When I was a little girl, I looked forward to Christmas dresses almost as much as I looked forward to Christmas presents. I remember wearing a fluffy faux fur white coat with a matching beret when I was four years old. Under the coat was a plaid dress with puffed sleeves and black velvet ribbons. I even remember my shoes! Black patent leather t-straps. Now I get to enjoy the fanciness of playing holiday dress-up with my own little girl, who luckily has a lot of fun with it too.

The Children’s Place asked us to select our favorites from their Holiday 2015 collection, and I was so delighted to find beautiful, classic pieces with some vintage style and also some quirky accessories for an added jolt of fun. I was able to do all of my shopping online from the comfort of my home when the kiddos were in bed, and Lucy had the time of her life opening up the big box of clothes and pulling out each new item. Here’s what we selected below:

1. white turtleneck and black dress
2. white peter pan collar dress with drop waist
3. panda blanket sleeper
4. purple critter tights
5. knit pink tights
6. patent black ballerina flats
7. faux fur pom pom headband
8. black jeggings
9. metallic gold t-strap shoes
10. leopard print faux fur coat

You guys! This outfit (above) slayed me. She’s like a little sixties style icon. Wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans, we’ve got the beatnik look covered, and then the faux fur leopard fur coat tops it off with the perfect dose of vintage glamour. We paired her black ballet slippers with white socks just like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.

The pom pom headband and gold shoes were a big hit with Lucy! She loved the little critter tights, too, but probably not as much as me.

See, like I said, style icon status!

I couldn’t resist getting some matching pajamas for the sisters. How cute are these panda bear sleepers? They’re perfect for cozy evenings of sipping hot chocolate by the tree while watching Christmas movies. Now if only they sold adult size sleepers… I’m sure Phil would be thrilled to get in on the matching action.

Thanks to The Children’s Place for making our holiday season a little bit cuter! Now I’m off to snuggle my little panda bears.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The Children’s Place. All thoughts and opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of The Children’s Place.

I’m such a sucker for shoes. Shiny shoes, tiny shoes, tall shoes, small shoes. Give me all the shoes. Lucy joined in on my excitement when we opened up a special package from Zimmerman shoes— handmade with love, and so beautiful! She lined them all up in a row and exclaimed, “They’re so soft!” And so beautifully crafted. We had to share them with you.

My favorite are the plum nubuck mary janes. They go with practically any autumn ensemble, adding the perfect pop of color. They’re keepsakes for sure!

(After the above picture was taken, Lucy rearranged all of the shoes to create a train and narrated, “Choo chooooo!” I’m not kidding. This kid is obsessed.)

“Look how orange my tongue is, mom!” This kid will do practically anything for a sucker. It was a problem during trick-or-treating when we just wanted her to take all of the Reese’s cups so we could sneak them later. Oh well. In any case, she was such a compliant photoshoot subject! Thanks, Lucy! And thanks for the shoes, Zimmermans!

Disclosure: Zimmerman is not a sponsor of Making Nice in the Midwest, but the shoes were a gift.

Motherhood changes you in a lot of ways. You may have heard about how it changes your boobs (Hellooooo nurse!), but maybe you haven’t thought about how it changes how you feel about your boobs. What used to be something private, becomes something you share with your little baby. And unless you want to nurse in isolation, you’ll need to whip our your boobs at any moment— regardless of where you are or how many strangers are peering onward. With my first breastfeeding experience, I hated how it made me feel anxious about my breasts, even more self conscious, and sometimes ashamed. (I’m not proud of that, but I’m just being honest.) I was incredibly nervous about nursing in public. You see, it’s a bit trickier for bigger girls to keep their… err… girls hidden when trying to nurse discreetly. Being someone who’s cared about modesty historically, and someone who has been acutely aware of how nervous nursing in public makes most people (awkward), I preferred to leave the room, nurse in my car, and even nurse in the public restroom (I can’t believe I felt ashamed enough to do this!).

Now that I have a toddler, I’ve been forced to become much less shy about nursing. I can’t just drag a toddler with me to nurse in private, and quite frankly, I don’t feel embarrassed or nervous, making me feel the need to run and hide whenever my baby is hungry. With this second breast feeding experience, my mindset is a mixture of courtesy and flippancy. I’ve becomes quite a skilled nurser for the sake of those around me— people who get antsy when a women nurses in public. They’d have to look pretty closely to see any boob. But I also figure— Hey, if they don’t want to see it, they don’t have to look. But my baby’s gotta eat, so I don’t really care too terribly much if it makes people nervous!

Because I do try to be courteous and discreet, I’ve become much more concerned with what I wear these days. The easiest thing to do is wear a loose fitting shirt overtop of a camisole. I can pull down the camisole and lift up the shirt to create a small exposed area for Juniper to nurse, without exposing my stomach or any of my chest. But if I want to dress more creatively, I’ve learned that it is possible! I can even wear a dress and nurse discreetly in public without anyone knowing it’s happening. This is a development I’m pretty excited about.

I quickly found that cute nursing clothes are anything but cheap, so I selected a few classic pieces that I can wear frequently (Think: 4 times a week usually!), so it would be worth the investment. This is my favorite dress that I can mix up with accessories, and now that Fall is on its way, jackets and sweaters. I love it! All I need to do to nurse is lift up the top and pull down the area underneath it. Bet you wouldn’t have known I was nursing in the first photo if I hadn’t told you!

What has your experience been with nursing in public? Have you ever been that person who doesn’t know where to look when a woman is nursing? Or maybe you were that mama gathering the courage to feed her child in the company of others? It’s an interesting point of conflict in our culture, which is kind of sad, but I understand how it’s gotten to be that way because of certain cultural vewpoints of women’s bodies and how they’re portrayed sexually more than most anything else. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

O U T F I T   D E T A I L S :

• Dress: discontinued in this sleeveless style- here’s the long sleeve version
• Cape: vintage
• Hat: thrifted
• Shoes: Hush Puppies
• Juniper’s pacifier clip: Valpo Studio on Etsy
• Juniper’s pacifier: Natursutten
• Lucy’s dress, scar, and shoes: thrifted
• Lucy’s socks: Jefferies