Happy Monday guys! I think I start every blog post I write on Monday mornings with “Happy Monday!“ Ha! I think it’s because Monday’s can be such a downer since it’s the start of the workweek and I always try to start mine out happy! Technically I’m not working out of the house right now since I’m on maternity leave, but my blog is still work! Even though it’s work that I absolutely love. And let’s face it, being a mother is a full-time job and every day is Monday. Ha! Meaning you get no weekend breaks. But it’s the best kind of job! Even though it’s the hardest job you’ll ever do.
1. MAXI DRESS | 2. BEACH BAG | 3. SANDALS | 4. MOLLY’S DRESS
Anyway, I want to share these photos with you because I’m just in love with them. My long striped dress is so cute right?! It’s ridiculously flattering and when I wore it the other day, I was literally stopped in the streets by people asking me where I got it. It’s just so flirty, girlie and pretty. Plus, since it’s a maxi dress, I can wear flats with it and easily care for my kiddos. It’s not great for breastfeeding honestly. But I fed Riley before we headed out and then again we got home a couple hours later. I’m wearing a size 6. I was a size 4 in this brand pre-preganacy, but not I am a solid 6 🙂 My rib cage grew during pregnancy! It’s so weird!
1. MAXI DRESS | 2. BEACH BAG | 3. SANDALS | 4. MOLLY’S DRESS
And how cute is Molly‘s little dress?! She absolutely loves it and if I let her, she would wear it every single day! She’s so cute right now because she will run to the drawer where we keep some of her clothes in the family room (because it’s difficult to go up and down the stairs with both Molly and Riley to get ready when I’m here with them by myself) and she’ll pull out a dress and say “Wear! Pretty!” Then I’ll help her put on the dress and she’ll stand in front of the mirror admiring it on herself. She’s super girly in that sense but then she absolutely loves baseball, basketball, garbage trucks and wearing her Cubbies baseball hat. So she’s definitely got a tomboy side to her as well. I love it! The best of both worlds!
1. MAXI DRESS | 2. BEACH BAG | 3. SANDALS | 4. MOLLY’S DRESS
I love this beach bag I’ve been caring around sometimes lately. It has a cute colorful tassel that can be worn on the side of it, but when I just want it to be tan and white I tuck the tassel inside the bag. I’ve been using it to walk to the local market to pick up flowers with Molly. It’s one of her favorite things to do! If any of you watch my Instagram stories then you know how much Molly loves flowers.
And since it’s Monday that means The Bachelorette is on tonight! Are you guys watching? I’ll be watching tonight and blogging about it tomorrow. I think the 2-on-1 is in tonight’s episode, which is usually pretty entertaining. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Insta Story tonight too!
And as always, let me know what you think of this look int the comments below. xoxo
1. MAXI DRESS | 2. BEACH BAG | 3. SANDALS | 4. MOLLY’S DRESS
I love wearing stripes, especially vertical stripes! I feel like vertical stripes are so much easier to work with than horizontal stripes. Love your dress so much, Ali! 🙂
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I love the blue vertical stripes as well! After clicking on the link, the back of the dress I adore, especially the cutout!
I will be watching the 2-on-1 for sure tonight! I honestly don’t think either of them are right for Becca, so hopefully no one gets a rose and she can get rid of the catty-ness and arguing and focus on her developing relationships with the other men. But I’m sure it will be entertaining!!
Love that dress! Molly’s dress is super cute as well! My little girl loves dresses!
Molly loves to wear MY dresses too! Sometimes she insists I take them off the second I walk in the door so she can wear them. Ha!
Do you find it hard to put Molly in white clothes because they get stained? I’m wondering if you have a great trick for getting those food stains out. Or maybe you just undress her for every meal, which sounds like a lot of work.
We undress her every meal at home and that’s the truth. Well, when she is wearing nice clothes. If she has play clothes on then we just put a bib on her. We wore this dress out to dinner and she got Mexican food all over it (I posted about it on insta stories a few days ago). But it came out. We just had to wash it as soon as we got home!
Hi Ali
Molly should admire herself in the mirror….she’s adorable in anything she wears; especially her Cubs cap. 🙂
Your dress looks so pretty on you & I love the flowers.
Happy Monday!
I think her Cubs hat is the CUTEST thing she wears! We love that she loves it!
Dress is beautiful, as are you! My ribcage expanded as well. It’s miserable. I have to order sizes up because they will not zip/fit over. I understand your pain in that area. Beautiful family! Loved the birth story as well, I cried when i read it. So much truth in your blog. Love it
You look terrific, Ali! Wow! 1 month after giving birth and look how fabulous you look! Molly is adorable! I love that she is both girlie and a Tomboy!
I’m not super girly, but this is such a fun and cute dress that I may have to get it for myself! It looks A-MAZING on you. Are you sure you just had a baby???? 🙂
Obsessed with your dress, Ali! Was wondering how the length is… I am 5’10” so maxis always look funny and short on me but this one looks long?? How tall are you? LOVE your blog!! Xo
Ali,
I have been thinking ever since you posted your Insta story about having a clean/white house. I myself have a 6, 5, 3, and 1 year old. I work as a nurse and my husband works 11 hour days. I just want to say that your circumstance is completely different than most. Your husband gets home at noon. What an absolute dream that must be! And I do agree with you…we have a clean home (most of the time) with light walls and white furniture. What I would like to address is how hurtful you did come off to most working moms who choose to spend time with their children instead of worrying about white furniture. You even mentioned yourself how you were getting help once your husband went back to work and also that you were hiring someone to clean your bathrooms. It comes off a little contradictory, don’t you think? I think you’ve realized it’s not as easy when you have A newborn and another child to take care of. A lot of us moms with older children are kind of giggling inside as well. A 5 year old boy is very different than a 1 year old girl in terms of messes. I do also remember you posting a comment when your daughter was born that you couldn’t understand how people with children are always late. And that having children is not an excuse to be late. Having 3+ children who are potty trained for any mom is a little different than having a newborn child. What I am trying to say is every circumstance is different. Every mother is different. And I understand that you felt hurt by that woman’s comment and felt the need to explain how you felt hurt. But I know you are here to lift every mother up. It’s not that we choose the messy houses (as you did state if we “choose to have a messy house, that’s ok too”), we choose the minutes and hours we get to spend with our children outside of work. I’ve read many of the comments and have been pondering over it for days. While I agree with you on how to have a clean house, I do disagree on your response and the way you went about it.
I mean absolutely zero disrespect by this but I’m wondering, when can we let this topic go? I truly believe that sometimes, people’s opinions are based on a lack of experience. Now, that’s not to be confused by ignorance. I simply mean that sometimes, we have opinions on things because we haven’t yet experienced them in a way that differs from that one way. In this case, Ali had only been a Mom to a healthy, single child when making the ‘late’ comment. She may have a completely different opinion on the issue of being late with kids if her kids were more similar in age to yours, had a disability, if she had twins/triplets, etc. And that’s okay! That’s showing that she, as a person, is learning and growing. Isn’t that the point of all of this?
I think that while some of you are offended that she has an opinion on a clean house with kids, the other side of people could just as easily be offended because what side A is saying (if you read between the lines) is that they prefer to enjoy time with their kids instead of clean their homes and side B should focus more on their kids than cleaning their homes. Offensive, right? Even when unintended. Essentially, we can make a mountain out of a molehill real fast if we want to pick apart people’s words. Ali had a right to be upset that someone who follows her would essentially call her a ‘fake’, insinuating it’s impossible to live clean with kids. Ali is allowed to voice that and have an opinion on it, as are her followers, but to be going on about it for days later when it’s no longer relevant and frankly, the opinion of a stranger should never matter to you? It just seems petty. I’m sure you’re doing the best job you can as a mother and a wife and I commend you on that, clean house or not.
Yes thank you for your respectful response. We are all doing the best we can, aren’t we?
Yes, that endless rant that Ali went on was a complete overreaction and
very unnecessary. The majority of the comments were positive and this one, slightly negative one really touched a nerve with her. If you put yourself out there on social media and share sooo much of your life you are bound to have difference of opinion now and then. It’s hard for me personally to have much sympathy for her when her husband comes home at noon and proceeds to do everything except nurse the baby. When I was Ali’s age I had 3 kids under 31/2 and my husband was a teacher and worked graveyards to earn extra money in the summer. My Mom was only able to come for two days not two weeks. The majority of women don’t have her situation so she is not very relatable.
Wow how do you look so good great one month post partum?! My baby is four months old and I’m still 2 sizes up from my old size and have a major belly. Any tips?
And congrats on baby Riley of course!
Ooooo she looks like little princess 😀 I mean the child of course 😛
Love the dress, and girl…. you look fantastic! I have been following your blog for years, but now that I am pregnant with my first (a girl!), coming in November, it has become such a great resource. Keep doing you! xo
She looks like little princess. Beautiful family! Loved the birth story as well, I cried when i read it. So much truth in your blog. Love it. Thanks for the sharing your story.