I didn't know if it would be unnecessary with doing newborn photos too, but I loved every Fresh 48 that I saw. Especially already having a baby, I anticipated that I would love having beautiful photos of Beau getting to know Sophie for the first time. My friend Colleen sent me her session from her son who's about a month and a half older than Sophie, and I was convinced. Our photographer, Emi Joy, did a wonderful job and I truly cherish these images.

Baby Related Q&A

As our family has grown, I've gotten a ton more questions about motherhood, so I thought I would take the time to answer a few. :) Hope this is fun to read!

How do you adjust and create a new routine? 
Here's the thing, you just do it. That's probably not helpful, haha. There will be times when you feel overwhelmed but you have to just look at the things you need to do, and press on. If I want to be overwhelmed by the circumstances of caring for two small children, I very easily could. I think about the things that are priorities to our family.. I also think it's important to be realistic and know that everything isn't going to go smoothly and perfect at all times. :)

A Normal Girl's Guide to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

It's that time of year where you're flooded with Nordstrom sale picks, but this sale is such a favorite in our family that I had to share with y'all the things we ordered and had our eyes on. Since Ben and I were engaged and bought his wedding suit during the sale, we've shopped every year and stocked up on things that we use and love year round. It's also a great time to order some gifts, which is something I'll be doing. And lots of kids shoes, haha! :) It's only early access for cardholders right now. We have the debit card and I love earning rewards on it. If you want to wait, a bunch of stuff will probably sell out and I'll try and update this post as I notice that happening so you don't get annoyed to miss things, haha! :) 

Victoria's Picks: 

Sophie Charlotte: Two Months

2 Months as of 6/27/18

Beau's 2 month post!

Weight: 10lbs 8oz

Height: 22 1/2 inches

Recipes Lately

To be completely honest, I stopped really cooking for my entire pregnancy with Sophie. :) I love to cook so this is sad but I was so sick and beat down that it was just the one thing that had to go. I made meals and Ben made meals but nothing fancy. I actually think the simplicity of what we were eating probably helped me gain a little less baby weight with Sophie than I did with Beau, that or the fact that I was carrying a 27ish pound (Beau weighs more now!) human weight with me everywhere I went. Since Sophie was born I've tried several new recipes and they've all been major winners.. so I thought I would share them here!

Skinnytaste Zucchini Taco Boats- I used to really not like zucchini or any "squash like vegetables" but then I tried spaghetti squash, and after that just decided that I needed to power through. Now, I know there are some really yummy ways to make it.

Had to include this photo from when I most recently made this.. having a quiet relaxing meal with a child RIGHT THERE haha. 

Eat Yourself Skinny Sesame Chicken & Vegetables- The Strader family LOVES a good tray meal. This is what we ate almost daily during my pregnancy. But this one had a fun twist and it was soooo delicious! We just ate it on it's own but you could easily serve with rice or cauliflower rice.

Andrea's Pulled Pork- Ben has probably never loved something as much as this recipe, haha! I often throw chicken in the crock pot with barbecue sauce but after I made this Ben kept asking if this could replace it. It really was delicious. I made it yesterday and I'm actually about to make some quesadillas with the leftovers, YUM!

I shared this easy crisp recipe on my instagram and honestly would make it weekly if I could. I actually might try cutting out some more sugar in it. I remember now that theres a pretty healthy crisp recipe in Bread and Wine so maybe I'll try that. Warmed fruit is just sooooo good! Haha! 

My instagram friend Mycah always posts the most delicious paleo meals.. we loved these!!

What have y'all been cooking lately? I'm loving fun recipe recommendations.

Friday No. 81

No. 1 

This week was such an interesting one with the middle of the week holiday. I wish that the rest of the week things would have shut down too, but you can't have it all haha! We've been so busy lately so the rest of the week I tried to really focus on taking things slow with the babies. I love when I can have fun and intentional days filled with just spending time with them. Those days always result in me feeling so refreshed and having tons of photos of my two. 

No. 2

The last thing I need to be doing when needing to loose baby weight is making brownies, yet here we are. Haha!! There's got to be balance.. right? A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that I need to always be buying Ghirardelli brownie mix. I bought a box and made them to take to a dinner with some friends on Tuesday night, just easy! And they were SO much better than a normal mix. I've tried making brownies from scratch too and the mix is honestly better in my opinion, haha! Highly recommend adding a box to your grocery list! :) Small, not great photo for reference, ha!!! 

No. 3 

We had a great fourth with family and friends! My favorite detail each year is the t-shirts that my brother in law has made. There's always some kind of an authentic American scene with a family photos inserted in. We had the presence of Lady Liberty herself, aka Ben's Granny and it was a blast! Haha! :) 

No. 4

When we moved into this house I really struggled to find bath mats that I liked.. and in the past month I've replaced all of ours. For Beau and Sophie's bathroom I got this one, in the blue. I like that it can obviously hide a bit of dirt. I got this one for our master bathroom and I love it so much. Great, easy updates that arrived really quick! They're both on sale right now, too.

No. 5

I laughed so much at this video and just loved it. How is it that these odd trends were all over the country? This is exactly what people wore!! 

All of my Friday posts can be found here.

July Goals

Honestly my goals for the past few months have been as follows:

• Cuddle babies 
• Take photos of babies in matching outfits 

The end. :) Not really. Although I haven't blogged goals since Sophie was born, I don't feel like we've "snoozed" goals over the past two months. Two months. Dagger to my heart that she's two months old, but whatever. Haha! I have her two month update almost ready to go, I'm so glad to be able to record these details so I don't forget. I've loved looking back at Beau's old ones. 

Anyway, this is the first July since the first summer after we got married that we won't be taking at 16-17 day trip abroad. It makes me really sad but I realize that's not something at all that you can complain about, haha! We just miss our family in England and really look forward to Sophie's first trip to meet her great grandmother and cousins. I'm looking forward to sweet, slow summer days at home with my two babies, and lots of fun adventures with their daddy, too! We've been in a major season of transition even outside of Sophie's birth (more on that soon!) and each day that goes by things settle down more and more, for which I'm grateful. 

• Enjoy a sweet 4th of July, remembering our sweet first baby 
• Celebrate my niece's birthday + 4 years of being Aunt Vee! I love being a mama more than anything, but being an aunt is one of the most precious gifts of my life! 
• Spend lots of time in the water! Swimming, water table, etc. 
• Plan details for our trip to Boston + Nantucket in early September 
• get into a better rhythm for 
• order photos for Sophie's baby book and get up to date for hers, and complete Beau's 2 year baby book page, also write in a few memories for his
• actually write this blog! haha!! 

What do y'all have planned for July? :)