Guest Editor: Marissa Kraxberger, Creative Director and Blogger at Lady & Prince
When I tell people that we are pregnant with baby #3 the response is always the same–wow, you must be crazy. I work full time as a creative director in the fashion industry in NYC and my husband is a full time photographer. We may be a little crazy, but ultimately we are crazy in love with each other and with being parents. Our daughter, Alexa, is 5 and our son, Hayden, is 4 and we live in Brooklyn–DUMBO to be specific. It helps that both of us are passionate about all that we do–including raising our kids in this crazy city!
Photo: Courtesy of Marissa Kraxberger
When Nate and I were getting married–11 years ago this September–we always knew that we wanted to have 2-3 kids. When we moved to New York City and started having kids we weren’t so sure about the idea of a third. The rational side of us said, we don’t have enough money… we will be outnumbered… we can’t all fit in one taxi–for a while that was an actual deal breaker! However, over time we just kept feeling the itch and one day we –pretty unexpectedly–found out we were pregnant! I was in an initial state of shock, but Nate was grinning ear to ear. Now we couldn’t be more excited. The kids are over the moon and want to kiss and hug my belly all the time. They are always talking about what they are going to teach the baby when he or she is born. We know it will be mayhem, but our life is already mayhem and amidst the mayhem the best part is that we have these two beautiful children that we adore so we are so excited to add one more to our every crazy life.
Photo: Courtesy of Marissa Kraxberger
One thing that Nate and I committed to since the day we found out we were pregnant with Alexa was to continually work on our relationship. We believe that when we are happy, connected, and in love that our children will be happier and grow up to understand what real love looks like. This takes work no matter how much you love someone. We make an effort to take a short trip together every year and always have since the kids were born. It is hard to leave the kids, but once we get away we always realize how necessary it is to have alone time together. We have once a week date nights… even when we are too busy and we feel like it’s a luxury that maybe we should cut back on, we always realize once we are out the tremendous value it adds to our relationship. The one thing we never did was imagine that it would be easy, we have always been realistic that as we grow we change and the most important thing is that we grow and change together.
Photo: Courtesy of Marissa Kraxberger
I’ve been having a lot more fun dressing for maternity this time around. I am fully embracing the bump and love wearing tight dresses (like the Isabella Oliver floral elbow sleeve shirt dress or this Nicole Miller Cap Sleeve Dress). I think being pregnant is such an amazing blessing in life and truly a time to embrace all aspects of your femininity. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel like this everyday and some days I feel larger and heavier than I would like, but I always try to remember that this time is so fleeting and I want to enjoy as much of it as possible. On the weekends I tend to dress a bit more casual. I love simple maternity tank tops with maternity jeans by AG–they are so comfortable!
With summer almost here, a wardrobe that keeps you cool and comfortable is a must, especially if you are expecting! The one item I tell every mom-to-be to invest in if they are expecting during the warmer months is a 
Spring assortments are hitting stores this month full of new neutrals, soft colors with bright pops, plus DENIM! If you are anything like me, then I know you are looking forward to updating your wardrobe, so look for lots of destructed washes and silhouettes. Denim is so hot right now, ever since the chambray shirt became a staple in any woman’s closet, especially in the maternity fashion world.
