Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

My Closet- Weekend Wardrobe

by Katie Haller

I’m officially back at work now.  It has taken me a while to adjust to working with a baby, but it’s been getting easier as the weeks go by.  The hardest part about being back at work for me, besides missing my baby boy, is finding the time to get all the things done that I need to do.  I feel like there is never enough time in the day to accomplish everything.  A simple task like painting my nails has to be put on hold.  I literately had to do my nails in my classroom last Monday morning.  I’m finding that it’s especially hard to keep up with documenting my outfits like I used to.  Blogging about my outfits is something that I enjoy doing, that’s why this weekend I made a point of taking pictures of my outfits to share with all of you, even if they are a day or two late.

This weekend, I decided it was time to ditch my leggings and get back into my jeans.  It’s been so long since I’ve worn most of my jeans, so I figured it was time to start wearing them again.  Besides, before I know it, the weather will be too hot for jeans.

On Friday, I had a professional development day at work.  My favorite part of these days is no kids, which means I can wear whatever I want and not worry about my kiddos messing it up. (Hopefully, no one minds the baby foot that got in the picture.)
Jeans- LC Lauren Conrad Kohl’s (similar) 
Tunic- Nordstrom Rack (similar)
Blazer- Target (similar)
Sandals- Target (similar)
Necklace- Charming Charlie (similar)
On Saturday, I decided to pull my ripped jeans out of the closet.  I haven’t worn them in a while and I forgot how comfortable they are.  This was the perfect outfit for my casual Saturday of running errands. 
Jeans- T.J. Maxx (similar)
Shirt- H&M (similar)
Cardigan- Target (similar)
Necklace- Target (similar)

On Sunday, I decided to switch it up a bit and wear my flared jeans that I haven’t worn in the longest time.  I’ve been wearing skinny jeans for so long, I forgot how much I liked a flared bottom sometimes.  It’s always nice to switch up you wardrobe when you get board of one style.

Jeans- Nordstrom (similar)

Top- Walmart (similar)
Sweater- Old Navy (similar)
Shoes- The Goodwill (similar)

Those were my outfits this week.  I promise to keep up with my daily outfits, it just might take me some time to get them posted, but I guess that’s just mom life for you. 

I hope you’re having a great week! 

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? 

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.

Third Trimester Outfit Reviews

by Katie Haller

Today, I would have been posting my weekend wardrobe maternity outfits for my 40th week of pregnancy.  Thank goodness I’m not doing that today.  Instead, I’m snuggled up with my little baby boy.  I’m still recovering from my surgery, but I’m slowly getting better.  I highly doubt I will be putting any cute outfits together anytime soon or going shopping for a while.  I still need time for my body to heal and I need to get used to having a newborn in my life now.  What I can do is to use this time to look back on my maternity style during my last three months of pregnancy and share some of my favorite looks that I wore. 

The third trimester was pretty rough, especially as it dragged on into the last 2 months.  Finding cute outfits to dress my enormous bump was hard, but I didn’t give up.  It’s not easy to have an extra 30 lbs of weight on you and still feel good about yourself, but the more I tried to put myself together, the better I felt.  I really didn’t buy too many maternity clothes, so finding clothes that fit me was a pretty big challenge.  I mostly stuck to anything that would stretch over my belly, long tank tops worked out great and I still used my belly band a lot for wearing my normal jeans.
Here are some of my favorite outfits that I wore during the last 3 months of pregnancy. 
29 weeks
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30 weeks
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31 weeks 
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32 weeks 
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35 weeks 
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37 weeks 
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37 weeks 
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38 weeks 
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My bump went from big to huge in the last 3 months.  Everyone wanted me to know that too.  That was one thing that I didn’t like during my last couple months.  Everyone had to comment on how big I was.  When I was in public by myself, people would often look at me as if I was going to go into labor right in front of them.  It got to the point where I only wanted to travel outside of the house with Kevin.

My third trimester baby bump growing.
Over all my third trimester was filled with lots of ups and downs.  Like most women, I was extremely uncomfortable throughout my entire last trimester.  In the last couple months I could barely sleep at night and work was getting really hard.  It’s not easy trying to keep up with my energetic Pre K children all day.  However, I do feel like I kept nice and busy during the third trimester, just trying to pass the time.  We took a trip home to Michigan for Christmas and Kevin and I spent a lot of quality time together; going out together and organizing the house on our Saturday’s off.  The best part of my third trimester was that I got to meet my baby boy 10 days earlier than expected.  I was so relieved that I didn’t have to worry about an over due baby.  The doctor had wanted to induce me today if the baby hadn’t been born yet.  I’m so glad that didn’t happen and he came naturally on his own.  Now I have a very healthy little baby boy at home with me.  My heart feels full.
My family

Have a wonderful week! 

Weekend Wardrobe- Maternity Style

by Katie Haller

It’s hard to believe I’m 38 weeks pregnant.  Baby could be here at any time.  I never know when will be my last maternity post.  I know I say this each week, but dressing a 9-month baby bump is hard.  I swear it gets harder each week, but at least I don’t have much longer to go. 
This weekend Kevin and I spent the entire weekend together.  We are enjoying our last couple of weeks as just a married couple with no kids.  I know that our lives will never be the same once we become parents, that’s why it’s nice that we have had some time to just appreciate our life as just the 2 of us. Don’t get me wrong, we can’t wait to be a family of three, but our little weekend outings together have helped pass the time while we wait for our little boy.  On Saturday we got free tickets to a magic show on the strip and Sunday we had a 2 person super bowl party.   
Here are my outfits from the weekend. 
Saturday 

Blazer- Kohl’s 

Shirt- Kohl’s 
Jeans- Old Navy
Shoes- DSW
Sunday
Dress- Target
Denim Jacket- Meijer
Shoes- Target
Necklace- Charming Charlie
Here’s my baby bump picture for 38 weeks.  I’m trying to stay patient and wait for this little guy’s birthday to get here, but sometimes it’s hard.  My belly is bigger than ever.  Work is definitely getting to be draining, but I’m proud of myself for powering through.  Staying busy has really helped me get through these last couple of weeks. 
38-week baby bump

 
Have a great week!!

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