The Awkward Phase

Fall is sort of here, at least some days, so I tentatively pulled out my jeans from last fall.  You know, the ones that I searched and searched for, and then barely got to wear before I was pregnant again.  Miracle of miracles, they fit!  I was shocked because I still have about 15 extra pounds to get rid of.  

I think I have generally had a pretty healthy body image, but being pregnant for 18 of the last 24 months has sure taken a toll!  I don't even know how to dress myself anymore.  I managed to go shopping this week with both boys, which is an adventure.  My main goal was to find some tops that would be cute and easy to throw on with jeans or shorts.  Most of my shirts are a little snug right now, and would likely start rumors of a baby 3.  Or at least I feel self-conscious in them.  I need higher necklines, because I'm always carrying a kid that inevitably makes my perfectly modest shirt a little scandalous.  Shouldn't be too hard to find some cute, higher-necked tops, right?  Wrong!  I tried on a lot of shirts, and ended up buying one.  And a random dress, because I just can't help myself sometimes.  

So anyway, I kind of want to throw out my entire closet and start from scratch, but as my shopping outing suggests, that wouldn't solve the problem.  I need to remember that it took 9 months and a lot of ice cream to grow each baby, so I'm not going to go back to my old body in 2 (or ever, let's be honest here).  

In the meantime, I should probably start exercising again, and maybe cut back on the ice cream.

Tee & Jeans: Gap
Cardigan: JCF
Shoes: Target

Life Lately

Hey, the weeks are flying by and I'm going to have a baby next month!  Yikes!  Things are going generally pretty well.  A few highlights from recent weeks:

• I spent my first overnight away from Mr. Baby!  We figured we needed to have a practice run before baby2 arrives.  Pretty sure it was harder on me than on him!  Plus we stayed in a hotel downtown, which was probably a mistake.  The barhoppers were loud at 2am, and then a trash truck was loud at 6am, so my big dreams of sleeping extra weren't necessarily a reality!
• Mr. Baby and I started swim lessons.  I use "lessons" pretty loosely, but hey, it's an excuse to go to the pool and play around.  Plus I look really cute in a swimsuit at 8 months pregnant (I'm joking, I look ridiculous).
• My mom has been in town for the last week or so.  We've gotten quite a bit done. We made a bunch of freezer meals.  John and I are getting close to done with baby2's room.  Plus Mr. Baby is having fun with an extra grown-up around to play with him.  

This outfit is from mid-May, so I'm not quite a month behind at this point.  Maybe I'll even get my act together and post twice this week!  No promises though!  

Cardigan: JCF
Dress: Younkers
Belt: Gap
Shoes: Target

April Shopping

"It's gonna be May" tomorrow, and thanks to everyone on the internet, I now have this song stuck in my head.  And I am trying to remember what even happened in April.  For example, this outfit is from mid-March.  This is one of the dresses I got from Bella Gravida, and I loved it, but it was a little short for my comfort, so I wore leggings, even though I don't love how they look.

As far as shopping goes, I know that I bought and returned many items, as I continued my search for the perfect casual shoes, and also a pretty dress for my sister's wedding.  I really thought the Sperry Zuma  slip-ons were going to be perfect, but they were too loose in the heel, and kind of slipped when I tried to walk around.  The casual shoe search continues, with increasing frustration on my part.

I ordered 2 dresses from Amazon, and 3 from ASOS, hoping something (anything) would work for my sister's wedding.  I also tried on pretty much every maternity dress option at the local Motherhood store, and the one department store that actually has maternity.  Fail!   I'm sure I've said this before, maybe multiple times, but you can be tall, or you can be pregnant, but good luck to you if you are both tall and pregnant!  All maternity dresses are made for someone who is about 6 inches shorter than me.  I had my eye on this Loft dress, but didn't want to pay full price, and it was never part of the sale offers.  I finally decided to cave (as a last resort), and it was 40% off!!  Hooray!  It is a little more casual than I was originally wanting, but at this point (wedding next weekend), I'm happy with it.

Otherwise, I bought a couple longer t-shirts at Gap factory, and I also had my Bella Gravida subscription, which I meant to cancel, but didn't get done in time, oops.

2 Gap outlet tees: $4 each
Loft dress: $48 (used a gift card)
Bella Gravida subscription:  $80

Total Spent in April: $136

Earned selling: $50

Since I have barely bought anything this year, I'm still well under my budget.  And I'm linking up with Franish, as always.

Cardigan: JCF
Necklace: ON
Dress:Bellyssima via Bella Gravida
Belt: Madden
Leggings: H&M mama
Shoes: Target

The Coldest Day Outfit

So here's an outfit from a week ago Sunday.  It was the super most freezing day ever (church was cancelled because of the cold), but we had lunch plans for my MIL's birthday, so we ventured out in the frigid temps to a new barbecue restaurant in town.  Mr. Baby was in head to toe fleece and was wrapped up in a blanket as close to me as possible.  This is what I wore, mostly because all of my normal jeans were in the laundry.  And miraculously, I didn't get any BBQ sauce on these!

I bought this shirt back in March, and this is shamefully the first time I have worn it.  I thought a printed chambray would be a fun addition to my closet, but I am learning that I don't know what to wear with it.  Sure, in my working days, it would have looked pretty cute with my red pencil skirt, but now?  I don't like the denim on denim look too much, so normal jeans are out of the question.  I guess it will probably be a "bad" purchase when I get to the March rewind.

Shirt: Loft 
Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Jeans: Old Navy (similar)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Winter Floral

Oh hey, it's this dress again!  I just really love it, so I'm pretty much wearing it any time I need to dress up.  Or any time I can get away with dressing up.  This was for a friend's baby shower last weekend.  It's hard to believe that less than a year ago, I was having baby showers and opening presents that I had no idea would become daily necessities!  And now everything my friend opened I was like "aah!  You will use that all the time!!" Okay, crazy mommy Andi, just calm down a bit.  

Plus, I was just excited to wear my hair down, since Mr. Baby stayed home to have father son bonding time with John.  

Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Dress: Loft (exact)
Belt: Madden (exact)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Currently December

First Wednesday of the month means it is time to do the Currently linkup.  Go check out In Residence and Gold and Bloom.

wishing - that it wasn't quite so cold outside.  I am not a winter person, and with a baby, it's even worse!  I'm worried we will be staying home a lot during these cold months.  
remembering - last year around this time we were just starting to plan the nursery and figuring out what to register for.  And I hadn't told the blog that I was pregnant yet!  It's crazy how quickly time has gone!
wrapping - nothing yet!  I just started my Christmas shopping yesterday.  I honestly don't even think I have any wrapping paper.  Better buy some.  
baking - this again?  I don't really bake much, okay!  Or maybe I should edit my first category to "wishing I was baking chocolate chip cookies"
decorating - again, oops!  Nothing so far.  We need to get the Christmas box out of the storage closet and make our house somewhat festive!  

So I looked up my Currently post from last December.  Not much has changed!  I hadn't wrapped anything yet then either!  

And since I've been the worst at outfit pictures (or really outfits) recently.  Here are a few family photos from Thanksgiving.

*Mr. Baby is a bit of a drooler these days, but he's still pretty cute.  

Weekend Adventures

This is what I wore to church on Sunday.  My sister and nieces came out for a quick visit, so we had a wild weekend!  We used to be on the go nonstop when they visited, but we are now somewhat limited by Mr. Baby's schedule.  But we still managed to squeeze in quite a bit of fun.  It's so sweet to see how much the girls love their baby cousin!  He's not really sure about them yet, and probably confused about the whole twins thing, but he gives them lots of smiles, so I think he likes them.  

We went to a few of the girls' favorite restaurants that they don't have at home, had a picnic and walked around the lake, did a little shopping, walked to the park and let Mr. Baby try the swing and slide (he wasn't really impressed, even though I told him it was fun).  At home, we played a lot of games.  Sorry lasts forever sometimes.  They liked Scattergories more than I expected, and had some very clever answers.  And we laughed so hard playing Scribblish, which is way more fun with kids.  It's basically like telephone crossed with Pictionary.  My favorite was when "Playing piano with your toes" turned into "CAMEL ATTACK!"

My sister and I finally remembered to get a picture together.  We have failed on the last 2 visits.

The girls weren't interested in taking a nice picture, but I tricked them with Photobooth, and we got this winner.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend!  And I really liked this skirt from LeTote, too.
 
Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Tee: Gap (similar, similar)
Skirt: LeTote
Shoes: Target (similar)

Currently October

First Wednesday of the month means it is time to link up and share what we are currently up to.  Go check out In Residence and Gold and Bloom. to see the other participants!  

eating - less.  I'm trying to get serious about losing weight, which means I'm logging all of my meals again.  It's annoying, but it works!    

exploring - local parks.  Mr. Baby loves to be outside, so we go on walks as much as possible.  On the weekends, we've gone to parks with walking trails, and it's really fun.  Except for that time I got stung by a bee.  Not cool, nature.  

wearing - mostly LeTote stuff. It's been fun to try new things.  I'm not sure how long I'll keep it, but I'm glad I've tried it!

admiring - Mr. Baby.  Seriously, I cannot even stand how cute he is.  

collecting - um... I don't know. I'll be sappy and say memories!  

And most importantly, today is my husband's birthday!  Happy Birthday!!     

Sweater: JCF (similar, similar)
Scarf: H&M (similar, similar)
Dress: Gap (similar with sleeves)
Shoes: Target (exact without captoe)

Weekend Update

Well, it's been about a year since I last wore this skirt!  I tried it on yesterday morning expecting it to not fit, but it did!  Hooray!  So I wore this outfit to church!  Mr. Baby thought the necklace was super fun to grab.

Speaking of fun, my mom is visiting at the moment!  She got in Friday evening.  Then we took an impromptu road trip to Grand Island on Saturday to see one of her best friends.  That was really fun, but kind of ridiculous.  Babies aren't the best road trip companions, but he really did quite well.  It was his first time being on the road for more than an hour or so.   We learned pretty quickly that he was lonely in the backseat, so my mom kept him company while I played chauffeur.

We are having pretty amazing weather right now, so we've gone on a few walks, and otherwise just getting as much grandma/baby time in as possible.

Necklace: Lucky B Boutique (similar)
Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Tee: Gap (similar)
Skirt: JCF (similar, similar)
Flats: Target (exact without captoe)

Turquoise Dress

Since I'm retired for the moment, I don't wear my dresses as much.  But this one is pretty casual and comfortable, so I wore it to a meeting.  But then it was too hot for this cardigan and I needed pockets, so I changed into shorts and a tank top for lunch with some friends.  But I did wear this outfit for a couple hours at least!

Dress: Old Navy

Cardigan: JCF

Belt: Steve Madden

Sandals: Target

Giraffes - Now and Then

It's no secret that I love giraffes and elephants, so when I saw this tank at H&M, I pretty much had to buy it.  In college, I had a long sleeve tee that was white with black giraffe silhouettes all over it.  It was pretty cool, but it was also fairly cropped, so eventually I had to admit it wasn't working for me anymore.  The 4 inches of tank top at the waist wasn't a great look.  Anyway, I'm glad to have a new giraffe shirt.

And in honor of Throwback Thursday, here's a picture of me feeding giraffes in Kenya in 2006, in a shirt that was also more cropped than it should have been!  (But man, how skinny was I??  I really shouldn't look at old pictures right now!)



Cardigan: JCF
Tank: H&M
Jeans: Old Navy Maternity
Flats: Target (top 10 remix item)

Bok Choy Baby

Enough people have asked.  I figured I should finally turn to the side and prove that I am indeed looking quite pregnant these days.  This is actually my outfit from yesterday.  28 weeks pregnant, for those of you who care about that type of thing.  According to my super helpful "what type of produce is your baby" app, this kid is roughly the size of a Bok Choy.  Right.  Super helpful.  I had to look it up, because I didn't know what it was.  Answer: fancy Chinese cabbage.  

In honor of Valentine's week, I decided to try this skirt with the belly band, and it sort of worked.  Warning to anyone who wants to try this trick in the future - satiny fabrics do not cling properly to the band, so you have to be careful any time you sit down or stand up to make sure your clothes are still properly aligned.  Since I mostly sit at my desk all day, this wasn't a huge issue. 

Cardigan: JCF

Tee: Liz Lange

Necklace: Old Navy

Skirt: Dillard's

Tights: Target

Boots: Madden

Wear a Dress

You know I'm usually up for any kind of style challenge, so of course I'm going to participate with Putting Me Together whenever I can.  This is going to be helpful as I continue to run out of clothes that fit properly.

This week's prompt was to Wear a Dress.  Well, that's easy enough!  I love dresses!  This is actually one of the maternity options I picked up during the Younker's friends and family sale, and is significantly longer than the other 2 dresses that I got.  Much like Monday's post, this was a mostly neutral outfit and I just had to add a colorful necklace for some extra interest.

Dress: Younker's
Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Necklace: Lucky B Boutique
Belt: Steve Madden (similar)
Boots: Steve Madden (exact)

Scenic Overlook

I think I would love all of my outfit pictures better if I could take them in front of mountains all the time.  I mean, this is way better than the wall in my entryway, right??  Right. 

Anyway, this is what I wore one of the days in New Mexico.  John and I went to the science museum in Los Alamos, and just had to stop and take pictures at this overlook spot.  It was so gorgeous that day!  And my frequently worn camel cardigan totally coordinated with the mountains/mesas in the background!  

Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Top: JCF  (exact)
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Madden (exact)

So, 2015 huh?

Well, happy 2015!  So much has been going on in the past couple of weeks, and I haven't had much of a chance to collect my thoughts or blog about anything.  I still do want to write up something about our Christmas week in New Mexico, but for now, just a few highlights from the last little while.

• My sis-in-law got engaged a couple days before Christmas!  They are looking at sometime in June, which means I will have a 4-6 week old baby at that time.  This will be interesting, but I'm pretty excited for her!  We went dress shopping this weekend and found an awesome dress for her, and got the bridesmaid dresses figured out.  I'm just praying mine fits (I ordered a couple sizes bigger, and will probably end up getting it tailored at the last minute).
• Speaking of the baby, this kid was making me nervous with lack of movement, but over the weekend, I felt a lot of kicks/punches.  It's pretty weird and cool.
• NYE was super fun, but John was sick, so I was without a date for the party.  Good thing I have awesome friends (don't worry, that's sparkling grape juice I'm drinking).  And I just got to stand there awkwardly when every else was kissing at midnight.      
• I'm starting to feel more productive, and have been cleaning out the room we will use for a nursery.  Plus, my in-laws have bought a ton of baby stuff, so I need somewhere to put it!  I think weekends in the foreseeable future will be packed full of baby preparations!  

Anyway, I hope you all survived the crazy holidays, and that you are having an excellent start to 2015.  It's going to be a wild year around these parts!  

*these pictures are from early December.  I was about 18 weeks.  I definitely look more pregnant now!  

Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Dress: Limited Outlet (similar)
Belt: Gap (similar)
Tights: Target
Boots: Steve Madden (exact)

Just a Little News

This might be one of my favorite casual fall/winter outfits.  It's just easy but I still felt stylish!  And normally I wouldn't post a picture with my belly protruding, but I'm making an exception, since there's a baby growing in there.

Wait... What?

You read that right.  I'm pregnant!  Exactly halfway done, actually.  As you might guess, John and I are pretty excited about the whole thing.  Baby Smith is supposed to arrive in early May, which seems really far away, but then also really close, because I have so many things to accomplish before then.

I don't intend for this to turn into a pregnancy blog, but as my belly grows, it is going to be sort of hard to avoid mentioning it in my outfit posts.  I figured I should come clean before it got awkward.

Speaking of awkward, I've learned in the last couple months that John and I are the absolute worst at sharing the news.  It's basically like:  wait for an awkward silence in the conversation, blurt out "So...  I'm pregnant!" and then everyone is confused and doesn't know if I'm serious, because why didn't we say something right away??  

Oh, and it's Tuesday, so go link up with Laura!  I'll try to be confident with my ever-expanding belly.

Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Tee: Gap (similar)
Necklace: F21 (similar, similar)
Jeans: Gap Factory  (similar)
Boots: Madden (exact)

Maroon & Leopard (again)

Apparently this dress just demands to be worn with leopard print.  I guess I don't have as many ideas about how to wear maroon.  I will have to get more creative, I guess.

Also, winter has finally arrived in the midwest!  After being spoiled in October, the beautiful fall days are pretty much over.  It even snowed on Monday night (womp womp).  I'm about 2-3 weeks behind on outfit photos, but just know that in real life, bare legs are going to be a rare occurrence for the next several months!

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory (similar)
Scarf: H&M (similar)
Dress: Loft Outlet (option,option)
Belt: Steve Madden (similar)
Boots: Steve Madden (exact)

Birthday Recap

My birthday was a week ago, so I guess it's about time that I wrote up a recap of what I did, huh?  Well, here it goes:

I had a meeting at work in the morning that I couldn't really skip, so I went in for a couple hours.  Then I met John for a quick lunch at Which Wich (my favorite!) before heading to the salon/spa for a pedicure and massage.  Best decision ever!  I was so relaxed afterwards. Seriously, I want to get a massage every day.  I should at least do it more than once a year!

I heard a rumor that Gap was having an additional 50% off all sale, so I stopped in really quick and picked up a few things, and then ran home to get changed for dinner.  Then I picked up John from work and we headed downtown to meet his family for birthday dinner!  There's a restaurant with the most delicious smoked gouda mac and cheese, and we never go there, because it's kind of annoying to deal with parking downtown.  But for my birthday, we made an exception.  Dinner was excellent, and then we went over to their house for presents, dessert, and a quick game of Dutch Blitz.  As usual, I was sufficiently spoiled.

The other fun part of the day was just getting random calls and texts from friends and family.  It just made me smile all day long!

And I completely forgot to take any pictures the whole day!  Because I'm the best blogger ever.  Oh wait, opposite.  But as I've said before when I forget to take pictures of big events, sometimes it's important to just enjoy the day without trying to document everything.  I did wear a really cute outfit for dinner, so I'll have to repeat it and take pictures before it gets too cold! 

On Saturday/Sunday, John and I took a little road trip, and I did actually take pictures throughout the day, so I'll have to sort through those and write up a little recap on that soon as well.

Oh, and Happy Halloween, I guess.  I'll probably just pretend to not be home this evening, because I'm a Halloween Grinch.  So stay safe and have fun if you are out and about.  Or I guess stay safe and have fun even if you aren't out and about.

**This outfit is almost an exact replication of what I wore for John's birthday, which I also failed to take pictures of.  Seemed fitting to put it on my birthday recap with no relevant photos, right!  Plus, I was having a really good hair day in these pics. 

Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Top: Gap Factory (option, option, option)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Skirt: Target (similar,similar)
Shoes: Target (flat version)

Fall Maxi Skirt

I'm not sure maxi skirts really make sense in the fall/winter, but I really don't want to put this skirt away for the next few months, so I'm going to keep wearing it.  I'll be honest, I really like this outfit, but I hate how my bun hair looks when I have to take pictures against a blank wall.  I should probably buy some hairspray to deal with those wispy frizzy pieces.  You read that right, I don't own any hairspray.  Hashtag curlyhairproblems?  Or is that just me?


Cardigan: J.Crew Factory (similar)
Tee: Loft (similar)
Skirt: J.Crew (exact)
Belt: Old Navy (similar)
Shoes: Target (flat version)
Necklace: F21 (similar, similar)

Dazzling Blue Geometric

Meet my new geometric print blouse!  It's from the Gap Outlet, and I love it!  Plus, it works perfectly for the Geometric entry in Sarah's April Looking Lucky Style Challenge and the Dazzling Blue day of the Pantone Challenge with Heidi and Marissa.  

I'm really hoping this is my last outfit featuring boots for awhile.  My sandals want to come out and play!     

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory
Top & Jeans: Gap
Boots: Madden