Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

My Closet- Throwback Thursday

by Katie Haller

Since I’m so busy lately, it’s been hard to put together new outfits all the time.  That’s why this week I decided to share a throwback.  Before I got pregnant last summer, I was trying to adjust my wardrobe to the hot summer weather here in Las Vegas.  I’ve never been a big fan of shorts, but when the weather is 90 degrees or higher for 6 months out of the year, shorts start to sneak into your wardrobe whether you like it or not.  I may not like wearing shorts that much, but I do love my blazers. That’s why I put together these 2 blazers and shorts looks last summer.  I never got the chance to share these looks, because not long after I took these pictures I found out that I was pregnant.  Once the morning sickness hit me, blog posts were all put on hold and these outfits never got shared.  So here they are now, just in time for the weather to warm up. 
Blazer- Target
Shorts- The Goodwill
Blazer- LC Lauren Conrad Kohl’s 
Shorts- Forever 21

What to Wear While Breastfeeding

by Katie Haller

Lately, it seems like all I can think about is breastfeeding.  It’s probably because it consumes a large part of my day.  I’m sure many new moms would feel the same way. 
Before I had Jack it wasn’t even a question if I would breastfeed or not.  I always knew I wanted to breastfeed my baby.  Why wouldn’t I?  It’s best for baby and mom.  Not to mention it’s free and formula is not.  I didn’t understand why everyone wouldn’t breastfeed their baby.  Well, now after having a baby, I completely understand why some women choose not to breastfeed.  It’s a lot of work!  I’ve had a love-hate relationship with breastfeeding since day one.  I was so happy that Jack nursed right away.  Our first time together he latched right on with no problem.  What I didn’t realize was that he was tongue-tied and developed a shallow latch which caused me a lot of pain.  I also had some difficulty when we came home from the hospital because I was in a lot of pain from the c-section.  It got so bad that I ended up having to take a break from nursing and just pump bottles while I healed.  I did that for a week or so and luckily Jack had no problems taking a bottle.  I broke all the rules and gave him a bottle when he was 3 days old.  I debated exclusively pumping but decided that seemed harder than nursing.  After I healed I slowly started to nurse him again.  With time we both got better with it.  I’ve wanted to quit so many times and just go to formula, but every time I think that I end up deciding that I still want to nurse him.  As of right now, I’ve decided that I’ll breastfeed until I’m ready to be done.  That could be in 2 weeks, a month or 6 months.  I just take it day by day. 
Breastfeeding has definitely come with a lot of challenges, but there is one dilemma that I’m faced with every day. That is the question of….what to wear?  It’s important to wear practical clothes for easy access to your breast when you’re nursing and pumping.  I don’t believe in buying clothes that you can’t wear for the long term, so I’m not buying any special nursing clothes, besides my nursing bras, which I’m sure I’ll still wear them even after I’m done breastfeeding. 
Here are some outfits that I’ve come up with to help you style yourself for those nursing and pumping months after your baby is born. 
This navy blue button-down dress from Old Navy is great if you work in an office and plan to pump at work.  Dresses are usually not practical for breastfeeding, but this style is perfect for it.  The buttons are great for easy access. 
This wrap dress that I found at Savers is a great style of dress for breastfeeding.  It’s low cut, so it’s easy to feed your baby or pump. 
Right now I prefer to dress in a two-piece, because it’s easy to lift your shirt to the nurse or pump.  When you wear a loose top with a blazer, no one would ever suspect that you’re a breastfeeding mom.  This is a great look for an evening out or a casual work environment. 
Just like the button down dress, a button down shirt is always nice for nursing as well.  Easy to unbutton and feed. 
This here is a look I’ve been wearing a lot right now.  It’s comfortable and cute.  It’s loose fitting which is nice for your post baby body.  Plus it’s also nice for nursing, because it’s in two pieces. 
I’m not that comfortable nursing in public, so I normally bottle feed if we’re out and about for convenience, but if I do nurse around other people I like to be covered up.  That’s why it’s kind of a nice option to use your outfit as a cover.  I have seen special scarves that are made to be a nursing cover, but I’ve found that any infinity scarf will do just fine.  Here’s an example of how you could use your own scarf as a cover up. 
Another clothing item you could use to cover up with is a waterfall sweater.  As long as it’s big enough, you can drape it over your baby.  It’s nice not to worry about packing a nursing apron or big blanket in your diaper bag everywhere you go. 
Those are just a few examples of some practical breastfeeding outfits.  I’m curious to know if anyone else had or has a favorite breastfeeding outfit that you wore? 

What I Wore- Postpartum Style

by Katie Haller

 It’s been 5 weeks since I had my baby and I’m feeling really good.  Much better than a month ago, and I’m looking forward to feeling like my old self again.  Unfortunately, with a c-section, you can’t work out for 8 weeks, so as much as I’d like to start working on getting my old body back, I can’t yet.  This is why I’m still searching through my closet to find some comfortable clothes to dress my post-baby body.
I’ve been mostly wearing the same clothes that I wore while I was pregnant.  I’m sticking with loose-fitting and stretchy clothes.  I’m still afraid to wear jeans, mostly because I’m afraid of them rubbing up against my incision, but maybe I’ll be brave enough to try on a pair by next week.  For now, I’m sticking with comfy clothes.

Here are some of my looks from the week…

On Sunday, I wore this striped dress from H&M (original post) that I bought while I was pregnant.  I knew when I bought it that I’d be able to wear it while I was pregnant and well after.  It’s not great for nursing, but that’s okay because I only wore it to church.  However, it fits loosely around my belly which is really nice.
Dress- H&M
Necklace- Target
Shoes- Target
On Monday I wore this tunic top that I wore a lot while I was pregnant (older post) with leggings.  I’ve been pretty much living in my leggings lately.  We went out for dinner on Monday, so I wore my bubble necklace while we were out, but when I’m just at home I’ve been avoiding big jewelry with my little guy grabbing it all the time. 
Top- Kohl’s
Leggings- Forever 21
Sweater- Salvation Army
Shoes- DSW
Necklace- Charming Charlie
On Wednesday, I wore a casual outfit with my striped top that I wore pretty much all the time during my pregnancy because it fit perfectly.  Now it’s pretty loose, but it fits nicely over my belly band that I’m still wearing.  I also decided to pull out my pink tennis shoes to add some color.   
Denim shirt- Target
Leggings- Kohl’s 
Tank top- H&M
Shoes- Target
Necklace- Meijer 
Those are just a few of my looks from the week.  I hope you enjoyed!

What I Wore- Postpartum Style

by Katie Haller

Now that I’m starting to feel better, I decided it was time to start sharing some of my outfits that I’ve been wearing while I’m on maternity leave.  I have to admit that it’s not always easy to get yourself ready and put together a cute outfit to wear when you are taking care of a newborn.  My days are mostly spent at home cuddling with baby Jack, but I have been taking the occasional outing just to get out of the house.  Even when I’m just at home, I like to keep myself busy and stay productive.  That’s why putting on a cute outfit and getting ready helps me accomplish my goals for the day.

 I feel like no one ever talks about what to wear after you have a baby.  It’s easy to find cute maternity looks on blogs, but why doesn’t anyone ever talk about postpartum fashion?  There is a lot to take into consideration when you are dressing your postpartum body.  I knew that I’d probably want to wear comfortable clothes after my baby was born, but I didn’t really give it a whole lot of thought.  Basically, my stomach is still pretty mushy, I’m still wearing a belly band to help put my stomach back together, and then there are the challenges of dressing for breastfeeding.  I’ve pretty much been wearing leggings with long loose-fitting tops that are easy accesses for nursing.  I’ve also worn some maxi dresses that are comfortable and are also easy for nursing.  I’ve basically been wearing the same clothes that I wore while I was pregnant.  Now they’re nice and lose fitting, perfect for dressing my postpartum body.  

Here are some of the outfits that I wore last week.

Top- Nordstrom Rack
Leggings- Forever 21
Jacket- Meijer
Shoes- Target
Dress- Savers
Sweater- Target
Top- Target
Leggings- Forever 21
Sweater- Old Navy
It definitely feels good to be out of my pajamas, but I’m looking forward to the day that I feel completely back to my old self.  I’m looking forward to the day that I feel like I can have a normal routine, but for now, I’m just enjoying every moment at home with my little guy.

Making the Most of Your Non-Maternity Clothes

by Katie Haller

Since I’m currently on maternity leave and pretty much living in my comfortable clothes, my creativity for putting together cute outfits is on hold right now.  That’s why I decided to continue sharing some of my maternity looks.


As you know, I really enjoyed putting together maternity outfits during my pregnancy.  In an effort to save money, I decided early on that I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on maternity clothes.  Nothing against maternity clothes, but they tend to be more expensive than normal clothes and you can only wear them for a very short time.  I was able to wear my normal non-maternity clothes right up until my little guy was born.  I really enjoyed the challenge of finding new ways to wear my normal clothes to keep up with my growing baby bump.  For me, the key was to find clothes that were stretchy and flowy.  Anything that could fit over my big belly.  

Here are some of my favorite non-maternity clothes that I was able to wear throughout my entire pregnancy. 
1st trimester original post/ 2nd trimester original post/ 3rd trimester
I bought this striped stretchy maxi dress at Target during my first trimester.  I knew it would stretch so I’d be able to wear it for a long time.  There really is no need to buy an actual “maternity” maxi dress, especially when you can buy a normal dress at a much cheaper price. Plus you’ll still be able to wear it after your baby arrives. 
1st-trimester original post/2nd-trimester original post/3rd-trimester original post
I bought this tunic tank top at Kohl’s on clearance in the junior department early in my pregnancy. It quickly became one of my favorite tops to wear with my growing baby bump.  I liked that it’s long and loose.  I wore it a lot with leggings and boots during the winter.  It doesn’t have a whole lot of stretch to it, so in my 9th month it was just a little too small, but I did wear it all the time while I still could.
1st-trimester original post/2nd-trimester original post/3rd-trimester original post
This loose-fitting tank top from Old Navy was another great top to wear while I was pregnant.  I bought it before my baby started to show and I wore it all the way into my 3rd trimester. 
1st-trimester original post/2nd-trimester original post/ 3rd trimester
This LC Lauren Conrad blouse from Kohl’s has been a favorite top of mine for a while.  I loved that I was able to wear it throughout my pregnancy.  Since it’s loose-fitting and flowy, it worked great as a maternity top.
Now that I’m no longer pregnant, I’m happy that I don’t have a bunch of maternity clothes that I can’t wear anymore.  Instead, I get to get back to wearing my normal clothes without my bump.

Life with Baby

by Katie Haller

I promise that one of these days I will get back to my normal outfit posts and thrifty tips, but as of right now my life is revolving around my new baby.  It has been kind of a crazy couple of weeks at home with our little guy.  Time feels like it’s flying by, but I also feel like things are standing still.
It’s such a weird feeling when you bring a new baby home.  I know that people have told me that the first few weeks with a newborn are hard, but I think I just chose to ignore them.  I think the most challenging thing for me has been trying to recover from my c-section while caring for Jack.  Luckily, I’ve had a lot of help.  I feel better than I did a week ago and I’m starting to feel more and more like myself each day, but I’m not perfect yet.
It definitely feels weird not being pregnant anymore.  As much as I hated being pregnant, I miss it, if that makes any sense at all.  I hated how uncomfortable I felt and how huge I was, but I miss having my baby with me all the time and feeling him move around.  It’s a weird feeling actually holding him in my arms, knowing that he used to be inside me. 
Even though having a newborn has some challenges with the lack of sleep, the poopy diapers, breastfeeding and all the other things that come with having a new baby, it’s still one of the most wonderful feelings that I’ve ever had.  I’m overwhelmed with happiness when I look at Jack.  I can’t believe that I’m his mom and I grew him for 9 months.  It’s pretty amazing.  I love this newborn stage, but I look forward to watching him grow and getting to know him more every day. 
Here are a few pictures of my little angle.

Follow

@thriftywifehappylife