A Healthier 2013

Well January is coming to a close and I know that the number one New Year's resolutions is to lose weight or get in shape. So I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon, sorta. I didn't make a resolution this year, but I decided to capitalize on my renewed energy. After reading a fellow blogger's journey to get in shape after baby #2 for an upcoming vacation, I felt inspired to continue my own "self-adjustment" by upping my exercise routine and changing up the way we eat here at Casa Harrington. I fully understand that when you're pregnant you are suppose to gain weight. And I am totally on board with that! With Rory I gained a whopping 60+ pounds, 30 of which came off almost immediately after I had Rory. But I remember struggling with about 20 of those remaining pounds months afterwards. And that's when I regretted having what I call the pregnancy mentality- when we think we can eat whatever we want because we are pregnant. Now, when I'm pregnant I don't think, "I can eat whatever because I'm eating for two". My thinking is more along the lines of that no one can tell I just gobbled down a cheeseburger and large french fry, so I'm good. And that sort of thinking leads to what I like to refer to as unnecessary baby weight (weight gained during pregnancy, but it's not helping with the growth and development of the baby). To me this is the stubborn weight that takes months to shed. What I'm looking to gain is productive baby weight (a term I use to describe the weight that aids the growing baby).

So after talking with my Ob/Gyn about my revised workout schedule and what is the appropriate productive baby weight range for me, my change for a healthier me and my family is in full force. Below is a brief breakdown of my workout plan. Along with helping in stabilizing my weight gain, working out and staying active also aids in keeping my muscles strong so that my body can support my growing baby. <------Kinda important!

Monday: 2nd trimester DVD
Tuesday : Elliptical 20-30 mins
Wednesday: Pilates legs
Thursday: 2nd trimester DVD
Friday: Elliptical 20-30 mins
Saturday: Pilates arms
Sunday: Dance cardio DVD

Here are some of the DVDs that are a part of my exercise routine...

Along with exercise, I also started to add more fruits and vegetables to our meals. We aren't doing anything crazy or too drastic, just simply adding healthier foods to our day. What I mean when I say crazy or drastic is that we're not following any sort of special diet or restricting ourselves from any types of food. And it's been about a week since we've been eating better and I love that we ate all the produce halfway through the week and I had to go back to the market for more. That has NEVER happened, never ever! And it's also a great feeling when Rory is asking for fruits and vegetables to snack on. I figured out a nifty little trick to get us to eat more produce: place the produce in bowls and put them on the shelves in the frig, not in the drawers. Surprisingly enough it looks more appetizing and it's so easy to grab for a snack. Even Randy said that the apples look better in the bowl. Try it, it works. I only keep the produce for meals in the drawers. Don't get me wrong, there is still a box of oreos in the pantry (and I just pre-ordered 4 boxes of girl scout cookies) and if we feel like ordering pizza, we do it. I'm really just trying to find a balance and what works for us. Here are some samples of where I added produce to our meals.

I placed the fruit in bowls on shelves at eye level

Added strawberries with our pancakes

Added a fruit salad of strawberries, grapes, bananas & apples with our scrambled eggs

Homemade vegetable noodle soup made with carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes & veggie noodles

I also got the idea from the blogger I mentioned above to mark my water bottle with time increments in an effort to drink more water. I usually don't have a problem drinking water, but this definitely helps to remind me to drink consistently throughout the day. I fill the water bottle twice a day for a total of 56 oz. (My bottle is a 28 oz bottle I got at Target a few years ago). I usually will add an additional 16 oz bottle of water at night or when I exercise.

One side has time increments from 9:00 - 2:00

The there side has time increments from 3:00 - 8:00

(Thanks McKinli at Make Over With McKi for the ideas and inspiration!)

Week 19

This week has been filled with some much needed adjustment on my part. As you all saw in the last post that my eyes were not exactly looking the greatest. So after focusing all my attention on the fact that I can't seem to get rid of this sinus infection from hell, I was left felling a little blue and down. I decided that even though I was still dealing with the effects of my ailments, I needed to change my focus to the things that were going to make me happy. After months of not having any energy, I'm finally feeling back to normal. And now I have an appetite with the morning sickness becoming a distant memory. Yay! So that's where I directed my attention and my mood changed almost immediately. Last weekend I bought a pregnancy workout package that has a DVD for each trimester and one for post pregnancy. I started the second trimester workout on Tuesday with about 18 minutes on the elliptical. I've done it a couple of times this week. And it feels great working out again. It has been way too long! And I'm starting to cook a little more. With the weather being a little on the cold side and the rain the last few days, who wants to go out to get food? And of course home-cooked meals and becoming more active have completely changed my mood 180 degrees.

But unfortunately the change in my outlook did not change the fact that my eyes were still showing signs of irritation, and since my doctor said that traveling to California with the continuous change in elevation has contributed to my reoccurring sinus infection, our trip home had to be cancelled. Besides our family photos were scheduled to be taken outside and with rain in the forecast, it just wasn't the best idea to go this weekend. I was really looking forward to this trip, but I also believe in things happening for a reason and I know it's best to just reschedule.

So that brings me to week 19...

We decided to move the chalkboard into the hall where it has better lighting. Yay!

How far along? 19 Weeks & 6 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 10 lbs 
Maternity clothes? a couple of pairs of maternity leggings and a few more maternity tops. Unfortunately the waist extenders that Randy bought for me didn't really work out, so I think I might have to cave and by a pair of maternity jeans. I love my leggings, but I miss my jeans!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Never enough! Sleep is still good. And my pillow set-up is still working out great. 
Best moment this week: Working out!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Oddly enough I miss Subway sandwiches. I rarely eat at Subway, but I miss being able to have a ham sandwich with mayo, mustard, lettuce, pickles and olives. Yum! <---- still missing a Subway ham sandwich!
Movement: Yes! And I love it!!! 
Food cravings: Apples, grapes, strawberries, homemade chili, my homemade noodle vegetable soup, homemade salsa, orange and rainbow sherbet, strawberry-banana smoothies, and banana laffy taffy. Super Yum Yum!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Fast food is still no bueno!
Have you started to show yet: Yes 

Gender prediction: Girl (Rory has switched sides and now says I'm having a boy)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and still loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Much, much, much happier!
Looking forward to: We have our ultrasound appointment in just a couple of days and I'm really excited about it. We are not, let me repeat, are not going to find out the baby's gender, but I can't wait to see little Baby H!

Week 18

Well my continued quest to diminish my ailments has been once again deterred this week. After taking the antibiotics to clear up my sinus infection I thought I was finally done and on the road to a healthier 2013. But Wednesday morning I woke up and my left eye was a little swollen, but it didn't hurt and I went about my day. But as the day went on my eye started to show signs of irritation and I started to think that I somehow cut my eye or worse had pink eye. I went to bed that night thinking that maybe all I needed was to get some sleep and I would wake up on Thursday feeling better. Well so much for wishful thinking. During the night I could feel my eye draining fluid and when I woke up my eye was "glued" shut. Not a good sign. Once I pried my eye open I could see that my eye had gotten worse. I made a quick trip to my eye doctor's office on Thursday only to find out that the sinus infection I thought was gone, was now draining out my eye.  Since then my right eye began to do the same. The swelling has gone down a bit in both eyes, but as you can see in the chalkboard pic my eyes are puffy and bloodshot. I swear things like this only happen to me. Maybe I should change the name of this blog to the Never-ending Ailments.

Thursday afternoon. I know, I look so cute

So now on to little Baby H...

This past week has also been the start of the long awaited baby-prep! The baby gear is slowly starting to make it's way out of storage and into the appropriate spots in the house. Randy and Rory brought the bassinet upstairs and put it into our bedroom while I was taking a nap. And Rory was so excited to show me, he woke me up shouting baby night-night! He's so cute!

Puffy, bloodshot eyes!!!

How far along? 18 Weeks & 6 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 8 lbs 
Maternity clothes? a couple of pairs of maternity leggings and a few more maternity tops. 
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Never enough! Sleep is good. And my pillow set-up has been working out great.
Best moment this week: Tuesday when I thought I was finally done with being sick!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Oddly enough I miss Subway sandwiches. I rarely eat at Subway, but I miss being able to have a ham sandwich with mayo, mustard, lettuce, pickles and olives. Yum!
Movement: Yes! And I love it!!! 
Food cravings: Apples, homemade chili, vegetable soup, homemade salsa, orange and rainbow sherbet, strawberry-banana smoothies, and banana laffy taffy. Super Yum Yum!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Fast food is still on the yuck list
Have you started to show yet: Yes 

Gender prediction: Girl (Rory also thinks it's a girl)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and still a little loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm definitely moody this week. I'm just tired of not feeling good.
Looking forward to: Going home this weekend to take some family photos. We didn't get a chance to have maternity photos taken when I was pregnant with Rory. And now I regret it. So I'm looking forward to getting some good pics of our growing family.

Week 17

Hi there! I hope everyone had a great week. This past week started out rough. Well the cold that Rory and I had been sharing since September (YES, since September) turned out to be a sinus infection for both of us. So after a weekend filled with congestion, coughing, and body aches (on top of throwing up and heartburn for me), we are both on our way to getting better. It's been really slow, but there has been some improvement.

This week also brought us to the end of the holidays here at the Harrington's. The Christmas decorations are all packed up and are ready to be put back in the front closet. I really hate to take down the garland and pine cones because it really makes the house look like winter. And I just love it! And taking it down means the inevitable is approaching.... summer in the desert. But it was a little bit easier this year because this summer is going to bring us a very special gift! And now that the holidays are over, the baby prep can begin!!! Yay! We have so much to do before June.

Sorry for the blurry photo.... Blame Randy!!! OK so last week's chalkboard flat out sucked! Regular chalk was not working. So I decided to try bistro chalkboard markers and guess what?!? They work great!!! I didn't know there were different types of chalkboards. It turns out that I have a bistro chalkboard.

How far along? 17 Weeks & 3 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 8 lbs 
Maternity clothes? a couple of pairs of maternity leggings and a few maternity tops. I still need to go shopping.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Never enough! Sleep has been difficult with a cough. As soon as I change positions I have a painful coughing attack. And I've had trouble breathing while I've been sick. There has been a few times I've woken up because I'm not getting enough air. That was scary! 
Best moment this week: Feeling the baby move the other night. It sort of felt like the baby was tickling me from the inside. It caused an instant giggle.
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Nothing this week. My appetite is slowly coming back along with my sense of taste and smell. 
Movement: Yes! And I love it!!! 
Food cravings: Apples, homemade chili, vegetable soup, homemade salsa and strawberry-banana smoothies. Yum Yum!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Fast food sounds awful right now. 
Have you started to show yet: Yes, a small bump  
Gender prediction: Girl (Rory also thinks it's a girl)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? On and a little loose. It's a good thing I have football player knuckles.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Probably somewhere in the middle. I'm not overly happy or moody. <------ Same
Looking forward to: I'm looking forward to getting my energy back. Everyday it's gets a little better, but I can't wait to be back to normal (insert I'm mot normal joke here). 

Bye for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Week 16

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with your loved ones. With all the preparation of a quick trip to California and Christmas, week 14 and week 15 came and went in what seems like a blink of an eye. Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks of our holidays.

OK, so we took Rory to see Santa and he yelled Santa, Ho Ho Ho over and over until he saw Santa. Then he refused to look at him. Rory covered his eyes and when I pulled his hands away from his eyes he closed them tight. And that is why in our Santa picture Rory has his eyes closed! Silly little boy! 

Rory insisted on eating his cookie while opening a Christmas present. One-handed present opening!

First off, sorry for the half-asleep bed-head look. But this is how I roll on Christmas morning. Surprisingly Randy is the chipper one and it takes me awhile to fully wake up. Anyway this was the first day of week 15... so I guess you guys get to see how big I was last week!

After we opened presents, Rory and I enjoyed some snuggle time watching A Christmas Story together while Randy took his Christmas morning nap.

Randy had to work on New Year's Eve so this was my date. Rory cracks me up. I love that he kicks back with his hands behind his head. This is how we both spent New Year's Eve. 

So here we are week 16. Over the last couple of weeks Baby H has grown to be 3 to 5 oz, can wiggle her fingers and toes and can hear music.

This week's chalkboard is a little light. Sorry about that. 

How far along? 16 Weeks & 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: 7 lbs 
Maternity clothes? a couple of pairs of maternity leggings and a few maternity tops. My regular clothes are quickly becoming ill-fitting, so it looks like I'm gonna be doing some much needed maternity shopping in the very near future.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Never enough! Sleep is good. I found that sleeping with four pillows (2 for my head and one on each side of me) has really helped with my back.
Best moment this week: Hearing the baby's heartbeat today at my doctor's appointment. And I started to feel the baby move last week, so those little moments are really fantastic.
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Nothing this week. I'm just happy I have an ok appetite right now.
Movement: Yes! And I love it!!! 
Food cravings: Hot chocolate, chocolate in general, and now I can't enough of chocolate orange sticks and chocolate orange candy (you know the one that is wrapped in the orange foil and you have to bang it on the table to release the slices on the chocolate!) Yummy!
Anything making you queasy or sick: I've been queasy this week and even throwing up. I've just come to terms with the fact that the morning sickness will probably never fully go away. The awful thing about it is that there isn't a certain thing that triggers it and I haven't found anything that eases it besides the medicine.
Have you started to show yet: Yes, a small bump  
Gender prediction: Girl (Rory also thinks it's a girl)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Probably somewhere in the middle. I'm not overly happy or moody.
Looking forward to: Now that the holidays are over, I'm looking forward to just relaxing and not having my days filled with a crazy amount of errands and preparation. And now it's baby-prepping time. I'm looking forward to rearranging the house and decorating the nursery. 

I hope everyone has a great first week of 2013. See you next week!