5 Things Friday

Happy Friday, ladies!  I hope your week has been great, and that you've got some fun in store for the weekend.  I'll be trying to relax with my feet up (late pregnancy swelling is not.fun.) but also doing lots of organizing in Baby Cardigan's room and trying to make it ready in the event that he comes early. 

Before then, here are five things worth sharing on the internet:

1. One of my favorite baby gifts from last week's shower is a set of Baby Lit books, which are toddler versions of classic tales that teach counting, colors, and other subjects with amazing modern illustrations.  Now I want them all!

2. As someone who was always the youngest in class, I thought this article was really interesting.  Basically, studies have been conducted in several countries and all have shown that the practice of "red shirting" kids so that they'll be among the oldest in the kindergarten class doesn't have long-term benefits and the younger kids consistently outperform their older peers by the time everyone is in 8th grade. 

He's wearing a red shirt... get it?

3. I've said time and time again that I don't know how I lived without my leather moto jacket.  It's the perfect weight, and goes with pretty much everything.  If you're in the market for one of your own (real or faux), now is the time to buy!  I really like the Bernardo brand that you can find at Nordstrom, and there are several styles half off right now!

 cognac / gray / tan / black

4. This pregnant lady wants to make a giant oatmeal cream pie REALLY bad.  Check out the recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction!

 

5. I tend to keep controversial topics off this blog, but as a mama to be, I am now hyper aware of the possibility that someone's unvaccinated child could expose mine to a dangerous illness before he is old enough to be protected.  It really scares me, and since lots of people like to argue about this on the interwebs, I thought I'd share an incredibly well-written article penned by a doctor about this topic.  Besides the science (the not disproven, peer-reviewed kind), the issue of trust between doctor and parent is not one that I'd considered.

Bonus 6th Thing!  Do not click through if you are not up to date on Downton Abbey!

//// spoiler ahead ////

 What. The. Hell. Julian Fellowes? 

 Edith loses her virginity to a man who loves her, and then he disappears in Germany and now she is pregnant?!  Is this All My Children: Georgian Edition?  

Can we please just let someone be happy for a little while this season without there being a tragedy ten minutes later?  Any why is Thomas acting like some sort of cartoon villain dead set on knowing all the Crawley non-secrets?  I don't understand the motivation besides the fact that he's sad to be in the closet.

What did you think of this week's episode?