The most half-assed attempt I’ve made in over 5 straight years of this nonsense!

Sunday:

She’s questioning my life choices because these aren’t from Dunkin

Pretend those are ORGANIC Doritos

E built us a table so we could play cribbage in our beach chairs

Monday:

Filthy children

Clean children!

Tuesday:

I started a toy purge and organization. It was a huge mistake.

Monkey see, monkey do

Very serious about his monkey duties

Wednesday:

We have the best floaties

OMG check out the dollar spot!!!

Thursday:

All these children are with me (and one other mom)

The potter at Old Sturbridge Village gave everyone clay

Linc LOVES selfies

Friday:

4 hours at the lake and I barely saw my kids

Sure, whatever, just be quite while Caroline is in piano lessons

Picking up America stuff for our America photoshoot

Saturday:

Berry picking

We still have the best floaties

I bought 30 minutes of peace for $3.50 worth of ice cream

I am recovering from an attack of something that made me absolutely useless on Sunday. I suspect it was a kidney infection but did not have the time or energy to go to the ER for it, so I’m forcing it out of my body with sheer willpower and cranberry juice. Now I am suffering from a condition called “why the hell don’t we have air conditioning???” It’s terrible and reoccurring and should definitely be illegal for 8 months-pregnant women. I’d like to speak to the person in charge around here.

I have a weekend hangover from trying to do lots of fun stuff today. It’s not alcohol-related. It’s dehydrations/exhaustion/pregnancy related. Because this is just my life now. No drinking, but all the worst side-effects.

Sunday:

Pretty sure I went to sleep with a much older guy in that spot

Downtown looking very scenic

Celebrating a friend’s birthday by stealing her shoes

Monday:

Cuddles

Ironic or just awful?

Shenanigans

Tuesday:

Matchy brothers

He said “This is how they’re supposed to go”.

Even when she TRIES not to be in pictures, she can’t help it

Wednesday:

He would live on those if I let him

I paid money for the original Willy Wonka so we can watch it 100 times this summer

At least they’re sharing?

Thursday:

Very proud of his style

Linc is “helping” carry the teddy

Clean baby

Friday:

When you need to make sure you have all your Hand & Foot cards

In 24 hours, this will be a wedding

He can just live there for the summer

Saturday:

Perfect lake morning

Picking up the essentials

Pretending to be a real photographer

I am going to celebrate the summer solstice by sending all of my children to bed early, enjoying a long bath, and taking the maximum amount of Tylenol allowed before I put myself to bed. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel more like a capable human than a swollen pregnant monster.

Or more likely, this is just my life now. Yay, summer pregnancy.

This is one of those posts that is ONLY interesting to other people who are currently living fairly similar lives to mine (smallish children who both have and do not have opinions on their clothes but have to wear something because constant nudity is not an option). Or possibly it’s good for aunts/uncles/grandparents/relatives/close-but-childless-friends-who-are-often-stumped-looking-for-gifts, since cute, good quality kid clothes are almost always welcome.

But I feel like I get a lot of compliments on what my children wear, both in real life and online, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to share my shopping habits. This was supposed to be a pretty short, easy post to write and instead, I’ve spent almost 3 weeks on it. And I don’t actually get THAT many compliments, besides from my friends who probably already know where I got stuff. I’m sort of regretting how much effort I’ve put into this, actually. Think of all the naps I could have taken instead. But since I’m done now, and I love how adorable my children are, I present to you an extensive list of our favorite places to shop.

Sort of a disclaimer non-disclaimer: I don’t have secret affiliate relationships with and am not sponsored by these companies so this post is just me talking about stuff I genuinely like. I’ll mention any referral links if/when I use them.

STORES:

Some of Caroline’s many Hanna dresses

Hanna Andersson: Probably my very most favorite of all the places to get kid clothes. The have Swedish roots and a very clean, classic aesthetic that means I never hate what my kids pick out even if they dress themselves. The pajamas really are the cutest and most comfortable we own and the kids always grab them first if they’re available. Sizes go from tiny baby up through kids size 16-18, which should fit Evan until he’s at least in middle school. Things we especially love: dresses, hats, pajamas, underpants. They run sales fairly often and I don’t allow myself to buy things at full price, but if you consider how well the clothes hold up (for your own multiple children or for selling/consigning later) they are a good deal. If you’ve never ordered from Hanna before and you use this link, you get 20% off your purchase and I get a 20% off coupon for myself which I will probably use to order yet another set of matching pajamas for my numerous children.

Starting at top left: dress, shirt, sweater, fleece jacket, dress, fleece jacket, dress, snowsuit and sweater are all Hanna. 

I have an actual addiction to Hanna Jams.

Mini Boden for Evan and Caroline

Mini Boden: If Boden hadn’t sent me clothes (for the bigs and for tiny baby Linc), I don’t think I ever would have actually ordered from the site. Their stuff is not inexpensive. I often throw the catalog away as soon as I get it because I don’t trust myself not to spend too much. But seriously, this is a brand that understands how to design and make cute, fun, quality kid clothes. They have a current print in their girl’s section called Florasaurus that has awesome dinosaurs on it and Caroline gets compliments everywhere. Their boy t-shirts are fun without having cartoon characters printed on them, and their baby clothes are SO soft. Mini Boden sizes start at newborn, go up to 12 years old and their tween/teen line goes up to 16 years old. Things we especially love: matching brother shirts, baby rompers, anything with stars on it.

Starting at top left: snowsuit, matching shirts, snowsuit, Caroline’s dress, Linc’s whole outfit, Caroline’s dress, Linc’s shirt & Evan’s shirt, Linc’s shirt, snowsuit, Caroline’s dress, Linc’s whole outfit, matching brother shirts AND Caroline’s romper are all Mini Boden

Polarn O. Pyret: Another Swedish company who makes classic, stripey children’s clothes. I ordered from them during their $5/$10/$15 sale and could not believe how much I loved the thickness and quality of their regular cotton. I’ve been throwing them in the dryer for more than 6 months now and they still look new. I especially love their socks for Lincoln – they stay on and they don’t get holes, which seems to be too much to ask for most boys’ socks. I really wish I had a baby girl to buy their baby girl outfits for, but I’ll just have to settle for gender neutral newborn stuff. Their sizes go up to 12 years old but I think their styles skew a little young. Things we especially love: SOCKS. Totally worth signing up for email to get socks on sale.

One of Caroline’s favorite dresses is Polarn.

Some of our Tea in current sizes – there’s tons more in sizes no one is currently wearing

Tea Collection: Tea is hit or miss for me, or more specifically for Caroline, but when I was looking through her closet I realized we own a LOT of it. I’ve bought SO many cute dresses on sale that she has decided are not her style. They base each season’s new clothes on a location/country and when I love the collections I LOOOOOVE them. When they aren’t my favorite I’m not even tempted. I never have quality complaints though, and their cotton is super soft, especially on boy clothes. Their color schemes are not what you usually expect in kid clothes, which can be really refreshing if you’re tired of primary colors and cartoon characters. Their sizes go from newborn to 12 years old and the dresses fit Caroline for at least 3 seasons because they make great tunics. Things we especially love: dresses, boys t-shirt designs.

Horse dress, Evan’s shirt, flower dress are Tea

SITES:

Facebook Resale Pages: If you’re currently thinking I must spend thousands of dollars on kid clothes if I’m shopping mostly on those three sites, you’d be right. But I only buy directly from those brands a few times a year. I buy far, far more second-hand from resale groups. My favorite is the Mini Boden & Hanna Andersson BST page, but there are lots of them for lots of brands, like Crewcuts and Tea Collection. That’s the beauty of these brands – they last a super long time, through multiple children, and even if YOU buy something full price you can resell it later. So far I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the moms on those boards and I’ve bought everything from bathing suits to shoes for all 3 kids. On the MB/Hanna site people can list other high end or boutique brands on Fridays, so it’s a good day to browse. Be warned though, it can be super addicting, especially since everyone uses Paypal and Paypal can feel like pretend money instead of actual money. This is in bold because it is where I buy probably 75% of our current wardrobe. All the girl’s Tea, three of the Hanna pieces and about half the Mini Boden in the pictures was bought resale.

Party dresses all from Zulily

Zulily: I have a love/hate relationship with Zulily. I’ve bought some GREAT stuff from them, including a handful of Jelly The Pug dresses, some of Caroline’s favorite shoes and many nice Christmas presents. On the other hand, their shipping can be so expensive it cancels out the savings and it’s sooooo slooooooow. I’ve installed/deleted the app from my phone dozens of times, because I find myself shopping aimlessly and buying things I don’t LOVE love just because they’re available. Sometimes my world’s collide and Hanna Andersson has stuff on Zulily, which can be a great deal if you log in early enough and grab the good items before they’re gone. If you use my links to Zulily, open a new account and actually buy something, I earn a $15 credit. I think I’ve earned 3 total in 5+ years of using them, so I won’t hold my breath.

All three of Caroline’s dresses are from Zulily

ThredUp: ThredUp is a resale site for kids and women (including maternity!) so I’ve spent a ton of time browsing around their app while rocking a baby to sleep or waiting for the bus. Everything is used but what I’ve ordered has been in great-to-brand-new condition. The good thing about ThredUp is they don’t seem to value brands like Hanna or Boden as much as people on the Facebook sites do, so you can get them for a few dollars less. The BAD part about that is I wouldn’t send those higher-end brands to them to consign. I sent a huge bag of stuff we didn’t need or want hoping to earn some credit but only got $13. That’s less than half than what I would get if I consigned them locally – but it was less than half as much work, too. Even if selling is disappointing, the app is still a good place to find deals – they often have sales, run coupon codes and if you sign up with a referral link you get a free $10 credit to spend (I also get a credit if you spend your’s). I’ve had good luck with all three sizes – big boy stuff, medium girl stuff, and baby stuff. I got an email this morning that you can get 40% off your first order using the code: SUMMER.

BOUTIQUE/SMALL BRANDS:

Some of our cutest boutique clothes

Rainbow Waters: Lindsay is the talented mama behind this adorable brand on Etsy. These are fun clothes, in crazy patterns and bright colors rather than mature, muted styles but if kids can’t dress like that sometimes then who can?? Obviously everyone needs a dress with dinosaurs and unicorns in outer space on it. Besides fun stuff like rainbows and stars, she often stocks Star Wars prints for both boys AND girls, which I appreciate as a mom with a daughter who loves Star Wars just as much as her brother does. She also does matching sibling pieces (in case you couldn’t tell, I’m a fan of matching).

The Measure: This brand is super popular amongst photographers because it looks beautiful in pictures. It’s also fun, original, eclectic, comfortable and some of Caroline’s favorite stuff. I bought a baby-sized version of that pink stripey dress for my best friend’s daughter to take matching pretend-cousin pictures in Charleston and it was so cute I can barely stand it. She just started making grown-up sized versions of one of her dresses, which would be amazing in a boho/sunset/wildflower family photo session. There’s also a resale B/S/T page on Facebook for The Measure so even if you don’t get more than 2 seasons out of the dresses you can resell (also helpful if you’re looking for a sibling match).

Lilla Barn: I discovered Lilla on Instagram, although I cannot remember how exactly. They’re a combination of two of my favorite things: a Swedish aesthetic and a small, handmade business. You can order from their website, but I definitely recommend following on social media as well for sales and discount codes. They do a lot of gender neutral stuff for babies, which I love, as well as beautiful girl’s clothes. Caroline is about to outgrow them (sizes go from newborn up to age 6) but luckily Linc and Baby 4 will get plenty of use out of their clothes.

KPea: Cute fabrics, super good quality sewing and there’s very little chance another kid shows up at a party in the same dress (the social horror!!) means Caroline loves KPea. I mostly stalk them on Instagram for new patterns and sales. They do an “outfit of the week” with a nice discount that put prices for a hand-made dress on par with a new dress from Baby Gap or Gymboree. They also do mommy & me matching, so if you’re especially adorable and want something fun for the beach or a holiday or a party you could absolutely find a set.

From top left: dress Lillabarn, dress Lillabarn, dress The Measure, shirt The Measure, dress KPea, dress Rainbow Waters

Almost all of these pictures came from my 365 (last year) or 366 (this year) projects, because these really are the clothes my children wear and play and live in. Some of them are now terribly stained and faded and we only pass them on as hand-me-downs to friends we know will wear them for playing in the mud. Some of them I’ve treated much better (see also: my obsession with laundry) and I’ll be able to sell or consign so I’ll get quite a bit of my money back – which will probably go towards more kids clothes.

There are lots of other places I shop (Target, duh) and I’m not at all  a snob about brands if the clothes are cute and last longer than one wash. These are just the brands that we consistently love the best. Feel free to leave me links or suggestions to other shops (especially boutiques or resale sites!) I might love!

Linc and I went to the Mystic Aquarium this morning, with no real agenda and as much time as we wanted to wander. I realized with school ending tomorrow we’re at the end of the “off season” and from now on we’ll basically avoid Mystic like the plague, because tourists are the worst. Even if we go on less-nice days, or weekdays, or days you wouldn’t expect it to be crowded it will be the Special 15 Day Camps From Long Island All Come At Once Day or something. But today at 9 am we were golden and after 2 hours of saying hi to all the animals, we left just as the buses started pulling up outside for end-of-the-year field trips.

Photography at the aquarium is always fun but definitely a huge challenge for me. The indoors is very dark and has lots of colored light. Outdoors is super bright and sunny and without a really nice zoom lens the animals are too far away. Remembering to switch settings back and forth between those locations seems to get forgotten while I’m also trying to make sure I don’t lose Linc or let him throw stuff in the touch tank. One of these days I’ll go ALONE and bring a macro lens and try to just get fish shots, but for now you mostly get the back of my kid’s head while he looks at things.

Linc took a nice nap today and everyone got 100% green points at school which means they earned some iPad time, so I managed to get these sorted AND edited less than 12 hours after taking them. I’m very proud.

Our Kiawah trip each year is fun for a lot of reasons, but the number one reason is I LOVE the people we go with. These are my oldest friends, I have known them longer than I have known my husband (although some of them have their own husbands now), and somehow they still like me. They’re basically family, so the kids call them Aunt and Uncle, and they are the kind of people who let Caroline “help” crack eggs or read Linc the same book 15 times. My life would be 1000% less awesome if they weren’t in it.

There is a small…medium…maybe slightly larger than medium chance that we (the Davis family) will be moving in the next year, which means we might also miss a year or two at the beach house. All I can do is make everyone promise they will still go, so when we eventually move back to the east coast we can pick right back up with our favorite week of the year.

In case you haven’t seen all the previous years (here: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011) and are wondering about The Beach House, it is the vacation home of a friend’s uncle who is incredibly generous and kind and amazing and allows us to use it for a long weekend each year. It’s nicer than any other house I have ever been in, on an absolutely stunning stretch of Kiawah Island off the coast of Charleston. There is a bunk room for the big kids to share, separate bedrooms for each adult/adult couple, and approximately one million bathrooms. The toddlers sleep in closets that are actually bigger than some of their rooms at home. It is air conditioned to a perfect 72 degrees, the pool is heated to 88 degrees (I know because the pool guy came to clean it and check the temp for us), and there is a house-keeping staff that scrubs the whole thing right before we get there and right after we leave. It’s basically heaven.

I promise these are the rest of the pictures. I won’t make you sit through a third post.

The first floor (the one that walks out to the pool, not the basement with the cars) is the movie room, where the kids can control the TV and no grown ups have to watch it.

All the kids, wearing Hanna stripey jams! Almost all looking at the camera!

These are from our first, not-s0-good family photo session. It was very dark and I messed up my settings and I don’t like my dress and Linc got soaked within 10 minutes. But I still edited all the decent ones.

We bought an inexpensive underwater camera for the trip, since we’ve had fun with them in the pool before. When this one eventually breaks we’ll spring for a much nicer underwater camera, because this are not what I was hoping to get. I really need something that shoots RAW so I can edit them nicely.

ALL THE TOES!

And the rest are our family photos – the good ones! – from the second try. Instead of a tripod I got my friend Erin (who is also a photographer) to press the shutter button when I wanted the whole family in the shot. MUCH better than a timer or a remote. I am so happy to have these.

Is it too early to start the countdown to NEXT summer??