Closet Cleanout (or Maternity Makeover)

Before I even knew that I was pregnant, my amazing colleague who I really enjoy and appreciate returned from her own maternity leave and returned to me all of the maternity clothes that I had offered to let her borrow.  Little did I know, at the time, that I would be needing them so quickly!

Over Winter Break, I ironed every piece of clothing in my closet so that I would have plenty to choose from at the start of a busy semester.  But I wasn't counting on my belly growing so big so quickly!  I ended up wearing some ill-fitting un-buttoned clothes this week (with a belly band, of course) so that I could justify wearing those nicely pressed items one last time before I officially start reaching for the maternity clothes again.  Luckily, I tend to buy some longer, more "flowing" items even when I'm not pregnant, so many of my shirts should still fit me for months to come.  And because I have such a long torso (I swear, my body is truly designed for carrying a baby), I even wore a couple pairs of my non-maternity low-cut pants fully buckled under my belly all the way through my pregnancy with Ella.  But most of my dress trousers aren't going to make it much longer.

So this weekend, while Ella played independently in the other room (I love this stage!!), I went through my first major "closet cleanout" or "maternity makeover"--boxing up the items that won't fit during the rest of this pregnancy and the early weeks with the new baby, and replacing them with my three-years-out-of-season-but-good-enough maternity clothes from last time around. 

I'm going to need to do a little more shopping.  If anything, you may remember that I got a promotion when I returned from maternity leave (making it much easier to return!), so I feel that I need to do a better job of "dressing the part" this time around (not to mention, I seem to have stuck with the blue/purple theme last time, so maybe I should try to add a little extra color this time around).  When I mention that I'm due in early August, everyone shows concern that I'm going to have to struggle through the hot Arizona summers in my third trimester.  But for me, I figure that I'd much rather be wearing the cute spring and summer maternity clothes than be all bundled up with layers in the winter!  But I guess that we take what we can get.  My husband's promotion will be the first week in March, so I'm excited to go up and shop in the "real" city.  Until then, I'll finish out the rest of my ironed they-fit-now-but-not-much-longer outfits. 

Yesterday's blessing was the chance to play with Ella in the snow.  That's right--you read it correctly--we had snow in Arizona!  We only got an inch or snow, and it was all gone by lunch, but it sure was fun while it lasted!  I hope these sort of days turn into memories for her--I know they will for me.