Did we Step Out?

Oh yes we did. And we sure had a wonderful time.

On Saturday, the kiddo and I hit up a fabulous Christmas party. A volunteer worker at our office treated us to a homemade Italian dinner. When I say "homemade," I don't mean my type of "homemade."

You know, Ragu Spaghetti Sauce with mushrooms ::check::
Angel hair pasta ::check::
Loaf of Italian bread ::check::


However, I do add an extra can of Italian diced tomatoes, because we like our sauce chunky (that sounds so weird in every possible way). Does that count for anything?

Nope. I mean, homemade to the bare basics!  They made the noodles themselves! And, homemade bread! To.Die.For. (Ok, so I understand. Technically, for it to be entirely homemade, they would probably need to have grown the wheat, milked the cow for the cheese, mashed the tomatoes, and all that other jazz. But, seriously, making the noodles is more than I can even think about doing.)

Anywho, no pic, because the only pics I can take of me with the kiddo are those middle-school-hold-out-your-cell-phone-style. And that just isn't cutting it anymore.  I have a super nice camera, and it is only fair that I use it.

Besides, Ansley wore the same dress she wore to last week's party. Different party + different people = same dress. When you paid as much as I did for a dress, you got to squeeze it for all it is worth.  In fact, I normally don't let the kid feed herself if she is wearing it.  I'm a little OCD.

The hubs laughs at me because Ansley has SO many clothes, yet I seem to dress her in the same stuff.  I wore my knee-high boots, which I ADORE, but are a few years old and may be on their last leg, er... heel. I toped it off with a dark wash demin skirt that I scored at Goody's before they busted, a red simple t-shirt from American Eagle and a white pull-over sweater. Festive, no?

So, here's the thing. We're going out of town in a few days, and I'll be sure to get some pics. At least of the kiddo. And, maybe I'll store up for my SOS posts.

Is that even fair?

We stepped out. Twice!

I hate pictures of myself. Have I said that enough? But, oh wells. Here goes.

Ansley:
Sweater dress from Baby Gap
red tights from Old Navy
Black shoes, thrifted

Here's a better look at her dress



I love this dress!

On the Momma:
Cardigan, Old Navy
Three-quarter boat neck top, Um, yeah, Old Navy

Saturday Ansley and I took a trip to the in-laws for a baby shower. It meant 4-hours round trip, but it was worth it. Ansley seemed to have fun with her cousins.  She doesn't get a lot of time with kiddos around her age, so it was pretty cool to see her interacting with other kids.

We also enjoyed a day out on Sunday:



Ansley
Heart-print corduroy dress, Old Navy Brand, thrifted
pink tights, Target

Momma
Scarf, ages old (I'm talking, high school old)
Sweater, Aeropostale
Tank, JC Penny
Jeans, Aeropostale

Sunday was actually a pretty lazy day, but I opted for a picture cause we've missed a few SOS posts.

And, honestly? I'm running low on inspiration as of late. Maybe it's the holidays, and all the hustle that comes with it. Who knows.

Happy Monday!

Stepping out, pouring out, and throwing in

I am so bad, ya'll.

But, honestly, I feel like I'm a zombie walking through my days. Ansley has pretty much given up on sleeping through the night. And, truthfully, I'm too tired to care, which is visibly obvious.

1. I have circles under my eyes. The kind that can't be covered with make-up

2. My house is a wreck. Because when I finally do get the kiddo to bed, I put myself there to try and score a few minutes before she decides two hours is enough sleep for the night.

3. I have PILES of laundry, not only to wash, but to fold.

4. I'm battling a nasty headache, which happens to be the result of the kiddo sleeping in my bed last night since the hubs had to work 3rd shift as well.

5. We haven't been to church in 3 or 4 Sundays.

6. I have on black with brown today.  Unreal.

See! I'm to tired to care about fashion rules.  This is just unacceptable.

Sometime between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday morning, while rocking Ansley, and bawling my eyes out, I must add, I said something that scared me.  I thought to myself You know what?  Maybe we should be done with this whole kid thing. I mean, we've tried it, we've had some good times, and some bad times.  We should probably just stop here for our own wellbeing.


It's that bad.  And it's making me and the hubs argue more, because we are both just so tired. Not that it justifies our sarcastic and snarky comments, but I just don't have the sense to keep things like that inside when I'm so dog tired.

But, we did step out this weekend.  Saturday we went out for some pre-Christmas browsing.  I decided I was going to try my hand at making some hairbows, and was pleasantly pleased with the outcome.
And, I bought Ansley this:



It is so much cuter on than it is in the picture. Actually, I really want one for myself.  And, the best part? $4, at Target.

So, that's it. That's my weekend. Minus the part where Ansley and Bunker played a little rough and I freaked out and thought she needed stitches and really all she needed was cleaned up and a bandaid.  But, hey, after suffering a serious dog bite myself, I'm a little sensitive to those type of injuries.

Steppin' Out, sans kiddo

We had a great weekend!  And, rather than steppin' out with Ansley, the hubs and I were able to go on a date (if eating and shopping counts as such).

So, here's the thing. I've got this awesome new phone, but I'm completely unable to use it.  But, we snapped a quick picture before we left the hotel room (pardon my mess. Seriously.)

Me:
Pink tunic top, Old Navy
Cardigan, Old Navy, last year
Jeans, (you'll never guess) Old Navy
Shoes, thrifted, but Target brand
Motorola Droid 2, Verizon Wireless

Hubs:
Blue dress shirt, Sears
Fleece vest, OCI, JC Penny
Jeans, so old, I don't even know. Duckhead, I think
Blackberry Storm, Verizon Wireless

It was super fun to step out without the kiddo. We were able to enjoy some dinner, and spend some time at the mall (a great date for me, not so much for the hubs). And yes, I'm a shortie.  I know. Normally, we don't have pictures like this because he is so.stinkin'.tall, and I'm, well, so.stinkin'.short. But alas, here is our height difference in all it's 14 inch glory.

And, Ansley? Well, she stepped out with the grandparents to Walmart and a soccer game, but I have no clue what she wore.  I do know that she spent all day yesterday in pajamas because she was puking everywhere.

A great thing to return home to...

Steppin' Out, on Sunday

Saturday, I had to work. And I'm pretty sure you don't care to see my dark brown polo that I wear for work. So, instead, we stepped on on Sunday. Except, that didn't really happen either.

We skipped church because Ansley was still snotty, and I didn't think the other little kiddos would appreciate her new willingness to share (rather, the mommas probably wouldn't have appreciated it). We planned on heading out for Chinese food after church, but little missy decided she was going to whine and cry, so we opted to bring the food home.

All this to say I spent the day in a pair of super comfy fleece yoga pants which I snagged from the free box on my dorm hall while in college. And a shirt from Target. Once again, I'm not pictured (I totally promise I'll start being on the other side of the camera. For realz).

Ansley bug, sick sick sickly
"I live for rainbows" shirt, Old Navy
Jean skirt, thrifted
Black leggings, Walmart

I totally love this shirt! And, it was my full intent to artfully write in "double" right over the "rainbows", so it said "double rainbows," but opted against it, seeing as how most people would simply look at me like a weirdo. 

And this picture? Totally thanks to my new "I'm a cool person phone," my Droid2! It was time for the hubs to get an upgrade, and when he bought his blackberry, he got a phone free! Thank you, hubs!

We always dress this cool!

Considering we celebrated Halloween at a local fall festival on Saturday, our Steppin' Out pic will be quite monumental!

Ansley:

Pink sparkly shoes from Walmart (you've seen them before)

Elephant costume from Target (she was "Ansley hears a Who," but her fluff ball didn't seem to make it in the picture)

and the two constants, Binki, Mam pacifier from Walmart, with Playtex Binki clip

and Bear, a "Baby's first Christmas" lovie from K-Mart

Me:

Black with white polka dot leggings, Walmart

Knock-off Converse, also from Walmart

Jean mini skirt, ages old, originally from Goody's (Can you believe it! I am able to fit in it again! A little pick-me up that day)

Ghostbusters shirt, Walmart (I needed a costume, quick. Seeing as we don't have a Target closer than 45 minutes away, we have to deal with Walmart. Bleh.)

FAVORITE sunglasses, Old Navy

Special thanks to a bestie who snapped the photo. I didn't manage to take a single picture of the kiddo in her costume all day. I actually had to work the costume contest for the festival, so soon after this pic, Ansley was handed off to the Nana for her first round of Trick or Treating, resulting in a surprising amount of candy (which was then distributed to the 4 Trick or Treaters that left the festival with gobs and candy and came to my house and rang my doorbell DESPITE my porch and lamp post lights being off. Grr. I should have let them put Ansley back to sleep.)

Steppin' Out

So, I'm jumping on another bandwagon. Because it is so much easier to follow a trend than start your own, right? I used to think of myself as a leader, but let's take a look:

Blog, not my idea. Just read some all the time, and decided to start one

McFatty Monday: Just a follower (and not a very good one at that)

And now, Steppin' Out. And I follow.

Anywho, this Steppin' Out thing. Mandy over at Harpers Happenings (great read, check it out. And her kiddo is super cute), along with some other of my top reads, have super cute clothes, and wanted to show them off. I'm totally on board with that. I like lusting over other people's cute clothes! I don't have any particularly cute clothes myself, but Ansley does, so I'm totally joining in!

So, here's what I got for you. Unfortunately, I'm normally the one behind the camera, so this means I'll have to make a better effort at being in front of the camera (which, I really don't like doing. AT.ALL.)

Me

Shirt, Old Navy, last year

Jeans, can't see, but also Old Navy, this year

Shoes, Chacos in need of repair

Ansley

Shirt, Old Navy

Jeans, Old Navy

Sparkly Pink tennis shoes, Walmart

Too cute not to have two photos.  Now that I'm on board, hopefully we'll get some better shots.  And, I promise, not all of our clothes are from Old Navy. Just a large percentage of them.

So, go check out Harpers Happenings, and, maybe take a step out of your own!