Pippi Sock Mama

First Friday at Pippi's

2012-02-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

I went into this Friday knowing I had a full plate and I was un-sure of what to expect.

For a day that started rough (it was a shit fest...no literally, it was). After spending 30 precious minutes trying to figure out what to wear (nothing fit right, you know how it goes...) I picked up Zoey to change her diaper and it was a poo-sploshion, which I didn't notice until it was too late and my white sweater arm was covered in poo. When I day begins like that I become wary but, the rest of the day was lovely. Rowan, Zoey and I went to work at Pippi's. Ro got to play with some friends at the park and Zo took a short nap while I wore her. Work was great, sun was shining and our store wide sale kept us busy.

The girls and I left for a afternoon break when Nicole came in.

We recharged at home and headed back for Grammy's book signing First Friday event.

It has been a while since I have been able to hang out and enjoy First Friday at Pippi's usually I am home doing bedtime with the girls. But Pops came down and picked the girls up and took care of dinner and bed for me (yeah, he rocks;) and I was able to mingle with customers, chat with old friends and talk up my Grammy's book, (which by the way is pretty great, and very well suited for young readers age 9 and up.)

Written by Grammy & illustrated by Mom!

A long day but a good day. Ro and I went back Saturday to support Grammy and mom while they sold and signed more books. Rowan is such a little grown up these days, turning three soon...I am excited to watch her grow but sometimes I miss her baby days too. Anyway I better stop rambling and go help Pops prep for his Super Bowl party. Happy Sunday!

Sleep in Saturday success!

2012-01-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

So Pops and I have made a deal. We each get to sleep in one day a week (he may choose to golf instead, on his morning.) Anyway I get Saturday and he gets Sunday. We have been doing this for maybe a month now and I love it!!! He gets up at 6 or 7 whenever the girls do (with minimal poking and prodding.) They get to have a nice morning together until Zoey needs a nap (around 10ish) then he brings her back to bed with me she naps and I start my day! Awesome, I have not slept in this much since college! And the icing on my super morning cake, as I type he is making breakfast, or brunch for us!
We also had a break in the rain yesterday and it turned out to be a good day at Pippi's, the sun is shining today so I hope that it is nice and busy!
I can't wait to stop in today because the Pippsters tell me we got new SockSmith socks! I know there are some great new designs in there for this season, yay new socks!!!
Happy weekend and I hope some of you got to sleep in too.

And...two months later...

2012-01-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I completely let the blog go these past few months and after the new year I kept thinking that I would get to it, but I have just not been inspired to write. So to jump start me into action, how about a montage!
Here goes, the last few months in photos:

Rowan always the helper, loves doing dishes for me.

At our favorite stop on our rounds downtown.

Zoey and the cats are tight.

Zoey ate her first real food! She was apprehensive.

Unsure...

and not a really a fan at first.

And then it began... Christmas time!
I love the holidays, the cheer and the spirit of giving, I am a big sap for the wonder of Christmas.
So this year was AWESOME! Rowan was so into the decorations, the stories and soaking in all the magic of the season I really had a blast sharing this holiday with her.

Pippi's holiday window.

Rowan was excited about meeting Santa, but unsure what he meant when he asked what she wanted for Christmas (we didn't talk about getting gifts or the idea that you can ask for specifics, I think she will come to that on her own.) So seeing the confusion on her face he asked if she would like a candy cane...I don't think I have ever seen someone so blown away by a candy cane! She talked about the candy cane Santa gave her for weeks!

Zoey's first stroller ride!

This house is two down from us, they play holiday music and the lights flash to the beat!
We walked down to see the lights many nights this season.

Tea time in the yard.

Pops was off work for two whole weeks! The girls and I tried to soak in all time we could.
The girls like to start early...

Stockings on Christmas morning.

Cuteness.

Play-doh in the yard.

Tea with friends.

Family time.

My sister was home, Yay!
She is back at school again but we had a great visit and Rowan got to play with her wonderful auntie a lot.


And finally the rain is here...we are ready for some puddle jumping!

So, now I am caught up. I hope to keep up a littler better now that the busy season has past.
Oh my gosh I can't believe I forgot, Zoey is totally crawling (all over and that's kind of all she wants to do) and my little girl is gonna be three next month!!!! Can't believe it, but I will probably go into that more later.

All right now I'm done, an odd post, sort of, but that's okay.

Before the Madness...

2011-11-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

Before the madness of this coming week begins, (Pippi's is about to get CRAZY!!!) I wanted to squeeze a post in.
We Have had a lovely week, Pippi's has been busy and is super full of amazing stuff (just the way I like it) tons of new hats and scarves...and duh, socks!
The girls both had check ups and are doing great. As we knew Rowan is petite for her age (but her head is big, pretty sure she gets that from her Pops!) And our little Zoey is in the 95% for height and 90% for weight! Yay, healthy girl, I thought she seemed tall and I guess I was right. The funny thing is that when Rowan was a baby I used to rock with her in our rocker, and around her 1st birthday her feet started to hit the arm rest, I was sad because she was growing up so fast. Now Zoey's feet all ready hit and she is just 5 months!

Also we had a lovely day with two of our little buddies they came over for an afternoon of Lego's, make believe and dancing. Here are some sweet pictures from our play day:

And, woohoo, Zoey can sit up by herself now! She is loving being a part of the action.

Little Z's playing<3

Zoey's hand is waving in front of the camera but the girls look so sweet I had to include it.

Blurry dancing hugs.

So, now I have to prep for shopping madness, I am super excited! I love this time of year! See you at Pippi's, (and don't forget to come in soon for the best gift selection before Christmas!)

Sprout Island

2011-11-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

I am trying to soak in all the sun we have left. Yesterday when I told Rowan we were headed home and she said that she really wanted to go to "Sprout Island" I said "Oh, that sounds fun...Do you think Sprout Island is in the back yard or the front yard?" Thankfully she went for it and said back yard. So we packed some "supplies" and spread out our blanket in Sprout Island. I just love being outside with the girls. It calms all of us, and we can just be. Here are some pictures from Sprout Island:

Rockin' at Pippi's

2011-11-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

So, November is here. I am playing the balancing game big time!

I'm sure everyone struggles with keeping their lives balanced. I feel it more so now that I have a family.
When it was just Marshall and I it was so much easier to balance out my life. Sure, I worked nearly everyday at Pippi's before we moved to our current location; but, when I was at work from 9:00-7:00 almost everyday I always finished my to do lists. When I got home I could just be home, done with work!
These days finding time for my husband between my girls and my sanity is hard enough, add Pippi's into the mix and well, sanity is out the widow.

So, I am only on the floor at the shop three days a week right now; and I take my little Zoey, (I don't think she would stand for more days). I usually go in one night a week to fit in all the stuff I don't get to durring the day. I go after the girls are asleep and work until the wee hours of the night. But, Zoey has started waking up around 10:00pm to nurse, so my all night work sessions are cut short. Today I decided to go in when the girls woke up at 6am. Zoey is a morning girl and she does okay without me for a bit in the mornings.

So I got to Pippi' before the sun this morning and rocked the shop! This is my current morning jam:

So I rocked out and got tons of wonderful new Smarwool out! I love Smartwool and it is Marshall's favorite brand too!

The teal socks on the left are my favorite style this season. That is a pair! They mismatch and are so lovely...I have it in every color (restraint is not one of my strengths).

New styles and re-stocked on everything! (I will take a better picture soon this one is a little blurry from my phone.)

We also have lots of other new styles in, here is a mini pre-view:

Life is Good snuggle socks, super cozy.

Holiday crew socks in our bookshelf.

Ozone socks, this is another one of my favorite lines.

OMG this Ozone sock is amazing, I am so in love with it!

I had a great morning at the shop. I love feeling super productive it just sets me up for a lovely day, which we had (I think I will blog about my family day(s) tomorrow). I headed home after I finished with Smartwool, Miss Elyse came in and worked the floor, and our wonderful customers filled the shop today. Thank you Pippi customers for supporting Pippi's and shopping at a mom and pop shop, we really appreciate your business.

Love Fall

2011-11-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

I love this time of year...the air smells good, and crisp. The weather (here) is actually really nice. We are entering into what some people call "Holiday madness", but I LOVE it! I love helping people gift shop, I love a shop full of customers, full of socks, all my favorite types of socks; Fall colors, cozy goodness, and tights galore!

I Love, super cozy B.ella socks...
What? Cashmere socks you can wash and dry, um yeah that's defiantly something everyone needs.

And I get to do holiday crafts with my girl and enjoy her love and amazement of the world.

Pumpkin, drawn by Rowan & carved by mommy. (I was pretty impressed with her design.)

We have our moments when we struggle, I think that is hard to avoid when spending a lot of time with anyone, (toddler or adult!) But we have been enjoying our days so very much.

On this day we walked up to the high school to meet Pops when he was getting off work. Rowan decided to take Pippi in her stroller.

On my days off we take our morning walk, where we usually swing by Pippi's and say hello, grab a drink at Headlands Coffee house and then say hi to our peeps over at FloBeds. Rowan can pedal on her trike now so she has been riding her bike downtown which has been great.
Zoey is teething, big time, right now so she is chewing on anything and everything that she can get into her mouth and she doesn't want mommy out of her site. On one hand that makes it really hard to get anything done and feel productive, but on the other I love being with her all the time and I want to soak in all the baby goodness that I can before shes all grown up!

Baby sweetness.

Halloween was awesome. Rowan wanted to be a ghost ( i know right? I was super excited to make her some really fun creative costume and she says ghost!) But hey she wanted to be a ghost so what was I gonna do? I made her a super cute ghost costume :

Ro & her friend.
(There is a cute little heart sewn on the ghost costume but you can't see it in this picture.)

I did get a picture of Zoey and I at work earlier in the day...

Okay sure I just wore my regular clothes plus a witch hat, but hey I'm a busy mama...next year I will be more creative!
Gaga gave Zoey the super cute ducky costume, thanks Gaga she was adorable!

We trick or treated down the block and Ro had a great time. Then we me up with our good friends and treated our way back home. The girls played while moms and dads hung out, made and ate yummy tacos, put babies to sleep and passed out candy (to over 900 trick or treaters, - yeah it's crazy on our block).

Who had fun? Ro did!

I worked today and started training a new Pippster! I am excited to add another person to the Pippi fam. After work my girls and I enjoyed a mellow day at home.

Zoey nursed while Ro danced.

and played dress up...

Rowan's friend gave her some wonderful dolly bunk beds and a little chair that she had grown out of and we promtly set them up and put our babies to bed!


Rowan reading a book to her babies in their new bed.

And now my baby is waking, so I am going to rush off and lay with her good night & sweet dreams.

Technology

2011-10-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

Technology and I have a love hate relationship. I hate how technology can distract from life and being in the moment. But, I love being able to check the shop's sales from home on my phone, and I love that this will be the second blog post that I write from my phone, in bed.

Now and then I have a bit of insomnia and I can't seem to shut down. But, I don't really want to get up, or stop cuddling my baby.
So, I can cuddle, stay in bed & be quasi productive.

Back to the moment...
I'm gonna watch my girl sleep and hold her close. Sweet dreams.

Here are some sweet moments from this week, ( totally love the phone & camera combo, yay for that tech!)

Okay, couldn't get the pictures to upload from my phone to the post so 3 days later....yay technology...

Socktoberfest 2011

2011-10-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yes sock lovers it's that time again, October means: Socktoberfest!

This is my favorite time of year; One, because it's fall (yay). Two, because it is super nice in Fort Bragg in October (usually). And three, because Pippi's is packed full of lovely, cozy socks, (also Halloween is pretty cool too).
So come on in before Sockotoberfest is over and enter a chance to win a week worth of socks.
Here is a link to our event on Facebook.

Our Happy Days: In Photos

2011-10-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Mommy is having a hard time making time to write and keep this blog current between Pippi's, blocks, walks, art, gardening, time with Pops and just enjoying my sweet girls. So, quickly, some pictures:

I just love them!

Early morning snuggles.

Tubby at Gaga's.

Dress up fun!

Exploring the garden and collecting nasturtium seeds.

Rowan LOVES making and eating popsicles!

I swear, Zoey was laughing and smiling until the second I tried to take this picture!

Enjoying our Indian Summer with Gaga.

Helping me garden and eating apples from our tree.

Potato heads!

More dress up.

Look at me mom, I'm sitting up! (Kinda)

Okay, so not a lot said but nice to look at right? Anyway, the shop is getting tons of cozy awesomeness in, I will try to do a Pippi post soon, but you can come in and say hi next time you are downtown!

And also, my husband has a web page and he does his own blog. Check it out here. (He did a super cute post today.)

Mommy of Two

2011-09-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well, Pops is back at work, teaching 9th & 12th this year. Every morning this week Rowan has asked, "Where's Pops? Golfing?" All summer if he was out of the house before she woke that's where he was, but I answer no he's at work... She misses him. So do I. But it is also kind of nice to be back to our little routine, my girls and I.
I am back at the shop, only three days on the floor for now, the Pippsters want hours and I am loving my family time. I am so grateful to be able to work Pippi's part time while my girls are little, I miss them the little bit of time that we are apart.
Being a mom of two is a whole new adventure.

I find my largest struggle to be within myself. I want to give them both all the love and attention they deserve, and think I do, but I sure put my little Zoey down more than I ever put baby Rowan down. And Rowan of course can talk and tell me what she needs. And I don't have the luxury of cooing over and gazing at my little Zo all day like I did with Ro. I worry, will the lack of one on one time negatively affect my little babe? I still wear her quite a lot, like I did Rowan, I love her and sing to her (or both of them). But I worry. On the other hand she is going to grow up always knowing the joy of having a sister so I do feel very good about that, and Rowan is very sweet to her.

Well, I guess part of the job is to worry so that's okay. I will post again soon with Pippi pics, we have tons of great new socks in!!!

Shout out to Santa Cruz!

2011-08-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well last weekend the fam headed down to one of our favorite places, the city we met in, Santa Cruz.


Ahh..when we were young.

My dear little cousin (not that little I guess) got married, (we need a good excuse to get out if town these days! We had not been back since we left).

Beautiful Allie<3

It was a beautiful ceremony full of love and joy. My Uncle (her dad) gave a lovely speech, yeah I teared up a bit, and we got to see family that we had nor seen in too long.

It was a tough job to keep the Sprout quite during the ceremony...and her Uncle!

We didn't have a lot of time to play in our favorite city, cause Pops had to get back and get ready for the first day of school, but there were two stops we had to make.

Us at 99 Bottles.

We had lunch at the place we met, 99 Bottles, and visited the Sock Shop and Shoe Company my favorite job (pre-Pippi's of course) and the place my ~~love~~ obsession with socks began. I was hoping to catch E & E the owners ( it was a Saturday so I knew it was a long shot) they gave me my start and training with buying and managing and were supportive when I moved back home to open my own store. They are great people and their shop is amazing. We think of them fondly and wanted to say hi sadly, the big E's were not in but their daughter was working the sock area! It was cool to see her after 5 years, (I hope my girls take an interest in the business).
We shoe shopped of course, spent too much but left happy! We got lucky too, there was a sweet girl working who read Sprout books while we shoe shopped (thanks June!). Anyway, it was a quick trip, but a good one, next time we will have to do a mini Santa Cruz vacation and hit up all our old haunts.

a little snack...

Auntie B trying to amuse Zoey, she is not a fan of the car.

We may wait a while for another car trip though...with potty stops, nursing stops and miscellaneous stops it took us forever to get home!

Lovin' Summer

2011-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Lazy ~~days~~ afternoons.
This summer has been so nice. I can't remember the last time I got to be home an entire day with no errands to run, no quick (hour +) stops to Pippi's, not much going on except family time. (It happens sometimes!) This is the life! And, it has been sunny so we have been able to spend many of our days outside, hooray!

Rowan and I have been gardening.

Daddy and Zoey can rest their eyes<3.

And we get to picnic!

Hooray for sunny summer time!

Happy 1st Month Zoey!

2011-07-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Zoey Mae Carr

A month in pictures:

New to the world,

Sleepy time.

Sister love:

A visit from the Fam:

Love, love, love.

We are loving our new little girl, "little nugget:" as pops calls her. Rowan is great with her and doing really well with sharing mommy and pops with someone new, and we are learning how to juggle...

Loving that we have this summer together, so glad for this time to be a family and enjoy each other.

A Family Work Day.

2011-07-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things don't go as planed, and sometimes if you let it, it can turn out to be something wonderful.

Yesterday, one of the Pippsters called in sick. I got the call at 7am.

We are running the shop pretty thin since I am trying to be on maternity leave(ish). Anyway, Marshall or I had to go in. We decided it would be best, and easiest, if we made it a family work day.

With tot and baby in tow we headed down to Pippi's. It worked out wonderfully. We did some tag team parenting and sock selling and had a great (and exhausting) day. It reminded me how much I like working with my husband, and how much I enjoyed going to my dad's shop with him when I was a kid.

Rowan was awesome, she chatted with sock lovers, and played quietly in her little area and was just as sweet as can be. Zoey was also perfect, well she mostly slept, and nursed, which was perfect.

I am excited to be able to bring my daughters to work with me, and hopefully they will enjoy it and think of it fondly too.

Rowan and Pops working at Pippi's.

P.S. I realize it has been 3 weeks since my last post, and you probably guessed I had Baby Zoey. Yup. June 10th, 1:55 am 8lbs 8oz. Woot! She is lovely and perfect and amazing. I will be posting more about these past few weeks but if you want to read a great dramatic re-telling of Zoey's birth check out my sweet husbands blog post: Home-Birth 2.0.

(Disclaimer: I look a little weird in some of his pictures, but I did just have a baby, and Marsh somehow thinks I still look beautiful, weird faces and all.)

A Beautiful Day & a Blessing Way

2011-06-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

When I had Rowan it was a mellow time of year for Pippi's I took weeks off before I was due, and when I did go into work I could really just focus and work as long as I needed to. This time around with Zoey I am due in a week and still sneaking into Pippi's to try and finish this or that before Zoey decides to join us! It is a much busier time of year at Pippi's which is great I love Summer time at Pippi's and I will miss working the floor, but man, my work will never be done.
Anyway, I am grateful to have work to do, it is a good thing, but I have been struggling to find time to start my nesting. Although, I am lucky, my sweet husband likes a clean house, and he has the cleaning gene (I alas, do not have that gene) and he cleaned yesterday in preparation for guests and baby time. Now I just have to make time for the fun part of baby prep. Woo hoo to a clean house, thanks Daddy!

Yesterday, three of my very special, lovely lady friends came over and gave me a blessing way. My mom, Nat and Kat. It turned out to be the perfect group, my mother besides being my mom, is my dearest friend. Natalie is one of my oldest friends and is as true a friend as you find, she and I are of the same heart. Kat is probably my newest friend, but also a friend of the same heart who I feel lucky to have found. I truly love these women, and yesterday I felt so much joy and love from them that I am still feeling high from it today. We chatted we ate, we blessed and they gave me well wishes for this birth, a beautiful Irish blessing, and they gave me strength and love. I feel so lucky, and I feel ready to start nesting! Yeay!
Oh and my mom gave us a beautiful quilt for Zoey and she showed me a focus piece she is working on for my birth, I love it and again am so lucky.

Zoey's quilt. <3
The Butterflies each have one of our names quilted under them, so wonderful thank you Gaga!

Another thing that made yesterday so special was that while we ladies had our time, Marsh and Kat's husband took the kids out. They had a great daddy & kiddo time and when they came back to the house everyone played happily and we had time to chat and hang out. The other amazing gift we were given yesterday was pictures! Kat's husband even took some wonderful pictures for us (I had been saying I needed some belly pics because I just never got around to it this time) so now we will have wonderful family photos to remember the short time when there were three, and my little love inside. So everything is getting done, everything is falling into place, and I am so grateful for having such great people in my life and so close.

Happy 5th Birthday!

2011-05-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

5 years ago we opened Pippi's Longstockings, a sweet little sock shop in a 200 square foot space carved out of the front show room of my father's bed store, Flobeds (I couldn't have done it without you Pops!)
I ran the shop 7 days a week those first few years, we built a great and loyal following (couldn't have done it without great customers either!)
Now five years later we are in a space more than 4x the size we started in and I am able to have wonderful employees who care about the shop work for me and manage the store while I take a maternity leave. How far we have come!
This weekend as a thank you to all of our customers we have yummy cupcakes, (come on in and check them out) the Pippsters got super creative and made some great cupcakes!

Cute cupcakes by Elyse <3

Creepy cute cupcakes by Nicole<3

Rowan enjoying her special ladybug cupcake!

We also have gifts with purchases to hand out but those are going fast so come in early!
Thank you so much sock lovers for the continued support!
And,
Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Sidetracked

2011-05-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I have gotten a little sidetracked from keeping up on my blogging this past week or so, but life just seems so busy. I have been trying to prepare Pippi's for my "maternity leave", (really I just wont be on the floor but I will be sort of around). The Pippsters are ready, they can hold down the fort while I am out and do the daily stuff, (heck they've done it before) but I am trying to get my end of things organized. That's the challenge. My last day on the floor is tomorrow (thanks again to the Pippsters coming through in my time of need). And next week I will spend off the floor at my desk making lists and checking them twice....Just 2 weeks left till Baby Zoey is due!!!

And...

(I will be posting more on this tomorrow), but...drum roll.....

Pippi's Longstockings has been open 5 years as of tomorrow! Hard to believe, but it's true! So this Memorial Day weekend is a big thing for us at Pippi's we are gonna have cupcakes for all our lovely customers as well as gifts with purchase (while supplies last). I am excited. This weekend is always fun; there's the Quilt Show downtown, Pippi's birthday, and Marshall's folks are coming to town. So, we will have a super fun, super busy weekend to look forward to. I hope we see all of our loyal customers out and about this weekend, and I am keeping my toes crossed for sun!

Growing up!

2011-05-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Rowan has been potty trained for a long time now but we were still diapering her at night.. For the last few weeks she has been dry in the morning so as of yesterday ... No more diapers!!! Until Baby Zoey is here of course, but no more diapers for Rowan! I am so excited and so is she, tonight while she was getting her PJ's on she was very proud to have undies on instead of diapers.

Daddy sliding with Rowan, her arms up to go down the slide.

I had this weekend off which was nice, Marshall encouraged me to get out by myself yesterday for a bit so I went to see a movie, indulged in popcorn and brewers yeast yum...

When I got home we spent the afternoon together and had a really nice day. I usually work Sundays but Marsh played in a golf tournament so Rowan and I had a very nice, super mellow pajama Sunday, it was luxurious. Puzzles, books, stickers, snacks, books, play-dough, more books what more could I ask for:) Heck she even made me multiple meals in her kitchen...most of what I was served, she told me was milk and orange juice, which she served to me in a peanut butter jar and instructed me to eat it with a spoon. But hey, no judgment here, I'm no culinary genius.

We had a sweet day and although I am very excited to have another little girl I think I will miss these special days with just me and Rowan.

Goodbye sweet Sunday, hello Miss Monday! I'm at Pippi's this week gonna be a busy mama, only three weeks till I take myself off the schedule, gotta get the shop ready!

Pippster's Picks (and more).

2011-05-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

As a business owner I love it when I come into work after my day off and see that my employees have taken initiative and done something really creative and fun.

So Monday when I came into the shop I was merchandising and checking out our inventory and I get to our shelves and see this!

Pippster's Picks!

The little signs say "Elyse is elated by these selections", Nicole's fond of these finds" & Rachael raves about these items".

Woot, to taking initiative and adding something great to Pippi's. I hear they want to add photos of themselves and switch up their picks regularly so come on in and check out "The Pippster's Picks!" These girls have great taste, and I look forward to seeing this project evolve. (Great job Pippsters!)

And we got new socks!!!

Awesome patterned knee highs from Sox Trot.

Sweet spring socks from Ozone.


And some of our long awaited Footless tights for girls, we also have matching socks.

Before I left today UPS dropped off two boxes of Foot Traffic too! That means some new:

toe socks, legwarmers, no show 3 packs and colorful fishnets...

On a personal note, I don't know how it is already the 11th but that means just 30 days until Zoey's due date!!!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well, life got a little hectic last week and I didn't get a chance to post anything, but Rowan is taking a nap so I thought I would take advantage of the time!

Last week when Marsh and I realized Mother's day was soon approaching, he asked what I wanted and I told him I just wanted to work on our yard and garden. But, being super pregnant that meant I really needed him to do most of the hard labor and I wanted to get my hands in the soft dirt and plant. So my dear husband spent 3 afternoons mowing our very neglected back yard. (See his blog post about Mother's Day, and check out the pictures of the lawn.). The lawn was almost as tall as me and the first day he cut a "secret path" for Rowan to run through, which I loved because when I was a kid my dad did the same for me and my brother.

Anyway, he cut the lawn, trimmed the edges and helped me weed my garden bed. Yeah Daddy! On Mother's Day he and Rowan made me a yummy breakfast and Daddy gave Ro and I, Mom and Daughter gardening totes and tools! (Rowan is really into matching, "Same, same!") Then he took me to pick out a few plants and we finally got a tree for Rowan to plant with her placenta (I know some people are grossed out by the idea but I think it's cool to have a tree nourished by the same thing that nourished you in the womb.) We went with a flowering Lilac it wont get too big and I love the way they smell.

We got all our veggies in the garden bed, planted our tree and spent a lovely day in the sunshine, perfect!

Then we swung by Gaga's house to say wish her a Happy Mother's Day.

Rowan enjoying her sour grass with Gaga.

We joined my folks on their back porch, enjoyed the sun some more. Rowan picked and enjoyed her favorite, sour grass, and then they invited us out to dinner.

Eating dinner, my sweet girl will eat just about anything, (as long as it's not spicy!)

So the perfect end to a perfect day: Thai food and family.

I hope all the other mommies out there had great a Mother's Day too.

(I know a lot of moms got sweet socks from Pippi's, woot!)

And check back later this week, Pippi's has got a lot of fun new stuff in, I will be taking pictures putting a post up about that soon. (Sweet knee highs from Sox Trot, Leggings for kids from Country Kids, Ozone, Jewelry and scarves and more!!!)

Woot, Daddy is Home!

2011-05-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

Daddy is home, and right now he is putting Rowan to bed (thank you Daddy!!!) and I am getting some time to catch up on the inter webs.

Rowan and I had a great time while Daddy was away, we defiantly missed our Pops but girl time was nice.

It was nice to have our schedule kind of wide open, with no one to think about but us. Don't get me wrong, I do not want Daddy to go away more often, no I love having him around. But we were able to just go with the flow (it also helped that I did not work while he was on his trip, so that made it really easy to take the moments as they came).

We had great fun adventure filled days, and at the same time didn't do too much. We played outside a lot, planted some flowers, and took advantage of the sun. I hope the sun sticks around for a while!

Here is my little photo recap of some moments we had these past few days:

Don't ask why, but once she was in she did not want to get out!

Our regular stop at Headlands Coffee house, every time we go she heads straight for the toys grabs this one and takes a table! (This turned from a to-go stop to a sit down affair.)

Mom did have to stop into Pippi's to do a little work (the glamorous life a business owner ;) ). Luckily, Rowan was happy to stop by Mark's (Cirino's Sandwich Shop) next door and get a pickle.

Friday, we had a wonderful day with friends. These two sweet girls took a break from jumping to help me cut veggies for dinner, (notice their hands).

And of course we sent some pics to Pops...Rowan wanted to show him how she felt...

Her I miss you face.

And an excited face.

Saturday, we had a nice walk on the haul road with a dear friend.

Rowan rode her trike and sang songs pretty much the entire time, (it was awesome)!

And somehow it is May already! I don't know where time is going but it is going fast, six more weeks until baby Zoey will be joining us. I feel a little unprepared, but everything will be done eventually, so I just breathe.

Rowan and I are working the shop again Monday. She is excited to help me at Pippi's, and I am glad I snuck in this morning and got the book keeping done, that would be a challenge with my girl there! So maybe we will see some of you sock lovers down town. We did get in some kids tights (finally) and a bunch of Ozone socks <3 (yea new stuff)!

Sweet sunshiny days.

2011-04-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's only Wednesday but this week has been really busy and really good.

Rowan and I worked at the shop together Monday and part of today and it was great. I have not had Rowan at the shop for an entire shift since she was about 21 months and that was the beginning of the holiday busyness so it got a little tough to run the shop well and be present with Rowan. That is when I started taking her to Johanna's Country Child Care which is great and she loves it, but it's good to know I that she and I can both handle a day at Pippi's again.

She loves talking to people and it is so fun to see what she says, there was a lot of "Watch this!" (because she is enjoying showing off her new skills with a ball.) As well as some great moments where I realize she really listens to everything! She said to a customer about a sock "oh, that's cute!" and to many customers "Bye" or "Thanks for coming in!" She also got a little frustrated if a customer left before she got to say bye, there were a few that she yelled after "Wait! I wanted to say good bye to you!" and lucky for us our Pippi customers are so nice they heard her and came back to say bye!

So Pippi's was great, and there are still a lot of people in town on vacation (woot) I hope foot traffic keeps up till summer is in full effect!

And...

We got to play at the park with our friends twice all ready this week!

We went on a nice long walk, (and I noticed that the dreaded pregnant waddle has begun.)

We visited FloBeds and played with Baba, & Uncle Dew.

Also, a HUGE milestone for me and Rowan...

Rowan had her first play date without me there! Actually first play date not at our house!

She had an amazing time and truthfully I don't think she missed me at all, I think it was harder for me. I swear as she walked away from Pippi's I had to breath my way through mommy separation anxiety! But, it was a little easier when I heard her and her little friend start talking about their shoes as they walked off, too cute.

So, a lovely week so far. I am very thankful to have such a sweet girl, a shop/job I love and supportive family and great friends!

Onward to the rest of this week...

Daddy just drove off, he wont be back until Sunday. He is headed to Chicago to see his sister defend her thesis. I am bummed that Rowan and I are not going. Not only are we missing Aunties big event but Daddy's whole family is going to be there, it's always sad to miss an opportunity to spend time with the whole gang. We just could not afford it this time. But, I am sure we will see everyone this summer (yeay!)

And we've got music class tomorrow and hopefully lots of sunshine ahead so we can get to the beach this week too. Now I have to tear myself away from this computer and eat something before it's too late!

The week so far...

2011-04-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

We have done a lot this week and it has been great to have Daddy home, I worked a little more in the beginning of the week so I could take advantage of Daddy daycare, and it felt nice to be able to work and take care of all the little things that get pushed down to the bottom of the to do list when my hours at work are so limited.

We have been busy at Pippi's (woot!) lot's of people in town on spring break, and we have been getting fun spring stuff in.

(Just got a call from the shop, we got two big orders in today, K-bell and Sock it to Me, yeay!) I was hoping to get the Country Kids order in this week since it is full of tights and we are out of most of our kids tights, bummer cause everyone needs Easter tights!
But anyway a great fun and productive week.

Here is a little photo re-cap:

Forts with Rowan.

We were are all monsters.

Coffee house with Rowan.

Yum.

I left the room for a few minutes and come back to find Rowan in her doll stroller!
(Cute picture , but I did make her get out because i was afraid it would collapse on her.)

Easter egg dying, super fun!

This egg rolled off the table...

Which actually made Rowan really happy because she got to eat it,

and peal it, "All by myself."

And then she just had to have another, and I quickly put the eggs away after that!

Nap time.

So much, and still two days left till Daddy is back at work.

I am excited for Rowan's first real Easter egg hunt I think she will be really into it. My little brother is in town for Easter too, and I look forward to spending a little time with him.

Also Gaga and Baba are taking Rowan to the Circus tomorrow night I can't wait to hear that story from Ro. Mommy and Daddy might try to squeeze in a movie while they are out or maybe we should just take advantage of having the house to ourselves.

Rowan and I will be working at Pippi's together on Monday and Wednesday because daycare is still closed and Pops is back at school. I'm sure we will have blast, she loves going to Pippi's <3.

Happy Earth Day and Happy Easter I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Today in Socks...

2011-04-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well today has been a nice productive day. I love it when I feel like I have accomplished something, I got to put some checks on my never ending To Do List. I worked on fixing some of my old links on the website (I'm about 1/2 way through what needs to be updated), then I will take some new photos, woot!

And, we got in new Biella & Nouvella socks today.
More cute baby socks...

These are awesome mostly cotton baby socks that don't bind or leave marks on sweet baby legs. I used them a lot for Rowan and I will used them for Zoey too. I love the colors and we have matchy ones for mom!!!

Also some Springy socks from Sock Smith,

I <3 the sunflowers.

I hope the sun sticks around for a few days, I would love to get to the beach this week while daddy is off of work. It seems like we have a good amount of visitors in town this week too, so woot, I hope they love our socks!

Precious alone time...

2011-04-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday daddy offered me some alone time. He took Rowan and the dog on a walk/ trike ride and I was alone.

Ahhh...Nice, deep breath, relax, I was able to go to the bathroom alone, and take a nice long shower uninterrupted even put belly oil on my big baby belly (I used to do that daily my first pregnancy!). Sadly, after that I didn't know what to do!
I wondered how they were doing, and what I was missing. (Does this happen to other moms? Once you finally have your precious alone time you don't know what to do with yourself?) So I said to myself "mommy get a grip!" Maybe it's because my moments of real alone time are so limited at this point in my life... I spent some time debating; should I start a sewing project, wait maybe painting...I couldn't decide.

So, I did some laundry, did the dishes and worked on a budget so I would feel less overwhelmed by taxes. What do you know, it worked, sitting down and making a plan always helps me feel more in control and prepared (note to self, remember that). Then...

Daddy sent me a video of Rowan at the park. He knows me well, and he is so sweet to me <3.

So, I enjoyed the video update, had some tea, and even though I didn't start any projects I was able to relax and sort through my head and I felt much more centered when they got home. Thanks pops!

And, to start my Sunday I got some snuggle time with daddy (yeay!) and then snuggle time with my girl. While I showered and got ready for work they made us breakfast, which was delish. Marsh always does my eggs just right. When I got to the shop I got all my books organized and got tax stuff ready to send. I feel very productive today, and to top it off Pippi's was nice and busy today!
I love busy Sundays and happy customers!

I am also really looking forward to this week, daddy has the week off of school so we will have a lot of family time! I can't wait!

Ugh, taxes...But, yeah baby socks!

2011-04-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've got to stop stressing about taxes...so a change of subject to hopefully change my mind.

At Pippi's:

We got some super cute baby stuff in at the shop this week! Zoey was kicking like crazy as I unpacked these, she must have sensed my excitement.

Ballerina Leggings, love them!!!

And...

super sweet Life is Good, baby hat & sock sets. <3

Cuteness is always a good distraction for me...

On a parenting note, Daddy is wanting to drop Rowan's afternoon nap because she goes to sleep so much easier at night for bedtime, (in like 15 minutes instead of a 45-60 minute process.) But I don't know if I want to because;
1) She gets pretty feisty around 4 pm with no nap.

2) I really appreciate one hour to myself during the day (to nap, snack, read or even tidy up uninterrupted.)
3) I worry that she wont get enough sleep without a nap.
4) And, lastly I think it would be nice if she still napped this summer after baby Zoey arrives. We could have nice cozy family naps, or some one on one time with Zoey or each other...

So, I don't know, for now I feel the nap is needed but we shall see.

Nine Years, Swimming In Love.

2011-04-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Today on Marshall and my anniversary I feel like refecting on the past nine years. So here are my thoughts:

Today my sweet husband and I have been together for nine years, (married for four of those years). It is interesting to think about how our day to day relationship has changed and morphed over these last nine years. When we met we were both in college, and sure we had "responsibilities" but life was what I like to call "fluffy", we spent hours just daydreaming talking and focused on creative projects. Then we finished school and got jobs, and life was still pretty "fluffy" time seemed to move slowly, there was a little more stress trying to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives and pay the few bills we had, but it was just he and I in our little bubble, floating through life, and it was sweet.

We did figure out what we wanted to do, I wanted a Sock Shop and he wanted to be a teacher, so he helped me open up shop and we focused on that for some time, then he went back to school for his credential. It turns out that these jobs we love and enjoy take up more time than our previous 40 hour a week retail/service jobs. And, we inevitably end up bringing work home, but hey, we have passion for what we are doing and we enjoy sharing or work with one another. It was still just he and I in our little bubble... But, I think this is when life started to move more quickly.

And then we decided we needed to share this life we loved with someone new, we wanted to start our family, all we had to do was say the words and bam! I was pregnant. So, those nine months went by fast, and slow, we had so much time to dream about this baby, what she might be like, what our lives might be like, cuddles and creative projects and our great jobs all still there as we swam along.

Then we had our sweet little girl. Man, life started to really move. Moments seemed slow, like when we just watched her coo and giggle, and cuddled her to sleep. But, the weeks flew by. Happy, joyful, stressed, excited, overwhelmed all of it, we were living this full life, not so fluffy, sometimes floating sometimes swimming and sometimes trying not to be swept away. Life was still sweet.

We grew, Ro grew and we wanted another to share this life with so now we are 7 months pregnant with another dear girl on the way. Life is fast, it sometimes seems as if we don't see each other. Between working, parenting, and eating and sleeping the moments are short (but sweet).
We spend most of our waking time together as a family after he gets home from work, watching and playing with Rowan, listening to her tell us crazy, silly stories, we laugh a lot. After we get Rowan to sleep we are lucky if we get two hours alone with each other before one or both of us falls asleep.

Life is fast, moments are fleeting, but when we can breath away the stress from the day and just be with each other, with our little family, that is when I remember why I fell in love with this beautiful caring man. And why I love him more all the time, our days are busy, but our lives are full. Sometimes we are floating through life, sometimes we are swimming and some times just trying to tread water, but I'm happy to be swimming through this life in love.

Overwhelmed

2011-04-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's almost tax time and I have sort of just trying to push this out of my mind, but today with computer problems at work (so no book keeping done today) and schedule situations to figure out with Pippi's and day care for Rowan ect. it just got to me.

Schedule stuff gets really complicated sometimes in our house because I can't close up shop and run errands or pick up Rowan, and Marshall is a teacher but contrary to popular belief teachers do not get done when school gets out. And it's not just lesson plans and grading, no they have to spend hours and hours in meetings for all kinds of different things! So when I have to cover the shop outside of my normal days there is a lot of creative scheduling to figure out. Luckily my mom , who has a pretty full plate herself, understands, and really comes thru for us a lot. (Thanks mom!)

Anyway, I'm just trying to float along today, and not let this stuff bother me. Rowan and I get home and I am rocking her for nap time and feeling a little sad that I don't get to be with her tomorrow or most of Wednesday because we are a little short staffed at the moment so I am working, and I just start to cry. What does my sweet little girl say to me? "Don't be sad mommy, I will take care of you." Well if that just didn't make me want to cry more, what a sweetheart. She proceeded to tell me to "Take a deep breath." What do you know, it worked I did feel a little better. I thanked her for being so nice and for helping me feel better. We said I love you and she went to sleep.

So, I am going to try to just keep breathing and float through this week.

On a happier note, nine more weeks till baby Zoey is due! Yeay! Exciting! Sadly, I can no longer cross my legs in my chair at work without uncomfortably hitting my belly. Also, I hope to feel less overwhelmed at work by June and expect to be happily overwhelmed by the new challenge of two children. Plus daddy will be off for the summer so that will be really nice too.

And a happy socks note, (well socks are always a happy note in my book) we got in some new Life is Good socks today (woot! Snuggle socks!) Nicole was checking them in when I left, I will post some pictures tomorrow! There were some really cute socks for the kiddos in those boxes, and I think we should be getting the Life is Good accessories this week too, cute hats for grown-ups and kids!

And the sun came out today! So when Rowan wakes up we might go out to the sidewalk and play with our new super fun sidewalk paint!

A Day in Pictures

2011-04-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

Get up good morning sleepy head.

Socks and green shoes <3 for work.

Took some pictures for our PippiSock website.

Another sunny day in the Bragg...fun day at the shop, great customers and I got a lot done on the website!

After picking Rowan up we both took a little nap...exhausted!

Then Daddy wanted Piacci's for his Birthday so we had some yummy Pizza!

We got home late from pizza so we skipped a tubby tonight, but these photos from the other day were so cute...

Time for jammies, "Good night, sweet dreams, I love you!"

another day...

2011-04-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

Another tough morning. Both Rowan and I were a little emotional, but the sun came out, we headed to music class and the day turned out to be a really nice day. We stopped by the shop (the girls had just received a box of new Latico handbags! Can't wait to check them out tomorrow!) then ran a few errands and after Rowan's nap we picked up Pops from work and took a stroll around Mendo.
Taking a stroll with Ro really reminds me to look around and see things I would normally not notice and heck stop and smell the flowers. I also think it's funny that she remembers where the toys are in every shop we stop in, we all have our priorities. It looked like the weather might turn so we headed to the golf course and Pops showed Rowan how to hit a ball, so adorable.

She had tons of fun, (her favorite part might have been putting the balls on the tee...)

This evening my brother came over and babysat so I could take the Hubby out for an early B-day dinner. Mendo Bistro yum.....we were able to have a real conversation uninterrupted and we even held hands, it was lovely. Now Baby Zoey is kicking what feels like some important internal organs, I think shes mad that I stuffed myself and left no room for her...10 weeks left till I get to meet this little sweetie<3

This crazy week...

2011-04-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

It is only Wednesday (well I guess it's Thursday now) and this week is turning out to be a doozy. I am not sure why, maybe it's the "terrific twos", maybe it's the change of seasons or maybe it's just me, but Rowan and my mornings have just become a whole lot harder.
Usually Rowan wakes up and comes into our bed and cuddles with me for 15-30 minutes before I start getting ready and she reads books or plays while I do that. It is a sweet way to wake up and one of my favorite parts of the day, but yeah she's not so much into the cuddling lately...and that's okay, I guess (I hope it's only temporary).
We go downstairs. She doesn't want to get dressed. doesn't want to have her hair brushed, and has decided that she no longer likes cheerios. WTF! This girl eats anything and loves food but now she doesn't want breakfast? Someone must have switched bodies with my baby. Well, while I breath, try to stay calm, and ponder whose child this could be I also; make getting dressed into a game, let her help me with her hair, talk her into eating...I gather our stuff and look at the clock and oh, we are late again....But we're off!
I drop Rowan of at Johanna's, hugs and kisses, and my sweet heart says from the waving window, "Love you! Have a good day at Pippi's!" and I drive away missing the days (just 6 months ago) when I still brought her to the shop with me, we had so much fun, sure I was less productive....Anyway I play catch up at work check things off my never ending to do list, get in some cool new socks (Trumpette baby socks, got some cute ones for baby Zoey <3) and work a little longer because my employee got a substitute job this week so she can't come in till 3pm.
I rush to pick Rowan up late, bummer no nap. Monday night Pippi's store meeting.
Woohoo, Tuesday a Mommy and Ro day, errands, cuddles, books and great day...OMG daddy's birthday is Friday! So birthday planning....Wednesday, another crazy morning. Sort of an odd day at Pippi's, but good. Worked long again but I was not worried because it means Rowan goes to bed much quicker than normal. Unless of course we forgot baby Penny at Johanna's today (yes we did, the baby that she has decided she must sleep with) that was a big bedtime mistake!!! It was a hoorah. But, Rowan had a good cry and after the meltdown and lots of hugs she fell asleep.
For some reason I decided to start a blog instead of sleeping, but hey sleep is over-rated right? No that is completely untrue I love sleep. So off to bed I go. Tomorrow is a Mommy and Ro day, woohoo, and Music Together she loves that, I am excited and I hope it does not rain...it just started to hail so.....we shall see.