All the Frills: Photoshoot

Hopefully this will be my last Eleanor related All the Frills post for a while (believe it or not, I do actually have other things going on in my life aside from her…although she’s the most important thing by leaps and bounds, clearly) but I couldn’t resist sharing a few of the photos from our maternity and newborn photo shoot earlier this summer. Our photographer was the amazing Carrie of Carrie Jane Photography and I could not be happier with how they all turned out!

Weekend Reading:

• So this is a super strange archaeological find.
  
• I admit to being a fan of Fiona’s.
  
• This kid had an epically bad class trip.
  
• This story about a serial killer couple in Russia is nuts.
  
• This story about a female jogger on a defecation spree is hilarious.

Commissioned

These were taken just four weeks before my estimated due date (which of course never actually came). At this point the nursery was all set up, I’d a lot of preparatory meetings with my doula, and I basically felt about as prepared as I could be. Scared (pregnancy was pretty terrifying for me, especially as my due date loomed), but prepared. Of course everything went sideways for me, which makes it such an interesting experience for me to look back at photos like this and remember where I was mentally and emotionally when they were taken. In a lot of ways this blog is like a time capsule of my pregnancy.

In other news, I was recently approached by a digital magazine to write an essay for them on male and female aristocratic honour in the early modern period (one of the topics covered in my monograph). I'm really excited to have a project to work on!

leggings: ASOS / shoes: Toms / tunic: F21 / necklace: Aldo / jacket: Joseph Ribkoff

Normal Feet!

As I power through my back log of pre-delivery photos, all I can recollect about this is that the swelling in my feet had subsided for a few blissful days (basically I kept them elevated for like 6 hours each day for four days in a row and they returned to normal for the following few days) and I managed to get into a favourite pair of sandals, although only for a couple of hours (I didn’t want to invite more swelling). Also, don't you just love how damn irritated I look in all these?

 sandals: Arturo Chiang / leggings: Motherhood / tunic: F21 / blazer: Simons / necklace: Monserrat de Lucca

All the Frills: Sip and See

So we recently had a little gathering to celebrate Eleanor and introduce her to any friends and family she hadn’t met yet. A sip and see, if you will.

Here are a few photos of that lovely day – as well as a great photo recently sent to me by my amazing doula of my helpmeet explaining to me what happened after I awoke from my C section, showing me photos of Eleanor on his phone (I was fully put under for the C section so didn’t wake up until hours afterwards, meaning my helpmeet was the first of us to actually see and hang out with Eleanor). I look … confused. Seriously, morphine is a hell of a drug.

Weekend Reading:

• So I didn’t actually know who Cole Sprouse was when I saw this but his tweets are pretty funny.
• David S. Pumpkins is back!
• This pizza festival did not go according to plan. And people are mad.
• How does this happen in 2017?

Miserable in Florals

These photos were snapped when I think I had about 5 weeks to go in my pregnancy. They were also taken the week that I discovered I had developed something called a PUPPs rash – it was an early symptom of the cholestasis that eventually played a role in my need for en emergency C section but I won’t bore you with the details here (you can Google it if you want to see what nightmares are made of). It was incredibly aggravating and annoying, not to mention that it cut into your ability to sleep at a time when, just before you are about to put your body through the endurance test that is life with a newborn, you really need your sleep.

I swear I dropped about $400 that last month of pregnancy on every single cream and itch remedy conceivable trying to get this beast under control. I also spent a lot of time wandering about in very loose fitting clothing that promoted air circulation (like this dress – which I paired here with boots because my legs and feet were swollen and I needed to wear support stockings to help with circulation…yep, pregnancy is super glamourous).

boots: Franco Sarto / dress: Old Navy / vest: Tom Tailor / necklace: Stella and Dot

Sticking To My Guns

So, as hot and uncomfortable as I got towards the end of my pregnancy, when the heat of June and July hit, I never totally abandoned my love of all black. I could never bring myself to do that – sometimes you need to stick to your guns.

tunic: Zara / leggings: Thyme Maternity / shoes: Toms

All The Frills: Two Months!

She’s older now, obviously, but here’s my amazing Eleanor Elizabeth Medea when she turned two months old. I seriously can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by.

Weekend Reading

• Viking warrior princesses! I love this.
  
• I swear, this perfectly describes Eleanor.
  
• Adventures in dating/adventures in poop.
  
• This riff on mom’s groups made me laugh my ass off.
  
• Ah, good old fake graduate degrees.

Cradling

I was really nearing the home stretch when these photos were taken…and doing that weird thing of semi-cradling my stomach in photos. Which I fully acknowledge is weird but I couldn’t help myself here. Seriously, it's hard to know what to do with your hands sometimes.

leggings: Motherhood / shirt: ASOS / cardigan: Pins + Needles / shoes: Toms / necklace: the Bay / sunglasses: Aldo

All the Frills: Too Many Phone Cases

So apparently I have a thing for collecting phone cases….anyone else change their phone case semi-regularly?

Weekend Reading

• This little girl is the once and future queen.
  
• Photographic creations of fictional meals … what a cool idea.
  
• I have some fairly complicated thoughts about breastfeeding. And some anger...
  
• So a group of researchers think they may have identified the remains of Pliny the Elder, who features prominently in the historical record concerning the destruction of Pompeii.
  
• This piece on Africans living in early modern England is great.

I'd Rather Be Anywhere But the Office

Worn very close to the end of my pregnancy when I was really finding going to work unbearable. Despite being uncomfortable and cranky, I think I look rather well put together for a day of meetings.

dress: Thyme Maternity / necklace: Stella and Dot / shoes: Aldo / sunglasses: Aldo

Poker Party

I tried to cram in a lot of visits with friends during my last few weeks of pregnancy (seeing as how I knew I would be sticking pretty close to home in the first couple of months after baby’s arrival) and so this was worn on a Saturday to play poker at a buddy’s house (I even won the pot and everything!).

dress: F21 / leggings: Old Navy / shoes: Aldo / bracelet: Stella and Dot / necklace: Stella and Dot / cuff: gift from my mother / jacket: F21 / shoes: Aldo