Maternity Style Feature in YOU Magazine

Not sure when my blogging time will start to dwindle so I thought I'd share some pictures with you today, those taken for an article I recently wrote for Green Bay's YOU Magazine which hits our news stands sometime next week. 

I worked with a gorgeous boutique in downtown De Pere called Azure (one of my local faves!) and styled some of my own clothing along with theirs in the hopes of encouraging preggie moms to enjoy the hottest spring trends despite their growing curves and to consider the options non-maternity stores have to offer us. It's just so great to find pieces that can remain in our closets even after that baby has made its blessed arrival and thankfully, maternity fashion is not what is used to be! Even compared to my first go round with all of this 9 years ago ... it's come a long, lovely way. And sure, we're not all going to carry our babes the same way but there are great ways to flatter your bump (plus the other additional bumps) to the fullest, tips that can work for everyone. 

You can pick up a copy of our fashion issue next week to read the article in its entirety but in the meantime, here's a quick breakdown of the clothing I wore. 

Tip #1 (and best tip of all!): 

Pairing an oversized or relaxed top with fitted bottoms (or vice versa) is most flattering. Skinny jeans or leggings with an oversized shirt or tunic (make sure you wear a longer shirt or tunic that covers your bum if you're wearing leggings!) or a fitted t-shirt (to show off that cute belly) with maxi skirt or wide, relaxed pants. It's about proportions and balancing them out. All loose or all tight is not as complimentary to the figure. 

 {ear rings, necklace, blouse, leather shorts, and clutch - all Azure

heels - J C Penney}

{necklace - Forever 21, shirt (actually a dress) - Asos, skirt - Gap, heels - Target
purse - Azure}

Tip #2: 

Bring the waistline up, up, up and accentuate it with a little belt, a shrug, or a cropped jacket. Belly's are so stinking cute, so show it off! This trick will also lengthen your legs, always a lovely advantage. 

 {shrug - Anthropologie, tank - Target, skirt - Asos, necklace - Free People, shoes - Old Navy

bangles - Azure}

{jacket, clutch, bracelet, and ring - all Azure

hat - Target, dress - Francesca's, sandals - Topshop}

Maternity Style {38 weeks}

 {dress - H&M, necklace - mom's closet, bracelet - gift from best grandpa ever, South Africa, shoes - Target, hair pin - Somewhere in Time Antiques (GB)}

Maternity Style {37 weeks}

{blouse - Forever 21, dress - thrifted, shoes - Aldo}

Grecian Green

{shrug - Gap, dress - mom's closet, bangles - heirloom gifts from grandma and thrifted, necklace - Somewhere in Time antiques (GB) purse - Anthropologie, flip flops - Old Navy}

This dress is lovely and I just barely squeezed my upper half into it. That's why I'm wearing that shrug actually, to tell you the truth, cause the zip is just a tiny bit down. Well ... also to hide my arms which have settled into a nice doughy softness this last 9 months. And that belly button is shocking isn't it? What can a girl do ... it does what it wants to and we have to go with it. I suppose that can be said for the entire preggie body. We just go with it. :)

Maternity Style {36 weeks}

{dress - Free People (an early birthday present from Phil!), slip dress - Anthropologie, purse - T J Maxx, ring - Azure (GB), sandals - Lady Savannah (GB)} 

Maternity Style {35 weeks}

{jacket - Hollister (sooo old), dress - mom's closet, socks - Free People, boots - resale from Plato's Closet (GB)}

Oh golly, 35 weeks! It's a little hard to believe that it's all just around the corner now but I'm so thankful at the same time. Sitting is uncomfortable, laying down is uncomfortable. Standing up from sitting is uncomfortable, walking around too much is uncomfortable. You catch my drift. She likes to punch me in the pelvis, so that there are moments when I wonder if her arm might just punch right out. Gross, I know, but we all think of these strange things when they're happening to us. :) 

There are moments when I get terrible heart burn, the kind that scares me a little, just in case it's not "normal". Any indigestion that I experienced in my first trimester does not even compare to this (I understand the burning of the chest sensation now!) but it's very sporadic, these episodes. So no biggie. I have no room to hold food any more, so I'm full almost all the time. I never felt that way with the others and could easily eat an entire Thanksgiving spread at any meal, but now I feel completely filled to the top after just the chips and salsa appetizer. Good if you're hoping to keep the scale from tipping 25 pounds of weight gained, I suppose. I'm at 21 pounds gained as of last week. Have ranged anywhere from 19-25 in the last 3 pregnancies, so right on target. 

I've realized that if I don't nap in the afternoons I become a horrible mommy monster, the kind that is not capable of surviving any bedtime shenanigans without completely losing it. So I try to nap. My feet and hands are now swelling at night, starting around 5pm. It's a true delight. 

So that's all the awful stuff. But there are some wonderful moments too! I'm getting all sorts of love from the boys ... lots of belly kisses and baby chats. Elliot has decided that he too has a baby, that it's a boy and that it hurts him when it kicks. We have all sorts of interesting conversations about how little one will come out, as you can imagine. And for the sake of recording these precious and hilarious little moments, I will share what we've sort of settled on (read at your own risk :) which is that mommies have a special place that babies come out of (no it's not the mouth, belly button, or where you go poopy) and it has a sort of magic power because it opens and closes like one of those sliding doors, the kind with the sensor. Yes, that's what they decided and well, it sounds good to me. I don't want them to consider the fact that mom might experience any sort of excruciating pain to bring their sister into the world. They are already very grateful that they will never have to carry a baby. That in itself seems hard enough!

Maternity Style {casual Friday}

{hat - Target, overalls - New York and Co, sweater - Aerie, shoes - Forever 21}

Sometimes the 90's call to me in an all too familiar loud, grungy voice. And when they call I answer with these. I'm a sucker for those blasted denim overalls and though these are not as farm-girl as my high school pair was, they hold my ballooning belly with as much love and TLC. 

Maternity Style {34 weeks}

{jacket - Kohls, dress & necklace - Forever 21}

People have started to notice that I'm pregnant! There's an awful lot of curves on this body now and I say every preggie mom needs to wear a t-shirt dress at least once (if not everyday) to show off those "lady lumps", as they're ever so much fun. Hah! And I certainly can appreciate the fact that baby has allowed me boob and booty implants for just a short while, in otherwise flat as a pancake areas. Must enjoy them while I can! ;)

Maternity Style {33 weeks}

{jacket - Hollister, dress - Urban Outfitters, shoes - Besselli (GB), bag - T J Maxx, bracelets - World Market, ring - antique ear ring made into ring by Adam at Diamonds and Gold (GB)}

Baby girl is about 3 pounds and 12 ounces right now, according to her ultrasound. I'm shocked at how uncomfortable such a tiny thing can make me feel ... it really doesn't make much sense. I'm pretty sure that this is the most uncomfortable I've ever felt in a last trimester though I know there's the possibility that I just forgot what it felt like. Surely not though? Sometimes it worries me a little, this insane discomfort. I know that may seem silly but, well, I have to pull together a really lovely little dance recital in the next 5 weeks and that means that I need to be able to dance! Not anything too weird and wonderful, I can assure you, but enough to have my sweet dancers ready and a pretty stage all decorated and an all in all stunning show. #1. Baby needs to stay put and allow me to continue to teach! I really have no doubt that this will happen as I've taught dance through all 4 pregnancies BUT this little lady has me waddling and squawking already. #2. She feels awfully high up and I'm already working for a good breath. And it's causing some nausea again, much like that first trimester. #3. These contractions! Or as my man likes to refer to them, the Toni Braxton hits (still thinks it's so funny, 4 pregnancies later :).

All in all, not something I want to deal with in the busiest 5 weeks of my entire year! That's an awful lot of complaining, isn't it? I don't get it either. I feel like there's at least 8 pounds in there. Please be nice to me would you little one?

And yet, despite all of this, I'm completely loving it and I have many moments when I look at my swollen belly and get sort of sad. This is it. I'm ready for that, I'm happy with that, but I know that I'll miss carrying a child and I'll sorely miss having a baby nestled in my arms. But, as I read today in an article in Redbook magazine, a quoted husband so cleverly and wickedly reminded me that I'll no longer be "a vending machine for tiny humans" and really, when you put it that way, it kinda does make me feel a sense of relief. It may be really nice to move on.

Oh who am I kidding .... it'll be completely bittersweet. I might even be a terrible mess about it.

Easter Weekend

Hello friends! 

We had such a fantastic weekend; hope you did too. It was busy, all sorts of easter business to attend to. We dyed eggs, ate peep smores, drew bunnies all over the dining table, went to an egg hunt, spent time with lots of family and celebrated Jesus and His awesome gift to us!

Here are a few pictures from the past 3 days, albeit a little back to front.

Our Easter outfits to begin. Me and my boys and then daddy with them too. I recently asked Elliot what he was really good at (for his school questionnaire again) and he said, "Taking pictures." I think he means posing for pictures and he's right. An excellent poser. :)

{on me: dress - Old Navy, shoes - Target, belt & necklace - Somewhere in Time antique mall (GB)

on boys: clothes from South Africa, a gift from grandma, E's hat - Target, shoes - Crewcuts

Phil: top half - J. Crew, jeans - Fossil, shoes and belt - South Africa

I had to add him cause I thought he looked soooo handsome}

And here's our peep smores. Monty doesn't eat it with the chocolate and he also prefers that we not melt the marshmallow. So his creation wasn't quite as appetizing to photograph. 

Morning of an egg hunt.

Strawberry pancakes for breakfast. 

Creating all over the dining room table. Thought it would be a great idea to cover it with rolls of white paper (which we have from Ikea) and to let them go to town whenever they sit down for a meal or simply walk by, perhaps a little bored. Anyway, it worked wonders and I've recovered the table 3 times as they fill it up so quickly. I think they sell a similar roll of paper at Target too, for anyone who might want to give it a try. 

And that's about it. Many of the photos were taken inside and were pretty blah, so these were the best of the weekend. Saw many of your family photos too and everyone looked so lovely yesterday. I say we should dress up like that every weekend. What do you think?

Maternity Style {day at the museum}

{shirt - Rabbit and Eye from Etsy, moto sweatshirt - Forever 21, skirt - JC Penney, shoes - Gap}

Our family went on a short road trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum today, with the intention to check out their Real Pirates exhibit. We knew little E would be in heaven there and it turns out that all the boys had a blast and were absolute angels, thank goodness for that! Baby stayed awake the entire time it seemed, kicking and moving around non stop, especially for the drive. The exhibits were pretty good, a real Night at the Museum sort of place where you imagine all the life size exhibits wake up at dark. I think that Disney Land (World) sort of ruins everything else really, as nothing can compare to what you see there. And E kept asking when we were going on the pirate ride. But they had fun all the same. Made me a proud mamma. :) This is the last family excursion that will have 3 walking, (almost) completely independent kids on hand. Next time we go somewhere together, there will be a cumbersome stroller, diaper bag and bazillions of supplies. Here we go again!

Maternity Style {31 weeks}

It's the kid's spring break this week and don't we look springy?

I have a good feeling about this week ...  specifically, that the longest winter in the history of WI will finally come to an end. That the snow will melt and stream down our streets, creating pools for the little furry creatures to play in, and the birds will greet us each morning and ever so often sit upon our warm shoulders as we skip to work play shop for the day, all with serene smiling faces as we sing together in a perfect human-creature harmony that is only possible when 25 months of winter finally come to an end. It's happening ... 

{on me - jacket - H&M, shirt - Asos, skirt - Gap, heels - Nine West

on e - jacket - Old Navy, jeans - South Africa, shoes - Crewcuts}

Isn't little E too cute in these? 

Maternity Style {30 weeks}

{dress - Arden B, jacket - Forever 21, booties - T J Maxx}