I'm really enjoying wearing my maternity jeans again. It's so nice having something to wear that I know I'll fit into and feel good in. In the second trimester the bump grows so quickly it can be hard to guess what to wear each day!
I tried on a few other tops before I got to this one. It's pretty, so I wanted to wear it before the bump got too big, but I was really pushing the limits of it. Although it did fit better than a few of the other tops I'd tried, it didn't feel comfortable at all and I was wishing I'd picked a different top after a few hours!
Took toddler T out to a trial class of gymboree, which is like kind of like baby gymnastics. Basically a morning of play learning new moves; bouncing, running, rolling, swinging, singing songs. It was really fun! Toddler T loved it and I wasn't too tired out by the end of it (I did wonder how I'd cope running along with him!).
Wearing my super comfortable maternity jeans again to take toddler T to playgroup. I loved everything about this outfit and wouldn't change a thing!
It was a slightly cooler day in Brisbane after a couple of wet and stormy days, so it was perfect for jeans. I am grateful for the cooler weather as it lets me wear the jeans a little longer, I know in no time at all summer will be here and I'll have ditched them for shorts. I've already bought another pair of maternity shorts in anticipation....
First up, thank you all so much for your kind words on my last post when I mentioned our house hunting is taking longer than we thought. Hopefully we will find the perfect place soon.
Slightly longer post than usual, sharing 3 outfits. It's what I wore when we went down to Melbourne for a girl's weekend to enjoy the food and the shopping. I did think about summarising everywhere we went and ate but it was such a big weekend the list was quite long and would be boring to read. I'll just do my usual and focus on what I wore instead.
It feels odd to be sharing such layered up winter-like outfits in December, but it was a cold weekend when we went down and the temps were around 10 to 20 Celsius, a good 20 degrees cooler than Brisbane. More like autumn/winter temperatures than spring!
This is what I wore to fly down to Melbourne and to explore the city a little. It was much too warm for Brisbane, but I was thankful for the jeans in Melbourne, especially at night as it got very cold.
In the evening I had a quick change out of this grey tee into a few more layers and my Church Online tee to meet one of the ladies on the team I work with each week at church online who is in my online life group (like online bible study). I felt so bad that I got lost, got the trains all mixed up and was very late for dinner - but I made it in the end and we had a wonderful time catching up! It's so nice meeting someone in person after working together and chatting so much with them online.
This was my comfortable yet cosy outfit for a day full of shopping. We started when the shops opened and then eventually were the last people to leave Tiffany in the evening when it closed. I appreciated the layers I'd packed. I took the scarf and jacket off and on through the day as the temperatures changed, but certainly needed them both in the morning and at night when we went out for dinner and dessert.
Out of all the places we visited and all the shopping we did, I have to comment on one experience in particular. If you ever find yourself in the Collins St Tiffany store in Melbourne, ask for Helen. She was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and we picked out some great gifts with her that I can't wait for everyone to receive!
The third day in Melbourne, back in the skinny jeans I'd worn for the trip down and wearing my new scarf that was a gift bought for me the day before from the Queen Victoria markets. I'm pleased how great this scarf looked with the tank! I knew the snood I'd packed wouldn't work with it, so was hoping for a warmer day, but was thankful I had the new pashmia for the chilly morning.
I was sad to leave Melbourne behind (the shopping and the food really doesn't even compare to Brisbane!) but I was really glad to get home and see toddler T. It's the longest I'd ever been away from him since he was born and I really missed him. And Cooper too, I kept stopping to pat cute dogs over the city! I really missed my boys.
I was really happy with everything I packed - I packed just enough, wore everything at least once, and my mostly empty LV keepall became stuffed full of purchasesfor the flight home! I did find myself wishing I'd picked a bag with a cross body strap by the end of the second day so I'd have the chance to give my shoulder a rest, but it wasn't too bad. First time I've ever not over packed! The allure of filling up empty space in my carry on with shopping helped me make the tough decisions of what to pack and what to leave behind.
We had a few cool and stormy days in December so I took the opportunity to get some more wear from my maternity skinny jeans, before the summer temperatures make jeans too hot to wear.
While these are denim, they are such a dark wash that you wouldn't be able to easily tell that they are jeans, so I wear them to the office quite a bit. A good pregnancy workwear option!
As I'm doing the fox in flats DAREcember style challenge, I wore a bit of a bracelet stack to meet the 'army candy' prompt.
Managed to do two style challenges in one! 'Red lip' for Fox in Flats DAREcember and 'sparkle and shine' for Summer Style File. After never having worn red lipstick before and only buying it as part of a challenge, I've quickly become a fan. I love this shade.
This tee was another one I'd been looking at in my wardrobe wanting to wear before the bump gets too big! It has a subtle metallic shimmer to it, a really nice piece and perfect for the challenge theme.
Despite the sunshine in the photos, it turned into quite an overcast day and with all the running around I was doing with toddler T (looking at day care centres for next year) I actually wished I'd worn a cardi a couple of times. The necklace is new - I'd heard of the group For King & Country through Spotify, and then they did a live set at Church Online and I ended up buying the latest album. I saw this necklace while browsing their store and loved the message behind it, that women are priceless and that everyone should be treated with respect and honour.
I was pretty good budget wise in December! As the baby bump gets bigger shopping for clothes is more difficult so I don't do it as often. I shopped more for Christmas presents for others. I did take advantage of the ASOS sale and pick myself up a couple of things I'd been wanting though.
With the summer heat, I've been wearing my maternity shorts a lot! I bought this pair in my last pregnancy and they are still going strong. Wanted to post these two outfits together featuring a super simple shorts and stripes combination, as well as sharing my big post-Christmas sales splurge!
The style challenge for the day was 'black out' and I didn't want to wear an all black outfit in the heat so I went for a black top and kimono together. I wouldn't normally wear a top that matched the outerwear I was wearing, I usually pick different colours, but I really liked the way the black tank looked with the black maxi cardi.
Wasn't doing much, just running a few errands, but I really liked this outfit.
While I'm loving my Jeanswest maternity shorts, I am looking forward to being back into my Prima Denim post-baby. I've raved about them before, but they really are the best jeans I've ever worn. Being petite, the 7/8 length is perfect full length on me too, no hemming needed. I wore my Prima jeans as long as possible in my pregnancy by using a belly band.
I got great news recently that I wanted to share - the Prima Denim Collection is now a permanent fixture at Jeanswest!
Click on image to shop, or text links below. Left to right:
For the Aussies and New Zealanders, this means that you can now find Prima Denim on the famous Jeanswest denim wall. I'll probably be making a trip there to pick up a new pair when I'm starting to feel more like myself after baby's arrival. For those outside Australia who have no idea what the denim wall is all about, no worries, you can find the range online too! (And only a flat $20 AUD for international shipping).
Another simple outfit, this time to work from home. I really liked the stripes and shorts outfit I'd worn above so it made sense to wear it again. The style challenge for the day was 'tuck and roll' so the rolled and cuffed shorts and sleeves met the challenge nicely.
This will be a very photo-heavy post as I share a few of my favourite second trimester outfits. 38 different pregnancy outfit ideas! There are links below all the photos if you want more details.
My single maternity wrap dress was a real wardrobe workhorse, being worn almost weekly, although I continued to wear my regular non-maternity dresses in the second trimester as well. Fit and flare or empire waist dresses were perfect for this.
I only needed one maternity maxi dress for both pregnancies, the majority of my existing maxi dresses were stretchy enough to work through all three trimesters. There were a few I outgrew in the second trimester though.
I added a second pair of maternity denim shorts to my wardrobe for my most recent pregnancy as I was heavily pregnant over summer and it was too hot for jeans. Previously I was doing a full work week and with the cooler temperatures and dressing for casual Friday, my maternity jeans were worn a lot more.
Wore my ninja baby tee to the OB's office on Tuesday, as I thought she would get a giggle out of it. She did, and so did the receptionist. Our next appointment is actually on baby's due date, so I wanted to take the chance to wear the tee to Tuesday's appointment in case baby shows up early. It's looking like baby wants to stay in longer than planned at the moment though, so on the plus side I'll probably have more chances to wear this fun tee :)
Jeans and a tee again today! Added a bright bag for a bit of colour. I love these stretchy oversized tees, I have a handful of them and they are perfect. They drape so nicely without the bump, and yet they are oversized and baggy enough to still fit the baby bump at 38 weeks.
Thought that my maternity wardrobe would look a lot like this and that I'd be wearing jeans and tees more often, based on what my wardrobe was like before pregnancy. My regular wardrobe definitely has more jeans than skirts! I've favoured maxi skirts and dresses more, maybe because of the hot temperatures. These jeans are great though, really comfortable and I've never even considered trying another brand of maternity jeans as the Jeanswest ones are perfect for me.
Jeanswest have another 40% off sale at the moment - online and in store, and it includes already reduced sale items!
Had a day of training on Thursday, which was a lovely break from my currently hectic work. The course was held off-site, and had a really relaxed atmosphere. I learned a lot, and I'm looking forward to putting into practice some new techniques to make my job easier.
There was no dress code provided, so I wore what I would normally wear to the office and went with a simple outfit, passing off my maternity jeans as plain pants again ;) This top has been hanging around in the back of my wardrobe a while, so brought it out as it's going to be really valuable as the bump grows. I alternate between thinking I have plenty of clothes to see me through the rest of the pregnancy, and days where I can't seem to find anything to wear that looks decent and start to panic that I'll run out of clothes. I blame pregnancy hormones!
Had to wear a little bit of pink today for Valentine's Day! Not as bold as the bright red dress I wore last year, but a nod to the day just the same. And of course, jeans for casual Friday. So grateful for Jeanswest maternity jeans!
DH and I finished work a little early today to go and check out my photo in the 'My Human Family: Rescue Dogs Find a Home' exhibition. It's been in Sydney and Canberra, and now it's in Brisbane. Out of 400 entries, the photo I took of DH and Cooper relaxing in the hammock was one of the 40 chosen to be displayed. It was so nice getting to see my photo, I've never had anything in an exhibition before so I was really excited. Worth checking out if you're in Brisbane! It's here for another week and there are so many great photos and stories.
Hope that you have a great Valentine's Day, however you are celebrating. :)
The third trimester is definitely the time to repeat outfits that make you look and feel good, and to do so unashamedly! Find things that work for you and wear them as many times as you like. I've included 55 outfit ideas for the third trimester below, from both of my pregnancies. You can click on the links under the images to view more info about them.
Office Outfits:
In the third trimester, I still wore my ASOS maternity pencil skirts often, but the standout pieces were my wrap dresses. They were such an easy outfit that always fit the growing bump and never failed to look good. I wore wrap dresses a lot! I was able to find some regular non-maternity dresses in my wardrobe that still accommodated the baby bump too.
