What I ate Wednesday!

I’m here with another what I ate Wednesday! Today was a day all at home so I had time to make a lot of good meals for both my daughter and myself. I always try to balance what I eat and make sure we both eat lots of veggies and protein. Lately, I’ve wanted to look into different ways to measure and proportion so when I figure out what I’m planning I’ll let you guys know!

Here goes!

Breakfast! 

Before breakfast, I was so thirsty so I drank some water, not this whole bottle for sure. This is the bottle I use most of the day. I think it’s about 4 cups and I usually drink it about 3-4 times a day.

For what I ate, my daughter and I each had a fluffy waffle, a hard-boiled egg, and some blueberries. She also had a banana with hers while I had a creamy cup of decaf that I forgot to take a photo of because it was gone so fast.

Lunch! 

Lunchtime! I usually always think, ‘ ugh I don’t have time to make anything good, anything healthy…’ so I always think I need to resort to junk food or easy stuff. Well, today is a perfect example of how wrong I am. This sandwich took me less than 15 minutes to make and has so many veggies and good stuff on it! This is another one of those Fit Girl recipes that I mentioned last week. This is from their Fit Girl Cook Book and it’s called the “Second-Date Sandwich.” I used whole wheat bread, it said to mash chickpeas with sour cream and steamed broccoli but I don’t like just chickpeas so I used hummus, mushrooms, grated carrot, cucumbers, lettuce, slice cheese, crispy ham, and avocado on the other side piece of toast. This sandwich is so filling and my only complaint would be that it didn’t have enough crunch but the chips I had with it (not pictured- They were Terra mixed chips, the ones with beets and parsnips and such) were a perfect addition.

 

Dinner! 

Dinner was a bit of a mess for me. Usually, I plan out what we’re having while my daughter naps and prep what I can so when she wakes up I have time to spend with her before I have to cook. Today I don’t know what happened but I was a mess… but it seems like it came together. We had brown rice with shrimp that I baked in the oven just with some simple seasoning and stir-fried veggies with a stir fry sauce that’s a combo of a few recipes we use in our house. It gets thick and it’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty.

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Stir Fry sauce

• 3 TBSP brown sugar
• 4 TBSP soy sauce
• 2 TBSP Rice wine vinegar
• 1 TBSP sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp Ground ginger
• 2 TBSP flour or cornstarch (I’ve used both)

Combine all the ingredients in a measuring cup and stir till flour combines. Stir fry veggies to your preference and in the last 1-2 minutes still on medium heat add sauce and stir around till it thickens. Be careful though! The sauce thickens quickly!

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I also tried something new and made my own miso soup. I know Miso is really great for your digestion so I thought I’d try my hand. It was delicious.

I also had some leftover Easter M&M’s that we had around but it wasn’t more than a handful.

Again all I drink all day is lots and lots of water, I try to get through 3-4 of my big bottles a day and just my one decaf a day in the morning.

That’s all for now guys! Hope you enjoy!

XOXO

-Chelsey

 

Bumpdate: week 19!

Here’s my bumpdate for week 19!

Sorry for not having a picture this week, I’ve been sick all day (I’m still in my pyjamas at almost 2) and of course even on April 6th it’s currently dark, dreary, and snow/raining here so it’s hard to take a nice picture. I promise next week I WILL get a picture up haha.

What I ate Wednesday!

I absolutely LOVE when people share what they eat and what things they buy for groceries. They are some of my favourite blog posts and videos to watch so I thought I would share with you guys what I eat in a typical day.

A little disclaimer: this week had been a nightmare so far… Monday aka the second day of April we had SNOW which was awful, then Tuesday I woke up to my hot water heater leaking so much water it soaked half our bedroom carpet and my daughter wasn’t feeling well either. Today I woke up exhausted and with a migraine so I tried to eat healthily but it was a rough day for sure.

Breakfast! 

I started with a glass of ice water with lemon. I know people usually say lukewarm water, or hot lemon water is best but I can’t stand warm water except for tea/coffee and I am always thirsty for ice cold water.

Then because I wasn’t feeling too good I know something kind of carby helps me feel a little better. My morning sickness has definitely subsided but some mornings (especially when I have a migraine) I wake up not wanting to eat much. So I had a whole wheat bagel with some cream cheese.

After breakfast, I had a small decaf coffee because I’m an absolute coffee ADDICT but I limit myself a LOT when pregnant for sure. I usually go for decaf but will have one regular here and there. 

Lunch Time! 

Since I had a not so healthy breakfast I had a salad for lunch. This is from the Fit Girls Guide Fitkini book (You can check them out here… I’ve got all their books and their recipes are so easy to follow and delicious.) This is the Pimped Out Greek salad which has spinach, cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, pasta, and a quick salad dressing. It’s supposed to have olives but I don’t like kalamata olives.

I usually add protein… lately I’ve been doing some cooked salmon but I didn’t have the time today. Afterwards, I had a LarBar which I forgot to show a picture of and about 20 pickles which I definitely don’t regret. #pregnancyproblems

Dinner Time! 

For dinner, we had one of our favourite meals. I made chicken burrito bowls, which is basically everything in a burrito mixed up in a bowl. My daughter also really loves this meal which is great. I made brown rice, roasted a chicken breast with like taco seasoning on it. Then I sauteed onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers. I also had corn and black beans. My daughter had cucumber with hers and I had tomatoes. A little sour cream and some cheese melted on and you’ve got yourself a burrito bowl! What I love most about these is how customizable they are. You can use whatever you have on hand. My husband loves them as well.

After dinner, I didn’t plan on having anything but I did remember I made some chocolate chip cookies which I couldn’t resist.

I also had water with all my meals. I don’t know exactly how much because I just drink A LOT. I’ve always drunk a lot of water, but when I’m pregnant I drink even more.

So that’s what I ate today! hope you enjoyed!

XOXO

-Chelsey!

What’s on my reading list.

One of my biggest regrets I’ve had recently is how few books I’ve read. When I was younger I could read through books faster than my mom could bring me to the library, I had piles scattered across my bedroom and I never went anywhere without a one. That now seems so long ago and I look back over the years and almost watch as other things have taken the place of one of my favourite past times.

While some of my new hobbies are great; I’ve taught myself how to knit and love to sew new things, I went to school for art and spent years of college just painting and drawing my days away and I have an amazing daughter who takes up a lot of my time. But watching too much mindless television is not a great way to spend all my time, especially at the end of a stressful day. So one of my major goals for 2018 was to read more and so far I haven’t been doing too bad!

I thought I’d let you in on my current reading list!

I started in February and read one book and it’s worth a mention for sure!

 

You can get it here on Amazon! 

 

I saw almost like a movie preview for this book and was so intrigued! Growing up near Salam, Massachusetts I was excited to see what this one was about. It ended up being a super easy read and a really gripping one too. It took me no time at all to get through this book (because I couldn’t put it down). I loved the historical aspects of this book along with the fun magic scattered throughout it. I also loved seeing that the author was actually related to someone during the trials and had a lot of family history in the area! How interesting!

My current read is thanks to a Secret Sister gift (I’m currently doing a secret sister with a group of women from the boat my husbands on) that I got for the month of March!

 

Get them here! They’re great and worth a read.

 

I’ve read the first of this series already, The Queen of the Tearling and loved it. Since it has been awhile, I decided to reread it and I still love it. It’s a gripping tale of a girl who’s been hidden away her whole life in preparation for her 19th birthday when she would be able to claim her right to a throne in a kingdom that has lacked a strong leader for a long time. She faces so many trials and overcomes so much and one of my favourite parts is how strong and determined she is, but relatable. I can’t wait to get to the next two! I think there are even rumours it might be made into a movie!

The last book on my list is Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman

 

Get yours here!

 

I read this book once when while I was pregnant with my first daughter and I loved it. My husband and I aren’t really strick on what “type” of parenting we follow, we kind of parent what feels right for our daughter but some of the concepts in this book have really shaped choices we made. I was in love with the idea of waiting when they cry or make noise to see if they settle themselves, and we’ve never compromised when it comes to feeding our daughter anything so she tries new things. With a new one on the way, I thought it would be nice to brush up some on some of the things I liked.

So those are the books I’ve been reading and will be reading coming up this month! I’ve been loving ending my night a little early and curling up in bed with a good book.

What’s on your reading list?

XOXO

-Chelsey

A new addition to the family

So it seems pretty easy to guess from the title that we’re adding something… or someone to the family! I’m so happy to announce that we’re going to welcome Baby Number 2 by the end of this year. I’m so excited to document this journey into becoming parents of 2 babies, especially two kids that will be under 2-year-olds!

So here’s my first little bumpdate and let everyone know whats been going on!

Sorry for the terrible photo! It was raining and dreary all day so lighting was terrible and the messy room is terrible. Definitely try better next week!

How far along? 18 weeks (as of today, EEK) I can’t believe how far along I am already. I found out back around New Years and with all that was going on at the beginning of the year I’ve been really behind. So I’m already in the second trimester and so much has already happened.

Total weight gain: I don’t think I’ve gained too much. When I got pregnant it was the holidays which were not very good to me… but when I was in the first trimester I definitely was not feeling too well, lost a few pounds so I’ve gained those back and then many at this point maybe 5 pounds?

Maternity clothes?  Yes. Wow, do they mean it when they say that the second pregnancy is different than the first. I never really got back down to my prepregnancy weight so I while I fit in my old clothes the bloating came along and my pants were tight way sooner. I’m wearing maternity pants for sure and some of my tops fit still but some are getting a little short on the tummy.

Sleep: I have been so tired lately being pregnant and taking care of a toddler! What a difference than your first and you can take a nap when you want. During the first trimester, I was desperate to sleep whenever I could. That’s changed a bit but some days I still need a nap when my daughter does and I’m definitely always ready for bed at night.

Best moment this week:  Lily is around 14 months and finally decided she wants to walk! It’s the most exciting thing to see her start to explore not crawling!

Miss anything?  A lot of food. Being able to eat all the things you can’t with your pregnant and not having to think about it haha. Sleeping on my stomach for sure, it’s really hard for me to change to my side haha. Not having heartburn, haha. The best part of giving birth was being heartburn free for like 7 months after my first.

Food cravings: Anything cold. I almost can’t stand cooked food and I was the same with my last pregnancy. I drink water that was 90% ice and I love cold tomatoes and fruit and salads.

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Eggs for sure. My daughter loves them for breakfast and it kills me every time.

Gender: I’ll be happy with either (and we’ll find out pretty soon!) I’m a little excited that my husband won’t be here to find out and when he does come home I get to do a surprise reveal for him!

Labour signs: No!

Symptoms: Headaches and migraines for sure, which happened the first pregnancy, heartburn and restless legs while I sleep. Super sensitive skin for sure. It breaks out a lot and I get dry skin and rashes really easy from things that irritate me.

Belly button in or out?  Still in. Mine never popped with my first pregnancy.

Happy or moody most of the time: I think this is a really hard question because I’m so happy to be pregnant and so excited most of the time but with at the same time some things are making me really really moody, like my husband not being here for everything.

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender soon! I’m so excited to see if we’re having another girl or boy!

So that’s 18 weeks so far! Besides what I’ve said we’ve so far had two ultrasounds and we have just one very healthy strong baby kicking around. I’ve been working really hard on eating healthy and working out more this pregnancy than last which seems to be helping with some of my energy levels and making me feel good about myself too. I can’t wait to find out what the gender is and just hope for a healthy, happy baby!

Till next time!

XOXO

-Chelsey

March comes to a close…

I had all the intentions of getting back into the swing of blogging starting in February… we all can see how that turned out. All my grand ideas came tumbling down when the craziness of life came crashing down in our house. Between my daughter catching her first really bad cold, deployment preparations (yikes) and then March bringing us not two, not three but FOUR nor’easter, I felt like I had more than enough on my plate to even think about starting to blog.

But in the back of my mind, all I could think about was how much I’ve wanted to commit to blogging, but life always seemed to get in my way. Well here we are, life has settled down and over the last almost 2 months I’ve been brewing ideas for all sorts of posts I can do. This has always seemed like an outlet that would really suit me and I’m so excited to see where it goes!

I always feel like I say, “I’m excited to really commit” or “this time will be different” and most of the time who really follows through when they say that? I’m not sure how I will, I haven’t gotten a solid idea yet but I will be finding a way to keep myself accountable this time. The more accountable I am for it the better chance I have of succeeding.

If you have any great ways you stay motivated or keep yourself accountable I’d love to hear them!

Here’s to the rest of 2018!

XOXO

-Chelsey

 

Resolutions aren’t just for New Years…

Every January 1st when that ball drops in Time Square people make the decision to change their ways in the coming year and trust me, I’m no different. Time after time I make grand plans of making big changes for the upcoming year only to falter a month in, two months in and go back to my ways before or give up.

So with a new month upon us I thought why not spread out these hopes for a better me through out the year. Resolutions aren’t just for January, right? I thought I’d share some of my February Goals here to help me stay accountable this month and through out the year. Hopefully this inspires other to make and keep goals too!

-February Goals 2018- 

1. Drink more water – I feel like this is a “must-do” resolution but I’ve come to realize when I don’t drink enough I feel sluggish. Definitely a must for me.
2. Read at least 1 book– with a toddler to take care of and a lot of other stuff to do during the day I’ve completely neglected books over the past year. I think last year I read one, maybe two books… in 12 months. When I was younger I couldn’t find enough books to read. So this month I want to aim for 1 book instead of some of TV and other tech pastimes I always get sucked into…. which leads me to…
3. More Self-Care– When you become a mom a lot of time goes to taking care of others so for February ( the month of love) I want to spend more time unplugging and loving myself. Some fun things I thought would be:
   • Painting my nails (which I never find time to do..)
   • buying something new to try (shampoo, makeup)
   • taking time to unwind that isn’t watching TV
4. Exercise 3 x/week – All October, November and half of December my husband and I were really working our fitness and felt so good about it… then Christmas cookies and big dinners came and we got off track so I want to get back into the swing.
5. Finish the Afghan I’m making my husband
6. Blog and plan 3 x / week– I have so much planned out and I’m trying to get organized so that this dream will come to fruition for once.
7. Try at least 2 new recipes 
8. Deep Clean/Organize at least 1 area of my house per week/FlyLady– My house is happily lived in messy, it’s never perfect but it’s also not gross. I’d love to spend a solid week really deep cleaning and organizing everything we never use. Goodwill will be getting a lot of donations soon enough. One way I hope to get in the swing of things is using the FlyLady method which maybe I’ll do a little post on later. If you want to learn more about it check out her website FlyLady.Net
9. Use my planner more– I have a gorgeous planner that I used a lot throughout last year and for some reason lost my way so I can’t wait to make it more of a priority.
10. Finish my baby’s hand quilted afghan. 

It looks like a lot but when you think about a month being almost 30 days it’s a lot of time available to make a lot of change. Little things at a time will lead to a lot of change month by month!

Wish me luck!

XOXO

-C

Twenty seventeen- a year in review.

It’s unbelievable 2017 is over and we’re already a whole month into 2018. This past year has been an amazing whirlwind of new experiences in motherhood and growth. One of my favorite part of a new year is looking back on everything that’s happened and gone on so I thought I’d share some of my favorite highlights!

-January-

– March –

– May –

– June & July –

– September-

– December & January –

I love the memories we’ve made this year and can’t wait to see what this year has in store!

Saying Goodbye again…

I’ve been a bit MIA for a few weeks. One reason is trying to get my daughter into a good nap schedule which has been a major issue since she was born (she’s a very alert and never-wants-to-nap kind of baby). Another reason is my husband leaving on his boat for a time.

Nothing is harder than saying goodbye to a spouse. While I’m extremely thankfully I didn’t suffer PPD (postpartum depression) from having my daughter, I have always struggled with my husband leaving, even for short periods of time. I’ve experienced some my absolute lowest days with him gone. Having to leave him and drive away, back to an empty house (less empty now with our daughter) and knowing the next day he won’t be calling me up to pick him up, or walking through our front door after work for days to weeks really takes a toll on me and my emotions.

This last time has been the hardest knowing not only will I be alone again to live a married life without my husband by my side every night, I also take on the responsibility of a home and a newborn baby with little to no help. The stress of it can really get you down and that last few weeks have been some of toughest I’ve lived through. Being pregnant without him here was nothing compared to taking care of another life. The strain of constantly having to be constantly responsible, in charge and seemingly having no time to yourself but to sleep is hard physically and mentally. I absolutely love being a mother but doing it alone even for this short time, I really commend single mothers.

More importantly, the respect I feel for Military spouses that are left home while their loved ones are out has grown exponentially. Military Spouse appreciation day was just last week and I wish more people were aware not only of the day but of the sacrifices and need for this day.

I’ve been told by many people, ‘You knew what you were getting into when you got married.’ Of course, I was marrying the love of my life. They aren’t talking about that though, they refer to the struggles they’ll never truly understand of a wife saying goodbye to their husbands for months on end, knowing you’ll have the responsibility of a household on your shoulders without your spouse by your side, and the pain of some wives not knowing when or if their spouse will return to them safely. I’m more than thankful my husband comes home to me safe every time he leaves.

So, I’ve been doing what I can these last few weeks to get through the day. I take care to really love and appreciate every day I can stay home and take care of my daughter, who grows leaps and bounds, and count down till my husband can come home to us. I do little things to keep my mood up like finding time for myself (which is hard with a new little one) and find time to unwind but also keep busy. I fight every day to not give in to slumping on the couch and doing the bare minimum just to get myself through the day, sometimes it’s hard to make those choices but I do knowing that in the end my husband will come home to a happier and stronger wife.

I’d love to hear what some of the things you do to keep yourself going through your less than sunny days are!

Till next time!

XOXO

-C

What I eat in a day!

Hello there! I thought I’d try something new today and do a What I eat in a day! I love seeing what people eat in a day. There are so many interesting things people to see depending on where we’re from. If this goes well I might keep this up every Wednesday.  So here goes!

Breakfast:

We were running really low on food because I haven’t done the shopping in a while so I just threw some stuff together. I had two hard-boiled eggs, one plain and one made into a sandwich on an onion roll, dairy free cheese and siracha. I also had a teeny clementine and a cup of coffee with silk almond creamer. I’m lactose intolerant so I don’t eat a lot of dairy.

lunch:

I went grocery shopping really late in the afternoon and didn’t have lunch so while I was shopping I grabbed a panini from the deli at my grocery store and some chips.

Dinner:

Tonight I decided to make chili. I’m super picky about chili. I don’t like any chili with meat or pretty much any kind other than mine. This one is a recipe I found on Pinterest here Quinoa Chili. It’s mostly tomatoes, some beans and quinoa. Sometimes I add bell pepper too but tonight I kept it simple and followed the recipe. I like cheese and sour cream on mine. Also we sprinkled cilantro on top.

I also took a lactose pill because I’ve recently realized I’m lactose intolerant but I love cheese a lot.

Snack:

 

Pretty self-explanatory, I had an apple with some peanut butter and a little cinnamon and a cup of Tazo green tea.

What are some things you like to eat everyday?

XOXO

-Chelsey