OK the first pic is awful (although DS is cute), but I'm posting it anyways because I learned a lot from it. In the morning I took the kids to the children's museum. It was a little chilly so I wore a sweater--an super old Gap olive green turtleneck sweater, because I decided I was in "embrace the bump" mode now. I wore it with an old pair of Japanese Weekend maternity jeans, and my Kate Spade Tretorn sneakers. Very comfy. But after looking at the pics, I realized I don't look good in this outfit. It makes me look and feel fat and schlumpy. The color is wrong for me too. So the sweater is going to go into the donate pile. It's really old so I don't feel bad about purging it...I mean, I just got rid of the mint green daisy skirt that was one of my absolute faves from the 90's, so I guess my tastes CAN evolve! This pic really reminds me of my pre-YLF days--perfectly acceptable then, but I'm not satisfied with it now.

I tried again that afternoon, and decided to go with something in the same color but that felt more "me". I was taking them to a kid's birthday party so I wanted to dress up a little and also hide the bump a little better. Take 2 was my olive green H&M safari shirtdress that I bought last fall. I paired it with a Linea Pelle braided leather belt and cognac Frye Melissa lace-up boots and leopard necklace and the Fossil velvet floral satchel I was carrying that morning. I could *almost* pretend I wasn't pregnant...the bump nearly disappeared under the belted shirtdress. And the dress was the same drab color as the sweater, but I felt much more fab in it!

Lesson 1--too clingy is not good. Lesson 2--Flattering cut can compensate for less than flattering color. Lesson 3--stick with what you love--dresses! Lesson 4--all hail the power of the waist defining belt, even if you have no waist!