January faves

It's the first day of a new month, so I decided to link-up with Ashley and share some of my favorite *things* from January.  It's really suppose to be done on the last day of the month...oh well! Maybe next time.  :)

#1 Ben reading pregnancy books.  I love that he cares so much about our growing baby and takes such good care of the both of us.  

And having our first ultrasound--that's tied for 1st place of awesomeness from January.  See this post for ultrasound pic.

#2 My sister.  That's her, pink-eye and all (she's going to kill me), crammed in the back of our car heading from Chicago to SC with us.  She came to spend NYE with us--and I was so sick that I could not leave the couch, so she snuggled up with Ben and I and we watched movies all night.

#3 Napping surrounded by warm clothes from the dryer and cuddling with Sake`.

#4 Learning how Ben's mind works.  There's no picture for this one, but I just love that I am still learning a lot about Ben 1 1/2 years into our marriage.  Let me give you an example from this month.  On a Tuesday, Ben mentions to me, "I wonder how much money we could get if we sold my truck.  I don't think we can fit a car-seat in the backseat."  Wednesday, "I posted my truck online just to see if anyone is interested."  Friday, "We have 3 appointments tomorrow to test drive a few SUVs."  Later that week the new car is purchased. 

#5 Birthday parties.  The two pictures below are both from amaaaazing birthday parties Ben and I went to this month.  The first one was for my friend/coworker's super adorable son.  We had a blast bowling, and I'm pretty sure he beat me and his mom...by quite a lot!  The second picture is from my friend Seyi's birthday party.  It was a sweet surprise that her husband planned for her--couldn't have been any more perfect (she's in the pink)!

#5 And last but not least, I loooove that Nama has absolutely no idea that he is about to fall off the bin.  This happens on a regular basis.  Sometimes in the middle of the night.  Maybe we should get a bigger bin!

I hope ya'll had a fabulous January! Feel free to share some of your favorites in the comment section!! 

Tricking yourself into eating healthy..

For those of you who know me, you know that I typically:

• enjoy exercising 
• love juicing on a regular basis
• try to keep the ingredients I can't pronounce out of my food (eat real food)

For those of you who really know me, you know that I used to live off of big macs, ramen noodles, cereal and toast. I started changing my eating habits when I started learning about what's really in our food, and how this affects our bodies.  Then I realized that I buy the groceries--thus I am responsible for what Ben fuels his body with, and one day I'll be responsible for what my children put in their bodies! That is a lot of pressure!! And thus, the juicing/cleaning my diet began.
Welllllllllll, let me just tell you that I was super pleased with my eating habits before I was pregnant--I was able to eat healthy and still eat yummy, flavorful food, and even still have sweets as long as I made them.  I felt amazing, energized, healthy, and clean.  And of course we believe in balance, so 'cheating' every now and then was certainly allowed.  Once I found out I was pregnant, I was confident that I would be nurturing my growing baby with only the best foods.......and. then. came. morning/afternoon/night sickness.
It has been crazy hard to eat healthy during this pregnancy. Grocery stores, the kitchen, my refrigerator, vegetables, healthy food...all of the above makes this pregnant lady run for the bathroom. 
So anyways.  If I want to eat healthy, I have to trick myself.  I probably won't be able to drink a healthy vegetable juice for a while....but I can still eat some veggies if I hide them in a delicious sandwich like the one above.
I was so nervous to try this amazing sandwich that I loved pre-pregnancy. But it turned out that the hummus-veggie sandwich was a success--and any time I need to trick myself into eating veggies, I can put one of these together and guiltlessly fill my tummy.
Yum!!

Hummus-Veggie Sandwich
Adapted from Coastal Living magazine

Ingredients

• 4 slices bread (we use Ezekiel sprouted bread)
• 2/3 cup hummus (easy recipe here)
• 1/2 orange, yellow, or red bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 cup baby arugula
• 2 radishes thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup broccoli or alfalfa sprouts
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Cooking Directions

1. Spread hummus on 1 side of all 4 slices of bread.
2. On 2 slices, layer bell pepper and arugula.
3. On 2 remaining slices, layer radishes and sprouts.
4. Stir together lemon juice and olive oil, drizzle over vegetables.
5. Combine sandwich halves.

What date night looks like at 11 weeks..

Remember this post? Remember how excited I was about date night? 
Well now that ya'll know about the plum sized baby growing in my belly, I would like to share a little insight on what date night looks like when you're 11 weeks pregnant.
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Wake up to the alarm going off and Ben talking to my belly (apologizing for my awkwardness--promising that I "will get better"), to which I respond, "why are you talking to my belly?!" 
We both get ready for work, I start my morning routine of "how many times am I going to reapply my makeup this morning" because of unrelenting morning sickness.  My body finally decides that there is nothing left--nope, no nutrients from breakfast were absorbed--not even any more neon colors (TMI?) that look like a bright green gatorade I drank 4 years ago, and I can finally reapply my makeup for the last time.  I type up a quick "date-night" blog post, get excited about finally doing something other than sleeping on a Friday night, and head out the door to work.

Fast forward 8 hours, I head home from another fabulous day of serving those who serve our country, and prepare/await for Ben to come home and a night on the town.
As feelings of nausea and exhaustion start creeping into my body, I finally get the call that Ben is on his way home, a little later than expected, and I convince myself that I have the energy for date night!
By the time Ben walks in the door, I'm already curled up in a ball with a blanket on the couch.  I look at Ben with big, sad eyes and say, "I'm so sorry I don't think I'm going to make it out of the house for date night.  But maybe we can get pizza and just watch a movie?" Of course Ben understands, and he calls the only semi-decent pizza place we know of in the area to ask if they can custom make a bbq chicken pizza, the only thing in my mind that will make me feel better.  They can! And they will! So right before Ben heads out, I get another idea--what if the coffee shop downtown is by chance also selling my favorite veggie sandwich--then I could have a few pieces of pizza and half of the sandwich and everything in the world would be okay again.  He calls, and they do have my sandwich, so off Ben goes to save the day and be my hero, yet again.
About 45 minutes later, Ben returns home with the two things that I know will finally make me feel better.  He walks into the kitchen and immedately says, "Babe--do not come in here"....to which I reply, "Are there onions?!" Turns out it was worse.  The pizza was covered in bacon bits.  Covered! 
Okay now this is where it gets weird.
The disappointment is too much for me to handle and the tears won't stop coming.  Ben runs in the room to comfort me, and through my blubbering I manage to cry, "I just wanted bbq chicken pizza!!!"  So Ben offers to heat up the veggie sandwich from the coffee shop and I stifle my tears and thank him.  One bite into the sandwich, just as I can start to feel my hunger pains going away, we remember that the Dr. mentioned pregnant women need to stay away from soft cheese.  My favorite part of this sandwich is the goat cheese smeared all over the bread.
Aaannnd the tears come back!! As I'm crying "What am I supposed to eat now?!" Ben is frantically googling whether or not I can eat goat cheese, and since we were unsure of whether or not it was made with pasteurized milk, we decide I should stay away from it.  At this point I really believe I might die of starvation.  I decide that cereal will have to do for my Friday night date-night meal, and Ben gladly makes me a big bowl of cereal.  

And that, folks, is how this pregnant momma-to-be had an emotional breakdown over bacon bits on a bbq chicken pizza.

I should say that since then, which is exactly 1 week ago, Ben has made 3 homemade bbq chicken pizzas for me. With homemade bbq sauce.  And tons of cilantro.  Just the way I like it.

My camera phone does not do this pizza justice!