Erin Akin Carroll

1. I obviously had to make a decision on the swimsuit whether I wanted to or not. I appreciated all of your suggestions so much and visited lots and lots of links to find the right one for me. I didn’t end up choosing any of the three suits that I posted. I knew I needed a suit with lots of ruching in the mid section to camouflage any problem areas, so I chose this suit from J.Crew in black. It’s really flattering and has a nice little detachable halter strap. I do wish the leg was cut a little higher, but I wear a cover up most of the time anyway.

2. So sad about John Hughes. I think more than half of my list of all time favorite movies were his movies. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Home Alone are both family favorites around here. My dad saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in the theater and we gave it to him for Father’s Day that year because he talked about it so much. We have home movies of my brother and me at ages 5 and 2 singing “Twist and Shout” at the dinner table. I knew that “Twist and Shout” was Ferris Bueller’s song before I ever knew it was a Beatles song. Our family quote is, “Never had one lesson!” 

Todd and I quote Home Alone on a daily basis and joked about naming our first child Kevin McCallister– K-Mac for short.

Everyone has sentimental stories about the John Hughes films and that’s what makes him and his movies so special. If any of his movies are on TV you’re going to stop and watch no matter how many times you’ve seen it. They’re movies that you can sit and watch with your parents or your child and not feel embarrassed or ashamed. What a genius. Thank you, John Hughes.

3. Hudson is 2 months old. He was born 9 weeks ago today! I can’t believe how big he is– but honestly, it seems like he’s been with us for a whole lot longer than 2 months! He changes every day and we’re about to get a big belly laugh out of him. He has his 2 month check up when we get back and I’m dying to know how much he weighs.

4. I’m feeling okay this week. Thank goodness! I am finally starting to feel like myself again and I honestly believe that it is all due to prayer. All of the issues I was noticing last week have just disappeared this week. I got started back on the pill on Sunday and started having some terrible side effects on Monday afternoon that lasted until Wednesday night. I wasn’t sure that they were due to the pill until I started analyzing the differences in my habits and it dawned on me, “Oh! It’s the pill!” I started Googling around and then I asked everyone on Twitter about some common side effects of Yaz and immediately stopped taking it. 24 hours later I was fine. Not sure what birth control method we’ll use now, but pregnancy is not an option right now, so we’ll be finding something that works soon.

5. I am just pages away from finishing The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Love. This. Book. It’s a great summer read and you won’t be able to stop thinking about it.

Next up: Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham. Has anyone read this book? Thoughts?

I got a bit scorched yesterday. I was trying to stay in the shade, but my legs got too much sun, so I’ll be sitting inside today finishing my book and helping my mom snap beans while watching HGTV. I can’t even tell you how beautiful the water is. It’s so still and clear blue. I love to watch it from the air conditioned condo!