i love me some KEDS

Back in the day I thought of Keds as mom shoes, then while I was in college, I found a pair of cute slip-on Keds at a discount store for $10 and snatched them up. I was ecstatic when I found that they were comfortable as comfort and shoes were two words I never used together in a sentence. (I was still trying to find a husband at that point, so comfort had to be sacrificed for beauty..... ironically, it wasn't until I stopped trying to impress and started dressing for fun and comfort that I did find my hubby.) Later that year I found another pair of Keds at the same discount store and bought them immediately. To this day, my Keds are some of my favorite shoes and I haven't paid more than $12 for a pair... not because I refuse to, but because I keep finding them at discount stores. Well, the day I may end up paying full price is drawing near because Keds has come out with some pretty fabulous summer styles and colors and I want to get my hands on them... or rather my feet in them... before they are discontinued. Cute, comfortable shoes cannot be denied access to my feet.

EATING like a queen

I have been eating like a queen for the last few weeks. Hubby has made steel-cut oats with cinnamon, apples, and cherries (now I never want to return to my mirowaveable oatmeal!), dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with coconut, peanut butter cookies with dark chocolate chips (we like dark chocolate- Ghirardelli dark chocolate to be exact), BabyCakes NYC cornmeal peach muffins (the recipe adds ginger, but I don't like ginger), and a host of other things. When I married my handsome guy almost 4 years ago, I had no idea I married a chef! Score!

the KITCHEN view

Despite the crack in our front door that lets spiders and rollypollies roam free in our living room, the slant of every interior surface that gives me a headache if I focus on it too hard, the spring pollen that lets itself into our home and noses, and the paper thin windows that allow us to hear every crackle of every leaf at every hour of the night... I truly love living here for sights such as this- the view out my kitchen window yesterday.

MATCHY-matchy

I'm not one for mother/daughter matching, but if I could get my hands on these in my size too, I might just change my mind this once.

america's next top HAIRSTYLE

I admit to being an America's Next Top Model addict. I've seen every cycle and manage to jinx my favorites every year. They never win. Poor girls. It's all my fault. You know how you have a secret "If only I had done or tried such and such" dream? Maybe a sport or art form or career? ANTM is my "I wish I had done that". I don't really wish I had done modeling but I wish I could see how it would turn out in a "Choose your own adventure alternate ending" sort of way. So I love to watch ANTM to live vicariously through the girls... and to see the amazing photography and fashion. I'm not so much a fan of the drama, but I love the cycles where the girls actually seem to get along. So there you go- I love the show. I watched the entire Cycle 14 yesterday (not my favorite) and found my new hairstyle! (Yes... all this talk is to show you a haircut.)

My hair has grown out from the pixie cut into a choppy chin length shag. I'm rocking my natural waves and hair color and am loving having a low maintenance 'do for once, but it needs a little fine tuning. Ren's cut is just perfect. I'm going to add some bangs and define the layers a bit more and I'll have myself a new mommy cut. I'm pretty excited to have found a new cut so easily. Maybe I'll post a pic when it's done... after I get a chance to leave the little darling with a grandparent and can actually make it to an appointment. I guess ANTM is good for a little more than daydreaming this year.

such a BEAUTIFUL FACE

Photos by April Christine Photography

I just have to share a close-up of my beautiful girl. I can't get enough of that face! What a blessed woman I am to be a mother on this Mother's Day!

welcome to the world, ADELAIDE

Photo by April Christine Photography

On April 27th at 3:23pm, after an attempted natural labor turned emergency c-section, Adelaide Meriwether Grace entered the world at 6 lbs 9 ounces and 18.5 inches. She is more beautiful than I could have imagined and is the sweetest milk-guzzler you'll ever meet. Hubby and I are so thankful for our surprise gift from God. One of these days I will return to blogging a bit more regularly, but for now- I'm hanging out with my little girl and learning how to survive on no sleep and next to zero time without her latched onto me. If she wasn't so cute, I might completely lose my mind... ; )