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Amy Raelene

LIFESTYLE BLOG // Wife + mama in the southwest sharing style, braids, faith, and real life. I'm so glad you're here!

July 3, 2014April 30, 2018

4th of July!

Bust out your stars and stripes, America; it is time to celebrate!

I love the 4th of July! Barbecues, fireworks, parades, flags flying, cool drinks in hand, swimming, family, friends, good food, sunshine! So many fun memories attached to one holiday! I also love that everyone bands together in camaraderie and shared patriotism to celebrate our nation’s beginnings, and I also love to see people sporting their American pride! When we were in Europe, the American flag was splashed throughout the stores as a symbol of youth and a pop culture staple. It is no surprise that the red, white, and blue is also a fashion favorite in the ol U.S. of A. With that, here is my July-4th-summer-time-vibe style inspiration:

A little impromptu hitchhiking!

SHORTS FROM TARGET (ON SALE! B.O.G.O. 50% OFF) // SKINNY BELT FROM TARGET // STARS AND STRIPES TANK FROM BEALL’S OUTLET // STEVE MADDEN SANDALS (CHEAPER OPTION HERE) // STEVE MADDEN FEDORA FROM NORDSTROM RACK (PAC SUN VERSION) // VINTAGE TURQUOISE AND STERLING RINGS & LOUIS VUITTON DUFFEL FROM BRUNK’S AUCTION // TED BAKER AVIATORS

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!!

-♥♥♥-

Amy

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Posted in FashionTagged accessories, affordable style, america, casual style, denim, fashion, fashion blog, fashion blogger, flag shirt, Fourth of July, high waisted shorts, holiday, jewelry, July 4, Julyfourth, lotd, ootd, outfit, outfit inspiration, red white and blue, sandals, sterling and turquoise ring, sterling ring, Steve Madden, style, style blog, style blogger, style inspiration, target style, ted baker, turquoise, Turquoise ring, United States of America, USA, what I woreBy Amy RaeleneLeave a comment

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Friday feels! ⚡️ I’m ready for this short but sweet vacation we are waiting on Bran to start. BTW, Luke saw me in this and said, “Mommy, that’s not cute.” I guess 3 year olds don’t like blazers. 🤷🏼‍♀️ #hatersgonnahate

✨17 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬✨⁣⁣ A letter:⁣⁣ Hi baby! ⁣⁣ This week has been magic as I felt your first little flutters!!! I’ve been waiting for these moments with you for the past year! I cried the happiest tears, just like when we heard your heartbeat for the first time (and it really freaked out your brother because he doesn’t yet understand that mama’s cry when they’re happy too). 😅 ⁣⁣ At first, it was a little jab against my pants’ button and then when I laid in bed, after the whole house had gone to sleep, you started doing the tiniest wiggly dance in there. And now I’m crying typing this. How beautiful and pure and happy you make us already. There is nothing quite like loving and growing you from the inside. I can’t wait until your kicks are strong enough for daddy and brother to feel, and consistent enough for me not to google why I don’t feel you everyday. 😄 I’m trying my best to soak in every week, every movement, every tiny detail of your pregnancy. It’s going so fast already, and although millions of women go through it every day, this season in my life with you is so special and so precious to me. 💛 ⁣⁣ Love, Mama⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ These beautiful photos are from @trisharosephotography! I actually took them a few weeks ago but I didn’t have much of a bump so I pushed my stomach way out - which is what it looks like now (if not a little bigger). Swipe! Is it weird that Luke is holding the pee stick?!

Taking some of this @barefootblondehair out for a test drive (I’m only wearing half of the wefts!). Now my hair is too long and voluminous for the length of my arm to document it properly. 😋 But I give them 👍🏻👍🏻 up!

I literally stepped out of my bathroom on Mother’s Day in this @shoppinkblush dress and both Bran and Luke lit up. 🥰🥰 ⁣ And then this old lady in the bathroom told me I, “filled out the top really well” - complete with the hand gestures -⁣ and I added it to the list of the weirdest compliments I’ve ever received. 😅 ⁣ ⁣ Thank you, @shoppinkblush for providing preggo mamas with pretty clothes for before, during, and after pregnancy. 😍 #16weeks #shoppinkblush #sponsored #prettyinpinkblush

Today we celebrate mothers in all forms. ⁣⁣⁣ Sacrificial, loving, kind mothers. ⁣⁣⁣ Their days are long. ⁣⁣⁣ The years are short. ⁣⁣⁣ Their impact runs through a family’s lines for generations to come. ⁣⁣⁣ They give more than they have. ⁣⁣⁣ Require less than they need. ⁣⁣⁣ And love with every piece. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ While the pride in their eyes outlasts their weariness. ⁣⁣⁣ And the love pouring from their hearts withstands every trial. ⁣⁣⁣ They keep shining and smiling and singing and teaching. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Raising good people is their life’s work. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ And I’m so proud to be one of them. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ (Poem inspired by my own mom.)⁣ Happy Mama’s Day!!!⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Fair warning: #normalizebreastfeeding If you swipe you will see a raw photo of me nursing Luke just days after his birth. He was too small to latch but “non-nutritive nursing” was really important for our bond, regulating his body temp, my milk production, and making antibodies! In those 10 NICU days I didn’t once think of myself, and I truly felt like a strong woman and mother. God gave me peace so I wasn’t afraid and I pumped/held/nursed that tiny boy like our lives depended on it. The last video is the first time we saw our new baby. 💛⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ If motherhood has taught me anything it is humbleness. And I’m so grateful for the constant learning and growing that this role has provided. Even those potty training days when Luke peed all over the floor of Target. 🙊🤪💙⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Tell your mom, your stepmom, your mother figure, you love her and enjoy your day! #raisinglukebrandon #growingbabypro #nicumoms #happymothersday #motherhoodunplugged #breastfeedingjourney @nicumoms

Just two lovebirds on top of the world. 🌅 ⁣ And shoutout to my @brandonthepro who hates photo shoots but drove 3 hours to the Grand Canyon, paid $200 for a hotel, dealt with getting ready and carrying our stuff for 2 miles, and then pretended to be a new eloped groom. 😅💛 There’s a big marriage lesson in that sentence. Love is sacrificial - it forsakes itself for the joy of its partner - and I’m happy to do the same for him. Wherever you go, I go my love. Whatever passions you follow will have me front row - cheering the loudest for you. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Thank you @katiebertagnolli! Your photography talent [and sweet soul] blows me away!! 😍 I wish you lived in AZ - I already have friends asking for your info! 🙌🏻

Realest real life. I sent this to Bran the other morning to show him that my belly was a lot smaller than the night before (after eating Chinese food 😆). But then while I recorded, Luke kissed [and poked] the babe. And I wanted it forever in my digital memory bank of a time when my heart felt like it could explode from all the goodness. No makeup, bedhead, in my pjs. A happy life does not have to be an extravagant or flashy one. Simple moments are where peace and contentment live. And that environment is where love thrives. I hope you find a few of those moments today, no matter how they look!! 💛💛⁣ ⁣ *Disclaimer If you watch with the sound on: we don’t know the gender. “Kimmie” is the nickname that Luke has given the baby and we kinda use it a lot. #14weeks #growingbabypro #raisinglukebrandon

One of my favorite things about our dude is how absolutely down for adventure he is. 🏔 Everything he sees is exciting and new and explorable. Whether it’s hitching a ride on daddy’s shoulders and pretending to fly, playing an impromptu game of baseball with a stick and a pine cone, or running to catch a bus only to have to stand and hold a railing because there are so many people aboard. I want to see the world how he sees it. Full of adventure and stories and questions and places to explore - all with a smile on his face. 💛 Anyone else want to be their kid when they grow up?! 🙃 #raisinglukebrandon ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ Luke 3.5 Grand Canyon

One in, one out. 💛 12 week bun and permanent smiles. Also at that stage where it’s either a burrito bump or a baby bump. 😅 #growingbabypro

Surprise!! WE ARE OVER THE MOON to announce that come October we will be a family of 4!! 💛💛💛💛💛 You guys know we have been trying for over a year and trusting God’s timing has been a perfect lesson in patience. Anything He has ever given me, I’ve had to wait and trust in Him for. And oh, how sweet it is! Currently, I’m exhausted and nauseous most of the time - which is so different than Luke’s pregnancy - so Bran has been the most amazing husband caring for us all. I’m laying in bed wanting to puke as I type this. 😆 Hence why I’ve been so MIA on here lately! But anyways, thank you for the well wishes and prayers and support thus far. Luke is soooo happy to get a sibling and kisses or hugs my tiny 10-week bump all day. I wanted this to be some elaborate beautiful photo announcement but a family selfie after seeing our baby for the first time is just the realest, happiest photo in my camera roll. ☺️ Also, check my stories later to see my very raw reaction to finally seeing two lines on that pregnancy test. 🌙🌟🌻💛 #growingbabypro @brandonthepro

Oh, hello, Body, ⁣ Keeping me healthy and energized. ⁣ Holding in organs and tissue and bones, ⁣ And having a little extra for comfy snuggling. ⁣ Thank you for stretching to grow children; ⁣ And then shrinking again. ⁣ ⁣ Hello, Body, ⁣ Keeping me cool and warm. ⁣ Storing extra fat for baby-growing,⁣ And breastmilk-making. ⁣ Hugging loved ones and strangers,⁣ And racing Luke to the park; ⁣ For running and jumping and skipping.⁣ ⁣ Hello, Body,⁣ Thank you for gymnastics ⁣ And pull-up attempts. ⁣ Muscles to strengthen, ⁣ And curves to tease my husband with. ⁣ Thank you for a canvas to adorn⁣ And a home for this heart. ⁣ ⁣ Hello, Body,⁣ Taking me to great heights,⁣ Allowing me to see great sites. ⁣ Thank you for adventures and stamina⁣ And the ability to move freely. ⁣ For swimming and sunbathing ⁣ And nutrient absorbing. ⁣ ⁣ Oh, hello, Body!⁣ You’re so normal and useful and helpful. ⁣ Thank you for working overtime;⁣ For the natural processes,⁣ Including marks where you’ve stretched⁣ And dimples on legs⁣ And never taking a break. ⁣ ⁣ You’ve loved me so well. ⁣ And I’m sorry if there was ever a time,⁣ I only cared about how you looked⁣, Or how much you jiggled, Or ways to nip, tuck, or lose you, Instead of LOVING YOU right back. 🌟✨💥🌸🌻🦋🦄👙☁️ ... (No makeup, wet hair, bathing suit, stuff to donate in the background - realllll life in this square right here! 👌🏻 I’ve been wearing a swimsuit around my house for the past few days just itching for a pool day, and each time I passed a mirror I felt this appreciation for these bodies of ours - the ones we take for granted and want to change and even sometimes hate. We forget how beautiful even the simplest process is and what a well oiled machine this whole staying alive thing happens to be. I wanted to remind you that you don’t have to apologize or hide or be ashamed - from the inside out you are beautiful and worthy and wonderfully made. ❤️ Now go walk around your house in your swimsuit and get comfortable with your own reflection! 😍)

We are going through a season in the Pro house. Luke was sick, Bran is sick, and now I’m sick. I guess that means we are a close family sharing all the germs. 😅 But anyways, I haven’t been super active on here because watching me moan about not feeling well and barely leaving my house isn’t fun for anyone! I appreciate you all for sticking around and I love the community we’ve built on this app! I miss all the DMs and chats I get when my stories are full, but for the next week or so I’ll be focusing on my little fam. Here’s a throwback of Luke at 6ish months old with his squishy lips. Swipe to see the little pumpkin head playing with his feet! 😍 It took him about 4 months after leaving the NICU to look like a normal squishy baby so we celebrated these rolls!! Sending health and rest to you and yours. 💛💛 Now, I have a sicky date night with some pizza and my husband and Netflix. 🤗

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