I'm officially starting to. . .

dress and tank top: target (a few years ago?)

carry a full term baby that is the size of a watermelon.

grunt and moan most times I have to bend over to pick something up or put on my shoes. 
be able to hold my hand entirely under my belly and not be able to see it.  feel like I could be pregnant for 5 more weeks after my appointment today when I heard that nothing is happening down there.  She is head down but still really high.  
would like to hear some encouraging stories of no progress at all but still having a baby a week or two later.  
feel like some days are going by very slowly and although anxious about labor, getting unbelievably excited to meet our baby girl.  

as if I needed proof

dress: target ($11 recent)  necklace: groopdealz   flats: target

I know I've shared before that there is no doubt that Chris has ADD.  And while I do find it quite annoying sometimes, there are times when I just have to laugh about it.  

Which I did when we were looking through some of our maternity pictures and the multiple pictures we have where Chris is clearly distracted.  

Clearly it didn't bother me at the beginning.  See I do laugh at him once in awhile?

This would be mid sentence most likely telling him to stop doing that. 

There were about four pictures with Chris pointing to things.  A plane, an animal, a fish jumping in the water.

And this one I may look like I'm smiling but was probably more forcefully trying to push his head away, saying we were clearly done with the kissing belly photos.

I definitely do not need proof that Chris is easily distracted but clearly have it. 

Don't forget to enter to win $25 in Starbucks cards, an ulta gift card, design credit and some sweet accessories! Enter here!
Linking up to: Funday Monday

Girls' Brunch

dress: discovery ($10)   sandals: charming charlie

First of all thank you to those that have been voting for me in this contest! I am in 5th place and want to stay there! The contest ends tomorrow so you still have time to vote again here! Thank you SOOO much!

I definitely don't need an excuse to invite people over and eat my favorite meal of the day, but thanks to Gevalia coffee I had a great reason to have my family over for brunch last week.  And we thought it'd be fun to just have the girls!I got to shop at a Safeway store for my breakfast foods and picked out the Chocolate Mocha and House Blend (decaf) coffee.  Because I don't really drink much caffeine these days I mixed them half and half and it was delicious.  I usually don't get flavored coffee but think I may have to start now! It went perfect with our brunch, but would also be great with dessert.  Next time I'm going to try out their K-Cups, as that is what we've been using more often than our coffee maker. 

For breakfast I "made" (the best and easiest kind of preparing, right?) a yogurt parfait bar with strawberry and vanilla yogurt, plus grapes, blueberries, strawberries and granola to mix in.  I have wanted to try making waffles out of cinnamon rolls for awhile and they turned out pretty good.  And do I even mention that I ate the rest of those donuts that didn't get eaten?

These girls were a big fan of all of it too! I'm pretty sure I'd be satisfied eating this meal every day. (Do you like how we all dressed patriotic? Definitely not planned!)

Could my niece's pigtails be any cuter?

Since this was a "girls' brunch," Travis spent some time in the basement working with Chris.  He was so excited to "work" with his Uncle Chris.  He even made him a little name tag. 

Thanks to an easy shopping experience at Safeway and delicious coffee to serve, this was quite the simple get together to host.  Now if only this coffee drinking, breakfast eating, and spending time with my favorite woman could happen on a more regular basis I would be one happy girl!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

perspective

dress: old navy (worn here)

The other day I was walking into Target and walked passed someone who looked at my belly, which seems to be happening more and more these days as it's kind of hard to miss.  
I wondered what this woman thought when she saw me and was reminded how I used to feel when I walked by pregnant woman.  I'd see their bellies and long for that to be me.  I'd think that they had no idea how lucky they were to be pregnant.  They had no idea what a gift it was to be having a baby. That I was trying so hard and going through so much to be pregnant and that I deserved to have a baby.  
It kind of makes me want to wear a sign now that says "I know how lucky I am and want this baby more than anything."
It made me think about what other people's signs may say.  I think of some of my friends who have gone through some incredibly hard times.  I think of how people may treat them differently if they knew what they had been or were going through. 
I think about how there has to be people that I walk passed that just lost a love one, are dealing with health issues, infertility, broken relationships or even just a really terrible day.  
I think of how easy it is to judge others when we walk by them.  To look at things they have or don't have and feel as though you deserve it more or you would handle it differently.  
It was a reminder that I don't know others' stories.  I don't know their brokenness or their hopes.  I don't know what they are dealing with on a daily basis.  I don't know what their sign would say. 
It was a reminder to smile at others.  To remember that everyone is dealing with their own battles.  To treat them with love.  And to be so thankful for the blessings that God has given me. 

Advice from eight year olds

sweater: old navy $6    skirt: target $10 

(both are recent purchases)

I think it's no surprise that people like to give pregnancy advice and think that when you're talking to a pregnant woman there aren't many rules of what you can and can't say.  Thankfully I haven't had many strange or awkward conversations since being pregnant. 

 The majority of the advice and questions I've been asked have come from my third graders, with the best being this story about breastfeeding.  

My class threw me a little surprise baby shower at the end of the year and one of the moms had the students write down advice for me.  It was so cute and quite funny.  Here are a few of their wise words: 

Always wear a gas mask when you change her diaper. 

Don't let your baby eat big pieces of food.  

Let your baby sleep a lot during the day and night.  If they don't sleep enough then they baby won't grow and be strong and taller. 

Put a clothespin on your nose when you change her. 

Give her lots of love. 

Don't let your baby eat food off the ground or it may find a magnet to eat.  

Don't leave the baby alone with markers.  And make sure that if you let her color you watch her at all times.  

and this one is probably my favorite:

Buy some pretty lights.  Babies like shiny or colorful things that gleam or sparkle.  

P.S. I have two baby cousins and they are difficult. 

Some of them are pretty good, right? She put it in a little photo album/scrapbook and I can't wait to read it to my daughter someday! 

I shared this last week and apologize ahead of time because I will probably share it again next week! I've never entered a "fashion" contest before but feel like this one it right up my alley, as it's about finding a good deal.  I had a hard time choosing which outfit to enter and decided on this $5 dress I found from old navy.  

If you have a second please vote for me! It's really easy as all you have to do is click on the love it button here! Thank you so much!!!

Where are the frogs?

sweater: target   leggings: old navy  boots: amazon

I finally bought myself some rainboots!  After months of wanting them and too many days of them sitting in my cart online I finally got some.  

I bought them on Amazon for $32, which is honestly more money than I usually spend on clothes or shoes but I figured since I wanted them for long enough it will be worth it. 

I do have to say I feel a little silly though wearing them.  Like I should be wading through a pond searching for frogs.  Which I have absolutely no desire to do so. 

So those of you that own rainboots, how often do you wear them and do you wear them all day or just when you're walking to and from places when it's raining?

You're no longer number one

top: old navy   skirt: target   sandals: ?   necklace: gift (groopdealz)

Can we say fourth of July outfit?  Too patriotic looking perhaps? 

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before Chris' extreme amount of love for our dog Molly.  Now I certainly love Molly and give her quite a lot of attention.  But it can't compare to Chris. 

Sometimes it's almost disturbing how much he treats her like a person.  Playing hide and seek, carrying her around, talking to her like a person.  
The other day I overheard Chris talking to Molly, telling her that once our baby comes she will no longer be number one around here. (Let's just ignore the fact that he was saying that Molly was number one and not me). 
I'm glad he knows that our baby girl will get moved ahead of Molly, as I used to be a little concerned. 

Doesn't everyone carry around their 50 pound dog like this? 

Thankfully Molly is so good around other babies and kids, but I am a little worried how she'll handle our new addition! 
Oh and I've never entered any kind of style or fashion contest until yesterday when I found one that's all about finding good deals, which I think I'm pretty good at. I'm sure you want to help me win! Vote here! 
Thank you!

Dressing my pregnant self

dress: Monica's Closet Essentials

This dress may be my favorite maxi dress I own.  I won a credit to this store and am SO happy with my choice. I know I will get lots of wear out of it! 

After this last pregnancy recap, I intended to do another at 30 weeks but here I am four weeks late. Oops! 

While one of the biggest lessons I have learned is that every pregnant woman is so different, and you can only take so much advice from someone as I think you have to live it yourself, I thought maybe it'd be helpful to share a few things I've learned about dressing my pregnant self: 

1. I'd have to say that weeks 27 to 33 were probably my favorite weeks in terms of how I looked pregnant.  I was passed the stage of just feeling like I gained a lot of weight and finally had a hard, pregnant looking belly.  

2. I probably bought way more maternity clothes than I really needed, but I'm okay with that as I was SO excited to finally be pregnant and still did not spend much money as most were pretty cheap!  I bought a handful of things well before getting pregnant when I saw them on sale and then most of the rest near the beginning.  If I would've held off a little longer I would have realized that I there were some items that I didn't end up liking or really needing.  

3. I wore more maternity clothes the first trimester and first half of the second trimester, which seems backwards to me.  But once I had a real "bump" I felt much more comfortable wearing some of my non-maternity dresses and tops, where at the beginning I loved the looser fitting, maternity clothes.  

4. I bought a few of the maternity jeans with the under the belly panel thinking that would be more comfortable.  I was WAY wrong and can't imagine choosing those over the full panel jeans.  The idea of wearing pants with a button ever again sounds foreign.  (which makes me nervous). 

5.  A lot of clothes I thought I could wear when I was pregnant aren't even close to possibilities.  There have been so many times I thought of a dress or a top that I thought would be so cute, only to put it on and have nothing to do but laugh at myself.  (Okay I wish I could say I laughed every time, but there definitely were times of crying getting dressed).  Not only has my belly drastically grown, but my growing chest has made many clothes far from an option! 

6.  There have been many days or even a week at a time that I've been happy with and loved my pregnant belly and then days or a week that I feel the exact opposite.  But this happens not pregnant so I shouldn't be surprised!

7.  My most successful places to find cheap, comfortable, and cute maternity clothing has been old navy and shade maternity.  I've found many tops and dresses for under $5 online at both places. 

8.  I keep reminding myself that I am only pregnant for a short time and should do my best to enjoy all these changes as it will be over soon! 

Watermelon dress and $50 for you

 

dress: c/o kintage    necklace: target ($8 clearance)   sandals: target

I was so excited to get a chance to wear another dress from Kintage.  I am always looking at their store and love all of their things!  I was really happy to be able to pick out a dress that I can wear at 33 weeks pregnant, but also after the baby too!

Even though it feels like it should be summer weather, we've had some crazy weather with it being either really hot or a little chilly.  I love that I can wear this dress with my chambray top over it too.  Which means I'll get to keep wearing it throughout summer and fall too!

And the best news is that Kintage is giving away a $50 giftcard to one lucky reader!  I am incredibly indecisive and would have such a hard time choosing what I would do with $50.  Here are some of my favorite items: 

  maxi dress      maxi skirt       polka dot dress

I'm sure you'll have a hard time choosing if you win! Enter below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Winner will be contacted after the 4th! Thanks for entering!


Linking up to: pleated poppy   random wednesday

Weekend randoms

I got this dress at JCPenney a few weeks ago for $15 and love that it is a stretchy, comfy non-maternity dress I know I will wear after the baby!

I imagine reading lots of posts about Memorial Day weekends being spent on beaches or outside grilling with lots of friends.  I can say mine was quite the opposite but it was wonderful.  Every night this weekend Chris and I were home, on the couch or in bed, watching movies.  We've been so busy lately that it was perfect!

We did run a few errands on Sunday and I found these shoes at DSW.   Thanks to a $10 coupon they were only $8. 

I also spent some time organizing things in the nursery.  I took apart the diaper cake we got and I loved putting away these tiny little diapers.  I'm sure some time in the future I won't enjoy diapers but right now I love it!

I also washed the huge amount of hand me downs we got a few weeks ago.  I can honestly say folding and sorting these baby girl clothes was one of the best things I've ever done.  

And I plan on ending this long weekend by watching the Bachelorette tonight! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!