Can I just be honest about something? I’ve ALWAYS looked forward to wearing maternity clothes. After getting married sometimes I would just “let myself wander” over to the maternity section of Target 😉 I felt like they always had such cute maternity clothes!!! And I loved seeing pins of expecting women on Pinterest go thru my feed & how they styled their cute bump.

Today I’m sharing my 3 favorite places to purchase maternity clothes. Now these 3 stores are all local to Bloomington-Normal because I want this post to do double duty. I know I won’t always be pregnant 😉 but I’m always asked by my clients who are expecting on recommendations of where to purchase their own outfits for their maternity session with me & I want this to be a resource for them! I’m also sharing a few bonus places that I know you can buy online maternity clothes as well.

Through-out the post I give a few *TIPS*. This is only my first pregnancy, but I’ve found a few things that have really worked for me clothes wise that I think any momma who’s expecting will appreciate!

I haven’t had to buy very many clothes at all actually. I’ve been very blessed in having dear friends who either shared with me their maternity clothes & even a few friends who are done having kids & they gave me lots of clothes. It’s been a SUPER huge blessing. I feel like the Lord granted me my hearts desire in knowing how much I like maternity clothes & that I wouldn’t be able to afford much on my own, so He gave me clothes thru others. So my recommendation would first be to see if friends lend or even give you their wardrobes. You never know who’s ready to empty their closet!

So since I haven’t bought many items myself, I am VERY happy with the few items I have purchased from these particular stores which are my fav’s:

1. TARGET – My mom & I went out shopping one afternoon at the beginning of my pregnancy & we found an adorable top at Target. It’s a tank top but flowy & has grown with me through my pregnancy. I’ve already started layering with it this fall & will continue to wear it through my pregnancy. That’s a for sure *TIP* I’d give, find items you can use in different seasons for more wear because it is true, you’re only pregnant 9 months!Some of the clothes I was given by friends were from Target. They’ve lasted through several pregnancies my friends have had & their still in wonderful condition for me. Plus, Target is just a reasonably priced store in general & who doesn’t like the Target Cartwheel app? 😉
2. OLD NAVY – I’ve bought bought two dresses from Old Navy (ON) & I love both! One was at an outlet store in Nashville, TN & the other was online when I had just found out I was expecting. I had gone online to ON to find some leggings that I knew I’d need in the fall/winter & saw a dress for like $18 that I knew I could wear in the summer & again layer with it in the fall/winter. I LOVE both of the dresses I got & the two pairs of ON maternity leggings I got- one pair black & the other pair navy.And sidenote, the black & navy leggings have been awesome! I’m currently wearing a knee-length dress with black leggings on underneath- comfy & cute :)Another *TIP* I’d give is if you find out you’re expecting, go look online at ON & see what’s on sale in the maternity section. Chances are the season where you’ll be at your biggest is the season of maternity clothes that are on sale since it’s like 6-7 months down the road 😉
3. KOHLS – Kohl’s is just a great store all around. I mean hello, Kohl’s cash! My mom &  I went to Kohl’s as well the day we went out shopping. That’s where I ended up getting two pairs of maternity skinny jeans & they were 40% off! I wanted to have my own pairs to be able to wear through all my pregnancies to come & I love both pairs!

For local Bloomington-Normal shoppers, Gordman’s & Macy’s also have maternity sections. They sell the Motherhood Maternity brands. So if you like what our local Motherhood Maternity store sells, check the other two stores out. I did buy one pair of Motherhood Maternity burgundy skinny jeans, but I personally don’t care for the store. Their prices are a little too high for me & the return policy kind of stinks.

Clothing Mentor & Frogs & Fairies are two local re-sale clothing stores that sell maternity clothes. Their sections are small but you might find something there! I bought a few items off of online facebook groups through individuals so that’s an idea as well!

Online places to buy maternity clothes, specially more unique items is Pink Blush Maternity, Walmart, H&M, Jane.com (sometimes), Zulily & GAP. If you want to drive a bit, Peoria has two Ross Dress For Less stores & two Burlington Coat Factory locations & they both have very small maternity areas. I wish TJ Maxx had one! Maybe in the future they’ll jump on that bandwagon 🙂

I don’t think you should spend a lot of money on maternity clothes. It is true that you are only pregnant for 9 months & in the beginning you’re probably still wearing your regular clothes. Hopefully this post will help you find items that fit in your budget & last for several pregnancies!

A few other *TIPS* I’d give are: I’ve been very privileged in that the later part of my pregnancy, where I’m growing larger is in the fall/winter time & I’ve been able to layer a lot with maternity tank tops & open sweaters that I would wear before I was pregnant. Then for the summer I just wore a lot of maxi dresses & skirts. The second tip is, don’t stretch out your non-maternity jeans. I had two friends give me this advice & I’m so glad I listened. As soon as I found maternity jeans I liked, I started wearing them. They’re just more comfy & then you don’t stretch out your own jeans. Third, maternity jeans & leggings are a must.

***If you are shopping for clothes to wear for a maternity session, I suggest wearing either something loose & flowy OR something fitting. Both types will show-off your bump just perfectly. Wear what’s YOU & not just a fancy, expensive outfit. Also, something simple & not too busy pattern wise helps as well. If you have more questions about this, we’ll be going over it when we meet to chat about your maternity session so no worries 😉 ***

Well, I hope these *TIPS* & store locations helped some of you expecting momma’s & hoping to be expecting soon ladies!!! For those of you who have been pregnant or even are, what are some of your tips or favorite places to purchase maternity clothes? Comment below! I’d love to know!

And here I am with Little Wilcox at 28 weeks! Just 3 weeks ago! I’m wearing a pair of maternity jeans we found at Kohl’s, a kimono I bought hoping I’d be pregnant & could wear it then & when not pregnant 😉 & a $3.00 tank top from Walmart I bought in an XL that has worked GREAT as a maternity tank top! I’ve been wearing this outfit throughout my entire pregnancy so far & it’s a favorite of mine! 

It’s fall & for a lot of us, that means hot suppers & comfort foods. AND using the slow cooker more! I have a Pinterest board entitled “God Bless the Crockpot”. I really do! You can view it HERE. The crockpot really can be a wonderful thing. Now I haven’t tried those fancy recipes like making lasagna or even bread in a crockpot, but I do have 3 recipes that are my fav’s & we eat quite often on our menu.

Now I do think there are some crockpot recipes that should just be skipped. Like those ones that have you do a million steps & then throw it in the crockpot to cook for 4 hours. That’s not a real slow cooker recipe! That’s a “This could actually be made in the oven but we’re going to say put it in the crockpot to get your attention” recipe 😉 Am I right or am I right?

What I personally like about my 3 Favorite Crockpot recipes is that they all make a ton & can be used in a variety of ways afterwards or even frozen down. I’ll list mine below & then you comment & post yours, deal?

1.) POT ROAST
I know, I know it’s basic but SOOO good & easy!

RECIPE:
Roast
Package of baby carrots
(I use the already peeled & sliced up baby carrots because it makes the meal prep even more easier! And we use the whole bag because we LOVE carrots.) – Package of Onion Soup
A few potatoes (If we have mashed potatoes, I cook them separately)

I put everything in the pot & put it on for 4-6 hours & usually head to church since I make it often on Sundays 🙂 Now the benefit of making mashed potatoes instead of putting them in the crockpot, is we’ll mash a lot & then later in the week have Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches 🙂

2.) SLOW COOKER CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
Now this recipe I base around Cooking Classy’s soup on her BLOG. I’ll make it exactly like she does & then add chopped up zucchini to give it more veggies. If you want to, you could add even more veggies!

I also shred some cheddar cheese & make sure we have tortilla chips when I serve the soup. We’ll put some of the shredded cheese at the bottom of our empty soup bowls, add soup on top the cheese, then layer with some tortilla chips on the soup & then top the chips off with more shredded cheese! So cheese, soup, chips, more cheese. The cheese melts all nice & is SUPER yummy! Some may want to top off with a bit of sour cream as well 🙂

The soup is very mild & makes PLENTY. I usually keep enough out for 2-3 meals & then freeze the rest down for a later date. Yummy, yummy!

3.) SLOW COOKER CILANTRO LIME CHICKEN
Now this recipe I found on Pinterest when we first got married. I would link back to the original source to give credit, but the main source has been blocked or something SOOO I’ll just copy what my printed recipe says! Thank goodness I did print it because we use it a TON!

RECIPE:
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
1 (1.25 ounce) package dry taco seasoning mix
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Put in the slow cooker the chicken breasts and then add coat the salsa, taco seasoning, lime juice & cilantro. Cover the cooker, set to High, and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 4 hours. If you want too cook it slower, set it to Low and cook 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken with forks to serve.

Just like with the soup, I keep out about 2-3 servings of the shredded chicken once it’s done in the fridge for the next few weeks to eat up & freeze the rest. We actually have some frozen right now! You can use the chicken with soft tortilla tacos (put sour cream on the tortilla before putting on the chicken-so yummy!), crunchy tacos, make a taco salad, make chicken tostada’s even!

So there you are! Our favorite crockpot recipes! Try them out sometime & let me know what you think! Hopefully they’ll help make your menu planning & dinners easier so that you have time to spend outside of the kitchen with those you love!

Feel free to comment below with YOUR favorite crockpot recipes!!!

I know, I know. This is only my first pregnancy & I’m only 28 weeks. To some of you mommies who have had several pregnancies, I can see the eyebrows lifting as you read this 😉 I’m not trying to say I have it all down because I don’t!!! But I really DO have 3 favorite pregnancy “tools”. I seriously do. They’re very simple but they’ve made a huge difference in my daily life since we found out we were expecting Little Wilcox. And if what I share today helps one mommy out, then I’m glad I decided to go ahead & write this post. Plus, I really think these will be my favorite things to use for all my future pregnancies!

First off, my First Favorite “Tool” is my water bottle. I have this Camelbak Water Bottle from Amazon. I have the exact one in the below picture. I love that it’s dishwasher safe, BPA Free, & a 0.75 liter so it holds a pretty good amount of water! I take this thing EVERYWHERE! Church, when I nanny, at sessions- EVER.Y.WHERE. The size is great that it fits in my purse (I have a tall purse 😉 ) &  in my camera bag.

Photo from Amazon.com.

I had gotten a glass Camelbak & was really enjoying that, UNTIL it got broken while I was nannying one day. When that happened, I was like, No more glass for me until our kids are older! I’m so glad no one was hurt when it was dropped.

Water is like the answer for everything when you’re pregnant. Have swelling? Drink more water. Feeling dehydrated? Drink more water. Need more energy? Water. So yes, I totally recommend in investing in a nice water bottle that is durable, sturdy & that you like!

My Second Favorite “Tool” is my Snoogle. Yep, you read that right. A Snoogle! The one thing that gets difficult for basically every mom in their pregnancy is sleeping. It’s harder to get comfortable as your baby bump grows larger. This pillow is AMAZING & has helped me some really decent night sleeps.

I had bought a cheap body pillow at Target first & that immediately went back. I don’t even think I used it one night once I laid down with it once getting it home! It was too large for me & too poofy. I do have friends that have used those, so I guess they work for some people! My friend Holly had gotten a Snoogle for her first pregnancy & I remember seeing it in her room when she was expecting. After the body pillow fail, I text & asked her about her funky looking pillow thing I’d seen at her house & she sent me this link! It was exactly the one I had been eyeing on Amazon & into the Amazon cart it went!

What I like about the Mini Snoogle is that it was half the price of the fullsize Snoogle that you can buy or that you’ll see at Babies R Us. The one I got was the mini & it’s worked REALLY well for me. Another friend of mine purchased the full size & has loved it. So my recommendation is buy one from Amazon & if it doesn’t fit your body, return it & get the other one! Sleep is important while you’re growing your little one!

As you can see I was SUPER EXCITED to get my Snoogle! 😉

My Final & FAVORITE OF ALL THREE Tools is my Pregnancy Prayer Journal from Val Marie Paper. Guys, water & sleeping well at night is really important. BUT hands-down this is my favorite item I’ve used through my pregnancy. Life doesn’t stop when you see that positive pregnancy test. In fact, for Eric & I, life has begun to fill up & get even faster it seems! Decisions to make, a nursery to get ready, a pediatrician to choose…the list goes on. It can very easily become overwhelming & plain crazy. But that’s why I LOVE my Pregnancy Prayer Journal SO much. It brings me back to the Main Thing.

The Main Thing friends is that Little Wilcox is raised in a home that gazes at the Lord more then life. Eric & I want our family to be raised with the knowledge & love of Jesus Christ surrounding our little ones. This Pregnancy Prayer Journal has sections to write answered prayer requests, keep track of how I’m feeling, prayers for our Little Wilcox & even a section to record prayers & needs of daddy!

One of my favorite parts of the journal is a section to record names of couples that I know are trying to conceive. Whenever I look through my Journal, I see those names & pray for them & that the Lord would grant their heart’s desire. I’ve already been able to cross off a few names off the list because they’re expecting now too!!!!!! 😀

I purchased this Journal before we were even expecting. I was buying one for a friend & felt led to buy one for myself as a step of faith that Eric & I would very soon be expecting ourselves. I kept the journal all wrapped up on a shelf & didn’t open it until seeing our positive pregnancy test. It was special moment as I sat in our study on the floor days after our pregnancy test & carefully opened the mailing envelope & brushed my hands across the cover & looked at the blank pages inside. What things would I write in there? What prayers, what anxious thoughts, what fears, what dreams would be recorded? I can say now 28 weeks & counting into this pregnancy, that I SO love this journal. I look at it almost daily & it reminds me that Little Wilcox is a gift from the Lord & that I need to remember the Main Thing.

Expecting momma’s, if you were to purchase any one of these three things, it needs to be this Pregnancy Prayer Journal.

Well there you have it friends! What are/were your favorite things to use while being pregnant? I’d LOVE to hear them! Comment below away! Sheesh, I still have several weeks to go!!! I may be using some of them soon 😉

I’ve been wanting to start this blog series for quite a big now & decided why not the first Friday in October?! Each Friday (I plan 😉 ) to share some of my favorite things. Whether it’s my favorite pregnancy items (probably next week’s post!), my top 3 favorite podcasts or my 3 favorite things to purchase at Aldi. And as our life changes & Little Wilcox makes his/her appearance, I plan to also share bits of our new family life. I hope you’ll join me here on Friday’s as I share pieces of my life & love.

So kicking off the first Friday of October, today I’m sharing my 3 favorite things to do to start off the fall season!

1. Have a Sister Date with my sister Leah! Every year since we’ve lived here (so like 7 years now? Right Leah?) we’ve gone out to buy little pumpkins, gourds & squashes to decorate our places. I believe the tradition started way back when we were younger & mom & dad would buy us one mini little pumpkins at the grocery store. When we moved here, Leah & I turned it into a sister date & either went to the Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market, Casey’s Floral or Brown’s Produce to purchase our items. (Sidenote, the Farmers Market usually has the cheapest prices but we go to whatever is open when our schedules allow us to meet up.) This year we went to Casey’s & we always couple the date with a Carmel Hot Apple Spice Cider drink from Starbucks!

That leads me into my second favorite way to bring fall alive…

2. Decorate! Now I’m all about simplicity & being budget friendly. That’s one of the reasons Leah & I go out to purchase small pumpkins & gourds, we both use those to decorate! (Big pumpkins are expensive!)

I have a few items that I bring out every year, a basket my mom gave me, fall smelling candles & put those around Eric & I’s living room & kitchen. I have a fall bouquet I made up from florals from Dollar Tree & it still looks pretty good after 3 falls! I also use real pinecones (Leah & I hunted for those one year) & have a bowl from Goodwill that I set them in. Since I’m in my 3rd Trimester of my pregnancy, I’ll be keeping it even more simple this year since I don’t want to have too much stuff to clean up when it comes time to PUT UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

I love decorating for fall & enjoying this season, my favorite season of the year.

Here’s this year’s loot from Casey’s Floral in the basket my mom gave me. I keep this on our Kitchen table 🙂

3) Music! I LOVE Christmas music. It’s one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Couple years ago Leah & I wondered why someone hadn’t put together “fall” music, Thanksgiving music, you know? My sister & I realized that we kind of did have music that we enjoyed that wasn’t QUITE Christmas music but felt like it was special, needed to be set a part. For example, we love the movie soundtrack for Little Women. It’s not quite Christmast-y but yet, it’s just got a special, warming holiday feel about it.

Since then, both Leah & I have created our own playlists we’ve put together on our own iTunes accounts. I also have one on Spotify entitled “Falling in Love”. I’m posting the link HERE so you too can enjoy it! THIS is the very first song on the playlist & to me it just SCREAMS fall.

My house is not at all ready for fall. In fact, as of writing this a few days before publishing this post, I only have the center piece pictured above set out at our home. I wrote this post to help us all remember that you don’t have to spend a million dollars to make it feel like fall. My little pumpkin guys cost just under $12.00. Maybe for you to make fall come alive in your home is to just open all the windows! Bake a loaf of pumpkin bread!

Fall opens the door to what can be a crazy holiday schedule. It is very important to me to not get all caught up in doing instead of LIVING. Taking intentional steps to make fall alive helps me to remember to take in all that is going on around me & not just look to the holidays.

So what about you friend? What are your favorite ways to “celebrate” & make fall come alive in your daily life? I’d love to hear! Feel free to comment below!

You may have already seen, heard or I already told you but……………

Eric & I are EXPECTING our first child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have been sharing with family & friends our news since Father’s Day & just posted on social media this past Tuesday on our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. Below is the photo & caption we shared as our announcement!

(Left photo was taken by our incredible wedding photographer Kina Wicks of Chicago. Right photo wouldn’t have happened without my wonderful sister Leah 🙂 )

“The Lord’s perfect timing has been a reoccurring theme in our relationship & marriage. We have been looking forward to today for two reasons: We are celebrating our Third Wedding Anniversary AND sharing for those who don’t already know, that WE ARE EXPECTING!!!!!

Our Little Wilcox is due to arrive around December 31!!! We are so thankful that our prayers have been answered & that the Lord has given us our heart’s desire <3 The New Year can’t come soon enough!”

If I had a session with you in late April or thereafter, I was pregnant! Some of you didn’t know it, but I was chewing on saltine crackers in between shots & gulping peach soda water down to keep some nausea I dealt with away! Thankfully it never hindered a session! And if I ever sent you an email that didn’t quite make sense or have the exact wording, hahah, yes I’m blaming it on “pregnancy brain”! 😉

I will answer one quick question that I’m sure some of you are wondering & will save the rest for another blog post I have in the works…Nomi Photography IS not going anywhere- it is here to stay! Eric & I launched Nomi Photography over a year ago now, with the intent of it being a part of our future along with a family. When you have a session with me, you are helping support our little family & I can’t ever thank you enough for that. I will have a maternity leave & will share details about that in a future blog post.

Thank you everyone for celebrating with us!!! Little Wilcox is truly an answer to prayer & we are absolutely THRILLED to be entering this new season of life <3

The weekend of January 17-19, my husband & I spent at a campgrounds just outside of Carlinville with 200 Pastors Kids. 200 amazing pastors kids from across the state of Illinois. My 3 siblings & I are pastors kids & we’ve been attending PK Retreat ourselves since we were able to go. The past 7ish years, I was finally old enough to help out & be a leader! I was first a room counselor for about 8 incredible PK High School girls for a couple years & then this year was my 3rd year photographing the retreat. It’s one of my highlights of the year, I’m not joking. And I especially love serving alongside my handsome husband who does the sound either for the older kids group or the younger kids.

This retreat is put together by ISM & the staff & team of volunteers have such a heart for pastors kids. It’s been so fun going back year after year & working with the same people, meeting new people & seeing the kids grow up.

Here’s a few of my favorite images I got. I have over 200 pictures that I kept from this event & I wish I could put all of them in this blog post!

This was a super fun game the younger kids did!

See how excited they got!? 🙂

From a photographer’s point of view, capturing this event is always super fun but challenging for me in many ways. I am constantly on the move & constantly being in different lighting situations. First I’ll be in a nice bright room & then know I need to be in a completely different room in about 10 minutes. It keeps me on my toes & is a great learning experience for me. I took the opportunity to use my flash & learn how to use that better as well.

My handsome husband running sound.

My kind of girl 😉

The much anticipated “Masquerade Party”.

And the Annual Scavenger Hunt is on!

Probably one of the favorite parts of PK Retreat for everyone is the Sunday night Variety Show & Pizza Party.

Photobooth time!

Yep, that’s flying toilet paper 😉

Communion Time.

Group picture!!!

This was my favorite PK Retreat so far. Can’t wait until next time 🙂

One of my favorite things about Christmas is receiving Christmas Cards & especially PHOTO Christmas Cards! To be honest, I have a harder time taking down the Photo Christmas Cards at the end of the holiday season then any of our other decorations. We put our cards up around a door frame that we walk through to get to the kitchen or living room & I just LOVE looking at the faces of the people that the Lord has intertwined ours lives with. Each year, there are more new faces from new friends we’ve made in that past year & I just LOVE thinking back on how we’ve met & the adventures & memories that were made with those people in the past year.

I know it can be overwhelming deciding what company to order your Christmas Cards through so I put together a small list of some sources for you to check into. I’ve checked into all of these sources. Some of them are suggestions from those who commented on a status I posted on my facebook page a few weeks back & others are some new sources I’ve discovered in the past few weeks.

LOCAL OPTIONS

JMC Photo & Digital Service

If you are local (in the Bloomington-Normal area) & looking for quality Christmas Photo Cards & wonderful customer service, I would HIGHLY recommend JMC Photo & Digital Service. Their prices are comparable to Shutterfly & Minted. Plus, you don’t have to pay shipping if you order from them since you can just go & pick them up!

Walmart

If you don’t care as much about the quality as you just want an easy, cheaper option (maybe you have a ton of people on your list!) Walmart actually has great prices & some super cute designs. A good friend of mine orders there fairly often.

ONLINE OPTIONS

Simply to Impress

My FAVORITE online option was Simply to Impress. Another good friend told me about this wonderful source. They’ve got AWESOME & unique designs & they currently have until today (November 20) a 20% off your order with the promo code NOV2014.

Minted

Probably my second favorite online option was Minted. They have some pretty foil pressed cards if that’s a fav style of yours 🙂 I hadn’t seen that anywhere else.

I seriously almost ordered from Simply to Impress. They had some beautiful options & I liked their prices. Some other online options you could check into are Shutterfly, & Mpix. I was impressed with Shutterfly’s coupons & they send those promo codes out through email like they’re candy.

DESIGN YOUR OWN

The past two years, I have actually designed & ordered our own. My two years in a graphic design program pays off every once in awhile 😉 Now I know not everyone can do this, but if you can, it’s a more budget friendly idea! Last year, we used NextDayFlyers & ordered postcards. Cheaper postage-hey, hey, hey!!!! I ordered some new address mailing labels (I’ll be using those again this year since we have so many leftover still!) & sent those babies out.

This year, I took the wise advice of a friend & ordered postcards through VistaPrint. Even though I upgraded to a thicker paper, ordering 100 postcards was under $35.00! (These were one sided because I will write on the back of a few. Also cheaper that way to have them one sided.) I’ll probably pick up some red envelopes from Hobby Lobby to use to give out the cards that I’ll probably hand out to friends at church, but other then that, I’ll be slapping that postcard postage & sending them out after Thanksgiving!

Have another suggestion? Leave a comment & I’ll save it for next year!