Week 26

Week 26 is here already! Technically I’ll be in week 27 in 2 days…just shows me how fast time is flying by!

Here’s the money shot.

On Friday I took the gestational diabetes test. Basically when you’re around 26 weeks pregnant you go into the lab, drink this drink,

And then you wait an hour, then they draw your blood. If you pass, nothing changes, but if your blood sugar is over 140, you have to do the test again. Except the second time you have to do it 3 times, so 3 hours, and 3 blood draws. I’m hoping I pass and it’s not a thing.

I had lunch with my mom on Saturday, which was really nice.

We stopped at this little ice cream shack on the way home. They have homemade ice cream, and they put a freshly made waffle on top.

My mother’s boyfriend was very impressed! Hehe!

This morning I went for a walk with Miss Jessica.

I had to burn off some of those waffle calories. And I also had a realization that I needed to start tracking my calories with My Fitness Pal. I’m on there, my name is Tiffersknees. Look me up! I stepped on the scale this morning and know that I need to be more aware of my caloric intake.

And the nursery is really coming together.

There are a few more things I need to do with the walls, but I’m feeling good about the superhero bedding.

So I’m looking into getting a treadmill from Craigslist. I figure most people who are selling their treadmill probably haven’t used it much, and is in good condition, and I can get it at a good price. I’m not in a huge hurry, but I’m thinking when I go on pregnancy leave after I have the baby, I can at least walk on the treadmill while the baby sleeps/is not screaming.

Am I being completely unrealistic in working out with a new born? What did you other mamas do after your baby was born?

Have you ever bought anything off Craigslist? Any tips?

Do you have a treadmill that you run on and would recommend?

Cheers!

Always tie down your boat

Yesterday miss Jessica and I set out to hike the big hill by the Lagoon.

It was hot and muggy, and I was unprepared. My feet and hands were pretty swollen by the end of the hike. But after I drank a couple bottles of water, took a shower, and ate something I felt way better. And here’s my stats according to my heart rate monitor.

And on the way home I saw this crazy sight, and I had to take a video of a boat falling off it’s hitch. Here’s a pic of it.

Crazy, right? It’s like they didn’t tie it down or something?

I spent the rest of my day doing laundry and going grocery shopping. I also made a quick stop to a local fruit/veggie stand called Larry’s. Here’s a small view of it. Keep in mind it’s Monday and around noon.

I was really surprised at how busy it was. I couldn’t even find a parking spot in the lot, I had to park on the side of the road.

This morning I woke up with tons of energy. I had a craving for pancakes, and decided to go for chocolate chip pancakes.

They turned out pretty good! Even though they were not burned, they were cooked all the way through. I couldn’t say the same thing about the last batch of pancakes I made.

Hubs even enjoyed them, except he says he prefers plain pancakes. I just told him, “good thing I made them for myself.” He kissed me and then left for work. Gotta love that man.

Last time you had chocolate chip pancakes?

Cheers!

I kinda like ballet

On Monday I found a new work out to try.

I was looking for something that would be more low impact, and maybe a barre-like workout. This work out really delivered.

There was lots of these arm movements.

They killed my arms and back, and yes, there were times I couldn’t keep them up.

I liked the challenge so much, I decided to do the same work out today! Here was the calorie count for today.

Woot! Gotta love a good calorie burn.

On a completely separate note, I wanted to share that I have been up for a promotion at work, and I found out this week that I got it! I’m feeling really excited and nervous! The great thing about the promotion is that my schedule will have less closing shifts, which means more time in the evening with family.

Have you tried a ballet-barre type of work out? Did you like/hate it?

Cheers!

My new favorite

On Sunday the fam, Cyra and I went on a spectacular hike.

An extremely rare moment for us. Especially hubs. He has actually been working out in the evenings lately. Shocker, right? I can’t ask him too much, or he gets weird. Whatever, I just am happy he’s making small efforts.

After the hike we grabbed some lunch, dropped off my Cyra girlie, and headed to see this movie.

The movie was ok. Not sure if I was just tuckered from the hike, but I fell asleep twice in the middle. I kept waking myself up with an internal monologue… “I paid a lot of money to sit in this seat and WATCH this movie, not to SLEEP through it.” I guess I’m a control freak even when I’m sleeping.

I think I picked out the EXACT stroller I want for the bambino.

I am completely obsessed! Even though I’m not running now, my plan is all of this exercising now is helping gain strength for when I do want to run again, and not re-injure myself.

Speaking of rebuilding strength and injury, I went for my second massage. The first one was AMAZING. She really focused on the painful areas, and felt like it really helped. This one seemed like your run-of-the-mill massage. With one exception: she used a pregnancy pillow. Which was more comfortable than I thought. She just didn’t focus on my hips, and back like she did before. Another weird thing she does is talk to you the entire time. It’s nice, but when I’m sitting there trying to focus on relaxing, she is asking me questions about serious stuff, and then I get all tense and can’t relax. I basically felt more stressed leaving the massage this week. I guess that’s my answer for whether or not I should get another one from her.

And here’s my new favorite thing

I actually grumbled when I bought these because I was looking for plain. Confession: I have never tried an everything bagel. I know, right? And it is so good! If you like bagels and haven’t tried them, do it! You won’t be sorry 😉

Jogging mamas: what kind of stroller do you use for jogging/running with your babes? Any other advice?

Do you love everything bagels?

Would you keep going to this massage therapist? Or would you try someone else?

Cheers!

Ninja Kicks!

Yesterday I woke up with tons of energy. It was really weird. This pregnancy has pretty much sucked the life out of me. I haven’t really had any “great” days, where I’m not sick or tired. So yesterday was such a blessing. Especially since my house is kinda suffering because of my lack of energy.

First thing, I got my DVD player going and put in a prenatal work out DVD that I have. I got it right after I found out I was pregnant, and try to do it 1-2 times a week.

It’s kind of nice that you can choose how long you want the DVD to play for. There are 6 or 7 work outs, each one 10 minutes. 2 of them are dancing ones (least favorite), one is a cool down (most favorite), and the rest are strength training (pretty ok).

The nice part about working out with a prenatal work out DVD, is that not only are the exercises safe for baby. But the instructors are also talking about baby, and reminding you to connect with baby. I think that’s nice. Especially since most of the time I forget I’m even pregnant!

The rest of the day included laundry (like all of it, no towels left in the dryer today), dishes (2 loads!), and baking cookies.

I’m still enjoying the fruits of my labor. Maybe a little too much?

And at the end of the day hubs and I went to bed early. And as I was laying there I was putting my hand on my belly, and finally after nearly 18 weeks I felt my baby kick for the first time. I was over the moon! Hubs was fast asleep, so I woke him up, and he mumbled something before rolling over and going back to sleep. Which actually was ok with me (he had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning, yuck right?) . So I laid there hand on belly, just waiting. I turned down the TV, and really wanted to be in tune. Bubbles, tons of bubbles is mostly what I felt. At first I wasn’t sure if it really was kicking. Maybe it’s gas? Lol! But no, after a few more minutes I just knew. I laid there grinning from ear to ear just embracing this tiny little moment. It was like heaven. I started crying happy tears. I know it sounds weird, but I love this. I love that I was blessed enough to get pregnant, and now able to enjoy it.

It was the best day.

Cheers!

State fair and dock diving

We had signed up Miss Klaire for some dock diving, and with that we got free entry and parking to the state fair.

Klaire and hubs were really excited to get to the dock.

Aren’t they cute together?

And then she jumped!

Ker-Splash!

Splash Dog is mostly about dogs jumping off of a dock and into a giant pool. They measure the jumps by distance from where the tail hits the water. I think Klaire’s best jump was 7feet.

There are “waves” you can sign up for, and today there were 2 waves. One at 11, and the other at 1. They have a lineup, and each dog gets 2 jumps. Since we only had 1 dog, there was plenty of time to enjoy the fair while the dogs rested in the shade.

First up, fried veggies!

You go to the fair, you have to eat something deep fried.

We went back to the dock diving, did our jumps, and headed back out for some lunch!

My “dog mom” and I both went for turkey leg and corn. Hubs even scored a bite.

My dog mom brought Tara, and she is Klaire’s daughter.

Tara ended up jumping over 13 feet! Woot go Tara!

It was such a great day! Here’s Klaire’s winning ribbons.

Have you been to your local fair yet this summer?

Favorite fair food?

Cheers?

Date Night!

Last night hubs and I had a great date night. It went so good, I completely forgot to take pictures. Oops! We didn’t do anything exciting, but we had a great dinner at our favorite greek restaurant. And even tried ice cream at a little cafe/creamery/tamale selling place. It was double rainbow ice cream, so you know it was good!

When hubs and I got home, hubs wanted to put together the new dresser for the nursery. And I let him 😉

It took him about an hour and a half. Plus he got to use his drill. He felt very manly! We weren’t sure of the colors, we went with a blue for the walls, and the dresser is cherry. I think it will be ok once we get more accessories.

This morning I finished off the rest of the best tomatoes ever. And I need to learn how to tilt my phone better, so my pictures aren’t sideways.

Then I went on a fabulous 2 mile walk with Mr. Brass.

And promptly foam rolled right when I got home. Lots of ouch!

Guess what? The baby is the size of a sweet potato! I love these quirky milestones!

The baby also will learn how to yawn this week. He is also in full ninja mode, able to kick, punch, and roll over. And his nervous system is beginning to develop.

Any racing plans this weekend?

Did you get your long run in?

Cheers!

Best tomatoes ever

This week is flying by (as usual) and it’s going good!

On Monday Vinny dragged me on a 2 mile walk.

Tuesday I did a 30 minute prenatal yoga work out. It was ondemand, and I forgot what it was called. But I think I will be doing it again next week, and I’ll keep you posted.

Wednesday hubs and I picked out a paint color for the nursery.

Top right, it’s called blue lake. And we are in love with it. I’ll take an a pic of the room when we have more done.

Today I met miss Jessica for a hike. We decided to hike the big hill by the lagoon.

We even tried a new trail when we came down the hill.

And we ended up hiking over 4 miles. The mapmywalk app says I burned 600 calories, but my heart rate monitor says 940.

During the hike hubs called me to come by his work to pick up some tomatoes and eggs. A customer had so many she didn’t know what to do with them. All organic, home grown free tomatoes and eggs? This lady just became my best friend! As soon as I got home I scrambled a couple eggs, topped them with shredded cheese, and put them onto a bagel thin.

Best post hike meal ever!!!

Do you have a garden? What do you grow?

Cheers!

Mission: escape the heat!

I live in Northern California, and we are experiencing a bit of a heat wave! We are totally spoiled and not used to 110 degrees end of June/beginning of July. Since it has been so hot, on Sunday we set out to escape! We decided we wanted oysters, so Tomales Bay, here we come!

First stop, a must!

This was on the way to Tomales Bay, in Petaluma area. It was barely 10 o’clock, but that didn’t stop me from trying every type of cheese. And we took some for the road.

Luckily we made it to the oyster place before it got crowded.

We hadn’t been here in about a year, but dang! There were pic-nic tables everywhere. Just a small glimpse, there were probably 40 more tables. And you had to call ahead to reserve them.

We just wanted oysters, so we had 10 minutes to decide (we were in the 10 min. parking). Hubs went with this spread.

A dozen small, a dozen extra small, and some limes, ice, and special oyster sauce. We had brought a cooler and had plans to BBQ most of them later. (If you ever make the trip, keep in mind it is a cash only situation). However we wanted some now. So we looked up a place that was close to enjoy some oysters, and hang out a bit more.

It was called “The Marshall Store”, and it was fabulous. They had lots of oyster options, plus clam chowder, and some crab and other seafood cocktails.

Hubs opted for raw.

I am obsessed with BBQ.

Hubs said his were amazing. But mine were just too good to be true. It’s like when you have a taste for something and you finally get it, and it’s heavenly. That’s what these BBQ oysters were for me. Just really hit the spot.

We hung out for a bit more, since the weather was perfect!

It was great how much out door seating there was. And the views were awesome. So glad we made the trip.

Last time you had oysters?

Prefer raw or BBQ?

Cheers!

Pork chops for breakfast!

On Saturday I met my favorite cousin for brunch. We almost immediately decided together that we would eat here for brunch.

We ate here once before, right after we did the color run last July. And it was as good as we remember.

Here’s a little story about grandma Lois.

Lois the pie queen is all about soul food. And I had to get this special once I read it.

Deep fried pork chops. For breakfast. They were delicious.

And here’s my brunchy date.

The best food we were served was definitely these biscuits. I only ate one pork chop, but I scarfed both of these biscuits.

This is not a place I frequent, hence the fried everything. But it’s nice to splurge every once in awhile.

Last time you had soul food? Or fried pork chops?

Cheers!