Looking like a mom…or not {JP Lizzy Diaper Bag Giveaway!}

{We have a winner! Congratulations to Cee Shelton!}

I’d like to take a moment today to remind everyone of the reality of the daily life of a stay-at-home mom. I think many of you are rowing this boat right along with me, so this will sound all too embarrassingly familiar. And to those of you for whom this doesn’t ring humiliatingly true: have patience with your poor weary sisters and please do your best to not openly laugh when you spot us in public. You definitely can’t miss us.

My brother’s birthday was Friday (or Saturday? or some mysterious non-day between the two? I never know when to celebrate his leap year birthday), so Forrest and I spent the morning making cupcakes for him (with plenty of spoon licking along the way—don’t tell my brother that one of the main ingredients in his birthday treat was saliva). After we finished up, got the kitchen cleaned, diapers changed, teeth brushed, bag packed, and errand list written, I fed Darcy and we headed to Walmart to pick up a few things.

( ^ this ridiculousness is what happens when you enlist your husband to help take blog pictures, then listen to his pose suggestions. He’s a regular Tyra. He actually told me to make it “fiercer!” while he photographed. I’ll spare you the picture he snapped after giving that command.)

You know how people joke about the type of customer Walmart tends to attract? They are referring to me. Because when we got back home, I realized that not only did I have a gigantic drip of chocolate cupcake batter working its way down the front of my shirt (it had been white, pre-cupcake-making, so I managed to destroy a shirt plus draw maximum attention to my sloppiness with my black and white batter/shirt contrast), but I had also forgotten to clip up one side of my nursing bra after feeding the baby, resulting in a unique asymmetrical silhouette with one boob hoisted up to a normal height while the other one dangled at a droopy “grandma forgot her bra again” level.

Heaven forbid I use this blog as a way to fool people into thinking I’ve got it together. Never forget as I bombard you with the very best pictures I managed to take that I have wandered through Walmart dripping cupcake batter with breasts askew, sporting under-eye bags the size of Texas and dragging two grouchy ragamuffins in my wake. I doubt it will be the last time I do so.

Top: Walmart // Jeans: Ross // Belt: came with a skirt // Boots: gift // Bag: c/o JP Lizzy

Needless to say, now that you know I’m walking around looking a hot mess a good amount of the time, you won’t be surprised to hear that any chance to look less “mom-ish” is embraced with open arms. That’s why I’ve never had an actual diaper bag—I’ve generally thought they look very “mommy,” so I’ve just bought big purses and made them do. Sometimes they functioned well as a purse/diaper bag combo, sometimes not. But I’ve been willing to put up with any potential inconvenience for the sake of not toting around a bag that screams I am a mother of young snot-covered children and in case you need to borrow a wipe or spare diaper or baggie of smashed 2-month old raisins, of course I have them right here.

I was sent this cute diaper bag from JP Lizzy and can now say that yes, diaper bags really are more convenient than just a big purse. And I love that I don’t have to sacrifice style for convenience here—it’s trendy and fits into my style and doesn’t scream I’m a mom!, but it definitely makes carrying around all the kid and baby stuff so much easier. Plenty of pockets both inside and out, made with easy-to-clean wipe-able fabrics, and—my favorite feature—two inner pockets that are perfectly shaped to carry bottles or juice cups or, if your kids aren’t into that, a water bottle for you. (The choice of beverage you carry in your drink bottle is up to you—I won’t judge.)

(I will never stop laughing at the hilarious sight that is Darcy in that gigantic puffy snow suit. It wasn’t even that cold outside when we took these pictures, but I think I’ll keep stuffing her into this outfit as long as I possibly can for the pure joy of seeing her practically immobilized by that huge lumpy getup.)

Want a JP Lizzy bag of your very own? They’re giving away a diaper bag (winner’s choice!) to one of you today!

To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post. For an extra entry, head over to the JP Lizzy blog and comment on my guest post there, too!

(Giveaway open to US only. I’ll randomly select a winner from the combined commenters on this post and my JP Lizzy guest post on Tuesday, March 11. You can also follow JP Lizzy on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to keep up on their latest news and cute styles!)