Forever 21 has been my favorite place to buy clothes during both of my pregnancies. Whenever I’m in a rut I go there and always find plenty of non-maternity options that work on my big old bump. Their stretchy dresses are everything. I popped in last week and came out with a bunch of new things I wanted to share. The best part is they work both with and without a baby bump!

kimono, dress

sweater, dress

dress & sadly the denim kimono isn’t online

dress, bag

See… totally obsessed with stretchy dresses. I think they’re so flattering when you’re pregnant, especially with a cardigan or kimono worn over for a little more coverage/warmth. My tip for shopping at F21 while pregnant is to size up. I went up to a medium in all these dresses I’d normally wear in a small and they fit perfectly.

Hope you had a great weekend – thank you so much for reading and following!

Happy Monday! We had the best weather over the weekend, it was sunny and 75 both days! We tried to take advantage of it before the rain comes again by spending as much time outside as possible. On Saturday Crosby and I wore our matching denim overall dresses for an afternoon playing in our backyard.

on me: similar hat, t-shirt, dress, shoes

on Crosby: shirt, dress, shoes c/o

I get a lot of questions about how I find matching things for us to wear. Most aren’t actually “matching” I have just lucked out by finding similar things in different stores. I’m always on the lookout! I got my dress first and knew I’d be able to find one for Crosby elsewhere. I tried Gap and Old Navy online first and found one right away at Old Navy. I think they’ll be so cute for spring!

My dress is not maternity so I went up a size. It’s definitely on the shorter side even with sizing up, this bump isn’t messing around. I also recently got this one that is a maternity dress and can’t wait to wear it too.

We have a lemon tree in our backyard and Crosby is newly obsessed with it. Every time we’re outside she wants to go pick lemons…. which happen to be one of her favorite fruits. She’d eat a whole lemon if we let her. It’s actually really fitting because when I was pregnant with her we even tossed around the name Lemon for a bit. 🙂

on me: similar hat, t-shirt, dress, shoes

on Crosby: shirt, dress, shoes c/o

Sorry for the photo overload today – once Crosby got warmed up and let go of her hippo she was loving the camera… or maybe just the lemons.

Hope you have a great day – thank you so much for reading and following!

The weather is warming up and I’m getting into the Valentine’s Day spirit over here. Love a fun dress for V-Day and when I saw this one I knew it would be perfect. It’s not maternity and doesn’t have a lot of stretch so I went up 2 whole sizes and it actually fits great! This bump is getting so big, if I want to wear non-maternity I definitely need to size up.

sunglasses, denim jacket, dress c/o, similar shoes 

I tracked down some other festive dresses that I think would be so cute with or without a bump #pregsandregs 

• This one is perfect and under $15. It comes in two colors and I think I want to order both.
• Instagram’s favorite non-maternity maternity dress. Ha! But it’s so flattering pregnant or not. Love this color for Valentine’s Day.
• A similar vibe to the one I’m wearing and only $20. Definitely size up if you’re pregnant.
• This one is more of a rust color but I love the shape and the subtle ruffle at the bottom. And it looks so comfortable!
• If you’re looking for something fancier, this one is a great option. I have it in a few colors and think it would definitely work with a bump too. Again, size up.
• Obsessed with this one. The details are so dainty and pretty and love the print.
• This one would be really cute with tights or boots if you live somewhere colder.

And because kids are even more fun to dress, I got this dress for Crosby. Gymboree is going out of business so I popped in the other day and picked up a few things. I also got her two cute t-shirts: here and here and these socks to match. Their sale is happening online too and there’s a lot for an additional 50% off.

sunglasses, denim jacket, dress c/o, similar shoes 

Hope you’re having a great week – thank you so much for reading and following!

The quote from Mean Girls, “these sweat pants are all that fit me right now” has never suited my life more. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I dislike being pregnant in the winter. Especially this winter where it’s actually been cold and rained more than I’m used to and I’ve needed to bundle up. I know being pregnant in the summer comes with plenty of it’s own challenges, but I’d gladly trade stuffing my body into sweaters and sweatpants for the wardrobe options of the warmer months right now.

sweater c/o, sweat pants c/o, shoes, bag c/o

I just want to wear dresses and bikinis and call it a day. Ha. If I was actually pregnant in the summer I’m sure I’d find something else to whine about, but for now this is my current struggle.

Seeing myself in photos each week is not making this any easier. As my body grows and the temperatures continue to drop, I’m feeling more and more like a blob with each extra layer I wear. Being 5’4 doesn’t really help that. I’ll admit, mentally it’s really hard for me to gain weight… especially with the pressure of social media/my job. When I’m not pregnant I really don’t weigh myself, so seeing the number on the scale go up at the doctor’s office every month is a big struggle. With Crosby I gained 22 pounds total. This time around I’ve already gained 20 and I still have 13 weeks to go.

I’m definitely not saying this for any kind of sympathy and am not meaning to turn this into a pity party, I’m sharing this because I’m sure I’m not the only one that is feeling or has felt this way. Pregnancy is hard. Adding extra pressure on yourself while pregnant is even harder.

All that aside I’m grateful for this experience. I’ve had two healthy pregnancies without many complications which is more than I could ever ask for.

I’m just over here hoping the weather warms up so I can wear what I want. Until then expect to see less of me and more of other areas of my life on here.

sweater c/o, sweat pants c/o, shoes, bag c/o

Thanks for listening. XO

Ever since we announced baby #2, the gender questions have rolled in. “Do you know what you’re having?” “Do you want a boy since you already have a girl?” Our answers are yes and we don’t care. Or maybe I didn’t care but deep down I knew Jeff wanted a boy.

We did a blood test and found out the gender back in September when I was about 11 weeks pregnant. We did the same test with Crosby and I can’t imagine waiting any longer to find out, I’m super impatient and need to know ASAP. And as far as preference goes, I really would have been fine with either. It would be nice for Crosby to have a sister… plus we already have all the clothes. But a boy would be fun too… and the first grandson on both of our family sides.

I think these photos will spell it out for you…

It’s a BOY!!! We are so excited to add a little guy to our family! Jeff’s still shocked. He thought he was going to end up in a house full of girls! I’m most excited to see both Jeff and Crosby with a baby boy.

Jeff actually surprised me with the news the day we found out. Scratch that, he tortured me. We made a video on IGTV and you can actually watch us finding out.

I had a gut feeling it was a boy pretty much from the start. Which was weird since this pregnancy has been identical to my pregnancy with Crosby. And it goes to show that most of those old wives tales are just for fun, there’s a 50/50 chance on all of them.

I’m so excited for this new baby and kind of feel like I’m starting from scratch. If you have any favorite places to find cute boy clothes, please fill me in! I’ll be sharing everything as we go from nursery decor to the clothes I find.

Thank you SO MUCH for all the love and excitement you’ve shown our family. It feels like I have a bunch of friends cheering me on and makes me even more excited for this new chapter. XO!

outfit details:

my jacket c/o, old dress (similar)

Crosby’s denim jacket, similar dress

Jeff’s henley, jeans

… and one more because I wanted Mackie in on it too.

Ever since we announced our pregnancy I’ve gotten a lot of questions about if we know the gender. I mentioned in this post, but we did a blood test back in September and actually found out then. I did a poll on IG stories the other day asking what you thought we were having and the results came back an even split. Exactly the same number of votes for a girl and same for a boy. What are the odds?! We plan to spill the beans soon… but first I thought it would be fun to test out some gender predicting old wives tales.

sunglasses, jacket c/o, dress c/o, bag, shoes

Sickness

If you have morning sickness or nausea it’s most likely a girl. I haven’t had any… but I didn’t with Crosby either.

Results: BOY

Baby Heart Rate

Under 140 bpm means you’re having a boy and above 140 means girl. This babies heart rate has kind of been all over the place… sometimes above and sometimes below. The last ultrasound it was 138, so we’ll go with that.

Results: BOY

Salty vs. Sweet Cravings

Salty cravings mean boy and sweet means girl. At first I just wanted junk food… both salty and sweet. Now I’d say it’s mostly sweet… I could eat chocolate, peanut butter and sour candy all day.

Results: GIRL

Carrying High vs. Low

Girls are said to be high and boys are low. It’s kind of hard to tell, but after seeing these pics I think I’m carrying high.

Results: GIRL

Chinese Gender Chart

There are a few different versions online. I went off of this one where you enter your lunar age and lunar month of conception.

Results: GIRL

Ring Test

Tie your ring around a strand of your hair or a string, lie down and hang it over your belly. If the ring moves in a circular motion, it’s a girl. If it moves in a back-and-forth motion, it’s a boy.

Results: GIRL

Eye Vain

Pull down your eyelid and see if you have a “V” or “Y” shaped vein in the bottom of your eyeball. If you have it on the left side, it’s a girl. Or on the right side, boy.

Results: GIRL

Ring over Palm 

Place your ring on a strand of your hair. Tap in down into your left palm three times. If the ring moves left to right, it’s a boy and circles, it’s a girl. Once it stops, tap 3 times again. Continue to do this until the ring doesn’t move. It’s gives you how many children you will have in the order of their gender.

Results: BOY

Clumsy vs. Graceful

If your clumsy you’re having a boy and if you’re graceful it’s a girl. I haven’t noticed being more clumsy than normal.

Results: GIRL

Hair

If your hair is thick and glossy, it’s a boy. If it’s dull and limp, it’s a girl.

Results: BOY

Total: 4 for Boy and 6 for Girl = GIRL

Check back next week to see if these were accurate. 🙂

sunglasses, jacket c/o, dress c/o, bag, shoes

Thanks for reading – have you done any of these silly tests?