A couple of weeks ago, we had a seriously wonderful second baby shower with my hometown friends, who I have known for literal decades now (most over 20 years!). We are currently stocked with tons of diapers, lots of baby essentials, books, and basically a full wardrobe until our kid is 2 years old. But most importantly, we have felt such a sense of love, community, and support for both ourselves and our little guy already! It really is overwhelming in the best possible way.



 I am IN LOVE with this navy floral dress, and in my ASOS stories try-on on my Instagram, I think people voted for me to keep this dress more than any other item. I feel like it's super flattering for a big bump: it's not too clingy, or flowy, the sturdy material covers a lot, and makes you feel fancy all at the same time. (I've linked tons of my favorite similar maternity dresses and other blue floral dresses below!) It ended up being a chillier day, but I'd already had it planned that I was going to wear this dress, so sorry, Mother Nature, I just decided to totally ignore you and look like spring. Take that.
 

I now officially have less than a month until the baby is due, and it's crazy to think that I'm shifting from all of these maternity things (clothes, skincare, diet) to thinking about the labor and delivery process and then taking care of an actual real-live baby! It sounds silly, because women have done this billions of times, but it's just so wild to experience it firsthand. Everyone keeps telling me "this is the easy part" but honestly, as hard as what comes next will be, I also can't imagine how rewarding it must be.

YOU GUYS I AM DYING OVER OUR MATERNITY PHOTOS RN! And can I please just live in this dress?

A childhood friend of mine, who now shoots weddings with her husband, so graciously offered to shoot our maternity photos, and they are just beyond stunning! Not only is she my friend, but Lauren, of Mike & Lauren Photography is a total pro who made the experience so fun and easy for us! She put up with our dog running around, carried my purse around while photographing, and knew exactly where to have us stand and look, without feeling too posed or cheesy. In fact, there were so many good photos, I'm breaking them up into two different posts: one with our formal photos and one with our more casual ones. These are the casual ones of course (lol jk).



Even though I'm feeling large and in charge right now, I knew we were going to get flattering shots when she told us to angle or pose in ways that kept us from getting double chins, or making my arms look more slender. It's all about angles people, and I'm struggling to know what my good ones are these days!

After the shoot, my husband mentioned how fun it had been, and how nice it was to have a photoshoot just focused on the baby. We were really able to take some time and not just focus on my big 'ol belly, but on the little miracle kicking away inside who we'll soon get to meet!

(Sidenote: I get tons of questions on my nail color shown just below every time I wear it: it's Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Buff and Tumble and it's my go-to lately. It seriously dries so quick that you can apply a second coat within about 2 minutes! No one has to know I painted my nails on the way to the shoot. Except everyone now knows, I guess.)





If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen the big ASOS haul I put on my stories a couple of months ago, and I got great feedback on this blue dress when I polled people on what I should keep. Even if it wasn't the most practical, it made me feel like a princess (and it was on super sale!), so I knew when I decided to keep it that it would be making an appearance in maternity photos.

I now feel strongly that, in addition to a little black dress, every woman needs a long blue dress. It's equal parts elegant and fun, princess-like and bold, empowering and feminine. And you can't wear one without feeling insanely glam. I've linked tons of gorgeous similar options below, from maternity sizes, to non-maternity, to tall, to petite. I've also linked similar white shoes and pearl hair barrettes. (Speaking of which, is THE IT accessory of the season. You honestly may not see me sans barrette for the next year.)

Can we also talk about how dapper my husband looks?! He was not totally sure about wearing the blue shoes with his ensemble, but it ended up being such a nice tie-in to my dress and he rocked them! Our outfits have a special added little sentiment, because both his floral shirt and my white shoes were bought on our trip to Paris last summer!

Coordinating our outfits for this shoot has also made me really look forward to coordinating with our little guy when he comes along too! I hope he's into letting mom pick out his clothes until he's at least 15! ha!







I already can't wait to share round 2 with you coming up soon!

I can't stress this enough: look into Mike & Lauren photography if you're in the KC area! Judging by their stunning portfolio of engagement and wedding photos, I know that brides, brides-to-be and other moms-to-be would be in equally wonderful hands for a photoshoot.

-Molly