My Workout "Routine" + Must-Reads

Question of the month: How often do you work out? What's your preferred method of exercise?

I hate writing this as a declaration of how lazy I am, but I rarely work out. I know I need to and I want to, but I just haven't made it a priority. I do enjoy pilates and cycling. I do pin a ton of workouts I plan on one day doing. I also love the the Jillian Michaels workout videos, she's amazing. Especially these pregnancy ones I've found:

Turn on, tune in, tone up!

This workout is deemed the "lazy girl's workout" which is totally up my alley since my above confession...The pin said it's timed for a 30 minute show with commercials.

 

Lose the Pooch! The Best Exercises for Lower Abs

Um. Hello, my belly is my weakness. After the baby I want to lost the baby fat + extra. This will be perfect come July (which is when I hope I'll be okay'd to start working out). 

 

Ready, Set, Push! Workout

This workout includes exercises that will help you prepare for deliver (which scares the bejeebus out of me, btw) so I want to start checking it out this weekend so I have plenty of time to get down the routine.

• Alison*Elle - Alison is branching out into bright colours with a new favourite coat.
• Beautygirl24 - Noelle kicked off the new year in her favorite glittering skirt.
• Ella Pretty - Check out Ella's Forever21 haul: Statement necklaces & a quilted bag!
• Lilly's Style - Lilly's striped out!
  
• Lindsay J Everyday - Lindsay got a big girl camera for her birthday & is polka dot obsessed.
• Love, Lipstick & Pearls - Kristen found out if she's having a Lil Miss or Lil Man with her gender reveal party.
• Schnelle Couture - Danielle is about to finally meet her little girl, check out what she has packed in her hospital bag.
• Sequins and Stilettos - Skylette splurged just a bit on a little accessory - see it here!
• The Currently Obsessed - Mehreen organized her makeup and gives us a peek into her collection!

Bumpdate Week 22

21 Weeks 5 Days 

How far along? 22 weeks today, reviewing week 21 in today's post.

Total weight gain: I had an appointment this past Monday and I'm happy to announce my official weight gain as 4.5 lbs!! Woohoo! My Dr isn't worried anymore, he thinks I'll be one of those woman who just pack it on at the end of the pregnancy. I want to only gain whatever weight I do at a steady pace, not too much at once.

Stretch marks?: Not yet, I'm still using Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter and really enjoy it. I hope I don't get any stretch marks, my mother didn't, so we'll see. 

I love this jammie set the hubs and I picked up at Target! 

The ballerina bunnies make me smile.

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but I've started to look for some maternity pants for a good price. I've heard awesome things about Gap maternity pants, but I really don't want to spend a lot on clothes I'm wearing for such a short amount of time. Any suggestions for maternity pants? I bought a pair on clearance from Old Navy for $22 so I'll let you know how I like them.

Belly Button in or out?: In! It's still getting more shallow, but the Dr said I have plenty of time before it will actually pop out.

Sleep: This week has been awful! I can't get comfortable and wake up every night around 2-3am and will be wide awake. Pregnancy insomnia has kicked in! If you have any tips, please share!

Finally bought something that's a color other than pink! LOL. 

I love the purple and green in this onesie set.

Best moment this week: Feeling all of her movement is amazing. Even though I feel her on the outside, I still put my hands on my belly to feel her from the outside. She has a little schedule she sticks to so I know when to expect her dance moves.

Worst moment this week:

This diagram freaks me out everytime I go to the Dr. It shows how big your cervix is at each centimeter and you can start pushing at 10cm. That's the size of a bagel people! You push out an 8lb baby from a 10cm hole!! I just pray for a small headed child.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

I LOVE the bright stripes and the heart leggings. 

IDK if I'll dress her in this together, but I love the fun colors. 

Miss Anything? Painting my own toes, I've talked the hubs into giving it a try this weekend, I'm excited to see how that turns out....

Movement: Yes! Lots and lots! At the Dr appointment she kicked the whole time!

Food cravings: Nothing really. This past week has been boring. Even my fruit cravings have mellowed. Except with the Pinkberry, we had that last Saturday and it was amazeballs.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! I do have a weaker gag reflex than before so some things just gross me out. Like boogers. Boogers on a mustache of someone you work with. Do you tell them? What do you say?

How cute are the heart and bow pocket of this jacket? I love the little jeggings too. 

Have you started to show yet: Yes, absolutely.

Gender: Team pink!!

Symptoms: Insomnia, lower abdomen pain when I bend over too far.

This is the pant set that matches the jacket above, how cute will they be with the colored onesies?

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Tired by the end of the day, but still happy. 

Looking forward to: Getting together the nursery. Right now the room is filled with boxes from moving, but we're working on getting them all unpacked and next month we'll start to buy the furniture. I've started looking online, but want to see the pieces in person.

Have you noticed I'm a sucker for hearts, bows, and bunnies? My child will be so girly! At least while I dress her anyways. Also, I talked to the Dr about my spike Shirley Temple and he said there was no harm to the baby, such a small amount won't hurt her. They just say no alcohol at all during pregnancy because everyone metabolizes alcohol differently and there's no way to tell how much or little can hurt your child so it's better safe than sorry. 

InstaLately Link Up 12

In CA last week, it went from the 80s to freezing and raining. Boo. So I turned to my favorite Kiki La'Rue Jeggings (they're the best, I want every color!) and Lenore scarf with a classic white top and cognac boots. Such a simple and comfy outfit.

A close-up of the Lenore scarf on another day. It's really soft and so warm. I love it on a cold day.

One of my favorite polishes, Sally Hansen Petal Pusher. It's the perfect nude/pink and goes on great and is easy to build the color. PS That's our table runner underneath my hand, it's my favorite! I love it.

I started reading this book from JK Rowling, but I've since given up. There's a lot of characters and random sexual things that I just didn't care for. I read the Wikipedia about it to see if I should just stick through the story and it would get better, but after reading it, I don't think it's worth it. Have you read it? What was your thoughts?

The hubs and I babysat my little cousin and had so much fun eating donuts, playing Just Dance 4, and a game of my childhood favorite- Sorry!. When we left the hubs and I decided we have to buy the game for our place for game nights.

Lemon bars are one of my favorite desserts and when I saw that Trader Joe's had a thaw and serve for a great price, I figured why not. These were amazing! I was surprised at how fresh they tasted once they fully thawed out. We'll definitely be buying them again! 

I can't get enough of this song! I busted out the moves playing Just Dance 4 when we watched my cousin (before the game of Sorry!). I've been doing the moves all week. LOL. 

My favorite treat! The hubs and I had a date night Saturday and for dessert we had Pinkberry covered in fresh fruit. Preggo cravings satisfied! 

Sunday night we had our first dinner guests! Matt's parents, sister, and her fiance came over and we had a wonderful night. I made salmon with my own concoction of spicy mustard, honey, soy sauce, and lemon (so bomb!), baked potatoes, and a salad. It was nice to finally have a place of our own to entertain. After dinner we played Phase 10 and watched the SAG awards. 

Do you have Instagram? My username is Kristen_Lawler. Link up with Jenn and share your photos!

Etsy Baby Spotlight

I've been going crazy on Etsy looking for cute stuff for our little girl. Here are just some of the cute shops and items I've found so far. I think I'm going to definitely post more of these because if I posted all of them in one post, it would be so long. What are some of your favorite Etsy shops? Please share!

I LOVE these personalized elephants from Luna and Bean, they're so cute. You can personalize them with your child's name, choose the fabrics, and also get matching burp cloths from the same shop!

So I know our little Baby L (that's just the initial of our last name, not a hint!) is most likely going to be bald. I barely had any hair for years so I'm just assuming she'll take after me. Plus, I haven't had any heartburn which I totally believe is a sign of hair, wives tale or not. So, obviously our little lady will need some cute-tootie headbands. Little Bitty Blossom has these adorable ones and I love how simple and chic they are. Perfect for any outfit. I plan on making a few of my own, so I love that you can buy the lace headband and attach bows/flowers to them. Perfect! 

I haven't made any decisions on a mobile yet, I'm waiting to choose bedding and such, but these mobiles from Lovely Friend are adorable! I love the colors and sweet themes they have.

I also LOVE these cute mobiles, they're so feminine and whimsical. They're from Butterfly Orbs and come in different sizes and are able to choose the colors (both brights and pastels). I think these would be perfect not only as a mobile, but in the corner of a reading nook or above a rocking chair/glider. 

Obviously, I'll need a necklace adorned with her name or initials- duh. I love these simple ones from Momentus New York, they'd be great to wear everyday and layer with other jewelry. They also have multiple layered ones, or charms side by side if you need multiple initials/names for children.

For your little ones, children, nieces/nephews, etc. where do you like to shop? 

Hot Man Parade

Bumpdate Week 21

A few cuties I picked up this weekend

How far along? 21 weeks  today (but these posts review the previous week, so below is about week 20)

Total weight gain: I don't have a scale and have an appointment with my Dr next week so I'll know my trust weight gain then. I'm assuming around 3-4 lbs though. 

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but my pants are starting to get the rubber band trick (where you loop the band through the hole and around the button) on some of them. I attended a wedding this weekend (in the midst of moving) and had to find a dress to wear. It is so hard to find a bump appropriate dress where it isn't too short in the front due to the bump or has an elastic waist that only works above the bump, thus making the dress too short. I had about 3 options from my current wardrobe.

Belly Button in or out?: I think it's going to pop out soon. It's getting pretty shallow over there.

Sleep: Pregnancy insomnia is kicking in. As I'm writing this, I have to get up at 415am for work and I'm wide awake. I should have gone to bed around 830 and I'm well past that bedtime. 

Best moment this week: Matt can feel baby girl move!! We try every night when we lay in bed without luck. We knew it would be any day and on Sunday baby was moving a lot and I had him put his hand there and he could feel her! It was one of the best moments so far.

Worst moment this week: At the wedding this weekend, I ordered my signature drink of a Shirley Temple with a lime wedge and when I tried it, it tasted funny. My first thought was it was alcohol, but then since it's a non-alcoholic drink on it's own I figured maybe there was too much grenadine or the lime was bad? I had two others try it and they both said it didn't taste like alcohol but I didn't want to drink it just to be safe. Matt then asked the bartender if there was alcohol in it and she said yes of course. Matt was shocked, he was like you just served my pregnant wife alcohol. She apologized and then informed us that we need to order it virgin. Um lady, it's a drink named after a child. If I wanted booze I would have ordered a Dirty Shirley. I was pretty upset, but everyone assured me that two sips wouldn't hurt my baby, only prayer helped me feel better. I complained to the manager about it too, and he said that he would talk to her since Shirley Temples are non-alcoholic drinks. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes ma'am.

Miss Anything? Nothing too much this week, we were really busy with the move.

Movement: Yes! It was amazing when Matt could feel her move, I wanted to cry I was so happy.


Food cravings: Fruit still and I've been in love with Special K with Strawberries these last two weeks.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Have you started to show yet: Totally. Some days more than others, but even on my "skinny" days I'm still showing. 

Gender: Girl, girl, girl!

Symptoms: I'm getting really tired at the end of the day. I still have a lot of energy during the day, but around 8pm I begin to poop out.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Putting together her room. We just need to clear out the boxes and get to ordering/buying the goods!

busy little bee

So, as of last Monday, my hubs and I found out we were moving this past Saturday (that's only 4 days notice!). We've been looking for a house for almost a year now and have been renting a room from my parents in the meantime. Now with our baby girl on the way, it was time for us to get out. I'm halfway through my pregnancy, and between now and when Babywatch 2013 starts, we only have one weekend free each month. The hubs and I talked and decided house hunting will have to be put on hold til post-baby and we need to find a place in the next month.

We looked last week at a few places to rent and found an awesome spot close to his parents, with a 6 month lease, with month-month afterwards that totally works with when we want our house hunting to resume. Luckily, with this past weekend being a long one, it was best for us to move out now. So we packed everything up and started settling in. Almost everything is done, but I use the word "almost" loosely.

The hubs and I have both lived on our own before, but kind of took the place of a leaving roommate so we don't have anything substantial of our own. You know, like furniture. LOL. I'm sitting on the floor of a bare living room. We do have a table and chairs so that's nice. Luckily, we got amazing wedding gifts and I feel like I should send out a 2nd thank you to everyone because we're finally getting use them! It felt like Christmas unloading all of them. I didn't realize I had so much cute stuff to pull our home together! Or how many things we're missing. I've been to Target 3 times in two days to get stuff!! I promise to take some home pics one we're more settled.

Want to know the best part? This is the first time we've EVER lived ALONE. We didn't live together before marriage and moved in with family right away. Being together alone is the bomb. Plus, we can decorate however we like, walk around in the nude, have a walk-in closet instead of a dorm sized one to share, and it's much quieter.

I'll probably be a bit quiet this week, I'm also super behind on catching up on everyone's blogs. But before I go, I have a few questions for you all.

1. Are you interested in what I'm looking to buy for baby stuff? I was thinking about doing an Etsy spotlight post about some adorable personalized items I've found.

2. I don't really want to use nails in this apartment since we'll hopefully be here less than a year, but I want to put something on these bare walls. Any nail alternatives out there that works well? Anyone tried these command strips before?

Thanks loves! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Hot Man Parade

I will probably be MIA this next week, my hubs and I are in the process of moving to a bigger place so I'll be preoccupied. Moving is the worst! Hope you all have a great weekend!