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31 December 2012

It's a . . .


welcome to life outside the uterus, poor bruised little dude ...

Popeye ... is that you?

Someone was bound and determined to sound his trumpet and make his earthly debut in the sunniest side up position and has the swollen shut black eye, bruised tongue (?), and a mother very thankful for medicated births to prove it. Unlike his formerly newborn siblings, he has been sleeping (Julia completely refused) and eating (Sebastian was confused) like a champ which I will chalk up to his undoubtedly debilitating headache that will probably last quite some time.

God is good.
Welcome to the outside world little Theo!

and we know:
Grace was totally wrong on the confident gender prediction
now all we need is an Alvin
Kimye is totally trying to steal his thunder

30 December 2012

37 weeks

1. smug
2. smug
3. still smug

Trying to find a little tiny glowy window of an effervescently good mood to write an even mildly sunshiney post is proving to be difficult. Skip a 37 week post, you suggest? No. 

On the pregnancy front everything is totally fine and I have almost nothing negative to say about that. Well ... except for the slightly annoying fact that I feel like I am almost always audibly laboriously breathing. If you have the distinct pleasure of being around me in person before the baby comes ... come hither and take a listen .... you'll see/hear. I did make the idiotic mistake of making last week's appointment late enough in the day so that Simon would be home to watch the kids. I paid dearly by way of having the pleasure of waiting for 32 minutes on the cold, hard bench of fun draped in a generous piece of transparent tissue large enough to maybe cover the entirety of the rump of a freshly birthed mouse bebe (the runt of the litter). Yes, I listened to my OB politely listen to a first time mom and dad in the next room over outline what sounded eerily similar to this birth plan complete with polite chuckles and half-hearted "we'll see's!!". The good news was that the teeeeeeeeny bit of progress I've made was chalked up to the fact that this is my third baby. So, I'm fairly certain this baby will be debuting circa Valentine's Day ... which is probably for the best because I have no idea what on God's greenest earth we are going to do with the first two children when I do go into labor. Maybe we'll just bring them along for the medicated fun.

I've yet to purchase "best big brother/sister in the world!!" shirts for the kids nor have I handcrafted chocolate bar labels to thank the hospital staff for being so nice on the job but I totalllly succumbed to the "buy the older siblings a gift from the baby" nonsense. I know. My face is in my palm, too. I won't tell you that the present is a mash-up of the classic, "The Three Little Pigs" and the always timeless, "Dora the Explorer" because then you would think less of me .... forever. I'll just keep that to myself.

bodysuit:
vest: Gap via eBay
sweater: Gap maternity (although I have a feeling it would fit much better as nonternity)
jeans: Urban Outfitters
slippers: Minnetonka
glasses: Firmoo

37 weeks with Bash
38 weeks with Baby J


28 December 2012

7 Quick Takes

Joining Jen (if you didn't read her hilarious post today ... you should) once again for another installment of Quick Takes.

1. It's the last day to enter the area rug giveaway ... get on it.

2. I've got two unexciting clips of el kiddos this week:

 a. Parenting from my post on the guest bed yesterday morning ... Julia refuses to take off those robot pajama pants ... ever. Fine by me.
 b. And ... the big present reveal on Christmas morning.

Your life will most likely go on if you skip both. I think.

3. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who linked up on Christmas day with your outfits! Simon has the weekend off (!!!!!) so I plan to run away to a quiet corner of the casa and finally get to creep on your posts in peace and away from the shorts. It's not too late to link up if you'd like ...

4. Remember when I told you about this hair powder? Of course you do. Well ... my good friend Cait followed my sage advice and sent me the following text completely unsolicited ...
I cut the shot off on accident but I believe prior to amazing it said "this shiz is ....."

Need I say more? Go get some.

4. I'm the worst Googler in the world and am in the market for a gender-neutral (unisexy? no) baby hat or two. We have a Santa hat (thank you Mandy!) and a pumpkin hat that Julia has stretched to the size of her head and Target only has blue teddy bear hats and I'm still working on my first knitting project that I started a few short minutes ago. So ... any help is greatly appreciated. I'm obviously nesting really hard over here.

5. Thanks a zillion for all your nice comments yesterday. I think the worst is behind us and Julia and Simon went mercifully unscathed ... praise all things good and holy. Julia was actually oddly well-behaved while I was down and out. Hopefully this out of the ordinary behavior keeps up ... forever.

6. I gave Sebastian a plastic cup of too many chocolate chips to help him forget about the 6 teeth he is cutting.

7. So dumb.
 I think he may have managed to harvest chocolate juice/water all over his shirt .... or something.

8. I just noticed there were two number fours ... which makes this numero nine. No one ever accused me of being an underachiever. Ever.

Go see Jen for all the betters.

Happy Birthday to You!!

No, I'm not sure where Sebastian gets his petite frame ...

Happiest of birthdays, Simone!! Thank you for being the most outstanding husband to your crazy wife, the best dad to the craziest kids, and so devoted to your job with the craziest hours all while not going even a little bit crazy. We are the luckiest clan in all of the land to have you as our patriarch.

Hurry home from the lady parts because Julia is very excited for your presents and your cake.

Love,
Grace

unrelated but sometimes we need reminders that we used to be young and fun (and shoeless, apparently) as we age.


27 December 2012

plagued

I don't know what I thought would happen after I inhaled super fortifying Chinese Express straight from the styrofoam (that even Simon wouldn't touch), piggy pawfuls of puppy chow, and then held poor- plagued-with-the-occasional-voms-Sebastian ... for 3 hours too long.

Mary Cassatt's Mother and Child 1?
My thinks no.
More along the lines of ... Carrier monkey effectively infecting his devoted guardian.

What I thought may have been semi-real contractions circa midnight turned out to be my body getting ready to expel by way-o-violent-vom allllllllllll the chinese, drink, all the chow, more drink, that sip of water, that other sip of water, that stupid chug of blue Gatorade and any hope of smiling one time for the entirety of today. Is this tee em eye? Feel free to stop reading. I'm still petrified to touch solid food and water and will just continue to clutch my labeled red Solo cup of iced Pedialyte (fine, "Pediatric Electrolye" by generic) and 7Up (name brand!) while reveling in the fact that I held out on hiring Diego, Dora, and amigos to babysit my young until 12:03 in the pm. Let me guess ... you'd like the opportunity to stare in awe at my mother skill set? Be my honored guest.

Oh, I know I'm not special and it seems like everyone is sick this time of year and everyone has to deal with a touch of stomach flu at multiple times in their lives but I'd just like a quick moment to wallow. Thanks.

It seems we are cursed on December 27th because Simon was struck down by a similar poison on the eve of his birthday last year.  Anyway, if you could spare a prayer that Julia's immune system keeps on kicking at the 'hearty herd of oxen' setting, I would greatly appreciate it because she's got enough on her healthy plate ...
as it is.


a dip into last December's archives for less gross posts:
Can't wait to squeeze back into these beauties ... in a million months.
That was sort of funny, I guess.
And that was definitely a funny day. Funny $$.


25 December 2012

What I Wore on Christmas Link-Up


the entire enchilada ...
ape stance and all.

This is the first year we haven't been around family for Christmas but I absolutely can't complain because we get the whole day with Simon here at home. I'm really missing trying to coordinate a time in between deliveries/false labor alarms to meet him in the hospital cafeteria. It's weird and wonderful and really wonderful. Julia is at the perfect age to really get the whole concept of presents (stilllllll working on Jesus' birthday ...) and gets just as excited about a new box of golf balls for Simon as she does about a talking Dora doll. Sebastian's excitement buck stops at the wrapping paper but he has been on a roll with a lot of "whoa!!! whoa!!!" and ... "whoa!!!" ... baby's first intelligible syllable? Sure.

We watched The Holiday last night after assembling this (formerly loved) monstrosity. Simon declared it to be the worst movie he's ever seen but was curious if I thought he looked a little bit like Jude Law? Absolutely.

Many, many, many thanks in advance to Anna and her clan for letting us crash their Christmas party later today.
Sebastian was understandably displeased with Simon's executive decision to put him in Julia's plum ankle boots. In Simon's defense ... it seems as though Sebastian has hidden or thrown away every single pair of his own shoes.

Also, please note that Julia's stroller is alll prepped and ready for the new baby. 

attire:
turtleneck: the fancier thrift store
pants: Forever XXI
shoes: Blowfish
vest: eBay
glasses: Firmoo
Julia's booster: 36.4 big weeks

kids' Mass behavior:
little J: F
Bash: F
I don't want to type about it but don't think their stockings weren't filled to the brim with something that rhymes with "lumps of the blackest coal".  

I can't wait to see all your posts and instafits (#wiwoc) and I wish you and yours the happiest of Christmases!!

24 December 2012

What I Wore on Christmas Link-Up {tomorrow!}

Yes, this is an exclusive sneak peek of my outfit. Yes, I just realized my turtleneck is on backwards and yes, my vest is formerly known as the pelt of a dearly departed animal.

Come one, come all to the first (and last?) annual WIWOC e-partay. Fine, e-party. At least more than one person expressed (feigned?) interest in participating and I can't leave my ladies (and gentlemen? no discriminating here) hanging on Christmas.

You know how we do ... snap a pic or 20 ... buh-log it and link it here tomorrow. Christmas Eve attire totally counts (we are rolling that way tonight and I won't pretend I'm not shaking in my wedges at the potential atrocity it might be by way of two monster Patton children's behavior), Christmas morning pajamas totally count, pics with the whole fam are encouraged, and head-to-toe sequins will earn you triple pointage.

If you'd rather just go the Twitter/Instagram/underachieving route ... shall we go with a #wiwoc hashtag? (Thanks to Nicole for suggesting that on Thanksgiving).

Great, #wiwoc it is.

I'll leave the link-up open for as long as the almight internet will let me ... no rush/no pressure/no stress ... pretty please.

If you're needing some inspiration ... so many lovely ladies linked up over Thanksgiving and you can head over to that post in all that spare time you've got on your paws today. 

And if you are too busy or too important to take part ... I hope you have a Merry Christmas, I guess.

See you and your finery tomorrow. Can't wait.

23 December 2012

What I Wore Sunday

before you start spouting off inspirational New Year's Resolution posts let me just beat you to the punch and say that my lofty rez is to stop looking at the ground ... or to stop taking photos. Or both.

and to stop looking so happy and ready for pics.
(yes, I'm aware the bump is now coming to a point and I almost can't blame the Bluetooth wearing weirdo at the gym for asking, "were you due yesterday?!" laugh.)

Anyway ... the most wonderful time of the week: what I wore. 

Why yes I am wearing my trusty uniform of leggings, boots, tunic, neutral cardigan, puffmommy face, and glasses ... again. It's this or my very roomy and very Kelly green Target (via Goodwill, of course) swimsuit coverup that I find myself slipping into more and more and more these days. Simon loves it.

Simon walked by and offered to save you kind readers from another outfit rerun next week by suggesting I feature him in a, "What My Husband Wore After His Sunday Nap and Before He Has Tended to His Hygiene" post. So ... look forward to that. I can 100 million percent guarantee that his reindeer pants will play a starring role.

After we attended Mass, we braved the mall and took the kids to see Santa. I don't know why. Maybe I'm feeling a little bit bad because the kids' only gift from their parental units was purchased from a nice man named Craig Slist or maybe I just wanted to wait in line for 43 minutes while telling Julia, "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalmost our turn" over and over and over and over again. We felt guilty for not shelling out $43.99 for "The Blitzen" package of one 5x7 photo so the visit was a mere 12 seconds long but I got an illegal Instagram of the trip. We might do it again next year. And by might I mean - we absolutely willn't. 

the goods:
leggings: Target Maternity
cardigan: Banana Republic
glasses: Firmoo (8 whole dollars)

Kids' Mass Behavior:
Little J: A-
Bash: B+
Christmas Eve Eve miracles do happen, apparently. 


Linking up with the fine ladies over at Fine Linen and Purple ... you should do the same.

21 December 2012

7 Quick Takes

Linking up with Jen on this fine Friday for another round of Quick Takes.

1. Did you enter to win an area rug from Mohawk Home yet? Good. If not, you should.

2. We got 1/100th of an inch of snow and lost power last night for a few hours. Aside from our broken Advent wreath candles we have no candles, flashlights, or sources of potential flame (that I know of) so after we visited some friends in the hospital that just had a baby (the tiniest, cutest little baby that Sebastian was very taken with and would've gobbled right up had we let him) we took the kids to Chick-fil-A to kill some time and eat some food (twist my belly). Much to Julia's absolute delight, we let the kids go into the empty play area ...

all was well until some older kids entered the prem ...
I'm 100% certain they assumed Sebastian was at least the age of a communicable human due to his size and stature and I'm 100% certain they were completely confused when all he could do was smile and flap his wings at their attempts to engage him in a game of gun shooting.

After they tired of him ... they made their way up to Julia with whom they also tried to rope into a game of intense gun firing which was met with a blank stare and a quiet and calm repeat of, "excuse me, boy - excuse me, girl" over and over until they finally realized she was no fun and let her pass ...
Sebastian to the almost rescue.

Moral of the take? maybe I should consider finding ways to socialize the kids a little tiny bit more. Or maybe not.

3. All four of Simon's siblings are kindly visiting the Camp this weekend and are arriving this evening. I made the rookie mistake of telling Julia about their visit this morning and have had to field 187 "paw? mawy? anjew? bizbith?" (Paul, Mary, Andrew, Elizabeth - if you aren't fluent in Julia) questions since then. When will I learn?

4. I'm so fortunate to get a fair amount of emails from kind souls that read the blog and several days ago I received the following photo with the subject line "embracing the grace" ...
Are my outfits and stances that predictable? I guess they are. But ... thanks for the laugh Anna! (and if you are the same Anna that sent thee nicest email a few days later ... thank you!! ... I'm tempted to throw a chunk of it up here on the blog but I'll refrain, for now! And if you are not that Anna ... ignore this.)

5. What would you say to doing a What I Wore on Christmas link-up? Yes? No? Absolutely not? No? The Thanksgiving link-up was so much fun but I don't want to deter from the true reason for the season (presents!!) with a vapidy vap post. Tell me.

6. The bigger I get ... the more these kids want to be allll over the bod ...
... it is mostly sweet but I won't deny that Sebastian's nice-touches-in-training (yep -- I've become the mom that preaches about "niiiiice touches" to her toddler) but are still mostly hit-Mom-as-hard-as-my-chubby-muscles-will-allow have me a little bit worried about the safety of the unborn Patton and the potential of prematurely ruptured waters. Or maybe I'm crazy. Probably the latter.

7. Go wish one of my favorite favorite bloggers, Jenny a happy birthday!!
Isn't she the cutest? I agree. (photo taken and posted without permission)

I've got a lot of floors to Swiffer, a pillow case or five to find, a bathroom to babywipe down, and some baking/eating to do so I'll leave you here.

Have a mediocre (at best) weekend.



Go see Jen for more, more, and more.


20 December 2012

and I click, you click, we click

20 December 2011
Little throwback pic
I think Julia had just learned the word "shoes" and I'm pretty sure she is still rocking that exact same haircut.

I've typed about this many, many times before but Janssen smartly updated the instructions to link your email address to your blogger profile. Do it and do it now, prettiest of pleases.

Ashley finally posted again. Praise the Lord.

If ever there were the perfect loooong weekend for baking -- this one would be it. Lisa put together a delicious and hilario post of awesome and sugary recipes. Don't miss it.

I think today is the last day to order things from Amazon before Christmas? Some lazy last minute gifters told me so. My middle name is "First Minute" so ... I don't exactly know but I highly recommend this inexpensive milk frother for any coffee drinkers on your list. It's like the Bucks in a wand -- or something like that. Mine has been going strong for five years and counting. Get it.

I can't stop thinking about this. Curse you, Katie.

Yee to the haw. Episode 2 is airing tonight.

And Sebastian is beckoning from his portacage and I'm fairly certain I hear a mouse in the pantry - again. Time to go deal with both.

Open To Interpretation


Here's Kayla's pick ...


and here's my interpretation ...

shooting for demure and achieving just below dumb.

what about this?
stopping. so sorry.

uh - hummmm ... did you even look at the inspiripic first, Grace? I know. Off by a zillion years, hues, styles, etc. I worked with what I had and came up a little bit short. It happens. If I had to do it over, I would probably go sans rose garden party cardi. And by probably I mean definitely.

the goods:
blouse: Forever XXI
cardigan: Forever XXI
pants: Motherhood Maternity (altered)
wedges: Target
necklace: eBay 

And as a little consolation prize for my poor performance ... a candid captured when Simon sweetly surprised me at my post of professional picture taking with a live and writhing and repulsive worm...
run, grace,
run.

Now off to see Erica and Kayla's much more accurate interpretations. Go. 


19 December 2012

Quirks

Sometimes it feels like the occasional monotony of life as a stay-at-homer to two small children is broken up only by moments of serious frustration. (let me interrupt to say that earlier today I read one blogger's pledge to only read 'inspiring and uplifting' blogs in the new year -- and with an opening line like that I'm guessing Camp Patton will be numero uno on her list-o-spiration). I did say sometimes! Yesterday's morning involved Julia and an unfortunate accident of the shitty variety in the bathtub and if I were a silver lining type of gal I would thank my lucky planets that Sebastian had just been plucked from the tub due to his whines that were just grating enough to be answered and appeased. But silver linings aren't for me and I think I'll still brag-complain about it to Simon during dinner tonight. Anyway, like most days - the hits kept coming in the forms of completely emptied closets, short (toooo short) naps, a bad hair day, and Julia losing her (teeeeeny tiny) "Dowa daw" and throwing herself into hysterics 45 too many times.

But a day in the life is not the topic du jour ... let's focus on Julia Grace Patton's fleeting moments of redemption.
happiest toddler on the block.

I could/should/won't start a blog dedicated solely to the fruit of our limbs and the things they do that only parents find endearing so I'm sorry in advance and thank you for suffering through posts of this nature.

This weekend I had yet another interminable (18 second) talk with Julia about how I would prefer that she not wear my glasses because I need them to see and drive her and Sebastian around and it really is in the best interest of her safety and my sanity that she not wear them. She seemed to understand and repeated "no wear mommy's gwasses -- big twouble." Perfect. Houston, we have comprehension! We then got ready for our big loop around the hood and I loaded the kids, the sippy cups, the lap blankets, and no glasses into the stroller and was just minding my own, listening to music, and pointing out all trillion of the blow up Christmas lawn ornaments our neighbors throw up every year when, after a few blocks, I looked down to see:
sneaky and disobedient or disobedient and dumb?

and a few minutes later ... giving her eyes a rest:

maybe she thinks they help bring out her feminine side ...

but I think she is wrong-o.
so wrong.

Other Julia-isms:

~ caring deeply about the state of her/my nails. She reports hang nails, too long nails, and scratchy nails the instant they surface on either party
~ caring deeply about the state of Sebastian's toe hygiene when he wakes up in the morning. She dutifully cleans out any sock lint that may have made a home in his toe crevices overnight
~ calling me "mommycakes" when it becomes blatantly obvious she has crossed one too many lines
~ furrowing her brow, getting all up in his face, and asking, "was wong, Bashy?" when Sebastian cries/whines
~ not letting anything stick out of her dresser drawers
~ employs a highly inefficient high-knee run on her tip toes if she needs to get somewhere quickly
~ tells me when she thinks my clothes are too tight 
~ when I ask her if she'll help me clean up her toys she always responds, "no, sank you."
~ when we are heading out the door she always says, "come on migos, come on!!"
~ still going strong with her desire to name the baby "Diego" if it happens to be a boy

Enough for today. Maybe for a lifetime? I think so.

I don't doubt your toddlers are cuter/less infuriating. I don't doubt it at all.


18 December 2012

35 weeks


1. no caption
2. gaze and a grab. unforgivable!!

35 down and 2 or 5 or 7 or somewhere around there to go. I'm feeling fine and am half loving - half hating being this pregnant during the season of all things chocolate plain, chocolate popcorn, chocolate pretzels, chocolate pecans, chocolate ginger snaps, chocolate marshmallows (don't love but still inhale), chocolate grahams, chocolate everything. I can't help myself and Simon keeps bringing these glorious temptations home from work. It's awful. And wonderful.

My lady doc was a little concerned about the size of the baby and so I had an ultrasound at 34 weeks and badabing bada-big-baby. To quote the tech, "sizable and huge head!" and "do your other children have abnormally large heads?" and "this is not a small baby" -- weighing in at almost 6 pounds with maybe as many weeks to go. Lovely.

Julia is all set to feed the baby (that will be "coming out of mommy's belly button") noodles and toast and milk and Sebastian is all set to do nothing helpful at all.  Some people have asked if Simon will deliver the baby and my answer is: barring a precipitous home birth that he is actually home for - no, no he will not. Such a fun wife.

garb:
Tunic: Old Navy Maternity (on super sale!)
Leggings: Target
Boots: Famous Footwear

35 weeks with Bash
35 weeks with Little J

17 December 2012

Essential Baby Gear You (Probably) Don't Need

exhibitionist ... and his super profesh haircut.

If you have or have had babies and have dealt with multiple personalities, needs, wants, and temperaments then odds are good that you won't completely agree with this post. I rarely to never agree with baby/maternity must-haves lists but I'm one of the crazies that (maybe because our main floor isn't carpeted? or maybe because I'm a high maintenance nut) considers the Bumbo to be a can't-live-without and I love having a changing table. Gasp.

Fancy Bottles: I know a lot of people choose and are able to breastfeed exclusively (which goes without typing that this is ideal but obviously not an option for every mom) and have no need for bottles but if you do, especially in the early months, I would personally caution very much against throwing a lot of lettuce at complicated bottle systems. Because of my thyroid treatment we had to start bottle feeding Julia full-time at just 8 weeks old and it took awhile to find the magic bullet (and now we realize that she is just a little bit tongue tied which may have contributed to the problem) but we eventually settled on the cheapity cheap packs of bottles from Target with this nipple . We had the fancy vent/flow/bent angle bottles and the bottles with the bags and those were not only a huge pain with their multiple tops/bottoms/sizes etc etc etc but also just didn't work and were the cause of a lot of middle of the night curses from both parental units as she tried to choke down the milk from the "slow flow" bottles. Sebastian took a cheap bottle with the cheap nipple it came with like a champ pretty early on - probably because he was starving and a boy and huge. I know we were totally spoiled and don't anticipate that happening ever again.

Diaper Bag: Okay, maybe I just haven't found thee bag (and to be honest ... I stumbled on this site last week and can't bring myself to close the window ... quite yet) but even when the kids were really young and required bottles and all the other high maintenancy things that infants need for their outings ... I've found that throwing everything in my (somewhat roomy) purse works just as well. The cheapy bottles come with lids to avoid spills and I've never had a baby complain about their pacifier being kept in a non-pacifier specific pocket in a non-baby specific baby. Call me vain but I'm already toting a baby or two, probably a spit up stain or four, and maybe a bit of a weary expression and I'm happy to not haul yet another baby-esque thing around town (town being the regular grocery store, Target, Costco, the hospital cafeteria, and Mass -- my oyster).

Special Swaddling blankets: Both Sebastian and Julia were born right before the cold weather set in and they definitely enjoyed their fair share of swaddles and we found the large squares of hemmed flannel worked just fine. However, someone did give me a special swaddle blanket for this baby and I'll be surprised if I don't love it. But ... we obviously survived two infantdoms with the old fashioned blankets. Here is an especially awesome tutorial on how to swaddle.

Diaper Genie: More of a hassle than it's worth. I run with a complicated system of grocery bags and (depending on how much of a break I need from the pant soilers and the outside temperature) a leisurely walk out to the big trashcan. If Sebastian loves the kitchen trashcan as much as he does ... I can only imagine the affair he would try to get away with with a Genie. I'm happy I'll never know.

Bumbo Tray: Maybe I'm the only sucker that thought it was a good idea but it is a ginorm pain to snap on and snap off which is enough of a deterrent for me. I thought we could get away with not having a high chair but Julia's thighs swelled just enough to laugh that notion right out the window and we are now proud owners of a traditional high chair that has gotten a lot of use and is probably really gross as Sebastian is a master food squirreller.

Breast Pump: I'm not not not not saying that these aren't vital to the feeding of lots of babies but pumps are expensive and in my experience, renting a heavy duty one from the hospital for a fraction of the cost of buying a brand new one and making sure that pumping works for you (I won't punish you with a novella of the nightmare it was for me) is a smart way to go. And I know a lot of people can get by with a little hand held pump as well. Maybe you'll end up buying and loving a fancy system but the investment is worth looking into before you take the expensive plunge. UPDATE: I bought this manual breast pump when Theo was born because I was dying and the lactation consultants would not return my whimpering voicemails and I highly recommend it to provide super necessary relief in the early days!!

Almost Anything New: Okay, with the huge exception of bottles, pacifiers, etc you really can find a lot of gear (that will only get a few months of use anyway) secondhand. My mom found a Baby Bjorn for nine dollars at a secondhand store that isn't the fanciest/lightweight/prettiest model but it has worked perfectly for the first few months of both kids' earth dwellings. Maybe it grosses a lot of people out but I find the vast majority of the kids clothes at thrift stores. We've received tons of clothes as gifts but Sebastian rarely rocks anything brand new (many thanks to generous Caroline!!). He seems to be in a new size every few weeks anyway so it doesn't feel like a huge waste if he only wears the pair of pants that set me back $3.00 twice in his life. And my kids last about 3 weeks in the newborn clothing but maybe you don't birth beasts like I do.

Baby Nail Clippers: Fine. Maybe I'm getting too nitty gritty here but I hate baby nail clippers. I think they make them dull on purpose so that they are safer but they require multiple tries before the nail is actually cleanly cut and cause a lot of crying from both baby and baby mama ... it might sound nuts but using a toenail clipper works best ... you can get the whole nail with one (precise!!) clip and there won't be any hangnails leftover to scratch etc.

Baby Shoes: I know they are super cute but I guarantee that as soon as that baby learns how to kick (pretty much immediately) you're going to lose one and then have one very cute and very useless collection of 1/2 pairs of shoes. Maybe our kids look trashy in just socks (that also get lost) and maybe I just need to invest in some shoes that are impervious to kicks but I've purchased and lost lots and lots of super cute shoes. No more. Stopping the madness with bebe #3.

I could keep going with the newborn mittens (glorified socks), and the wipe warmer, and baby washcloths, and and and and I won't. Like I said, this post is potentially 100% moot to you and even my future self as I'm only two babies in. This next Patton might be an entirely different needy story.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of stuff .... fill a novice in, will you? Maybe next time I'll make a list of actual essentials which might take to infinity .... and beyond.


16 December 2012

What I Wore Sunday

1. the blurry bunch
2. preparing for battle with my shield of flared nostrils and Bash's brows
3. Julia's ready for rain, Sebastian's prepared for a full blown flood


I was flying Hans Solo with the kids for Mass prep today and if the second photo is any indicator ... I was super thrilled about the process. I did manage to shoddily alter these pants while letting the whir of the sewing machine drown out the children's early morning chirps. You know that the bell means serious business when I pull out these wide leg bottoms (see photos 1, 2, and 3 for proof). I bought them when I was pregnant with Julia and never think I'll get big enough to fill them out again ... and then ... laugh laugh. Laugh.

Simon's last call weekend until January will come to a blessed close in about 90 minutes and I'm hoping these pants are roomy enough to withstand a super happy jig, endure a little tap dance, and tolerate a trip to enjoy some fine Chinese cuisine ... praise all things good and really good.

fitted in:
(altered) pants: Gap Maternity
shirt: Target Maternity
cardigan: Target
necklace: eBay - similar
shoes: Target

the kids' Mass behavior:
Julia: B- for being very good with the exception of almost successfully pulling down my pants from behind during the consecration
Sebastian: C+ for effort but confined places and spaces are just not a natural habitat for Bash these days

And despite their not stellar performances we still took them to see Santa right after Mass. We're such suckers.


p to the s ... didn't Kayla do an amazing job with the blog's new design? I don't know if she is available to do others but if you send her enough harrassy emails like I did ... she might reconsider. 

Linking up with the ladies over at Fine Linen and Purple ... you should do the same. 


14 December 2012

7 Quick Takes

Joining reality star Jen and her fans for another round of giving this week. I'm sure you're surprised. 

1. You were all so helpful back when we were still looking for a minivan ... I thought I'd repay your kindness by giving you an unsolicited update on how we are liking minivan living. I love it. Could I live without it? Absolutely. Do I want to? Never ever again!!!!! We found a great deal on an 04 Odyssey and we are 100% spoiled with remote sliding doors, heated seats, and a DVD player (that is shamelessly used as an incentive/bribery tactic on call weekends when I just need a moment of Dora-filled semi-silence on the interstate). I guess that's it. All thumbs way up.

2. You were also all so super kind and generous with your votes in the Soon Maternity Challenge and I was so excited to find out that I was the winner this past week. Thank you thank you thank you!! I was insanely intimidated by the competition and really appreciate your clicks and comments. The hilarious and adorable Elaine won the $150 gift card for voting - congrats to her!

3. Only to the third take and I'm already typing a blank ... we've covered minivans and maternity clothes ... what else is there? Here's a clip of Julio voluntarily counting (in case you aren't friends with my mom on Facebook and haven't been lucky enough to view) in Spanish with absolutely no help at all. I blame (Juan) Diego and Dora.

4. And so Sebastian doesn't feel left out ... here's what he does 89 times in a row in his spare time when we're waiting for Simon at the hospital. If you're lucky enough to cross his path he will run right up to you and give you a big hug and a nuzzle in your neck if you'll allow it. He knows no strangers -- male, female, brunette, or blonde. It's getting weird and I'm sorry if you've encountered his overzealous affection recently.

5. There were some adorable babies-o-bloggers born this past week. A huge congrats to Janssen on the birth of adorably chubby Ani and to Amber on the arrival of her sweet twin girls, Parker and Jolie. Almost too much cute to handle.

6. These kids aren't stupid.
They know they are soon to be replaced by someone who is much much smaller and Gollum-esque than they are. Not ever previously known for their fluency in the love language of Physical Touch, alllll of a sudden they are both very touchy feely and climby and clingy. Not stupid at all.

7. And now that I've typed these ridiculous takes I am just now learning of the sickening tragedy that occurred in Connecticut earlier today. What a nightmare. I'm not an eloquent wordsmith and it has been said much butter by many others already but my heart and prayers go out to all those involved (especially those poor parents). What a sad reminder that life is so very, very precious.


12 December 2012

Instavida

1. Sebastian, is that you?
2. dainty in pink

3. Simon says I dress Julia like a lumberjack
4. I don't know what he's talking about

5. went on a date
6. took some selfies in the foyer

7. It's beginning to look a lot like
8. Christmas in Julia's nightmares

9. 33 weeks
10. and his/her clueless siblings

11. total comprehension
12. immunity booster

13. Elf in a Hall
14. Shrimp

15. boys
16. a little game I like to call "toss the chocolate chips on the floor and watch them scramble"


Do you insta? Do tell.