Maternity Style Must Haves

Now that my pregnancy is winding to a close (three more days until my due date), I thought I'd share some of the things that worked and didn't work for me style-wise this pregnancy.

What I loved

Old Navy Rib-Knit Tanks

Lately, I have been wearing one of these tanks tops pretty much any day I am not wearing a dress. They are perfect combined with a stretchy skirt. There were also handy in the spring to layer underneath cardigans and blazers. I wish I hadn't bought any maternity shirts; having a collection of these tanks in different colors would have been sufficient. I did try the Motherhood Maternity tanks as well, which were not ribbed, and didn't like them as much. The ribbing really did a great job in hiding the ugliest bras ever, aka maternity bras. 

Dresses (from Motherhood Maternity and Old Navy)

Pants stopped working for me early in my pregnancy as a result of some painful fibroids and passive weight gain to my thighs. That combined with the summer heat made dresses the best option for me. These three are my favorite and are on heavy rotation lately. Usually I am a polyester snob, but my favorite maternity dress (the polka dot dress) is polyester. It is so easy to wear and clean. I recommend  buying dresses in easy- to-wear-fabrics for maternity days.

Maxi dresses and skirts (from Old Navy)

Wearing a maxi dress or skirt feels like pajamas to me. Since pregnancy is so damn uncomfortable in the first place, it's nice to be able to wear comfy clothes. The two dresses got a lot of wear in the spring and they are not even maternity (I just sized up).

My last maternity must-have is a swimsuit. I'm not going to post pictures of me in my Motherhood Maternity swimsuit because that image does not have to be on the internet. But I recommend to anyone who is pregnant in the summer and has water access, to definitely take advantage of it and invest in a good swimsuit.

 I was in the pool everyday the weather permitted it and it made me feel so good! I could forget about the random aches and pains of baby-growing for a bit. It also  made me feel good to be in a swimsuit that fit properly. I could have tried to squeeze into last year's suit or buy a new non-maternity suit in a larger size but for me it was really worth it to pay the extra money for a well-fitting suit.

The Waiting Game

Tank: Old Navy Maternity
Skirt: Old Navy Maternity
Shoes: Naturalizer
Necklace: Banana Republic

Rediscover

Tank: Old Navy Maternity
Skirt: J Crew Factory
Shoes: Super Old
Necklace: Mexx

In the process of cleaning out the baby's room, I also had to clean out his closet, aka my second closet. The whole process took a lot longer than I expected; three days of cleaning out junk, washing furniture and clothes and putting everything away. A plus side of the cleaning out process was that I found this dress.

Yes, it is a dress. It's called the Sanur dress from J Crew Factory. I bought it a couple of years ago and immediately didn't like it because it was a strapless dress and I like to wear bras with straps. I'm not sure why I bought it in the first place (probably because it was on super sale!). I put it up on EBay but had no takers so it sat languishing in my second closet for a long time.

This week I rediscovered it and it turns out that the Sanur dress makes a perfect skirt for an almost 34 week pregnant belly. I'm excited to have one more option in my very small wardrobe.

Dunes

Dress: Motherhood Maternity
Shoes: Zellers
Purse: Kate Spade

RDog and I went away on a mini weekend getaway last weekend. We hopped over to Prince Edward Island, one of our favorite places for quick getaways. It's great because there is so much to do; it's very much a tourist-friendly province. We spent the weekend antiquing and eating mostly. I'm all about crab cakes and lobster rolls this summer.

We also discovered this spot, The Dunes. It is now one of my favorite PEI spots. The gardens were so pretty, I couldn't resist taking a couple blog photos, even though I'm not feeling too fashionable lately.

The uncomfortable phase of pregnancy has set in. Who knew a year ago when I was doing an hour and half of Jillian Michaels workouts a day that walking up and down the stairs or even getting out of my chair would be such a challenge! Nine more weeks left!

One Dress, Two Flowers

Dress: Motherhood Maternity
Shoes: Karen Scott
Flower: J Crew

I wore this dress to my school's graduation last week. The dress didn't fit right around the shoulders and revealed a bit too much of my bra. My quick fix was a lot of safety pins. I used the flower pin (in my school's colors) to hide some of my handiwork.

On the weekend, I wore the same dress to my cousin's wedding. Because this was a longer event and I want ed to feel comfortable all day long (and be safety pin free), I actually sewed the dress to my bra straps. There were absolutely no wardrobe malfunctions.

I liked the look of a flower on the dress so much, I used another flower accessory (again from J Crew) and added pearls from RDog and my clutch from Danier Leather.

By the way, that's my dad walking by in the background. We were just hanging around and waiting during the break between the ceremony and reception. RDog went into full paparazzi mode to pass the time.

He caught me and my grandfather. My Grandpere hates to get his picture taken. So of course, I encourage RDog to take as many of Grandpere as possible just to be a pain. I'm sure there were were some French curse words directed towards RDog at some point during the night.  But it was all in fun. My grandfather is a secret sweetie underneath (at least that's what I tell RDog).

Prom 2013

Dress: Motherhood Maternity

Clutch: Danier Leather

Shoes: Merona (super old)

Last Tuesday night was prom night, one of my favorite nights of the year. I love to see the students dressed up and I love to get dressed up too!

I bought this dress about a month ago and was saving it for graduation events and my baby shower. I was a bit upset to realize that it didn't fit as perfectly as I originally thought, which seems to be the theme with any maternity clothing I can find. 

The straps didn't sit right on my shoulders and anyone standing to the side of me could see right into my dress and check out my very stylish beige maternity bra. Uggggg! The temporary solution to get me through the night was lot of fashion tape and wearing my hair in front of my shoulders  to try to disguise it.

I'm getting sick of maternity clothes. Then, of course, I had to torture myself and look back to see what I wore to proms of the past.

2012 - Oh how I miss those skinny legs.

2011

2010 - This one makes me realize how I have changed a bit fashion-wise over the life of this blog. I thought I was hot stuff that night but looking at it now all I can think is how awful that ruching is. It makes the dress look wrinkly. 

Ok, this is the end of the rant of a hormonal pregnant lady who just wants a few pieces of clothing that fit her properly!

Have a great day!

Variations of the Same Outfit

Dress: Motherhood Maternity

Cardigan: J Crew

Shoes: Naturalizer

Purse: Kate Spade

Not a lot of posting going on here because I don't have a lot of post-worthy outfits. My clothing choices are rapidly becoming limited as I continue to grow and grow and grow. Right now I'm down to a handful of dresses and whatever color Jackie cardigan I feel like wearing that day. 

I'm totally done with pants. Last weekend, RDog suggested that we have a fire in our fire pit and I said no because I didn't want to put on jeans. Silly me, I realized later that there is nothing wrong with wearing my Juicy pants (the only pants that feel comfortable) to sit around the fire.

Work It

Dress: Old Navy
Sweater: Sears (old)
Necklace: Forever 21 (old)
Shoes: Naturalizer

When taking these photos, the wind started blowing my hair in a very modelesque way. RDog got into photographer mode and started shouting, "work it" and "you're so sexy".

Every woman should hear that once in awhile; it was great for the self-confidence (and pretty funny too).

Reflective

Dress: Motherhood Maternity

Cardigan: J Crew

Shoes: Merona (super old)

Pearls: RDog

I wore this outfit for my last full day of teaching for 14 months (yah for maternity leave).

I was in a reflective mood so it made sense to wear the tiny pearl earrings RDog gave to me after my first day of teaching over six years ago. 

I still have two more weeks left and have to get through exams, report cards and graduation but the hard work is over.

More Like Myself

Dress: Motherhood Maternity
Necklace: J Crew rip-off via EBay
Shoes: Zellers

This dress is one of my new arrivals from Motherhood Maternity. I was so tired of wearing cheap Old Navy dresses everyday, that I splurged on five cotton summer dresses. I was anxiously awaiting their arrival for over a week and kept checking my tracking number online.

On the day my dresses were due to arrive, I pulled into my driveway and failed to see any telltale signs of a package. A lot of curse words left my lips.

However, my package was located. The UPS man left it by our garage door. Whew!

I'm grateful to have some pretty summer dresses to get me through the next couple of months. They make me feel more like myself. 

Gems

Dress: Old Navy
Hat: H&M Mens
Shoes: Naturalizer


I need to have a venting session about the weird things people say to pregnant women. Today, I heard such gems as:

"I think you grew over the weekend."

Setting down the phone after calling parents at school. "Are you going to hold the phone up to your belly?"

Buying a popsicle. "Baby must be craving lime." No, it's hot and I can't freaking eat the ice cream I really want."

Being yelled at from within a random house while walking by. "Congratulations!"

I'm beginning to feel like just a carrier for this baby. KDot is disappearing, it's all about the belly.

On the fashion front, I'm thankful I am not hugely pregnant in the winter as I wouldn't be able to wear maxi dresses. They are truly a lifesaver.

Inspire

Dress: Old Navy
Clutch: Danier Leather
Shoes: Karen Scott
Pearls: RDog

I wore this last week to a staff retirement dinner. I gave in and ordered a batch of pretty dresses to get me through prom/graduation/wedging season. Unfortunately, they arrived the day after this event.

I tried my best to dress up one of the few dresses that fits me. I was worried that I would be under-dressed but as it was a very hot day, everyone was in casual little sundresses. Whew!

One of the retirees was a personal mentor of mine. He helped me a lot during my first years of teaching and is an example of the type of history teacher I want to become.

There were a lot of speeches and some great stories about the two teachers who retired. One story I really took to heart. My mentor every year threw out all his "stuff". For those not familiar to teaching, we keep a binder of "stuff" (lesson plans) to be used next year. My mentor said,  "New students deserve new ideas." He started fresh every year.

This really brought home how complacent I've become with my job lately, especially this past semester. I've been doing the same old thing with little change. After my maternity leave, I really want to get back to work at becoming a better teacher. Even in retirement, my mentor is still inspiring me!

Take in the Moment

Sweater: J Crew
Dress: Old Navy Maternity
Shoes: Naturalizer

I'm lucky that my school is fairly close to a few solid lunch restaurant options. My prep period also is right before lunch so sometimes when I finish my to-do list early, I duck out for a quick bite to eat before my students descend on the restaurants.

Today was a beautiful day so I decided that instead of taking my lunch back to my desk, that I'd eat it in the little sandwich shop I go to most often. After lunch, I hit the convenience store across the street to grab a popsicle and then went for a stroll. There are a lot of beautiful older homes in the area so I walked slowly and checked them out (and the gardens and the neighborhood cats too!). Finally I arrived at a park and sat to eat my popsicle. The lilacs are out in these parts so I could smell their perfume and hear the laughter of the children at a nearby middle school. It was such a relaxing moment and it rejuvenated me for the rest of the day.

 I need to do that more often. Too many days I work straight through lunch, take a breather at the end of the teaching day at 4 pm and wonder why I am so darned tired.

Coincidentally, while on my travels, I spied RDog driving to get his lunch and started waving like a madwoman from way down the street. He returned my wave and later said he couldn't miss me, my outfit was so bright.

Dandelion Dust

Dress: Old Navy
Earrings: J Crew Factory
Bracelet: Banana Republic
Shoes: Naturalizer

That white stuff in the air is not snow, it's dandelion dust.

Message for RDog

Sweater: Sears
Necklace: Forever 21
Dress: Old Navy
Shoes: Naturalizer

Tomorrow we'll be back to pretty pictures again because my photographer is back home.

One of the positives about RDog's work trips is that he always comes home with a present.

He knows I love Kate Spade.

It looks black but in fact is a deep purple. I love it RDog! And oh yah, and I really missed you. :p

Showers

Sweater: J Crew
Scarf: Old Navy
Dress: Old Navy
Shoes: Naturalizer

The problem with taking pictures on your own is that sometimes it's hard to get your feet in the shot. I had that problem today. Only a couple of pictures with feet turned out.

I wore this to my work baby shower. A very sweet group of ladies I work with got together and gifted us with our baby monitor. We had a relaxing evening chatting and snacking!

Impulse Buy

Blazer" Reitman's

Pants: Motherhood Maternity

Tank: Old Navy Maternity

Necklace: J Crew Factory

Shoes: Winners

I told myself I didn't need any more maternity pants as hopefully warm weather is on the way soon and I can switch solely to wearing dresses. 

These pants were an impulse purchase last week that was the result of a) it being a cold day b) I had free time before a movie date so I was shopping to kill time c) all my pants were dirty.

They may not be needed but these purple pants sure are awesome (and comfortable too).

Hurry Back

Sweater: Old Navy
Dress: Old Navy Maternity
Shoes: Zellers

The photographer had the day off so I had to resort to my old school ways of photo taking (tripod and a remote). I've forgotten how hard it is to take photos by myself. Hurry back photographer!