PinkBlush Maternity

Never have I ever needed to buy maternity clothes..

I'm one of "those" women. 

But chasing around preschoolers all day and being a mom of two very active little girls I realized that this time around maternity clothes are where it's at! as far as being comfortable and fashionable during pregnancy. 

So when Pinkblush Maternity contacted me about collaborating with them I was Thrilled! 

They have some of the most trendy maternity clothes! 

Here are my faves from their collection of stylish maternity clothing: 

This blue rose maternity top is so soft, flowy, & gorgeous that I never want to take it off. 

Anyone who knows me KNOWS that I love hoodies! And this floral hoodie is no exception! I have a feeling I will be wearing this often and even after baby boy comes. 

Feeling cute during pregnancy does not come easy for me. But this Floral maxi maternity dress makes me feel elegant and confident. :)

If you're pregnant and needing fashionable & comfortable maternity clothing head over to pinkblushmaternity.com
You wont be disappointed!

Xoxo

The last Andrus :)

We are having another baby!!! 

Our last baby. 

And we could not be anymore excited! 

It took a long time for us to get here.

There were heart breaks.

It was a bumpy road. 

But I believe that everything happens for a reason. 

I believe that we struggled because I needed to fight for this baby.

We as a family needed to fight for this baby. 

The girls needed to be ready & excited about having another little person come into our family.

Ben needed to be just as invested in having a baby as me. 

& I needed to be 100% ready to have a baby & to give myself time to get over how hard the newborn phase was with both of my kids so that I can be ready to have a baby with my husband. 

To not be alone for the first 6 months again. 

To not be stressed out about playing mom & dad to a new baby again. 

Because this time Ben will be home.

 

I won't be alone.

& I have two little girls already eager to help feed, change, dress, love, & bathe their new baby brother or sister. 

I get to be excited this time! 

(Not that my other two little loves weren't exciting but the amount of stress that came along with them both was overwhelming)

And this time I can & will take pictures of our baby bump. I don't care who it annoys.

I didn't the last two times because I was uncomfortable with my body, I was worried about being compared to other pregnant people around me (again), and I was worried about annoying others with posts/pictures of something that is insignificant to them but means everything to me and my family.

This time I don't care. 

I'm pregnant and ecstatic about it! 

& I don't care whether I am bigger or smaller than someone else. 

I am going to enjoy this last little miracle. 

 

"Sweetie"

Today while listening to my kids play house with their dolls I heard the way I speak to them in the way the mom dolls spoke to the kid dolls. 

Things like "sweetie, if you don't stop talking for two minutes mommies head is going to explode" 

And "honey, get off of that table before you fall a crack you're head open" 

And "sweetie, if you keep throwing your toys they will break, do you understand me?" 

to be honest I'm a little relieved. 

They see me as the mom who calls them sweetie or honey when I'm frustrated. Rather then the mom who screams a yells to get her point across. 

I was raised in a home where the louder dad/mom got the more trouble you were in. 

I knew I was in for it when I heard my dad shout "Kelcey Kae Fowlks, get your butt in here now!!!"that was the point in which I chose to hide most of the time. ;) 

Yelling was something we did often in our home growing up, we are a loud family. 

Ben's family... Not so much. 

So our first year of marriage was a struggle, I'd get mad and I'd yell. He would get mad and go silent. 

It took a while for him to learn to talk when he was hurt or upset and I took me even longer to learn not to yell when I was hurt or upset. 

We have spent a lot of time over the past 6 years talking about what we want our family to be like, what type of parents we want to be, what type of communication is acceptable in our home. 

We've both chosen the positive aspects of our upbringings and applied them in our parenting. 

I chose to make a change, I don't want to yell at my kids (I have my days where it happens, I am not perfect). 

I don't spank/get physical with my kids when I'm upset.

I don't want them make choices based on how afraid they are of me/ or my yelling.

 Kids make mistakes.

It's part of growing up. And I don't feel like screaming at my kids til I'm blue in the face or  a spanking or a smack will do any one any good. 

Children learn more from your example then they do from you're words. 

The way I react to a situation is how they will act in the future.

Do I want them to scream at others for their mistakes? No.

Do I want them to be physical/violent with someone because they are bigger/stronger? No. 

So I have to be the example. 

I have to be constantly aware of how I'm feeling and how im showing it. 

And today listening to them play was like getting a small reward for doing things the way I believe is best. :) 

Evelynnes doll was throwing a fit and Chloies mommy doll said "honey, I know you're not happy but if you tell me what's wrong instead of screaming I can help you fix the problem." 

That right there was confirmation that they actually listen to me while in middle of tempertantrum. 

Parenting win! :) 

The Forgotten Blog

I haven't posted anything to my blog in months! Honestly hadn't even thought about it until someone asked me if I had a blog.... 

It's so much easier to post a cute pic with a short caption to Instagram or Facebook, so I've neglected the blog. 

But for some reason Instagram and Facebook have become much less appealing lately. (Maybe I'm getting to old for it? Maybe I just have more important thing to worry about then what's going on on social media.. Dunno it's just less appealing)

So I'm reviving the old blog. :) 

Since I last posted (back in March) quite a bit has happened! 

Birthdays, anniversaries, family parties, remodeling, lots of projects, new job, separation anxiety, first sleepovers... Just a lot of little things. 

It's been a year with lots of ups and downs, lots of smiles and frowns, but I think as a family we've grown a lot. 

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I now spend three days a week playing with preschoolers. It's a blast. It's been a big change for my little family BUT a good change. Feeling like I contribute to our family financially makes things less stressful for me. And getting out of the house to do something more then grocery shop gives me a purpose (and pushes me to not wear sweats or workout clothes daily and to socialize with other adults, ha!). 

I know that being a mom is the most important thing I can do but it's also important to make sure I'm doing something that I enjoy so that I can be the kind of mom I want to be. :) 

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Chloie had her first sleep over at aunt Whitney's  house with her cousins (paisley, rylee, and hadlee). It was nerve wracking for me to leave her but I did it and I'm glad I did! I'm lucky to have such an awesome sister in law! (You should have seen the looks I got from some of my family members when I said I had never spent a night away from them... Hilarious. I'm a freak show I guess! )  

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Today Ben and I decided to clean out our closets and donate everything we don't wear... From my closet alone: 24 pairs of jeans, 40 shirts, 12 pairs of shoes, 2 jackets, 4 dresses, 7 swimsuits, and 6 belts later my closet is pretty much empty... It was such a relief getting rid of all those clothes though. Felt like a fresh start!  I recommend it! ;)

There is something about starting fresh that I love.

 A new coat of paint gives a room a whole new feel. 

A new piece of furniture or decor adds something special to a space.

 A new hair color changes the way you feel about yourself. 

Freshly cut grass & Freshly bathed babies smell like heaven. 

A new workout pushes you to be better.

New recipes/ food inspire new ideas.

New friends push you out of your comfort zone. 

New places and new experiences are exhilarating. 

Start fresh this week.

 Try something new, get out of your comfort zone! 

Love the life you're living and try to care less about what others think! 

-That's my goal!-

Perspective

Today I was a referee, a shaufer, a maid, a cook, a search engine (I'll explain later), a doctor, a cheerleader, and an entertainer. 

I'm a mom. 

I spend my days dealing with the horrors of potty training (poop covered everything), making snacks every hour (my kids are grazers), sending screaming-yelling-hitting-pinching-hair pulling little girls to their separate corners, answering a million questions (and when I don't know the answer I'm told to find it= human search engine), I fix all the owies, I cheer for all the little successes, and I dance around my house like a psycho just to make little people giggle. 

-- 

Some days are quiet. Some days are LOUD!! 

Some days Donatello and princess Ana run my house and other days it's rupunzle and Arora. 

Some days are a whirl wind of chaos and tantrums. Some days are calm and snugly. 

Some days I feel alone. Isolated. 

Some days I feel overwhelmed and surrounded. Deperately in need of being alone. 

Some days my house is clean.... That's a lie, my house is always clean... Underneath all the toys and dress ups and sticky fingerprints... My house is clean.... 

But today.... Today was something more than all of those "some days". 

Today I was a mom. 

Today I was loved. 

Today I was kissed and hugged. 

Today I was needed. 

Today I was able to do everything. 

Today was messy. 

really messy. 

There were still tantrums and less then perfect behavior (from my kids and from me). 

Today I chose to appreciate all the imperfections. The poop painted bathroom was a learning experience for both child and mom. 

The tenth snack of the day meant we had enough food in our pantry. 

The ninja turtles and princess that rule our home mean my children have imaginations. 

The fights over toys give me an opportunity to teach them to share/take turns. 

It's all about perspective. 

I am dang lucky to be a mom. 

And I refuse to let this blessing become a burden. 

Chloie

Chloie has become quite the chatter box as of late. And has bee spouting the most random things. 

Some e of my favorite things she says have been: 

"I haven't seen this in TWENTY years!!!" - while cleaning her room. 

"I'm six years old, mom! I'm not a child" - whenever I ask her to do something. 

"I don't know how to make bodies! My mom made us" referring to building a Lego robot. 

"You're the most beautiful, and beautifullest, beautifuller mommy ever" when I tell her she's beautiful. :) 

She is the funniest little girl. 

I really enjoy being with her all day everyday and being able to watch her become a "person".  

Be the good

Being a mommy is hard work. 

Whether you are a working mom or a stay-at-home mom. (I've done both)

IT IS DIFFICULT. 

And to be a mom now days is especially hard. 

Because we make it hard on eachother. 

Maybe it's just my size and my youthful appearance, but I get A TON of unsolicited "advice". 

Anyone else experience this? 

I generally have at least three kids with me everywhere I go and (almost) without fail someone stops me to offer a word of advice. Or to tell me I'm tooyoung to have Sooo many kids. Or my personal favorite the "your child wouldn't behave that way if you didn't/weren't (insert something condescending here)"

It's a wonderfully opinionated world we live it, isn't it?

I even had a man refuse to open a door for me while I was holding my 40lb special needs neice, dragging my (kicking and screaming) two year old, and pleading with my three year old to keep up. After which he said "if you put the big one down and let her walk your life might be easier" to which I replied "if she could walk on her own I wouldn't being carrying her". 

So, why is it that when we see someone struggling we offer up judgment instead of a helping hand?

Do we honestly think we know more/better than everyone else?

What I am getting at here is  next time you see someone in need (whether they're struggling with an ornery child or just have their hands full) offer up a helping hand, or a KIND word. 

Be the good in someone's day. 

Put yourself in someone else's situation and treat them how you would want to be treated.