I Call It My "Office Chic Mom-er Bomber"

Or in plain terms, a bomber jacket.

My best trick for dressing the belly for work has been to wear a stretchy, solid-colored top (yet another shout-out to the Merona tank tops!) paired with a scarf, sweater, or jacket. By doing this, I've been able to get so much use out of my non-maternity wardrobe! I can continue to add to my closet without worrying that I'm wasting money on clothes I'll only use for eight weeks (at most) and then give away.

I've had loved all of my past eShakti dresses (links below), my favorite being the third dress. Little did I know that I would get pregnant two weeks after that post... which means I only got to wear it one more time before my belly declared it too snug. I was so happy when they offered to send me something from their holiday line. The dresses were out of the question, but there were so many jackets to choose from! I love this Geo Print Front Ponte Bomber Jacket with its subtle flair and clean look. It's perfect to wear on the weekend or at the office (which I did yesterday). I'm so glad it will work both with and without this baby bump, but for now, it's my "Mom-er Bomber." ;) What do you think?

New eShakti customers will receive a $25 gift coupon.
Scratch that! $35 for a limited time!

Past eShakti reviews:

My New Year's Eve Dress

Color Me Emerald

The New Usual & Embellished Necklines

* eShakti sent this jacket to me to review. All opinions are my own.

San Diego Baby Shower

A million thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for hosting our baby shower! We connected with some loved ones we hadn't seen in a very long time. Months! Years! Thank you to all who came out to celebrate our little one on the way. You have no idea how loved we feel, and we are so excited for all of you (and us) to meet her very soon.

I'm still trying to collect photos from everyone who attended. I made sure to leave my phone in the guest room so that I could completely focus on spending time with everyone. All but three of the following photos were taken by Sevilla Photography. (Our maternity session was right before the party.)

Our wonderful hosts! My nephew was napping.

You'll never know the love I have for red velvet.

My grandma couldn't keep her hands off my belly. I loved it. Seeing her so excited made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Over 18 years of friendship right there!

Real men sacrifice themselves for toilet paper diaper designer games.

Yes! Those are blog-turned-real-life friends! Joelle and Emily (who is also pregnant!)

My mom, my sister, and my mom's sisters.

My college friend, Kerry, and her girls. She inspires a lot of how I want to parent. Love her!

Almost all of the family! (Missing my napping nephew)

Takin' it back to high school!

This was the day after, but I love these photos of me with my nephew and my sister.

Bumpdate: 32 Weeks

Taken on Christmas Day at 31 weeks and 4 days (but the bump looks the same)

How far along? 32 weeks

Baby's gender: Little lady

Weight gain: 22 lbs. All belly and hips!

Maternity clothes? Still wearing the same select maternity and non-maternity items plus the non-maternity $7 Merona tank tops from Target in every color.

Sleep: Sleep isn't as restful anymore. I never fully wake up, but I have to shift positions throughout the night. Non-pregnant people do this, too, but it requires more effort and consciousness when I can't simply sit up or roll over anymore. Remember? There's an extra 22 lbs. in my way. ;) Also, I was sick with a cold last week which made it hard to breathe.

Best moment in the past week: Getting our maternity photos and ordering our New Year cards.

Weird pregnancy moment: Fortunately, nothing weird has happened. Let's keep it that way.

Movement: Baby's got moves! I posted a video of her dancing skills on Instagram on Christmas Day.

Food cravings: Clementines, chocolate custard from Sheridan's, and peppermint chocolate cookies from the Kroger bakery.

Anything making you queasy? Nope!

What I'm looking forward to: Receiving items ordered from our registry and continuing to set up the baby's room. Half of our loved ones shipped our baby shower gifts before our trip to San Diego, and the other half gave us gift cards and money. I've been going on a Babies 'R' Us and Zulily shopping spree without spending our own money!

Maternity Photos by Sevilla Photography

During our recent trip to San Diego, we did a maternity photo shoot with Sevilla Photography, and these images are so special to me!

Before I was pregnant, I never had my heart set on taking maternity photos. As long as I had some photos of me with our little one in utero, I thought that would be enough for us to cherish. But then I realized that her dad could never be in the photos, because he was always behind the camera, and that just didn't seem right. She is a product of both of us, after all!

Thank you, Daniel, for freezing these special moments in time for us!

Photos taken 1 day shy of 30 weeks

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

Today we are far from our friends and family in body but close in spirit. (What would we do without texting, e-mail, and Skype?) We're resting at home and cozying up for our last Christmas as a family of two humans and two cats.

I hope that your Christmas has been filled with love to keep you warm through the season and new memories to carry you through many years ahead. Thank you for reading this little ol' blog. I've gotten to know so many of you so well, and it makes blogging so much sweeter. I'm grateful for you.

Happy holidays!

A Christmas Ornament Tradition

It's a bittersweet day. We've been with family in San Diego for the last few days, but we have to travel back to our "home" of Memphis today. Being with my family this weekend has been wonderful, comfortable, and full of sweet nostalgia.

Baby Girl isn't due until February, but she already has a stocking hanging on the mantle. We couldn't help ourselves. I've thought a lot about my childhood Christmases and what I want to pass on to our little one. She'll leave hot cocoa and cookies for Santa, get one big present from Santa under her stocking, and have her pick of one gift under the tree to open on Christmas Eve before going to sleep -- just like I did.

But there is one tradition that I have continued since childhood and that is adding a new ornament to the tree every year. My mom started this when I was a kid, and she gave me my personalized ornament box when I officially moved out and started my grown-up life. Each ornament commemorates something from the year like a trip, a show, a new home, or a pet adoption. This tradition fills the tree with memories every year, and I hope to do the same with our daughter.

What childhood holiday traditions do you hope to pass on?

Up, Up, and Away!

Today we are San Diego-bound for a long weekend of family and (baby) showering! Mr. TBS hasn't been back since we moved away 3.5 years ago, so this is a special trip. I can't wait to squeeze everyone's neck and to kiss my sweet nephew's face. He's been practicing for my arrival:

I get to kiss this cute face in less than 24 hours! Cannot wait! 😍 #lindsayisahardwordtosay

A video posted by Lindsay (@sapphirelindsay) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:31pm PST

Happy Friday, everyone!

3 Baby Things I Love and a Request for Recommendations

I check our Babies "R" Us registry daily, thinking I'll find something to add or remove. It's an obsession that is similar to the insanity that causes a person to check a refrigerator every five minutes with the hope that something new has appeared. And let's be honest, I just like looking at baby stuff. We haven't set up her nursery yet, but I frequently walk in her room and stare at her things. The clothes, the blankets, the gadgets. I can't wait to see her using all of it, but there are three things in particular that excite me about having a daughter.

Sophie the Giraffe. This teether is so damn cute. I fell in love with it the first time I saw a kid with one. Sophie is a gender neutral toy, in my opinion, but carrying around a little girl and her Sophie is going to be precious.

This dress from my childhood. I'm not sure if my mom or grandma made it, but I love that she'll be able to wear something I wore as a kid.

I really dislike that so much (read: almost all) "baby girl" stuff is pink. Things don't have to be pink to be cute or feminine. Some pink is good; all pink is not my taste. But how cute are these moccasin boots?! They were gifted at my surprise baby shower/going away party in Knoxville, and I die every time I see them.

Also, I'm in love with Twilight Turtle and the Crane humidifier (which we've already opened and used). In short, I'm obsessed with all of her things, both the cute and the functional.

Mommy friends, what are your baby item recommendations? 
What could you not live without, especially in those first few months?

Our Unexpected Tour of the Hospital

Thanks to business trips and plain ol' good luck, I made it through the first trimester without dear Daddy-to-Be ever hearing or seeing me vomit. That made me happy, and I can only imagine he felt the same. Throwing up is something I prefer to do in private, if I must, and heaven forbid someone try to comfort me by touching me.

Thanks to the hustle and bustle of moving to a new city and starting a new job, our pregnancy preparation was interrupted. I had barely met my new OB when I bombarded him with questions. When can we do my glucose tolerance test? What do I need to do to pre-register at the hospital? Where is the birthing class schedule posted? Do they give hospital tours? We really wanted a hospital tour.

Thanks to working in a senior living community, I'm susceptible to illnesses that go around rather quickly. Despite a quarantine of certain areas of the community, a stomach bug stretched its nasty little wings around me last Friday, and BAM.

I didn't feel well that night after dinner and chalked it up to eating too much for dinner or eating too fast, as we pregnant gals have been known to do. I laid down that night hoping to sleep it off, but within an hour, I awoke with a familiar feeling I hadn't known for months. The nightmare of the first trimester had returned! And again... and again... and again... Within two hours, I had nothing left to give, and just then, S stumbled downstairs amidst all the noise I was making and house lights that should never know the wee hours of the morning. Baby seemed to be fine, but I was worried what dehydration and whatever this "bug" was might do.

He drove. I retched into a Target bag. He put his hand on my back, and while it may have agitated me in the past, I thought, "Thank you. Please help me." I was worried, but I told myself to not be scared and not to panic. I remembered hearing that one should stay as calm as possible when bitten by a snake, because panic and stress would only pump the venom through veins faster. This moment was my snake bite, and I tried to keep calm to talk normally.

We drove to the E.R., and then I was rolled over to Labor & Delivery. In another attempt to keep it calm and lighthearted, I asked the nurse pushing the wheelchair if I should put my hands up and "wooo" as if I was on a roller coaster. All three of us chuckled. Before too long, we were set up in a room, and an angel named Nurse Kim took care of us. I can only hope that the nurses on my delivery day are like Nurse Kim! She was compassionate, thorough, and very attentive. A blood draw here, an IV there, some medication for good measure, a lot of quiet time in between, and we were on our way by 7:00 AM. 

We had a very thorough hospital tour of Maternity that early morning, and I am so happy with what I saw. I think S appreciated the reclining chair at the bedside too! And I am thankful for the man who lovingly put his hand on my back as I ever-so-gracefully puked every 30 minutes.

But have no fear! Baby is completely fine, and after two days, I'm back in action. Just a Mom and Daughter showing illness how we do life. TAKE THAT! ;) We're still on track for our trip to San Diego this Friday!

Maternity Wear for the (Frugal) Petite Working Girl

Finding affordable petite clothing can be hard, let alone finding affordable petite maternity work wear. I put off wearing maternity clothing to work until I was 25 weeks along, because simply put, I suspected I wouldn't be able to find maternity clothes my size (I'm just under 5'2") and I didn't want to spend the money.

I scoured the internet for tips on how to look like a professional HR lady with a bump at work without buying an entirely new wardrobe. Here are some of the things in my closet these days (all of which I love).

1. LC Lauren Conrad Crop Ponte Blazer (non-maternity)
2. Old Navy Maternity Pixie Low-Panel Ankle Pants
3. LOFT Olive Branch Floral Scarf (non-maternity)
4. Motherhood Maternity Petite Skinny Maternity Jeans
5. Express Overlapping Leopard Print Quad Scarf (non-maternity)
6. H&M Fine Knit Cardigan (non-maternity)
7. Motherhood Maternity Petite Bi-stretch Suiting Straight Leg Maternity Pants
8. Old Navy Maternity Jersey Cami
9. by&by Long-Sleeve Embellished Sweater Dress (non-maternity)
10. Apt. 9 Essential Cocoon Cardigan (non-maternity)

For the other petite first-time pregos out there in a maternity wear rut, here are my tips:

• I've gotten a lot of use out of my non-maternity sweater dresses. I know I won't be able to wear them throughout my entire pregnancy, but they've gone a long way already.
• Non-maternity blazers and sweaters create a polished look for work and will fit post-baby too.
• Dress up basic pieces with scarves (or statement jewelry during warmer seasons).
• Cough up the cash for good maternity basics. They're worth it.
• If you wear petite sizes, buy maternity clothes in petite sizes too. Don't try to fake it with regular sizes!
• Check out thrift stores and discount stores (Marshall's, Ross, TJ Maxx, etc.).

I still have up to 12 more weeks of dressing a growing bump, so if you have any tips for the home stretch, please tell me!