Love and Family Saturday Intro

It’s Saturday!!!!
I’m going to be writing this post in two parts. Today we’re going to our anatomy ultrasound where we will hopefully find out the sex of baby #2. But…we’re having a gender reveal party tomorrow so we won’t actually know until then. After the ultrasound, we’re going to see The Imagination Movers with friends of ours, so I’ll write about that after.

Pregnancy Update!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 198 lbs
Current weight: 202 lbs
# of weeks: 19
Overall Mood: Happy
Cravings: none really in particular, although I did crave a BLT salad the other day
Aversions: nothing major, but chicken turns me off a bit, depending on how it’s prepared.
Energy Level: improving, past the first trimester napping, but I’m still falling asleep on the couch most nights
Swelling: none
Baby: I’ve felt a couple little flutters, but nothing super strong. I think I might have felt Wyatt more at this point when I was pregnant with him, but I don’t entirely remember.

So far this pregnancy feels completely different than my first. When I was pregnant with Wyatt, I was a raving lunatic. I actually got mad at Denis for going in the garage to hang out with his friends when I had told him to invite them over…like I was seriously bat shit crazy with zero patience for stupid. This time around, I of course have my irrational moments, but overall, I’m pretty calm (I think).
I don’t know if it’s because most of my attention is on Wyatt that this pregnancy feels so different, but I do have stop and remember that I’m pregnant, which makes me feel a bit bad that I’m not devoting as much attention to Baby#2 in utero as I did with Wyatt. It does feel good that I know what to expect now so I’m a little more relaxed.

A few hours later…

So after 1L of water and a little bit of poking and prodding, we were able to coax Baby#2 to give us a show! I didn’t get to see anything, but I handed the envelope off to my BFF @Kelseycanbake, and we will have our gender reveal party tomorrow! I think you can guess what Sunday’s post will be 😉.

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Thankfully Wyatt was able to squeeze in a quick nap in the car before Imagination Movers. I was curious to see how he was going to react to the show and the big crowds, but he was awesome. He sat quietly on Daddy for

half the show, mesmerized by his spinning light up bulb we picked up (Wyatt is OBSESSED with lights, I swear, if he’s not an electrician when he’s older, I’ll be shocked), and then he started to get some energy and actually watch the show. It was actually a really fun show. The kids had a blast and the Movers did a great job interacting with the kids. I highly recommend bringing your kids if they come to your town.

Overall, we had an awesome, fun-filled, exciting day. I made an awesome hash brown casserole for the gender reveal party tomorrow, tidied up the kitchen – I even squeezed in a workout (so as not to “break the chain”), and then, once I finish this post, I’m going to fold my laundry (it’s 10:30 pm right now…I’m usually asleep by 9pm lol)

Exploring Veggies – Butternut Squash

Happy Monday everyone!

I am so excited to share with you today’s veggie – Butternut Squash. There are lots of squashes out there, and they often have similar characteristics and nutrition qualities, but we will focus specifically on the delicious Butternut Squash.

Butternut Squash – What is it?

Butternut Squash

– a winter squash that is available year-round

– similar in taste to pumpkin

Why do I want it?

– good source of Beta-carotene, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Vitamin A and C

– very versatile

– great for one of baby’s first foods

-can be used in sweet or savoury dishes

– very low in calories

– seeds can be roasted and eaten as a snack, or garnish on salads

 

Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and Cheeze

So, this recipe, taken from ohsheglows.com, turned out to be delicious. I made a little mistake with this though. I increased the amount of pasta used, without increasing the cheeze sauce. Also, mine was slightly less vegan because I did add some shredded marble cheese for an added stringiness. It was so yummy!

Butternut Mac n’ Cheeze

Even though mine turned out a little dry, it was still awesome. I added spinach and some breadcrumbs to mine. While my dad did not approve, my hubby, my mother in law, my mom and my son all enjoyed it, so I’ll call this one a win :). This was all that was left of it…again, I forgot to take pictures of the whole process, but I also don’t want to take away from Angela’s amazing work, so I highly recommend you check out the recipe on her site. Truly amazing.

 

Butternut squash is also amazing in smoothies (add some pumpkin spice, vanilla, almond milk and you’ve got yourself an awesome fall smoothie).

 

So go out there and enjoy some squash! What are some of your favourite squash recipes?

 

 

Figuring Sh*t Out

Hello friends,

I’m pretty excited about starting this blog and sharing my journey. I’m not going to go into too much details about the past (lost weight, gained weight, lost weight, gained weight, got pregnant, gained LOTS of weight, stayed the same, stayed the same), my goal is to focus on the present and future.

I am going to be totally transparent with you. I am going to share everything you. It’s going to be a blast :). This isn’t just a blog about weight loss though. This is a journey towards living a healthy life, and a healthy life means a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy spirit. And all that awesome health leads to happiness. SO let’s get Happy!

I don’t want to focus too too much on actual weight or measurements, as these aren’t necessarily the key indicators for health. However, they are good visuals for tracking progress. The main things I will be looking for throughout my journey will be energy levels, sleep quality, strength and endurance, breathing, inner peace, positive thinking.

So where does my journey begin? Well, here we go.

I weigh 204 lbs, I have excess skin on my belly from my gigantic pregnancy, poor muscle strength, I’m tired (because I stay up too late), tiredness then makes my cranky and irritable. My bowels aren’t “regular”, I feel bloated, I drink a bit too much alcohol, and I’m pretty confident that my excess weight is causing me to have difficulty getting pregnant. My nails are brittle and they peel and break often, my hair is dry, and my skin is sometimes dry, flaky and itchy.

That’s about me in a nutshell, and day by day, all that will change.

There are a few daily practices that I plan on implementing to help me achieve my health goals, they include:

– Meditation

– Consuming a primarily plant based diet

– 20-40 minutes of sweat-inducing exercise

– 20-60 minutes of yoga

– Body brushing

– Active positive thinking

In addition to this, I’m going to be looking at all the products I use (cosmetics, skin care, hair care, cleaning supplies) and examine the ingredients to see where I can improve. I will review the different products that I use to help you see where you can make changes too.

I’m also going to be sharing with you my progress as I work towards building an exciting and fulfilling business.