This is the last maternity outfit that we photographed, and I’m finally getting around to posting it. I was out at lunch with Mike and my family when we took these pictures, and I went into labor that night! It’s so crazy how quickly things can change. If you told me right then that our baby girl would arrive three weeks before her due date on that night, I wouldn’t have believed you! But we are so happy she did.

I’m especially happy she did, because I was running out of things to wear! Jeans and a white tee are a classic outfit, and I love how these blush pink sneakers jazz it up. Pink is so popular this year, and I’m not complaining one bit.

The Perfect White Maternity Tee

This tee was on repeat my entire pregnancy, and it was so easy to layer and dress up and down. I’m not a fan of super-tight clothing, but I do think it’s important to wear fitted clothing when you’re pregnant to avoid looking bigger than you are. These tees are so soft and stretchy, I could wear them everyday!

Maternity Jeans

Here are a few of my favorite maternity jeans, you can see a full post here for more pieces!

Comfy Cardigan

This is one piece that doesn’t need to be maternity, as you usually wear cardigans open anyways. I love a gray cardigan, it goes with practically anything!

Pink Sneakers

I love that these Adidas sneakers are a throwback to what I wore in high school. They are so comfy and I can’t wait to wear these sneakers with everything this spring! You can read another post here for comfy sneakers.

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Can you tell by the post title that I’m dreaming of wine? Only a few more weeks until I can enjoy a glass of red wine! No, I’m not an alcoholic but I’ve missed drinking wine so much this pregnancy. Probably because I’m a member of a few wine clubs and we live close to a bunch of amazing wineries that we used to frequent. I’ll be breastfeeding when baby girl gets here, but I’ll responsibly enjoy a glass of wine. I can’t wait!!

This was a look I wore out to dinner, and I think it would even be the perfect look for Valentine’s Day if you don’t want to wear a dress or pink/red! (If you do want a pink look, see my post Pink on Pink!) The clutch and lip color make this look Valentine’s Day appropriate, and I’m loving the color combo. I hope it inspires you!

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dress, coatigan, necklace-Loft, purse-Kate Spade, sunglasses-Loft, boots

I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile… I am loving the Coatigan this season! If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a cross between a coat and a cardigan. And basically the best thing ever for pregnant women (and really any woman)! It is heavy enough to be your jacket, and roomy enough to layer under. I purchased this one on a Black Friday sale, and have worn it nonstop. It goes with so much! It’s also nice that you can throw it on with little effort, and it pulls an outfit together!

One of my coworkers was wearing this amazing coatigan (pictured below) from Zara and I almost went right out and bought it! I used self control, but I still might My exact coatigan is sold out, but I’ve been noticing other really great styles. Personally, I would just buy the one below. I hope you love the coatigan as much as I do!

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coatigan, pink maternity tee (similar non-maternity here), scarf,maternity jeans, booties

I’m not really one for New Year’s Resolutions, and didn’t make any this year!  My personal motto is to improve myself a little each day. Small steps in the right direction add up after time! Looking back at 2016, it really was a great year and taught me so much about myself. Today I’m sharing a few nuggets I picked up this year, and hope that you can find some inspiration in them! Even though I’ve learned so much, everything below is seriously still a work in progress.

Say ‘No’ more often.

I still struggle with this one! One of my “adult” goals was to say ‘no’ to things more often. I’m not talking about everything, or doing it in a mean way. I just realized that feeling obligated to do things never ended up making me happy in the end. I’d say yes and commit to something, dread the days leading up to it, and then get through it without having much fun. Anyone else? But I finally realized, “Hey, I’m an adult- a mother for goodness’ sake!- and I can do what I want!” Life is all about balance, and at the end of the day you need to make yourself happy.

Who cares what everyone else thinks?

I am SUCH a people pleaser, and obsess when I feel like someone is mad at me (especially if I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong) or I make a mistake. It’s the insecure high school girl inside me. I can’t stand it when someone doesn’t like me,  or says something mean about me. I’m a strong person, but pretty sensitive, too. This year, I learned through too many experiences, that it doesn’t really matter what others think about me. As long as my family and close friends still love me and I’m doing my personal best, that’s all that matters.

Starting this blog has been a HUGE step outside of my comfort zone, and I’ve never felt more vulnerable. I’m working through it, but it’s still so uncomfortable! Like I said at the beginning of this post, I’m still working everyday to make what I’ve learned second nature.

Have a grateful perspective on life.

Like every other person on planet earth, we are all going through our own issues and dealing with things. I know many of my problems are trivial and some are very real, compared to others in the world. While I can’t control what happens to me, I can control how I react. I’ve been working every day to stop myself when I’m complaining in my head or to my mom. All it takes is a quick second to change your perspective, and everything changes. This has been huge for me this year, having to parent a 3 year old and having a husband who is gone working part of the year (fire wife, here). There were times I wanted to cry from frustration, but changing my narrative and being thankful for what I had made all the difference. Being a parent is so hard. But my husband and I are constantly reminding each other about all of the great things, and that encourages us daily. It gets easier with practice, and right now my perspective is through rose-colored glasses. But I know someday soon I’ll be tested again and need to remind myself to be grateful!

This post was so much more personal that just an outfit post (which I still love!). Thank you for reading this far What was your biggest takeaway of 2016?

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Maternity Jeans (under $40!!!)

I was able to wear my belly band with jeans up until about 20 weeks, and at that point is just got so uncomfortable! I had to hunt for a bit to find maternity jeans that were actually cute and didn’t cost $200. Good news though, I found them! The two places that I had the most luck were H&M and Old Navy. The best part is that I spent $40 or less on each pair I’ve bought! That’s a major win, considering it’s pretty tough to find cute maternity jeans.

A few tips:

• Skinny jeans worked best for me. They give you the most bang for your buck, as you can wear them with flats, tuck them into boots, roll up for booties… I could go on and on.
• Go with the full-panel version of any pants you can! A friend gave me that advice with my first pregnancy. Of course, I tried some under-belly jeans. They were falling down after the first hour, and I’ve never bought anything but full-panel since! It might seem weird to have something cover your belly, but it’s way more comfortable than constantly pulling up your pants and having a saggy butt.

This pair above are my favorite from H&M. I usually buy darker wash jeans, unless I’m going for a certain look. They are more slimming You can see the full post here. Wear them with booties, like I did here.

Pants for Work & Casual

As I mentioned above, I love skinny jeans, so naturally I wear all ankle pants to work! I did even pre-pregnancy, and I like that I can keep my maternity style similar to my personal style. I found THE BEST ankle pants for maternity at Motherhood and they aren’t crazy expensive. As with almost everything I buy, I managed to get them all on sale so I didn’t even pay the list price. I recommend joining email lists a few days before purchasing, or buying on holiday or big shopping days. They always seem to have sales going too!

Here are my favorite (and only) pants I own for work! They come in a bunch of colors so you can have variety, and the fabric is a little dressier. And once again, I can wear them with flats or boots, they’re so versatile!

I also have a pair of these twill pants in burgundy, and I wear them to work and with casual outfits. Check out a great selection of maternity pants here!

Tops

So I haven’t been much of a fan of maternity tops. Mostly because I can’t find the styles that I like in maternity versions. I’ve found that I can usually just size up in tee shirts and blouses and everything still looks ok. Of course, there have been those few times that sizing up makes the sleeves huge or a sweater doesn’t look right. I do like to buy basic maternity tops, that can be styled pretty much any way. Here are my favorite basics (and I wore these during my first pregnancy, too)

H&M has a huge selection of maternity tops here! I own some of these below and I’ve loved all of the maternity-wear I purchase there.

My go-to tee while I’m pregnant, and I’ve purchased them for both pregnancies! Highly recommend.

I hope you’ve found my guide to Dressing the Bump in the Second & Third Trimester helpful! Don’t forget to check out Dressing the Bump: First Trimester. Please let me know if you have any questions or there’s something else you’d like to see added!

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