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! 

Baby Bedding & Curtains

I am so happy with how our nursery is looking and it has definitely become my favorite room in our house!  I looked at a LOT of bedding and curtains online and at stores and couldn't find any that I loved, let alone any that I wanted to spend that much money on.  I'm so happy I decided to make my own!

I wanted these curtains to be to the floor but am terrible at measuring fabric.  It's more like I don't measure and just think a yard is bigger than it is.  I got 5 yards so each panel is 2.5 yards and was just each for just the window length. 

(And let me first apologize for my messy room and really gross ironing table.)

Lay out your panels and make sure they are the same size. 

 Take one side and iron down about 1/4 inch of fabric.

Fold it over again and iron down. Then sew right down the middle of your double fold.

Do this to the left, right and bottom of your panel.  Take the top side and iron down once.  

Fold over as big of a space as your curtain rod will be, plus a little extra.  Mine was 2 inches. 

Do the same to the other panel.  

For the baby bedding I really didn't follow a tutorial nor did I take pictures as I went, as I really wasn't sure what it would turn out like or what I was really doing.  Thankfully it all worked and was pretty easy!

For the bed skirt I made three rectangles, following the same steps as the curtains, to double fold and hem the three sides.  I was going to sew them to a piece of fabric in the middle but know that we'll soon be lowering our crib and I didn't want to have to re-hem it again.  So like a professional seamstress I have three separate panels and taped them to the wood under the mattress of the crib.  This way I can just move up each panel when we lower the crib.  

I bought a plain bumper panel at IKEA for $10.  Again I had some measuring issues and had to go back to the store for more fabric.  I made three separate tubes and sewed them together.  Then I put the bumper on the crib to mark where the ties would go and sewed those in.  
Sounds quick but this one took me a really long time!  (And I know bumpers are pretty much a no for baby cribs.  Thankfully if I pull it down all the way it barely sticks up from the mattress so I feel just find about using it!)

I think my favorite part of the bedding is the quilt and pillow.  I saw a similar pillow and blanket on etsy that was SO expensive.  I made both for under $20.  No tutorial for this but if you wanted to know how I made it feel free to ask! 

Her room is just about all ready to go! Now we just need the real stuff like a carseat and stroller. :)

High Five for Friday

jeggings: Walmart    tee: old navy    wedges: shoe carnival     necklace: caroline g

1.  I am starting to feel limited in what I can wear and what is comfortable and am starting to wear the same pieces over and over like this jeggings from Walmart.  $10 was definitely money well spent!

2.  My class threw me a surprise baby shower this week.  It was wonderful!  One of the mom's made a little scrapbook/photo album and had the kids write advice for me.  I'll have to share some of them in another post next week!  

3.  As a thank you to my parent volunteers this year I made this popcorn.  I've seen many recipes like this on pinterest but managed to make it even easier than those. 

Pop two bags of popcorn and take out any kernels.  Melt one package of white almond bark and pour over popcorn.  Mix it all up.  Add a bag of M&M's.  Spread out on wax paper, pour sprinkles over it and let it hardened before breaking it up.  

It made plenty for these three bags and left me with lots to eat myself! 

4.  I am so excited because Chris and I recently found and booked our newborn photographer.  I get beyond excited when I think of all the adorable pictures she is going to take of our baby girl!  And I can't wait to use those pictures to send out baby announcements.  I love finding websites that have really simple and easy to edit cards like Signazon.  This is one of my favorite birth announcements.  

5.  Speaking of cards, I have been writing a few thank you notes already but have yet to have my main baby shower and know I will be writing a lot more! I found this cute baby shower card that I was able edit to say thank you.   I think it will be perfect for sending thank you notes after my shower!

Happy Friday! I hope you have a great weekend!

Can I even call this a DIY project?

This project was so easy I'm not even sure it qualifies as a real DIY project, but I love it and figured I needed to share it with you anyway. 

I saw baskets similar to this online at pottery barn (of course I can't find them now to share) for over $25 and would not pay that much so I made my own for $12!

I found my basket at Hobby Lobby and used a 40% off coupon so it was only $10.  The chalkboard tags come in packs of 10 and they were $2. (I have more baskets in the closet that I plan to label with these.)  I already had the rope, hole puncher and chalk.  

I took one chalkboard tag, wrote toys on it, punched two holes on the side and tied it to the basket.

At this point you're probably wondering why I would even include directions to this.  I don't know either. I'm sure you would be smart enough to figure it out, but I wanted to write about accomplishing a project so here it is.  

And in case that isn't exciting enough for you I have a blogger friend to introduce you to.  Nadine is the sweet and beautiful girl behind Back East Blonde, where she blogs about her life with her puppy and her boyfriend on the east coast.  Today she is sharing with you the difference between what you may say your favorite book and what your real favorite book is.  I definitely enjoyed reading it and agree with her on a few of her favorites too!

Have you ever asked someone what their favorite book is? 
This question usually only comes up in a situation where you've run out of things to talk about and are pulling out all the stops to avoid awkward silence. Or you're at a book club meeting. 
Everyone has a book that they say is their favorite book. But they're lying.
The book inevitably makes them sound smarter than they are. It's almost like there is a list of books that are supposed to be your favorites. The socially acceptable favorites. My go-to is To Kill a Mockingbird. It was one of the only books I read in school that I sort of enjoyed.

I'm sure there are more that go on this list. Just insert any classic that I undoubtably read the SparkNotes version of in high school.
But the truth is, my actual favorite books would never be read in the classroom. In most social situations, if I claimed these were my favorite books, I'd get a giggle or two. 

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling
I laughed out loud through most of this book. Just a warning in case you were planning on reading it with anyone else around. I want Mindy as my BFF. It's because of this book that I became a devout fan of The Mindy Project. 
2. BossyPants by Tina Fey
If you didn't have enough laugh out loud moments from Mindy, then Tina's your girl. I liked her on SNL, I loved her as Liz Lemon, but the real Tina, she's my favorite.
3. Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah
I like to call this a "beach read." A professor of literature might call it trash. You could also call it therapy. This book is a story. It sweeps you away and you forget you are reading for hours. It got me through my worst breaks up ever. For that alone, it will always be on my list.
4. Anything by Nicholas Sparks
Have you ever thought about the fact that this man has a wife? If he's one tenth as romantic in real life as his books are, I think he should be traveling the country providing lessons to the men of America. I'd send my guy. Just sayin'.
5. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.
Duh. I re-read the series every few years. I love it. I'm also frequently judged for having a framed replica Harry Potter wand on my wall. Some call it over the top. I call it awesome. [Note: I'm sure this is read in some schools. But it will never replace the classics, even if it should]
For the three people who read this post who swear that some classic is your favorite book, I applaud you. The reality of reading is this: read what you enjoy. Happy summer reading!
Thank you Nadine!! And I'm pretty sure my sister just may be one of those three people so I'm curious to see what she says!  
Don't forget to go visit Nadine and her cute blog!  Hope you are having a good week!
and if you haven't entered to win $50 to Kintage, do that here!




Linking up to: Saw it, Pinned it

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