Dressed By Claire

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be dressed by your four-year-old? Well, I read THIS  article a couple weeks ago and decided that it sounded like fun. I make my kids wear the outfits I choose for them until a certain point in their lives, so it might be fun to switch things around and see how much I like my decisions made for me. I was very excited to get the ball rolling on this one. Would my daughter be just the best fashionista the world has ever known or would she choose the most outrageous things for me to wear? Would I be embarrassed? Would she like this experiment?  Would I? Well, lets see....

Day 1: Not too shabby, Claire Bear! The pants were 2 sizes too big, so they ended up SUPER baggy by the end of the day, but that's totally do-able. Lime green socks. Why these socks?  "Because they are green and have stripes just like your shirt." Well chosen, I say.

Then began the accessories. This proved to be the gaudy theme of the entire 5 days, but I started to get used to it. Love the pink necklace. "You look beautiful," she said. "But not your shoes. "Your shoes don't look beautiful, but that's ok." She chose the running shoes because they were the same color as my pants. I asked her if she wanted to choose different choose and she said no. They'll work.

I also let her choose my make-up for day one only. It began to be too much prep/time before school to choose clothes AND make-up, so we resorted to just clothes. I wanted to do the make-up to see how creative I could be with crazy choices. Maybe a post for another day? Her purple choices with the brightest pink gloss turned out to not be that bad.

I had Claire take this picture so you can't really see the bright pink necklace that doesn't match the outfit in any way. I think day one was an overall success.  

Day 2: Also not too bad. She chose my outfit and I thought, "Awesome. I wanted to wear this anyway." She insisted I needed to wear socks. Of course they were pink with stripes because they were her favorite. I was glad when she told me that I needed to wear boots for the day because of the rainy weather. The jewelry again was mismatching and bulky, but I don't think anyone would have ever noticed that my necklace was black and my earrings were brown. Day 2 made me feel like my clothing choices for her rubbed off in a good way.

Then there was Day 3. I pulled out all of my clothes to show her all of the choices. I wasn't sure if my closet was so boring and I needed to diversify a lot more or if she was choosing good outfits just because she knew what I wore on a regular basis, so I decided to show her ALL of her options. Guess what....I wasn't going to put this yellow dress as an option. It is 2 sizes too big for me and was in the back of my closet. She saw one glimpse of it and said, "I love that yellow dress. Wear that one!" Ok....well, it's sleeveless, so I need sleeves. Instead of a cute cardigan I got to wear a bulky jacket. Still, not the worst. We then moved on to jewelry. Again, very bulky. I've also discovered that this girl LOVES cocktail rings. I got to wear two this day. 

So, I thought we were done at the cocktail rings, obviously forgetting that I needed to wear shoes. She picked up my black heels and said, "Wear these, I love these.....and you need socks." I think I had a burst of laughter. I said, "Socks? With heels?" She informed me "that it's cold outside and that's why" I needed socks. Bright blue. "Because I like them." Right-o! 

Brian asked me, "Are you actually going to go out in public looking like this?" Yup! That's what I signed up for.

To be perfectly honest, I tried to hide my feet from the bus driver that day. The feet part was kind of embarrassing. I also had to run to a bajillion stores and got a "you've got to be kidding me" look from a girl at the Dollar Store. THE DOLLAR STORE! Baha! She took a glance at my feet and inched her way up to my face with a raised eyebrow. I just smiled and laughed. 

Honestly, I was glad that I got to change into my pajamas for the rest of the day starting at noon. Claire got sick, throwing up...and I wasn't gonna clean up barf in a dry clean only dress. I think the fashion gods sent food poisoning to Claire's stomach just for the socks.

 Day 4: Although this also was another stellar look by Claire. She chose another one of my favorite outfits with, again, mis-matching jewelry. Pink earrings, red necklace. And the heels. I love heels....for Sunday. I don't love heels for being a mommy every day.

Day 5: Both Brian and my mom said that this outfit worked. Brian informed me that "it actually looks good." My mom said, "Arctic Cat snowmobiles' logos are purple and yellow. You can wear that." Sorry guys. I am not aspiring to snowmobile logo color code nor did I think it looked good. It wasn't atrocious, but I felt like a rainbow. Pink earrings, silver necklace, purple shirt and yellow pants. I almost had all the colors. 

I tried to have Jared dress me for one of these days, but he ran out of the room uninterested. He liked choosing my make-up better, so maybe that will be his turn of dressing mommy. 

I was very happy to choose my outfit the following day. It was faster, easier, and hopefully matched a tiny bit better, but this was VERY fun. Claire was disappointed that it was over, but I now have a new appreciation for when she chooses her own outfits that don't quite match. She's happy in it because it's what she wants to wear. She's been asking me if her outfits are cute and I always tell her, "I love it if you love it." She beams every time and is very happy with her decisions....that have usually involved LOTS of polka dots or holes in the knee. 

Everyone should dress like a 4 year old for at least one day. 

Complete with socks.

10 Things I Said I Would Never Do

I love lists. I don't care if they're to do lists, not to-do lists, accomplishments, whatevs. Just lists. They're cute. So, I'm doing my own lists for a few days and we're going to start with this list.

10 Things I Said I Would Never Do

1. Let's get this one over with. Four years ago I claimed that I would NEVER wear skinny jeans. "Ever". By gosh almighty, these thighs have been in skinny jeans. Silly me. Get with the times, Stace! At least back then I had the decency to pick a picture with an adorable pair of pants. This one....

I should have seen it coming. They're adorable. My legs love them. My confidence loves them. They are pretty darn perfectly cute. 

2. Weight Watchers. I remember being in my sophomore year of college when one of my good friends told me that she was on and off of weight watchers through her high school years. I thought this was ridiculous. One, because she always looked good. I never thought she looked like she needed to lose weight. Second, because I didn't think any person in their right mind should tell their daughter to be on weight watchers let alone through her adolescence when everything is horrible. 

Obviously, I have changed my viewpoint on this one and I love WW with my whole, heart, soul, and smaller bootay. I have also changed my viewpoint on opinion #2. Not that I think we mothers should all make our daughters self-concious about their weight and all get on the band wagon, but more because I think it's very helpful for every single person to keep track of what they put in their body from a health perspective. It's not just about weight.

3. Make-up. No, no, no. I never said that I wouldn't wear make up. That would just be silly, for me. I was driving down Provo's Center Street about to turn right on University Avenue in the car with best friend, Kara, and I claimed that I would never ever buy eyeshadow that cost me over $5. I believe I said, "Why on earth would you need to spend tons of money on eyeshadow." Because old fool, it rocks my socks! At the time I had ONE single compact of about three colors. Almay. Always the same. Never different. And I thought it was awesome. Ahem....Let me introduce you to my makeup collection today. Well....most of it....

See that middle bag in all of it's bulging gloriousness? I need a better system. It's all eyeshadow (maybe a blush or two) .... :)

The lipstick/highshine/random drawer. 

I like to stay positive here. It could always be much worse. MUCH worse. I've seen worse, so I don't think this is that bad. :) Much worse would also be MUCH more fun. :) There's no addiction problem here, I assure you.

4. Be a Scheduler. I ALWAYS wanted to be one of those spontaneous, fun people. People, I am not that spontaneous. Not at all. When I was first married, Brian would invite people over for Sunday dinner and I would cry my eyes out because I didn't think we had enough potatoes to feed everyone. He just didn't give me enough time to plan! There was no way on this earth that I would ever make someone hot dogs or some concoction from random ingredients I had in my kitchen. Good gravy! Since these first "trying" years, we have learned the need for advanced notice for my mental health. Planning ahead, meal planning, heck....even hourly planning sometimes makes me a very effective, efficient, and happy individual. 

Here is my current 3 week rotational menu. I'll change it in probably two months when I'm sick of this food. It's a very efficient system. I even have lists for the exact foods I need each week. Gosh, I'm  boring. 

5. "I Will Never Dye My Hair". I finally did it. I dyed my hair brown last summer. It was super fun actually dying it, but after it was done I was a little underwhelmed with what it looked like. It was fine, but I thought the color was a little boring. Some people told me that it was cute, but most people told me, "Well, I like your natural color better." I was never sure whether or not I wanted to  feel momentarily hideous or just take it as information. Meh. Someday I hope to rock some insanely awesome Britney Snow-like red hair like she has in Pitch Perfect. Someday when I have enough money to pay someone else to do it.

6. Consider working outside the home. This is still a little tender to me. I have never wanted to be anything else other than a stay at home mom. It is my number one priority and all time desire. Brian and I have recently been talking about what I'm going to do after our kids are older/grown and it was quite stressful for me. I didn't get my bachelor's degree in something that I'd really like to use, nor is it very useful. For what I want to do, it would require me to get a part time job while my kids are still relatively young (working nights hopefully) and go back to school. Thinking about doing this any time soon brings me to tears and that's why it's on the back burner until our youngest is around preschool age (or at least 2). However, I don't want to get to the point in my life where all my kids are gone (either at school during the day or moved out) and not have anything to work for. I actually really enjoy having a job. So, here's to planning and being motivated for the future!

7. Humidity. I claimed that I would never live in a state with high humidity and like it. I would live there and hate it. Guys and gals, I like it. The first summer here was a giant sweaty mess and I found any excuse I could to stay in my swimsuit all day. One summer down and another one hits. I'm still a giant sweaty mess, but I've realized that everyone else is too and I no longer care. It's also great for your skin. Last thing, Brian claims that Utah causes dry crusties in his nose, so living here has guaranteed less nose picking for all (I won't tell him I wrote that if you won't). :) 

8. Never work out in the morning.

In my, what I like to call "chubby days", I claimed that working out at night was far more effective than doing a half-hearted workout in the wee hours of the morning. I wonder if I said that because I never did it at all, but I at least thought about it during the course of the day. Hm. We'll never know. I actually don't really think there is an optimal time of day that's best, I think it's just best if it works for you. Morning. 5:45 am works best for me. Kids are asleep. The world is asleep. It's just me and my ugly jumping lunges. And I like it.

9. Speaking of working out, I told myself that there was absolutely no reason for me to ever run over 3.1 miles. A 5k was all this body was built to handle. One thing was even more sure...I would never aspire to even run a half marathon. Never! Well, about 3 weeks ago, I woke up feeling awesome and decided to run a the distance of a 10k. Apparently I had a herniated trigger point in my leg and my inner thigh was in excruciating pain, but I did it....and I ran the whole thing. It wasn't that hard. Now, the goal is a half marathon. I think I might be able to safely say that I will never run a full marathon...but you never know. And then on the flip side, I'm going to safely say that I never want to run a full marathon. That's a lot of miles.

10. Wear socks to bed. I don't really like socks. I don't really like shoes. Thank you to the person who invented sandals and flip-flops. They are just so easy. I actually find it ironic that I wear socks to bed right now. Why you ask? Because it's SO DARN COLD! Yes! It's cold.....in Texas....and I'm from Utah. It doesn't make any sense at all. Come on Texas! Start acting like yourself. 

And...I'm out.

4 Weeks Ago!?!?!?!?!

What? I haven't written a word in four weeks? That just can't be! I guess it's time to sum up what the last four weeks have consisted of and then do a separate post about why this 4 week phenomena could exist.

Also, there are 33 pictures in this post. I guess we were alive and kicking.

First, Hailey was in a photoshoot for a friend's blog and I must say that these pictures are adorable! The adorable quilt that Hailey is showcasing is also quite adorable and I think she showed it off well. :)

Second, I taught my children how to do "mommy's cool towel trick". I remember thinking this was a major work of art when I was a child and I'm glad my kids are just as thrilled when I do amazing things with their towels as well. 

Fourth, my kids love each other and they're so darn cute when they do. Hailey is becoming more and more excited to play with her siblings and it's fun to watch her chase them around. She's so much slower than they are, so she has to change rooms quite often. When she gets tired, she ends up just sitting on one of their beds until they come back into the room.

Fifth, the age of the capes has commenced. Batman and Elsa are the very best allies chasing the world's most evil villains away.  

Sixth, Texas WAS warm once upon a time. Right now we're freezing beyond freezing (well...for Texans anyway) and I'm soooooo done with it. Anyway, we spent a lot of time in the bike trailer walking to the bus stop to get Claire. This bike trailer....I can't say enough good things about it. It's kind of the best invention ever.

Seventh, Kari, one of my very best high school friends, just happened to be coming through Dallas on their way to visit the law school in Waco. WHAT?! I swear, this was the luckiest friendship reunion ever.....and I ALMOST didn't get a picture of the two of us. Almost. But I did. I guess that's what happens when you're behind the camera always. 

So Anyway, we had such a great time. We made cookies, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, we stayed up too late talking, we talked early in the morning, I re-visited my scary driving from high school and almost merged into a car (I'm a much better driver now, I promise), we loved on her adorable and darling baby (Claire still misses her), and we even had Claire commemorate the whole event by getting a fever....with a 2 month old in the house. Of course. 

Basically I wish they were moving here, but BYU does have a stellar law program.

The only picture of the Squish and me.

COME BACK!!!!!

BFF's. I love how nothing changes between good friends. 

Claire really wanted to ride this kangaroo. She got pretty frustrated when she couldn't climb aboard. 

Eighth. Are we on eighth? Well, Hailey loves to climb....on everything. We have this horrible ledge to our fireplace that is perfect for climbing. She's up there every day and a master of getting up and down. That bin is there because she put a hole in the wall with her head and we haven't patched it yet (don't worry, she didn't even get hurt....the wall was totally squishy soft (that room floods every time it rains)). 

Nineth, we took baths. Yay for clean kids. Oh wait.....we've had two snow days now where we've done nothing? These must be old pictures because we haven't bathed since we touched dirt 10 weeks ago. Just kidding. We love bath time. I think Claire and Jared miss their showers, but since our water bill went up, it's communal baths for all!

See. Baths are more fun anyway. 

If you start to make growling sounds here, then you've gotten the perfect audio with this picture. She always has her tongue out and is always growling.

The extent of Jared's vocabulary as of late. Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

"What color is that?"

"Bumblebee".

"Yellow. Say Yellow."

"Yellow Bumblebee."

Same story for blue, red and optimus prime. 

Our air mattress had a hole in it and apparently it was a super fun toy until it got patched. 

Here she is...waiting for friends to come back. She looks so cute on their beds. 

Ninth: We all made chicken noodle soup together. The kids love to cook and I REALLY wanted them to eat this food, so I let them help me thinking that it would be more fun to eat something that they made. Nope. Same old story. "I don't like chicken." "I don't want these noodles." "I only like big carrots." Ugh. This is when I say sorry to my mother now that I know carrots are the same big or small. 

Tenth: We took pictures of all these random moments. Here is my confession. Once you to manual, you never go back to automatic. Well, these darn yellow/brown walls are terrible! I have to have my external flash on if I want a decent picture and I just don't have time to get all my settings down by the time these moments have passed. So, cheers yellow walls, you make my photography stink.  

Eleventh: Hailey will not wean. Ugh. I'm so done with nursing. Teeth. Ugh. She will, however, be interested in any cup that is on the floor or one that is being used by someone else. If I get her one of her own, it is automatically disgusting and gets thrown across the room. Want milk? Sure, but only to dribble it down the front of her. 

Twelfth: I started teaching piano lessons again. I didn't realize how much I missed it until last Thursday. I'm talking giddy here, folks. I love teaching. Love it.  More excitingly, I also started Claire in the prep course since she's still only 4 and her fingers are so small. I don't usually start kids until they're 6 so they can get some reading skills down, but this girl is pretty good at reading and she LOVES homework. What? Not kidding. She sat down and did her theory book for 40 minutes and only stopped because I made her. She loves learning it so far and is always asking to do more. 

And, last but not least, thirteenth: We have had two snow days (hoping for a third...I like sleeping in). Haha. See that "snow"? It's actually little ice balls. I don't know, maybe Texans actually think this stuff is snow. I was super disappointed when I went out to touch it. Made me just want to stay inside in my pj's...which is exactly what I did. Claire and Jared went outside until their hands were to cold. They ventured back inside and ran straight to their beds to get warm. 

It doesn't take long to get accustomed to warm weather, does it?

And....you wouldn't think I'd need to elaborate on why I haven't blogged in 4 weeks....but I probably will anyway. :)