Maintaining Style as a New Mother

    

    Ever since I had my little girl, I swear that I now watch an exorbitant amount of television. Mostly because there are so many moments I am either nursing or rocking her and there's nothing else I can do but sit there quietly. Because of increased amount of TV I have been watching, I've found many new shows that surprised me that I actually do like... like Hawaii Five-O, 19 Kids and Counting, and What Not to Wear. 
    Because I have been watching shows like What Not to Wear, I've had an interest in fashion lately. In case you don't know the premise of the show, basically What Not to Wear is about two stylists who do a head to toe makeover of someone who is a fashion disaster. Now I have always liked dressing up and looking my best, but as a relatively new mom that sure is hard to do. 
    After watching enough episodes, I realized that many of the guests on the show are moms. Why are mostly moms on this show? Because moms don't really have time to dress up any more and even if we did have time for it, the likelihood of getting some kind of baby spit-up or poop on us is very high so why wear something nice? My mom, however, had taught me to try to look my best when I go out... not for anyone else but for me. This is more difficult to do with a kid, but I make an effort to at least shower and put some makeup on when I leave the house. BUT after watching What Not to Wear, I decided to try to do a little more. 
    So I've started to actually wear more than workout shorts and sleeveless shirts when I go out of the house. But there were some issues regarding clothing and having a child that I had to work out:

1. Finding clothes that are stylish, but that I can nurse in. 
    This was a struggle and continues to be a struggle. Most nursing shirts are ugly, or stretch funny over time. So finding a cute shirt that's easy to nurse in, or layering in a way that I can still nurse was no easy feat. But there are a lot of cute, comfortable options out there... like button down shirts (like the one shown below), and then layering with a cute vest or  button down sweater . 

2. Jewelry that won't break.
    As you probably know, babies seem to love jewelry like watches, earrings, and necklaces. They can't get enough of these things, pulling and stretching your jewelry to its limits. So wearing a necklace has not typically been an option for me. When I have tried accessorizing with jewelry, I regretted it especially since she has broken many a handmade necklace from pulling on it too hard! My solution however was to wear earrings that don't dangle too low, and to buy a teething necklace! This has worked great, and I get to accessorize with jewelry I don't have to worry as much with! The teething necklace I bought was Bumkins Rocca Silicone teething necklace. 

 

There are many benefits of accessorizing with a teething necklace like the ones shown above: 

• You don't have to worry about it breaking, if pulled hard enough the clasp comes apart. 
• It's made of silicone so it is BPA and Phthalate free.
• It's completely safe for your baby to chew on... although I still discourage my lo from doing that because I don't want to teach her that it's okay to eat jewelry, ha. 

3. Finding shoes that are comfortable, yet stylish.

    Okay, I've never been in to high heels. Don't get me wrong, I found them cute, just super uncomfortable and I don't do uncomfortable. Also, I have fallen arches, so to keep from having back spasms and foot pain... I have to have shoes with arches. Add into the equation having a kid to lug around with you, comfortable shoes are a key. All of this makes finding cute comfortable shoes really difficult! But I have found some pretty adorable ones that can be both casual or dressy flats at Marshalls, Bealls and Target stores (like the one shown below).  

    So I encourage you to do more than the bare minimum today, just to make yourself feel good. I encourage you to do your hair, makeup and accessorize jewelry and clothes. I know this has lifted me up and even if I'm having a tough day, at least I feel like I tried.