As the halfway point of this pregnancy draws closer and closer (how did it sneak up on me like this?! lol.), I’ve been finding myself musing over teeny tiny clothes for the Blueberry. Hopefully, we’ll find out soon what the baby’s gender is, so I can really get started on planning a cute wardrobe! I have a real weakness for baby and toddler clothes from the 1920s through 40s, and these pages show some really adorable pieces I’d love to have in the nursery’s dresser drawers. Gingham! Rompers! Cute little sunbonnets! What’s not to love? I’ve decided, no matter what the Blueberry is (meaning boy or girl!) I need to make some little shorts overalls like the ones on the bottom of the last page for next summer. I suspect if this baby is anything like SH and I, it’ll be a scooter and have the proverbial “ants in it’s pants” even at an early age…
P.S. Thank you for the words of concern and good health for my mom in the previous post. She has been so touched and heartened by reading those!
tshirt: Anne Taylor | skirt: thrifted | hat: vintage, gift | bow: self made | shoes: Remix Vintage | handbag: vintage, estate sale | earrings: gift | charm bracelet: vintage, family heirloom
I think being pregnant is making my brain come up with crazy outfits like this one! We went on a little daytrip to Colonial Williamsburg, and somehow I just had to wear this hat. (SH, in good humor, refers to my vintage hats as “silly hats”–which is entirely the fault of the Thin Man movies.) It was a gift from my sister in law this year and dates to the 1930s. The hat reminds me a bit of the hats in The Women (particularly the beach wear during the fashion show), and of one in particular on the envelope illustration of a 1940s playsuit pattern I own. It was serendipity this one came to live with me!
We had such a lovely time at Williamsburg (I wish I had gotten more photos to share)–our first real “date day” in what seems like ages (but has really only been a couple of very long months). Not only did we enjoy walking around and getting dinner at one of the taverns (my first time), but I ran into two lovely blog readers! Not once, but twice–we kept bumping into each other. It was so lovely to meet them (hello, Rebecca and J. if you’re reading this!), and chat about sewing, mutual schooling experiences, and whatnot. Plus they were wearing gorgeous 18th century gowns while touring Williamsburg–so eyecatching. (And it gave me ideas as I have a 1780s gown that just needs new undergarments to be worn… Perhaps post-baby?)
On the baby front… I felt the Blueberry move for the first time! Fifteen weeks is really early, or so I’ve heard, but not entirely unusual. It was weird to realize that the little “popcorn popping” feelings I kept noticing when I was resting was the baby. So neat! I had a visit with my midwife this week, and not only did I get to hear the baby’s heartbeat, but I seem to be right on track for this pregnancy. It just seems weird to think that this time next month I shall pretty much have arrived at the halfway point–time is beginning to go by so quickly! We’re already at the point of starting to discuss things like a crib and the set-up for the baby after it’s born. Honestly, the months cannot go fast enough for me, since I’m eager to meet this little person!
And now for the winner of the pattern giveaway! Congratulations, Alli! I’ve contacted you via email already. Don’t despair if you didn’t win this time; I still have a few other giveaways for this fall up my sleeve!
dress: vintage, thrifted | sweater: vintage, estate sale | belt: thrifted | shoes: ASOS | earrings: Etsy | bracelets: thrifted
Needless to say, this is one of the last of my truly vintage dresses that fit (thankfully, most of my blouses and sweaters still do!). That little person in there has been busy growing the past week! Which of course means my belly is growing. I have been so hungry lately too (a welcome change from the previous 2 months), so I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a little plumping-up going on. hehe!
But more on this 1940s dress: I thrifted it years ago and could never part with it despite that it’s always been too large. The fabric is so charming as is the handmade nature of the dress. It’s still a bit big pretty much everywhere except my belly, but because it “fits” it works! Belting helps a bit too since I have to hike it up over the bump. I think I may have gotten my seasons mixed up a bit with this dress though: it’s far more spring-like than autumn! But the weather is being finicky right now–low 70s one day and mid 80s the next. Frustrating with an already limited closet… (Thank goodness for lots of cute sweaters like this 1950s era beaded estate sale find.) Hilariously, not 15 minutes after I took these photos, I sneezed and broke the belt. Lesson learned: vintage belts that have seen better days are not the best choice when you’re wearing them over your ribcage atop the bump (and are prone to rather violent sneezes anyway). lol.
Oh, and the title of this post? Pistol Packin’ Mama has been going through my head (don’t try to understand why; things randomly come to me in the wee hours and stick for the next day!). lol. But it is one of my 1940s favorites.
I knew it was coming, but somehow I was still squeezing into my more fitted dresses up until about a week ago. Suddenly the baby bumpy really popped out, and my “waist” started inching north. Which means that all my dresses, tailored to fit my (pre-pregnancy) waist pretty closely, suddenly will not zip. Period. Not to mention drinking the amount of water I do daily, occasional bouts of bloating and whatnot make wearing anything that doesn’t stretch a bit uncomfortable. For the first time in my life, I really (really!) love elastic waists and knits.
I’ve been trying to thrift every week lately in hopes of amassing some sort of pile of maternity-friendly clothes, or at least ones I can alter. Most actual maternity clothes leave me a bit cold style-wise, and I’m not falling all over myself to start sewing quite yet (since I know the bump is going to get really big soon, and some other areas have rounded out a bit; I’m waiting a few weeks). So obviously the old “make do and mend” is coming into play! I have been pretty pleased with the few things I’ve found and redone a bit to work within my wardrobe. I’m having a bit of a style crisis at the moment though: one day I want to dress very girlie, vintage inspired. The next I’m itching to wear long, hippie skirts and bohemian jewelry. This outfit is some weird in-between stage. Is this what all these hormones are doing to me? lol.
So all this to introduce you to the first of my maternity outfit series. I’m hoping to document an outfit a week, up until the little Blueberry makes his/her arrival. This is my week 13 outfit, and one I cobbled together with a new-to-me thrifted skirt and pieces I already had. I have a black and white polka dot skirt (this one is navy blue), but can a girl ever really have too many polka dots in her life? I think not! I find it really comical how different the bump already looks in just a little over a week (the announcement photos we taken the day I officially hit 12 weeks)! I feel so big at this point, and yet I know it’s only the start! hehe. Dressing this is going to be a challenge, but one I’m up for! That and posing for outfit photos… I suddenly don’t know how to position my “new” figure anymore! lol.
And because what outfit post would be complete without a Maverick photobomb? The perspective is throwing his size off a little bit, but he is pretty big at this point! (Like around 70lbs big… I have a horse for a dog.)
So the time has finally arrived for me to share with you why I’ve been so absent on this little blog of late. I have, I think, embarked on what is perhaps my biggest, most involved project to date. Can you guess what it is?
SH and I are expecting! It has been really hard for me to keep this under wraps because I have been so overjoyed and this is something SH and I have hoped for and are so delighted with the turn of events in our lives that this baby is bringing. The Blueberry (as we nicknamed it; those equations of the baby’s size with fruit as it grows have been amusing to say the least) is supposed to make it’s arrival in March and we couldn’t be more excited and feel more blessed. I’m working my way through week 12 at present, and am thankfully starting to ditch some of the more unpleasant first trimester symptoms that dogged me from week 5 (mostly nausea and overwhelming fatigue). I knew it was time to come back to blogging last week when I couldn’t stop noting down post ideas–my brain felt like it had woken up from a nearly 2 month nap! lol. It was a bit tough to just stop blogging like I did; I felt rather guilty (along with all the other things I had to miss out on this summer… ), but I think it was what I needed to get through this first third of the pregnancy: simplify and relax (and try to feel better when I could ).
I still keep pinching myself that this is happening; it seems like every week brings something new and unexpected! My brain seems to be in full baby mode right now (a rather surprising thing for me; heretofore I never thought I was really a “baby person”. lol.), and I’ve been planning out my maternity sewing, collecting classic children’s books at thrift stores (I have a good size stack already!), and scheming over nursery decor (and how we’re going to make everything fit). Lest you think this will totally take over the blog, never worry: while it will find a home in my blogging, there is lots of non-baby content I have planned out. So never fear if babies aren’t quite your thing.
Thank you to everyone who hung in there with me this past month while I disappeared from the blog world and took an impromptu sabbatical. Hopefully it won’t happen again (and I’ll have time to get some guest posters lined up) until the baby is due! I know I have a few blogging things to catch up on (like the grading series), and in good time I hope to.
P.S. SH is really happy about the baby, lest you think he doesn’t look it in the photos! He’s just not much of a smiling guy, plus he’s exhausted from work lately. But he was sweet enough to indulge in my request to get some announcement photos, despite his tiredness. Such a sweetheart!
| All photos taken by me (and my trusty camera remote). |
), but I think it was what I needed to get through this first third of the pregnancy: simplify and relax (and try to feel better when I could 
