avoiding maternity clothes

avoiding maternity clothes

avoiding maternity clothes

all my pants are being worn urkle style these days. and by all i mean the two pairs i fit into as of now. this outfit was the only addition to my fashion rotation this week.

i want to give a shout out to this accessory above. this is a relic from my first job at the goodwill store back when goodwill used to be a true thrift store. it’s a vintage belt and i’m happy that 16 year-old me acquired this belt all those years ago to help 31 year-old me ease through the high-waisted days just a little less self-consciously.

best of the fest: nelsonville music festival

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dear family,

one of the things i love about us is that we’re willing to give things a try. we don’t put ourselves in a box more than we have to and for the most part, we make things work. we have a lot of fun and adventure in our lives because of those things. we’re great. let’s keep it up and add another to this crew!

love, me.

i know 9 mos pregnant me would not have been able to hang in for the entirety of nelsonville music festival last weekend but dammit if i wasn’t sad to miss out on the all the fun. i was really and truly grateful to head down on sunday as a family of three and just enjoy the day and atmosphere. i can’t say we were as invested in the acts as much as we’ve been in years past. it was more about taking in the atmosphere. maybe it was a little bit about making a promise to ourselves that we’d be back in full force, bigger and better than ever next year.

darla definitely knew the ropes this time and made it very known that she did not need us. that is until she wanted us to buy her something. i desperately wanted to just let her experience this last time down there as a trio in the way she see fit but damn if that girl isn’t having a hard time making good decisions right now. i know she’s a kid. but i’m just a bit flabbergasted at how she comes to the conclusion that things are a good idea sometimes…

anyway, i just want to say i’m thankful to the universe for making it possible for us to attend this past weekend, thankful for my husband and his energy levels, thankful for the weather, and thankful for the beautiful ohio people who make the weekend so magical. unless this next kid is born with that extreme allergy to sunshine or something of the like { please do not do this to spite me, universe. this is only a blog } our tix for next year are as good as bought. boughten? buyed? i buy?

pssst. read our full weekend of attendance from last year here.

avoiding maternity clothes

i think we can all be in agreement here that i don’t need to show you repeat outfits, right? you can just assume that i’m pulling out the same stretchy fabrics and wearing those around. when i’m not in those, i’m choosing to usurp husbeau’s t-shirts and forgo pants around the house. true life.

however, i do feel these gems deserve some space on the internet:
watermelon maternity outfit

pregnant ladies in crop tops! let’s do this!! this was my watermelon music festival ensemble. mike said i was the most beautiful watermelon he’s ever seen.

mormon meat puppets

and lastly, i think pairing a pentecostal skirt with my cut off meat puppets t-shirt went over pretty nicely, don’t you? really, it’s a $7 forever21 maxi skirt that has been a weekly go to. i highly recommend it to my fellow ladies makin’ babies.

 

wish me luck and send me all your positive lycra vibes that i’ll make it through this next week!

pregnancy eats

beans during pregnancy

beans! i love beans!

a pregnant lady’s gotta eat beans!

here, try these recipes if you’re looking to fart your way through pregnancy. yeah!:

i’m prepping chickpeas right now for this chickpea, advocado & lime cilantro salad,  we made these lentil sloppy joes last week but repurposed the leftovers over rice and all agreed that went over better, and i’ve got my eyes on these lentil tacos. we enjoyed this pumpkin chili with extra beans during cold months and there’s always easy crockpot refried beans.

so many options! i’ve been thinking about trying my hand at making my own veggie burgers so if any of you out there have a favorite recipe let me know.

beanz!

avoiding maternity clothes

how i did this week with avoiding maternity clothes…

horizontal stripes maternity

^^^i call this look IT’S 80 AND HORIZONTAL STRIPES ARE A PREGNANT LADY’S BEST FRIEND^^^

garden maternity

 ^^^and i call this one YARD WORK IN THE RAIN. IT’S STILL 80.^^^

raining maternity

^^^this is OH NOW IT’S 60. STILL RAINING, THOUGH.^^^

avoiding maternity clothes

^^^ well, 50s AND RAINING BUT NEW {old} BED LINENS!^^^

maternity clothes

^^^rounding it out with OK, LET’S JUST STICK WITH MY BIG OL’ BIG LADY BLACK DRESS look^^^

weekending

 darla coffee date morning snuggle festweekend belly

before i jump in to talking about myself, let’s talk about you. how was your weekend? was it a good one? i hope so.

we experienced a nice midwestern weekend here. our time was spent soaking in things like farmer’s market visits, mother + daughter coffee dates, yard work, snuggle fests on our one morning together as a fam and rain. we soaked in lots of rain. and a visit from grandparents. isn’t it grand when ordinary life moments come together so nicely? my parents and my husband helped me catch up on rest. this bump is really wearing me out these days. i’m crossing my fingers for nicer weather this week so we can get outside and run off excess energy {for darla, not me. the only thing i have an excess of is a need for sitting down}.

and hair! i have an excess of hair. which brings me to the next development of this blog…

lustrous pregnancy hair

the next few months are going to be a celebration of voluminous hair. i’m going to enjoy this until this baby is born and my hormones shift back and all this hair falls out. i’m living in a hair dream right now and i’m gonna talk about it, dammit.

*my hair and i are sending you our best for a superb week. we hope you see some sunshine*

pregnancy eats

coffee during pregnancy

coffee. coffee during pregnancy. yes, i know…

coffee is usually on that long list of things women are supposed to give up during their pregnancy. like most other things in life, the only way to be sure of no ill effects is to completely abstain. but human nature leaves very few of us willing to completely abstain from lots of things. i guess i’m one of those people.

that old “moderation” trick works quite well for me, thank you.

the funny thing is that i didn’t really even like or drink coffee until i was pregnant with darla. during pregnancy the smell and taste of coffee is something i crave. i think it has to do with the earthy qualities some roasts possess. at any rate, i have found it hard to get through a pregnancy without it. fortunately this means that i don’t head into my pregnancies with a coffee habit or dependency. so i may have it easier than some or most women out there making it through long hours and days in need of a little help.

in truth, coffee is one of my excuses, a vehicle if you will, for fatty, yummy goodness to go down into my belly during pregnancy.  

i have about a half cup to a full cup of coffee maybe 4-5 days a week. i don’t have soda very much so that bit of caffeine accounts for my intake. the other days i just enjoy my pregnancy tea. i feel that’s pretty good on the grand scheme of the caffeination nation.

and as mentioned earlier it’s not really about the coffee, it’s about what i PUT IN the coffee. here’s a short list of things I add to coffee in various combinations, most of which contain some good fats and happiness:

coconut oil, almond milk, grass-grazed half & half, maple syrup, coconut milk and/or grass-grazed butter, whipped cream, and/or BUTTER. {yes, you can put butter in coffee now people!!!} 

so, while i continue to take in my tea, i’m keeping this bit of coffee in my life and i’m feeling completely unclenched about it.

MY week

y’all, i’m going to talk about alone time.

these last couple weeks i’ve been craving alone time. i think it correlates to my nesting and urge to get things accomplished. it’s left me wondering if other women experience this deep need for alone time in their last trimester as well? is it a part of birth preparation? or is this constant desire for a bit of solitude in my day part of my personality?

well, i got what i asked for. D spent the week with my parents and mike started a new job. he’ll probably put double the hours in at this first week at his new job than what he’s been working for the past two years. so in a short span of time i went from having people all up in my grill to being quite alone, quite a lot.

i was busy. i was productive. and i wasn’t always alone thanks to the many appointments, meetings and friendly dates i crammed into this week. but this week did leave me feeling lonely and above all else, BORED.

the week made me take it down a notch in my desire to be alone with my to-do list. because while it was nice to get things accomplished…accomplishments are boring. i look back through my snapshots of the week and see a lack of life. it’s nice to have the moments when i can sit down and eat a snack on the couch because no one is looking, or to get my new green babies potted, to take walks and to get the bathroom painted, but without my family these things mean a lot less. maybe this week was about learning that squeezing these check lists in to all the chaos of family life is a pretty fantastic blessing. i’m glad to have a chance to come back around on that before life gets a whole lot more hectic. i know i’ll be singing a different tune in a few months so i need to put these thoughts and feelings down here now so i can pull it up when i’m at my limits.

and look at that rad little bit of life in that first photo!!! it was nice to remind myself i was never truly alone. and it was so lovely to see my littlest love for the first time. that was by far the most important thing that happened this week. part of me was sad that darla wasn’t there for it and that mike was at work but part of it felt right. i got to call darla up and tell her the baby has her nose. a nose that i’ll be able to give lots of kisses in a few short months. until then i’m happy to have these pics to gaze upon. even if the last one is pretty creepy because the babe has one eye open. must be a metallica fan. i know an uncle that is going to be happy about that…

 baby ultrasound minty paint
grapefruit snack
 baby bump on a walk
new green babies

*thanks for reading this week. i hope you had a good one. sending you my best for a lovely mother’s day weekend. please read on for a little favor that i need to ask you. because you are one of my favorite readers ;-) *

you may have noticed a new little button over on the sidebar of MomJeanz, maybe not. so i’m going to point it out over there. see? well, i signed up for a baby blog directory so other bloggers can find and connect with MomJeanz. pretty nifty! if you could click on that button when you visit MomJeanz it casts a vote for my blog and helps the blog gain more exposure. I’ll be including it in my friday posts from now on so even if you can only give me one vote a week, or whenever you remember, it will still help. thanks for reading and helping this momma out!
columbus birth arts

bump day

bump day pregnancy photo series
bump day pregnancy photo series

yesterday, i got to peek at the person who makes this belly swell and round. it was my first and only ultrasound of this pregnancy. this baby has done a beautiful job growing. but i’m glad that i don’t need an ultrasound everyday to know that. i have a daily reminder and it’s there every time i look down.

i love this baby and i love this motherly body. i love this belly swell. bring it on, baby. round me out.