successful shopping trip...

I went shopping in Myrtle Beach yesterday with some of my fave girls -- we went to the Tanger Outlets.  :)  And had so much fun!  My trip was very successful in that I found the few things I was looking for, as well as a couple things I wasn't looking for.  Bonus!

Of course, it was too early to buy anything for our baby since we don't know yet what it is (but rest assured, we WILL be finding out!) but it was such fun to go into places like Carter's, The Children's Place and Osh Kosh B'Gosh and see all the sweet, tiny little things that we'll soon be purchasing/receiving for our little one.  Oh!  LOVE those little tiny clothes!

So, since I really couldn't do that, I went looking for a dress or two for me and possibly a bathing suit (thanks for the idea, Momma!).  Most folks know that I'm NOT a dress-wearing girl.  I prefer pants or suits.  But in an effort to avoid having to buy a lot of maternity-specific clothes, I am looking for tops, etc. that have the potential to "grow" with me, if you know what I mean.  :)

My original goal for this trip, a month ago when it was planned, was to find something to wear for Easter.  However, we had a wedding to attend 2 weeks ago and I decided to get something to wear for that (I told you I'm not a skirt/dress-wearing girl so I really don't have much to wear to special events like that).  I ended up getting a new shirt for Jeff, too, and we look so spiffy together (coordination is a beautiful thing :) that I decided those would be our Easter outfits.

So yesterday's trip was just to see if I could find another dress or two to add to my wardrobe that would give me a few more things to wear throughout the pregnancy.  The first place we went to was The Loft -- success!  I found a few dresses in there and ended up walking out with one that I felt really cute in.  :)  It's very simple and doesn't have the potential to grow "all the way" with me, but it will be something I can wear for several more months and immediately after the baby is born, too.  THAT'S not something I had thought of, but my girl, Allison, pointed that out.  Good call!

Another place we went was Vanity Fair and I found a top that isn't specifically maternity but it has the empire waist with a flaring bottom so it has lots of room for me in it.  When I get to that point, it will be a comfy top, I think.  Another thing I'm not thinking about at this point is nursing bras/tank tops but my girl, Bekah, pointed out that this place had them for really cheap.  Thought maybe it would be prudent to check those out but I was confused on how I would know what size to get at this point.  I ended up with 2 nursing tank tops that were just S/M/L sizing.  I went with the L since I.have.no.idea what will happen to my body in the next 6.5 months.  :)  My girlfriends assure me that I will be comfy in these.  Yay!

The last thing I picked up yesterday was a bathing suit.  I went into the Motherhood store and I gotta tell you, it was kind of a weird experience.  It's still kind of surreal to me that we're having a baby, so I kinda felt like I didn't belong in there yet.  But I did see that they had some bathing suits so I looked through those.  They had some really cute ones and they were actually a lot less expensive than I thought they'd be.  Less expensive than even a regular bathing suit usually costs.  Score!  The one I got is really comfortable and is just cute.  Pinks, oranges and browns on white.  I was really excited to already have that taken care of!

I didn't look at much else in that store.  As I said, I was kind of overwhelmed and at that point in the trip, I was pretty much DONE with trying on clothes.  Some may not know this, but Motherhood has these "belly pillows" that women can try on to see approximately how big they may be at certain points in their pregnancy, to aid in their purchases.  My girlfriends asked me if I tried it on.  I told them that I hadn't, that I wasn't quite ready for that yet.  It's a little scary for me to think of getting bigger.  I have struggled with my weight/weight loss for the past 7 or so years, working so hard to have that needle on the scale go one way -- to the left -- instead of the other.  That will not be the case for the next 6.5 months so I've really been trying to just take it one day, one pound at a time.  No need to rush anything.  I think I'm doing okay so far.

The shopping trip was fun for me.  The other girls got lots of goodies, too, and we all had a good time just hanging out together.  My mom and I have already been talking about a shopping trip later on, meeting in Raleigh for the day.  That will be super-fun, too!

We have our first doctor's appt this Wednesday, March 31.  I'm so anxious to go and have a "professional" confirm this pregnancy and have an opportunity to see our baby by way of ultrasound.  Jeff will be going with me and we're both excited about it.  I'll post soon after that to fill you in.