Do you ever take a shower and then accidentally only shave one leg?  And not realize until like, 5 hours later?  And still not do anything about it 12 hours later?  It's on my list, I promise...

Sunday: Started this post
Monday: Did nothing with it, but DID finish shaving my legs
Tuesday: Finishing it!

I got to go to Mass ALONE because my sister took the big kids to an afternoon Mass - our friend just got ordained on Saturday and it was his first Mass!  They were dressed in their most Pentecost-appropriate clothes:

"Smile like the Holy Spirit is descending upon you!"

Cecilia's Easter dress is *technically* red seersucker, even though it looks pink.

Anyway, here's what I wore on Sunday:

I know, no red!  I don't actually own anything red...  Uh oh!

Elizabeth is convinced that the embroidery on the dress (an ACTUAL maternity dress) is snakes.  I told her it was embroidery and she said, "No. Hnakes."

You don't argue with Elizabeth.

Dress: Old Donna Morgan (via A Pea in the Pod), purchased during my pregnancy with Cecilia (similar, similar)

Shoes: DSW, really not right with that dress buuuut oh well... (similar, similar, similar)

Bump: 18 weeks - almost halfway there!

I'm reaching the point where "normal" clothes mostly aren't fitting anymore...  The transitional wardrobe has served me well, but my rib cage is expanding and there's only so much stretch I can get out of some of my clothes, so things are gradually getting retired while maternity clothes are making their way out of the storage bins.

And since I started Kendra's Answer Me This questions, I might as well double the link-up fun!

1. Do you have a land line?

Nope - I'm pretty sure the phone lines that connect to our house don't even have a jack anywhere that we could plug a land line into soooo too bad, so sad!

2. What is your least favorite food?

Anything from the sea.  God put those things at the bottom of the ocean for a reason - because they taste NASTY and nobody should eat them!

3. What's on your summer reading list?

No idea!  I need to find more books to read - I'm just about out of my stack...  Give me suggestions!  Although I'll be honest, I'm more likely to read them if they're fiction books, particularly fiction of the young adult variety...

4. Is there something that people consistently ask for your advice on? What is it?

Not a ton, but I get a fair amount of cloth diapering/breastfeeding questions.  I'm far from an expert, but I always like sharing my opinion :)

5. What's the most physically demanding thing you've ever done?

Childbirth?  Honestly, I don't do a lot of physically demanding tasks...

6.  How do you feel about massages?

In theory, I think they're awesome.  But they always HURT!  I don't know if my skin or muscles are too sensitive, but even those tiny Asian ladies who massage your legs during a pedicure preeeetty much leave me with bruises.  I will take a back rub from my husband any time, but I do NOT like it when other people touch  me!

Anyway, if you're in an internet browsing sort of a mood, definitely go check out more links at Catholic All Year and Fine Linen & Purple!

June Garden Progress

This is so very much not a gardening blog...  But we're trying to grow even more this year than last year, and eventually grow a substantial amount of our own produce, so I think it'll be useful for me to have something to look back at next year when I'm planning the garden again!

Heck, I'm already fascinated just looking at last month's pictures and comparing the crazy progress!

The peas are not growing super-tall (I really need to add more twine because they're falling down) but they're starting to flower!

The morning glory is getting tall enough to send out tendrils, the zinnias are growing nicely, and there is a bare patch where John Paul just *had* to dig...  There's mint growing in that pot to the side, because John Paul kept tasting various weeds looking for mint, so I decided to get him his very own plant.

Pole beans finally have poles!  Bush beans are getting bushy and starting to flower!  And I need to plant more...

The oregano and sage are OUT OF CONTROL!  I need to dry a bunch of oregano, and cut a bunch of sage and freeze it because I love to use it for sauces and it keeps really well chopped and frozen.

The dollar store marigolds (left) are getting huge but no buds yet.  And the squash and zucchini are getting huge too!  We're definitely going to have an overabundance, so hopefully our neighbors won't mind eating some for us ;)  Or local friends!

Strawberries!  We planted the everbearing variety last year, and the smaller plants in the back have just started flowering so we'll see how they do.  We've probably gotten 20 or so strawberries out of the plants this year, and the squirrels have gotten to probably about the same number...  We really need to net them :(

But they're so tasty!

The lettuce has been seriously disappointing.  I planted it what, two months ago?  And this is IT?  Ridiculous.  Awful.  Angry.

The cucumbers are just starting to form buds!

But they don't think they need to grow any larger or attach to the trellis or anything...

Squirrels still thing they need to bury things among the carrots.  And I still haven't planted more.  Eventually...

The roma tomatoes are just about ready to be caged, and I saw buds starting to form yesterday!

The squirrels destroyed all the pepper seedlings I planted a few weeks ago, along with some that I planted over a month ago.  So I need to buy some seedlings that are larger and hopefully they'll leave those alone, because apparently the ones I started are too tasty?  Really annoyed.  I hate squirrels.

Basil!  I scattered the remains of a variety seed packet from last season, because the kids love purple basil and all the different varieties, and it's coming up nicely!  I also planted a packet of lemon basil because it's sooooooooo yummy and I'm planning on making and freezing a ton of pesto if I can.

Cherry tomatoes!  Can you tell which are the first seedlings I planted and which are from a few weeks ago?

And the Krim seedlings managed to overcome the fact that I didn't harden them off at all and are thriving!  And THESE the squirrels didn't destroy! 

Pear tomatoes!  They're just starting to form buds too - not the most delicious, but always very plentiful and not very acidic, which is nice for the kids (particularly babies).

The garlic is still growing crazy-well and I'm excited to harvest it at some point, particularly since we planted it on a whim!

First cherry tomato blossom :)

And some renegade tomato plant that grew from the Krim seeds I planted...  I think it's a potato-leaf plant?  I'm definitely curious to see how it develops!

And last, sunflowers (dwarf sunflowers, John Paul reminds me) in a weed-ridden bed in the front yard that the kids claimed as their own garden.  

Not pictured: A trillion azalea bushes in the front yard that I really want to cut down and replace with blueberry bushes...  Would that be terrible?

Whew!

I need to plant more beans & carrots, stake and cage the tomatoes, buy more pepper seedlings, transplant the rest of the tomatoes and peppers, and I'd like to buy a few tomato seedlings that are the bigger slicing variety - I mostly focused on tomatoes that are good for storage, but there's something pretty fun about those ginormous heirloom varieties too!

Linking up with Cari's Garden Link-Up!

Maxi Dress Roundup

In honor of my favorite maxi dress biting the dust (I got 2 years out of a $12 dress, I'll take it!), I'm rounding up some of my favorite maxi dresses on the internet to try to decide on a replacement.  Think you can't pull off a maxi dress?  Here are 8 ways to make it work - I really think it's a style that can work for everyone, even shorties like me!

Prints:

Modcloth - Forever 21

I'm so tempted by that paisley number - I think the colors would work great for fall too, and it looks sooooo nice and breezy for summer...

And stripes:

(ohhhh I love those stripes)

Top: Modcloth - Forever 21 - Forever 21

Bottom: Gap - Forever 21 - Lands' End

And solids:

Modcloth - Gap - Lands' End

A lot of these I would probably only style as skirts (see anything with spaghetti straps or strapless), most need a cami underneath for modesty's sake, but a great maxi dress is SO perfect for summer, and really all year round!  

I love the two convertible dresses from Gap - wear them as a maxi or a dress, folding over different amounts to change the length.  These are SO great for a post-partum mama, because they're stretchy enough to fit any amount of belly, or the panel helps smooth things down a bit if need be.

You should be able to scroll over to see prices and click if you want to learn more - let me know if you try any!  I'd love to hear what's working well :)  I can't decide if I can justify buying any of these right now - I have a wedding to go to in September, think any of the Modcloth dresses will fit a 7-month-pregnant belly?

Honeysuckle, etc.

I noticed this evening that there was some honeysuckle creeping over the fence from the neighbors' yard, so I pointed it out to the kids, just saying that it smelled really good...

So they quickly pulled off a branch :/

And tried to figure out if something that smells so good also TASTES so good!

Cecilia was pretty disappointed, convinced that "da bees ate all da honey!"

So I showed her the trick where you pinch off the end and pull out a teeeeny tiny little drop of nectar.  She was ecstatic!  And it reminded me of just how much time I spent with friends at recess in grade school, trying to gorge ourselves on honeysuckle nectar, one tiny drop at a time.

It's kind of amazing, being able to introduce them to things that were such a big part of my childhood!

...

This weekend was rough.  Well, really just rough for me.  I came down with something during my yearly amusement park trip with my students (100 middle school students.  17+ hours "on" with them.  Way too much time on a bus.  I'm amazed I didn't get sicker), and was completely out of commission Saturday and Sunday.  Thankfully my mom was in town to help out!

When I finally managed to crawl up the stairs to join the living on Saturday morning, John Paul ran over excitedly to me:

JP: Mom!  Are you feeling better?

Me: No, not really...

JP: Oh.  D'you have tuberculosis?

Me: ...  No.

JP: D'you have ebonia?

Me: Ebonia?

JP: Pneumonia?

Me: No, not pneumonia either.

Yeah, no idea what it was/is.  Still lingering with headache, nausea, sore back and neck...  Hopefully I'll be over it soon!

The weird part of it is, since the babies couldn't nurse at all on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, they're pretty much weaned.  It was going to happen soon anyway, since my supply is pretty much gone.  But it's still...  Weird.  Elizabeth has asked to nurse a couple of times and is easily distracted, and Mary Claire seems to care not even a tiny bit.

...

I kind of had to be back in commission this morning because my mom was gone and Andrew had work, so Cecilia was SHOCKED to see me in the morning:

Cecilia: Mom!  Are you all better?

Me: Um, some of the way, Cecilia.

Cecilia: Oh.  Did da baby come out yet?

Me: No, not yet...

Cecilia, disappointed: Why not???

Yeah, this little one and the concept of time...  Not so much!

...

Speaking of Cecilia, though:

"It's a baby.  Wif a umbilical cord."

On a birthday card for a pregnant friend.  I guess it's appropriate?

The cord stretched to approximately 5x the length of the baby.  Yeesh, that's a lot of umbilical cord.  She tells me these days that she really wants to be a nun, so I suppose her preconceived notions are moot!

...

It would have been my parents' 35th wedding anniversary today - would you send up a prayer for my dad's soul?  And also for my mom?

Building a Transitional Wardrobe

When last we met (well, when last we talked style), I talked about how my transitional wardrobe has helped me actually fit into my regular clothes in the first trimester while avoiding (for the most part) the "pregnant or just fat?" feeling that's kind of inevitable those first few months...

This is particularly important because I don't know about you, but my post-partum body settles into a distinctly first trimester shape for the first month or two or five after a baby is born.  And given our (lack of) child spacing, it just didn't make sense to keep buying clothes that I could only wear for a few months, at most!

Some of the most useful items of clothing I've found are:

Full a-line skirts like this one:

 Green crinkle midi skirt

Stretchy pencil skirts like this:

Zig Zag tube skirt

Flowy button-downs that can be tied or tucked, like this:

Mini daisy rollsleeve shirt (I love the idea of mixing the patterns with the striped pencil skirt and this shirt!)

Nursing-friendly dresses that hide a belly, like this:

Grey floral drape dress (and you could pair it with a button-down to switch things up a bit)

That's basically it!  I also love a good shift dress, but it can be hard to find nursing-friendly shifts.  Look for shirtdresses and belt them!

 Chambray shirtdress

Want more ideas?  I would absolutely buy this skirt (probably in tall so it hit me a little longer) if I could justify buying any more clothes right now:

 Knit circle skirt

And I already have this shirt (worn in the top picture), but it's worth mentioning again because it's AWESOME!  Lisa loves it too :)

 Factory two-pocket chambray shirt

How cute are the polka dots on this chambray shirt?  Really, chambray is its own wardrobe staple that EVERY woman needs!

 Printed chambray shirt

You'll probably want to add some color, and this coral button-down would be perfect belted over your bump, tied to hide the belly, or tucked loosely:

 Factory camp shirt

And I love sleeveless button-downs when the summer weather gets crazy hot and humid here in VA:
 Sleeveless gathered top

Right now I'm on the hunt for a new maxi dress - my beloved striped dress has a teeny tiny little hole in a very obvious and obnoxious spot, so I think it might be time to retire the trusty thing :(  But I'm a shorty, so I don't feel comfortable ordering one online!

What about you - what are your wardrobe staples in those transition times?

I'm trying out a new affiliate program - I *think* that how it works is I get a couple of cents if you click a link in this post, and maybe a few more if you buy something?  We'll see how I like it, but I noticed that the fashion posts on here get a LOT more clicks than the others, so I figured I might as well make a few bucks to justify my blogging to my husband :)  Thanks!