Favorite Looks of 2013

Well, I might not be getting dressed much these days in favor of ease for staying in and cuddling and nursing Baby Boo, but I still thought it would be fun to do a "favorite outfits" recap of 2013.  I didn't spend the entire year in maternity clothes either, so there's some of both regular and maternity style in my recap.  Here are the outfits I felt were highlights for me this year beginning in January and going through late November.

(The above pic was taken mere days after I knew I was pregnant, FYI)

(Here comes the bump - and my willingness to embrace it after this point) 

 (I am so keeping this dress even if it is maternity, love it)

What is fun about doing this recap too is watching me grow throughout the year.  Maybe by the end of 2014 we'll have a similar effect of a shrinking Bethie instead!  

Back to 2013, as I look over the pictures, a huge theme for me this year was color - lots and lots of color!  Also a trend in colder weather - boots.  Throw in some fun animal print as well as my continued love of "dresses as skirts" along with mixing vintage and new together and I think you can pretty easily describe my style for the year - both maternity and non!

I'm excited for getting back into regular clothes again, but for now, I'm just going to keep enjoying my time with my little guy, cause I know it's going to go by in the blink of an eye!  Yoga pants and hoodies are fine for now!

Mama got dressed!

The pictures aren't great because I lost the memory card to my point and shoot camera, so we have to rely on my iPhone for right now, but I actually wore real clothes over the holidays!  I thought I'd share here.  The first outfit is from Christmas Eve - I found a pin on Pinterest and copied the look.

Striped shirt/dress - swap

Jacket - White House Black Market, consignment

Leggings - Simply Vera, Kohls

Boots - Merona, Target

The second outfit is from Christmas Day - if you're friends with me on Instagram you may have already seen this one.  Oliver and I kind of matched.

                                   

Flannel shirt - Old Navy

Vest - Swap

Jeans - Old Navy (NOT maternity, woo hoo!)

I hope to have a new memory card, better pictures and more outfits coming your way again soon.  I received a lot of easy to nurse in type clothes for Christmas, but some of it is really cute!  I also have a recipe I want to share here soon and many other stories as well.  I hope you are all doing well and that you all had wonderful holiday celebrations!

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas to you and yours! I hope you all have a blessed holiday if you celebrate and just a darn good day if you don't. I know we will.

Best. Gift. Ever.

Diaper Monkey

Hey everyone!  I wanted to pop in real quick and fulfill a promise to Megan and Nora Bird - they gave me the cutest baby gift for Oliver and said they wanted pictures.  Here they are.

I had shared the Diaper Monkey onesie they had given me, but they other pieces came later - the cutest sock monkey hat and knitted diaper.  It is simply hilarious.  Oliver wasn't terribly thrilled to put this on for me, but I told him he needs to get used to it, it's only the beginning of his blog career!

I seriously think at this point my son has more clothes than I do - I hope to share more of them soon.  And get back into my own outfits too!  I wore a cute outfit to dinner at the Pants Monkey's uncle's house this weekend but my phone wasn't cooperating to save the pictures I took.  Mama is getting dressed again though guys!  Well...some days anyway.

And by the third shot here you can see he clearly had enough!  Oh well.  What fun is having a baby if you can't have a little dress up fun right?

I'm linking this to Inspiration Monday today even if it has nothing to do with anything other than being a very adorable gift from the birds.  Thank you ladies!

Guest Post - H&K Style Journey with a furry guest

Heather is one of my very good blog friends and I often call her my style muse/twin, as she creates many looks I adore and try to emulate!  I love this post she brought us today - she shares about her special friend who I just adore!  Take it away Heather!

Hello! My name is Heather and I blog over at H&K Style Journey.  I am so excited to be guest posting for Beth while she is off spending time with her new bundle of joy.  Since following Beth's blog for awhile now, I also know that her kitties are also her bundles of joy.  I thought it would be fun to tell you about the story of William the Cat.

You see, William is our neighbor's cat, but he loves to hang out at our house.  When my daughter Kayla and I started our blog a little over 2 years go, we would stand out front and take our pictures.  He kind of became our blog mascot.  We also found out that he is a camera hog.

William used to hang out in our flower bed and jump out at us in the mornings.  It took him quite awhile to warm up to us before he actually would even let us pet him.

Even our blog readers started to take notice that Will ended up photobombing a lot of our photos. 

Although Will isn't our cat, we love him as our own.  He runs across the street when we pull up and greets us almost everyday.  He even loves to jump in our van when we open the door.  He has his sweet moments and his grouchy moments, but he is part of our lives and part of our blog. 

Head on over and say hello at H&K Style Journey for more outfit photos and more adventures of William the Cat!

Thanks so much Beth for letting us guest post and tell our story about Will.  Congratulations and enjoy this time off with your new little man!

Guest post - Cozy outfit from Jess at J's Style

Hope everyone is having a good week - today I am hosting my buddy Jess from J's Style - she and I have a very similar style vibe, check out her outfit below - I love it!

tunic & boots: Target, sweater: Kohl's, scarf: Old Navy, leggings: Giant Eagle

Hello everyone! I'm Jess and I blog over at J's Style where I post mostly my weekday looks - not because that's necessarily the focus of my blog, but because most of my weekend usually consists of either family time or cuddling up at home with my husband and outfits for that aren't too creative or blog worthy. While Beth is spending time enjoying being a new momma, I wanted to share what I thought could be a good outfit for staying comfortable and a little bit stylish! Leggings, a tunic, and a loose fitting sweater are pieces you can't really go wrong with in my book if you're trying to go for comfort without resorting to sweatpants. Beth and I both have these boots, so I'm guessing she would probably agree with me that they're the perfect option when you want a little bit of height without committing to heels for the day. (side note from Beth - yep, I agree!)And that scarf? It's perfectly over-sized...maybe it could double as a blanket for the little guy?! :) 

Labor Day

This is my last maternity outfit.  Fun story - I am in early labor in these pictures, I just didn't know it quite yet!  I actually made it through half a work day the day he was born before realizing something was up.

Looking at these pics though I can tell I am not feeling 100% right.  My boss could tell I was off that day too and was not surprised I delivered that night!  I didn't even put on jewelry - rare for me as you all know!

Top - Mix It, thrifted

Sweater - swap

Leggings - Simply Vera, Kohls

Shoes - Clothes Mentor

At any rate I am glad I have an outfit picture from my final day of being pregnant.  I still can't believe he is here.  I wasn't even due until today!  Hope all is well with all of you - I have been reading your blogs when I can even if I can't easily comment right now!  I miss all of you!

Guest post - Maternity wear as regular wear

Here is the first of some awesome guest posts I have lined up for you guys and it's a very timely subject - Aya of Couturgatory is here with some thoughts on maternity clothes as regular clothes - something I'm thinking about quite a bit now that baby is here, there are a number of items I kind of want to keep wearing because I ended up really like them!  Anyway, Aya is awesome, so I'll turn it over to her!

Hello everyone! I'll be taking the place of your regularly scheduled Bethie the Boo today. My name is Aya, and I thought an in-theme post, as we celebrate the arrival of Baby the Boo, would be styling maternity wear when you are not pregnant.

  I am not nor have I ever been pregnant, but I have a few maternity wear pieces, and I really dig them. Maternity fashion has come a long way, and I love that ladies no longer have to spend pregnant months with nothing pretty to wear.

  Maternity wear is of course made with stretchy fabrics, so they easily fit my broad shoulders, they're designed to drape beautifully over the ever-changing size of a pregnancy, and they're soft.

  I find the ruching often present on the sides of maternity garments to be flattering to the waist, whether you are convex or concave

  Here are some photos of maternity clothes I've styled on my blog:

 

  This is a Liz Lange) for Target maternity dress. That's not a typo, there is a close parenthesis printed on the inside. Fashion people! The asymmetrical draping gives it a Greek goddess feel. To give it a little shape, I added an Audra Jean harness on top.

  Maternity dresses and shirts look great over leggings. I used pinstripe jodhpurs to add some pattern and visual interest. Low heels are a practical footwear choice if one happens to be a new mother. During pregnancy, a women's body releases hormones that looses the connective tissue holding her joints together. Due to this and the increased weight, her feet may widen, and low heels with good arch support can help keep the foot's shape.

 

  This is a Gap maternity shirt. Again, its material is as soft as a sweater, but light and stretchy. It has ruching that lengthens the front slightly in contrast to the sides, which lengthens the torso and is flattering to the waistline. It's a great underlayer under vests, and goes equally well over skinny jeans and skirts. I consider it one of the more versatile layering shirts I own. Oh, and did I mention it's warm? Great for fall. :D

  Thank you for having me over, Bethie's friends! I, like you, am looking forward to her return, and in the meantime, stay tuned for all of the other awesome guest posts that will be shown here.

Baby Boo

Well, it's been quite a week here my friends - this whole time I assumed I'd go past my due date, but surprise, our baby boy decided to make his appearance just a little early.  I'd like to introduce Oliver Michael, born Tuesday, December 3rd at 10:13 pm.  7 lbs, 2 oz, 19 in.

We ended up with a snowstorm the next day and a huge drop in temperature - the old wives tale about barometric pressure and women going into labor must be true!  I do have to brag - labor was only 7 hours long.  It was really a fantastic experience - we had a water birth and I won't go into crazy details here but if anyone is ever curious, I'd be happy to share offline.

Mr. Monkey is a fantastic daddy and support to me.  He has helped tremendously in these first days home! We have settled in well and are just smitten with this little guy.

Obviously posting will be sporadic here now, but I will be getting some outstanding guest posts up very soon amidst some of my own.  Thank you all for the support these last nine months! I appreciate it more than you can know!!

Thanksgiving Bump Wear

So this is what I wore on Thanksgiving.  I am so not kidding when I say I kind of want to keep a pair of maternity pants with the big stretchy band for future Thanksgiving dinners - so roomy and comfy!  The only baby in my belly next year will be a food baby, he he.

We had such good food though.  The Pants Monkey smoked a turkey to bring over to his family's celebration.  We felt kind of bad, his dad made a regular turkey as well, but everyone kept raving about our turkey.  In addition to turkey, there was also mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, salad, green bean casserole, broccoli and rolls.  SO. MUCH. FOOD.  And three kinds of pie for dessert.  All delicious.

Brown sweater - Old Navy Maternity

Orange sweater - Zashi, from cousin

Jeans - Indigo Blue, thrifted

Necklace - S&D

Bag - Merona, Target

Socks - Gold Toe, gift

Shoes - DSW

This sweater is my favorite maternity sweater too.  It's long enough that even as the bump has pushed out more it still looks decent.  And it's soft and comfy.  I just might hold onto it for after as well.  Some of my maternity clothes I will not be keeping, but some of them haven't been too bad!