Boys of Summer

This one is all about my boys. :)

This one went to a shoe sample sale in downtown Seattle with James (bro-in-law) via kayaking.

Yes you read that right. They kayaked to their shopping destination, bought loads of shoes, and then kayaked back. If you've got to shop, this is the way to do it me thinks.

Next this has nothing to do with summer, because in fact this photo was taken back in February, but I thought it was cute so I am posting it. Preston was 2.5 yrs old, and Taylor was 6 months.

Next, guess who is discovering his world?

He is now pulling himself up to standing position all over the house. His favorite place right now is the piano, because he can reach up and pound on the keys. I LOVE it. Best sound in the world.

He isn't walking yet, and he's not crawling - though he wants to soooooo bad. He gets up on his knees and almost crawls. He is so close. But since he's so talented at scooting, he's a little behind schedule on crawling.

With that said though, he is climbing stairs. Not my favorite thing, because we don't use stair gates. This morning I found him 3 stairs up! He's not exactly stable enough to be trusted alone on the stairs and so I've been trying to put up baracades in front of the stairs, but he still manages to find a way through. The boy has no fear.

We had Edward Cullen hair day at our house.

He might be a bit dirty, but cute no less, right?

Ah, the boys of summer. This picture just says it all.

This one too.

Taylor loved getting wet. Preston, not so much.

This next picture - hee hee. So funny. Those cheeks.

This is one happy, wet, sweaty, sunkissed babe.

And since you are wondering, I shall now take a moment to tell you that the sale on the house we're renting did NOT go through. And so what this means is we're still here for a while longer. Apparently the home inspector found some mold issues among other things and the buyer got skiddish and ran.

So, on the one hand, it was good because we weren't finding anything to rent yet. But on the other, Will still has a bummer of a commute for a while. Friday it took him a very very long time to get home. He left work at 4pm and didn't get home until almost 9pm, after several bus connections and a train. Crazy.

That's all folks. Thanks for checkin' in with the Thomas Family.

Beach!

Yesterday, we had home inspectors, realtors, and the buyer over at our place and so we sort of got "kicked out". So we packed a picnic and went to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa!

It was actually very, very hot. We roasted.

Taylor had fun dirtying himself up in the seaweed covered ocean. :) He loved it.

He sort of got really wet.

In other news, the boys have matching pajamas.

The End. For now.

Red Carpet Dresses

All right ladies (and interested gentlemen).

So me + red carpet event = need an amazing dress.

However,

Me + being Mormon with a modest dress code = Not a whole lot of cute options.

However, I've been eyeing a few websites where they tailor make gowns for you. There are two sites that I am a huge fan of. One is called eDressit.com and they are an eBay powerseller (so their store is on the eBay site). They do a lot of couture knock-offs and celebrity red carpet look-a-likes. And their quality is top notch, shipping is inexpensive and fast, AND get this, they will also send additional material if needed (to make it more modest).

However,

I actually am really loving the online site called dressesshop.com. They are also another online personal tailored dress shop with couture and celebrity gown look-a-likes, but they don't go to the extent as the other shop when it comes to sending you additional material, etc. So I am bummed about that, BUT, I think they have way cuter options when it comes to "modest" dresses. Modest meaning, they will work with some very slight alterations.

So here are just a few dresses that I have found so far. Keep in mind, that I won't be so, uh, "fluffy" by November because I've been busting my rear to lose my pregnancy weight. I've lost 12 pounds since June, and have been working out 6 days a week, 3 days with a personal trainer. So these dresses are in my mind on me as hopefully being a good 30 pounds lighter by November.

This one works really well, with the exception of needing to add a little material in the back. Pastel pink usually looks really well on me, and so this is one of my top picks. I love the "belt" and the sleeves, and it looks very elegant.

I'm not so much a fan of this one, but I thought that that nude colored material with the sequined shoulder was a really nice idea. The dress can also come in any color I want. Maybe I just don't like the color or the way the model looks in it. Oh, and Will says this is a "pooch" dress, as in even if you only weigh 90 pounds your stomach will still pooch out in it.

This next dress I'm actually considering for some of my album photoshoots. My style is a Chic-Modern-Jane Austen'ish style with updated accessories, makeup, and hair. So it's not really one I'd wear on the red carpet, but I just had to share.

This next one I LOVE LOVE LOVE, however it only comes in white and I can't seem to convince myself that it wouldn't look somewhat bridal. However, it does bear a strong resemblance to the dress Audrey Hepburn wore to the ball in "My Fair Lady", which might be why I'm in love with this dress.

This next one is another Jane Austen dress that I love (comes in any color). I love the beautiful lace sleeves and the sheer material with the lace etching along the bottom of the skirt portion. Again, not exactly red carpet material, but for the album yes.

This next one is lovely, and again, you can order it in any color. However, I don't know that it would look good in any color. Can you imagine it as black lace over red material? But the grey looks great...but not sure if I want to really wear black on the red carpet. I want to stand out a little more. Oh, and some material would need to be added to the sleeves, and back.

This last one is very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it would work with my body type. It's lovely from the front, but from the back side it goes straight down. I think they should have added some more of the drapery on the backside as well. But from the front it's very nice.

So, I also need a separate dress for the before/after parties and it would be more of a cocktail dress. I really love this one below to the right, however, I would order it in BLACK and perhaps pair it with some red heels or something. And then since the pink one is the front runner for now, I attached it to the pic.

I still have a lot of time though, and I'm sure new dresses will continually be added to these sites so when/if I find more options, I'll post them.

I'm friends with Jenny Oaks Baker on Facebook, and she and I have talked a lot about modest fashion. She always has the cutest concert performance dresses. It is really hard to find modest formal gowns that don't look like the typical Utah prom dress. Obviously, we're looking for something more grown-up and chic. She told me she buys the dress that she likes, no matter if it's sleeveless or whatever - as long as it's the DRESS she loves. But she buys TWO of them and then has a very good seamstress cut up the 2nd dress and add sleeves, backing, or whatever. Some of these dresses are not cheap either. I don't know that I could afford to buy two of each, so I'm trying to find ONE that would work with alterations. :)