Hey Friends!! Happy freaking Friday!! We are currently on a road trip out west with a couple close friends for the next week. This is our first trip (besides Dallas) since covid and we are more than ready for a little change of scenery. It was the perfect time too because you know how I had been bragging about the lovely 70 degree weather we have had lately in San Antonio? Well a cold front is coming through so time to get out of town.

My husband and I popped into Trader Joes the other day for a few things and ofcourse ended up buying soo many things. What can I say, Trader Joes is my vice. ;). We grocery shop weekly at our local HEB, but will occasionally stop into TJs for our favorite select items or new fun seasonal items there. I would love to hear from you guys on what your favorite TJ products are or what specialty grocery stores you love. I’m a fan of Whole Foods and Central Market too. 🙂

I saw several people post on these plantain croutons over the last few weeks so I will admit these were my main reason for wanting to stop by TJs. :). I am obsessed with their plantain chips and cannot keep them in the house. LOL. I snagged 2 bags of these croutons and one is almost gone. 🙂 But hey, I am proud I have been eating more salads lately so there’s the plus side. I also had these on top of lentil soup – SO good for a nice crunch!! They are really little so you can add a bunch for not a ton of calories.

I have also been wanting to try these chips made with cassava and coconut. They were good, but nothing to rave about. But the ingredient list is good and a nice alternative to corn chips.

Now these chips were right up my alley. A little healthier and really tasty.

See, I told yall I liked the plantain chips so ofcourse I had to grab a bag of the dark chocolate drizzled plantain chips. I should have grabbed a few more bags because Jon and I ate almost the whole bag in one sitting. The sweet and salty combo is my jam!

I love beets especially on a salad, but the fresh kind are just way too high maintenance for me. :). I usually use the canned kind, but saw these in vinaigrette and grabbed a jar. So yummy and I love that you can just twist the top back on and store in the fridge for later.

Ofcourse I had to grab another bottle to add to my inventory. I love this seasoning on almost everything – eggs, salads, veggies, and especially roasted potatoes. I always keep at least one extra bottle in my spice cupboard – I can’t run out, that would be sad. 🙂

Ok, let’s talk pregnancy cravings and aversions. It is so funny because this is the number one question I am asked by people and I usually have the most boring answer, “I’m not really craving anything and after the first trimester, I am back to eating my normal diet.” In the first trimester I certainly couldn’t fathom eating a salad or salmon (or any seafood for that matter), but I didn’t really crave anything. Well things have quickly changed. I have always been a vinaigrette kind of girl, but y’all, I cannot get over my current craving for Caesar salad/dressing. We ordered takeout a few weeks ago and my husband asked for my order and it included a Caesar salad and his jaw dropped. LOL. I don’t think he’s ever heard me order one before. But I grabbed this bottle up at TJs because I don’t see this craving going anywhere anytime soon. 🙂

Another pregnancy craving of mine has been chocolate. I’ve always loved chocolate, but I typically prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate. Well not anymore. I always pick up these dark/milk chocolate covered almonds at TJs (they are soo good) and it usually works out well because I like the dark ones and my husband likes the milk chocolate ones. Well ya’ll I ate all the milk chocolate covered almonds. The dark ones taste really bitter to me right now so here we are. 🙂

Our little super bowl spread. We watched with Jon’s brother and his girlfriend so it was very low-key. I was there for the food and commercials, as always. 🙂

Halfway there people!! Last time I told you we were heading to our 20 week anatomy scan and I can report that all went well!! Little baby P was sucking his/her thumb and had the hiccups!! sooo cute!! But all measurements were right on track and we are officially halfway to meeting our baby!! At the beginning the halfway point felt like such a big milestone and I cannot believe it is here already!! I have been working hard on our registry and figuring out plans for when the baby arrives and our parental leaves from work. I’ll do another post on all this coming soon! (PS – Thank you SO much to my dear blog friend, Taylor. You know what you did. ;)).

A few meals I have been loving lately.

In the mid-morning I have been having greek or coconut yogurt with fresh fruit, dates and some peanut butter. This holds me over until mid afternoon. I usually try to sneak in a quick workout at lunch so I like to have something in my tummy before then.

I have been on a smoothie kick lately too. I was loving more fruit/green smoothies, but lately I have been liking more chocolatey tasting smoothies like this one. Frozen banana, dates, cocoa powder, vanilla protein powder, ice, almond butter and unsweetened almond milk and I top it with unsweetened shredded coconut. My husband loves this combo too so it has been on repeat in our household lately. I prefer eating my smoothies out of a bowl with a spoon. Do you prefer it in a cup with a straw?

I made the best salad for lunch the other day so I just had to share. It was chopped romaine, cucumber, beets, hearts of palm (I always forget about these, but they are so delicious in a salad), hard boiled egg, plantain croutons, left over grilled salmon, and the TJ Caesar salad dressing. So yummy!

One last picture before I leave you. My daddy bought us our baby stroller and it arrived the other day so I put Jon straight to work assembling it. 🙂 He refuses to use the directions and likes to just “figure it out” so eventually he got it all put together. The baby things are starting to pile up in the nursery!!!

I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend!! I will try to check in next week while we are away, but I will just play it by ear. Tell me what you are all up to this weekend!! XOXOXO

Hi friends!!

Happy Monday! Usually I dread Mondays, but this morning we have our anatomy scan for baby P and we are both very excited. Since this is a regularly scheduled ultrasound Jon gets to go with me. Hoping for all good news, but I will be sure to fill you in later.

This weekend was a busy one. We had a newborn (virtual) class for a couple hours on Saturday morning. My husband said, “How am I supposed to remember all this stuff?” I told him he should be taking notes. 😉 We still need to sign up for some birthing classes so hopefully I will get around to that soon. If the next few months are anything like the last couple, this baby is going to be here in no time.

I also went and picked out my bridesmaids dress for my sister’s wedding in October… not a fun task when pregnant. ;). I ordered a few sizes up and will just get it altered a few weeks before the wedding.

Last Thursday marked 19 weeks pregnant! The first few months seemed to drag on, but now time seems to be going by so quickly. I started our registry and have added quite a few things so I feel like slowly but surely we are knocking things off our baby to do list.

Did you guys watch the SuperBowl this weekend? I’m not big into football, but I watched for the commercials and the snacks. 🙂

I finally picked the first lemon off our tree in the backyard and had some lemon water with it. :). The dogs were very intrigued.

The lemon was tasty, but I am just confused why there is only one other lemon on the tree. I thought there would be a ton?!?!

If you know my pup Riley, you know that he is not fond of Tito. He puts up with him, but Tito is a hyper puppy, which is soo opposite of nap-loving Riley. But every day I work at our dining room table, I look down at this view. It is the closest Riley has ever allowed Tito. 🙂

How is the weather where you are? It has been sooo beautiful in San Antonio this last week. I sat in the backyard and read my book at lunch this week and actually got a little sunburned. So crazy in February. I finished the next book by Colleen Hoover and I think I might have even liked this one better than the last.

Off to our appointment for baby P!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have a great week ahead!!

Hi guys!!!! How are you?? I am looking forward to another relaxing weekend. My husband has golf plans and I have plans to start working on the baby registry. We have done quite a bit of research and talked to a bunch of friends that have babies and I think we have a pretty good idea of what brands of what items we want. I plan to go pretty minimal and add more as we need because I just don’t want a bunch of baby stuff laying around my house (especially if we don’t need it). Everyone we know that already has kiddos tells us to just get the basics because you won’t end up using everything – every baby is different. So that is the plan. Happy to share our top must-have items with yall (that have been suggested to us) once I get my list pulled together. 🙂

Last week marked 18 weeks, which means we are almost to the halfway point! This is so crazy to me because I felt like the first few months went by SOOO slowly and now they have started passing by pretty quickly. I can remember being so anxious to get to 12 weeks so we could tell people, then just get to the new year, then just get to the halfway mark… and here we are.. almost there! We have our next baby appointment in about a week, which is the big anatomy scan and some tests so hoping all goes well!! Jon gets to go to that appointment with me too, which always makes it more fun! Hoping for some cute pictures because my last ultrasound, the baby was hiding and we couldn’t get a good picture. 😉

I made him wear the sticker out in public. 🙂

How cute is this note and book my mother-in-law sent us. She is so sentimental and keeps everything and sent this book of baby names that were popular when she was pregnant with my husband!! She also sent us my husband’s baby blanket… so precious!! We do have a few names picked out for boys and for girls that we love and agree on, but haven’t completely narrowed it down to one for each quite yet. I honestly think I will want to see/meet the baby before we make a final name decision. I don’t think I will share our name choices until the baby is born, but I will say, I love family/meaningful names and my husband does too. 🙂

I got in quite a few long walks with the pups and the other night there was the prettiest sunset on our way back home. Oh, I am also just loving the weather here lately. It has been in the 70s and sunny all week, which just puts me in a good mood. How is the weather where you are? Do you have snow?

Little Tito. Yall, this puppy has so much personality. He is a little ball of fun and energy. He and Riley sleep inside my pregnancy pillow with me every night. LOL. It is quite the ordeal the 5 times I have to get up to pee every night and they both moan and groan when I move them.

Have yall read any good books lately? I just finished this one by Colleen Hoover and it was fantastic. Just so so good. I read her book Verity last year, which was also amazing. I loved this book so much I ordered 4 more of hers and they arrived this week so I know what I will be doing this weekend. :).

Tell me what you have planned for the weekend!! I’m hoping for some productivity with the baby registry, lots of reading and a few long walks and bike rides!!!! Hope yall have the best weekend!!!!

Hi friends! Happy Friday! I am looking forward to the weekend! We don’t have any big plans, but I am hoping I can dive head first into my new book and take some nice long walks with my pups.

I am growing by the minute over here. Here’s where we were at the last two weeks!

I had an appt for baby earlier this week and everything looked great! I am excited for my next appointment that will be at week 20 and mark the halfway point!! Woohoo!! I felt like the first couple months went by SO slowly, but now time is flying by. We are starting to get our lists made of all the things we need to do. It’s funny because I am pretty organized and love to plan ahead in all other areas of my life, but with the baby, I just feel relaxed and calm and am in no rush to buy baby stuff or complete the nursery. Maybe in a couple months I will feel differently, but right now I am just slowly researching and making a list as we go. I have signed up for a baby car seat class and no birthing/labor or new born classes yet. LOL.

I mean… is this not the cutest onesie you have ever seen? My bestie sent this to me along with a bunch of other goodies, which was soo fun to get in the mail. This was our first piece of baby clothing we have gotten!!

I just feel like you all deserved to see Riley’s major side-eye. 🙂

I don’t have any big plans or dreams for the nursery, but I did find this wall detailing that I loved and asked Jon to do this for the nursery. The walls are a light greyish/blue tint so I thought doing an accent wall like this in a stark white would be pretty.

I have been making and loving my own grain free granola at home the past few weeks, but snagged this at Costco and already finished the bag. I love it with fresh berries and almond milk for an easy breakfast or snack.

The perks of working at home. My little side kicks. 🙂

We ordered Girl Scout cookies from Jon’s cousin’s daughter and just got them in the mail. How convenient that there is now online ordering, especially during covid! I remember the long days standing out in the cold in front of the grocery store selling Girl Scout cookies with my fake cash register. Those were the days!

My husband is obsessed with waffles and I really like pancakes, but I like to keep them on the healthier side… I’ll save my calories for dessert, thank you. ;). I found a new protein pancake recipe that is just two scoops of protein powder (I use Sunwarrior vegan vanillia), two eggs, a teaspoon of baking powder (helps them turn out really fluffy!!), a dash of cinnamon and just a splash of almond milk to get the right consistency. I love adding blueberries and pecans. Topped with butter and syrup, ofcourse!

I think I may have shared this, but it is worth sharing again. This is from the Blue Zone Cookbook I previously mentioned. This is my new favorite homemade hummus recipe. I love the tang from the red wine vinegar and I especially love that it does not call for tahini. I like tahini, but it is expensive and it ends up going bad before I can use it all because I only use it for homemade hummus. 🙂

Lastly, I needed to show yall this broil perfection I achieved the other night. I have been making a lot of cauliflower crust pizzas lately (I just get whatever brand is available at the store in the frozen section). I top with pesto (my mom and stepdad make their own and load my freezer up so I use that!), mushrooms, spinach, and shredded mozzarella. I have perfected the baking time by baking 10 minutes then broiling for 2 (rotating the pizza after 1 minute for equal charring). Oh, and I always drizzle with balsamic glaze, because well, why not!?!? So yummy!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Now tell me, were you a Girl Scout? Are you a waffle or pancake lover? Are you a planner or do you tend to just go with the flow?

Hi guys!! Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a good start! I had to work yesterday, but it was a slower day which was nice. My husband was off from work so I put him to work with chores around the house. 😉 I’m such a nice wife. 😉

How was your weekend? Ours was very relaxing. I got in a few long walks and Jon was able to play golf twice, which is his ideal weekend. 🙂

I think I told yall, but my first trimester I couldn’t cook at all. It made me so nauseous. So, since the nausea has subsided (for the most part… I still have it randomly, but not too bad), I am back to loving cooking, which makes me soo happy. I think Jon misses ordering take out 4 nights a week. 😉

The other night we made fish tacos (blackened mahi mahi, sauteed corn mixed with salsa, avocado, cilantro and after the picture I added chopped cabbage/lettuce). We always toast our corn tortillas over an open flame on the stove top for lots of yummy flavor.

I have been loving fresh fruit lately too. I have been buying bananas, apples, blueberries, strawberries, kiwis, pineapples, grapefruit, mangoes, pears, and oranges at the store and having a big bowl of mixed fruit daily. It just hits the spot these days.

This is what our counter looks like right now. 🙂

I made some oat flour blueberry muffins last week too. They were my best batch so I will keep experimenting before I share a recipe.

A lot of our dinners look something like this. Sauteed veggies, quinoa/brown rice mix, and a piece of fish (we have been eating a lot of mahi mahi because I buy it frozen from Costco). My mother-in-law gave us this Fox Point Seasoning and we are obsessed. We use it on fish, meat, and veggies. It is just so good.

Most weeks I make a batch or two of protein balls to have on hand for easy snacking throughout the week. I usually don’t follow a recipe and just throw in the ingredients I have on hand so it changes weekly. This batch was a favorite though. Sorry, I don’t measure. :). I just combine all ingredients, stick in the fridge for 30 minutes then roll into balls and stick in the freezer to have throughout the week.

Peanut butter (probably 2 cups), Honey (around 1/4-1/2 cup), protein powder (vanilla, two scoops), flaxseed, chia seeds, vanilla extract, sea salt, cinnamon, oats (1/4-1/2 cup), pumpkin seeds, pecans, and chocolate chips

Have I shown yall my lemon tree? My mother-in-law and husband planted this probably over a year ago and we are finally ready to pick our first lemons. Those 2 in the picture are the only ones on the tree though. LOL…

My dad bought me this little herb garden for Christmas and our herbs are doing so well. I am so impressed. This little machine lets you know when to water/feed the herbs with blinking lights so if you can’t keep a plant alive like me, this little herb garden might be your new best friend. 🙂

That is all I have for today!! I hope you all have a fantastic week!! Let me know what you have been cooking or baking lately!!

Hi!!! Happy Weekend! It was a busy week for me, but I secretly like a busy week because it goes by quickly. We have minimal plans this weekend so I am hoping to start a new book! Are you guys reading anything good these days?

I promise this isn’t going to become a blog solely devoted to pregnancy and baby, but I’ve got a lot on my mind since announcing our pregnancy. Next week I go in for a check up/ultrasound, which I am anxiously awaiting. We are at the point where it is one month in between visits and that just feels like an eternity these days. I actually bought a doppler heartbeat monitor to have at home so I can hear the baby’s heartbeat in between my appointments to ease my mind. 🙂 I think my husband bought it off of ebay for less than $50.

This was taken last week, I am a little over 16 weeks now! I am trying to pull myself together one day a week to take a progress picture. Working from home and with covid, there is very little motivation to do my hair or put on makeup these days, but it does make me feel good when I make the time to get ready. I’m pretty sure all of my progress photos have at least one doggie walking in the frame. 🙂 Also, my dogs have no idea I am pregnant… I heard dogs could smell the change in hormones, so if mine can, I can’t tell. They still walk all over me not acknowledging my growing belly. 😉

During my first trimester, my exercise routine was very spotty. I probably got in maybe 3 workouts a week, if I was lucky. I was really sick for a month so not much movement was happening between weeks 7-11. Around 12 weeks, I instantly started feeling better. I woke up one day and just felt great and have felt that way since. I am sooo glad because I didn’t think I could go on another day feeling as crappy as I did (dramatic… I know!).

They say the second trimester is when you get to really start enjoying pregnancy and get a boost of energy back and that couldn’t have been more true in my case. The first trimester I wanted to nap every day. From week 12 to now, I have been very active, which I know is so beneficial to feeling good…mentally and physically.

Since I have been feeling really good lately, I have been getting in as much activity as I can. I also notice a big difference in my body aches if I am active. I think I told you guys I have been having some weird tailbone pain, but that has gone away since I started exercising more. I do have a nagging left hip pain, but if I get up and moving, it feels better. It hurts the most when I am sleeping and trying to get comfortable. Speaking of sleep, I bought this pregnancy pillow and I don’t think I will ever get rid of it, even when I am not pregnant. It is soo comfy. I also end up with 2 dogs cuddling it every night too.

My favorite way to exercise is to strength train. I don’t follow any specific plan, I just find a workout on the internet or instagram and save it/print it and go with the flow of how I am feeling each day. I aim to alternate an upper body day, lower body day and fully body workouts. I strength train probably 5-6 days a week. But don’t be fooled, most of these are usually 15-25 minute workouts so nothing too intense.

Since we live in San Antonio, the winter is my favorite time of year here because the weather is usually between 60 and 70 degrees so it is just perfect for getting outside. I try to go on at least a 15 minute walk with my pups every day, sometimes it is longer, it just depends on the day.

My husband recently got my bike tuned up and before pregnancy, biking just wasn’t something that really interested me, but now I love it. I love how low impact it is and I like to just pop in a podcast and ride for 30 minutes to an hour. I typically do this 3-4 times a week, depending on the weather! 🙂

I hope I can keep up this level of activity throughout my pregnancy, but ofcourse, I will absolutely scale back if/when it becomes necessary. I love exercising because it makes my body feel good, but I do it more for the mental clarity and release it gives me. I know it is soo good for my while I am pregnant too and I feel very fortunate I can exercise daily.

That’s all I have for today!! I will be back soon with some fun recipes I have been making lately! I am off to enjoy this beautiful weekend!! And I hope you are able to do the same!!

Good morning!! How are you? We had a very relaxing weekend, which was much needed after a busy week back to work after the holidays! I got in a nice long walk with a friend, a trip to Costco, and some down time. We have been starting to make a list of baby items we need, classes we need to sign up for, and things we need to research (such as much advance notice we need to apply for a passport for a newborn – LOL). I think I told you all, but my sister is getting married in Cabo next fall and I am not sure if we will bring the baby, but the plan is to apply for a passport for the baby so we have the option. 🙂

I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for all your sweet messages the last few weeks about my pregnancy. They meant so much to me and it sure was fun hearing from so many of you!!

This is me last week at 15 weeks – I am growing quickly! 🙂

Oh in other news, I have been cooking so much lately and am so happy about it. I could not fathom cooking my first trimester and could only eat very bland foods, but now my appetite is back and I have been craving veggies and fruit, which is a good change to my daily 5 pieces of toast.

I saw this simple recipe on instagram and we have made these potatoes 3 times now. They are soo good. All you do is slice small potatoes REALLY thin and toss in olive oil and Everything But the Bagel Seasoning and bake at 450 for about 30 minutes (tossing frequently to avoid burning). They get soo crispy and have so much flavor from the seasoning. And the best part, you serve them with guacamole, which just takes them to the next level. I like to make my own guac, but you could definitely used store bought. I don’t measure anything but use these ingredients to taste: avocados, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, lime juice and fresh cilantro.

I told my mom I could not stop eating chocolate this pregnancy (I have always liked chocolate, but my cravings for it now are intense) and she sent me about a year supply. This box was HEAVY and when I opened it I couldn’t believe it was all chocolate. LOL. Jon has been enjoying this package too. 🙂

Tito has a cut above his eye – not quite sure how he got it, but he has to wear the cone of shame now and is not loving it. But, I will say, he hasn’t been able to get it off like Riley has done in the past.

I walked past our little bar area the other day and saw my reflection and couldn’t believe how big my tummy looked!! It is funny though, in the mornings, it almost doesn’t look like I am pregnant, but by the end of the day, I have a pretty decent size bump.

I am working on getting better about taking progress pictures this pregnancy, but it is hard when I work from home and during covid since I have no reason to do my hair or make up and look halfway decent. 😉

I saw this great deal on runners the other day and bought this one. It actually almost matches our living room rug so I thought we could spruce up our kitchen a bit. I’ll show a picture once it arrives. A 2×14 was $50 so you just can’t beat that!

Well that is all my random ramblings for today! Ready for another busy week of work, but I sometimes don’t mind the business so that the weeks and days pass by quickly!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!! Tell me something fun you did this weekend or what you are looking forward to doing once covid has finally ended!!!

Hi friends!! I am back today to discuss all things pregnancy and baby.

How We Found Out

We decided earlier this year that this fall was when we were going to begin trying for a baby. I am not sure why, but I had in my mind that this would take months, maybe even years, but I was completely wrong. The day before Halloween, Jon suggested I take a pregnancy test. I hadn’t even missed my period so I kind of dismissed him. He kept pestering me so finally I was like OK I will take one just to humor you. He happened to be in the bathroom with me when that second lined appeared and we both freaked out, pulled the directions out of the closet and had to be sure that 2 lines meant pregnant, even though we both really knew. We were SHOCKED that this happened so fast for us, but also really really excited. I wanted to call our whole family at this moment.

(Also, I just want to point out that it is not lost on me how fortunate we are that we were able to get pregnant so quickly. I know many people struggling to conceive and the years of trying, all the tests, the shots, the money…and I just want to say I am so sorry and my heart breaks for you and I am always thinking of you.)

At 7 weeks we got to do our first ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy, which definitely helped make it so real. Fun fact: we are not going to find out the sex of our baby. I have always wanted to be surprised on the day I deliver. My husband is not quite sold on this idea, but he’s coming around. 😉

How We Told Our Families

We told my sister and my parents very early over facetime. My sister and her fiance are planning a wedding in 2021 so we knew we had to tell them early. They were really excited! My mom’s reaction was the best. We told my in-laws and other siblings on Christmas day with these lottery tickets we sent them – you scratch them off and they say “we are having a baby!” So fun to get to tell them on Christmas!! Especially this year since we weren’t with any of our family members due to covid.

We told the rest of our family and friends with Happy New Years Cards. 🙂

Symptoms

It is so funny because when we found out, it was still so early I had no symptoms and told my family I felt great. No less than a week later, I was so nauseous I couldn’t get out of bed or really eat for 2 weeks. It was really terrible.

I do have to mention that before I got pregnant I was having symptoms of another bowel blockage (like the past 2 I have had that have required surgery) so once I got pregnant it was really scary and hard to decipher which symptoms were which. The symptoms of a bowel blockage are very similar to early pregnancy symptoms – bloating, gassy, constipation, and extreme nausea. I saw my surgeon a few times in the first couple weeks and she put me on a liquid/soft food diet, which is just terrible during pregnancy when all I have wanted is bread! Thankfully my OBGYN and surgeon think that with a soft food diet and my progesterone levels rising (normal in pregnancy), they both think my bowel blockage will be ok and manageable. Obviously the goal is to get through pregnancy without surgery (2nd trimester would be the safest time to have surgery if it were unavoidable). Progesterone is actually a relaxant in the body so a lot of bowel issues can kind of go dormant during pregnancy so right now we are just hoping that is the case for me…. will keep you posted.

My sister sent me these and they have been great for nausea .

After those couple awful weeks, my symptoms have been much more managable. I am still very nasueas, but if i eat ever couple hours, I can control it.

Other that that, I feel pretty good. I get tired easily, take a lot of naps, and started having really bad tailbone pain a few weeks ago – so strange! I’ve been taking fiber gummies and probiotics to help keep regular (TMI, I know) and those have helped a lot. Also, I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee every night. 🙂

First Baby Item

You guys, I have the funniest story for you. After we found out we were pregnant we were running errands one day and driving through a nice neighborhood. My husband spots this high chair on the side of the road. He was like oh we need that. I said JON absolutely not, that is so gross!!! haha! He was like Taylor I can deep clean it and bleach it, it will be fine! Finally I just gave in, knowing I would probably just through it out anyways. Yall… I am not kidding he got this thing spotless and then he looks it up online and it is a $500-$600 high chair. I am still pissed he was right. 🙂

Cravings and Adversions

I actually haven’t had many intense cravings. It has been more of the opposite. I pick what to eat based off what I cannot stomach. 🙂 All I have really wanted is toast with butter, and anything bland. I have been making a lot of smoothies and soup. I will say that for a girl who normally loves to cook and eats out maybe once a week, I have not wanted to cook AT ALL. By 4pm, I need to have a dinner plan in mind and I usually just ask Jon to order something. It’s bad, I know. But Jon doesn’t cook, and I get too nauseous later in the day to cook so here we are. I also really love eggs right now. Before pregnancy, I would eat eggs, but not often and now I eat them everyday. Oh, also… I cannot fathom eating salmon or any fish right now. I know!!! Who am i?!?!?! So moral of the story, I am trying my best to eat healthy, but most days I just have to eat the only thing that sounds good at the time. Oh and I really like chocolate right now too.

Weight Gain/Body Changes

So far I haven’t gained any weight. I am anxiously awaiting this change as I know it is healthy and I am sure this will come very soon. For now I just look a little bloated and am waiting for the day I have a real baby bump. 🙂

This was around week 9 or 10. No bump yet and Riley is mad!!

This was taken week 12… maybe a little bump or bloating. 😉

14 weeks and I started to pop! 🙂

Pregnant During a Pandemic

While it hasn’t been ideal to be pregnant during a pandemic, I will say it has made keeping the secret a million times easier since we have seen very limited people. Both my husband and I are working from home and we have only seen a few friends over the last couple months and neither of our families. Oh and Jon was able to go to my first and first ultrasound and it sounds like he will be able to go to a few more too. It was really cute, he had more questions for the OBGYN than I did. He was like did you hear that Taylor? Only 200 milligrams of coffee per day and trust me, he has been holding me to it. 😉 It will be interesting to see what happens/changes with the vaccine coming out next year and delivering a baby at a hospital. I’ve heard so many stories, but I think things will change a lot from now to 6 months from now. We shall see.

Thank you all for all your sweet messages!! Let me know if you have any other questions!!! xoxox

We are adding a little (human) baby to our pack!! We are beyond excited for this next chapter in our lives… the dogs have no idea what is happening. 🙂

We are due July 1st, which also happens to be my mother-in-law’s birthday!!

This whole experience has been surreal and I can’t wait to tell you more! I have a full pregnancy post coming soon with all the details.

I am so excited to finally share our exciting news with you!! This has been the hardest secret I have ever had to keep and if you know me, you know I am not good at keeping secrets. 🙂

Let me know if you have any pregnancy related questions and I will answer them all in the next post I am working on!! XOXOXO

Good morning!!! Merry Christmas to you all (who celebrate)!! Jon and I have had a relaxing week off work tackling some home projects and just moving at a slower pace. It has been wonderful.

But, we both are too great at sitting still for too long so by Monday morning we were at Home Depot gathering supplies to paint our guest bedrooms. LOL. When we moved into our house in San Antonio 2 years ago, you might remember, my mom and I painted our whole house in 2 days… all except for our 2 guest rooms. They were a medium/darker grey and I just figured now is the time to touch them up a bit. I wanted to do a light off white, but I think with the lighting in the rooms it looks like there is a blue tint. Not exactly what I was going for, but they look better than before! I was able to get both of the rooms all painted by Wednesday so it was a pretty quick project.

I wasn’t going to bake cookies this year, but I had the urge to do some baking last week so decided I would pick 3 and do some chocolate covered pretzels too. Fun, but not too overwhelming. Usually when my mom and I bake Christmas cookies, we make at least 7 or 8 different kinds. I didn’t have that kind of enthusiasm baking by myself. 🙂

I thought these little white chocolate covered pretzels turned out so cute!

Instead of making icing and icing all the sugar cookies this year, my mom suggested just dipping them in melted chocolate, which was a great idea because it was so simple and they were a huge hit. I made a few boxes, which we dropped off for friends this week and Jon has been enjoying the rest. 🙂

I told you all that my sister and her long term boyfriend, Max got engaged this past fall. I got a surprise package in the mail this past week from my sister asking me to be her matron of honor!! I am soo excited!! They are getting married in Cabo next year an I can’t wait!! She gave all the girls these cute personalized travel bags with all the goodies – chapstick, dry shampoo, face masks, body scrubs, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, soap, hair ties, eye patches and scrunches. So thoughtful and such a fun gift to receive.

Her boyfriend, Max, sent Jon a special package too. He asked him to be a groomsmen with a cute bottle of tequilla that he dressed up for the Mexican theme. 🙂

Oh I also need to mention this delicious soup I made this week. It was so easy and most of the ingredients I already had at home. This will definitely be in my rotation and next time I am making a double batch to freeze half!

I had to show you all this hilarious gift I got for Jon – he opened it early. 😉 If you follow me on instagram, you know the running joke that I call my husband the King. Well my friend Meganne started her own small business making custom doormats and I just couldn’t resist customizing one for Jon aka the King. 😉

That’s all for today. We have a few skype calls scheduled with our family today and some presents to open and then we are making a special dinner of scallops tonight!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, even if it looks a little different this year!!! XOXOXOXO