Fall Fashion Week - Thursday

Got one quick pic of what I was wearing today!

Why this is watermarked...I don't freakin know. But I needed to increase my chances for winning the big prize so NO time for changes ;]
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Ross
Necklace: Amber necklace for the win

Go check out what all these other pretty ladies were wearing this week!

Togetherness Anxiety Caused by Separation Anxiety

[I've been editing ALL. WEEK. So I haven't had any time to do Fall Fashion week :[ so bummed!]

Right now I'm in the thick of it with Norah. On top of the normal six month [holy crap :[ she's six months old!] old "If you are more than two feet away from me I might die, or at least cry like I am" I'm having to constantly deal with her little cheeks :[
I actually was able to put her in her crib one night, but when I got up to get her in the wee morning, I didn't notice that when she woke up crying she scratched up her cheeks so bad her pillow case and sheet were blood stained :[ I've restricted my diet so much, it's really getting to me. It's not like when you're trying to lose weight. If I cheat, Norah suffers terribly, it's not like I just won't get to a goal any faster or something. I've lost all 30 pounds of the pregnancy plus 15 because of the diet. BUT I'm struggling because I know how wonderful real dairy and eggs are for you. Ugh. This is a constant issue in my head right now.

BUUUUT
Hopefully I'll be getting a break! We're going on a mini vacation to Austin tomorrow :]
I get to hang out with this lady

And this lady

[she's gonna kill me]

So these ladies

and this lady

and these babies

All get to hang out!
There will be lots of vegan food with a side of steak, pedicures, baby playing, hotel pool swimming, room trashing, tons of pictures and most likely a tad bit of poop and blood that follow the Burkes everywhere ;]

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Mae

Our Weekend in Pictures: Mama Can't Cook

Ok, I can.
And I do. ALWAYS.
But I was not feelin it this weekend.
We were supposed to make pizza Friday night.

We went to the chiro's to get adjusted and afterwards, I was just not feelin messin' with dough.
SO we got Cafe Medi.

Saturday I woke up at 5:45 to play with new editing software I got [Shoot me in the face. Hate/Love this side of digital photography] Headed out to a shoot at 8, shot til 10, went to JBF [and KILLED 42 items including pjs, pants, shirts, sweaters, coats, tights, leggings, onesies, and shoes! for $140] Came home, ate lunch, cleaned house, went to another shoot at 5 shot til 7 and was like. Shit. I have to make pizza. Passed a BBQ place and was like...YES that's what I want. Called Eamon to get Lily dressed [Norah was screaming her head off with me]

 ribalicious

That BBQ place was apparently the most popular place in town so we went to another and it was DAMN good. They just got done with a rush so they didn't have much left so they basically gave us a bunch of free food. It was fantastic.

This is what Lily decided to wear when she got ready for bed :]
Eamon went to get her the next morning when she woke up and found this :

Sunday we did the Central Market thing. By last night I chugged my cider before my pizza was even halfway done, put the girls to bed, and called it a night!

This week I've got to edit all of this weekend's sessions to get ready for our weekend in Austin. We've actually never taken Lily! It was supposed to be a me and Norah trip but I couldn't leave them with no car and...shh, I still have never spent a night without Lily! SO I decided to make a family trip out of it :]


I'll be back later with some Fall[ish] Fashion
Happy Monday!

Fall Fashion Week - Sunday

All mom's go to the grocery store in sheer tops don't ya know... ;]

Norah & Lily are wearing
Norah [she has eczema for my non regular readers]
Bow: Made
Cord Dress: Consigned
Diaper: Peed in
Lily
Top: OshKosh Consigned
Tights: Consigned
Way frikkin cute shoes not pictured: Consigned

Today I'm wearing: [please ignore the dumb face and spit up on clothes.]
Flowers: Made
Top: Ruche gifted
Pants: Land's End gifted [these were my "one day when I'm skinny enough I'll get to wear these" pants. AND THEY'RE BIG!!!]

I'm pretty sure within the next two days my outfits are going to come to a screeching halt ;]
Happy weekend all!

Fall Fashion Week - Saturday

Welp, I've followed this for years but never actually done it...

So I figured, WHY THE HECK NOT?!
SURELY I can come up with one week's worth of decent outfits. Here's outift #1 fit for Texas Fall.

Bow: Made
Shirt: Gifted
Shorts: Old Navy
Belt: Thrifted
Shoes: Should be thrown away Target

JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS is today! I get to go buy my lady babies lots of pretty new clothes for Fall/Winter.

Uh...

I was writing about how exhausted I am...but I'm seriously too exhausted.
Back on FB, already regretting it.

This is what Norah is up to now.

You can see more of "Norah Grows" series here.

I've got shoots and baby girls clothes shopping this weekend, what about you?

TGIF
Mae

Our Weekend in Pictures: Summer's winding down

Friday:
Holy smokes people, we saw The Lion King.
I was extremely excited to take Lily to see it. It was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, I was thrilled that it came back out :]

After the movie was over we walked outside to an amazing downpour. We were supposed to make pizza, but we decided to go to Freebird's instead. How can you go wrong with The Lion King and burritos? [Lily's been roaring all weekend, hilarity.]

Saturday:

While I was getting ready for a friend's birthday brunch, Lily decided to get all dressed up too ;]

Later that evening, Eamon had a [long ass] business call which left me trying to get the girls to stay quiet for THREE HOURS. So...while I was supposed to be making pizza for dinner, Eamon said we should go out. So to Southlake we went for Central Market!

Sunday:
I actually took the girls out all by myself to the grocery store, it went so smoothly! Thank you, Jesus.
I got lots of editing done, made some FANTASTIC golden chicken broth and then made pizza for dinner :]

Right as we were getting Lily ready for bed, it started pouring outside again :] Lily and Eamon went out on the stairs and watched. Gah, I love them.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
Happy Monday,
Mae

Blogher? I hardly know her!

So...

Looks like I'm going to be a part of the Blogher publishing network. Cool HUH?
I've been super busy editing this week but wanted to let you know that this little ol' blog's gonna get a makeover soon :]

First up will be the addition of  a "Norah Grows" page :]
Go check her out, she's frikkin adorable.

Our Weekend in Pictures: Fall is Here...Almost

Friday I started working out again. It's freakin tough, especially living upstairs and having to haul this thing up and down the stairs every day, but we'll see. Having thighs that don't touch might be worth it ;]

I let Lily listen to Eamon's iPod to keep her busy.

Saturday I had TWO shoots at the ass crack of dawn and when I got back Eamon went to Wichita Falls for the day. So there are no pictures to share, lol. It was long, tiring, and aggravating ;] My computer had ZERO memory on it left so I had to wait to get an external hard drive for it. Who knew my pictures were taking up 75 gigs...lalalala.

Sunday was the tenth anniversary of September 11th. My mind had been reeling all night thinking about that day, about the way my world has changed since then, what I think about the "never forget" mentality, the "us versus them" mentality...all of it. Well anyway. We got in the car to head to Central Market, as our usual weekend schedule dictates. NPR and mostly everyone else was playing different coverage of memorial services. [Go check out this week's broadcast of This American Life] So we get to Central Market and get in line at the cafe for lunch. We see the cashier standing where she usually does. Every time we come in she lights up and totally falls for Lily. She's always so nice and gives Lily special treatment :]
I noticed immediately she was having a rough day. Her eyes were puffy, her hair was kinda messy, she looked really distracted. And she wasn't wearing her Hijab.
I almost started crying for her. She almost always has it on, especially on Sunday's, but because of everyone's heightened ethnic/racial sensitivity yesterday, she wasn't allowed to keep her modesty. My heart broke for her. I thought "Would her employers make her take her scarf off if she were Jewish on Good Friday?" We ordered our food, sat down and ate. I asked Eamon if he noticed and he even said that it looked like she was having a rough day. I couldn't get her off of my mind.


















I asked Eamon to get Lily started shopping while I went to the restroom, when I came out, I went back to the ordering line. When she had a minute I pulled her close and hugged her. I whispered in her I was sorry that she wasn't allowed to wear her hijab, and that I was looking forward to seeing her pretty scarves. I told her I was praying for her [safety and peace] for the day and that she was loved. She choked back tears and said "No, it's ok, I'm ok...I'll be ok. Thank you." and she went back to her station.
I know she get's looks every time we're in there and she's wearing her pretty scarves, and I know every year must be hard for her, but I can't begin to imagine what she [and other Muslims] went through yesterday. It's hard to say you wouldn't look at them or treat them differently. I mean, I DID!

At the beginning of this year, one of my goals was to be a kinder, more loving person. When I was sitting on the toilet at Central Market, I felt Jesus tell me to hug my sister, regardless of how awkward it seemed, because if He was there with me, it wouldn't be. He was right.

[Lily. Hates pictures.]

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, can you feel Autumn in the air?! It's coming soon!

Happy Monday,
Mae

Coconut, Chamomile & Lavender Soothing Scrub

This is Norah. She's adorable.

And has eczema.

Many people are of the belief that eczema has undetermined origins, and that it is uncurable without the aid of a perscription. Through LOTS of research and elimination dieting, we have learned that Norah's rash comes from eggs and dairy. This particular breakout was from almost two weeks ago when I had Indian food and took a unknowing abso-freakin-lutely damn good bite of paneer cheese. Symptoms can take up to a week to show up and up to three weeks to calm down.
In the meantime, Norah's left with red, cracked, pusing, sometimes bloody, scabby, easily infected sores on her face :[ I've been cleaning her face with colloidal silver to prevent or cure infection, and coconut oil to sooth/moisturize. But, it just isn't enough of a soother as I'd like. Norah often is kept up at night by scratching her itchy face, so I found out that chamomile and lavender are both natural soothers. Any good quality essential oils that I've found are just too expensive so I'd given up. UNTIL I had a brilliant idea-TEA!! So last night I started experimenting after buying some tea from central market. Here's my recipe for an amazing lotion/scrub/smelly good concoction to sooth, lightly exfoliate, reduce redness and reduce swelling for your little one's rash.
Note ***I ain't got my medical degree. Or any degree as a matter of fact. Don't ever put anything on your child's skin that they have an allergy to [I do know some babies who are allergic to coconut oil], and always consult your family health care provider before making any changes in your baby's health :]

What you'll need:

• Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
• Organic Chamomile & Lavender tea from Traditional Medicinal
• spoon & bowl to stir ingredients together
• container to keep your finished product in

I cleaned out an old Burt's Bees hand creme jar, but I'm sure a baby food jar or even tupperware container would work great :] Just make sure to clean it out REALLY well!

I found that for every tea bag you use, four teaspoons of cold coconut oil are needed. Sidenote- DON'T microwave or otherwise heat up your coconut oil to "get it out of the jar." Just spoon it out! Every time it heats up, it's nutritional value goes down. Coconut oil is ideal to use because of how lotion-like it already is. It will melt some while you are using it, then when it cools down in the jar it becomes solid and doesn't separate from the tea :]

Pour in your tea over your oil [I used two tea bags and 8 teaspoons of oil to fill my jar]

Stir well until there aren't any lumps in the oil and the tea looks evenly incorporated :]

Spoon into your container

 Now apply to your cute little baby's cheeks and let them play. They don't have to be naked, but it's preferable for cute pictures.

Leave on...well, I just left it on her all night last night, but for this I left it on for 30 mins or so. I could tell immediately that the swelling went down, all of the dead skin was gently exfoliated, and Norah was much more settled :] I think this well be a great addition to our bedtime routine!

So try it out and let me know how it works for your baby!

Happy Monday friends! Hope you had a great weekend :]
Mae