Puppy Clothes: Stripes

Who doesn't love a boy in stripes?

The Pup's Look:  Hoodie via Target.  Shorts by Gymboree via consignment store.  Shoes via Target.

I've documented my woes regarding boys' clothing pretty often in the past.  While certain things get better as you reach the 2T landmark (fewer obnoxious cutesy animals), certain things never change (more annoying shirts with "Daddy's Superstar!").  Stripes are pretty much my saving grace.

Stripes can be classic and kind of retro, like they are here.  In primary colors and paired with corduroy shorts, they bring back the very best of "Leave It To Beaver" nostalgia.  Or, in black and white and grey, they can be just a little bit punk.  I'd rather put my kid in a striped tee and cuffed jeans than some hipster onesie any day.

Yes, stripes can get boring.  When they're pretty much your only option at the traditional baby clothing stores, it's easy to be overloaded with them.  However, considering the alternatives, I'm happy to put The Pup in stripes almost every day of the week.

Because seriously.  Can you get cuter than that?  I didn't think so either.

The pics were taken at The Franciscan Monastery in Northeast DC, which I talked about in a post last year.  It's still our favorite park in the city!

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

My, oh my, what a wonderful day!

My Look:  Dress via Target.  Cardigan via Target.  Shoes via Target.  Belt via anthropologie.  Earrings by JCrew.  Headband via Target.

Sorry.  The optimism around here is a little over-the-top lately.  Combined with my new bluebird earrings, it's a bit hard for me not to whistle (the only slight problem being my absolute lack of talent for whistling).  I promise the cynicism will return when my pregnancy hormones stop taking over my brain...

Outfits like this are proof that pregnancy doesn't have to be expensive or unflattering or uncomfortable.  The dress and the cardigan are from Target - inexpensive, stretchy, and totally wearable.  The dress isn't maternity, although I believe a maternity version is available online; I'm sure I have another few months in it, without a lot of extra fabric making me look like I'm wearing a tent until then.  And I can't overstate how comfy the jersey cardigan is!

Today, it was perfect for some lazy rainy day shopping.  However, I'm sure I'll be wearing this dress all summer - with black pumps and a blazer to a campus event, or with gold sandals to a barbecue, or with white pumps and pearls to a summer wedding.

I hope the bluebird on your shoulder is whistling a happy tune for you today - and that you find a great summer dress, too!

All About The Nugget

Thank you all SO MUCH for your outpouring of congrats and well-wishes!  We've been excited for weeks now, but sharing the news with everyone has made this whole "we're having another baby" thing much more real.  Hence the stupid grin (see above).  So, seriously, thank you.

My Look:  Shirt by JCrew.  Skirt by velvet via anthropologie.  Scarf via Target.  Shoes by Crocs.  Bracelets by JCrew and vintage.  Sunglasses by Kate Spade via TJMaxx.

Here's some stuff you wondered...

Wow!  How long have you known?
A loooong time - those tests are wildly accurate these days!  We found out the day before The Pup's 2nd birthday party.  So, I didn't know here, but I did know here!

How are you feeling?
Honestly?  Terrible.  My body doesn't react well to pregnancy, it seems - I was viciously sick with The Pup for my entire pregnancy, although I still have hopes that Nugget will give me a break in the next few weeks.  I have some intense food aversions (like, looking at Pinterest makes me gag these days), a lot of nausea (think of a hangover that never goes away), and some crazy fatigue (the poor Pup has been watching more than his fair share of Yo Gabba Gabba).  But it's okay.  Nugget is growing and healthy, and we've seen that little heartbeat on ultrasound three times already.  I will put up with a lot of discomfort for a healthy kiddo.

I'm so sorry you're so sick!  Is that why you haven't been posting?
Yes indeed.  These days, making it out of the house is a major triumph.  I've been wearing yoga pants more often than I'd like to admit!  Plus, the second-time baby bump is WAY bigger, and hiding it was getting to be a pain - I didn't look this pregnant until over 6 months last time!

So, you're 15 weeks - what is that in months?
Almost 4 months.

So wait.  Didn't you just go to Mexico?
Yup!  And we had a fabulous, unbelievable "babymoon."  Especially when we found out that we were having another child, taking a truly special adult vacation seemed important.  The resort where we stayed had an amazing gourmet menu that I actually could eat, and I drank as many silly non-alcoholic smoothies and virgin daiquiris as I wanted!  I even found some cute almost-maternity bathing suits - expect a post on those later this summer.

Are you wearing maternity clothes yet?
No, and I don't intend to wear many of them.  I still fit in essentially everything in my closet, I've just been too tired to take pics!  I bought nothing "maternity" last time except for some leggings and some tank tops for layering.  So many trends are perfect for a pregnant body right now - maxi dresses, draped tops, open cardigans, flat sandals.  I'm sure I'll have to invest in some jeans this time around, but I'm going to put it off as long as mine still button.  So, expect a lot of posts in the upcoming months about making a "regular" wardrobe work for a baby bump.

Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?
Nope - we should find out next month.

Are you going to keep writing your dissertation?
Absolutely.  More on that soon!  If anything, I'm hoping for even more writing time in the next few months.  Knowing about our own next chapter makes me even more eager to get some serious work done.

So, The Doc.  Is he excited too?
Over the moon.  He's such a scientist - I think he waited to let the excitement erupt until after the first ultrasound.  When he saw "one baby, one heartbeat, in the right place, with nothing else going on in there" (his words), he grinned like an idiot and hasn't stopped since.

Does The Pup know he's going to be a big brother?
Not yet.  He just won't get it yet.  Right now his version of the future stretches to tomorrow - even next week is too abstract.  As I start to get a bigger bump, and as we get closer, we'll start talking about babies. And he's going to get his own "big boy" room, so he'll definitely know by then!

Don't worry - this isn't going to become a mommy blog.  Not really.  But there's going to be a lot of bump in the next few months, and a lot of tips about dressing a pregnant body, and a lot of other fun new stuff.  Please come along for the ride!

The Next Chapter: Coming Fall!

Chapter 2 will be arriving this fall*!

It's about time to take this pregnancy out of "draft" form and publish it to all of you.  I'm officially into the second trimester - 15 weeks tomorrow!  We're beyond excited to expand this crazy clan with another kiddo.  And terrified.  Did I mention terrified?  Because we're that, too.

Having another child - during residency for The Doc, and during my dissertation phase - is an enormous leap of faith.  This next chapter of our lives is sure to be entertaining, but we've decided to embrace the chaos.  As a writer and a scholar, I know how frequently ideas can get sidetracked.  You think you have an idea to write about a certain subject, but before you know it, the book has become about something completely different.  And, quite often, that book you didn't intend to write is a whole lot better than your original idea.

I never intended to be writing my dissertation with a toddler - much less a toddler and an infant!  But we wanted The Pup to have a sibling close in age, so we just kept typing along, hoping that this book we're writing is going to go somewhere eventually.  Being a parent is making me a better writer, a better thinker, a better reader.  So, believe me - the fun is just beginning...

*Official due date is November 8.  But if Nugget is anything like its** big brother (who arrived almost 3 weeks early), we'll be having an October baby.
**Yes, Nugget is still an "it."  We should find out the gender some time next month!

STAY TUNED...

...because some big changes are coming in BiblioMOMia-land!

I know I've been a bad blogger this month.  I'm sorry, y'all.  I was sick, The Pup was sick, The Doc lived at the hospital...but then, just when I thought I might start eating my socks from the insanity of it all...

VACATION.  To Mexico.  Just with The Doc.  (The Pup got to be spoiled rotten by my mom and dad for a week.)  It was bliss.  And we're all home, and ready for summer, and for some big changes around here.

So stay tuned this week - I have a lot of news to throw at you!  Big life changes.  Big school changes.  Big blog changes.  There's a lot of good stuff coming...

Layers and Transitions

I used to think there was nowhere more beautiful than Atlanta in the Spring.  Then I moved to DC.  Heaven.

My Look:  Shirt by JCrew.  Tee by Loomstate.  Vest by Old Navy.  Skirt by JJill.  Boots by Frye via eBay.  Belt by Joe's Jeans via TJMaxx.  Bracelets via Macy's and art fairs.  Sunglasses by Kate Spade via TJMaxx.  

The humidity hasn't hit, and the mosquitoes aren't out.  The pollen might be bad, but it's not like the South!  The skies are blue and the clouds are puffy and I have this crazy kid who just wants to run around outside and play in the grass with his dogs.

This weather can be tricky to dress in, though.  Chilly in the mornings, especially if the sun is hiding.  Then deliciously warm in the afternoon, becoming cool again in the evening.  If we go somewhere in the early morning, like the zoo, I could very well end up freezing or sweating as I push the stroller.  I've been carrying wild layers everywhere - scarves and cardigans in my car, different pairs of shoes all over the house, the addition of an extra tee that can be pulled off when it gets warm.  No outfit lasts a whole day - and that's just fine with me.

This outfit was my starting place in the morning - with the addition of a scarf.  I was chilly enough to want boots beneath my midi skirt and a vest over my layered plaid shirt and tee.  As the day wore on, I took off the vest, and I eventually swapped my boots for some mocs after nap time.  The whole outfit was transitional and easy, but still a bit more interesting than jeans-and-a-cardigan.

How do you handle transitional weather when you get dressed in the morning?

Sunday Words: Easter and My Inescapable Yeats

I have a strange relationship with Easter poetry.  For most scholars, the obvious choices would be pieces like "Easter Wings" by George Herbert, or perhaps sonnets by Hopkins, or, well, anything but a political poem by an Irish protestant.

And yet "Easter, 1916" by Yeats is what unfurls through my brain during Easter week, like an inescapable ticker.

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

That woman's days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our winged horse;
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road.
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it;
The long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone's in the midst of all.

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

For those of you might not know the historical background, this poem discusses the first major (and unsuccessful) uprising by Ireland against Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century, the first significant insurrection since the eighteenth century:  the Easter Rising.  The attempt lasted only a week but incurred heavy fighting and significant losses; the British military eventually arrested and executed fifteen leaders, many of whom are named by Yeats in this poem.

It's a strange connection, between the supposed resurrection of Easter and politics.  I think what still strikes me about Yeats' words, after I've read them easily hundreds of times, is how he manages to superimpose the sublime with the mundane.  In the midst of a normal life, of those boring social interchanges with people you kind-of-but-not-really know, all of those "polite meaningless words," sometimes lurks a much deeper truth.  A truth of struggle and rebellion, of moments of comedy turned to tragedy.  Our lives, he claims, are often just rocks in the middle of a much larger stream.

There are whole books written about this poem.  I don't have much to add - the verse still frustrates me and surprises me, even when I think I'm completely over it.  But how many times have we heard those words, and not known the context? - "A terrible beauty is born."  We all have those moments in our lives, when something sublime and beautiful and terrifying changes everything we think we knew.  The birth of a child.  The death of a parent.  An experience of war.  Religious epiphany.

Regardless of your religious background, listen to Yeats this weekend.  During the celebration of the Exodus of Passover, and of the sacrifice of Easter, and of the new beginnings of the season of Spring, take a moment to remember your personal relationship to the world.  Remember that "too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart," and let that stone open up inside your chest, just a little bit, to let in some sunshine.