Dressing the mom bod in the summer

Off The Shoulder Shift Dress | Straw Hat | Espadrilles | Straw Tote | Sunglasses 

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Photography by: Katheryn Jeanne Photography | Instagram

Oh gosh, it feels like the old ‘my style’ days.  The pre-kiddos when I had a little more confidence and not a care in the world… I was young!  Y’all remember those posts?  Here, let me link one for you (insert emoji with the big eyes).  Dare I bring us all back to this post (lolol!) or the time I wore winter boots on the beach (shaking my head!).

And then here I am today.  So grown up. 😉

Selfishly, I’ve spent the last 5+ months stressing over the fact that I’m struggling with the postpartum weight loss.  I hear ya loud and clear when y’all say, “it took 9 months to put it on, it’ll take 9 months to get it off”.  I get it.  Instead of soaking up the two beautiful blessings around me (well, 3 if you count the hubs) and realizing what my body went through to even conceive – I’ve been beating myself up for not fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes.  Hitting the gym at 5am (which means an alarm wake up at 4:20am), eating so lean that my arm would probably taste better than another piece of grilled chicken (barf!).  Saying no to my son when he asked to make yellow cookies, because mommy doesn’t have any self-control.  Thankfully as women, I think we’ve all been there before.  We want to look a certain way and  when we don’t, sometimes, it takes a toll on our confidence and emotional state.

I guess where I’m going with this is to say that I’m a little regretful.  I understand physical activity, eating healthy and wanting to look and feel your very best.  But it’s exhausting.  I was in such a race to get fit and confidently wear a one-piece bathing suit on vacation.  I was anxious to be able to go on a long run without stopping – currently, I run 2 minutes and need to catch my breath.  I was anxious to wear a sleeveless top and not have a muffin top.  I was anxious to lose the weight so I could start doing mom style posts again.

I’ve been anxious for all the wrong reasons.

I had it all mapped out in my head, I would have the baby and during my “maternity leave” I would get on a workout plan, do Isagenix and lose all the baby weight before short season.  A familiar situation to me… just like when we started to try for babies, little did I know it would take me 3 years to have my first.  Anyways, here I am, almost 6 months since giving birth to my beautiful baby girl and I’m still holding onto about 20lbs.  It took a 4am bottle with Olive for me to realize that if it wasn’t for the extra weight, I wouldn’t have my sweet babies.  And those precious lives mean more to me than anything in this world.  When that thought crossed my mind and at that very moment, I had a  wakeup call – I need to start loving me for me again.  With or without the extra weight.

So, I’m coming out of my hole… shell… whatever you call it (and perfectly posed mirror selfies that hide the extra ‘fluff’), to show you the 34-year-old-mama-of-two-wife-and-business-owner that I am and how I’m styling my body to give me a little bit of confidence that I’ve been missing!

Like I said, I’m 20lbs over my ideal weight from when I started IVF treatments with Olive (I’m also 5′-2″).  I’m carrying my weight pretty evenly throughout my body AND let me tell you, the extra 20lbs are well hid under this Off The Shoulder Shift Dress from my go-to, Nordstrom’s.  With the southern heat it’s hard to wear long sleeves or pants, so in order to cover up the roundness of my arms and belly, so I’ve been gravitating towards off the shoulder dresses.  Just a llittle extra something to cover up the upper arm area, but still keeps you cool (well, not as sweaty in the Carolina heat).  Shift dresses are great to hide the extra tummy bulge.

My family favorite store as you all know is Nordstrom’s (thank goodness they offer free delivery).  Nordstom’s has a great selection of off the shoulder dresses and I’m so excited to share this Off The Shoulder Shift Dress with y’all today. 🙂  It’s the perfect length for those of you who are a little more reserved when it comes to showing some leg.  I’m a shorty, so I always appreciate a little heel, but they’re just too hard to wear with kiddos.  These espadrilles are PERFECT because the slight platform will give you a bit of a lift.  This adorable bag, $25 hat and my fave-flattering sunglasses completed my I’m-hiding-the-extra-fluff look.

Thank you  Nordstrom’s for providing cute clothes, easy returns and free shipping – you’ve made this mama feel the best that she’s felt in a long time!

Off The Shoulder Shift Dress | Straw Hat | Espadrilles | Straw Tote  | Sunglasses

SHOP THIS POST

Off The Shoulder Shift Dress | Straw Hat | Espadrilles | Straw Tote 

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A huge thank you to my friend, Katy for photographing this shoot.  If you don’t already follow her, make sure you do!  Katheryn Jeanne Photography | Instagram

OFF THE SHOULDER DRESSES

ESPADRILLES

SUMMER BAGS 

SUMMER HATS

**This post was sponsored by Nordstrom.  All products, opinions and content are of my own.  Thank you so very much for supporting brands that support my blog, so that I can share this creative content with you.  Your support means so much!**