Weekend In Review: 3.23 & 3.24

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning!

Monday, again?

Here’s what we were up to this past weekend.

Friday, Lula and I spent a large chunk of the day making sugar cookies for Pa.

Ever since I made these for him on Valentine’s Day, he is obsessed with them and often jokingly tells me he is going to have them for dessert, even though I haven’t made any. What a comedian.

We were home all day and the temperatures were chilly…a perfect afternoon to spend making them again. I tried to go with Eastery colors this time.

130325 017

Yes, Lula is trying desperately to snatch one. He was quite pleased when he got home from work that evening.

Saturday we were up bright and early and were able to get in another 6 mile run. It was chilly and gloomy, but I was glad we got out there.

We had a birthday party for Jake’s uncle to attend so as soon as I was cleaned up, I got to baking a cake for the festivities.

By the way, I got this little “broom” for my birthday and it is wonderful.Basically, you use one of the pieces of straw in lieu of a toothpick when testing a cake to see if it’s finished baking. It does much less damage to cakes…and it’s cute. Here’s a link to another one I found, if you are interested.

After some errands, we made our way to the birthday “boy’s” house and here’s what it looked like when we arrived.

More snow! I love the juxtaposition of the daffodils and the falling snow. It was so pretty and cozy to watch the snow fall while we sat inside and chatted.

This is what Lula did for most of the afternoon.

After a delicious meal, we prepared dessert.

Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting…hit the spot!

It was almost 6 PM by this time and the snow was still falling so we decided to make our way home. After chasing cats and experiencing a sugar high, poor Lula couldn’t stay awake for the drive, although Pa tried to entertain her.

We got home, Lula found her way to sleep, and Pa and I watched a little TV. As usual, we were too wiped out to stay up too late.

When we got up on Sunday morning, this is what we saw.

Yes, another 5+ inches fell overnight.

It was a windy, coooooold morning.

We knew a stroller run was impossible and although the winds were harsh, we decided to try another round of snowshoeing to see if Lula would tolerate it.

Like deja vu.

Once we made our way into the forest, it was sheltered from the wind and quite pleasant.

Talk about a winter wonderland.

The snow was much less packed this time, which offered a better workout in a sense, since we were plodding through it.

Eventually, we all tired and decided it was time to warm up.

Lula was a trooper out there but she was definitely ready to move around by the time we got home.

There were many readings of her newest favorite book, “Jamberry.”

Pa had fun shooting the birds…with his camera, of course.

And after some shovelling and KU basketball watching, it was suddenly Lula’s bedtime and Pa and I were ready for some serious relaxing to gear up for the week.

At times it felt like we didn’t stop moving this weekend but it sure made for some wonderful memories.

I hope your weekend was great- have a wonderful Monday!

Happy Friday!

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning!

I hope that you had a great week.

Ours flew by, as usual. We’re having guests visit over Easter weekend so Lula and I have been busy eradicating cobwebs and cleaning forgotten corners. I think my overzealousness for this activity is a combination of spring cleaning + visitors coming + nesting.

Our weather has looked like this for most of the week.

We are supposed to get another snowstorm tomorrow into Sunday. I would rather be soaking up warm temperatures and sunny skies but the fact that it’s almost April is comforting. Spring is on its way, even if the weather says otherwise.

If the storm pans out, I’m hoping we can get out for more of this on Sunday.

Have a wonderful weekend!

WIAW- Pregnancy Edition

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Kelly

Good day to you! This is the first time I am linking up with Jenn.

I am also posting this in lieu of a pregnancy update this week since there isn’t much new to add.

Additionally, I thought it would be fun to document what a 23 week pregnant lady eats on a given day.

So…this is what I ate on Monday.

Pre-breakfast: Coffee!one quarter caff + sugar + water + 1 T cocoa powder + half and half

Second cup- smaller, decaf, less sugar Breakfast:

Egg Sandwich: 2 pieces whole wheat bread, one egg and half an egg white (Lula and I split 2 eggs plus one white), one piece of cheese

I usually have a green smoothie but we were running low on spinach….the sandwich was much more filling although not in keeping with the WIAW goes green theme.

Snack: handful of cashews pineapple Chobani plus the end of a box of Toasted Corn (generic Corn Chex) Lunch:

stir-fried veggies + brown rice + cashews (for the first time in a long time, I couldn’t finish this, even though it was shared with Lula)

Granny Smith apple Snack:

Diet A & W Root Beer! a few of Pa’s Doritos

Dinner:

beef stew + oyster crackers + cornbread Dessert:

a mini chocolate cake and ice cream we brought home from Johnny Carino’sa Cadbury creme egg that I did not take a photo of

It was fun to document everything I ate on Monday. Kudos to bloggers who do this every day…it’s a lot of work. Also, the lighting sure got worse as dinner time rolled around.

Have a wonderful day!

Past pregnancy updates for Baby 2:

Weekend In Review: 3.16 & 3.17

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning and happy Monday!

LinkWithin really sucked me in a few days ago…on my own blog.

I was previewing one of my blog posts before I published it and at the end of the post, LinkWithin recommended I check out some other posts…and that I might like them!

15 minutes later I had read six of these–mostly Weekend In Review posts–and I realized how much I enjoyed thinking back and remembering those weekends.

The point of this lengthy introduction is that I am going to try to bring this tradition back. Hopefully others enjoy reading these posts, but regardless, I like the idea of having a record of how we spent our weekends for Lula to look back on someday.

So, here goes.

Friday was such a gorgeous day that it was hard to reconcile our balmy temperatures with what was to come.

I even got to hang out laundry on Friday!

The weekend looked more like this.

Saturday morning, the family ran 6 miles in some gusty winds. Fortunately, I didn’t have to push the stroller.

cheating- a pic from Sunday morning

Once we got home, our morning was spent playing with Lula and watching her torture Frankie.

After her nap and a light lunch, I attempted to clean up her nursery with little motivation or success.

Nixing that, we ate an early dinner out at Johnny Carino’s, a great Italian restaurant that we hadn’t been to in a few years. I did not snap any photos there, but here are my leftovers heating up for lunch Sunday afternoon.

skilletini

After dinner, we drove home and put Lula to bed. Pa and I both could have easily gone to sleep too. It was only 7:15.

However, we rallied and tried to watch a movie through Amazon Prime. Word to the wise. Even if the movie has actors you have heard of, if you haven’t heard of the movie, chances are it sucks. And Incendiary did suck. Now that I see the reviews, it all makes sense.

Pa and I made our way to bed at about 9:30 and conked out.

The next morning saw us running 5 miles–less gusts this time around–but still chilly.

This is totally a staged photo as Pa pretty much always pushes the stroller now.

By the way, the weather shield that BOB makes for its stroller line ROCKS. Yes, we live in Kansas, but there are chilly, windy days here and it’s perfect for protecting Lula so she can enjoy the great outdoors too.

I made myself a spinach smoothie once we got back home. Kind of looks like a shamrock in the center of the cup…if you’ve been drinking.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Could that cup have any more scratches on it? I love the insulated albeit ugly ones though, ’cause they keep stuff cold.

Lula took a nap while Pa did some work from home and I sat back and read and caught up on Twitter.

After lunch, there was more cat torture…he does look content though.

I did a little food prep for the week.

Before:

After:

Lula played dress up.I dug deep and did a little more work in her room but it was mostly surface cleaning. I need to box up some junk in the closet to make room in the closet for some of the junk that is sitting in her room.

Before we knew it, it was time for Lula to head to bed so Pa and I enjoyed dinner and had a relaxing evening.

Growing up, I always wanted to be Irish. Kelly is an Irish name, after all. Sadly, Scottish and English are as close as I get, but thanks to Pa, Lula has some Irish blood in her. This hoodie was the only green item of clothing we could find to put on her yesterday, but it did the trick.

vintage hoodie from her Pa’s childhood

I hope that your weekend and St. Patrick’s Day (if you celebrate) was great.

Have a fantastic day!

Happy Friday!

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a happy Friday!

Yesterday the temperature soared to 72 degrees with bright sunshine.

Lula and I took advantage of the mild afternoon by going for a walk and playing in the backyard.

I LOVE watching her explore her surroundings.

It appears that she has developed an interest in weeding.

Just in time for gardening season.

Today looks to be even warmer. We plan on hanging laundry outside and washing the cars once Pa gets home from work.

Add in a lunch out with friends and an appointment to hear Baby 2′s heartbeat, and this weekend is off to a great start.

Have a good day!

Pregnancy 2: 22 Week Update

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning!

22 weeks!It is amazing to me how quickly this pregnancy is flying by. I am feeling great, on the whole.

Nursing: Not anymore. Lula hasn’t nursed in an entire week and I still can’t believe it’s behind us.

Cravings: I occasionally have a craving for pancakes or waffles but I have been too lazy to make any. I guess that is a good thing since whenever I do get around to making them, I plan on dousing them in maple syrup.

Since I’m writing about food, a delicious low-calorie beverage I recently created is the following combination.

1/4 cup juice to one can DSM

Pregnancy Brain: More than once, while making my breakfast smoothie, I have pressed the OFF button on the blender and then wondered why it wasn’t churning. Exercise: I am continuing to slow down, which is fine with me.

Thursday: 3.7 miles on the TM. I had to scale back to 6.0 MPH for a large portion of the run because my body was so tired.

Friday: 25 minute walk to the post office and back.It felt like spring and Lula and I loved getting outside.As a quick aside, below is the field we snowshoed in less than a week before! What a difference 5 days makes. Saturday: 6 miles outside, wearing shorts! Sorry I can’t blind you with my pale legs but rain was nearby so we skipped bringing a camera with us.

Sunday: 5 miles outside. I almost walked a few of the hills but after we started running, I found some energy.

I thought I would note that for the last few weeks, when we run outdoors, I have to stop and find a spot to relieve myself…usually twice. I am lucky that we run on country roads that aren’t filled with cars! Tuesday: 3.5 miles on the TM

Weight Gain: Week 2 of lessening my sugar intake has been a success. My weight gain hasn’t been as fast and furious as a result (I think that’s why) and I am pleased. I confess that I ate some brownie batter (no eggs) between lunch and dinner on Saturday. It was good.

Nesting: This is something new for me. I never once experienced this when I was pregnant with Lula…the DESIRE at least. Don’t get me wrong, even though I was pregnant, I still cleaned the house on a regular basis…I just didn’t want to.

This is different. It seems like every day, I spot something I could be doing to make the house cleaner, proceed to clean it (AND ENJOY DOING SO), and look forward to finding something else the next day.

Saturday, it was the refrigerator. Notes In The Margin: Bending over continues to get more difficult. When I clean up Lula’s toys at night, I now get on the floor and crawl around instead of bending down over and over again.Finally, waking up is getting hard. Most mornings, I lay in bed for 10-15 minutes after I’m awake willing myself to get up. After a shower, coffee and about an hour to adjust, I am ready to go. Morning runs really help too.

That about wraps it up from here.

Have a wonderful day!

Past pregnancy updates for Baby 2:

Self-Weaned At 17 Months

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning! How is DST treating you? Other than Lula playing in her crib until almost 8 o’clock last night–her bedtime is 7 o’clock–it has gone well for us.

So…weaning.

Last Tuesday, I didn’t nurse my daughter for the first time in seventeen months. And by seventeen months, I mean her whole life other than when she was in the NICU and the doctors wouldn’t let me for a day.

This post won’t be melodramatic or sad, because weaning was neither one of those for us.

A few months ago, based on her continued high level of interest in nursing, I was fearful I would be doing the tandem thing when Baby 2 makes an appearance in July, which to me sounds almost impossible. My doctor was confident she would wean herself since I am not producing much in the way of milk. He was right!

Looking back, breast feeding was incredibly hard and there was certainly a period of adjustment.

feeling energized

Once Lula started eating real food at the six month mark, nursing became much easier because feedings got shorter.

I have read a lot of blog posts from a lot of women who LOVED breastfeeding. This was a particularly excellent post.

I don’t think I would ever put myself in the “I love breastfeeding and wish it would last forever” category. I didn’t dislike breastfeeding, I enjoyed the bonding that took place between me and my daughter–not to mention the knowledge of the great benefits she was receiving from me–but most of the time, it was just one of the many things we did every day.

Okay, there is one HUGE reason that I loved it. Breastfeeding ALWAYS calmed Lula down. If she was crying hysterically, all I had to do was get her to latch and boom, she was content. It truly was magical in that respect.

I think I have the perspective I do about breastfeeding because I was so chained–looking back, it was mostly self-imposed–to the couch or a chair when I fed Lula. She refused to take a bottle, so Pa didn’t have the opportunity to feed her until she started solids. If we had guests–for the first 6 months–I usually left the room when I nursed. Sometimes, that was a nice break, but most of the time, I wanted to keep having fun too. (Cue Debbie Downer)

I could have kept feeding her where I was but if it was naptime or bedtime, she needed a quiet place to drift off, especially as she got older.

Some of those long nursings that turned into naps were awesome. I got to text, talk to someone on the phone, watch an entire movie, etc.But sometimes I wanted to hang laundry, answer the door, or just walk around!

I’ve discussed my goals for babywearing with Baby 2 before, but I really hope to nurse on-the-go much more than I did with Lula.

a rare outdoor shot

Lula’s decline to complete disinterest in breastfeeding came about for a couple of reasons.

One, I’m pregnant and her nursing has been slowing down for a few months. In fact, some of our “sessions” were only lasting a minute in the past few weeks.

Two, she recently had a stuffy/runny nose for over a week which made it really hard for her to nurse.

Three–from my perspective–I know I will be doing this again, as long as Baby 2 wants to breastfeed. That has made weaning Lula easier since I know I get to do it all over again, starting in July.

It’s been almost a week so far and…Lula seems perfectly content to be weaned (I really hate that word).

I offer her some whole milk in the mornings, at the time she usually nursed, and she is perfectly content to sip on that.

Pa has been doing the entire bedtime routine, including bringing her back to her crib–we attempted this earlier in her life with disastrous results–and it has been a seamless transition.

I have not noticed any kind of hormonal mood swings (other than the ones from pregnancy- HA), pain, tenderness, or engorgement. I assume that’s because my milk supply dropped so slowly over time.

I’ve been wearing a “real” bra for the first time since I gave birth to Lula. No snaps, no extra pads, no nursing tanks, etc. And in all honesty, it hasn’t been that exciting.

Overall, weaning has been a great experience for us. I think I am most happy and proud that I waited until Lula was ready to wean, not when I was ready for her to wean.Every mama has a different opinion about this but I really wanted it to be her decision, not mine. However, if she still wanted to nurse at three years old…I am confident that I would be singing a different tune.

Have a great day!

Snowshoeing…In Kansas…In March

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning! I hope that your day is off to a great start. I wanted to share something special the RMR family did last weekend, even though it’s already Friday…again.

Pa and I have a routine. Actually, we have a lot of routines. We are both former teachers, after all. One of our routines? We run outside, as a family, on the weekends. 6 miles on Saturday, 5 miles on Sunday. We are creatures of habit and don’t often stray from what our plans.

As I have discussed recently, we live in Kansas. 2 snowstorms within a week is rare, and this past Sunday morning, the weather was beautiful.

It is supposed to be in the 60s today, so clearly a whole lot of snow melt has taken place since Sunday.

We were a half-mile into our run when Pa said, “You know, this seems like it might be our only chance to attempt to snowshoe this winter. What do you think about nixing the run and giving that a try?” We have never snowshoed here before and we both have perfectly good pairs that have been taking up space in the garage. (For those new to the blog, we lived in Minnesota for 8 years before moving south.)

I jumped on board immediately. Cross training is probably a good idea for me right now anyway, especially after running 6 miles the day before. We ran home, got changed, and strapped in.

We don’t have a carrier we can strap on our backs, so Pa carried Lula in the Baby Bjorn.

We headed out past our neighborhood park into a field and took off.

Our town is fairly rural, however, the landscape has changed over the past ten years as more and more new homes are built.

We are both a little sheepish that this magical, beautiful place is practically right out our front door and we never realized it.Lots of pretty pinkish berries.

photo bomb

We spotted this old school butter cookie tin hanging on a tree.Animal tracks

We were out there hiking around for over an hour. Lula was happy to quietly take it all in.

I’m so glad that for once, we strayed from our normal schedule and took advantage of the day. It was so much fun and as Pa and I discussed, we won’t ever look back on Sunday’s snowshoeing event and say, “I’m so mad we did that! Why didn’t we go for a run instead?”

Looking back as we made our way home.

Have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend!

Munchkin Meals: 17 months

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Kelly

Hello and thanks for stopping by!

A great big thank you to Brittany for hosting, as always.

My girl Lula is 17 months old.

One big change for us this month is that Lula is no longer nursing. My doctor predicted this would happen since I’m pregnant and can’t be producing much. More on that in a later post.

Breakfast:

4-5 oz whole milk (some consumed before breakfast was ready), one scrambled egg, spinach and berry smoothie mixed with oat cereal, a little of Mommy’s spinach smoothie

Pre-nap:

2 oz whole milk (roughly)

Lunch:

Tuesday: kale chips,

we shared

Granny Smith apple,

mine and hers

6 oz whole milk, leftover breakfast smoothie

Wednesday: vegetable stir-fry with tofu and cashews, Granny Smith apple,

shared

a little BBQ chicken

Snack:

bites from Mommy’s banana with peanut butter

Dinner:

carrot puree mixed with oat cereal, chunks of cheddar cheese, 4-5 oz whole milk

Notes in the Margin:

Lula is usually a very big eater at breakfast–that makes sense–she has gone 12 hours with nothing in her belly! We can usually depend on her to eat everything at dinnertime as well.

Lunch is hit or miss lately and I am fine with that. I have noticed that she is more likely to eat her veggies if I give them to her from my bowl, rather than giving her a separate portion. Maybe it’s because they stay warmer, or maybe she feels special eating from Mama’s bowl. Whatever the reason–most days–it works. I try to eat what she is eating for lunch because that is when she is the most picky and it’s easier for both of us to eat the same food.

We try not to give her extras if she doesn’t seem interested in her veggies, which are always the first part of her lunch. If she is more interested in playing with kale than eating it, I assume she isn’t very hungry.

Some days, if I feel like she shirked her veggie duties at lunchtime, I will give her the remainder of her breakfast smoothie to make up for it.She is always willing to drink that.

Here is last month’s post, if you are interested.

I was emailed this link today- talk about timely.

Have a wonderful day!

Pregnancy 2: 21 Week Update

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Kelly

Good morning! I hope that your week is off to a great start.

21 weeks and counting! I thought it might be nice to have a “real” picture taken, rather than a shot of me standing in the bathroom.

And just for kicks, here I am, roughly 21 weeks pregnant with Lula…trying on a dress at Target…good times.

loving my shoe choice here!

I am feeling pretty good.

Cravings: We got our tax return and big spender that I am, I am going to buy a huge container of cashews from Sam’s Club on my next visit there. I love sprinkling them on stir fries and of course, as a snack, they are divine.

Pregnancy Brain: It’s been non-existent this week. Pa might say otherwise.

Exercise

Tuesday: shoveling, playing in the snow

Thursday: 3.7 miles on the treadmill

Saturday: 6 miles (felt great!)

headed to a pee spot

I have had to get creative with my running outfits as I don’t want to stretch out any of my “nice” running clothes. Old running pants and a hoodie it is!

shamrock shake or spinach smoothie?

Sunday: we ran about a mile before we decided that this was the one day we might EVER be able to snowshoe in Kansas. We ran home home, changed, and got going. Best decision we made this weekend.

RunBobbieRun style photo.

This morning: 3.7 miles on the treadmill.

Points of interest: As my bump gets bigger, I have found that it’s harder for me to bend down, shave my legs, etc.

Putting on my snowshoes on Sunday was a challenge as well.

I already look exhausted

Weight Gain: I’m not a share-my-numbers kind of gal, but after not gaining a pound for the first 12 weeks of this pregnancy, I started putting on weight rapidly. I’m not talking about freaking out over a half pound gain a week. I’ve been eating fairly healthy foods…except since Christmas my sugar intake has increased on the daily.

Basically, after lunch, I allowed myself sugar in whatever form I felt like…candy, chocolate, cookies, etc. It wasn’t a free-for-all by any means, but I was indulging in more treats than before I became pregnant.

After yet another week of gaining more than I was hoping for, I decided that the only way I could be sure I was doing my best to keep my weight gain on track was to limit my refined sugar intake to my morning coffee(s) and a dessert after dinner. (I still eat fruit throughout the day.)

A week of this regimen flew by and when I stepped on the scale this past Saturday, lo and behold, it was the least I had gained since early January! So…surprise, surprise…sugar and I don’t get along.

Additionally, I feel better. I have more energy, I am hungrier for my meals (SHOCKER), and each day I feel a sense of accomplishment when keep my sugar cravings in check. This method has worked extremely well for me. Also, dessert tastes a lot better when I haven’t been eating sweets all day.

And of course, taking me out of the equation, not subjecting Baby 2 to a ton of sugar every day is definitely a good thing.

That’s a wrap for this week.

Have a great day!