Stars & Stripes

I hope everyone had a Happy Independence Day! We are so blessed to have independence, freedom, and a wonderful country to live in. I feel a special feeling this July because one of my cousins is serving in the US Navy so it brought a new sense of personal pride to the holiday for me- and I'm sure the rest of my family. Carly has only met her cousin once while he was on leave, and we are SO anxious for her to see him again soon :)

I hope you are all enjoyed your holiday with some BBQin', drinks, and fun people! John worked that day, so we actually celebrated the 3rd of July by spending the day at the beach! This was a very big deal because it was Carly's first time at the beach!!!

She was totally mesmerized by the waves and immediately started babbling about how cool they were (well, that's how we interpreted it)! She never fussed out by the water and was never scared of the waves crashing up, which made for a perfect first experience....especially when you just never know what sort of reaction a baby will give you with something new- good, bad, or otherwise!

The weather was nice, no sun which was a bummer, but it allowed me to focus more on watching Carly take in every new moment rather than being concerned with my tan, ha! What can I say, I'm not a bad mom for wanting a little we color....but it was a perfect day even without tan lines.

She was perfectly content taking in all the sights....so long as we didn't keep pushing the sand thing. Let's just say Carly wasn't wild about the sand. Whenever we put her feet in the softer sand, she just kept backing into us trying to get out....such a little diva. She didn't mind the hard sand up by the water, but that soft stuff was just not going to happen!

That's okay, the waves provided all the necessary entertainment.

Our 3rd of July outfits were perfect, stars & stripes, and as usual, we coordinated :) John thinks the way I shop is hilarious: Carly's outfit comes first, then I MUST find something to coordinate for holidays! That's the rules of being a new mom right? I'm pretty sure I read something about that in What to Expect....

Anyone else just dying over that smile??

Carly's dress was from Target and I made her hairbow. I'm kind of obsessed with her denim bow....I was mildly freaking out as I was making it! I already have plans for a few other styles of denim bows because they are JUST. SO. CUTE.

My dress was also from Target...

It is actually a swim cover up I think, or at least that was the section it was in. It is so so soft, I am very happy with it and have already worn it a few more times!

Another great part of our 3rd of July celebrating was the shopping it entailed! We wandered up to the shops off the beach and got to pick up a few fun items! I was so excited to go into Lush and pick up a few of my favorites:

The Ocean Salt Scrub, my absolute favorite face scrub! It feels so nice on my skin, I love the smell, and it's so pretty!!!

(This is before it's mixed up, but I just had to get a picture while it was still fresh because it look so cool!)

I also got another Buffy, which is the most amazing secret weapon :) It exfoliates you AND moisturizes you in the shower, allowing you to skip the lotion step after the shower. I love you Buffy. You are such a perfect addition in my routine! I love the smell of Lush filling my home...(and shower!)...mmm!

If you shop in Lush (or ever get the opportunity to), you seriously need to try one of these!

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and continuing to have a wonderful month of July!