What I wore when I was expecting

dress: isabella oliver c/o | heels: oasap

photographs by Jessica Peterson

With my previous two pregnancies, I owned one maternity item which was a top that I never ended up wearing anyway.  I didn't want to purchase a maternity item only to wear for a few months, it seemed like a waste of money.  Why buy an item that I only get to wear for a few months when I can buy another item I can wear forever?  So even if it was tight or somewhat uncomfortable, I stuck to my non-maternity clothes that worked with my growing belly.  But now that I own several maternity wear, I totally understand why other mothers buy maternity clothes!  It is so dang comfortable!  And being pregnant is uncomfortable to say the least, so even if you only get to wear it for a short period of time, it is so worth the money!  

I love the drape of this dress I'm wearing, I think it is so elegant and beautiful.  I usually try to avoid certain patterns or colors when I'm pregnant because it can make me look a little funny, like if it's a wide black and white striped pattern, I just look like a zebra, if it's a yellow maxi dress, I think I look like Big Bird, you get the idea, but with this bright pink/red dress, what's the worst I can look like?  A giant cherry or a popsicle?  I'll take it! ;)

What are some of your favorite maternity stores that you shop at? 

While mommy was away, it was a party everyday

While I was in California, I didn't take many pictures but just enjoyed spending time with my parents, my siblings(three brothers & one sister), and my sister's nephew and nieces and cousins.  I went to the pastry shop twice and filled up on pastries plenty, ate lots of good Korean good, took my cousin's wedding pictures along with my 7 month baby bump(I'll probably share some with you later), and came back to my home sweet home, greeted by Jay and the girls with pretty flowers and lots of kisses.

While mommy was away, Jay and the girls had a movie night, baked yummy dessert, bought flowers and visited someone at the hospital, explored the dinosaur museum, got a kid's meal at McD's, ate root beer floats, went bowling, played dress-up, had a mismatch shoe day, went to the Kangaroo Zoo, and cuddled choke with daddy.  

California

the LA temple

love these jacaranda trees they have all over southern california!

Hello!  I'm writing this from California, I've been here for the past 4 days!  Jay and I switched off where last week he was gone to HI for a friend's wedding while I watched the kids and this week, it was my turn to go to California for my cousin's wedding while Jay is watching the kids.  Even though I miss Jay and the kids(a lot more than last time when I went to NY for some reason), it has been really nice spending time with my family here.  My parents and all my siblings came from all over the states and with 4 siblings, that doesn't happen as often as I'd like.  And being 7 months pregnant and just relaxing and not having to chase around two little kids is really nice too, I must admit. :)  I don't think anything else can beat having a me-time as a mom than taking a relaxing vacation without the kids! 

When I'm not on vacation, I find some me-time as a mom by just winding down at night and watching t.v sometimes.  I was asked by Lifetime to watch the first episode of their new show Pretty Wicked Moms and I was happy to do so because I watch The Real Housewives of BH and OC, and those shows always cracks me up.  The moms in Pretty Wicked Moms lives seem so different than mine, and it's interesting watching other moms and how they go about their day and all their dramas they have.  It makes me glad that I don't have any drama in my life right now! (knock on wood ;)  You can watch the preview of their show here:

Tune in to watch parenting like you've never seen before with the first episode of Pretty Wicked Moms on Tuesday, June 4, at 10:00 pm ET/PT on Lifetime "


What are some of your favorite t.v shows that you love to watch?  



*This post is sponsored by Lifetime. I was compensated to introduce Pretty Wicked Moms. Thank you for supporting this blog!

What I wore when I was expecting

*This post is sponsored by ShoeDazzle.  The writings and opinions are my own.

dress: asos | cap-sleeve shirt: downeast | wedges: target 

photographs by Jessica Peterson

This non-maternity dress has an elastic all around the waist, making it wearable while I'm pregnant.  It's not a floor length maxi so it stops right above the ankle, a perfect length when you want to cover your legs but still want to show off your shoes!  Wedges are my favorite shoes to wear whether I'm pregnant or not, because it is as comfortable as a flat, but offers the extra height as the high heels.  I recently found out about ShoeDazzle and they offer an awesome selection of wedges, at a price of $40.  I picked my favorites pictured below, but you can take a style quiz and get a personal stylist experience curated by their design team, as well as get styling tips from Rachel Zoe, ShoeDazzle's chief stylist.

p.s. take the personal style quiz and get 25% off your first order.

On another note, I received some honest feedback from my 5 year old daughter last night. She offered a family prayer before bedtime and she said in her prayer, "Heavenly Father, please help that mommy will stop being so boring and play with us more..."

After the prayer, I asked her, "Adi, am I really that boring?"  She said, "Yes, you are super boring ever since you got a baby in your belly.  All you do is sleep and watch us play."

These darn kids.  When kids give you a feedback, you know there's no way of disputing it because it's always true. :)

Mother's Day without my husband

Jay was in Hawaii the past 5 days for his best friend's wedding, which happened to fall right on Mother's Day weekend, so we celebrated without him.  Jay felt really bad(but not bad enough to stop him from sending me pictures of him happily devouring all the delicious food he ate!), but I always thought of Mother's Day as a day of celebrating my mother, and I was happy Jay got to spend it with his mother since it's been about 10 years since he celebrated it with his mom! My mother and I live within 5 miles of each other, so I was able to celebrate it with her and we had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  My parents and my girls and I went out to eat on Saturday and on Sunday I received these gifts from my girls.

With the help of daddy, they made adorable cards for me as well.  So this was what they were working on the night before Jay left and they turned on the music out loud and wouldn't let me go near the living room for an hour!

❤Card from Ana:❤

♡ how do you know mom loves you?  

❤ she kisses me even when she's mad

♡ how are you and mom different?  

❤ short and long hair.  other than that, we are the same.  we go potty at the same time a lot.

♡ how are you and mom the same? 

❤ we both like butterflies

♡ where is mom's favorite place to go? 

❤ fun center with me

♡ what do you and mom do together?  

❤ go to classic fun center

♡ what is your favorite food that mom cooks? 

❤ toast with white powdered sugah

♡ what cartoon character would mom be?  

❤ a music one cause she sings good

♡ what does mom do for work? 

❤ hard stuff

♡ what is mom's favorite food? 

❤ any dessert!

♡ what makes you proud of mom? 

❤ she is my favorite mommy

♡ something mom always says to you?  

❤ don't whine or cry

♡ what makes mom happy? 

❤ if I stop whining and crying

♡ what makes mom sad?  

❤ when I be mean to Adi

♡ how tall is mom? 

❤ just a little medium

♡ how old is mom?  

❤ 16

♡ what is mom's favorite thing to do?  

❤ nap

♡ what does mom do when you're not around?  

❤ look for me

♡ how does mom make you laugh?  

❤ farts and tickles me

♡ what is mom really good at?  

❤ she's good at making baby in her belly

❤Card from Adi:❤

♡ something mom always says to you? 

❤ to listen when she tells me one time

♡ what is your mom's favorite thing to do? 

❤ nap

♡ what does mom do when you're not around? 

❤ look on boring computer and boring phone

♡ how old is mom? 

❤ 11

♡ how does mom make you laugh? 

❤ tickle my neck

♡ what makes mom happy? 

❤ if we listen to her 

♡ what makes mom sad?  

❤ when we don't listen, she gets strange and stuff

♡ what does mom do for work?  

❤ clean the whole house and cook and nap a lot

♡ how tall is mom? 

❤ medium, just little taller than me

♡ what do you and mom do together?  

❤ hug, kiss, cuddle, take pictures and watch movies

♡ what cartoon character would mom be?  

❤ Rapunzel cause she's my favorite and mom's my favorite

♡ what makes you proud of mom? 

❤ I just love her

♡ what is mom's favorite food?  

❤ saimin cause she always eats if and even when I wake up in the morning, I find saimin bowls

♡ what is mom's favorite place to go? 

❤ new york

♡ how are you and mom the same?  

❤ we both have black hair and I fit her clothes since we're same size

♡ how do you know mom loves you? 

❤ she gives me choke hugs and kisses and even if she doesn't say it, I know!

♡ what is your favorite food that mom cooks?  

❤ spaghetti, and when she lets me drink juice

♡ how are you and mom different?  

❤ she cooks and I don't.  and I have shorter hair and she has bigger boobs.

After reading the card out loud with the girls and laughing, I said to them, "Do you know what else I want for Mother's Day?  Choke hugs and kisses(choke=hawaiian for many)!!!"  And Adi exclaimed excitedly, "THAT'S WHAT I LOVE!!!"  as both of them piled on me to give me many hugs and kisses.  I love spending my life with these girls.  They make me so incredibly happy.

The perfect Mother's Day gift

photo by Jessica Peterson

Growing up, I always wished I had more money around Mother's Day so I could buy my mom fancy gifts and things she really loved instead of my lame homemade card or a small, simple gift.  I felt a little foolish for only being able to give something so little to my mother who's done everything for me and thought, "Oh how she would love to receive a fancy new dress instead of this journal I got for her!  Or an expensive handbag!  One day when I get older and have more money, I will be sure to spoil her with all those things and give her what she would really want for Mother's Day..."  

Now that I have my own children and I'm older & do spoil my mother with things, I realize how wrong I was!  The perfect Mother's Day gift is a homemade card or a small, simple gift.  That is all I ever want for any occasion of mine whether it's a birthday, Valentine's day, Mother's Day, or an anniversary.  Spending money is easy and doesn't require much time, but a thoughtful Mother's Day card or a small thoughtful present(homemade is the best and my personal favorite from my husband- a poem!) telling me how much they love and appreciate me?  No money could ever buy the happiness, satisfaction, and pride I feel from receiving those gifts.

Both of my daughters made me something in Preschool and while their teachers told them it was to be a surprise, my youngest couldn't contain her excitement so she already let me get a sneak peek and I am so excited to receive it on Mother's Day!  It's a peacock she painted using her hand print on a white tile and in the back she wrote why she loves her mommy.  It's the perfect gift and I can't think anything else I'd rather have.  Well, besides plethora of kisses and hugs I would love to receive on Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mother and my mother in law, and happy Mother's Day to all the women in the world!  I believe this holiday is not just for women with children, but for every single woman because we are all mothers in some way, always nurturing, teaching, and helping someone outside of ourselves.  May you have a beautiful Mother's Day. 

Achilles's new cuddle buddy