Yoga Baby; Week 26

 Week 26

It only took six and a half months, but look at that, an actual bump. Haha. We had a growth spurt this week. That's more that a couple cheeseburgers.
It's been a busy week...

Lots happening with me and the tiny one...

Cravings: I'm just constantly hungry. Even when I'm full I'm thinking about what I'll eat next. I've been wanting some cake or donuts or similar lately. Haven't gotten around to that. Maybe that's why I still want it.

Aversions: No outright aversions. I just get home from work, look in the full fridge and think how I am really hungry, but not in the mood for any of what's in there.

Energy:  I feel fine, but I wipe out quickly. I get a lot of second winds - if you can even call them that. I'll work on a project for a while, tire out or get bored, and then get back up and on it again with equal or even more vigor.

Missing: Fitting in small spaces - like between my car and the closed garage door. I also miss my pants. Hahaha. Good thing it's too hot for pants anyway. I'm pretty excited to wear shirts with sleeves again when it cools down.

Seven Day of Yoga; Week 34

Wednesday morning I taught mommy & baby. We had some new faces, which was really nice. I love new faces in all my classes, but meeting new babies is especially special. After a really exhausting day working for a half hour then going to the beach and getting a pedicure, I took a 45 minute nap on the couch and got up for Cardio Belly Dance at 730. In case you were wondering, yes, pregnant women can totally belly dance - but some moves don't work - like sucking my belly in. Ha! Hip rolls and shimmies are totally possible though, and I actually had a lot of fun!

Thursday I taught a lot of yoga. This was my last two-a-day teaching for a while. AM at the gym and PM at the studio, followed by a rescheduled yoga sesh with my girlfriend. We're working out how to get yoga into the schedule while her little one transitions from 3 to 2 naps. It was an exhausting day, but it ended up being pretty great. My yoga practice was simple but good, and I felt pretty good about the classes I taught too.

Friday morning I got up before the hubs to teach restorative yoga at one of the local gyms. It's really more of a gentle yoga class than a restorative class. I did 80% of the class, only walking around to check form a little bit and sitting to observe and instruct every now and then, but that was my workout for the day. After work I met up with my mom to look at baby furniture.

Saturday morning, another Jenny and I had a yoga date. I think I am drawn to people named Jennifer. Though its such common name in my generation, its not surprising. ANYWAY, we took Power Yoga first thing in the morning and it was hard. It was a really simple class, but the instructor, Jonathan, challenged us with some really long holds, and a lot of changing poses without changing much about your stance. So we'd end up on the right leg with the back heal lifted for a long time.

Sunday morning I got up early again, this time to teach. Immediately after teaching, I put on my shoes, wraps and gloved for an hour of power boxing. I don't hit as hard as I used to, but I still work my butt off. Later in the day I took prenatal yoga. I almost didn't get to go because my great uncle was in town for the day and my grandma wanted everyone who could to come by for lunch... right when class was supposed to start, so I went by early, so I could still make it to class. Prenatal yoga is still very strange to me. It has (obviously) a very different energy than the regular yoga flow classes I take and teach, but I am really enjoying it. I like having the same group of women there every week and connecting with them about all kinds of things. It's like our little club.

Monday night ended up being a mellow night in. No official exercise. My mom and I went to Costco and picked up the dresser/changer for the baby's room. Everyone kept trying to take the cart away from me to push, but it was super easy to push, so I was getting annoyed. I didn't volunteer to load it in the car or anything, but I was capable of pushing it around on a flat. Sheesh. We ran some other errands that ended up taking most of the afternoon, and by the time I got home, I was pretty tired, so I did a little bit of organizing in soon-to-be Thor's room and I finished the quilt I was making for him.

Tuesday night I was back at Power Yoga (after teaching Vinyasa Flow, of course). Every week is harder than the last. I did have a relatively easy time floating up into handstand though. I did some shoulder work while I was up there - working on pulling in and out of the shoulder girdle. I took a lot of breaks, but ultimately did everything except the ab section, which I just plain skipped and the lotus section, which I swapped out for camel.

How was your week?

Kitchen Adventures; Mango Tahini Wrap

Happy Monday! I plan on having this delicious wrap for lunch today, so I thought it was time to give it a little share.

There's a place between my office and the freeway called Hugo's. There are actually 12 miles between my office and the freeway, but that's neither here nor there. I've only actually eaten in the restaurant once, but after I had this one wrap from their menu, I started picking it up on my way to or from work and eating it at home or my desk. It's so good, I decided I had to try and make it for myself.

It's totally vegetarian - light, crunchy, spicy and delicious. I was craving one for weeks before I finally had a chance to pick one up for lunch a little while back.

Then for a week I hoarded random ingredients in my house, buying one at a time until I accumulated everything... because the same store couldn't possibly carry jicama AND spinach tortillas. That would be ridiculous.

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 33

Wednesday night I took my friend's METCON3 class. I'd taken it once before pre-pregnancy and it was tough then, so I was a little worried it would be to hard for me now since my energy has plummeted so much - especially lately. I need to take all the breaks. I was proud of myself. I did most of the class. I skipped a lot of the jumping around stuff (stepped instead) because it didn't feel right for my belly, and I mostly just laid on my back during the ab section because... counter-intuitive. I can have rock hard abs later.

Thursday was a full day of yoga. I taught in the morning and the local gym. Then I taught again in the afternoon at the studio, and right after that I went to my parents' and did yoga with my mom and a few of her friends.  It was all day yoga. It was exhausting (because I still had to go to work in the middle), but it was also pretty great.

Friday night I scrambled to get back to the Valley in time for the 6pm Bollywood fit dance class. I was a little worried at first. The class was kind of off to a weird start. I didn't know it would be so choreography based. I'm an okay dancer, but I'm terrible with choreography. So, I was a little put off, but as the class kept going, I got more and more comfortable. I ended up getting a really great workout - especially my quads, which were screaming in soreness the rest of the weekend.

Saturday I took the day off. It was a really lame day. We went to the farmers market in the morning, but on top of my allergies blowing up - no nose breathing allowed, plus stinging eyes and a headache - the heat was brutal. The air wasn't so hot - it was being in direct sunlight that made my whole body hurt. I hid inside with the air conditioner the rest of the day. No fresh air didn't help, but being outside sounded awful. I even wished I'd taken a parasol when I took Panda outside to relieve herself.

Sunday morning I kind of felt like I needed to make up for my lack of exercise the day before, so I got up and went to boxing in the morning. Then followed it up with prenatal yoga after lunch.

Monday night we had to cancel yoga again. We were sad, but sometimes babies don't nap and you just gotta roll with the punches. Instead I went to the gym with my hubby. I just hung out on the treadmill mostly. I managed to run a mile. After walking the rest of the half hour on the treadmill, I messed around with the settings on the recumbent bike (so as to not knee myself in the stomach) and biked for 20 minutes.

Tuesday night I tried a class called Dancehall Fit Sexy. It was kinda fun. I wish I'd gone with friends. It was a lot of ass shaking. Would have been better if I'd had some friends to giggle with. The teacher was kinda of "meh" and not flexible in terms of what we were doing in class. The routine was very right leg heavy and someone asked if we could work the other side to balance out and she said something about needing it to work with the "choreo", so we really didn't work the left side. She got raised eyebrows from me, but the class was still fun.

How was your week?

Yoga Baby; Week 24

Week 24

According to the internet, that means I'm 6 months pregnant. 6 MONTHS? Like whoa.
I was poking around on Instagram last weekend and exploring the hashtag #22weekspregnant... someone posted a picture of themselves and said "officially 6 months pregnant today! #22weekspregnant" and all I could think was "someone is not good at math"

Here's what's happening with me and the tiny one...

Cravings: Same same. It's hot though, so eating things that cool me down is good.

Aversions: Still not really having them. Food and I are generally friends. I did eat too many tomatoes recently, so I've been having fewer tomatoes. Not completely avoiding them though.

Energy:  Same. 70/30 good days to bad days.

Missing: I need to briefly mention how much going out to dinner has been disappointing lately. Nice restaurants like to serve a lot of things that are not preggo friendly. It gets frustrating. When I picked the restaurant for my birthday dinner with my parents, hubs says "the menu looks 'meh'" and I said "you do know that pretty much every menu looks like that to me?". It ended up being really great though. Pleasant surprise all around. They even made me a blackberry mint lemonade since I couldn't order a cocktail. It was lovely. Maybe I'll try to recreate it on here.

Feeling: Groggy in the mornings - like all the way til practically lunch time.

Movement: He is getting so much stronger. I used to only feel him move a couple times a day. I knew he moved around a lot (little man flips up a storm every time I see him on an ultrasound), but I would only feel a little bit of that. On Monday night, hubs and I were making dinner and he just went nuts. Some of the strongest movements I've felt so far. It's a little scary to think he's only getting stronger because the first one was so strong and such a surprise I actually said "whoa!" aloud. It's my own fault for calling him after a Norse God.

Speaking of... look what my mom made my honey for his birthday...

GET IT?!

Wearing: I hate clothes. My mom says "Haha, just wait." but I feel like on some level I will hate clothes less as I am bigger because I won't just look like a chubby person in certain outfits.

Yoga: I can still do arm balances - well, some of them, the ones that don't require belly squishing. Also, my energy is pretty great in class. Apparently I'm not supposed to jump back into chuttarunga anymore since it puts extra strain on the wrists, but my wrists feel fine, so... I haven't decided how I feel about that restriction yet.

Can't Live Without:  Ice Water. I have a giant tumbler filled with ice water on my desk at work at all times. If it's not there, I feel crummy.
My body pillow. I don't have a snoogle or a boppy or anything. It's just a giant body pillow from BBB. Even on nights I don't sleep on my side, I like to have it there to lean on or throw my leg over. Plus, I'm a blanket gatherer, so now that its a bazillion degrees out at night and I don't want blankets, I can just hug the pillow and it stays pretty cool.

16 weeks to go, y'all!

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 32

Wednesday morning I taught mommy & baby. I made it a medium hard class. Some days we keep it really mellow. Around lunch time I took a workout break and headed to my friend's barre class. I made it to about 3 before I gave in a took midday shower. Hooray for access to a beach house!

Thursday ended up being a mellow day. I skipped an actual workout and just hung out with my mom and the dogs. We went to the park and played fetch and they ran around.

Friday night I went to spin! The Friday teacher is my favorite. He's the easiest to follow and has great energy. It was a tough class this week.

Saturday ended up being a rest day. We slept in mostly until it was time to clean up for the arrival of my inlaws.

Sunday afternoon I took prenatal yoga. It was pretty much exactly what I needed. Tough at times, but mostly mellow and still a good workout.

My Monday night yoga date was cancelled and I was feeling tired anyway. Panda and I went on a walk for about 20 minutes. She was happy. I was happy I didn't totally blow my exercise for the evening.

Tuesday night I decided to take power yoga. I'd missed it the week before and I was a little sad about that. Class was hard. My body made me take a lot of breaks and extra childsposes, but I still got a great workout. Plus earlier this week I learned that my regular Tuesday/Thursday teacher teaches Tony Horton and a semi regular P90X crew at a studio in Brentwood and I wanted to chat with him about that. Hubs wants to go take the class so we can meet Tony Horton. :P

Currently; August 2014

This was at 22 weeks, so you already saw a very similar picture Friday before last.

Currently, I'm...

Reading...
I got to the end of the Divergent series and I totally lost interest. A friend of mine really wants me to finish it so she can rant to me about how much it the end sucks, but that's not the best motivation to pick it back up again. I've been reading a few pages every now and then and I think it's pretty much over. She was right. The ending stinks. Now I get to decide what to read next!
My mom also gave me her pregnancy journal to read. I plowed straight through that thing in a matter of days. I love love loved the pictures she pasted in there. It made me want to put more photos in my own journal. So, I logged onto shutterfly and printed out a ton.

Watching...
We just "finished" Sons of Anarchy. We're through season 5 anyway. We already know about everyone who is going to die because we - apparently - like to ruin things for each other. We can't watch season 6 yet because it's not available for free on Amazon Prime. I figure it should be available soon though. This week we're gonna start the latest season of Hell on Wheels. We've missed dreamy Cullen Bohannan.
and finally, we saw Guardians of the Galaxy last weekend. I liked it more than hubs did. My favorite line was "I wasn't listening. I was thinking about something else". It was flawlessly delivered by Dave Bautista.

Listening to...
I'm all caught up on the JtB podcast. I started listening to Alie & Georgia again. They get on my nerves sometimes, but mostly I find them funny.
Also, these three songs are my jams at the moment.
OH! and I heard a version of this the other day and it reminded me how much I love this song. I may or may not have started singing it to the baby.

Struggling with...
I guess my body made room because I am feeling less squished. I've got a twinge of something happening with my low back/right hip. Possibly sciatica, but its inconsistent and it doesn't feel like compression.

Inspired by...
Still mostly the little human.

Workouts are...
Really good. Some days I drag and struggle through, but most days my workouts are the best part of my day. Endorphins are awesome that way.
I also made some new/old friends. I've run into two girls I knew in high school having babies around the same time I am, so we've been taking yoga together on Sundays. It's pretty cool.

Eating...
More healthy food than last month. I got on the salad train. Hubs and I have been having lean protein and veggies for dinner *most nights. I did get into a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns by myself though. At least I only at it one serving at a time. We had homemade pizza over the weekend - not so healthy.

Planning...
We went baby furniture shopping this weekend so scope out what was out there. We found some pieces that we liked, but nothing was settled on. I've got a pretty good mental picture of what it'll end up looking like though.

Teaching...
Lots of subbing at the gym, and still keeping my regular Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday classes.

What are you upto?

August Favorites

I've never done one of these just general favorites posts before, but in the last few weeks I've found some new things that I love and I just wanted to let you know how amazing they are.

1) ME! Bath Madagascar Vanilla & Lavender  - For my birthday, my grandma took me to the Spa at Nordy's. The woman doing my nails put this lotion on my hands and I fell in love. I needed it in my life. I wanted to smell that smell every day. I'm usually not a huge fan of lavender, and I think vanilla reserves a special place in the kitchen, so the idea of combining them and wearing it around didn't really tickle my fancy... but actually smelling it. My mind was blown. The lavender is more subtle, cleaner and warmed by the vanilla which just tickles the senses and makes me want to smell my skin all day long.

2) Clif MOJO Sweet & Salty Peanut Butter Pretzel - Pregnancy does this funny thing to people (me). It makes your blood sugar kersplat on the floor and sometimes gives you fun headaches and sleepiness midday. To combat this, I bought a mondo variety pack of granola bars and a case of iced teas at Costco to keep at my desk at work. This particular bar surprised me. I'm not usually a fan of the peanut butter pretzel combination. It may be my ever changing pregnant taste buds, but these are my absolute favorite granola bars right now. The peanut butter chips are a sweet contrast to the chunks of pretzel. I thought these were going to be the bars I saved for last and had to force myself to eat, but they were gone so much faster than the other bars in the box.

3) OPI Bubble Bath - It's on my nails right now. Natural looking, but still perfectly opaque and sheer at the same time.

4) eos Summer Fruit Lip Balm - I'm only a little late to the party on this one. I've been using these bubs for a while, but this one is my favorite. It's the red one and it smells like fruit roll up. I'm a sucker for anything that smells or tastes like fruit roll ups.

5) búcha Grapefruit Sage - I didn't know what to think of drinking sage flavored kombucha, but its amazing. You need it in your life.

6) MAKE UP FOREVER Smoky Extravagant Mascara - I got this in a mini version as part of my birthday gift from Sephora. At first I just started to use it on top of my older mascara. Using old and then new gives the new something to grab onto and lashes get fuller and longer. I wasn't planning on loving it or buying it when I run out, but now I definitely am. This mascara blew my mind. I love my lashes when I use it.

7) BABYBEARSHOP Organic Cheeky Baby Butter - Another take away from my spa day with my Glamma. It's meant to be used on baby bottoms for diaper rash or anything like that, but I've been using it on my cuticles. My hands dry out so fast. I'm trying to heal them up. It's perfect for anything like that and you only need a tiny bit. I've barely made a tiny dent in this tub.

Do you have any new favorites? Care to share?

Kitchen Adventures; Farro Salad with Kale, Feta & Heirloom Tomatoes

I'm trying to like tomatoes.

Have I mentioned that before? I don't know. Let me get a little bit more specific though....

I am suuuuuuuper picky about tomatoes. For a long time I didn't like them at all. Then I started appreciating them in caprese salads and on bruschetta... or green, breaded and fried. Yum.

But see...

Tomatoes are really good for you. In addition to being super high in vitamin, they're loaded with lycopene, and research has shone lycopene to have cancer fighting properties.

A friend of mine - also not a tomato fan - inspired me. She ordered a wrap on a lunch date and didn't specify they leave the tomatoes out. They're healthy. So, she's trying to eat them despite not caring for them.

San Francisco Birthday Adventures

I told you we went to San Francisco for my birthday last weekend, but I only talked about the Golden Gate Bridge adventures. Sorry for reusing this picture. I wanted something iconic.

Here's a look at the entire weekend, and all its glory.

We arrived pretty late on Friday night. We knew where we were and we knew where the hotel was, but we didn't know where anything else was, so we maaaaay have walked the wrong direction once or twice before we figured it out.

BUT WE GOT THERE!

And because the hotel knew it was my birthday, they had a bottle of bubbly and some fruit and chocolate waiting for us.

The bubbly is Martinelli's, by the way, because I had also told them that I'm pregnant. On the ball, those folks.

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 31

Wednesday I tried my hand.. or feet, rather... at spinning again. It was a good class. I got a little snappy with the guy next to me before class started. I feel sorta bad about that. I don't have spin shoes so I needed stirrups for my feet. He graciously volunteered to help me put them on... or rather, do it for me. Error #1 dude, this chick likes to do sh*t for herself. I'd never put stirrups on a spin bike before so I accepted and didn't say anything, but then he proceeds to talk over me to the instructor, like he's gonna help me adjust my bike, and I say "it's ok. I think I know how to do it" and he IGNORES ME and says it over my head to the instructor again and, so I say, "I've got it. I've taken class here before." There was a little bite in my voice. I didn't mean for there to be, but dude was ignoring me. Anyway, I set my bike and class was fine - challenging and all that. I think I do need to play around with the settings a bit for next time so my thighs don't hit my belly quite so much.

Thursday night I had great experience in power yoga. The class itself was pretty much the same as always, but I felt really strong and able to listen to my body. I did get tired, but I took the breaks I needed when I needed them. I was able to do some flying. I felt so good afterward.

Friday I was really tired all day, but I had plans to take spin again, this time with my friend. I liked this class a little bit better - maybe because it didn't have the weird vibe from the guy who tried to set my bike. Also maybe because I had my buddy there to chat with.

Saturday we slept in and it was glorious! Then I went to vinyasa flow at noon, which was a little tougher than I expected it to me. Not sure why, exactly - something about the flow itself and how it all fit together. Plus it was noon and freaking hot outside.

Sunday morning I managed to get up in time for boxing. I've even gotten a hanging bag near the A/C vent the last few times I've gone. After that I taught at 1130 about a half hour away. I barely had time to go home and change into unsweatied clothes. Teaching was good. Almost a Fail though, since no one told me on Sundays it was in a different room and I was sitting in the small room thinking I had one student, while there were 20 in the big room. Luckily someone came and found us.

Monday night I did yoga with my friend. We moved into her house from the garage a month or so ago when it started to get really hot out. Yoga with the a/c is much nicer than yoga in 90-100 degree heat.

Tuesday was my hubby's birthday, and I had a checkup in the morning, so I ended up taking a rest day. I made us brownies and we sat around on our butts. I feel good about it.

How was your week?

And then I turned 30...

Here's where I stand with my 30 goals to accomplish by the time I turned 30. I fell short on a couple, but I think I did really great overall. The thing I didn't get to will just become life goals - who needs a timeline anyway, right?

1.    Clean out and reorganize the garage (5/26-5/27/2013)

2.    Redo the master bedroom & bath (Repainted 11/9-11/10/13), Bathroom scheduled to be done before yoga baby arrives in December. 

3.    Run a 1/2 marathon (registered 3/27/13, run on 9/8/13)

4.    Get paid to teach yoga (completed 2/21/13) 

5.    Meditate (at least once if I can't make it a regular thing) (Began 3/11/13)

6.    Buy a new car (completed 12/29/12)

7.    Try (at least) one new recipe every month (October 2012, November 2012 , December 2012, January 2013, February 2013, March 2013, April 2013, May 2013, June 2013, July 2013, August 2013, September 2013, October 2013, November 2013, December 2013, January 2014, February 2014, March 2014, April 2014, May 2014, June 2014, July 2014) You can probably see I ended up missing a few months, but I like this goal in general. I've loved trying new things in the kitchen at least once a month. Even when I'm busy, I can usually get in at least one new recipe. :)

Yoga Baby; Week 22

Week 22

One of my other pregnant friends said this best. The days are long but the weeks are fast. It rings so true.

Here's what's happening with me and the tiny one...

Cravings: Meh, I was telling my girlfriend last week that my cravings are less cravings and more a complete lack of self control. Do not take me to the grocery store hungry. Bad things will happen.
Also, if there are french fries and lemonade around, I could pretty much have that 24/7. No craving necessary.

Aversions: Still not really having them. I started eating more veggies lately. Hooray me!

Energy:  Same. 70/30 good days to bad days.

Missing: Wine. I'm planning a redo of my 30th birthday for January or February in which much wine will be consumed by yours truly. Complications may ensue because of breastfeeding, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Also, Tracy (Shutterbean) talked about eggs over-easy in one of the last JTB podcasts and I maaaaay have gotten a little misty.

Feeling: Iced tea is my besty. For reals. I feel a headache looming. I drink some iced tea. I feel better. Best ever.
Still having the occasional round ligament pain. I'm so glad I know what that is now.

Movement: Thor (that's what we're calling him until we reveal his name) does barrel rolls, especially when I lay flat on my back - occasionally when I bend forward. The feeling makes me think of a large fish in a small tank swimming in circles and hitting the sides.
I also felt the first real kick a little over a week ago. I was stressing about the stone fruit recall (after having eaten an entire Costco pack of pluots by my lonesome), so I was looking to him for reassurance - just something to tell me he was OK and we didn't get Listeria, and he just kicked me right in the center of my palm - snare drum style. I said thank you and we went to sleep.
Since then he's been partying up a storm. I feel him for kick and punch and roll for a minute or so a few times a day.

Wearing: I got two more foldover skirts from Target. I heart them so much. I wear them every Friday in my weekly pictures (except week 20, sorry about that).
I used my birthday discount at Anthropologie to buy myself a really cute mid-length dress with a lot of room for my tummy. It's hi-low, which makes me a little nervous, but its long enough in the front that it won't be a problem.
I have had some success in the shirt department. I found a couple at Target and my mom realized she had a shirt she never wore in her closet that I would like, so I have a decent collection of long comfy shirts that cover (and will continue to cover) the stretchy tops of my fancy maternity pants.

Yoga: I am the queen of modifications. Wide stance forward folds. Make room for the belly. I'm still twisting and it totally works as long as I plan ahead and have my legs out of the way. Twisting chair looks ridiculous when I do it because my feet are so far apart. Not glamorous.

Gender: Pretty sure there's still a little dude in there. My mom was so funny when we told her he was a boy. She hasn't spent much time around little boys since her brothers (so, we're talking 50 years), so she was saying she has no idea what to do with boys. Silly momma.
I'll drop this category for my next update. We all know he's male.

18 weeks to go, y'all. This business is flying by!