Top 5 Things I love about pregnancy...so far

1. The Belly

I know this is weird, but I am totally LOVING having a belly!  Sure, it's annoying that most of my clothes don't really fit, but it just looks so cute when it rounds out and I know that our little Peanut is hiding out in there somewhere.

2. Registry

Aren't registries just the funnest?  It's so much fun picking out all the stuff that you would never have the nerve to buy yourself.  I'm not finished setting all of mine up yet, but I think that's the fun part anyways.



3. New level of bonding with my husband

I didn't really see this one coming - but this might be one of my favorite pregnancy "side effects".  It's amazing how much closer I feel to the guy that's been by my side for the past 3 years.  We've always been really close, but the idea that we created something together makes us both pretty excited and allows us to share a new bond.

4. Feeling her move, kick

Okay so it's questionable at this point since I'm not sure what's what but I think that maybe, just maybe, I've felt her!  I'm dying for more to come!
Um, yeah, since I don't have pictures of Peanut moving, I figure this one's as close as it gets.

5. Hearing her heartbeat

Once every 3 weeks I get to go to the doctor's office and get through the boring weigh in's until we get to my favorite part - the heartbeat!  Once the midwife pulls out the Doppler, I can barely contain myself as I hold my breath and wait for the little thumps to come.  When they finally do, and so far they've always come through, I burst out laughing with excitement.  Then I end up feeling bad for the burst of energy since I always end up messing up the heartbeat.

What were your favorite things?

Happy Anniversary baby!

3 years ago today I woke up around 5am, calm and ready to take on the day. (ps- I am never really calm).

By the mid-morning, we had eaten breakfast and were on our way to get our hair did. 

Followed by make up.

Then the girls returned to the hotel to get their gowns on.

How many Bridesmaids does it take to dress a Bride?

And toast with some champagne.

Side note: Oh how I miss Champagne.

And then, just a few minutes later we were here.

Which led us here.

Where, funny story, Jon said "I do" about 5 minutes too early. 

And then, well, you know, we were married

and ready to celebrate.

And drink some more champagne!

Which can lead to moments like this

Or this

And if you mix in some more drinks

You could get this

So the moral of the story, kids, is to drink responsibly and avoid drinking & dancing at all costs.

Unless you're doing the chicken dance - in which case, it is totally acceptable.

Happy anniversary, baby boy.  I can't wait to do the chicken dance with you when we're old, gray, and still madly in love.

Getting my life back on track

I wrote down a To-Do list last week (catch up here).

I wanted to catch you up on how it's been going and I'm glad to report that it's not going so bad!

1. Start cooking:

Check!
(This one is a slightly altered Pioneer Woman recipe you can grab here.)

I also made some berry muffins for breakfast, but I didn't get a pic while they were fresh and they don't look as good a couple of days after.  Both were delicious and got me excited to get cooking again.  So that's a big CHECK there!

2. Get back to running 3-4 times a week.

Yeah.  I decided to alter this goal because the heat is just not cooperating and I'm too chicken to overheat or get my heartbeat too high.  But I am making up for it!  I've been up every morning an extra 30-40 minutes early and taking a 2 mile walk with the pups.  We're loving life!  Well, once we readjusted a bit to the early mornings.  The dogs are enjoying it especially since I've been neglecting them a bit too lately.  And that early in the morning it's usually just chilly enough that we can book it with only sweating a little bit.

This also raised the number of steps I've been taking each day which is now 10K+!  I'm pretty happy.

On top of it, I'm going to start some pre-natal yoga on Wednesday nights.

3. Eat more healthy

Oh - check and check!  My fridge, pantry and fruit basket are filled with yogurt, fruit, cheese, milk, cereal, and lots of veggies. 

Daycare Registry

Are you an expectant mother?

Check this out!

http://www.mydaycareregistry.com/

It's a registry to register for DayCare donations rather than gifts.  What an awesome idea!

Go Jane! I love it!

Top 5 Fav YouTube videos

It's that time again folks. It's FRIDAY!  Finally. Honestly, these weeks have been rough because of so much stress and busyness at work.  But it's Friday! Which means that the weekend is just around the corner and I can't wait to kick back, relax, not have a beer or two, and rejuvenate for next week.

I'm obviously in a rather chipper mood regardless of the fact that I'm going on (a) no sleep, (b) crap food b/c I can't seem to have time to go food shopping, and (c) no good physical activities because I don't have time for that either anymore.  So to get you in the mood for a happy Friday that leads up to a great weekend, here are some pretty hysterical YouTube Videos that have been circulating around.

New: a button!

Check out the new button!

You can grab it by grabbing this code:

<a href="http://www.livinglikethekings.com">
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4810794684_8600b7facf_m.jpg" />
</a>
 
And it was SUPER easy!

Make your own:

1. Start by creating an image of what you want your button to look like and save it as a jpeg
2. Size it down to about 125 x 125 pixels
3. Upload it to a public site liek flickr, picasa, or photobucket
4. Grab the link to your image and update the code in red below to suit your own:

for the button:
<a href="http://www.livinglikethekings.com">
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4810794684_8600b7facf_m.jpg" />
</a>
for the code:
<form action="" name="form2" method="post">
  <textarea rows="3" cols="12" name="textarea"><a href="http://www.livinglikethekings.com">
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4810794684_8600b7facf_m.jpg" />
</a>
  </textarea>
</form> 

If you have blogger, you can insert all that code into an HTML/Javascript Gadget (minus the bold titles...you'll want to erase those).

Update Belly Pic - 14 weeks

14 weeks exactly!

It was 14 weeks on Saturday.

Peanut at 14 weeks

These might stop if I start getting stretch marks, but for now, here they are.

Real belly pics

Please ignore Cai's butt.  She liked being in the center of all my pics.

Belly up close and personal

To-do list

Generally, I am not a lazy person at all.  I am always planning something, doing something.  I'm not the type of person who can spend hours sitting around, doing nothing or just watching TV.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good lazy Sunday, but generally, I am always on the go.

Except lately.  Except since I got pregnant.

My idea of a good day is still a packed afternoon with a run, a clean house, a homemade dinner, and some bonding time with my hubs and the pups.  Yet every evening when I get home, I muster up enough energy to grab the remote, a snack, and plop my lazy butt on the couch.

Here's the thing.  At first I was exhausted.  I still made the effort to run 2-4 times a week, but mostly I could barely keep my eyes open.  Then, by the end of the first trimester, I started regaining my energy.  I went back to a full schedule for a week or two, but then I noticed myself making excuses.  Things like "I really don't have to run.  After all, I'm pregnant" or "Why do I have to get up and make dinner when we can order something? After all, once the baby comes, we'll never eat out again." 

And now I am 12 miles behind my Nike+ goal for this month, barely getting up to 10,000 steps a day for my step program at work, and eating nutrient-less meals.  This is not what I wanted my pregnancy to be like.

I've decided that I've had enough.

I am giving myself a couple more days (we have a very busy work week and I doubt I'll have the energy to do anything by the time we get home), but then I am getting my life back together.

1. Start cooking again.  Choosing healthy recipes like this one

mixed with some delicious like this one from my new cookbook

2. Get back to running at least 3-4 times a week

and get at least 15,000 steps a day (okay...that might not be a realistic one, but I sure as heck will try!).


3. Try to eat more healthy and skip stuffing my face with fried food, take out, or needless snacks.

Okay, 3 is a good number I think.

Do you have any goals that you're trying to accomplish right now?

Birthday Loot

Did I ever mention that I absolutely love presents?  I think even more so I love opening presents!

My husband is pretty amazing and got me everything I wanted and more!

I'm pretty much a spoiled brat when it comes to my hubs and family who all adore me and shower me with everything I want, even when I don't blatantly ask for it!

I am also insanely impatient so I opened two of my big gifts early.

My mom and dad got me the Nook which is soooooo freakin' cool! I adore it.

And Jon bought me the new iPhone, mixed reviews and all.

Not gonna lie to ya - I love it!  I've heard all the bad reviews about it, but to be honest, I had crappy reception before and I continue to have crappy reception.  In the meantime, the new case hubby got me this morning should alleviate some of that!

This cover is super slick!  It's really thin and light and super sharp! It's here if you want one.

And then, to my utter shock and surprise (because I barely ever mentioned this to him before - and he doesn't read my blog), Jon bought me two of my all-time favorite cook books that I've wanted for-ever!

Obviously, the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook!

Look! It's mine! All mine!

Along with its amazing photography and amazing stories! Plus, ridiculously delicious recipes.

Oh, and Charlie!

This one, folks, was even more of a surprise to me.

Guess who wrote this?!

If you guessed Julia Child, you'd be right! (It also says it right at the top. See it?)

This might be my first attempt!  If you haven't seen Julie and Julia, you should totally watch it.  It's totally cute and makes you want to jump right off the couch and start cooking.

My favorite part of cookbooks is usually the beginning and all the essentials.  This one was especially awesome!

We also celebrated July birthdays with Jon's side of the family last weekend where I got lots of other awesome presents which I'll post about another time!

Until then. 

Love,
Kat