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Wednesday, February 10, 2016

My Pregnancy with Olivia in Chalkboard Signs

*This post may contain affiliate links.

As I mentioned last week, February is Olivia’s birth month, and since I didn’t blog back then, I wanted to share a few things from her pregnancy and birth. 

One of the best things I did during my pregnancy was to document the whole thing week-to-week in chalkboard signs.  Shout out to the nine million other ladies in the world who have also done this and then put the idea on Pinterest for me to steal.  And where was Pinterest when I was pregnant with Jacob?!  I’m crushed that I didn’t do this for him, too.

I truly cherish these pictures.  It’s a great way to watch the progression of my growing belly, to remember all of my favorite maternity clothes, and to watch my face shrink week after week until I practically looked like a skeleton.  Haha.  Seriously, Olivia literally sucked the fat out of my face, arms, and legs, and it all went straight to my stomach.

The first thing I did, was get a good chalkboard.  I absolutely adore this one right here.  It would be perfect!  And it's only $30!  I also love this one, this one, this one, and this one would be absolutely perfect.  Next, I bought some good chalks.  I found that Sargent Drawing Chalk is the very best for chalkboard art because the colors are so vibrant unlike most chalks.  My exact box that I used to do all of these boards can be found here.

I started the chalkboard signs as soon as I was out of my first trimester.  We took a picture with Jacob next to the chalkboard to make our announcement at thirteen weeks, and then each week after that I took a picture of the ol’ belly next to the chalkboard designed and hand-drawn by myself each week.  My chalkboard art was a little less than stellar some of the weeks because I was pretty exhausted being pregnant and running around after a two year old all the time.  Nevertheless, I still love each and every one.











Here are some close-ups of my favorites.


















































If you’re considering documenting your pregnancy in any way, I highly recommend doing it this way.  And if you don’t consider yourself to be an artist, you can always use Photoshop or an app on your phone to add the information to your pictures.  But do definitely take pictures of your belly each week in your favorite maternity clothes!  You will not regret it.  Happy Wednesday! 


*Linking up Jessi's Design with for What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday.


25 comments:

  1. These are all so cute, and so fun to be able to look back on. I'm sure Olivia will love looking at them when she's older! The name one is my favorite!

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  2. Gosh, you are soooo creative & talented! I can't even choose a favorite. I love the name one & the to-do list is super cute, too!

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  3. So cute!! I love all your outfits, you have great style.

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  4. I LOVE your chalkboard signs. I am the worst at chalkboard art. I took bump shots, but no fancy signs. You were the cutest pregnant lady! Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but Mila was almost an Olivia. We ended up changing our minds at the last minute.

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  5. I remember these and always loving each one!! You are so creative!

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  6. You looked amazing throughout your entire pregnancy!! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  7. you were adorable and looked incredible! the chalkboards really are the coolest momentos-thanks for sharing yours!

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  8. These are amazing. I love the chalkboard idea. I wish I would have done chalkboard photos with the girls, but I had a hard time even getting weekly photos done.

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  9. You look incredible every step of the way! And I want your closest!

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  10. All of the boards look so good! You did a great job! I think my favourite ones are the name on me (24) and the 50% one (20).

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  11. You are so creative! And artistic! Did you use regular chalk for these?! They seriously look so great. And so did you throughout your whole pregnancy!

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  12. These are awesome! You're quite a talented chalkboard artist! :)

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  13. Sooo sweet! What a great keepsake to have from your pregnancy.
    www.amemoryofus.com

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  14. These are perfect!! I've seen other designs on pinterest but these by far are the cutest board ideas!

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  15. This is by far one of the cutest ideas I've ever seen! What a clever idea full of great memories!

    xx, Caitlin
    www.wandererandwolf.wordpress.com

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  16. Omg! How did I not know you were a Georgia girl!? Go dawgs!! I'm a UGA grad, and bleed red and black!! Love all your chalkboards- they look amazing!! :)

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    1. Thanks, girl! GO DAWGS!! It's always nice to meet fellow fans!

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  17. Oh gosh, I wish I had the drive to do this with one of my pregnancies! I've barely been able to convince myself to take a weekly picture this time around, much less dress up decently, MUCH LESS make a gorgeous chalkboard! Super mom.

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    1. Haha. Thank you, Morgan. I had so much energy during my pregnancy with her! With my son, it was a completely different story!

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  18. How fun! These look great :) What kind of chalk did/do you use? The colors look so bold/vibrant. Any chance that chalkboard is still in stores somewhere?? Super cute!

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    1. Thanks, Lauren!

      I use Sargent Art Colored Drawing Chalk... I got mine at Hobby Lobby, but you can find it here on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Sargent-Art-22-4134-Colored-Drawing/dp/B003CF9VZ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474653076&sr=8-2&keywords=sargent+chalk.

      And I actually made the chalkboard from an old broken mirror that I got from Hobby Lobby. It was on clearance since the glass was broken and I turned it into to a chalkboard!

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  19. I love this! And I'm a bit envious of your artistic ability! Each board looks amazing :)

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