Maternity Outfit for Baby #4

While I don't have the time or inclination to go back to style blogging, I do want to try to get in maternity outfit photos throughout this pregnancy just to journal my progress, watch my body grow in photos, keep me finding creative ways to dress the bump, and be able to compare to my previous pregnancy photos. 

So here I am at 15 weeks. I wore this today for church. Wednesday is my 16 week appointment. I feel like the weeks are going by pretty fast already. It will be the second week of February soon and I'll be finding out the baby's gender!

Dress - Ann Taylor - hand-me-down (thanks Lalia!)

Scarf - c/o www.morethanalive.com

Boots - Jessica Simpson - c/o eBay

Sweater - Gap Maternity - Goodwill for $4

Besides the huge appetite I wish I didn't have (hello 6 extra pounds...and counting!), I am really having an amazing pregnancy. My morning sickness continues to be almost completely nonexistent in the mornings and doesn't creep in until around noon. During the afternoon the sickness is very manageable and sometimes I can get relief by just taking ginger root capsules. By the evening I am definitely nauseated, but still not finding myself outright sick. If I go to bed by 10PM I can usually sleep through the worst of the nausea and by 5AM it's gone. I feel so very lucky to have it so easy this time around!

Outside of craving carbs for my first and third pregnancies, the only odd thing I've craved was refried beans in my second pregnancy. I craved it so badly that I ate it cold with a spoon right out of the can! This pregnancy I'm fitting right into the stereotype of pregnant women having weird cravings. In my early weeks of pregnancy I really just wanted beans and salad - nothing too crazy. But by week 11 I was craving mustard, hot dogs, olives, pickles, horse radish, salami, and summer sausage - which I ate all together. Since then I've just been craving steak, hamburgers (which I have yet to indulge in), refried beans, cheese, spicy foods (medium salsa has been cutting it so far), and lately I'd really love a huge slice of lasagna!  

So any guesses? Girl or boy?

I thought I'd get a few new headshots to show off my chopped hair. My decision to chop had nothing to do with trying to look better. Let's face it, I think I look best with long hair and that's why I've always kept it long. But I'm turning a new leaf and trying to focus less on how I look. It's just hair and it grows back. For now having less hair means I don't have to wear ponytails that give me headaches, it takes half the time to curl, and I no longer have to get annoyed with pulling hair out of coats or out of baby's hands. It was the right time for this. I thought I'd look forward to growing it out right away, but I'm actually just enjoying the ease and the way it looks and not even thinking about growing it out yet.

Fall Weather

I agreed to participate in a multi-family garage sale this weekend since we might be moving soon. I decided to sell all of the clothes CJ's grown out of and in so doing uncovered so much stuff that needs to go. For the past few days I've been asking myself how I accumulated so many unnecessary things! Have you watched the documentary about tiny houses? One of the biggest problems with living in a larger home is that you end up filling it up. Perhaps I need to cut our square footage in half. 

We are enjoying some very pretty fall weather right now. I am a big summer person and always have to brace myself when the leaves change color, but the smell in the air is pretty and the fall breeze is romantic.

This vest, sweater and jeans are going on a few years or more now. They are still proving to be my favorites. Love it when I can get that much wear out of something. Just updating the look with a high low tee, a baseball cap, and wedge booties.

Sweater - Target - $6

Tee - Everlane - $15

Ripped jeans - Banana Republic - $8

Booties - thrifted - $12

Hat - Old Navy - $3

Vest - J.Crew - $19

Bag - Antonio Melani - $62

Style Blogging

I feel like pretty much every blogger looks the same now. Trends are catching on quicker than ever, and high fashion is at even every low-end retailer so that everyone can afford to be wearing the latest styles. I am coming across fewer and fewer gals who aren't dressing current. 

Back when I first started this style journal it was all about experimenting. Trying to find flattering styles and being as creative as possible with what limited options you had. How many ways could you remix a dress or how many accessories could you pile on was the name of the game. Vintage was huge for inspiration, and dressing up was the mantra. 

We bloggers looked ridiculous most of the time, and the few times we got it right inspired us to keep going. I felt like our tries at style were encouraging and inspiring other gals along the way.

Now the style blogging world has exploded and it's pretty hard to keep up. I miss my old dressing up ways and yet love that the trend is dressing down. I find myself completely caving to it. I like how it looks cool and effortless. I like that it is practical for my lifestyle. I feel more approachable dressed this way and I don't worry as much about staying pristine.  So yes, I'm just like all the others.

While my outfit posts will spike at the beginning of seasons or when I have some new clothes I want to document, I feel that for the most part my style blogging is on its way out. There are thousand of other style bloggers who can make up for my lack of style posts.

I can't give up my little corner of the internet, though, so I will continue blogging about my life. Outfit posts will always show up, but if you hadn't noticed, they were already becoming less and less.

I have a few more outfits I want to get up here, but soon you'll see more posts about homeschooling, my jumbled thoughts, and my family life than anything else.

Top - Banana Republic - $3 (thrifted)

T-shirt - Everlane - $15

Shorts - Ann Taylor LOFT via Goodwill - $2.50

Booties - Guess via DSW - $19

A Case of the Mondays

I went to a mommy's group at our church Monday night. It was a rush of errands, schooling, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and classes all day. I was sweaty and a little on edge. But I was determined to make it to the meeting and try to enjoy myself. I walked my kids to the daycare room, dropped them off and settled into my seat where the other gals were--giddy to be free of needy children before bedtime and happy to be conversing with likeminded adults. 

Not too far into the program, I could hear my baby screaming in the hallway. She has a hardcore case of separation anxiety. What was I thinking leaving her in the nursery? 

I ended up walking the halls with her during the speaker. Not because she was crying, but because she couldn't stop squealing with delight or crawling out of my hands and getting into some other lady's purse. It was just easier to walk with her in the hallway and let her be giggly and loud all she wanted there. Thankfully I wasn't alone in the halls - other moms joined me here and there for the same reasons, so at least I didn't completely miss out on socializing. Nevertheless, in the end, I decided it was much easier to handle Capri at home and put her to bed than continue to keep her happy while I tried to participate with the others. So we left.

After a day of feeling completely unraveled, I needed a day where I felt put together. So here's to being a little inspired. Instead of blue jeans, I chose white (somehow I'll keep them from getting stained). Instead of a slouchy tee, I chose this feminine lace covered blouse. Instead of thong sandals or sneaks, I chose my classy leopard flats. Tomorrow I'll probably be back to the basics, but it felt good to don a little lace today.

And now I have to gush about this bag. It is so far proving to be my dream diaper bag. Large enough to carry two diapers, travel wipes, extra baby outfit, diaper rash cream, bandaids, nursing cover, bib, baby spoon, and applesauce pouch for the baby - and also large enough to fit all my things: full size wallet, lipstick, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, coin purse, comb, make-up compact, nail file, iPhone, and keys. Plus, it stands up on its own, is easy to clean, has a cross body strap that you can easily detach, and has satchel straps. I'm in love! Oh, and did I mention it's genuine leather and I got it on clearance for only $60?!

Top - J.Crew via Goodwill - $3

Jeans - Gap - $.58 after coupons

Flats - Gap - $7

Bag - Dillard's - $62

Sunnies - Banana Republic - $17

LOVE THE COLOR BLUE

I was just complaining about summer being over and now it seems I was mistaken. We've had a week of warm weather and the forecast looks like the warmth will continue at least another week! The kids played in the hose yesterday and we're planning to go to the pool after school tomorrow. Love summer days!

Top - JCPenney via Goodwill - $1.50

Knit pencil skirt - Old Navy - $5.99

Espadrilles - Nine West - gifted

CONTRAST

It's been a warmer week so far, and the forecast looks like the warmth will keep up for the rest of the week. I decided I better try and get another shorts post in before the cooler weather completely takes over.

One of my favorite looks for shorts is to pair them with a long sleeved top. Just the right juxtaposition: covered arms and bare legs.

A red lip and dark brow adds polish, while the messy hair keeps it casual.

Slipped on elongating pointy toed flats and I'm good to go.

Button down - Goodwill - $3 

Shorts - Ann Taylor LOFT via Goodwill - $2 

Flats - Gap - $7 

Red lipstick - Russian Red MAC - $13

Casual Date Night and Whole 30

Chris and I got to go out on a fun date night Friday. We did the whole shebang, too--we walked down to the river, chatted, had dinner, walked through all the shops, relaxed at Starbucks and then caught a late movie. We tend to stay up late most nights, but it's for practical purposes. Friday we were actually out till 1 and it wasn't because of work. That felt good. I was just a girl and he was just a boy.

The river was peaceful and the sunset beautiful. We dreamed and talked, and dreamed some more. I guess we're already grown up, but we still talk about what we'll do when we grow up.

We planned to have a real casual dinner, so I kept the look low key. If you notice, I purposely wore something that you can't easily nurse in to celebrate the fact I was baby-less for the night.

The restaurant we chose was a mediterranean place that boasted gluten free plus organic options. This was important to us because recently I chose to start the popular Whole 30 diet for the sole purpose of losing the last five to seven pounds of baby weight I had left. I had some friends and family members who lost a lot of weight on it, and I thought it would be the safest (because I'm nursing), fastest and healthiest way to lose it. My goal was to only be on it a week or two until I got the pounds off, and then add back in a few natural sugars like honey and a few gluten free grains. 

After only one week and two pounds lost, I was ready to quit, but Chris was ready to start. I've reluctantly agreed to continue the diet with him and now we're striving for the whole 30 days. The idea of taking everything enjoyable that you eat out of your diet is pretty depressing for me, but my husband is already reaping many health benefits and since I've dropped one more pound, I'll stick it out. 

Thankfully the diet didn't hinder either of us from wanting to go out to eat and we found that with a few small tweaks, mediterranean food had some great options for us!

Dress - Target (thrifted) - $5

Booties - Gap - $7

Bag - Antonio Melani - $62

Jacket - Old Navy (thrifted) - $5