A conversation we just had…
Him: I will hit mama!
Me: What happens if you hit mama?
Him: I will cut you in half!
Two weeks ago he told me “I will push you in the road and you will get hit by cars!”
The day before that he told my mom “I will push you!”
Her: You will push me out of bed?
Him: I will push you down the stairs!
Should we worry?
Today was a day where by the time Sam threw all of his dinner on the floor except for the portion he saved to dump in my bed, I wasn’t even mad, I was just tired.
At that point, he had already licked a trash can. At the post office. Twice.
He had already thrown a doll at Baby William’s head.
It was also one of his sweetest days.
He had a friend over and was so good at sharing.
He sat on my lap a lot.
He put on David’s cycling gear and rode his tricycle super fast so he could race like daddy.
He demanded tickles, stopping me with a “don’t like that!” followed by “wait…I like that!”
I don’t have any deep insights. I’m just tired. And in love with my kiddos. I had gotten to a point where I was reading so many parenting blogs with no filter on whether it was good or not that it was affecting my mood so I laid off for a while, but yesterday I read a post that made me think yes this is hard, and no I’m not crazy, and yes I am privileged, but no that doesn’t make it not hard, and most importantly I am not alone. And that was necessary for me in that moment. So I was inspired to write something, for the first time in forever, because it’s important to keep reminding each other of that.
Parent friends: This is hard. And we’re not crazy.
Uh, looks like I haven’t posted anything in 5 months. Whoops.
Between having a toddler and having a rougher pregnancy than the first with Baby #2, I just haven’t been able to get it together to write anything. But now, Sam has started a Mothers’ Day Out program, and I just got my first Stitch Fix maternity shipment, and the universe is aligning for me to write this post.
Verdict: Worth It.
These are the maternity basics I’ve been longing for.
Loveappella Maternity Keils Lace Detail Maternity Top
This was the first thing I tried on in my order and I love it. It is so soft, I’m a sucker for stripes, and I love the lace detailing. Will keep.
LA Made Maternity Halloway Cotton Maternity Knit Shirt
Not much to say about this navy shirt except that its comfortable, long enough to wear through the whole rest of my pregnancy, and navy is one of my go-to colors. Will keep.
LA Made Maternity Catina Maternity Cap Sleeve Dress
This dress! This is one of the most comfortable dresses I’ve ever put on, and so versatile. And it’s a nursing dress! I will wear this dress forever. (If only it had pockets!)
Mavi Kera Maternity Skinny Jean
First of all, I’m pretty sure Mavi was a brand I used to buy for super cheap from Marshall’s when I was in middle school – I’m assuming this is a different brand. As I was putting these on I almost said a big “Nope!” because I don’t have time to mess around with tight jeans when I’m pregnant. But holy cow they are stretchy, and they fit under the belly which I love. Will keep.
Renee C Alondra Maternity Ruched Pencil Skirt
This is not something that I would have picked for myself, but it’s super stretchy, can be styled a ton of different ways, would be more money to return due to their keep everything discount, and David loves it when I wear skirts, so it stays.
I hope this was helpful to any future mamas considering Stich Fix’s maternity service. Do it!
(Disclosure: not a paid post, as I am lazy and will never blog regularly enough to seek compensation. I just really love Stitch Fix and have been using them on and off for 4 years.)
Last weekend I read the book that is all the rage right now, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I see why it is all the rage. We were in Florida through the weekend, and it was lovely and we got to see our friends, but MAN I just wanted to go home and start getting rid of things. This was not a new urge, rather an ongoing project that I have been gaining the courage to tackle over time, but that was some hardcore motivation.
We got home on Monday night. On Wednesday, I got to work. I took everything out of my closet. And the guest closet. And the storage closet. Coat closet. Every kind of closet. The pile was huge. And it felt so invigorating to choose the things that I want to keep in my life, and willingly let go of things that I don’t.
I realized something as I was reading the book that was confirmed as I was sorting through things, especially my books: I don’t get rid of things because I use them to portray something about me: the books that I have on the shelf, the amount that I’ve journaled or pictures I’ve taken/saved, the very important papers I have to file, the magazines I keep because I feel like they show my interests. But the only thing it expresses is that I’m drowning in my stuff.
So far I’ve tackled my clothes, my books, and begun on Sam’s closet. I’m so excited to keep going that it’s difficult to even pause to write this, but I have to remind myself that I can’t do it all in a day, or even a week. I think the author said it takes her clients an average of six months to complete the process, and I get the impression that most of them are working in smaller spaces than mine.
All of that said, this woman is a lunatic.
Socks are on holiday? Seasonal clothes need you to rub your hands on them to feel loved? Spare change is being stripped of dignity by not being spent? Lunacy.
Also, this book is highly offensive to any family or culture whose main problem is not drowning in a sea of their own belongings.
Now all of that said, I highly recommend it. As crazy as it is (and as simplistic – David has been telling me to get rid of all of my shit for YEARS), something about it really clicked with me, and I feel like that aspect of my life will definitely be improved going forward.
Photos: Everything out of every closet, closet empty, closet re-filled, two views of the books I’m choosing to part with.
Holy cow, that week slipped away from me!
Things I did last week:
Saw TV On the Radio – they were amazing and I am obsessed with their drummer
Went to TWO story times with Sam. I think I get mom-of-the-year or something now, right?
Took Sam to play with my sisters cats and shipped Loki to her summer estate, a.k.a. my parents’ house for the week.
Went to my cousin-in-law’s 30th birthday party, and came home early to change into sweatpants and crawl under a heating pad, because I am a party pooper and also uncomfortable.
Other things I have been doing this week: enjoying this amazing weather. This is the first Spring that has truly felt like Spring in years, and I am loving it. It’s unpredictably warm then cold, windy, bursting with new leaves and flowers, rainy. The redbuds and mountain laurels in Austin are going crazy right now, and I’ve discovered we have them at our house which I did not know when we moved in, so that is an unexpected gift. I’m sitting on our screened porch right now, listening to the birds chirping and the creek rushing while white flowers fall from the tree right next to me like snow. It’s perfect.
I will update more this week. I will.
…for being a huge nerd.
We went to a party [that was way too classy for the likes of us] last Wednesday at our friends John and David’s house, posed for a picture, and then talked for 20 minutes about the history of floods in Austin, TX.
Whoops.
Seven months after moving in, I’m finally approaching having our house unpacked. Yesterday’s boxes included an iPhone 3 that we’re charging up to play with (the icons look crazy, y’all), a bunch of gift bags and seasonal decor from McKinney (I used to decorate for Valentine’s Day, apparently), and every piece of paper I saved from our honeymoon in Italy. Finally, I have the email of address for the wine club I wanted to join after our six-person tasting in a cellar in Florence, the recipes I wrote down in our private cooking class, and the business cards for nearly every place we stayed and guide we used.
Unfortunately, I don’t see the info for Rugerro, our guide on Elba who is still one of the Top 10 people we’ve ever met. I should contact the travel agent we used and see if she can look him up for if and when we go back. Hopefully soon…
Also, while moving things on my laptop so I can switch to a new one, I found file folders full of photos I wanted to base our wedding on, because I didn’t start using Pinterest until 3 months before our wedding. God bless Pinterest.
Photo: Me on a boat, off the coast of Elba, 2011.
My friend from college Jason who I haven’t seen in years (which is why it might be creepy) got engaged and I can’t even close the browser window of their engagement photos because they are so perfect and gorgeous and sweet.
You should check them out.
I wanted to start a blog.
The obvious place to turn for advice was my amazing friend Kendi, who recommended I use WordPress to host it. Next, I turned to two more amazing friends to help me name it because my moniker of choice, The Maggie B, was already taken (although not in use) and also possibly a copyright infringement. I told Allison and Katie that the blog would be about “baby stuff/products, feminism, and travel,” which will probably not be all it’s about if I’m being honest. Allison suggested allthethings.com, which isn’t taken, but it IS taken on WordPress (though not in use), and this is getting hugely frustrating to me! Use your damn domains, people.
So here we are. A Flamboyance of Things, like a flamboyance of flamingos. Thanks, Katie.
And here’s a very fun link of ridiculous animal grouping terminology.
Up next will be a series of posts on what I deem to be the ultimate items for a baby registry, because obviously there aren’t enough of those posts on the internet. Honestly though, we’ve done a ton of personal research and used a lot of products, and since 85% of my female friends are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, I’d like to feel like our accrued knowledge can be put to some use.
Photo: Not actual flamingos.
A Flamboyance of Things 