the weekender

Our weekend started Friday when Darrell got home and we decided hey, cooking is for the birds, let's get tacos!  

After we persuaded our crazy child (who said she didn't want tacos, like, whose child is she even) to go to Fuzzy's Taco Shop - which is amazing - we only managed to get her out the door in a Sofia dress and shoes of her choice.  She made friends with nature like a true Disney Princess and also decided to take her Minnie Mouse guitar in case she needed to break out into song.  Lest you think we were even slightly embarrassed by her outfit decision, rest assured that she was NOT THE ONLY PRINCESS at Fuzzy's that night.  There was a little girl of similar age in full Sleeping Beauty regalia.  Sympathetic looks were exchanged all around.  Margaritas were consumed.  All in all, a successful Friday.  

We were awoken Saturday morning with the traditional toddler method of awakening, "clap your hands in mommy's face until she sits up and pays attention to you."  It's much cuter than it sounds.  

Since we were up anyways, we decided trips to the library and playground were in order before naptime.  So we packed up and headed to the local library where we *finally* got Claire a library card. She is currently sitting in a massive pile of books next to me.  Did you know they lifted borrowing limits on library books sometime this year?  It used to be around 7, as far as I knew, but now you're just responsible for as many as you want to be, up to like 100 or something crazy!  

That night was a friend's surprise birthday party, so we headed out to celebrate!  

Thankfully, the party started around 6 so it was super kid friendly and Claire had a total blast.  

I debuted some new blonde hair I'm pretty excited about (also pretty excited about these shoes, which are under $40!!) To Darrell's dismay, I'm thinking of going even blonder next time - thoughts?!  

Top // Necklace // Shorts - old but simliar here // Shoes

Can you get over the cuteness?!  Also, getting 3 toddlers to smile for a photo = impossible. This was our best effort.  

Elly was only willing to smile as a solo subject :)  

Shoes are here, but I found a dupe here for less than $75!  

Dress is from Stitch Fix - which you can sign up for here!  I found a really similar one here though.  

Last but not least, Claire & I went to church Sunday morning where she had a blast (as always) and I got some good motivation for my week!  We definitely bribed her with a gummy vitamin to take these pictures, and it definitely worked.  

Hope you're all having a great week so far!! 

the weekender/splash pad season

You know how grateful you are, when it's Monday morning and you're ACTUALLY NOT UPSET because you had such a relaxing, rejuvating weekend that it leaves you feeling ready for the week?  Yeah, those are way too rare in my book too, but here I am on the other side of one and it makes me want to do nothing but stay at home every weekend for the rest of the summer.  Here are my favorite snaps from our weekend in St Louis!  

Since we moved to Webster Groves from the Tower Grove area we had really been missing it, and kind of shaming ourselves for not hitting up the farmer's market there once yet this summer!  So we made plans with friends to meet up there and of course, Claire had a total blast.  This park has (in my opinion) the best splash pad in the city and they even fill the fountain as a wading pool from 11-1 on weekends!  

Just for fun, here's a little throwback pic - this is Claire in the same fountain on the SAME WEEKEND last summer.  I always see her as a baby but comparing these two photos shows me how big she has gotten!  

Darrell & I also gardened our hearts out on Saturday (in 100 degree heat, YUCK) but our yard basically looked like a rainforest due to our excessive travel lately so it needed to get done!  Then we hung out outside the rest of the day until Claire declared it "too hot" and we retreated to the basement which was much more fun than usual because....

we redid Claire's playroom a little bit with a makeover!  It got a facelift from a ton of "Pillowfort" products from Target as well as some alternative lighting, and although there's still lots to do down there she is REALLY enjoying it so far.  

Last but not least, I hope you'll come back tomorrow if you want to see a new feature I'm adding to the blog!  I have a lot of fun sharing my outfits on Instagram but thus far haven't really enjoyed the process of making the posts "shoppable" for you guys in an easy way.  The service I use to link products, Shopstyle Collective, recently upgraded their platform and I'm working on getting it set up tonight :) 

So I can't wait to hear what you think and if you find it easy to use!  

the weekender/easter

Claire's mouth closed.  

Claire's mouth full of candy.  

Claire kind of smiling but Darrell is only halfway there....

Claire not having it at all....

GOOD ENOUGH.  

The Easter bunny got creative.  Hiding eggs on the treadmill?  SURE!  Haha we had a little apartment bound egg hunt that was a great success.  Although once Claire found out there was chocolate in the eggs she completely abandoned the hunt until she had eaten ALL that she had already found!  

To me the most comical part of any Easter weekend is the inevitable attempt to get a good family photo.  Last year on Easter Claire was a total grump - I think she was teething or something - I didn't even do a dedicated post, but there are a few photos of her crying in her dress in this old post !  This year she was an absolute angel, with a smile for everyone, but no child looooooves posing for photos as many times as I tried to make her!  So I'm thrilled with the ones that we got.  

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend!  

the weekender: claire's first library trip

We took Claire to the library for the first time this past Saturday and she LOVED it.  We were honestly there for 2 hours, and she was completely entertained the entire time - it was the perfect rainy day activity.  If you have a toddler, you know 2 hours anywhere with them happy is a looooooong  time!  

We checked out a ton of books with her very own library card - they were so sweet at the front desk and made a big show of it being her first time, stickers and all.  We just went to the small Central West End branch because of the St Patrick's day parade going on downtown, but plan to take her to the big and recently renovated Central Library as soon as we can!  I can't tell you how much fun we had.  Other than that we did a whole lot of nothing all weekend, hanging out at home binge watching House of Cards and playing/reading/cooking!  

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and enjoyed these photos :) 

the weekender

Just a couple pictures from our trip to the zoo this weekend!  It was 75 degrees (in February!!!) if you can believe that and we had the best day really soaking up the sunshine.  Claire ooh and ahhhhhhed over the monkeys, said "oh my goodness!!" several times, it was hysterical.  If you don't already, follow me on Snapchat for funny little videos @maryhayes

i'm not sure what to call this post besides "hello, here are a lot of cute baby photos"

Since this blog is both a diary for me personally and the world, I wanted to update it with some of my favorite photos from the past few weeks despite not having much time to write about what we've been up to!  I hope you enjoy these, as we have really been enjoying the holiday season with Claire and our families.  

I loved this sweet photo of Claire and my mom taken on Thanksgiving morning.  

And a rare NON SELFIE photo of the two of us together!  

The weekend after thanksgiving we went to a German Christmas market in St Louis, where Claire and this little boy entertained themselves with ROCKS for about half an hour.  On the bench into a pile!  OFF the bench in a tiny rock storm!  

These photos of some of the magic at the Missouri Botanical Gardens toy train exhibit are some of my favorite ever - I've decided next year we must get one of those trains that runs around the base of the tree!  

Unfortunately claire did NOT enjoy the lights.  Not one bit, in fact, and we had to race out while strangers with children gave us stares of solidarity.  NO THANK YOU TO LIGHTS for at least this year, says Claire.  

Santa, however, gets a big thumbs up.  And babies who smile for Santa in the pretty outfits their mothers painstakingly chose for them.....well, they get mall popcorn after picture time.  

We've had freakishly warm weather in December this year  (it is sixty degrees outside as I type this) and while it doesn't feel particularly festive I would be lying if I said we weren't enjoying it because we definitely are.  

And then a little toddler mischief from the other night - this happened in about 5 seconds of her being alone in her room.  

Claire & Mingo the Flamingo.  Possibly my best Anthropologie purchase ever.  

 That's all folks!  See you on the flip side of Christmas and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!