21 Week Bumpdate #BabySkoDos

HELLO twenty one weeks! This little one is now the size of a baseball cap. She has been doing a lot of growing in there...such a busy lady! It was time for a mirror selfie! It's late, so I'm going to make this one snappy...

Changes I've noticed:  I can't see my toes anymore. My tummy is being stretched to the MAX! My skin is so tight, I've been "lotioning" like crazy...so it's very shiny too! It almost sounds nice, but then throw in all those veins! Yikes! My belly button is starting to flatten out already. "It's all very National Geographic" (-Knocked Up).

How I've been feeling:  I'm feeling good but I'm definitely "feeling pregnant". Simple things like getting up and putting on my shoes, are chores now. I'm just so achey, and I fatigue really easily! Why is this happening so soon!?

How I've been sleeping:  No problemo when it comes to sleeping....thank goodness! I started using one of those wedge pillows to help me stay on my side. It sometimes works. Some mornings I wake up and it's on the floor, and I'm on my back. I try though!

Food and exercise:  This weekend was rough, but I've been doing better since. I've been eating breakfast every day, usually something fast like a granola bar and fruit. I've also been drinking my chocolate Shakeology, which is a lifesaver most days in order to hold me over until lunch. Every night before bed, I've been doing some yoga and stretching followed by some squats. I need to focus on getting my strength and flexibility back!

Maternity clothes:  Oh yes! Maternity work clothes, and it feels REALLY good to get into those leggings afterwards! 

Movement:  She is still non-stop, and her kicks are strong! Not only is she kicking, but she is always rotating around. Just now I looked down and she was all on the right side poking out. It's like she's doing acrobatics in there!

Best moment this past week:  Obviously EVERY moment from our fun trip this past weekend! A good part of our time spent together was spent talking about Sissy! Ella has been very snuggly, always hugging my tummy and rubbing it. I have been encouraging her to sing to baby, it's so sweet! 

We also finalized Baby Girl's name and chose how we're going to spell it! Tonight, I made her a pretty painting for the nursery at Painting With a Twist. It was strange not posting a pic of the final product, but I'm going to be good and keep it a surprise. I'm in love with how it came out!

So that sums up week #21 with this new sweet pea!

Click HERE to check out 21 Weeks with Ella Rose (the original sweet pea)!

What's cooking this week + a recap of our trip!

A little late, but I'm here to share what's cooking! We have been super busy around here! My dad was in town last weekend, and this weekend we went away for a three day trip to Orlando, then St. Pete. It was FABULOUS. Let's get right to it though...

Tuesday: 5-Ingredient Chili
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken with One-Pan Spinach Artichoke Mac 'N' Cheese 
Thursday: Caprese Chicken Panini
Friday: Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Black Beans, Sweet Corn and Sweet Potato & Steak for Hubs

As you can imagine, I'm exhausted (although I'm sure no one feels bad). Can you really complain about being tired after a trip this sweet....

Just to recap...
Saturday: We went to Magic Kingdom and did a TON! Ella rode her first roller coaster with Daddy and we met Ariel too! Afterwards, we went to our hotel for a quick nap (for Ella and Mommy), then Flippers Pizza for dinner. The timing was perfect to head over to Epcot to catch the fireworks. Ella was in her glory...so was I just looking at this face!

Sunday: After an early breakfast at Panera, we went over to St. Pete for some beach time at the Dolphin Beach Resort! It was 82 degrees and sunny....the perfect recipe for an incredible beach day! We had a blast, and even caught up with our friends Jen and Will at Bongos Beach Bar and Grille for a yummy dinner and beautiful sunset! After a walk on the beach we were all ready to recharge for round two!

Today: Round two! Breakfast on the beach was delicious, Uncle Will even joined us! More sandcastles, finding shells and swimming. St. Pete is such a beautiful beach, and of course another day of perfect weather didn't hurt either! We had one more yummy beachside meal before heading home. 

What a fabulous trip! Our girl was so good too, she had so much fun, went with the flow, and slept great...such an angel! Not going to lie, it took some convincing to get her to leave the resort today...but do you blame her?! So now we're home, and unwinding from our short and sweet 3 day anniversary getaway. I think I'm about ready for the week. All of that fun in the sun has got this Mamma completely BEAT! After I write out my grocery list, it's bedtime for sure! Goodnight!

Cuddled up this morning on her air mattress....and to think, I was worried she wouldn't sleep on it! She LOVED her "special squishy bed"! Ha! 

20 Week Bumpdate #BabySkoDos

It's the halfway point already! I don't know what happened between last week and this week but I'm feeling LARGE. According to my Ovia app....Baby is the size of a paper plane, or Belgian endive. Interesting! According to my calculations, she is the size of a Buick!

Changes I've noticed:  I haven't stepped on a scale, but I'm assuming I've packed on a few more pounds in the past week. My dad came down for a visit and we ate A LOT of really good food, so I wouldn't be surprised. I've just been feeling really bloated between the "not so great" food choices and baby growing very rapidly....there's no room in there! Most nights this week I've felt like I'm about to burst! It's too soon for this! Check out that work belly!

How I've been feeling:  As you could imagine, feeling bloated doesn't feel very good. I'm hanging in there, but a little extra energy would be nice!

How I've been sleeping:  Despite the fact that I've been sleeping really well, it would probably be a good idea not to get involved in binge watching House Hunters before bed. I've been going to sleep way later than I should....and I'm definitely feeling it in the morning!

Food and exercise:  See above section on "changes I've noticed"....next week, better choices for sure!!! 

Maternity clothes:  I'd say my wardrobe is about 75% maternity.  I should probably hang some of it up. The heap of clothing isn't helping with my morning routine! It's time to swap out some things that won't be fitting me for a while. 

Movement:  There were two days earlier this week where she was a little more calm than she was over the weekend, but lately she has kicked it into high gear and has been extremely active. I'm telling you she is busting out of there! I don't remember being able to see my stomach move so early on with Ella. As I'm typing this I see her poking out and making herself known! 

Best moment this past week:  We picked a name!!! There's still some discrepancy on the spelling...but the name is set, and it's perfect! I don't think I'll be announcing it until she is here though, that's what we did with Ella Rose!

As anxious as I am to meet this little sweet pea that has been having a party in my tummy....I am okay with time slowing down just a bit! How is it halfway already? Emotions have been a little out of control, especially when I think about the fact that my time with "just Ella" is coming to an end so quickly. I'm trying not to think about it too much and just enjoy this time! 

Today is a very special day!!! Stephen and I have been married FOUR years! We've created a life far more wonderful than I ever could have imagined! Happy Anniversary to my other half! We took Monday off of work and planned a very special getaway with our sweet girl! It's going to be a blast, I'll be posting a BILLION pics I'm sure!  Yay, family fun in the Florida sun!

Happy Friday!

Click HERE to check out 20 Weeks with Ella Rose!

19 Week Bumpdate #BabySkoDos

Uh-oh, I'm slacking! I started bumpdates with Ella at 17 weeks! I guess that's the way it goes when it comes to round two. I better get on it! Here we go....

Changes I've noticed:  I've gained 13 lbs, so that would be the obvious biggie. Since becoming a Beachbody Coach last March, I was in MUCH better shape at the start of this pregnancy than last pregnancy! Weight-wise, it wasn't too drastic of a difference but obviously I was much more toned. That has all gone out the window at this point. #goodbyeabs

How I've been feeling:  TIRED. You know this is the exact same time of year when I was pregnant with Ella (Ella's b-day = 9/3....my due date = 9/5) so I'm going through all the same motions of the school year at the same point in my pregnancy. Example - this is not my first time going through "testing season" at work during the 2nd trimester. All I could say is thank goodness it didn't fall during the 1st...because I don't think I could have functioned during all those late nights if queasiness was thrown into the mix. Regardless of the fact that I'm through the 1st trimester, the tiredness remains. Everything takes extra effort! By the end of the day my body is just completely shot! I've also been getting headaches, although not nearly as frequently as I was a few weeks ago, they still pop up from time to time. Trying to stay hydrated...surely that helps!

How I've been sleeping:  Not too bad, I am a little restless at night but nothing major. I've been trying to sleep on my side but it's not easy to stay that way all night long. I haven't busted out the body pillow just yet, but soon!

Food and exercise:  My excuse is that testing season caused me to eat HORRIBLY...but the truth is I wasn't eating fantastic even before that. The 1st trimester brought nothing but late in the day nausea, and I ate mostly grilled cheese and cinnamon toast crunch. Once I started to get into testing, it was a lot of fast food. Ugh, talk about one extreme to the other. It drives me nuts that I was eating 1,000,000 times better when I was "eating for one". Major guilt...blah, blah, blah....I'm over it. I'm through the rough patch and making MUCH better choices. Work in progress, people! Oh and exercise....I've done some Beachbody Active Maternity workouts, a little yoga, lots of stretching, some running here and there but there is no actual routine. Another work in progress. We'll get there!

Maternity clothes:  I dug out all the old stuff which was NOT in the best shape. I broke down and splurged on a trip to Motherhood. I've been wearing mostly all maternity clothes for weeks now not just because it's more comfortable (obviously) but because I invested in it...so I'm using it! 

Movement:  I can say that in the past week I've gone from just feeling like there's a little fishy swishing around in there to feeling actual kicks! They aren't too frequent but some are pretty strong...I was able to SEE it earlier today! Can you believe this strong little lady!? She's incredibly active!

Best moment this past week:  There are two! First was Monday night when I told Ella that I felt Baby kicking, she literally cracked up and kept saying "baby is so silly"....it was adorable to see how excited she was!!! And the other moment was this morning with Hubs....seeing this pretty face! Such a cute profile... just like Sissy! 

That's all for my first official bumpdate for our second sweet girl! Almost halfway there already! Whoa...it's definitely going faster this time! 

Goodnight!

Click HERE to check out 19 Weeks with Ella Rose!

What's cooking this week?

I'm back to a normal week...whatever that may be! Obviously there is no "normal" around here, but it will be in the sense that I'm hoping to be home in time to put some food on my table and fill my family's bellies....

Sunday: BBQ - Ribeye for Hubs and sweet chili marinated chicken for me from Fresh Market - salad on the side
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Chicken Sausage and grilled corn
Thursday: Cuban Black Beans & Rice
Friday: Pesto w/ pasta for Hubs, Zucchini Ribbons for me (hopefully my new spiralizer will be here by then)

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know the highlight of our weekend has been Ella's new "big girl" bed and her new room! There has been a lot of excitement building up for the last few months since we started telling her it was coming soon! Can you tell she's happy?

Ella has officially been moved to her new room, which used to be the guest room. We painted an accent wall a pretty turquoise/blue/green color - I have no idea how to describe it because it constantly looks different to me. It's Sherwin Williams "Tantalizing Teal"...

The plan was to have her room a little more setup than it currently is, but poor Hubs woke up feeling kinda gross yesterday morning... he even had a fever! Poor guy started to feel a little bit better later in the afternoon and we were able to get her moved in at least to a point where she could spend her first night in there. When she's more settled in (and we have things on the walls), I'll share some more photos. For now, it's just her bed, a dresser, and her pretty pink curtains.

She's psyched and that's all that matters! She woke up from her nap in her crib and we had her help us put the sheets on and set up her new bed. We could hardly contain her, she kept trying to take her dress off to put her "jammas" on! We kept telling her when the sun went to sleep, then so can she! After we tucked our very excited girl into bed, I watched her on the monitor for about a half hour...she rolled around quite a bit but never tried to get up. At one point before I went to sleep I noticed that she flipped upside down, but it didn't seem to phase her...and she woke up right-side up with her head on the pillow. It will take some getting used to I'm sure!

I'm going to try to not get too excited...because with a toddler anything can change from one moment to the next...but she did SO WELL last night! She didn't get up, even this morning she woke up a little bit after 8:00, and just played with her stuffed animals until we went in to get her at about 8:30. Surely, she'll get adventurous and get down from the bed at some point on her own. We'll see how nap time goes today...now that's what I'm concerned about! Stay tuned!

Today we're going to have a pool day with friends, a lazy Sunday....sounds perfect!

That's all for now, ENJOY! 

Is anyone cooking around here?!?

Ha! Cooking? Not me! Okay, life has been nuts. I don't mean the usual kind of crazy, I mean truly NUTS! It's "testing season" at work and I've been surviving but that means hardly being home and the hardest part....not seeing my family. This is not my "first rodeo" when it comes to coordinating a school-wide state assessment, but this year was different because of the adjustment of a new job. Oh please don't take this as a complaint because as far as obstacles go, it was smooth sailing to set up for this year. I don't want to jinx anything because there is one day of testing left AND the whole packing-up and boxing part....but it went REALLY well! It's rewarding to see that all of the hard work has paid off, and best of all it's appreciated! I'm not sure anyone has a clue how much goes into getting ready for these things, but for me it's always been a rough spot in my school year. 

My husband has been an ABSOLUTE gem! He's such a good sport because he knows how difficult it is for me to go week by week only catching short glimpses of our little girl. I couldn't love him more than I do! He's been working through lunch in order to leave work and pick her up on time, taking her to visit me at work when I need hugs, and just basically being a single parent ever since I came back from spring break - not ever complaining once. On top of everything, Ella got sick. Poor baby! She's got a nasty cough, but luckily no strep or ear infection! Hubs had to stay home with her a few days this week. LOVE YOU BABE, thanks for taking such great care of our sweet girl (I think he reads this thing)!! XO

Last weekend was a nice break to be with family...here are some of the highlights... Ella, Ella...more Ella...and "Gruncle" John! 

Out to dinner with the family last Saturday night....HIBACHI! Ella was the star of the show when she  let the chef shoot "sake" (it was water) into her mouth. So silly!

Maybe one more week of this craziness, and I think life will start to get more normal! This weekend has been spent catching up on quality time with my loves AND catching up on much needed rest! I'm going through "cooking withdrawal" and I'm going to whip up a BIG batch of my Sunday Sauce today. My dad is coming to visit in a few weeks and I'll need the leftovers for when he is here! 

What else is new? Hmmmm....Baby Girl #2 is moving around like crazy, I think she's a night-owl like her Mamma! It's been 18 weeks, still no "bumpdates", but I'll have to get on that! She's a growing girl, and it's been nice having her keep me company at work with her little flutters and nudges! 

That's about all I can think of! I'm excited to finish out FSA 2016, and crank out the rest of what has been a great year #1 at my new job. The summer is SO close and it is going to be the best one yet!!! Back to my usual "what's cooking" posts real soon! Happy Sunday! :)