Maternity Monday: Flutter-Sleeve Floral Wrap Maternity Dress

I took Friday off to hang out with my kid and now I have 250 emails to respond to, in addition to my normal job duties, and they want me to travel next week. I’m over it. End of rant.

Recs for a convertible car seat? Ideally one that costs less than $200, allows air to circulate well while rear facing (LO gets sweaty in his infant seat now), has a machine-washable cover, and is easy to install and get kiddo in and out. We had an Evenflo (Triumph, maybe?) for my now 8 yo, and I liked that it had a knob to use to tighten the straps, but the lever to press to loosen the straps was so hard to press that it made it really difficult to use. Any other features I’m missing? I’m assuming they are all generally similar safety-wise. Kiddo seems to be average size, although DH and I are tall, as is my 8 yo, and we don’t necessarily plan on extended rear facing.

My daughter is 17 months and I noticed in the last few weeks that she no longer really asks to nurse, and when I offer her the breast she usually only nurses for a minute or two before running off to do something else. At the end of last week I decided to stop offering and see what happened. She didn’t ask, and now hasn’t nursed in five days. Part of me had hoped to continue until closer to age 2, which would take us through most of her first winter in daycare (she was at home with a nanny last winter), but if she’s ready now, it makes sense to just do it now, right? I would hate to encourage her to nurse now and then have to wean her more forcefully later on (2 is a pretty hard stopping point for me, I don’t really see myself wanting to continue beyond that). Does anyone know how long will it take my milk to dry up? I’m not engorged at all, but assume I could still produce something if I tried to nurse her (but maybe not?).

I’m curious how everyone balances quality vs. practicality for kids’ gear. The example above is a good one: splurge on a quality lunchbox and accessories, or spend less, knowing that the kid may lose it anyway? I think this becomes almost more of an issue when kids are older and are moving about more freely at school and activities. I guess this is where I’ve landed, but I’m curious how others handle it. Age plays a big factor in quality vs. quantity, I think.

Clothes: I stay on the inexpensive end, especially for my preschooler who is staining everything at daycare these days. We have lots of Cat & Jack, Carter’s, Oshkosh, and Old Navy. That said, I hate how pill-y the Cat & Jack and ON t-shirts get after awhile, and the leggings fade badly. In an effort to buy better, I bought my daughter several Hanna Andersson dresses on deep discount … she still picks her cheaper dresses every time. I’m OK with spending a little more on clothes for the elementary-school kiddo who isn’t growing as quickly and can wear things for several years.

Shoes: I regularly spend ~$50 on everyday shoes, usually twice a year. Whenever I’ve bought cheap shoes, I regret it and end up spending more in the long run. I buy bargain shoes for church and dress-up, though. I’m lucky that my kids seem to wear out their shoes before they outgrow them.

Coats: This is a tough one. I want my kids to have high-quality coats because we live in a place where the weather is unpredictable and the wind can be brutal. I started to rethink this stance when my son lost a North Face jacket at school last year. It was found, luckily, but I was kicking myself in the meantime and wishing I’d just bought his coat at Target. I don’t spend much on hoodies; they prone to getting left behind, especially at the before/after school program. (I can’t believe how many name-brand sweatshirts I see in the school’s lost-and-found at the end of the semester!)

Hats/mittens/gloves: Another tough one to balance. They get lost so easily that I hate spending much money on them, yet the cheap ones aren’t always very good. I try to leave a “nice” pair at home and send the other stuff to school.

Backpack and lunchbox: No regrets buying an LL Bean pack that has held up to lots of wear and tear. We need to replace DS’s only because he’s outgrowing it, not because it’s falling apart. His Lands End lunchbox also is holding up great, considering it gets tossed into a bin at school every day. It’s shocking that we haven’t lost it yet, honestly.

Water bottles: OMG, the effing water bottles that are required for DS’s summer program. I now buy cheap ones because Kid has a knack for losing them. Or they get broken. I’m done with buying anything nice.

Can anyone provide some moral support as we TTC for #1? I’m really hopeful this is the cycle — I’m 10 days post ovulation with all sorts of symptoms (nausea, on-and-off achiness of b00bs, weird taste in mouth), but my tests are still negative. I know it’s relatively early so I’m still hopeful. Is anyone willing to bolster my hope by sharing their first symptoms and timing of how they found out they were pregnant?