Oh, hello there!  I have been gone for a bit, and I have been meaning to update the ‘ol blog.  I am currently almost at 26 weeks (holy cow, where has the time gone???), so I am going to put a couple posts up to recap some previous weeks.  Let’s see how much I can remember.

WEEK 21

Week 21 (bad photo quality)

The bump started to actually pop out… grow baby!  I was feeling pretty good, appetite was getting better and less food aversions.  Veggies started to creep back in (yay!)… I actually had started to be able to stomach kale, spinach, carrots, etc.  Also, jars of giant white beans from Trader Joes.  They are so good… they come in a greek style tomato sauce, and they are wonderful!

I was starting to get tired again (not as bad as the first trimester) in the afternoon/early evening, but was able to keep walking in the mornings/early afternoon.  It had been so cold still, so I think that was part of the tiredness.  I am so ready for the warm weather!!!

I still hadn’t felt movement yet, but the doctor said it would come later for me because of having an “anterior placenta.”  Basically, this means that my placenta is out front acting as a buffer between me and the baby.  It’s not a big deal, but it means that he will have to get a little stronger and punch/kick a little harder for me to start feeling him.

He was still breech at this time when we went to have the 20 week appointment and ultrasound.  Everything looked healthy when they did the anatomy scan!  This was a huge relief to hear.  There wasn’t anything in particular I was worried about, but as a mom-to-be, you just want to hear that the baby is healthy.

So, that is week 21 in a nutshell!  Playing catch-up to be continued…

Being beyond the half-way point of pregnancy is soooo crazy to think about!

Wow, I can’t believe it is March already!!!  Hopefully spring is right around the corner (as we are expecting a snow storm tonight…ugh).  The end of February was fun (we celebrated my husband’s birthday), but I am ready to shake winter now and get on to the warm weather.

As I have mentioned before, I LOVE walking.  I use it to stay healthy, listen to music, podcasts and audio books.  I really enjoy logging the miles, but lately I have been wanting to tone up some and change up my workouts a bit.  I have practiced and enjoyed yoga in the past, but the prenatal classes around here are somewhat limited.

Enter, pure barre.

I have been reading all about pure barre recently and it really intrigued me.  I have passed the studio by us a million times whenever I would go to Whole Foods Market and also read about it on a blog that I absolutely love, Daily Garnish.  At first I thought I would have to wait to try it until after I had my baby in July.  But (yay for buts!), I was wrong!  Actually, the creator Carrie Rezabek Dorr recently had a baby and practiced through her pregnancy.  She even came out with prenatal DVD’s!

I stopped in to the studio and chatted with the lovely lady working last Sunday, and she said they have many pregnant women take the class… some up to mere days before they have the baby!  Plus after people have their babies, they offer a “bounce back” special.  Score!  So, I bought one of the DVD’s and a ball and was on my way!

Great for working out at home or when traveling.

I dragged my feet for a couple days and then yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and start.  The sun was shining and with the new month, I decided to sign up for the new student 1-month-unlimited package and head to the noon class.  As soon as I stepped into the studio, I was greeted by 3 people who work there.  They seriously couldn’t have been more welcoming.

They even had a little gift bag to welcome me!

So sweet!

For the classes you need to wear socks with the no-slip stuff on the bottom (I’m sure there is a more technical name for the no-slip-stuff, but I can’t think of it now), and in my gift bag they had given me a pair.  Even better?  They say Baby On Board on the toes!

Baby On Board

The instructor had a printout of prenatal modifications for some of the moves and explained them to me.  I REALLY appreciate them letting me keep the printout, because it was a little bit of a foreign language to me before ever taking a class.  After the class though, I totally get it.  Then I headed in to the spot that was all set up for me.

There was another girl in there who was pregnant and also a girl who had recently had her second baby (it was also her 100th class and she looks fabulous).  The music and the workout started, and it flew by.  The music was awesome, and the instructor was so helpful.  She was really attentive and let me know when there were times to do modifications.

The workout was hard, working every muscle group to the point of shaking.  They assured me that was a good thing and what you aim for.  I haven’t done strength work in a long time, so I had to do lots of modifications.  It’s definitely something I need to be doing since I am going to be carrying around a baby later this year!  It is the kind of workout that the more classes you do, the more you get the hang of it.  But with new people trying it out all the time, you don’t need to be intimidated to go to the classes.

Did I like it?  ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!  I am HOOKED after one class.  Part of getting hooked was how incredibly nice the staff was.  I have been to fitness or yoga studios in the past to try and they made me feel like an outsider or like I am not part of their clique.  It is nerve racking enough for me to try a new place on my own, let alone worry about if the people there are going to be friendly.  At pure barre, the girls made me feel like we were already friends and feel comfortable to ask them any questions I have.  I never felt intimidated or judged for one second while I was there.

I can’t wait to take advantage of this month of unlimited classes.  A day later and I am SORE SORE SORE!  But, I am happy about that because it lets me know I got a good workout and also lets me know I need to keep working on my strength.  If I wasn’t so sore I would’ve gone back today or tomorrow, but I think I will give my muscles a couple days to repair.  I walked some and stretched today to loosen up, so hopefully I will be back to take another class in a few short days.

I would recommend pure barre to anyone, and I am looking forward to re-capping how I feel after this one month trial is over.

Happy Tuesday!

I made this recipe for our little GENDER REVEAL party, and it was a HIT!  Vegans/vegetarians and non veggie-lovers alike won’t be able to resist these delectable shells, and you would never guess they were dairy-free.  Believe me, I have a LOT of meat-and-potato-only family members and friends, and they love this dish!

Vegan Stuffed Shells

The shells and the sauce are important, but the game-changer is the vegan ricotta.  It is easy to make and so versatile.  I dare you not to eat spoonfuls of it before it is used in a recipe…

What you’ll need:

• 1 package extra firm tofu,
• pressed for 5-10 minutes and crumbled
• 1/2 c. raw cashews
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• box of jumbo pasta shells
• jar of your favorite marinara (I used Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the shells as instructed on the box.  I cooked these early, ran some errands and  stuffed and baked them hours later, but they can also be stuffed and baked immediately.

Next make the ricotta.  I combine all the ingredients (except the shells and marinara) in a mini food processor.  I added just a bit more salt, but you can season it to your taste.

Using a small spoon, scoop the ricotta into the shells.  

Pour and spread some marinara in the bottom of a baking pan.  Place the stuffed ricotta shells on top of that, and then cover them with the remaining marinara.

Bake until warmed (about 25-35 minutes) and serve!

Some Ingredients

The non-photogenic but AMAZING tasting “ricotta”

Yummmm!

Seriously, it is so easy and so delicious.  Try it.

BOY!!!

It was so exciting to tell our families that the little nugget will be a boy!  We had a little gender-reveal party to tell some of them.

There were a couple games:

Guess how many jelly beans?

There was also an old wives tale quiz that everyone had fun playing.

There was food:

Snack Table

GIANT Grapes!

Vegan Stuffed Shells

And the “reveal” cupcakes!!!

Blue and Pink Baby Booties

There were vanilla and strawberry flavored cupcakes.

It was a fun evening (the latest I’ve stayed up in a long, long time)!

Pink & Blue Mani by Me

We found out the gender of our little baby!  We are going to tell our families today… In a REALLY fun way!  I am planning on taking lots of pictures to show the fun. Stay tuned!
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16 Week Bump

That’s right, 16 weeks along!  Actually, it’s getting close to 17 weeks, but better late than never!

So this past week it really felt like one morning I woke up and I had a little bump that wasn’t there when I went to sleep.  So, I decided I NEEDED to start doing the weekly updates on my pregnancy before it is over.  Some days it seems it is poking out more than others, but it’s definitely there all the time now.

This week, the baby is the size of an avocado!

It’s still so hard to believe that something that size is growing inside me.

I haven’t felt any movement yet, but the doctor (and all of the websites, etc. that I have read) says that I will probably start to feel the movement soon.  I am REALLY looking forward to that!  I think it will make everything seem a little more real.

Odds ‘n Ends

I haven’t bought any maternity clothes yet, but that will probably happen in the next week or so… I have been living in leggings.

I HAVE been into a maternity store with my husband, and there are some really cute things to choose from… Three cheers!

My appetite is slowly coming back, but I’m still not eating anything like I used to.  For example, Kale was one of my favorite foods pre-pregnacy.  Now kale, spinach and pretty much all leafy greens are out.  Boo!

I hope this returns to my diet soon!

Oh, and that avocado that my baby is the size of now… Don’t get me started.  I can’t stomach them right now, so that prop will be gifted to my mom.

My diet pretty much consists of carbs, fruit (TONS of fruit) and yogurt.

I was obsessed with satsumas for the last couple months, but sadly they are out of season now.  However, stem and leaf mandarins have filled that void.

I have been able to keep up walking when the weather is not too wintry, which makes me happy.  I absolutely love walking.  I have run off and on, but walking is something that has stuck with me.  Now, that is all I am doing… no running for me during the pregnancy.  I am looking forward to harder workouts after the baby comes, but I am totally fine with doing this for now.  I may add some light weight training into the mix here soon, we will see!

When they were clean and new.

While the second trimester has definitely been better than the first, I am getting so tired in the early evening.  Naps (which I never took before) are now pretty consistent. I guess I better get them in now before the baby comes!  I also am finding I get out of breath pretty easy.  Going up the stairs or hills on walks make me much more winded than before.

Oh, one last thing… I have been tossing around the idea of getting my hair colored in an ombre’ style, so yesterday I bit the bullet!  I got my hair cut (about 7-8 inches off back in late September…why??? I am still mad I did it, but oh well), and this style of hair color will make it easy to keep letting my hair grow.

A bit ‘o ombre’

This picture doesn’t do it much justice, but I REALLY REALLY like it.  I may even go back to get a few more highlighted pieces done.

Enjoy the weekend!

P.S. I joined Bloglovin .  I am slowly but surely “learning” the blog world

Baby!

You read it right, this July my husband and I are excited to welcome a new addition!  That is he/she above at about 12 weeks.  I am so grateful that God has blessed us with this little nugget.  I wasn’t sure if I was even ABLE to get pregnant, but the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I got the plus sign!

My husband is in aviation and therefore travels a lot.  I had met him in New York City in hopes that he would get to stay there long enough that we could go to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Well, that didn’t work out.  But, we were there long enough to be able to go down to the Today Show (which TOTALLY trumps the parade in my book, I’m a Today Show junkie) Tuesday morning.  Since we had to get up soooooo early (how do Matt, Savannah, Natalie and Al do it everyday and look so rested?), I got up even earlier to take a test.

When I came back to check it (I was really not expecting anything other than the usual negative sign)… Holy positive sign, Batman!!!

Hello, plus sign!

I immediately dumped my cup of regular hotel coffee out, and brewed decaf… My adrenaline was pumping!  I ran in to wake my husband and tell him the news.  We were so excited!  It didn’t seem real yet (probably why I tested many more times in the next few days just to make sure… my husband probably thinks I kept ept in business for a week), but at the same time I already felt different.

We headed down to the Today Show, still in awe.  We were in even more awe when we realized there was a concert on the Plaza that day, and the artist was Ke$ha.  Neither of us could name a song by her, but the swarms of pre-teen/teen girls already there could name them all.

This picture was taken before rounding the corner where the crowd was.

We actually got a place to stand right against the barricades where all of the Today Show personalities walk by.  We were able to see them all, and some of their guests (Trace Adkins, Willie Nelson… people we were actually excited to see).  If we hadn’t been able to see anyone, that would have been okay.  I was on cloud nine!

I can’t wait to share more of my pregnancy journey here.  I am also excited to blog more regularly about other things as well.  I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

Sincerely,

Jacquelynn

I am moved by love.  The love from and for my husband, my family and good friends.

I am moved by travel.  Literally.  It has taken me all over the world… and I love it.

I am moved by good food.

I am moved by big laughs and smiles.

I am moved by kindness.  One little act of kindness can make a BIG difference in somebody’s life.

Most of all, I am moved by the AMAZING Love and gift of grace from God.

This is the inspiration behind this blog, A Moveable Me.

WHAT MOVES YOU???