I'm in such an awkward clothing stage right now...  Most of my transitional wardrobe is beyond fitting, but a lot of my maternity stuff is just not working yet - it's pretty much either too warm or too tent-like.  I have found a few pieces that work right now, but I also just sent a BUNCH of stuff to ThredUp because there was just no sense in keeping it anymore when I don't ever ever EVER want to wear it.

See, the problem is, when I was pregnant with John Paul I shopped for maternity clothes that made me look HUGE, because I was so excited to be pregnant and WANTED to look huge!

Yeah, not the best idea.

Then I had Cecilia in January, so I had a bunch of fall & winter maternity clothes but not much for summer.

And with the twins, I pretty much wore that same stuff but didn't particularly like it...

So right now I'm figuring out what gaps I need to fill in my maternity wardrobe, and what I can skip in maternity and just buy in regular sizes!

This shirt (H&M when I was post-partum with John Paul - so flowy and awesome!) is about to be retired for the remainder of the pregnancy, since there is LITERALLY nowhere else for my belly to go in it...

Jersey Pencil Skirt - comes in solids and prints!  And also comes in maternity!

But the pencil skirt is still working surprisingly well!  Old Navy totally wins here - I've been wearing it since last summer and have had no issues with pilling or anything.  I think I'll probably look for it in a size up and in a different color, although they have maternity sizes too.

Maternity tank tops (or regular in a size up) + belly bands have been extending the life of some of my skirts, but there's only so much further they can go!

I love my old Target tanks (sized up) and Old Navy maternity tank tops - they've lasted through the last two pregnancies and post-partum phases really well, plus they're stretchy so they're nice and nursing-friendly!  Awesome layering pieces, and nice and long too.

Elizabeth was the only one awake early enough to come to Mass with me, and she was so SO excited!  We only had to leave the pew once, and she mostly just very loudly told me about all the animals in her Noah's Ark book, so I'll take it as a win.

Here's an example of an awesome but troublesome piece in my closet right now - this dress is J. Crew via Twice and is one of my absolute favorites!  Shapeless enough that a belt in the right place makes it perfect for post-partum and early pregnancy, zipper down the front makes it nursing-friendly, and the fabric works for fall, winter, and spring.  Buuuut not really summer...  And my belly's getting big enough that the dress is now just a little too short for comfort, especially when picking up babies all day!

But seriously, those stripes are amazing - look at that belly-hiding camouflage!

I'm still on the hunt for a great maxi dress, but I'll keep you posted!

Linking up with Fine Linen & Purple for WIWS.

Why I Worked: Part 2

For Part 1, click here

So here I was in college, getting the very practical degree I wanted, on a beautiful campus, with awesome people around me.

I did a lot of really important things, like dress up like a ninja and febreze the boys' rooms on our hall:



Dress up in crazy outfits for our weekly "Hump Day" dance parties in a friend's dorm room:



Audition for American Idol with my sister (we didn't make it):



And just generally have a fun college experience that didn't involve getting drunk or doing drugs or any of those "typical" college experiences.

Along the way I still knew that this was definitely the major for me, and definitely the career for me - every experience I had teaching cemented that, which made life a lot easier!  Meanwhile, Andrew added a history major and decided that maybe singing wasn't the way he wanted to make his living...  So it started looking like maybe I *wouldn't* need to work forever, and he might end up with a promising career making loads of money doing...  Something?

He graduated and took a year to work.  I returned to school for my Junior year with an engagement ring on my finger!

He decided to apply to law school, and ended up at William and Mary in Virginia.  I started researching jobs in the area and realized that there really weren't a ton of schools around there...  But I was going to HAVE to get a job, because we couldn't just live off of student loans and love!

I started sending out applications in January of 2008, planning our wedding and planning for my graduation in the process.



Not a single bite.  Teaching certification and a degree from one of the best universities in the country, and nobody wanted me.  Nobody was hiring music teachers ANYWHERE!

Meanwhile, friends were getting job offers left and right.  People who weren't constrained by location could go ANYWHERE and get a teaching job!  People like me who were limited to one geographical area that wasn't heavily populated?  Not so much.

I graduated.  Still no job.



We got married.  Still no job.



We went on our honeymoon in Jamaica and I got a call from the local school district asking me for a phone interview!  They suggested it for the day that we were driving all my stuff from Chicago to Virginia, but I figured I'd stop at a rest stop for the interview.

Meanwhile, we paid like $70 in roaming charges so that I could set up the interview...

I had my interview (while driving somewhere in Ohio, because I waited at a rest stop for an hour and they never called, so we got back on the road) and it went really well - they called me in for an in-person interview!

I had the interview, and it went really well.  The principal loved me, and talked about all the ways that they'd be able to help me get ready for the upcoming school year, and I impressed him with all my philosophical knowledge of music education.  The department chair seemed unimpressed and unfriendly, but honestly?  He was a high school band director.  I didn't take it personally ;)

Weeks went by.  No call.  I finally called to find out if there had been any decision, and they were shocked that HR hadn't informed me the position had been filled.  Don't you love it when they just leave you in the dark like that?

So we got ready for Andrew's upcoming school year and I kept filling out applications for school districts that were farther and farther away...  I had a few interviews, but nothing panned out.  And suddenly the school year was starting and I was still jobless.  

I filled out a profile on an online babysitting website and immediately had job offers.  I started working two babysitting jobs, and added a job at a local tutoring center on top of that.  Andrew and I decided that he probably needed to keep his church job in Washington, D.C. because that money would *really* help pay the bills, and they offered me a spot in the choir too.  So we commuted to DC every weekend and I still had NOTHING to show for my very, very expensive teaching degree.  

Talk about depressing.

Then, after 4 months of marriage and some very half-hearted NFP practicing, we found out we were pregnant.

And we were terrified.

No insurance, no actual job (or job prospects), and a baby on the way.

To be continued... (Part III here)

Why I Worked (Outside the Home) and Why I Don't Anymore: Part I

Would you like to hear the story of my career?

No?  That's not why you read all these mom blogs?

Well, I don't blame you - it's gonna be a long series of posts sharing my experiences in various jobs, which I haven't really shared publicly before...

Ages ago, Colleen had a Working Moms link-up, which I meant to join but never got around to writing a post...  So here's my contribution now!

We're gonna start waaaaaaaay back in elementary school - I went to a kind of swanky private school (scholarship + financial aid, not exactly rich kids...) where the teachers got INCREDIBLE presents from students at Christmas and at the end of the year.  Which led me to the belief that I wanted to be a teacher.  Because presents.

Adorable? Yes. Materialistic? Heck yeah.

Fast forward to high school, where all I really wanted was to get married and have babies.  Job? Maybe I'd do something while I waited for the first baby to be born, which would obviously be approximately 9 months after getting married.

But college was kind of a non-negotiable, and there's no way I even would have considered not getting a degree.  And there wasn't exactly a husband on the horizon, plus NOBODY got married out of high school in this area.  So the plan was to go to college, get some sort of degree, get married right after graduation and work until we had our first baby.

Then I started dating Andrew, who soon went off to college to major in...  Vocal Performance.

Yes, he's a lawyer now.  I don't think I have to tell you that plans change!

So I realized that if we were going to get married, probably I was going to have to work to help support our family.  But what was I going to DO?  I went to a math and science high school and had decided pretty early on that math and science were NOT my thing.  In fact, nothing was really my thing except singing.  And if you didn't know it already, sopranos are a dime a dozen.  Ain't no way I was gonna make a living singing...

Look!  High School us!

But I did a whole lot of choir stuff for fun, in any case.  And ended up doing rather a lot of rehearsal-leading and leadership stuff, and eventually realized that actually, it would be kind of awesome to be a music teacher!

And so a career choice was made!  And it all would have been smooth sailing, were it not for the fact that I didn't actually get into the music school of my choice come senior year...  See, I only applied to one, because if I wanted to go to music school I only wanted to go to Northwestern (I said because the academics were excellent, I wanted to get off the East Coast, and it was the program I wanted it.  I probably meant, "Because Andrew goes there.").  And I was wait-listed at Northwestern.  And also at Notre Dame, where I would have happily gone and majored in... Something, because music education isn't a major there (or at least wasn't when I was applying).

Something tells me my less-than-stellar attendance record in high school had something to do with this...

Anyway, I accepted a spot on both wait lists, figured, "Hey, God's will!" and accepted a spot at UVA (yeah, not everybody's safety school, I know...).  At this point I desperately felt as though Notre Dame was where I needed to be.  And then I went to All State Choir and had one of those life-changing experiences (I'm talking 100 sobbing choir girls singing Z. Randall Stroope with an amaaaaazing director) and I knew that music teaching was all that I could do.  And that Notre Dame wasn't going to happen, because I didn't want to have to get a master's degree when I still wanted to have all the babies.  

Long story short, I ended up getting into Northwestern and, RIGHT after I accepted, I got into Notre Dame.  And I excitedly started packing for Northwestern, imagining my future life as a music teacher with an awesome husband and a million kids (the logistics of this hadn't yet entered...)!

So young! So in love!

To be continued... (Read Part II here)

Still not a real post...

I know, I know...  But my back is killing me (well, really my tailbone) so I can't do the laundry that needs to be done and everyone is safely confined in their rooms soooooo here's a bunch of random to throw at you!

- You might as well skip this and go read my sister's latest post if you haven't already: How to Pray: Start Shallow

- I still have WIWS pictures from like, 3 weeks ago that I haven't managed to post...  And I haven't bothered taking pictures since then because I already have pictures I haven't used.  Whoops.

But here's a preview:

Yes, Cecilia wore her Christmas dress from 1.5 years ago.  We realized after we got to Mass that it had food on it.  Cool.

- Elizabeth is so SO very blonde compared to the other kids.  

And she loves books just as much as the others.  We're at that stage right now where any time I happen to be sitting down, they demand that I read to them.  And if I'm standing up, they demand that I pick them up.

"TWO BABIES!" They cry, begging me to pick them both up.  Well, at least it's balanced?

We went to a baptism yesterday and Mary Claire immediately ran to the end of the pew and started chanting, "U-S-A!  U-S-A!!!"

Really good Catholic there.

But Elizabeth may have been worse - "Do you reject Satan and all his empty promises?" "NO!"

Luckily her godfather reminded us that those vows have been made for her, considering the fact that she hasn't reached the age of reason.

- Sometimes I can rope the big kids into reading to the babies instead of me...  But Cecilia can't read and John Paul doesn't like reading aloud because it's so much slower, soooo mostly they still come running to me.

 One of these days, right?

- Elizabeth and Mary Claire can now both climb up into the little clubhouse in our swing set AND slide down the slide without help.  And they don't even look like they're going to die when it happens!  I don't think I trust them in the yard on their own yet (even with the older kids), but next summer is gonna be the BEST!

- John Paul signed up for the summer reading program at the library.  15 books by the end of the summer.  Maybe they meant 15 books by the end of the day?  Last summer I made him read aloud to me, so I'll probably do that again this summer, although he's reading books that are a LOT longer, so I'll probably just get a few "Easy Reader" books and make him read those aloud and give him a break for the rest that he's reading to himself...

- We're brainstorming for a playroom makeover - the twins have stopped trying to consume drawing materials and want to color ALL the time.  But they can't really fit at the table together with art supplies, and John Paul needs space to spread out all his materials when he's doing his various experiments and research projects...  

So the plan is to get an old craigslist dining set to put in there, and maybe a bookshelf or hutch to organize all the school/craft materials.  And maybe replace the futon with a real couch?  I mean, I've had it since sophomore year of college so...  9 years?  You can definitely tell.

And the minions have started fleeing their jail cells soooo I'll leave you with this:

We're trying to get the babies to nap in their cribs together in their room.  As you can imagine, it's going horribly.  They sing to each other, yell at each other, trade toys back and forth, yell at each other for not sharing, and every time I free them, Elizabeth's crib is pushed as far away from the wall as she can possibly get it.  We're having a lot. of. fun.

#sarcasm

A Confession

I have a confession to make.

I posted this picture in Instagram with the caption "On the plus side, she won't need her bangs cut for a veeeeeery long time...":



Then I realized everybody would probably assume that this butcher job was a result of a mishap with safety scissors.

Well, it wasn't.

It was all me.

I gave my 3-year-old the worst haircut ever.

The thick, chunky bangs are usually a good look for her.  That is, until they're cut an inch too short and start to resemble a mullet.

(Also, do you see those awesome sunflowers behind the kids?  Taller than they are, and growing more every day!)

What happened, you see, is this:

- Cecilia was begging for her bangs to be cut because they were *just* touching her eyebrows

- I got ready to cut them, and John Paul threw a temper tantrum because he wanted me to cut HIS hair.  Never mind the fact that I just cut his hair a few weeks ago.

- Cecilia kept moving around and looking every way, so I just grabbed all the bangs I could and cut straight across so that I could just even them out.  This is how I do my bangs, but I wear my bangs a LOT longer than she does, so I should have realized it was a recipe for disaster.

So now I'm thankful that her hair grows ridiculously fast.

I think the funniest part for me is that tonight at the dinner table she reached up to touch her bangs and said, "Mom, my bangs are getting pretty long.  I dink I need a hair cut."

If I post a picture of her bald tomorrow, you know who to blame.