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New Dress for Preggers to wear to a wedding...

Last week I wrote about the Victoria Secret Dress that I was planning to wear to a wedding this weekend that hubby is photographing. Well, I received the dress and although I love it and wore it for the 4th, it's just not suitable for a wedding. On Sunday after an afternoon of hunting I found this dress at the Gap. It fits the pregnant belly and now that I have boobs I can hold up the strapless! One thing I have noticed about buying Gap product in the store and comparing it to the website is the lengths. This dress on me comes mid calf and I'm 5'8", on the website model it's above her knees. I've noticed this on other product, their models must be Very tall! I'm hoping my ankles will behave themselves and not get too swollen!

Preggers goes to a wedding...

My hubby is photographing a semi casual wedding at Discovery Park in a couple of weeks and I wanted to get a new maxi dress for the occasion. Something not to formal, not too casual and not as loud as my other maxi dresses. I have been inspired by the great Gerard Derel dresses that Angelina Jolie has been wearing as maternity dresses in a couple of different fabrics:

I'm going with this Victoria Secret maxi dress that is on sale for $75 and a sparkle cardigan from my own shop. I need to find some cute pewter colored shoes now! Will post pictures of me in my outfit soon.

  

Baby Time Expo...

We are going to check this out on Saturday:

Its Saturday 6/28- Sun 6/29 from 10-5 at the Qwest Event Center, Sodo Seattle. You can click the picture for a link to their site. It looks like lots of fun for expectant mama's, plus Grandparents get in for free! *They will have a $2 off ticket coupon up on their site sometime later today.*

21 weeks!

I'm just over halfway through my pregnancy and getting rounder by the day! I feel great pretty much everyday with the exception of my water balloon feet and ankles. I stand all day, so it' hard to avoid.

I had a great shopping day on Friday and snagged a (much needed) $7 bra, $12 hippy dress and some cutey baby clothes at the TJ Maxx. Pic #1 is the dress, it so reminds me of the Indian bed spread that I had to have when I went away to art college in 1991, (that was also my year long Birkinstock phase). Outfit #2 is a blue lace Kensie tunic from the Rack (I added a green ribbon) and a comfy stretch jersey butterfly skirt from Anthropologie that I bought when I first found out I was pregnant. I don't see it on their site, so may be sold out, I was just so happy they had an XL!

I thought this was a pretty funny picture that hubby took of me at the Fremont underground market, we didn't buy this buggy, but I love it :)

Lots of Bean Stuff...

My very first crochet baby cardigan with little matching hat is finished! I used a chunky, super soft, nylon wool for the body and a soft new wool for the contrast, natural trim. Finished off with little wood leaf buttons. It's turned out Super heavy, so my poor baby won't even be able to move in it, but it's my first try, so there we go, at least it's warm :) The book I used was called Crochet for Baby and the pattern is the sweater on the front of the book. I just changed the yarn and added my own trim. I'm looking forward to starting the little crochet dolls and this mobile idea I just saw on the Joann website. I just got this gorgeous baby crochet book and can't wait to try some of the ideas in it.

My favorite pregger outfit this week has been my Anthropologie top and skirt that I bought when I first found out I was pregnant. The top is a Merimekko and is now on sale , the skirt is by Lithe and is wonderful because it has a large jersey waistband that is perfect for the belly! I've topped it off with a DKNY jean jacket. Second picture is of the maxi dress that I got at Newport News, but has now sold out. It is enormous and I love it!

  

I went to my first Yoga Mama class last night which was glorious. I haven't done yoga in a couple of years and it was wonderful to get back into those stretches, especially when the class is geared towards prenatal movement. I have been feeling wonderful in the last few weeks with only a little bit of hip ache when I sleep, which seems to have gone away now, and the occasional mild abdomen cramp. The bean has been kicking up a storm in the last week and a half! We went for my 20 week ultrasound, which was amazing to see her crammed in such a tight space. All arms and legs! Because we had this last ultrasound at my ob's office instead of the hospital like our other two, the pictures are very small and blurry. I was a bit disappointed as we probably won't get another peek at her until she is born.

My hubby is in what I call Super Nesting. He is remodeling the whole house before bean is born. Here are the amazing pictures of the Before, During & After of our gorgeous new ground floor Bathroom. Before:

After:

He has finished remodeling our bedroom upstairs and we are working on the baby room upstairs, office/spare room downstairs and the kitchen before the bean is born in November! Phew!

Yarn-a-palooza...

I went to the fabric store last weekend to buy stretchy fabric to extend some of my skirts by adding a pregnant belly panel and to just look at the yarn selection for crocheting baby duds. Well, let's just say that I experienced a little control problem with the yarn purchasing and over did it a bit. There was so much lovely yarn at great prices, I just couldn't resist! I was attracted to the graduated brown to pink new wool and brown to green, plus loads more. I started a little cardigan that is going to have wooden leaf buttons and matching hat, so will post pictures of my crochet items when they are done. I found some amazing crochet dollie ideas online, here are a couple on etsy that I'm in love with from trulyoutrageous:

      I think most pregnant gals deal with dressing the belly and the boobs, but I also have the bum to fit into things as well, so maternity dressing for me has been interesting. I'm loving things that make my belly pop so that I actually look pregnant and not just wide.

Today is one of those great belly days, I have this cardi my mother found at Marshalls for me and a stretch jersey skirt from my shop (which I will be wearing constantly) all paired with boots. Yesterday I wore a new Liz Claiborne dress that I bought off Amazon (they are now sold out) and an old engineer stripe jacket from Express. I have ransacked my wardrobe for all of the jackets that I own and haven't worn in ages to go back to dresses. One of the best things I did was go through all of my clothes and pack away everything that I'm just not going to be able to wear this year. It makes getting the boobs, belly and bum dressed up much easier!  I almost forgot about the Cleo Crocs, these are the best for swollen maternity feet!

Gwen-a-wanna-be...

 She is my inspiration for maternity dressing:

 

 

I'm in love with her flowing maxi dresses and little jacket look, it is so comfortable and gorgeous! Being a skirt/dress kind of gal this look is perfect for me. So, a few weeks ago I began my dress hunt. It has been difficult to find the empire waist maxi dress with enough fabric in the skirt to fit the growing belly and bum.

I have a few maxi dresses in my shop, but just not voluminous enough. I've been to the mall and every department store, but I'm just not wanting to spend a huge amount on maternity clothes. The dress in the first picture is from Victoria Secret online and I was thinking about that one, it was around $65, but they have sold out now and the they yellow color scheme is not quite me. I finally found the perfect dress for me:

I found my 'Gwen' dress at the re-sell shop here in Seattle called Buffalo Exchange for $10! I also got the little red jacket (that has ruffles on the back!) there for around $14, so very pleased with my outfit. You can grab this dress online at Delia's for around $50. I have my giant sunglasses to wear outside as well :) I have bought another great looking maxi dress from the Newport News website with a little purple cardigan to match. It looks like they have sold out of this style, but they have a couple more maxi dresses that would be great.

Thank you Gwen!

Bean Goodies...

Ok, I have been to the Goodwill twice now in one week, well, 4 days really, looking for cute little baby clothes. I went last night and they must have just stocked up because the racks were overflowing! So cute! My favorite brand that I have been finding is Janie & Jack. I checked out their website and the dresses go for up to $50, I'm very pleased to have found some really cute pieces from 99cents to $2! I feel that I might be developing a little addiction to baby clothes hunting at the Goodwill. Jason thinks I'm a bit nuts as we are getting loads of hand-me-downs from friends, but I love finding the cuteness!

Here are some from my first outing (I am in love with the ducky dress & the muslin dress with the veggies embroidered on it!):

And these are from last nights trip:

I wish I was finding cute maternity stuff as easily :)

Our little bean...

I have decided to start writing about Jason and my wonderful news, I am 16 weeks pregnant with our little baby girl!

The first 3 months were quite difficult with the constant sea sickness and exhaustion, but I am now finally enjoying being pregnant and have a whole new energy that I didn't expect to have. During the first months I didn't have the energy to clean the house or even socialize, but now I'm feeling great and am looking forward to all the preparations. I'm so glad that we found out we were having a girl, I couldn't imagine not knowing the gender. Now we can plan and get ready for her. One of the first things we did was go to the Goodwill and find some of the cutest baby outfits for only 99cents! The Rack also has lots of baby stuff for under $5. Jason is in total house remodel mode with the downstairs bathroom almost finished and then onto the kitchen and nursery.

I have boxes of vintage children's patterns, some you can see here on Flickr, and bins of vintage fabrics just waiting to be made up into adorable baby clothes, as well as some stuffed animals and some crochet items, Yay!  I will post pictures of my little projects here from time to time. 

I am at the stage right now where I don't look totally pregnant, but nothing fits, so I just look chubby. Clothes hunting has been a major thing for me lately. Today I am wearing a great Gap dress that is not maternity, but has a drawstring under the bust and is super comfy. Over it I have a BP army jacket that is years old and of course doesn't button up any more, plus boots because it was raining. I could wear this outfit everyday! Yesterday, I wore an Anthropologie top that I bought when I found out I was pregnant and a jersey peasant skirt that I made last year, also so comfy! 

 

AND! Found this great jersey dress online at Target for $17, they have lots of colors, might have to pick up a few...