I'll love you forever

There is a beautiful book titled I'll Love You Forever. My mom gave me this book for Christmas when I was 10. She read it with tears in her eyes. I didn't really understand the magnitude of the message until I had Piper. 

I will love my Mom forever. 

I will like her for always. 

As long as I am living. 

My Mom she will be. 

Taken from the book: 

"When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang... I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

 As I look at Piper each day, I realize there is nothing that could change my love for her.
I really will love her forever. 
And as long as I am alive, she will be my baby. 

On Friday we went shopping!

My mom excels at many things, but I would say her top three are home decor, baking, and styling. When she comes to visit I make sure I put all three talents to work :)

My mom has an excellent sense of style and is great at putting together colorful and interesting outfits on a budget. She is also an excellent shopper with an eye for details and pieces that can tie outfits together. I, on the other hand, am a basic shopper. I make sure I always have khakis, jeans, black pants, colorful camis, and good shoes. I need my mom to step in and add the fun clothing items that can amp up my basics into something interesting.

We started at old navy. Graphic tees are a staple in my life and I love the look of a graphic tee under a blazer for work and of course, the standard graphic tees and jeans are weekends. I have also seen graphic tees styled with a skirt on J's site. It's an interesting look and something I might try this fall. Old Navy currently has these bad boys on sale for $10 if you are interested. I have to say I am completely in LOVE with the embellished heels on this one!

Mom also found this cropped peacoat blazer at Old Navy. The denim is a nice touch of casual, but I can totally see this becoming dressed with a cute dress and heels. It also has a cute pleat in the back.

Our next stops included DSW, Forever 21, Lululemon, and Black House/White Market. If Mr. R. were made of money I could have done some SERIOUS damage... BHWM was home to the black and white chevron skirt.

The other three skirts hale from the house of A.  Anthropologie is my favorite store of all time. If they would let me I would set up home between the racks and never leave. I always joke about trying to work their part time just to soak up the style. They are currently having a HUGE clearance sale and most everything is 50% off. I love the yellow pattern on this tan skirt.

I may not be ready to head back to work in two weeks, but I am ready to start wearing more than running shorts and a ribbed tank top. I feel like one of my students, already planning that first day outfit!

Laundry laundry everywhere...

 You would think with this amount of clothes needing to be washed, dried and folded our closet and drawers would be empty. Yet, I fully clothed and I haven't resorted to wearing bathing suit bottoms as underpants. 

Mr. R. wants to know... if we have SO MANY clean clothes around the house where in the world are his dress socks? My theory is our dryer eats them. 

Bathing Beauty!

Mom is in town and we are making every moment count! We have spent our mornings walking 5 miles, our afternoons in the pool, and our evenings at my grandparents enjoying good conversation and dessert. I can't believe she has been here for one week already! We only have her for 7 more days so I plan to pack in as much family time as possible. I see a trip to downtown, cupcakes, the outlets, and some crafting in our future. Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

If you happen to be in our neighborhood around 7:00 PM on most evenings you will see our family parade. Sophie always has to be in front, followed by Mr. R. He is usually dragging Simon behind him because Simon would rather be carried than have to walk. Next, is Piper in her bright orange stroller. And then I bring up the rear since it's my job to push the bright orange stroller.

All we need is a marching band and a few baton twirlers and our parade will be complete. 

Piper's Library!

10 boxes.

2 boxes arrived in January.

Another 3 boxes arrived last Monday.

5 more boxes arrived Thursday.

Those boxes contain my childhood.

Bernstein Bears, Richard Scarry, Dr. Seuss, and Charlie Brown.

Golden books, Little Miss & Mr. Men, and American Girls.

My parents are educators. 

My Christmas stockings and Easter baskets contained new books.

Our nights were spent reading. 

And I have never been more excited about sharing a piece of my childhood with Pip.

Tonight I pulled three books to read before bed. And she was zonked out by book two. 

(It was lovely)

This is what working from home looks like.

I don't know if I have shared this on the blog before, Mr. R. works from home. He spends his days in an office in the back of our home working on spreadsheets and trying to spend the governments money. His title is Senior Research Market Analyst. If you ask him what he does he will tell you he is in federal procurement.

What he doesn't tell you is that he also spends his days rocking our daughter, eating pancakes with me, walking our dogs, washing a load of clothes, talking to me while I stretch after a run, making lunch, and sometimes putting away groceries and going for long walks on his lunch break. 

I know his days will not always be like this. I know that someday soon he will leave his office in our home and spend his days wearing a suit, instead of jeans, and making a morning commute instead of pancake breakfasts. So right now I will cherish our time together.