ChicCritique

Sometimes when P gets home from work, I get a “drive home,”...

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:55:01 -0400

Sometimes when P gets home from work, I get a “drive home,” wherein I get to spend 30 minutes to an hour, alone, just like he did on his drive home.

Usually, the first 10 to 20 minutes are spent listening to my boys howl for “Mommmm-maaaaaayyyyyy!”

But after all of that, I get to listen to the sweetest sounds ever, my boys and their daddy. Sometimes playing, sometimes reading, and always singing.

The singing is what does me in, but all of it makes me want to jump out of my drive home and back into the action :)

Today it was the theme song to Thomas and Friends and it was amazing.

I can’t believe that bg should be here within a month. (I was dilated to a 3 on Tuesday, so it could really be any time now.)

It’s so hard to believe that this will all be so different so soon, and that there will be even more love in this even tinier-seeming little house of ours…

Video

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:23:51 -0400

- J wanted some screentime, since H dominated the last one I posted :) The boys have the greatest "aunties"/sitters/playmates!

Video

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:21:03 -0400

- what I've been up to :)

So I finally found a rival for the Marc Jacobs diaper bag that...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:00:06 -0400

So I finally found a rival for the Marc Jacobs diaper bag that I’ve been eying, but not able to pull the trigger on (this non-income-earner has still been waiting for a navy one to make its way to eBay).

This guy is on the boxy side for me, but checks all my boxes (messenger strap, spacious open interior, lots of pockets and compartments, not “baby”-looking), and even adds a couple of bonuses in (converts to a non-fug backpack, has an exterior area to which larger items can be secured, AND a sunglass section for me?).

It’s still on the pricey side, but after nearly 2.5 years of carrying the same diaper bag nonstop, I need a change (even though I have LOVED my Mia Bossi Reese dearly and highly recommend it!)…

Father’s Day gift for P (along with a new bike, if I can...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:00:09 -0400

Father’s Day gift for P (along with a new bike, if I can pull it off) (since bg is due June 19th, I’ve got to get prepped for this in addition to her arrival)!

Although kind of pricey for a magazine, it’s supposed to be a great resource for modern, involved dads, aka, perfect for P.

I’m also sure my Eagle Scout will appreciate the title :)

The perfect baby shower gift? See Also: What I’d like to...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:13:56 -0400

The perfect baby shower gift?

See Also: What I’d like to have received following the boys’ birth

So I thought I’d mentioned that Georgia was our wishwecouldnumberonefavnameeverforbabygirl...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:28:15 -0400

So I *thought* I’d mentioned that Georgia was our wishwecouldnumberonefavnameeverforbabygirl to my mom and her nonresponse was all the NO I needed to confirm that we couldn’t use it. (seriously, she has every right to want to keep anything George-related as far from her consciousness as possible - we have some extended family ISSUES up in that region…)

…but tonight, I mentioned that Jack has recently taken to calling his baby sister-to-be, Emerson, and P brought up how Georgia was still his fav (thereby effing EARNING the side-eye/mean-mug combo I whipped at his ass), and my mom was suddenly SO OKAY with it…

(there’s definitely a possibility that she just HATES Emerson that.much.)

???

So then, maybe I cried (I am so not proud of my preg-induced-lameness right now)…

And that’s how we officially got a totally unexpected blessing on our name

!!!

(except I still kind of love Poppy and am expecting P to give into whatever I want once I’ve birthed the child and all) (I mean, HELLO) (so there’s a chance she won’t be Georgia even though she 95-ish-% will be)

whew…and with just 2.5-ish months to go until she’s here, I suppose it’s time to worry about some actual pre-baby preparedness issues (UHM…like starting the nursery)…

Celine? As bg’s newest name possibility? P is into it, but we both wonder, does everyone...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:29:51 -0400

Celine?

As bg’s newest name possibility?

P is into it, but we both wonder, does everyone automatically think of Celine Dion?

Are we okay with this if they do?

Thoughts?

Baby Names: Take 3

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:33:43 -0500

P and I got down and dirty last night

- regarding bg’s name picks.

What are your top 3?

Shocker: we had no overlap.

P’s picks:

Parker (this is the only one I’m not really considering b/c it’s not quite feminine enough for me)
Penelope
Emerson

My (obviously much better) picks:

Poppy
Clementine
Imogen
Norah (you knew I couldn’t keep it to just 3)
Francesca (this is the only one P is actively contesting)
all with middle name, Kate, after my cousin who died very unexpectedly this summer at age 31, and after my grandma

We’re getting closer!! (and I think I’ll be pretty content going into the birth with a list instead of a more concrete decision, anyway) (plus, I’m pretty sure I’ll get my way in the name dept. after, you know, GIVING BIRTH)

I promise to stop with the name-dramz for a while, now that I’m not (literally) keeping myself awake all night, thinking of (stressing about) possibilities ;)

thedaddycomplex: watchingothersdreamscometrue: awholelottafagi...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:52 -0500

thedaddycomplex:

watchingothersdreamscometrue:

awholelottafagina:

linzthenerd:

ineedthesandandthewaves:

This was the most realistic and saddest thing I’ve ever seen in a kids movie.

They didn’t use any words through this sequence, and you still knew exactly what was going on and it was a hundred times more powerful for that silence.

Everytime I watch this movie,I think of J and Nighthawk. I cry because of the fact that J wasn’t given the choice. Her body made it for her. Linds because she hurt for so long. For my friend Ash,who wants a baby but hasn’t gotten the BFP,even after 9 months. For my cousin who miscarried four times before learning she’s unable to carry children to term. For my friends who have lost or will lose. For the people I don’t even know,who’s heart have been broken from loss. I think of them. And I hurt. I even (sometimes) feel badly that I had children so easily. This movie,above any of Disney or Pixar’s movies,is hands down,my favorite. It’s real and I love it.

when my husband and i sat down to watch this for the first time it killed us, he had to stop the movie as he was crying so hard. It was the first time i saw his true feelings about our infertility. before this he had been strong, silent and supportive. the pain seemed all mine which is selfish I know, but this bought it all home for him. he held me and told me that he would have the adventure of a lifetime with me no matter what… we still don’t have our baby but we know we have each other. we smile through the tears and slap happy faces on for the world but together we can just be us.

Watching this sequence is the only time I ever thought, “Fuck Pixar” — not because they got it wrong, but because they got it so right and, if you’ve been through this, there’s never a right time to see it in a movie.

P and I first saw Up as we were in the valley of our infertility battle.bi was taken so off guard by this scene but couldn’t turn it off. I looked over at P, sobbing, and saw tears trickle down his face as he pulled me closer.

I’ve avoided watching it again, until our boys realized that it was probably a movie since pictures from it were included in a coloring book they have with other Pixar movies.

“Balloon house movie?” “Please?”

And so the second time I watched the movie was with H and J on my lap, P still beside me, and surprise baby girl in my tummy.

I cried quietly this time, the boys looked at me, so concerned, and P pulled me closer. I smiled and told the boys to watch the movie, and we giggled the rest of the way through it (EVERYTHING is funny to a 2 year-old, even just the tennis balls on Carl’s walker cracked them up!).

Well done, you Pixar bastards.

The Name Game, Part 2:

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:19:27 -0500

So last I wrote, I wrote about not being able to name our baby-to-be what we really want to name her, Georgia (or anything George-related, so Georgina is sadly also out).

And you guys were so great! And had so many fantastic suggestions!

As a recap, we’ve been tossing around:

Emerson - former front-runner, but I’ve cooled on it
Dorothy - nicknamed Dot/Dottie, but I don’t like Dorothy
Poppy - too hippie? a little sweet on the sweet/cool spectrum, but I kind of love it!
Penelope - P loves it, but I’d definitely have to think she “looks” like a Penny
Audrey - too popular?
Paige - too plain?
Loretta - too old lady?
Eliza - I like it, but is it cool enough?
Wren - cool, but is it strong enough? Also, as someone with a short first name, I wished I’d had a longer, girlier name all while growing up/until I was 22
Guilia/Giada - P doesn’t like the “weird” (ITALIAN!) spelling :(
Harlow - P doesn’t love it
Clementine - P didn’t like it, but may be coming around…
Lola - probably not a realistic frontrunner
Genevieve - probably not a realistic frontrunner
Sydney - too popular?
Reese - probably not a realistic frontrunner
Coco - probably not a realistic frontrunner
Delaney - probably not a realistic frontrunner
Parker (new addition and P’s top pick, but I’m not sold)
Norah (my new addition) - P’s still considering it…
Imogen - I’m digging it more and more…
Lucia - pronounced lu-SEE-a, not a frontrunner anymore bc of pronunciation issues :(

And you ladies mentioned:

Seoirse - I think this was the only suggestion we haven’t considered! The pronunciation issue is at work here, but I liked the meaning!
Portia - love it, but not the association with Porche
Lydia - the little girl I babysit for/child of some old friends is named Lydia, but we do like it
Johanna - P vetoed it, but I like it still
Leila - I liked it more than P
Julia - again, I like it more than P, but I like it spelled with a G
Lazzar…a - If one of the boys had been a girl, the boy’s middle name would probably have been Lazzaro (my maiden name), so Sandy wasn’t too far off ;)
Charlotte - I LOVE this name, but we know 2 other Charlottes
Caroline - P vetoed
Gemma - this one is actually also on our (longish) shortlist
Josie - we can’t use anything Joseph-related, since that’s my dad’s and brother’s name and will definitely be my someday-nephew’s name
Josette - another ^, which is a bummer bc I also REALLY like Josephine too
Amelia - we know an Amelia
Ruby - This, and the next two, were nixed because of the short name/old lady combo :(
Opal
Pearl
Flora - P vetoed
Aria - we know an Aria who’s due to be born within the month (!), but I do really like it
Gianna/Gia - definitely like it, but prefer Giada for a possible green-eyed baby!
Geneva/Genna - have thought about them, but prefer Gemma, which P doesn’t like
Francesca/Frankie - I LOVE it! but P doesn’t so much - I think I may move it back onto the shortlist though ;)
Ainsley - I definitely like it, but prefer Huntley (P vetoed, and it’s a bit too close to Hudson), Bailey (P really like it, but it’s on the popular side for me), and Bexley (P vetoed), if we’re considering -ley names (I’ve been anti-ley because it’s a bit cutesy, but I’ve been leaning toward them suddenly!)

eek! so many options, but I know only one is the right one…and I’m realizing that this whole preoccupation with finding a name might be a diversion from all of the things we actually have to ready before her arrival (a new vehicle, the nursery, continuing ~~hell~~ potty training…)

Finally! Inspiration for BG’s nursery! The only thing we...

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:32:00 -0500

Finally! Inspiration for BG’s nursery!

The only thing we have thus far (3.5 months out), is a mid-century glider with medium stained wood and tweedy golden upholstery (I might do the crib in white instead of the navy I love, so the furniture doesn’t get too heavy-looking though?).

I’m just happy to have decided (mostly) on a direction and get started!!

bg’s room by chiccritique on Polyvore

kate spade new york Candy Shop Stripe 72’ x 72’ Fabric Shower Curtain… / Baby Mod Modena 3-in-1 Fixed Side Crib, Navy

* Oh, and the last pic is just a reminder that I want the ceiling painted (pale pink), and coming down a bit onto the walls :)

babytakesmanhattan: How To Be 2- a sweet little glimpse that...

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:45:53 -0500

babytakesmanhattan:

How To Be 2- a sweet little glimpse that captures this age well.

Relevant.

Also, how charming is that house :)

Yesterday, I cried. I spent nap time cleaning out my closet yet again, this time removing the...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:49:00 -0500

Yesterday, I cried.

I spent nap time cleaning out my closet yet again, this time removing the majority of the (lovely!) dresses that I spent years wearing, almost daily, before the boys were born.

The majority had dust on the shoulders, after having not been worn in 2.5 years…so to make room in Baby Girl’s closet, P has to take his things out, and I have to share the walk in…

Taking all of these beautiful dresses (over 100 of them!) (DVF! DKNY! Eva Franco! My all-time favorite, sadly still unworn, J Crew dress!), that actually fit, boxing them up, and taking them to the basement because they don’t fit my lifestyle…was a shock.

My images of myself as the mother I thought I’d be, working, successful, put-together, leading by example, and as the mother I am, in stretched out jeggings, no makeup, at home 24/7, compulsively trying just to keep up (with the kids, the cleaning, the Pinterest-perfect-fun-projects-all-day-moms of the Internets), collided.

I sobbed to P.

About the incessant whining and fighting and saying NO from the boys lately…

About how I’d have never gone to college or spent 10 years establishing myself professionally to be “just a mom…”

About missing my clothes…

And my life…

And myself…

nadiathinks: fashioninquality: Shoe Porn at Burberry Prorsum...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:13:53 -0500

nadiathinks:

fashioninquality:

Shoe Porn at Burberry Prorsum Spring Summer 2012 | LFW

Prorsum woven beauty

YES.

So if we could do it, our baby girl’s name would 100% be Georgia. I suggested it to my cousin nearly...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:35:47 -0500

So if we could do it, our baby girl’s name would 100% be Georgia. I suggested it to my cousin nearly five years ago, he didn’t use it, and it’s stuck with P and I.

As in, it’s the only name we both love, through and through. It’s feminine but cool, and could go professional but is still cute for a little girl…

It is NOT an option though, as it has awful/painful/hurtful associations within my family.

Georgia is probably one of the very few names that 100% is not, can not be, our child’s name.

So in asking for your help/suggestions/advice, please don’t say that we can/should/might possibly be able to somehow, do it anyway, as this is not the case.

If one of the boys had been a girl, her name would have been Emerson Dawn, but we’ve fallen out of love with it (still on our short list though).

We love the nicknames Dot and Dottie, but P’s family would rather not have another Dorothy (his gma is Dorothy and even though she’s 100 years old and spunky and totally digs me, the rest of the fam, P’s parents included, has decades-old issues with her) (plus, I don’t love “Dorothy” either), and I’m even digging Dot as a middle name (although it sounds oddly like it’s missing the “com” afterward?) (which is kind of fitting for P’s geeky self?).

We’re also tossing around Poppy (P’s not sold), Penelope (getting too popular? I’m not sold), Audrey/Audra/Aurora, Paige, Loretta, Eliza, Mackenzie (she’d be “Mac,” fitting since P and I met at the Apple store).

Oh, and also, Wren, Guilia, Giada (only if she has P’s green eyes), Levi, Harlow, Lola, Genevieve, Clementine, Sydney, Kenton, Reese, Rowan, Coco, Delaney, Aletta, Azura, and Natalia…

But nothing has stuck like Georgia :(

Thoughts? Ideas? Something similar to Georgia in sound/feel/’tude that we’re overlooking? Please?

carolinek: Basically, I love everything about the Burberry...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:45:38 -0500

carolinek:

Basically, I love everything about the Burberry dress that Anne Hathaway wore to the BAFTAs.

This dress is so good that I (almost) forgot to hate AH.

That’s saying A. LOT.

…but still babies as soon as they let themselves fall asleep...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:47:05 -0500

…but still babies as soon as they let themselves fall asleep ;)

(and I just realized that I still haven’t made adorable covers for their duvets because…uhh…I never actually learned to use my sewing machine from four Christmases ago…now I have to spend nap time asking my friends who sew if they can do it for me) (lame) (it can’t really be THAT hard, can it?)

H + J : big boys all day…

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:45:09 -0500

H + J : big boys all day…

decarburant: Isabel Marant ‘Adele’ heels SO. EFFING. GOOD.

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:04:16 -0500

decarburant:

Isabel Marant ‘Adele’ heels

SO. EFFING. GOOD.

ChicCritique

Sometimes when P gets home from work, I get a “drive home,”...

Video

Video

So I finally found a rival for the Marc Jacobs diaper bag that...

Father’s Day gift for P (along with a new bike, if I can...

The perfect baby shower gift? See Also: What I’d like to...

So I *thought* I’d mentioned that Georgia was our wishwecouldnumberonefavnameeverforbabygirl...

Celine? As bg’s newest name possibility? P is into it, but we both wonder, does everyone...

Baby Names: Take 3

thedaddycomplex: watchingothersdreamscometrue: awholelottafagi...

The Name Game, Part 2:

Finally! Inspiration for BG’s nursery! The only thing we...

babytakesmanhattan: How To Be 2- a sweet little glimpse that...

Yesterday, I cried. I spent nap time cleaning out my closet yet again, this time removing the...

nadiathinks: fashioninquality: Shoe Porn at Burberry Prorsum...

So if we could do it, our baby girl’s name would 100% be Georgia. I suggested it to my cousin nearly...

carolinek: Basically, I love everything about the Burberry...

…but still babies as soon as they let themselves fall asleep...

H + J : big boys all day…

decarburant: Isabel Marant ‘Adele’ heels SO. EFFING. GOOD.

So I thought I’d mentioned that Georgia was our wishwecouldnumberonefavnameeverforbabygirl...