This post is a liiiiiittle late, but… Better late than never, I say!
This year was ridiculously busy!
I kept holding out the hope all year that when Maya started kindergarten, I’d be getting things done left and right! I’d be knocking things off my “to do” list every week and then some!
That SO did not happen. If anything, it was the exact opposite.
I often felt like I was running from one thing to the next and failing at SO many things. I think when things are like that, it’s super important to stop and not only give myself some slack (very hard to do in reality!!), but remember how many things are amazing in my life.
I have SO many things to be thankful for!
HER! Above all else. I’m so thankful for this sweet nugget. Every single day she says or does something that makes me SO happy and incredibly blessed that she’s in my life.
That laugh? That joy? It’s so infectious! And this is her on the daily. I am so lucky that I get to bask in it!
Oh, and the fact that my parents are only a few blocks away? Don’t get me started on how thankful I am for that!
Maya is SO lucky to have my parents in her life, and I am too!
So many last minute “Hey…do you want to….” or “Could you help with….” and they are alway up for it!
Weekly Sunday walks, last minute date night baby sitting, taking Maya to every single movie she’s ever been to.
No, I’ve NEVER taken Maya to a movie…EVER. I’m SO thankful that my parents have taken her to ALL of them!!!
Oh, and watching her when we go out of town for a weekend getaway, coming over for pretty much every holiday dinner (that is always planned late minute-sorry!).
And my mom being up for last minute pictures? LOVE THAT! Pretty sure I told her I planned to run outside for a few pictures before our Thanksgiving dinner about an hour ahead of time. Oh, and it was RIDICULOUSLY windy!! DUH. And we thought at the time that we got no good pictures, but…
I will treasure these images forever.
LOVE THEM!!!
And then my sister in law came over unexpectedly and Maya suddenly turned on the charm.
As she does…
And I couldn’t be more thankful!!
Because this is SO HER!!!
Next week I’ll post our family pics we FINALLY took! That in itself is something to be thankful for, but will be talking about even more things I’m thankful for in that post.
On me…
Did I mention it was WINDY??
I often have to wrangle a runaway Maya
Do.Not.Smile.
And…off to pet the next dog!
Such a pretty night!
Looooove these next ones!
The Huz was out of town, but Facetimed us while were were out. This is her talking to him.
SO SWEET!
Then, we decided to go by one of the houses in our neighborhood that goes CRAZY with lights!
Maya was so impressed!
And yes, I let her go play with them! I’m not that mean! 🙂
Oh, but then we stayed until the sun went DOWN-PARTAY!!
These are hands down some of my new favorite pics of us!!
LOOOOOVE!
Yup, that’s a DIFFERENT dog… 😉
hahahaha. ME..attempting to enthusiastically call her back to ME…the dog won.
I messed up an entire series of shots because I wasn’t in the right spot, so they are all blurry… still love this one though! Oh, and yes, That sign was in ALL of our shots… 😦
or…pulled up for a more conservative look!
Love the back, of course 😉
I actually took the above shots AND the casual ones of just me in from Monday’s post in SIX MINUTES before I had to race to pick Maya up from school. haha!
And, yes, I danced right out of the frame again… 🙂
On me…
Cashmere sweaters are a staple for me, because they are SOOOOO comfy!
Oh, and if you think cashmere is out of your price range, think again! It’s one of my most favorite things to thrift! I scored this GORGEOUS $200+ sweater on eBay for less than $20!
Funny story. I shot the above shots as well as the “night” version in SIX MINUTES! hahaha. Night version coming later!
Wait for it…
I can’t even…LOVE HER!!
She got leaves in her mouth and kept spitting. This miiiiiiight be what got those amazing smiles and laughs in the main post 😉
Hilarious in all it’s blurriness….
This was seriously the coolest sky! It was super stormy and cold, and then the sun came out!
Little surfer in the making!
Me living out my “Dirty Dancing” dancing on a log fantasies, because this is as close as I’m going to get haha.
Reviewing her rock treasures…
Inevitabley, wherever we go, there are dogs. Maya LOVES DOGS. SO…anything I want to do is cut short and then focused around the dogs. Honestly, as long as she has fun, that’s all that matters!
She threw the ball for this dog until it started pouring on us!
I mean…
Of course, he would come back and shake all over her! Which…she loved 🙂
On me…
And it IS! But, I love the pirate style lace up to the top. The destroyed raw hem crop flare… The LEOPARD PRINT booties….DYING when I found these!
And a cross body purse is SOOOO refreshing after the ginormous “diaper-carry-every-snack-entertainment-toy-crayons-coloring book” purse you have to carry as a mom of a toddler. You can easily throw it over your shoulder and carry the bare minimums-LOVE!
I can’t even with these next two….
Up on our neighbors porch, and I’m like “GET DOWN!!”
“Who me?!”
So, this was one of those warmer fall evenings, and ALL the neighborhood kids were out. It is a miracle I got any shots of just us, because they all just wanted to play.
And then, Maya played Star Wars with ANOTHER set of neighbor kids that came out after the other ones went in for dinner!
Don’t mess with her!!! She’s got older brothers…
And…OMG, DYING!
True reason for these next two shots in the “Keeping it Real” section 🙂
I think a lot of people get intimidated by open back tops. But, I looooooove them!! Layer a tank under for the day, and show off your pretty lace bralette at night! I honestly could go without a bra, but I love the peek of lace!
Yes, I have a go big or go home ugly laugh…oh well. 🙂
My favorite part of this sweater is the back!! I’ve talked A LOT about my love of an interesting back. You can look nice and conservative from the front, but give a hint of attitude when you turn around!
Thank goodness for a zoom lens! I kid you not. She ran REALLY far from me! How many moms can relate? Oh…all of you?? 🙂
Clearly she thought it was hilarious…
LOVE!!
LOVE all these next ones. I honestly could have posted at least 5 more, but had to reign myself in at some point!
I’ll be SO sad when I can’t pick her up anymore!!! The laughs right in my face…the tight cuddles…and even her licks (kisses). 😉
On me…
Every once in a while she makes a very agressive dive/fall. At almost 50lbs, that isn’t insignificant!! My face here…hahaha.
And….Maya got control of the remote again ha!
What a lot of our shots look like…
She almost gave me a heart attack running around and jumping from log to log!
That sky though…
Looooooooove this next one!!
On me…
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