Dress: Altar’d State | Jewelry: Joinique

Photos by Lauren Wrigley Photography

I looooove these photos.  Seriously anything that includes wilderness+no shoes+flowy dress just speaks to me in a way I can’t describe, I just feel “Free Spirited”  And I’m so happy to have these pictures to capture those moments to hold on to.  Lauren is so much fun to shoot with.  She and my sister are probably my two favorite people to shoot with.  We are just on the same page with our visions, and we just have fun and get adventurous, I love it!  That’s seriously what you need in a photographer.
Also this dress!  OMG  it’s perfect. Ya’ll know that I’m a sucker for anything bohemian. I’ve been wearing this dress way more than is probably natural lol.  It’s from Altar’d State (which is probably my knew favorite store of all time!)  And there could not be a better title “Altar’d State” for today’s theme.

Ok, now please tell me that I’m not the only less than perfect mom out there, who has breakdowns and just starts crying in front of their 2 year old?
Well the other day I had one such experience.  Now I’m telling this story, not because I’m desperate to relive it-HECK NO- but because Kylie ended up doing something so sweet, and so adult like that it just melted my heart and made me feel better.
So give you some context of the situation.  There a million things I needed to get done that day.  Take the car in, pick up some groceries, drop off some library books, let Kylie pick out new books (of course).  These all sound simple right?  Well throw a teething, allergy inflicted, nearing nap time, toddler in the mix and it’s not so simple.  Oh and did I mention it was pouring rain?  Kylie was alright when I got the groceries, and even great when I waited for the car.  But at the library something snapped and she started one of her “Terrible Two” fits.  I’m talking throwing herself on the floor, not wanting to be held, not wanting to be put down, all the while screaming so loud people on the floor above could hear her.  So I’m holding a screaming baby in one arm (FIY my left arm has gotten STRONG since becoming a mom woohoo!) checking out books w/the other.  Go outside and it’s pouring, and no, we don’t have an umbrella.  I managed to get her in the car, but she doesn’t stop throwing her fit all the way home, because now she’s ticked that we left the library……….I don’t get it…….

Ok so here is where it became too much.  I have to roll down the window to scan my gate card to get into our complex, because I guess my place hasn’t discovered clicker key chains….and of course, the wet window now won’t roll back up!  So I’m pulling on the window with one hand trying to get it roll up, driving with my knees (I know dangerous, but i was going 5 mph) baby is screaming in the backseat, rain and wind are shooting through the open window.  The window’s not budging, so I hurry and park (thank goodness we have a car port).  I ended up using a hoodie I had in the back seat to grip the window, and push the button to roll it up at the same time.  It finally rolls up, but water is everywhere!  So I used that same hoodie to wipe the door down, and of course my white hoodie now has BLACK smudges of who knows what all over it.
Get out of the car (Kylie is still crying), gather up my purse, books, grocery bags, water bottle and baby.  Run through the rain, when I get to the door, my keys are in an awkward way that I can’t reach them, and if I were to put anything down, everything would fall.  Somehow after a what felt like too long I unlocked the door, barely making it inside without dropping everything because Kylie was kicking and squirming.  Finally I lost it.  I started bawling I was so frustrated, and wet, and tired!  I was crying pretty hard.  Harder than I intended to.  Kylie saw me and looked really confused.  She softened her own sobbing then came over and wrapped her arms around me (insert awwww and melting hear here).  She even started patting my back.  After that I was able to get myself together.  Give Kylie some food, read a book, and put her down for a nap.
Does any of this story sound familiar.  I hope moms everywhere realize that this whole mom thing is difficult.  And there’s no shame in having a break down now and again.

“You can tell more about a person by what they say about others than you can by what others say about them.”

-Audrey Hepburn