Hello friends and happy FRIDAY!! With being at the beach this week and it being a short week in itself with Memorial Day, it seemed like an quick little jump to make it back to Friday. But I'm definitely not complaining :)
Today I'm excited to be sharing one of the cutest little sets I've ever worn! The Lilly Pulitzer eyelet Diara Top paired with the Kelly shorts in eyelet are pretty much the most perfect match ever. I wore this top over on my IG stories a few weeks back and received so. many. messages. asking about it! I'm not surprised, because it's pretty much the most gorgeous top I've ever owned! The details are practically perfect! Lilly Pulitzer is one of the only brands I will splurge on, and this set was a must-have for me. All the details of this precious peplum are what make it so irresistible. It's such a feminine piece that's perfect for all things summer. I love it paired with white jeans and denim shorts as well. I went up one size in this one to a 2, and love the fit! That same goes for the shorts. I went up one size in a 2 with these as well. I love how you can wear these pieces together and style them separately. Both pieces also come in white (which I actually own as well) :)
I also thought it would be fun to mention a few of my current favorite reads with y'all today. I will share segments from my favorite devotional over on my IG stories often and will get questions on it often. It is SO good y'all! A dear friend gave it to me in May of last year. I immediately started it in May and finished it throughout the year. But started back with it at the beginning this year. There's a page for each day, and each day it marked with the date of that day, so it's easy to follow along. Each day is a short little read, but goodness is it so very powerful and packed full of God's Word and encouragement. I always close it each day feeling so refreshed and encouraged. I also gave it to my grandmother for Mother's Day, and she has told me multiple times how much she loves it. It has truly meant so much to me! It is:
Also by the same author, is this book. I just ordered it and am planning to read it on the during this trip. Nancy so many times talks about the importance of gratitude. She shared a little formula, if you will, in the devotional I spoke on above that is so very true: Prayer + Thanksgiving = Peace. I teach Madeline the importance of having a grateful heart daily, because I think it's so important! So, I'm extra excited for this book and think it will be such a good read.
Something else I ordered and just started yesterday is this bible study on the book of Ruth. My grandmother has instilled a deep love for this book in me. Her name is Anne Ruth, and she loves this book so much. We have read it together several times. I am currently set out to read the Bible all the way through, and am going to be doing a study on certain books. Ruth is one of them. This study had amazing reviews, and I'm so excited to be doing it.
And one more book I thought I'd mention. This book I've talked about on here before, but it's a book that truly changed my life. I read it when I was pregnant with Madeline, and it meant so much to me! I have given a copy of it to several friends who also have said to love it. It's truly an amazing read that taught me the true meaning of trusting God and completely surrendering my life to Him.
Well, that's about it for today! I Hope y'all enjoyed this post. If y'all have read any of these books/studies, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them! And if you have any other book recommendations for books that have meant a lot to you, I'd love to hear! Thanks for stopping by :)
Hello friends and happy Thursday! I know it's been a hot minute since I've posted on my blog! We are currently at the beach and having a blast :) I had all intentions of blogging last week, but we were so busy with end of the year things finishing up and getting ready to leave that I hardly had time to even breathe, I feel haha. But I'm back to share a really fun post today and have another one planned for tomorrow. Next week will definitely be back to the normal swing of things and I will be shooting some really fun vacation content to share on here as well. I hope y'all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!
Today I am so excited to be sharing a really fun mommy and me look, along with some recent Amazon finds I will be sharing over on my Instagram stories today (scroll down to read more about this). I get asked a lot, "how do you find inspiration for mommy and me looks?" and "Do you usually start with finding a piece for Madeline or yourself first?". In all honesty, it really varies from outfit to outfit. But with this one, I found this darling cherry print dress for Madeline first. I love a good denim piece, and the fact that this one it white denim with a sweet little cherry print for her had me so excited! I then came across this adorable $13 cherry print top for myself on Amazon and knew they would be the perfect match :) Both her dress and my top run TTS (she is wearing a 4, and I'm wearing a XS). I am so pleased with the quality of this top, especially being only $13. It's definitely the perfect easy summer top.
I have also been hunting for some good denim shorts. I love wearing red! It's probably one of my favorite colors to wear. I absolutely fell in love with these red high waisted denim shorts. They're so so cute and come in several colors, including black and white denim. They're under $70, and I do recommend going up one size in these. But they're so perfect for all things summer and especially for July 4th! They're just so fun.
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And speaking of Amazon finds, I am doing something really fun over on Instagram this week. A few other amazing girls and I have teamed up for an Amazon share week! We're treating one of y'all to a $300 Amazon gift card (there's a post on my Instagram feed where you can enter), and throughout the week, each coming on our stories to share our recent Amazon finds. It has been so much fun! And today is my day to share. This may just be my favorite Amazon haul yet. Two adorable dresses, a swimsuit, coverup, sunglasses, makeup organization, some precious pieces for Madeline and more! See them all below, and be sure to tune in on my Instagram stories today for a full try-on :)
Hello friends! I hope y'all are having a great week so far. I feel like this week is nothing short of crazy. So many of our activities are wrapping up this week. Ballet, AWANA club at our church, and a few others. We also have three family birthdays over the next week, my brother graduates, and the to-do list is about a mile long, because our beach trip is also coming up! So much to do, so little time :) However, I am so excited to be back at the beach very soon. I have so many fun pieces that I'm packing and will be sharing with y'all while there, as well.
But today I am so excited to be sharing the most adorable blue and white stripe dress that's only $17!! It's no secret that I love Amazon haha. I have been finding so many good pieces on there, and the prices are pretty unbelievable. I saw this adorable dress online, and being the blue and white lover that I am, I had to give it a try. Once it arrived and I tried it on, I fell in love with it even more! It is seriously amazing. It zips up in the back and ties at the shoulders. I'm wearing the size small, for reference. But I simply could not say enough good things about this dress. It would also be an adorable beach coverup. I'm definitely taking it with me to the beach and know I will get a lot of use out of it while there. I just love me some blue and white :)
I also want to touch on these sandals, because they're an Amazon find as well. I was on the hunt for a good white pair with a lower heel and came across these cuties. Y'all they're under $40 and are SO good! I'm so impressed with the quality. They come in a handful of colors and run TTS.
And for the last thing on the list today, if you follow me on Instagram and watch my stories, you may know that I share try-on sessions on there. I love sharing my Amazon finds on stories as well. Today I am going to be sharing an Amazon try-on from my most recent purchases. The dress I'm wearing here is one of them, but there are also some other great pieces. I'm going to be linking them all below:
Hi friends and happy Friday! We are just two days away from Mother's Day, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to finally share a styling of these oh-so fun mommy and me gingham jumpsuits. I cannot express just how much I love these! They're currently 40% off, as well, which was just another reason to share.
But as I was sorting through the photos for this post, my heart felt so full, certainly beyond my love for our jumpsuits haha. It felt so full considering the fact that these photos captured mine and Madeline's relationship so well, I feel. So with that, I decided to take this post in a different direction.
I started thinking about how this will be my fourth Mother's Day...wow! Time has certainly flown by. I will never forget my first. She was just about five weeks old, and I dedicated her to the Lord on that first Mother's Day, which was so special! I also received my "Madeline Ring" as my first Mother's Day gift (the special pink ring I wear on my left hand), which holds such a special meaning for me. And I couldn't help but think what an absolute blessing it has been to be Madeline's mom and how grateful I am to be raising this precious girl. She truly believed that saved me. So, in this post, I decided that I want to share a little more. I am going to share a message that I wish I could have told myself the night I found out I was pregnant with Madeline. If you are a young mom reading, I hope it is an encouragement to you.
Of course I will never ever forget the night I found out I was pregnant with Madeline. I was 21 years old, at the time, and of course in quite a disbelief with what was going on. And I'm not going to lie, I was scared out of my mind! And as ashamed as I am to admit, it was for more selfish reasons than I anything. How would MY life change, what would I need to do differently, would I still be still be able to do this, that, or the other, what will people think about ME. All of these thoughts were going through my head. And after a few months, the realization that yes, I was going to be a single mom truly began to sink in.
And again, I'm ashamed to admit that it was a few months before I realized some of the most important things. Even though my love for the baby girl I was carrying was so very great, it wasn't until I was about four months pregnant that I began to see my need for a complete change in my life. I knew that I had not been living the way I should. I knew that I needed the Lord in my life more than ever before. I knew that I needed to let go of the past and focus on my life in that very present moment, trusting the Lord for the very step I was on. I realized that I could not be the very best mom to Madeline if I didn't have Jesus holding my hand every step of the way, falling fully dependent on Him. I began to memorize scripture, truly felt my relationship growing with Him, meditating on His word, and began to see my entire outlook on being a young, single mom change. Suddenly, the focus on me turned to a focus on her. Yes, I was still scared, worried, fearful of what was going to happen...but I had a sincere feeling of peace that I know came directly from my Heavenly Father. I knew I needed Him to be the mama Madeline needed.
I think it is so important that we learn to trust God through the very present situation, no matter what season of life we are in. We may ask questions, we may not understand why the things going on have gone into play, we may wonder if we will make it through, we may say how could anything good every possibly come from this. But when we make it down the path, continuing to hold our Heavenly Father's hand, we can look back and say "Wow, Lord, now I see what you were doing and goodness am I ever so grateful." Trust me, no, I don't have it all figured out, yes, I still ask questions, yes, I still worry, especially as a single mom, but after seeing what the Lord has done for both me and Madeline thus far, I without a doubt know everything will work out perfectly in His perfect plan. I have seen His hand of blessings and trust wholeheartedly that He is "able to do exceedingly. abundantly above all we could ever ask or think." I see that through His grace and mercy, that I am so unworthy of, that His love is strong and ever so present. He is painting a beautiful picture for your life that He will "carry it on to completion, until he day of Christ Jesus." Trust. In. Him.
Trust me, I am not one to say "I wish I could go back and..." because I am a firm believer in moving forward, never letting your past haunt you and pressing on in the love of Christ. But I do wish that I could go back to that night I found out I was pregnant, just to tell myself some things. I wish I could go back and tell myself that the joys ahead, being Madeline's mom, are going to be the greatest joys I could ever imagined. I wish I could go back and tell myself that everything is going to be just fine. I wish I could have seen that, in all honesty, God giving me Madeline was was going to truly save me from the downward spiral my life was going in. And that through her, my relationship with the Lord was going to see me through. I wish I could have told myself to focus on my the Lord; He was all I needed. I wish I could have told myself that the life lessons this precious girl is going to teach me will make me a better person, not only for her, but also to teach me how to change my life and live. I wish I could have told myself that the joy Madeline will bring me will outweigh any amount of fear, confusion, and feeling of being alone, etc. that would come to play. And most importantly, I wish right then and there, I had known that being Madeline's mama would be the greatest joy I have ever experienced...100% absolute pure joy! I am amazed daily at the life lessons she teaches me, and I truly do not know what I would do without her. She is my life and I would do anything in the world for her.
And through the values I teach her everyday, she is in turn teaching me, as I mentioned. Becoming a mama taught me the importance of these things. And through teaching them to Madeline, I am ever so grateful for the reminders Madeline sends me each day. A few to name are kindness, gratitude, humbleness, truth, a servant's heart, obedience, and more. I want her to know that she is to always be kind to others, because a little bit of kindness can go such a long way. You never know what others may be going through, and a simply smile or hug could brighten their day! I want her to know that she is to always be grateful and give thanks for all of our many blessings. When I see others giving thanks, I in turn think on all the things I have to give thanks for. Gratefulness can be so powerful! I want her to have a humble heart, being able to admit when she does wrong, ask for forgiveness and grow from her mistakes. I believe from humbleness comes self-growth. I want her to not only speak truth, but learn to find the truth for herself when others "pretend" to know the truth. Through this, it has been such a valuable lesson to ignore the lies and rumors others can make up about you. And instead of playing into what they say, pray for them as their lives seem to be in a dark spot when feeling the need to talk about others in such a way. I want her to know to always be ready to help others, finding out ways she can serve others, by having a servant's heart. I want her to know how to be obedient and respectful of others. And also on this, as she grows up, I want her to understand her self-worth, know she is precious in God's eyes, and understand she deserves respect as well. These are just a handful of the values I am teaching her, but she is teaching me at the same time.
I also cannot end this post without mentioning my Mama. I have been blessed with such an amazing Mama of my own. She has been my best friend through and through. My best memories in life are the ones I have made with my mama and now make with Madeline and my mama. She has been such an encouragement to me and has truly taught me everything I know about being a mom. She is brave, strong, confident, as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She speaks truth, demands self-respect and knows how to stand up for herself. She is loving, caring, and always ready to offer encouragement and pray for others. She's the absolute best Mimi, and Madeline and I are just so very grateful for her.
Being Madeline's mama has been the greatest joy I have ever experienced. I pray daily that the Lord would give me the strength I need to be the best mom I can be to her. To be with every decision I make for her. And to continue to show me that as long as I commit my life as a mom to Him, I can do it.
Thank you, Lord, for making me Madeline's mama. Thank you for showing me the greatest love imaginable through giving her to me. Thank you, Lord, for changing me to be a better person through her and for her. Thank you, Lord, that though you, I can do all things as you strengthen me.
As we are about to celebrate Mother's Day, I felt this would be a good opportunity to share some of these thoughts with y'all. I truly hope this could be an encouragement to other moms. Whether you are already a mom or a mom-to-be, I hope this touched you. And if you are a single mom or a single-mom-to-be, I want you to know that you can do it!! Trust in the Lord, and He will see you through every step of the way.
