// Brotherly Love

Toby's behavior toward Linden when he was still just a big ol' belly that I toted around should have given me an idea of what to expect once he arrived, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for just how sweet and doting Toby has been to his little brother. 

When I was pregnant Toby would constantly talk to my belly, calling his little brother by name. He'd tell Linden that he loved him, and he told him "goodnight" and "sweet dreams" every single time I tucked him in. He also always made sure to tell him to "have a good day" when he left for school. If the thought slipped past him before getting put down for the night, Toby would stride down the hall with his stuffed kangaroo in hand just to say "I forgot to tell Linden goodnight"

I know I'm just a big mess of emotions but seriously, Toby's sweetness just made (and makes!) me cry. When he came to the hospital to see his baby brother for the first time I thought I might just keel over dead. The way he softly patted his head, kissed his noggin and nuzzled his cheeks... ah! It was enough to make a grown man tear up. This picture will forever be one of my all time favorites, I just know it. (It's actually already printed onto my phone case!) 

Toby is excited about what he'll get to teach Linden when he's big enough. A few things he has in mind: "How to play baseball, how to cross the street and look both ways, and how to find seashells at the beach" I feel super lucky that Toby loves Linden so much already, and I hope it lasts. I know there will be bickering and fighting in due time, but right now I just love watching Toby fawn over him. Life is sweet!

// Summer Bucket List: Adventures with Toby

I love the idea of Summer bucket lists… or any kind of bucket list I guess. I just like lists, really. To do lists, grocery lists, you name it. But even better is when they’re adventure lists. Fun things I want to do with someone I love. At the beginning of last week I had tweeted that I was hoping to make a Summer bucket list for me and Toby to try and do before the baby comes next month (!!!). Nothing fancy or elaborate, but little dates that we could share together. Part of my 26 Before 27 goal list this year was to go on at least one Mom + Toby date each month, and this is sort of an extension of that. I know we’ll be stuck at the house a lot more once this baby comes and I don’t want him to get too bored or discouraged. He’s almost six years old (what!) and he needs to have the opportunity to behave like one, right?

(♥)

A few people suggested some really great ideas and I slowly built my own little list of things I want to do with Toby. Again, the list isn’t overwhelming or too lofty since being 8.5 months pregnant means I move at a much slower pace than a 5 year old, but I think it’ll suit us just fine. Here’s what we came up with:

1. Park dates!

I try to take Toby to the local park regularly just so he can stretch his legs, climb on all sorts of contraptions, and socialize with kids his age despite it being Summer. Even though I can’t hang on the monkey bars with him, it gives us both a chance to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

2. Froyo!

Toby loves him some frozen yogurt and he thinks it’s such a treat when we go because he gets to get his own cup, choose his own flavors, and pull the little yogurt levels to fill up his bowl. That kid can put away the stuff fast, too!

3. Mid-day pool parties!

Once this yucky, wet weather clears out, I’m hoping we can make it a priority to pop over to my parents’ pool for part of the day, at least a few times a week. I could use the sunshine (and weightless feeling!) and Toby could use the energy-draining ha! He’s always so tuckered out from the fun and sun when we get home that he takes a nap, so that’ll allow me the opportunity to have some uninterrupted work time. Win/win! (Unless I take a nap, too…)

(♥)

4. Pick wildflowers!

Toby loves to pick flowers for the ladies in his life. He’s constantly bringing them to me (as seen here), my mom, nana, and Grammie Terri. I thought it’d be a fun little adventure to hop in the car, head out into the countryside and find as many lovely wildflowers as we can. I’m a sucker for my weekly bouquet of flowers, but who can say no to fresh flowers that are free?!

5. Bake something!

Another thing Toby loves to do is help in the kitchen. He’s fascinated by the Kitchenaid mixer and he’s a pretty good taste tester. Plus enjoying the fruits of your labor is kind of awesome.

6. Berry picking!

>This one will be a little bit harder to do since we don’t really have any nearby berry farms. I could cheat and say “Oh we do this all the time in my mom’s strawberry patch!” but I want to take him somewhere more established. He devours blueberries, raspberries and blackberries like they’re candy, so I know he’d love it!

(♥)

7. Make popsicles!

The perfect excuse for a sweet, frozen treat this Summer! I’ve been collecting a few recipe ideas for us to try out, so if they turn out well, I’ll be sure to share them on here, too!

8. Disposable camera adventures!

This is one of my favorite things to do with Toby! Since Mike and I are film photography lovers, we want to share that same magic with Toby. Of course we can’t just give him our Nikon film bodies and let him shoot (1 - because they’re heavy! and 2 - each roll of film costs about $50-$60 to develop!) Luckily he can snap away on a little $4 disposable and sort of get the same effect… at least for now. We want him to experience the thrill of not knowing what’s on the roll, and the excitement of seeing the processed film for the first time. We’d like to think it’ll teach him not to be so concerned with instant gratification, but he is only five and we maybe idealize it a bit! haha

9. Morning “coffee” date!

When Mike and I would regularly drink our coffee on the front porch each morning, Toby begged to have “coffee” so he could join us. We’d let him choose his daily coffee mug and we’d fill it up with chocolate milk, then sit on the porch and enjoy the crisp morning air. I think that’s the perfect way to start the day and since it’s just me and Toby here in the mornings, I want to share that little tradition with him again.

10. Cook dinner for Dad!

Since Mike works so hard at school every day, I think it’d be nice if Toby and I treated him to a yummy, home cooked meal one evening. I’m no Monica in the kitchen but I think we could whip up something that is at least edible… ha! We’re aiming high here, people!

(♥)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Who’s to say that all of these will get accomplished, or that we won’t nix some and replace them with something even better? Who knows! But I want to bottle up this short time that we have left as a family of three and make as many memories as possible. I know things will be amazing when there are four of us, but Toby will only be 5 for a couple more months… He’s growing up so fast! I want him to be able to look back and see just how much fun we had when he was little.

If you have any fun suggestions to add to our list, I’m all ears! I know I’ll think of things as the days progress but I’ll never turn down some help! I’ll try to remember to document a little bit of each adventure to share here, but let’s be real - it’s usually easier to just live in the moment, right?

// End of the Year + DIY Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Yesterday was Toby's last day in pre-K. What?! I remember his very first day like it just happened... in his khaki shorts and his plaid shirt, toting that shark backpack like a boss. It's so crazy to think that was just 9 months ago, but now he's this little man, ya know? I'm so so glad we put him in the program because it has made a world of difference in his demeanor. From how he interacts with people to the knowledge he's gained.... he's a totally different kid. I'm sure that's just the nature of the beast, with kids growing up at what feels like a rapid rate, but I know going to school a year early has impacted him for the better. Toby had two amazing teachers this year and I've grown to adore them so much. Their kindness and consideration for him and their other students knows no bounds. We wanted to do a little something special for them to say thanks, so last night Toby and I painted these terra cotta pots to give to them before his final program today.

I seriously have tears in my eyes writing this... and part of me isn't 100% sure if it's because I'm so floored at how quickly he's growing up, or because he will officially be home 24/7 starting at 11am today haha! Kidding! (Kind of...) The balancing act of being pregnant, a work at home mom, and having a full-time 5 year old at home is about to begin! (I'm terrified!) But really, I've also just been incredibly hormonal so the occasional crying sesh on the way to school may or may not have happened... He's going to be in kindergarten in just a few months! What in the world?! Ah, anyway, enough of that. It's probably only shocking to me haha

I had seen some similar DIY teacher gifts on Pinterest at the beginning of the year, but I never really found who did it first. There's not really anything to it, as I'm sure you can tell. You just take a terra cotta pot, some paint, and then you do that! Haha I didn't photograph the steps because there's seriously no point. I just used whatever I had on hand. The top is acrylic paint and the bottom is chalkboard. Then I used Sharpies for the ruler portion (because no one in our town sells paint pens?!) and acrylic paint for the letters. I let Toby write his name on the back of the pots and I just went over it to make it a bit thicker and uniform. We chose to add in some marigolds since the school colors are black and gold. He handed them to his teachers when he went into school this morning and he looked so handsome in his little oxford shirt and cords. 

Today he has his final program at 10am and I'm counting down the minutes. He's been practicing his singing in the car lately and apparently one of the songs is a rap... and it's hilarious. They even beat box! Mike can't be there since he has such a strict school schedule, but I'll definitely be recording it on my phone so he can experience it, too.

Now I need to scramble to find Toby 2.5 months worth of activities to do so I can be productive while he's home every day! Wish me luck! xo

// Dressing Little Boys (+Toby's Outfit of the Day!)

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a storage box full of dainty little vintage dresses for a future daughter. Ever since I was younger I envisioned what it would be like to have a little girl of my own. I think it has a lot to do with idealizing my relationship with my mom since it was just me and her growing up. She instilled a lot of really important things in me over the years and I've always hoped to pass that on to a daughter at some point. Plus shopping with your daughter just sounds fun, right? I would "ooh" and "ahh" over dresses and tutus when I went shopping, but never really paid much mind to what was available for little boys. I'm 110% stoked to be the mom of two little dudes (!!!), don't get me wrong. But before Toby came along, I was oblivious to the style choices out there for fellas. Most little boys sections in the store are covered in Superman and Cars tees, and while there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, it just never made me excited about dressing a kid. 

When we first got custody of Toby, we seriously had to start from the ground up. He came with the (inappropriately sized, very worn) shirt on his back and that was about it. Since we had all of about 2 days notice that we'd be bringing him home, we were not even remotely prepared. We knew we wanted to give him a wardrobe that could function both as play and dress clothes, but we weren't in any position to shell out mad cash for it. We started small and over the past 2.5 years we've built a nice little collection of items that he's excited to wear. (Of course in the past month he has had a growth spurt and totally outgrown almost everything, but I guess that's to be expected! haha We had to cut several pairs of his skinny jeans into cuffed shorts just this week!) 

I think it must be because of how Mike has dressed the past few years, but Toby doesn't blink twice at most graphic tees or character clothes. When he sees something in the store that he wants it's almost always an oxford button-up or a polo of some kind. He really tries to emulate Mike's style and it's one of the most precious things in the world. (See this photo for a recent example!) Because of his affinity for Dad's aesthetic, I've found myself falling in love with little boys' clothing. The boat shoes! The cuffed jeans! The bow ties! (Seriously, the bow ties! Toby begs to wear one to school every day and his teachers just die over them haha)

As shallow and materialistic as it sounds, I love shopping for Toby because I love that he loves clothes. It's something that we get to do and enjoy together. He dresses himself each morning and my heart melts into a puddle when he asks for help buttoning the top collar for his bow ties. Being able to watch his style progress through the years has totally done away with my "outfit envy" in the department stores. While I would love to have a daughter one day down the road, I love that I get to wake up each morning and witness such a stylish young man pick out his daily outfit. Toby loves clothes as much as any girl ever would so I'm not missing out on anything at all. When we go to photograph my outfits for the blog, he always politely asks if we'll snap some photos of his outfit, too. (I should really share more of those sometime... He's a total ham for the camera!) The part that really gets me? When he says that he's going to teach his baby brother how to wear bow ties! (Y'all! Come on! Just thinking about that makes me tear up.)

Of course as much as I love the oxfords and boat shoes and whatever else, we have to be very mindful of how much we spend on these items. Have you ever been around a 5 year old?! Most of his tees don't last a week and his shoes are black and scuffed after the first jaunt on the playground (Don't even ask how much playground mulch we've accumulated in our house thanks to what he brings home in his shoes...) Such is the destruction of a little boy! Haha 90% of Toby's wardrobe has come from Old Navy over the past 2 years because it's practical, functional, and affordable (The Back to School sales are unreal!) When he comes home from school with a pesky dirt or juice stain that won't budge, the shirt gets washed and tossed into a "play clothes" drawer and then that's what he wears to roll around in the grass outside. It's a constant and steady rotation of "school-to-play" in our house. 

I'm excited to see how Toby's style progresses over the years. Part of me wonders if he'll always be the button-up wearin' kind of boy, or if he'll fall more in line with what the rest of his friends normally wear. I think a lot of people are sometimes surprised to hear that Toby dresses himself in bow ties and boat shoes rather than us forcing them on him, but we said from the very beginning that it was important to us to let him determine his own style and identity. Of course I'm totally stoked that he likes what he likes (for now at least), but I'm also excited that I'll get to pick Baby Flynn's clothes at least for a few years haha!

And just a heads up for those of you mamas and papas out there, Old Navy is kicking off a Kids & Baby Sale this weekend, May 10th, at their flagship store in NYC. There will be a boatload of goodies for $10 and under, and the theme is a Kids Carnival! Obviously Nashville is a bit far for us to be in attendance, but hopefully some of y'all can swing by and take part in the festivities. There will be face-painting, carnival games, etc. A fun time for everyone! If you're like me and can't make it for the carnival party, you can still take advantage of some major steals online this weekend. Seeing as Toby's clothes are all about 2 inches too short, I'll be stalking the site for sure.

Toby's outfit: Old Navy oxford, skinny jeans and sneakers. Handmade (by Mike!) bowtie

This post was in partnership with Old Navy. All opinions and words are my own. All the items in the above collage can be purchased at OldNavy.com! (Many of them are currently on sale, too!) Thanks for allowing me to share select sponsored content on TCGG.

// Happy Gotcha Day, Toby!

It's been two years since Toby came to live with us full-time, and in many ways that's so hard to believe. Two years! Part of me feels like it was just yesterday and it still feels so new, but the other part of me feels like he's been with us for decades haha I guess that's what it's like when you're parents to a 5 year old! 

We celebrated yesterday with a custom TMNT cake and Turtle Tracks ice cream. We spent most of the morning out teaching Toby how to ride his new bike, and then capped off the evening by playing with his new styrofoam airplane. It only got stuck on top of the house a few times haha It was a very, very good day.

When I think about the circumstances surrounding our custody situation I often feel like maybe it's "wrong" or "weird" to celebrate such a day, but then I remember that we're all in a better place because he's here. We gave Toby a safe, loving environment to grow and flourish, and he gave us stability and the foundation of a home. We all came out on top.

I'm so grateful we were able to bring him into our home and show him what unconditional love truly feels like. I can't even begin to explain how much I feel I have grown in these past two years. And Toby! He's such a blossoming little dude now. He's full of so much personality and excitement. He couldn't be more different than the Friday we brought him home with us. I've also been able to watch Mike melt into this puddle each and every time Toby is around. He'll sneak a kiss on the top of his head when he walks by, or give him a hug "just because."

We'll always celebrate birthdays and things like that, but I'm especially fond of Toby's "Gotcha Day" because that's when the three of us became a family. I feel blessed each and every day when he wakes up and calls for "Mom" or when he asks me to read him a bedtime story each night. He's going to be the very best big brother, just like he's the very best son. 

Happy Gotcha Day, Toby! We love you more than words can say!

PS; Here's the post about bringing him home, and here's his first Gotcha Day!

// Minnie

Happy Monday, friends! Today I'm off to Las Vegas for another round of WWDMAGIC! (I couldn't be there without your support so please know how incredibly grateful I am!) Yesterday we had such a gorgeous day! It kicked my Spring Fever into serious overdrive. Sunshine, bare legs, and an incredibly blue sky. It sure beats the frozen rain we got for the entire week leading up to it. I took advantage of the sunshine and popped out of the house in a new polka dot dress. I scored this little number from ModCloth recently and I instantly knew I had to pair it with my yellow flats. Everything about it screamed Minnie Mouse to me! I opted to tone down the loud colors with a new, black nautical cardigan from Voodoo Vixen. I'm obsessed with how comfortable this cardigan is. It's solid black right now, only because I made sure not to sit on any of our furniture wearing it haha! Ugh, life with short hair dogs! (Speaking of which, any of y'all have any recommendations on really, really good lint rollers or snazzy methods for getting rid of pesky pet hair?!? Nothing stands up to bulldog hair it seems) Anyway, I love this dress! It's a little short on the backside, but the color and fit are otherwise perfect. The bright white collar is definitely one of my favorite features. Plus the piping on the little pockets!

Last week was such a blur for me. Everyone in the house battled an icky stomach bug, Toby was out of school for 2 or 3 days thanks to "snow" (ha!), and we spent Friday at a Pre-K Cake Walk where Toby hit the jackpot! He won six times! After #4 we were like "Okay, this is just ridiculous" and we asked Toby if it'd be okay if we gave his extra winnings to his friends instead. At the end of the day he still came home with 3 boxes of Little Debbie cakes (Swiss Rolls for him because "they're [his] favorite". Oatmeal Cream Pies "for Dad because they're his favorite". Strawberry Rollups because "they look yummy") and a big box of V-Day chocolates "for Mom." That kid! Not to mention the big box of candy, treats, and Valentines his classmates gave him. Tobes was on cloud nine basically haha 

On the topic of Valentine's Day, did y'all have a good one?! I woke up to a dozen peach roses, the most comfortable maternity shirts, a hilarious pregnancy book, and plenty of candy. Not to mention a handmade card from my mister! Mike totally spoiled me and I was over the moon! I returned the love with new snazzy pajamas, some Forage bowties (no other brand compares!), a silly lovey-dovey book, and a handmade pineapple card (I mean, a fineapple!) Toby racked up with some SpiderMan gummies, a Lego digger, and new Matchbox cars. I know it's not about what you receive, but it was such a special treat for each of us. After we put Toby to bed on Friday night we enjoyed a few episodes of House of Cards season 2. Have y'all watched it yet?! Dude! (Please don't share any spoilers for others!) I'm so stoked on this season. That's one amazing show.

I'm looking forward to a full work week in Las Vegas! I can't wait to reconnect with some of my favorite brands from last season, and meet plenty more. If all goes according to plan I'll be interviewing Kristin Cavallari tomorrow, too! (Let me know if you have any [non personal] questions you'd like me to kick her way!) If you're in Vegas (or have experience there) let me know if there are any places I should check out! I'm almost 17 weeks pregnant so I don't exactly have any business in the ~*clubs haha! (Though I definitely plan on popping into Beacher's Madhouse on Wednesday night with the rest of the group! Even if just for an hour. How can you pass that up?!) 

Also - that last diptych! How cute is that kid?!?! Gosh I just love him! He's kindly requested that we cut his hair before t-ball season starts so those precious strawberry blonde locks will be long gone here soon. Anyway, have a lovely day! xo

Retrolicious dress c/o ModCloth

Frances cardigan c/o Voodoo Vixen

SheInside flats

Toby's outfit:

Old Navy tee

Old Navy sweater

Old Navy jeans

// Toby's Letter To Santa (Oh my stars!)

sometimes your kid says things that you just want to cherish forever. this is totally one of those times. you can bet i'll be cutting that one out of the newspaper and putting it in his box!

and yes, that very last line *does* say "so i can make the rules"... ha!

// DIY Advent Calendar + Activity Ideas (Perfect for Kids!)

When it comes to holiday traditions, I really wanted to try and set some in place for Toby as he grows older. I don't want to dictate what will or will not become a tradition, because that's a little weird (right? Just me?), but I'm hoping this one will stick. Who knows if it'll even be successful! Despite the fact that we're not a religious family, I wanted to do an advent calendar of sorts for Toby so he could experience the magic that is the holiday season. I wasn't sure how to balance the little treats and learning actual lessons, so we opted to do an activities-based calendar. Each day in December Toby will unwrap one of the little "treats" and there will also be a piece of paper with an activity on it. The treats are just meant to be little rewards for awesome behavior (and if we're being totally honest, something to tide him over until Christmas is actually here. Have you ever tried explaining time/dates to a 4 year old?!). The activities are meant to promote kindness, selflessness, and family memories. We have everything from "donate toys" to "ride around to look at christmas lights in our pjs". It's something he'll get to look forward to each day and I'm excited to play a part.

For our calendar we opted to use both wrapping paper and canvas tied up in twine to wrap his treats. I was super inspired by this pin and wanted to do something similar. I nabbed this perfect wrapping paper from Target because I loved that it wasn't holiday-specific. We grabbed a bunch of little trinkets, candy and art projects from the Target "Dollar Spot" bins, as well as a few toys from the Dollar Tree. We don't go crazy at Christmas in our house because 1) 4 year olds have a non-existent attention span and 2) we don't want Toby to grow up spoiled or unaware of his privilege. Toby, like a lot of children, tends to get more play out of smaller items than he does a big ol' roarin', chuggin', loud gadget. (Seriously... this is the kid who carried around the bottom half of Mike's phone case for weeks pretending it was some sort of Samurizer or something.) We thought this was the perfect way to ease into Christmas and treat him for all of December, all the while going easy under the tree. Everything we included in his advent would be suitable for a child's stocking. We spent less than $30 on the whole advent calendar! Of course some of the activities will require extra purchases (movie tickets, etc), but you're able to pick and choose as you please if you decide to set one up for your kiddos! 

It's hard to believe Sunday will already be the 1st of December... and since this is so last minute, I'm sharing our Advent Activities with you in case you want to whip up your own version before the end of the weekend! Here are the activities we laid out for Toby:

• Make popcorn garland for the Christmas tree
• Go through our toys and donate to a local food bank
• Make DIY ornaments (Dollar Tree has a great faux stained glass set for kids! $1)
• Make gifts for Toby's pre-K teachers
• Attend the local Christmas parade
• Send Santa a letter
• Make hot cocoa
• Visit Santa
• Invite family over for dinner/cake (Toby's birthday!)
• Make a gift for dad (with help from Mom)
• Make our own holiday cards (Target has a DIY card kit for kids for $1)
• Make little favors for Toby's class party
• Watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (Toby's favorite movie)
• Make a 2013 ornament (I'll share that on the blog!)
• Go see a holiday movie in theaters (Frozen!)
• Make/Paint/Create gifts for others (grandparents, especially)
• Make homemade dog treats for Pip + Georgia (+ the cats, too)
• Bake cookies to give to family and friends
• Make a gift for mom (with help from Dad)
• Wrap presents to put under the tree (gifts for grandparents/aunts/etc)
• Do at least one random act of kindness (but shoot for 5!)
• Make a gingerbread house (we put this on a card with a clue for Toby to find the hidden kit)
• Hop in the car in our PJs and go look at Christmas lights together
• Bake Santa a fresh batch of cookies (and put out carrots for the reindeer!)
• Give/receive gifts with a grateful heart

Overall I am so excited for December! I know it'll be a lot of work to get all of these done, and there may be some days where we have to move things around or adjust to life's plans, but I can't wait. Toby told us in a very matter-of-fact tone the other night that he knew Santa wasn't real... his 7 year old cousin told him that guys just put on costumes and pretended. He wasn't upset, but my heart broke into a million pieces. I want so badly for him to believe. I want the magic of Christmas to stay alive for a few more years... so we've got some plans in the works. We'll make a believer out of him! Even if he chooses to remain skeptical, I know he'll truly love the advent calendar and all of the fun activities we have planned together.

Do you do anything like this with your kids? I'd love to hear how it's worked for you in the past! If you have any great activities or charitable suggestions to add to next year's list, that'd be great! I can't wait until he's old enough to volunteer somewhere (and actually be of service).

// A Halfway Homemade Halloween

Halloween with a 4 year old is pretty intense. Last year was super laid back and we spent a few hours trick or treating, but this year was pretty bonkers. Toby had a Halloween party in his Pre-K class yesterday and we had to bring/make something for him to share with the class. Of course we took the required bag of candy, but I was feeling extra festive so we nabbed some Halloween-appropriate plates/napkins/etc for the party. Then I also decided to make cake pops. Okay, so I know cake pops are "so 2008" but eyeball and pumpkin cake pops for a party?! That'd be so fun! Naturally like most other kitchen endeavors, I severely overestimated my skill and ability haha! We made cake pops for the holidays 2 years ago and we swore we'd never make them again. The chocolate dipping is bane of my existence and I'm not even going to admit how many batches we ruined (and are currently trying to melt out of our nice pans). They weren't perfect, but surely they'd do... then I had to walk with them to his class in the rain... because the gel never set. So they were totally smeared and gross looking by the time we got to his classroom... but luckily the kids still ate them. They were red velvet and cream cheese pops... and they were delicious. Hopefully the 4 year olds didn't judge me too harshly... yikes!

After his party was over we started to venture home. I realized that we had yet to find Toby the perfect TMNT costume. (He wanted to be a Ninja Turtle, but then saw a Power Ranger costume and decided to get that. Then my parents surprised him with a big ol' TMNT shell + sword so then he changed his mind again... Naturally. haha) All of the costumes we could find were far too big. In a last ditch effort to make something appropriate, we headed over to Walmart. We picked up a little green long sleeve shirt and a yellow polo that was on clearance. I had no clue how I'd do it, but we went home and I started cutting. Luckily what we ended up with was actually kind of perfect. Toby already had a bright green! pair of jeans from H&M, so all I needed to do was fashion the front of the shirt. Toby had a TMNT mask but it was too big for his face, so I just whipped up a little two-ply red one and attached it to an elastic headband. I also made a little belt out of felt to put on the shirt, too. I made sure to cut up the sides of the shirt so I could sew everything easily, and so I could also take it in a few inches so it'd fit. In the end it worked out perfectly! The shirt was the perfect length, but also a nice, slim fit. And he was in heaven. The weather was so bad last night. We had a tornado watch for most of the evening. Luckily there was a break in the rain long enough for us to take him to about ~a dozen houses or so. We promised him we'd take him to the next town over tonight since they moved their Halloween to Friday. 

Ever since Toby came along I feel this insane desire to be some kind of "super mom." That sounds like a load of crap when I think about how I fail so often, but it's true. I think it's easy to beat yourself up over what you should/could/would have done in every instance of every day, and a lot of times I do just that. It's hard to feel like you're "enough" when you feel like your child deserves the world. I don't know, maybe that's silly. I see these opportunities to do something amazing for Toby and I want to take them all. And then they often fall a little flat or don't quite turn out the way I had hoped. I know that doesn't make me a bad mom (duh!), but sometimes I wish I could just knock one out of the park, ya know? Luckily I have his whole life, right? haha I know that at the end of the day it'll be more about the memories we made than the perfect execution of the cake pops when he was 4 years old. But gosh darnit I just want to make the perfect cake pops, okay! - To be honest, I've wanted to DIY his Halloween costume all along, but felt intimidated by the store bought ones he was always asking for. I'd love to whip up fun DIY costumes for all of us, each year, but I also never wanted to force that on Toby, if that makes sense. While it may have only be an $8, 1 hour DIY job, I'm pretty tickled with the result and knowing that he is too totally makes my heart swell. I guess that was a pretty good compromise, right? And at least he can totally wear his TMNT shirt with regular jeans and feel awesome the whole day. 

With all of that being said, I'm excited to see how our future Halloweens pan out. Maybe we'll make it a family tradition to DIY our costumes each year (or at least go the "halfway homemade" route). Maybe we'll get better at not procrastinating. Maybe we'll just be a disorganized mess each and every year.... Whatever the case may be, I'm glad I get to spend these messy, disorganized days with my two favorite fellas. Today I'm going to pour me a cup of coffee (or three) and enjoy the view from our front porch. Isn't it nice? I'm heartbroken that all of those gorgeous yellow leaves will be on the ground in less than a week. Autumn, I wish you'd stick around a little bit longer. xo

PS; Truth bomb - When I first started sewing Toby's t-shirt, I totally sewed the front and back together. Yeah... I did that. We can't all be winners, right?!

// Pumpkin Patch Adventures

Friday morning our little family bundled up and headed over to a pumpkin patch a few counties away. Toby's entire Pre-K class was there (maybe the entire grade? At least several classes!) and you couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! It was super chilly at first, but the sky was totally clear and so blue! Toby climbed hay bales, slid down slides, picked out his very own pumpkin, ate popcorn, and chased a little girl around. It seems like our little dude has his very first crush... a little girl in his class. He spent most of the day trying to sit beside her on the hayride, and trying to ask her to take a picture with him. Finally I helped him out a little and talked to her dad. Toby just clammed up like in the picture below haha. They were both so precious and shy! I can't believe he already has a crush on a girl and he's only 4.... Heaven help us all! 

We spent a few hours chasing Toby around the pumpkin patch. We weaved our way through a corn maze, and spent some time petting pigs and goats, too. Toby rode on a little lawnmower-pulled train with a friend and we made small talk with some parents. Afterward we headed to the next town over to run some errands and buy some birthday presents. Overall I'd say it was a pretty successful day! Now we just have to turn that little pumpkin up there into Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Ha! Wish us luck! Happy Monday!

Toby's wearing:
Target sweater
Levi's jacket
Old Navy corduroys
Handmade hat from Allison
Old Navy shoes

PS; Sorry for all of the blurry faces! I really wanted to include some of the photos with Toby and his friends, but didn't want to overstep any boundaries! I know the class photo is a bit silly since all but Toby's face is blurred, but look how cute they all are!