Father's Day Ramblings

I'm typing this from the hallway outside Hannah's bedroom where she is asleep in a big girl bed! How can we possibly have a child old enough for this? After some awesome advice from last post's comments, we moved her naptime back to its original earliness and she did much, much better going to sleep. Last night, however, she crawled out of her crib and hurt herself. She is fine! But that made the decision pretty easy that we had to get her in a regular bed.

She was super excited about it...until she realized she was actually expected to stay put. When we were setting it up I asked her, "Where do you want to put it?" and she smiled and yelled, "In my room! This one!" And later I asked her, "Whose bed is this?" and said said, "Me's!"

Pronouns. They're tricky little guys.

She watched me quietly as I tucked her in and left her bedroom. And it took her about .4 seconds to crawl out and open the door. Then a half hour of yelling, crying, trying to do a handstand, playing in her kitchen, and peeing in the potty. Then a break for a snack (agh! Why didn't I make her eat more at dinner??) Then back to bed. I laid with her and rubbed her belly (her choice) for a few minutes and then left. And she actually stayed in bed! She rearranged her covers for 15 minutes, which is typical. But she stayed in! And she fell asleep! We told ourselves that midnight would be a success but she was out by 8:30! I couldn't be more proud of her. Hopefully this will help the transition of staying at our families' and hotels when we head to Missouri.

Fingers crossed. And crossed some more.

But about that Sunday....

We actually celebrated Father's Day yesterday with a family trip to the mall. Ted wanted to spend some birthday money and I needed new flip flops. What seemed like the worst idea ever was actually pretty fun! The mall near our house isn't very busy so it wasn't stressful like most malls are (I hate malls!). We spent over an hour in Sports Authority but Hannah was excellent the entire time thanks to the giant display of soccer balls. And checkout took forever but she entertained herself by rearranging the candy. She didn't want to actually eat any of it. She just wanted to tell me what color it was and then put it in a "better" place. Oh her OCD. It really comes in handy sometimes.

We got "ice cream" (sorbet) and played with the train set at Barnes and Noble. It was awesome to get out of the house and walk around but not sweat our butts off and get eaten alive by mosquitoes. I think we might actually try to go more often. Weird.

Today was pretty low key with a solo trip to Costco by me and a team effort of rearranging Hannah's entire room to fit her bed and find an outlet for her entourage of electrical items (nightlight, bunny awake/sleeping light, video monitor, white noise machine, and CD player) (I constantly wonder how people raised their kids before these things existed.)

"Paul and Hannah" gave Ted a Dr. Pepper, some accessories for the grill, and the opportunity to hang out with them while I left the house for three hours to get groceries and go to a baptism.

A win for everyone.

And because my day would not be complete without a crappy cell phone picture of my outfit...this is what I wore Sunday.

Shirt: Target, 8 or 9 years ago.
Skirt: NEW! From Burlington Coat Factory. I actually bought something!
Shoes: Some big shoe store.

I hope I looked as good as I felt in this. Because I felt tall and slender and feminine. I want a dozen of these skirts.

Despite the fact that both kids were excellent today, I have no idea what the readings were about. I took Hannah to the bathroom during all three readings and spent the homily patting Paul to sleep. But they both get A's. In the middle of Mass Hannah pointed to the statue of Mary and fake whispered "Mary! Hair! Brown hair. Hannah brown hair!" I guess that makes her more like Mary too. (That was a horrible pun. I am really bad at puns.)

And even though I am making NO claims that I know what I'm doing with a toddler in Mass, a few people have asked how we manage to do it. Sometimes, she really really awful. But most of the time she's pretty good and I think I have somewhat of an idea as to what works for her. If any of this is helpful to you, then give it a try! If not, well no one is making you read this.

1. We go to 8:30. It's hard to get out the door but it is worth it. She falls apart if we go at 10:00. Earlier is much much better for her.
2. We give her free range within the pew. She can sit on the kneelers, stand on the pew, face backwards, whatever. Ted and I sit pretty far apart and keep her between us. This works so much better than trying to get her to sit still and in one place the entire time.
3. We bring nothing. Nothing! The diaper bag stays in the car and if Paul has a blowout we will simply have to deal with it. No water. No snacks. No toys. Nothing.
4. We let her talk to us as long as she tries to whisper. I just don't think it's appropriate to expect a two year old to be quiet for that long.
5. We tell her when things are coming up so she knows what's about to happen and how much longer Mass will last. We tell her "we're about to say peace", "you're about to go up and get a blessing" and "just one more song and then bye-bye".
6. If she misbehaves we give her to the count of three and then take her to timeout outside. We try to make it as miserable as possible by forcing her to stand in the corner and turning our back to her. As soon as it's over, we go back inside and try again. We've had to do it multiple times in one Mass, but not for very long.
7. We sit in the front. Just do it.

This might sound like a lot of freedom, but she does well with it. As she gets older we'll obviously expect her to step it up. Kneel when we kneel, not face the back, etc. But for now, I'm just happy that she's somewhat quiet and stays in the pew. And just by being there she's picking up so much. She sings along with parts of the Gloria and the Alleluia. She sometimes joins in on an "Amen". And she says cute things about Mary's brown hair. It works for us. For now at least.

Happy Father's Day! I'm off to read today's readings. Better late than never.

Linking up with FLAP and Grace again this week!

Sunday Funday

Sunday evening is my favorite time to blog. Probably because Sundays are generally semi-relaxing, spent with my husband and kids, and full of simple, everyday memories I want to record. Today was no exception. Allow me to document it in details that only I care about.

We haven't set an alarm clock for Mass in months because Hannah always makes sure we're up in plenty of time with her screams. But this morning, she actually slept in! Which gave us only 40 minutes to eat, nurse, change, and drive to Mass. We managed to walk in during the processional song. Not too shabby. I had about .3 seconds to pick out an outfit so I grabbed an old favorite rather than trying to come up with something creative.

Just turn your head to the left. There. That solves the problem of me having no earthly idea how to rotate this picture with my friend's Mac. It's really better this way, the vertical version of the picture makes me look really frumpy (someday I will teach my husband how to take a picture without squatting down and somehow making me look shorter than I really am.) (and another day we will finally buy a computer so I can upload pictures from our good camera instead of texting them to my email from my non-smart phone.)

The clothes:
Shirt: Kohls. Probably 8+ years ago.
Skirt: Charlotte Russe via consignment. The zipper's broken so I can't tuck my shirt into it.
Shoes: Maurices. Also forever ago.

Kid's behavior:
Hannah: A. Please, please, please let her always be this good in Mass.
Paul: A+ He sat happily in my lap until he fell asleep.

I needed something I could nurse in today because I had to work in the nursery immediately after Mass and it stretched into Paul's lunch time. Since we have Paul on a pretty consistent "routine", I'm usually able to wear whatever I want to Mass since I'm about 95% sure he wont need to nurse. Neither of those last two statements were particularly relevant to this blog post.

Some actual noteworthy tidbits from our day include:

Baking a blackberry pie.

Reading Good Dog Fergus at least seven times in a row. Ok, that's not noteworthy either.

Eating breakfast for dinner because we didn't have anything else in the house. It was amazing though. Homemade hash-browns with potatoes we grew ourselves. Fried in lard that we rendered ourselves. Homemade pancakes. Three varieties actually. Blueberry (picked ourselves). Blackberry (picked ourselves). And banana (purchased at the store by, yes, ourselves). And to balance out all the homegrown, homepicked goodness, some sausage in plastic wrap from Publix.

I'll try not to mention how badly I was craving a giant glass of raw milk.

Bad. Really bad. I miss dairy really really badly.

And now, a poop story. I know that most of the readers of this blog have their own hellacious poop stories and probably think they don't need to read mine. But how many of your poop stories end with absolutely no poop on the baby's clothes and tons of poop on your boobs???

Paul pooped in his swing while we were eating dinner and I was unaware of this event. After dinner I scooped him up and and grabbed the pacifier that had fallen into the seat. As I'm walking across the room with Paul I simultaneously patted his butt as I placed the pacifier into my bra. (The pacifier always sits nicely between my cleavage. It's the only safe place from the paci-obsessed, germ infested two year old.) When I sat down to nurse him I realized that my hand was covered in poop. So covered that it was in every crevice of my wedding ring. When I patted his butt I must have squeezed poop all over my hand and his pacifier. I then shoved the poop covered pacifier into my bra with the poop covered hand. After I cleaned myself off, I changed Paul and was astonished that not a single dab of poop had graced his clothing. I, on the other hand, had poop on my hand, my ring, my t-shirt, my undershirt, my bra, my nursing pads, my neck, and my boobs!

And no time for a shower because were headed out the door to do this.

"Tie-ats!" Our friends keep them at our house and told us we could take them out whenever we wanted. We finally took Hannah tonight and she loved it. She wouldn't stop talking the entire way there. "Kayaks on roof mommy's car! Hannah go kayak in lake! Go beach! Row row boat!" (or "Tia-ats on woof mommy's tar. Hannah doh tie-at in yate! Doh beats! Woah Woah boat!")

They just paddled around the lake near our house (lake. beach. same thing to Hannah.) for a few minutes while I nursed Paul and took pictures. But again, these cellphone ones are all I can do for now. Ted said she just kept saying "Go faster!" ("Doh dasser!") and "Daddy find gator!" ("Daddy nine day-dor!")

When we were about to leave a lady pulled up and got out of her car with a turtle. She told us that she just "rescued him off the highway from getting hit by a semi" and told us she wanted to help him get far out into the water so he wouldn't get run over by the trucks near the ramp. Ted offered to paddle him out into the deep so she put him on the kayak. She then watched to make sure Ted actually took him far out and didn't just drop him off by the ramp. She struck up a conversation with me (and Paul) and somehow we got on the subject of my family in Oklahoma and Missouri and she asked if they were near the recent tornados. I told her that they were very, very close to the damage and she immediately asked, "Are their pets ok???"

Yes, lady. Their pets are ok. Now go back to your PETA meeting.

The turtle fell off before Ted got it very far out but she seemed satisfied enough. Hannah's first kayak trip and rescuing a turtle all in one day.

It was a good Sunday.

Annnnd, because I'm selfish with the knowledge of the awesome readers of this blog, two questions. Anyone have a good fake tanner they recommend? One that is very cheap and won't make me look orange. I told Ted I wanted to get some for my awful white legs and he said "I don't think you're that vain." But I definitely am. So give me your suggestions to make this Floridian look like she actually gets out in the sun.

Number two. Does anyone know if a device exists that allows you to put an SD card into a laptop that doesn't have an SD card port? My sister has offered us her old Mac (!!!!). We would have to upgrade a few things on it and buy a new battery and power cable, so it's not free but still cheap. But it doesn't have an SD port and I really need it for uploading pictures because it already takes long enough without having to plug a cord in every time. Do the good folks at Apple make a USB/SD card stick thing? If they don't, they should. And give me royalties for the idea.

I linked up with Fine Linen and Purple and would have linked up with Grace if she had posted her Sunday Best before me.

Weekend Recap

It's Sunday evening and you know I'm in the mood to write a What I Wore Sunday post. They're probably my favorite. But alas, no picture. I write the WIWS post in my head every Sunday (stop laughing) but rarely get around to actually taking a picture so I can, you know, write the post. We go to 8:30 Mass. And it's 20 minutes away. And we don't wake up early before the kids to get ready. (We also don't shower....) So a before Mass picture is out of the question. And despite all my good intentions, I just cannot stay in my Mass attire for more than 15 seconds when we get home. There's the nursing of the baby and the doing of the dishes that were leftover from breakfast and the hungry toddler and the naptime routine and, well I just don't want to be dressed up for any of it. It's hot. Almost 100 this week. So I strip down to shorts and a t-shirt almost immediately and get to work on all that crap that didn't get the memo that Sunday is supposed to be relaxing.

It's really too bad. I wore my favorite favorite favorite skirt today. And up around my waist with my shirt tucked in for the first time. I felt like I was falling in love with it all over again. And Hannah was the picture of Southern perfection in her hand-me-down smocked dress and giant pink bow. Ted and Paul coincidentally wore matching white polos with gray pants and I soooo wanted to get a picture before he spit up all over himself. But it didn't happen. Just imagine us all looking really awesome. Cause we did.

So no linking up with FLAP today. But, if I mention the kids' behavior in Mass I can still qualify for this link-up. So on to bragging about the two best kids in Mass today. Not sure why. I don't ask questions. But Hannah was wonderful. She tried to sing along with the Gloria, only tried to grab Paul's paci a handful a times, was thankfully unsuccessful in unclipping the back of the carrier Paul was happily sleeping in, and entertained herself for almost the entire Mass by counting to "nen" (skipping five of course).  Paul slept on me in the Beco carrier and woke up at the end of Mass just in time for everyone to tell me how cute he is.

Both kids get A's. Link-up rules met.

Grace even mentioned me in her inaugural post, so I can't not participate. And I admit that when I read my name and realized it was me she was referring to I told Ted, "I have arrived". The sleeveless clothes in Mass discussion has been great. So great that maybe I'll even find the energy to actually reply at some point. In short, my takeaways are this: For the most part, sleeveless in Mass isn't appropriate. There are times when this rule doesn't apply (like when you have a baby strapped on your shoulders anyway). And that it's not a hard, fast rule. Some dresses are definitely modest even if they have no sleeves.

Is it possible that my black and white sense of morality is becoming a shade of gray? Could it possibly be?? On the bigs things, no. Never. Abortion=always wrong. Euthanasia=unacceptable. Wearing sleeveless shirts in Mass=eh, I dunno. Probably not but maybe sometimes?

If you know me at all, you know how hard it is to admit that.

Next up on the ramble train,

We had a great homily from our priest. At least the 60% or so that I heard was good.  He quoted St. Justin Martyr (whose feast was yesterday!) who spoke about the Eucharist in the 2nd century (because today is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ!)

This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.

I had a thought while listening to the quote. Our Church is so rich and blessed by the writings of the early Saints and Doctors of the Church, that if all priests immediately stopped writing original homilies and all theologians suddenly ceased their studies and Catholic speakers stopped speaking and Catholic writers stopped writing, we would still have enough amazing reflections and teachings on our Faith to last us until the end of time. Priests could simply read from the great Saints that have gone before us, especially from the ones who lived in the early days of Christianity, and we would probably never hear a repeated homily. And although I am grateful for the many Christian books and talks that come out all the time, nothing beats going back to the beginning. Nothing beats finding out what the original Christians said about Jesus. Pastor so and so can say all he wants about the Eucharist. What does St. Paul say? What does Justin Martyr say? That's what really matters. It made me once again feel blessed to belong to a Faith whose roots are so deep and members are so wise.

Annnnd because as soon as I finish this post I have to get up and do dishes, I better add a few more unrelated bits of information.

We had a joint birthday party for Ted and our friend Summer today. I'd show you a picture, but oh my I cannot figure out this Mac. It has no Right-Click! How can you save pictures off facebook or correct a misspelled word with no Right-Click?! Do you know how many times I had to re-tyrp the word inaugural because I had no idea how to click on the little red line below my failed attempts? (silver lining: I can now spell inaugural)

A few of Paul's NINE MONTH clothes are too tight. And he rolled over from his stomach to his back. Before his third month birthday. Who does this kid think he is? (imagine cute picture here)

Go read these.

And check out the amazing hair on my friend's new baby.

And pray for this mama and baby.

And have you seen this? So funny. (But say a prayer for that family while you're at it.)

Ok, I'm stalling. Dishes.

[Update. Two fingers on the keypad+clicking the button=Right-Click. I'm a genius for figuring that one out by myself. Pictures successfully saved off facebook.]

What I Wore on Trinity Sunday

I was reading back over some old posts recently and realized something. I used to be much more reflective and introspective on this blog. Now, I mostly talk about my kids and participate in link-ups. Bad thing? I'm not sure. I can't write reflections if I haven't done any reflecting. And I haven't lately. Probably because my prayer life (which was strained in the first place) has taken an even bigger hit with the added stress of two kids. I should be praying MORE, not less! Sigh. Not sure where all this is going but I do know that it's an awfully awkward lead in for a post that talks about what I wore today. Vapid and self absorbed? Maybe? I'll try to balance it out with a question about modesty.

And a picture of my giant baby.

I felt a lot cuter in this before I saw the picture....

Shirt: Passed on to me by my mother-in-law when she didn't like the way it fit.
Skirt: JC Penny (I bought it with one of those $10 off promo cards and it was only $10 in the first place. So it's like I stole it.) (I never get those in the mail anymore. Shocker.) It's actually a strapless shirt. The bottom lace had sequence that I removed.
Shoes: Walmart
Earrings: Fake black pearls from some cheap store.
Neckalce: Real pearl from Ted. Can you combine two different types of pearls? I'm not so sure it worked. Too bad I didn't have a pink pearl bracelet, then I could have played it off like I was celebrating the Trinity.

This is my first time trying the shirt-tucked-into-the-high-waisted-skirt fashion. I'm super late to catch on to this trend and I'm still not quite sure how it looks on me. Does the skirt need to be higher? But then it's too short... I tried this ensemble out at a ladies' night earlier this week to see if I was crazy. When I asked Ted what he thought, he hemmed and hawed and finally told me to ask Summer. She approved. Hopefully she wasn't just being nice. I thought that pulling the skirt up to my waist would hide my stretched out, flabby belly better than shirts do. I think it worked? That and the sucking in.

I actually wore it with a white sweater because I just can't do sleeveless at Mass. Am I alone on this one? It just feels wrong to me. Like I'm showing too much skin to everyone who sits behind me. I try to picture myself standing before Our Lady before each Mass and decide if she would approve of my outfit. She never seems to approve of sleeveless for me. And it was chilly in church anyway. Maybe Mary was just looking out for my comfort this morning? I used to be against sleeveless all together. But I guess I've relaxed that stance. It's flippin hot in Florida and I'm pretty sure I've worn sleeveless all week.

Oh boy. I just went back and read the post I just linked to. I was against shorts shorter than my knee too. Wow. Just bought a pair this past week! I guess a lot has changed since having two kids. I don't hold myself to the same standards I did before. Perhaps a bit of reflecting on this is in order.

I would love a discussion on sleeves in Mass (and shorts in general) to erupt in the comment box. Go!

Happy Feast of the Holy Trinity! Where would we be without the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? I shudder to think about my life with our Triune God.

Thanks to Fine Linen and Purple for hosting, as always.

What He Wore Sunday

My outfit was of little importance today, but Paul's was more than noteworthy. In his beautiful baptismal gown, he was baptized into the faith of Christ and joined his Christian family! It was hard not being able to celebrate with any family or his godparents, who are all in Missouri, but we still managed a wonderful celebration with great friends here in Florida.

I had a momentary freak-out Saturday when I realized we didn't get him a gift for the occasion. I did, however, quickly realize that we were giving him the best gift we could possibly give him. Life in Christ. A home in His Church. A Christian family. And Baptism in the Trinity.



My dress was a favorite of mine,  but since you can't even see it I'll save it for another day.

What the men wore:

Gown: the same one that Hannah was baptized in. Made by Ted's mom and cherished so very much. I just love it.

Bonnet: a gift from a friend. It came with a little poem that said it could be his future wife's handkerchief on their wedding day. (Or his mama's hanky when he gets ordained....)

Dad's tie: it belonged to Ted's grandpa, Paul, for whom our Paul is named after.

It's an honor to be your parents, Paul Joseph. We love you so much and are looking forward to sharing the Faith with you.

Welcome to the family!

Easter Best

Happy Easter! What a great day. We made it to Mass in time to get a seat-our usual seat in the second row actually. Both kids made it through Mass without us having to fight the standing crowd to take them to the back. Alleluia!

Because we're crazy, we decided to go out for brunch after Mass. Since we were on borrowed time from Hannah's nap and Paul's need for nourishment, we ended up at Steak and Shake. But only after their breakfast menu was over. So we had steakburgers for brunch in our Sunday best. It wasn't until we left that we remembered that we were grilling burgers for Easter dinner with friends as well. We can't get away from Easter cow, no matter how hard we try I guess.

When we got back from Mass the kids' (so weird to type a plural....) Easter basket were waiting for them. Hannah was so excited to see the "edds" in her basket that getting her down for a nap without hysterics was impossible. She consoled herself by taking two eggs to bed with her and reassuring herself from her crib that she would get to go egg hunting when she woke up. "Wake up, more edds."

And because, second to Jesus rising from the dead of course, the best part about Easter is what you wore-I'm joining in three link-ups to show off our Sunday best.

The fam-can't believe there's four of us.

Nor can I believe that this was the first of only two self-timer pics.

The mama.

Dress-some boutique brand, from a thrift store. 4 bucks!

Sweater-freebie from a clothing exchange!

Tank top-Maurices, cut just below the boobs to make the outfit nursable

Shoes-some big shoe store, get used to seeing them

Pearls-cheapies, but I had to complete the 50s housewife look

The little man.

And the hunter.

Linking up with Grace, FLAP, and Practicing Catholic on this Easter evening. 

And praying that the joy of the Resurrection will permeate through me this week (my kids deserve it!). I am so abundantly blessed.

What I Wore Sunday When I WASN'T Pregnant (5)

It was oh-so-very-very nice to not be pregnant at Mass this morning. I still had to pee before the Gospel and I could still barely squeeze out of the pew (because of the giant carseat rather than giant belly) but it was so wonderful having our baby boy at Mass with us. And Hannah only yelled, "Wake up, Paul!" once-so that's a success.

I think I could have found something more flattering for my postpartum body, but I opted to sleep instead of prepare last night. This morning was met with massive poops from both children simultaneously-but we still managed to get to Mass on time even with the time change forcing us to get ready an hour faster than usual. A twenty minute nursing session followed by more poop and-well I only had about six minutes to get myself ready.

The result:

Hannah:

Dress: Tommy Hilfiger-consignment

Baby: Target

Mommy:

Wrinkly Dress: JCrew-consigment. With the tags still on!

Sweater: Target

Tights: Walmart

Shoes: Consignment

Hair: Tightly pulled into a clip because it hasn't been washed since Thursday and oh boy am I starting to stink.

Baby: My awesome womb

Postpartum Body: courtesy of Spanx

I'm really not that vain, but I've read great things about some suck-it-in clothing for postpartum. I bought me an expensive pair from Kohls and actually love them. I figured I'd only wear them when needing to get dressed up, but they kind of hold it all in-if you know what I mean-and make me feel much nicer in my own flabby skin. I'm wearing them under my pj's right now!

Check out other outfits here! You might find cuter clothes, but you definitely won't find cuter babies.

What I Wore Sunday Because No, I Haven't Had That Baby Yet (5)

Let's get one thing clear. I may be smiling in these pictures, but I am not happy. I wasn't going to ruin the pictures even further (my lack of patience and caring resulted in the following ugly background and blurriness) by wearing a frown. If I may say so, I'm a pretty good fake smiler.

I definitely didn't think I would still be pregnant for another What I Wore Sunday post. I thought  I would have a baby in my arms. Or at least be able to post a picture of me in a hospital gown. But alas, here I am. 41 weeks with absolutely no sign of a baby coming any time soon. I wouldn't normally wear something so short to Mass, but I'm pretty sure God understands at this point. Actually, I think he would have understood if I wore a giant black trash bag and called it a day. But thanks to a pretty legitimate cold front here in Florida, I was able to pull together a decent outfit on this joyous 41 week occasion.

The blurry details:
Shirt: Maternity dress from Kohls, a gift from my mom when I was pregnant with Hannah. I cut it short to make it more of a tunic so I could get daily use out of it rather than just dress-up occasions. Love jersey-no hem required.
Sweater: Forever 21, forever ago. The single most loved and worn item in my closet. I would be lost without it.
Scarf: Another gift from my mom, Target
Tights: Kohls
Boots: a gift from my sister, some shoe store in a mall somewhere. I actually planned the entire outfit around the boots. The zippers keep Hannah quite entertained during Mass. And I knew I would need an "entertained Hannah" during Mass today.

And the bump, in all its glory.

If I'm here again next week, you-know-what is gonna hit the fan. And no romantic steak dinner courtesy gift cards and free babysitting for us this week. Although my sweet hubby is grilling steaks at home. And Hannah's fun to hang out with. So this day still has something to look forward to.

Check out the other bloggers at Fine Linen and Purple for some non-cranky church clothing chat. And stayed tuned next week for What I Wore Sunday from the Insane Asylum (6)

What I Wore Sunday and for our Due Date Night (3)

Happy Due Date to us! Only a few hours left in the day, so I'm going to safely assume that this baby will not be coming on the 24th. Today's my dad's birthday too-bummer.  But even though there isn't a gooey baby in my arms, today was still a great day. First, Mass. Linking up here again-I guess I'm officially hooked.

Dress: Gap Maternity-free from a friend during one of our awesome clothing exchanges. Best idea EVER! It's the same dress I wore to Mass last Sunday. And to my baby shower the day before that....I better not have to wear it next Sunday.

Sweater-Maurices, years ago.

Tights: Walmart

Shoes: consignment

Undershirt: Half-tees. Best invention ever.

Do gray and brown even match? I wasn't sure. But I don't like the way this dress looks with black either. If I had white tights and shoes-I would have gone with that.

Hannah's dress: Calvin Kline-consignment. Obviously.

Tights: Walmart

Sweater: Children's Place

Shoes: Babies R Us. Too small. Dangit-the girl needs all new shoes.

And now, for a 40 week bump picture:

Significantly bigger than Hannah's 40 week picture. But my face isn't puffy yet like it was then. I DID have to take my wedding ring off yesterday. That happened the day before labor with Hannah. So here's hoping something's gonna happen soon!

The rest of the day was spent napping and relaxing on the back porch. This evening, Ted and I were able to go out for our traditional Due Date Night. It's a tradition if you do it twice right? 

Dress: Same! I wore it with a cute white sweater that I forgot to put on for the picture. I had some cute shoes to go with it, but ended up wearing my comfy athletic flip flops. I doubt anyone cared....

Our wonderful friends watched Hannah for us so we could wallow in the fact that we're still pregnant enjoy each other's company before the baby takes over our lives. First, we joined the 40 Days for Life campaign and prayed outside the local abortion clinic. Unfortunately, it was lightning and hailing during our hour-so we had to pray from the car. We parked in the clinic's parking lot (probably not supposed to do that...) and it really hit me hard to think how many women sat in their cars in that very spot. Wondering if they should go in. Scared. Confused. Pressured. The irony of me sitting there with my 40 week belly was not lost. Hopefully we can go back again after the baby's born. Preferably when it's not hailing.

We finished the date with delicious steaks, great conversation, and 5 glasses of blackberry sweet tea (all for me).

Prayers appreciated for the week that lies ahead of us! A doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, a visit with an acupuncturist in the afternoon. But my fingers are still crossed that something will happen tonight and we'll get to skip both of those...

What I Wore Sunday (2)

Ok, I'm hooked. A link-up that lets me talk about something as silly and girly as clothes, while encouraging each other to give our best efforts for Jesus, and gets more comments than my regular posts. I think these What I Wore Sundays might be here to stay.

That is....until I'm in my oh-so-pleasant postpartum bod trying to find something to wear that I can nurse in/isn't horribly unflattering. I may have to take a break for a few weeks.....

This week's outfit is brought to you by cheap and undergrad.

Dress/Oversized T-shirt: Walmart brand-via consignment store. A closet staple. Not quite so short when I don't have a beach ball tucked under it.

Tights: Walmart

Sweater: Forever 21-back in college when I had money and didn't hate malls

Flats-Maurices-again, from college

Crooked Necklace-same as always

Dilapidated Bird House: our neighbors-nothing we can do about it

And Hannah was just too cute to leave out of this week's photo. Her outfit is compliments of Oma's birthday gift. With a borrowed sweater and hand-me-down shoes that I'm having a hard time admitting are too small.

I made it through Mass without having to leave for the bathroom. Hannah did not make it through Mass without having to leave for time-out. Oh my-she did.not.stop.talking. Incredibly frustrating-but heartwarmingly cute when she pointed to the Host during consecration and said "Jesus body!" Not as cute when she loudly proclaimed, "Mommy bra. Hannah no bra. Nuh-nuhs baby," while patting my boobs.

What I Wore Sunday (1)

This is my first (and quite possibly my only) time linking up with Fine Linen Purple to show off my Sunday best. Taking a picture, uploading, and putting a post together in a day's notice is usually just too much for me. But I opted for coffee instead of a nap this afternoon. And really it's just an excuse to take another bump picture. 37 weeks-any day now. Or a month-whatev.

So without further ado...

Sweater-H & M via consignment store. I've never even been to an H & M, but I own a lot of clothes from there.
Tights-Walmart-a few years ago.
Boots-Christmas gift from my mom last year.
Necklace-Chain from Ted Christmas 2011. Miraculous Medal from my mother-in-law a few years before that.

I was really comfortable in this during Mass, but by the time we got out I was already hot. It's only February dangit! I wanna wear my boots!

It's also the same outfit I wore when we gave our little marriage talk Thursday-except with flats instead of boots. I knew I'd see some of the same people but I just hoped they would assume I was so pregnant that I had nothing else to wear. Which is pretty much true.

Hannah was her usual squirmy but semi-quiet self this morning, even though Mass was over an hour long. I can no longer kneel in our tight pews. And Ted is a saint for wrestling Hannah when I've run out of energy.

Happy Sunday!