48 weeks

Micha, 

Today you gave me the pleasure of rocking you to sleep for your nap time, 

though it wasn't for much of a fun reason. 

I think you have a new tooth coming through and it's really bugging you. 

I haven't rocked you asleep in ages, and so I enjoyed every minute of it.

I watched as your eyelids slowly gave in to the sleep, and heard your breath calming down. 

I felt my arms tiring under your weight, but I held onto you.

I buried my face in your soft hair and sniffed up the glorious scent of sunscreen and your warm skin. 

And you fell asleep in my arms.

You're growing up, and some might call you a toddler.

But you are still and will always be my baby. 

You okay with that?

Love, Mama

five

1. I have new found respect and awe for single parents. I had to miss my main man for two nights due to a school camping trip. It went pretty well, but man, the evenings get pretty lonely. I'm so excited to see him this afternoon.

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2. I pinned this the other day, went out and bought a glue gun shortly after and crafted this necklace last night.

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3. We recently bought a new Canon DSLR, and I find it so intimidating. 

All those buttons and switches and rules. I just want to figure it out soon! Any tips?

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4. My son is scared of goats, especially when they bleat at him. 

It makes for good photo's though, haha!
Sorry little guy. :)

 

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5. I made my husband go back to the store and get the correct flavor of Ben&Jerry's this week. 

In my defense I asked for a specific flavor and he came back with one with pecans in it, 

while I'm allergic to pecans.

But yeah... I'm that person.

Happy Weekend!

Love, Maria

linking up with High Five for Friday and Blair @ Wild&Precious today

Dressing the boy

Buying clothes for boys is hard, and because I'm pretty picky when it come to dressing Micha, it's even harder.

Step in to any given store and there are always rows and rows of pretty little girls clothing 

and then one rack for the boys.  

The usual choices are: cars, characters, or 'cool' slogans. 

Yeah, that's just not my thing.

There are very few prints of cars that I like, 

I don't feel like sponsoring Disney or Pixar, 

and my boy doesn't need a shirt to tell him he's 'mommy's little heart breaker' 

or whatever other cheesy* (and sometimes misspelled) phrase a Chinese factory prints on a shirt.

(* in my humble opinion, if it is your thing, I say 'go for it')

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Luckily there are a few stores that actually understand that boys need cute clothes too.

H&M, Zara Kids and HEMA (a dutch department store) are my favorites.

These are some of my favorite outfits for Micha, you'll notice they have a theme :)

some Italian brand, second hand

H&M sailor suit

Zara Kids romper

Matching sweaters, both H&M

Breton stripe sweater, girls section H&M

the only slogan shirt M has, a cute play on the well known posters

Preppy little lad, all H&M

Little man, shirt: HEMA

Did you figure out what the theme was? haha..

I'm Maria and I have a stripe addiction.

So while it is a bit more difficult to find cute clothing for boys, it is possible 

and I think I've done a pretty good job so far.

Love, Maria

My mama uniform

Before I became a mama I loved to stand in front of my closet every morning and try to figure out what to wear that day. 

I would take my sweet time trying on different outfits until I found the one I wanted to wear.

Nowadays I can't permit such a luxury. 

I need all the time I can in the morning to get my little guy fed, dressed, entertained and then down for his morning nap. 

And in between I need to feed, shower and dress myself as well.

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So I figured out a little something to make my life a bit easier in the morning and still look put together:

My mama uniform, or 'momiform'.

I know, it sounds so cheesy, and the first thing I think of when I hear that phrase is:
high-waisted mom jeans, a white baggy t-shirt and sensible shoes. 

I know that's what you're thinking too!

But it doesn't have to be like that at all.

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Mine usually consists of a pair of skinny jeans, 

a comfortable, yet fashionable, t-shirt, sweater or blouse, 

a cute necklace, 

and some fun sneakers, ballerina flats or wedges.

I always have a few different choices of these basics in my closet, 

so in the morning I just grab whatever's clean and BAM! I'm dressed for the day.

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Of course I still like dressing up in pretty dresses, maxi skirts and whatnot and I do regularly, 

but for a busy, baby filled day my mama uniform is such a life saver.

Do you have a 'momiform' or a go-to outfit?

Love, Maria

linking up with wiww and dress for the day today

47 weeks

Micha, 

Lately you have been loving your little animal collection.  

You usually have at least one in your hand, even when you're crawling around.

I always hear you crawling towards me: THUMP- WHACK- THUMP- WHACK.

You love to hide them in any nook and cranny you can find. 

It's your favorite game.

Last night I found one in the TV cabinet and was about to throw it in with your toys, when your papa stopped me and told me to leave it there for you, so you'd find it again the next day.

Isn't that the sweetest thing?

I think he just loved seeing that little reminder of you and the fun stage you are going through. 

And he's so right, I  love those little reminders too, they make me feel like the luckiest lady alive.

Love, Mama

A toy story (cheesy title, I know..)

Last week I had an epiphany.

I'll tell you what it was, but first a background story leading to said epiphany.

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When I was pregnant with Micha, B. and I swore up and down that our living room would not be taken over by baby paraphernalia and toys. 

We live in a small apartment and we like our living room to be as clear of clutter as it can be.

I had reserved two baskets in the living room for him, one for his books and one for his toys. 

And the toys that we would have would be wooden, aesthetically pleasing, quality toys. 

No plastic, battery needing, noise making junk. 

Yep, that was the plan. (can you tell where this story is heading?)

We had received some plastic toys as gifts, 

but we thought we'd teach Micha to love the wooden ones more. 

I know, we're crazy, hippie, cruel parents, us. Ha!

Then Micha came around, and guess which toys he preferred: the noisy, plastic, battery powered ones. 

Of course...

And as he grew older the more toys (wooden and plastic) we received and bought for him. 

The two baskets just weren't cutting it anymore.  

His toys and books were flowing over and our living room was looking cluttered and messy. 

Not that I mind it that much during the day. It's not like I clean up after Micha constantly. 

That would just be crazy.

But after the little guy goes to bed it's nice to be able to clean up the baby stuff 

and not see it until the next day. 

It just helps me relax a bit more.

So, the baskets weren't cutting it, and I needed something bigger and better to put his toys in. 

I didn't feel like spending a ton of money on a big toy chest and additionally sacrificing precious floor space.

And then I remembered something I had seen on one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love, 

they had used their ottoman to store all the toys. 

And it hit me; we have an ottoman that can be used as storage too! 

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And so their epiphany had become mine. 

It's been such a perfect solution for the clutter problem, 

it stores all of Micha's toys, it doesn't take up any extra space and Micha seems to love it too:

Now, how to keep the ottoman organized?

Haha...

Happy Weekend!

Love, Maria

One Piece Summer

1, 2, 3 and the rest

It's finally beach weather here in Holland (or swimming pool weather for me, as the beach is a two hour drive, and that's far according to Dutch standards) and I'm on the hunt for a cute bathing suit.

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I used to buy a new bikini at H&M every year, but I'm kind of over them. 

There are so many cute choices for one piece bathing suits nowadays, and I'm a fan.

I especially LOVE bathing suits with a nod to the 50's, my favorite era!

After watching this video clip I'm even more convinced one pieces are the way to go for me!

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What do you prefer? A one-piece or a bikini?

Love, Maria