I realized this morning that it has been 9 days since my last blog post and honestly I think that is the longest I have gone without blogging in years! It was really an unintentional mini break and was a result of life just taking over.
Last week we had some friends in from out of town so we spent a few nights meeting up with them after Neil got out of work. This resulted in late nights for Edith and the following days were long for me. I know you all know about the importance of sleep and well with a toddler it’s even more important!
This past weekend we were busy, busy, busy with Saturday morning family time and then a birthday party and then a dinner party (yes all on Saturday) and we pretty much ran ourselves down on Saturday. Sunday while a little more laid back we spent most of it trying to catch up on chores from the week, grocery shopping and swim lessons.
After a crazy busy weekend Monday came and so did my summer cold. I blame it on the weather as we went from 80’s to 50’s back to 80’s and whenever that happens I tend to get a cold especially when I’m already tired out. I sometimes forget that I am 35 week pregnant and that I need to slow down a little; which is really hard when you have a toddler and it’s summer.
Finally it’s Thursday, my cold is starting to clear up and I know a semi relaxing weekend is on it’s way. We or rather I don’t have a ton of plans this weekend besides meeting up with friends for happy hour/dinner. Neil has plans go hiking and to take E to her swim lessons but otherwise we both plan on laying low, maybe hitting up a park and a farmers market. What are your weekend plans?
7:13a Edith and I check out books in bed before sipping on a giant jar of lemon water and making/eating breakfast.8:30a Edith and I work on finishing up a batch of My New Roots Vanilla-Rooibos Fig Newtons that I had made the dough for on Monday. P.S. found that giant bag of organic figs for $10 at Costco.9:30a I finished my 40oz of lemon water so it’s coffee time with beans that were freshly roasted the night before by my loving husband.*10a Cookies have baked and cooled so obviously we had to taste test them while watching Elmo’s World and blogging (me not Edith). 11a It’s time for some dishes to be done and lunch to get ready so that means kitchen playtime. 12:03pLunch time! I had a (baked) sweet potato fries salad with baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, green onions, sriracha and vegan ranch.1:15p Edith is finally down for a nap so that means work time and Royal Pains.2:45p Edith is up so it’s playtime! 3p We take our playtime outside for a little baby pool action for Edith, Fit Pregnancy for me and lots of watermelon for both of us. 4:21p Time to prep dinner! (I made a lasagna with those no bake noodles and didn’t use enough sauce so dinner was kind of a bust). 5:05p All this cooking means lots of dishes to wash…6:36p dinner has been eaten, Neil is home and it is time for a family walk! 7:01p Vegan Froyo. Enough said.
Share a moment in your day with me.
*I sat down to drink my coffee and check in on some blogs while Edith watched a few minutes of Sesame Street and instead found myself in tears at the news of another school shooting, this one only 20 miles from my house. My heart is feeling pretty heavy today – when will we finally put a stop to gun violence?
Matcha Latte: I received a sample of Kiss Me Organics Matcha awhile ago but two little hands got a hold of the packet and hid it on me. I finally found it this past weekend and Monday morning aka the day Neil started a new job and stopped making my morning coffee I finally made my first homemade Matcha latte. Seriously I don’t know why anyone buys these out when you can make them so much cheaper at home with your own Matcha. My recipe is simply 8oz non-dairy milk, 8oz ice, 1 teaspoon Kiss Me Organics Matcha and 1 tablespoon honey (you could sub agave) and then I blend until smooth and creamy <– seriously so good!
Julep Maven Box: I have bought subscription boxes in the past but most of them are food/home products or children’s products. Finally last week after reading about Julep on another blog I decided to treat myself to my first beauty box- Julep. Now I bought this box with my own money and am in no way sponsored to post about them. I did however get my box for “free” by using PROMO CODE: FREEBOX and by “free” I mean I paid $2.99 for shipping. I took their style profile test and was categorized as the “It Girl” which means I received three nail polishes and a few sponges. While I love the nail polishes (going on day four and still no major chipping) I have decided for my next box that I want to change my profile and decided to go with “Class With A Twist” which gets you two nail polishes and a full-sized beauty product. Seriously so excited to get my next box. It feels great to get something special that is just for me. I don’t have to share anything in the box and I forgot how great it feels to wear nail polish. If you would like to order your free box and want to click my affiliate link that would be greatly appreciated! Let me know what you think of your Julep box!
Prenatal Yoga: When I was pregnant with Edith I regularly attended prenatal yoga classes however this pregnancy I haven’t even made it to one class. Unfortunately a toddler, lack of prenatal classes in my immediate neighborhood (or ones close by) and a husbands busy/new work schedule just hasn’t made yoga outside the home possible. That all being said I have been getting back to prenatal yoga at home with Daily Burn. I have been doing the Beautiful Belly program which has three prenatal yoga videos for each trimester and even has three postpartum videos. I have been getting in practice at least twice per week and sometimes that means having Edith join me.
5:50a This morning I actually set an alarm to go to the gym because I have been sleeping 20-30 minutes too late to stay in my workout window. I quickly check my email on my phone and then I’m out of bed. I find my clothes in the dark (note to self put gym clothes out before bed) and get dressed. I down two glasses of water and half a banana and out the door by 6:05a
6:09a I stop at the bank machine to get stamps so I can finally mail out the Valentines that Edith made our family and friends.
6:11a I’m back on the road to the gym.
6:22a I arrive at the gym hop on the elliptical and finish an episode of Call the Midwife. I end my workout with a little strength training.
7:02a On my way home!
7:17a I arrive home and I am ready to eat. I prep a batch of chia pudding, make chia jam and toast up some frozen waffles. Note always make extra because even if your toddler has already eaten breakfast they will want to eat yours too.
7:40a Neil heads to work.
7:47a I finally sit down to eat! Edith and I share some waffles and chat.
8:05a E and I watch a little bit of the today show and then move on to reading the same book five times.
8:40a It’s time for our skype date with my parents.
9:16a After skyping we color and I sip on an iced coffee.
10:10a I put on Daniel Tiger for Edith and I work for a bit. I was hoping to go outside but it is still raining.
10:30a E is entertaining herself so I catch up on a few emails and chat with Neil via google chat.
10:50a Time to make lunch and do a load of dishes.
11:35a Lunch time! I make up a batch of creamy cheezy veggie soup and add some gluten free noodles to it.
Soup Recipe:
12 oz veg broth
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 large tomato, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup cashews
2tbs nutritional yeast
Blend in a high speed blender and serve!
12p A messy lunch + morning workout = shower!
12:15p After our shower it’s time to read four books and then take a nap.
12:37p I head to the living room and do some work while watching Call The Midwife.
2:20p Edith is up from her nap and we cuddle for a bit on the couch and read a book.
2:30p It’s time for E’s afternoon snack and while she munches I clean out fridge and realize we need to make a grocery trip.
3:00p I grab a few baskets of laundry to fold and E “helps” me and we sing songs.
3:40p E and I draw and read (yes E really requests to read books all the time). I try to figure out dinner since we are so low on food and already had pasta for lunch.
4:50p After coming to the conclusion that my only option was to figure something out with what was left to eat in our fridge and freezer I reluctantly head to the kitchen and make dinner.
5:20p E and I attempt to eat the dinner I prepared but neither of us is too impressed.
5:40p E asks for a snack and we watch The Office (this isn’t a normal night for us- Neil had dinner and concert plans with a friend so we were on our own).
6:15p I blended the chia pudding I had prepped in the morning and make E a banana smoothie since she was still hungry.
6:50p Time for books in bed.
What does a day in your life look like?
7:15p Lights out and bed time for Edith. I lay in bed for awhile (we have a co-sleeping set up) and once she is out I get back up.
7:35p I get up and make some baked fries, try to do some work and look for something to watch. I find myself not feeling very motivated to work and I end up starting about 5 different shows on Netflix but don’t get into any of them.
8:45p I head to bed and watch an episode of the office on netflix via phone until I fall asleep.
We are experiencing a “huge” (for Portland) snowfall right now which has left us with snowed in. Coming from Vermont this isn’t much snow at all and it wouldn’t phase me there but here you don’t have plows out clearing and salting the roads and for some reason everyone forgets how to drive so driving anywhere isn’t high on my list of desired activities. Thursday it took Neil two hours to drive the six miles home from work due to the weather and the act that everyone was trying to head home at the same time.
So due the weather conditions we haven’t made it to the market and are pretty much out of food and I haven’t made it out of the house to the gym. The upside? Neil worked from home yesterday, Edith is in love with the snow and while I didn’t make it to the gym we took a nice snowy walk to dinner last night. This weather has also made me have to get a little creative with what little food we have in the house and so Edith and I made these yummy date balls to snack on.
Nutty Date Balls Makes 12-15 balls
Ingredients:
2/3 cup raw almonds
1 cup pitted medjool dates
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Place the almonds in the base of a food processor fitted with the s-blade. Process until crumbly.
Add the remaining ingredients and process until everything comes together.
Scoop out with a small cookie scoop and roll into balls. Store in the fridge and enjoy!
Toddler approved! P.S. she ate three of these while I was rolling them into balls. I’d say she liked them.Q: What are your favorite snow day snacks?
It’s 10pm and I’ve been asleep for a few hours already but I woke up dying for a giant glass of water and a bowl of cereal. I head to the kitchen and chug back a glass of water and then pour myself a big bowl of cereal with almond milk. I stand in the kitchen and eat my bowl of cereal and throw back another glass of water before heading back to bed. I’m back in bed at 10:15pm and asleep shortly after.
Then 3am rolls around I wake up and spend the next 20 minutes just laying there hoping to will myself back to sleep but it’s just not happening. I grab my phone and headphones and put an episode of The Office on, put my eye mask on and hope that I will fall back asleep while listening to Dwight and Jim play pranks on each other.
Well 5:27am rolls around and I’m still awake and at this point Edith is stirring. I rub her belly hoping that maybe just maybe she will go back to sleep for another 30-45minutes and that I will too because I know a long day is ahead of us. It’s 5:45am and Edith is wide awake, which means we are too.
We get ready for the day and decide to head out for a family breakfast date at Harlow where Edith and I share a delicious plate of polenta with kale, beans, tempeh and chipotle hollandaise and toast. Since finding a breakfast spot with good coffee is rare we make a quick stop at Heart to pick up coffees and unfortunately ended up getting a decaf and I know it’s better for baby #2 but this mama needed some “real” coffee today.
After dropping Neil off at work I attempted to go grocery shopping but I just couldn’t seem to focus. I picked up a few things and about 10 minutes into our trip I was feeling so tired and nauseous that I had to leave. Edith and I paid for our few random items and headed home. Next thing I know I look in the rear view mirror and see that Edith is passed out. For all you parents out there you know that 99% of the time this means that having an at home nap is out of the picture. In this case it meant no nap for me either; a nap I was counting on to make it until dinner (aka when Neil gets home).
Since then I have been in survival mode. We had a simple lunch of things I didn’t have to cook and have spent most of the day reading books and watching too much TV. Neil she be home from work soon and I hope that he can tire Edith out a bit so she goes to bed….err so we both go to bed early.
Tomorrow is Neil’s birthday and it is also his last day of vacation which means he’s back to work full-time and it’s just me and E all day. While I LOVE having Neil home (he was off for two weeks) I am ready to get back into our normal routine. I feel like since Thanksgiving our schedule has been a bit off due to the holidays, Neil’s vacation, my parents visit and oh yeah the morning sickness.
Now that I’m feeling better(!!) I am so ready to get back into our normal morning, day, evening and weekend routine. I really never knew how much I loved a routine until suddenly ours was thrown off for such a long period. I am ready to get back to consistent workouts and to try out my new prenatal workout video. Speaking of workouts we joined the local community center gym which means we have access to the pool, weights and cardio equipment. I’m so excited to be a gym member once again and to take Edith swimming a few days per week.
I am also feeling better which means back to regular blogging. I really have missed blogging but sitting in front of a computer screen has just added to my nausea so I have been trying to do it in short spurts but it hasn’t been very successful. Also since I’m feeling better that means I have been doing more composed meals and I am hoping to share some new recipes with you soon! I’m also taking recipe requests.
Side note I won’t be sharing my weekly pregnancy updates here this time but I will be sharing them over on Naturally Family and I recently shared some answers to readers questions regarding baby #2 if you are interested you can check them out here.
