5 Trendy Fall Maternity Dress Styles + NOM Giveaway!

During this last trimester, the main thing I wear are dresses and skirts.  They are so comfy and have felt great in this hot summer heat.  Fall is just around the corner and I've been taking a sneak peak into trendy maternity trends through Belly Dance Maternity which has top of the line style with quality fabrics and patterns.  Here are some of the dress trends I've been seeing, look below for a giveaway to win an amazing NOM product of YOUR CHOICE from Belly Dance Maternity.

1) Fitted Dresses

This Hailey Dress from Belly Dance Maternity is fitted, but not tight, and is the first time in a while I have felt sexy while being pregnant.  All of these fitted dresses have ruching on the side which I absolutely loves and makes my cute belly pop!  Some of these other fitted dresses have a belt on top of the belly (which I do all of the time which I think is adorable) or a V-neckline which I feel narrows my face.

Isabella Oliver Cobalt Olivia Dress

Olian Hunter Ruched

2) Stripes and Boots

I love these next two dresses which have horizontal stripes in darker shades for the fall/winter.  I love how throwing boots in the mix make it so easy to wear and so stylish and cute!

NOM Navy Stripe Ellie Dress

NOM Charcoal Julie Stripe Dress

3) Ankle boots and cute necklines

I thought this was a fun style for the fall, black ankle boots and a higher neckline dress which can be buttoned up as a turtle neck. Below, we have a cowl neck dress which is so cute and I love the belts paired with both.

Maternal America Tulip Sleeve Dress

Jules and Jim Midnight Pocket Dress

4) Flowy and Green and Blue Color Trends

I've noticed that besides the darker basic colors (like black, gray, and navy), green and a lighter blue seem to be popular this fall.  This first dress is so beautiful and I wish I had it! It's flowy on the bottom, ruched up top, and with an attached belt it is super cute and flattering for all trimesters of pregnancy.  Below is another flowy dress (in the blue I was talking about) and I absolutely love the pattern!

Olian Kelly Wrap Dress

Olian Margarette

5) Peplum Maternity

I had no idea there were peplum dresses for maternity.  I think this one is so cute and flattering to your cute baby bump.  I love the dark tights with this outfit with some cute high heels, I could also see this with some cute black boots!

Ripe Black Peplum

Anyway, lots of cute dress styles to choose from this fall.  Belly Dance Maternity has more great clothing products on their site which are to die for!  I'm hosting a giveaway for one of you lucky duckies to win a NOM dress of your choice found here: http://www.bellydancematernity.com/nom.php.  Enter with Rafflecopter below, giveaway ends September 7, 2013.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 Products for Hosting your Perfect End of Summer Party

Only a few more weeks left of summer! It's time to plan your end of summer party for friends or family to end off the summer, and start this school year off right.  Need some ideas of food and fun for your party?  YescomUSA can help.

1) Snow Cones

Snow cones are perfect to cool you down during these last few weeks of summer.  There are so many great flavors and can be made fast and easy.  YescomUSA has many commercial ice shave machines to help you make your perfect snow cones starting at $80 with shaving power of 143 lbs per hour!

Electric Ice Shaver Maker

2) Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy is another fun treat to bring to any summer party.  YescomUSA has a Kiddie size ($50) a hard core commercial size ($250) for creating your perfect cotton candy.  The commercial size cotton candy maker heats up faster, 20" diameter (compared to 15" Kiddie), and has more power of 1050W (compared to the Kiddie 450W).

Kiddie Electric Cotton Candy Maker

Commercial Cotton Candy Maker

3) Popcorn

Watching a favorite movie inside or outside during your end of summer party?  You have to eat popcorn! I love these Popcorn Machines which are so cute and fun to use, they start at only $50 (50% off).

Mini Electric Popcorn Maker Cart

4) Chocolate Fountain

Chocolate Fountains are great in the warmer weather so you can bring it outside.  Put up to 2 lbs of white, dark, or milk chocolate in the base and watch it flow over this three tiered beauty.  My favorite things to cover with chocolate from the fountain is strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, marshmallows, gram crackers, and more.  Such a fun way for kids and adults to eat their favorite chocolate covered items.  This tiered chocolate fountain starts at $60 from YescomUSA and definitely will be used again and again.

Chocolate Fondue Fountain

5) French Fries

I want one of these so bad! How fun would that be to have a party and serve hot and ready french fries.  This commercial deep fryer comes in many different sizes (this one starting 60% off at $100) and is made from heavy duty stainless steel and is 9" by 8".  Plastic handles are used for hand protection and this deep fryer comes with an extra french fry scoop and five scoring pads to help you get started!

Electronic Deep Fryer

With one or more of these foods made with these fun products, you can plan and carry out your perfect end of the summer party.  I can't wait for mine with the help of YescomUSA!

12 Weekly Pregnancy Photo Ideas

Want some cute ideas for taking weekly or monthly pregnancy pictures to show your cute growth to family and friends? I love these clever ideas for taking these photos.

I love this idea for printing out your weekly pregnancy belly photo and making a flip book or something you can easily see how much you have progressed in your pregnancy.

From:  marthastewart.com

I love this idea, it looks like they used a liquid eyeliner to write how many weeks pregnant on her belly.  

From:  flickr.com

I love this idea, take a picture of your belly against a wall and then you can go into Photoshop or another program to add text of how many weeks and what's going on in the pregnancy.  

From:  klenehans.blogspot.com


Here is the same idea with a blank background as well.

From: blurbdeanne.wordpress.com

Cute idea using a doily to write down how many weeks pregnant you are.  I think it's cute she used the same shirt or at least the same color in all of the pictures.

From: simplybloomphotography.com

I also really liked this idea of just taking a picture of the silhouette of yourself infront of a window.  This would be easy because you wouldn't necessarily have to get all cute with hair, make up, and dress for the pictures.

From: bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com

Even if you are inconsistent in taking pictures of your pregnant belly or some weeks you just don't want to, I love this idea of making a book (I use Shutterfly) and add fun pictures representing weeks of your pregnancy.

(Did not find actual source)

There are many websites out there that will tell you what size your baby including what size fruit is most likely the size.  I thought these pictures were cute especially if you are holding the fruit and are standing on the side so you can see your cute belly.

From: bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com

Chalkboard is still very popular right now.  I thought this was a cool idea to use chalkboard to tell how many weeks along you were, and to also include your kids if you want.

From:  9gag.com

Here is a different angle of photo you can take for weekly pregnancy pictures.  It's from above which is so cute.

From: imgfave.com

 I liked how these pictures didn't have a sign but she used her hands to show how many months along.

These weekly stickers are so cute and can be used on whatever clothing to show how far along you are.

Visit aussiebubs.com.au

Here is one of my photos with a chalkboard background I put in my Ung Drill frame.  I printed these out every few weeks and I loved taking these pictures.  I'm selling these chalkboard signs on my Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PearlPearDesigns

From: iheartpears.blogspot.com and Etsy

From: Etsy Pearl Pear Designs

From: Etsy Pearl Pear Designs

Baby Pears Maternity Pictures

As weeks kept going by, I was dreading taking maternity pictures because everywhere was growing bigger and bigger... and not just my belly.  Even though I'm 34 weeks and know I'm going to maximize my threshold coming soon, I've tried to embrace the good things about being pregnant including my larger size (which currently is far from my previous XS) and focus on the positives like this cute baby coming into our lives soon!
Talking to other pregnant women too it can be frustrating growing everywhere or people judging you on how much weight you have gained or how you look, but know what, that doesn't matter and I'm so grateful for learning how to be positive about it and having a spouse that only lets me talk positive about myself and we no longer use words or phrases that I thought were defining me being bigger.

Ultrasound Vinyl Framed Artwork

Yay, I have my cute ultrasound framed and ready for the baby room. We still don't have a name so "baby" will still have to do but I love how it turned out and is now listed in my Etsy Pearl Pear Designs!  Loved how it turned out and it would be such a cute idea for a gender reveal or pregnancy announcement idea, baby shower gift, or nursery wall art.  

Here is a close up of the ultrasound and baby information that I cut out with vinyl.

Love it!

34 Weeks Pregnancy Chalkboard

Yay! The last two weeks have gone by fast and I'm still slowing down and feeling sick about once a day.  I'll especially feel like I'm going to pass out or throw up if I'm really hot and it comes all of the sudden.  It could be worse, I just lay down right away which makes me feel better, or I have a Preggie Pop.  Ugh, I've been more swollen recently (obviously) my hands (my birth stone ring hardly fits now) and feet (yep, I have Rainbow sandals which are my favorite which I pretty much have been wearing everywhere) and my face and lips especially during certain parts of the day and then sometimes they go down.

Inches: 15 inches larger around belly

How I've used my time: Went to St. George with the fam, put up the baby's chandelier, doing last minute crafts, and blogging :)
Cravings: Snowies, dang it, I'm craving one right now after writing that
Other facts: My carpal tunnel is awful at night and I have a  new pillow under my hips so they have been in less pain.  Still haven't come up with a baby name, baby kicks so hard which hurts or scares me but I love it because I know he is ok and wants to see us.  He'll especially start being wild when my husband touches my belly.

Btw people have asked me about my maternity clothes and this shirt is the Megan Ruched Empire from Trendy Tummy Maternity. This is the softest shirt and I love the ruching on the side for a fitted look and the empire waist with a v-neck which helps make my puffy face look thinner :)  This style of shirt flatters every figure and I'm excited to continue wearing this after pregnancy!
Right now enter to win a $50 GC from Trendy Tummy for you to get your favorite pregnancy outfit:

http://iheartpears.blogspot.com/2013/08/50-trendy-tummy-maternity-giveaway.html

Humble Pie Anyone?

There's a few more weeks of summer and it's time to get those last fun trips, projects, and recipes completed.

Right now my last few weeks are in preparation of the baby and helping my spouse and I get ready and one way I've been doing that all summer long is by learning how to cook and prepare meals better.  Obviously our little one won't be able to eat real food for awhile, but my husband and I loved to eat out and now it's time to buckle down and do some more cooking and less restaurant..ing.

Humble Pie is the cookbook creation from Ali Eisenach with the best pie recipes from Raisin Cream, Cherry Apple, Raspberry Lemonade and more! Sounds super good right! Here is one of here recipes that will be featured in Humble Pie which will be sold at prices wholesale over the US including the funding that is received.  If you want to participate in the funding for this awesome book, check out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/980095091/humble-pie.

Awesome recipes from Humble Pie:

SUMMER PEACH PIE

3 lbs. fresh peaches

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

2 T. fresh lemon juice

Pastry for  double crust (I need to get angela's recipe ***I am going to to use her recipe as the basic crust and refer people to the page like you suggested )

2 T. butter, cut into small pieces

1 T. milk

1 T. sugar

Check out Ali's website at http://www.lemonpoppyinc.com/ and facebook as well: www.facebook.com/lemonpoppyinc and keep update when Humble Pie will be available in stores near you!