Introducting ModCloth's Style Gallery

ModCloth has one of the coolest new contests going on the web right now! From 3/11 through 7 AM PST on 3/18, ModCloth is inviting community members to check out their brand new Style Gallery, upload a photo, love images and share the looks that inspire them throughout the week of 3/11-3/18. The image that gains the highest community-generated loves will win the top prize of a $100 ModCloth gift card! The other exciting part, you ask? Two random lovers of that winning image will also each score a $50 gift card! Head over to ModCloth right now to participate in the Style Gallery or maybe just check out all of the great fashions available!
Extra Style Gallery Details

How will winners be selected, you ask?
The owner of the image with the most ‘loves’ between 7 a.m. PT 3/11 and 7 a.m. PT 3/18 will win a $100 ModCloth gift card.

When will winners be announced?
ModCloth will contact the winners via email by 3/22 and announce the winners on the blog at 7 a.m. PT 3/27.

oh baby, it's ANOTHER baby! (month 1 & 2)

so as i'm sure most of my readers know since i know you in real life or via other social media- we are expecting again!!!  i found out on november 7th that i am pregnant!!!  funny story...  i had a visit that day with the dr. i was seeing for my dieting stuff- and i was a little tired of my dieting- so i thought, "what if i was pregnant, then i wouldn't have to be on this crazy diet" and i decided to take a test...  sure enough.  2 of the faintest pink lines you've ever seen- i wasn't even sure i was really pregnant b\c 1. they were so faint and 2.  it was waaay early- i mean, i wasn't even 4 weeks- that's how early.  needless to say i feel like i have been pregnant for an eternity.  the next night i went to hang with some friends and they knew something was up when i passed on the spirits... so they made me take another test- and that one pretty much shouted at me that i was pregnant.  i took a 3rd test 5 days after i missed my period- via my drs orders and that was pretty much all the confirmation i needed...

i think these are tests 1 & 2.

so, just for the sake of not having to make 15 posts since i am already so far along - i'll start with monthly updates until i can get caught up!

month 1 (weeks 1-4).

no photos.  and really nothing to update- all i knew is that i was pregnant... i was just waiting for the crap to hit the fan!

month 2 (weeks 5-8)

how far along- 5-8 wks (november 14th-december 11th)

due date- my phone's pregnancy app says july 17th

weight gain- not really sure.  my scale is never accurate so it's hard to tell.  maybe 2 lbs?

maternity clothes- not yet!

symptoms- my boobs hurt.  i'm exhausted during the day and can't sleep at night.  very nauseous, no vomiting.

have we announced- only a few friends know.  we want to wait and tell our families for christmas.

cravings- nothing yet

aversions- nothing yet

am i showing-  i feel like i am, but the average person probably wouldn't notice.

missing anything-  would be nice to have a drink

 week 5 (l) and week 6 (r).  dresses:  loft and modcloth

 week 7 (l) and week 8 (r).  dress and sweater:  modcloth

more to come!

more highlights from the last, oh, 6 months

let's pretend i'm blogging again.  really though, i'm trying.  i'd like to makeover the blog- design, name, etc... but i have no idea how to go about something like that- so advice is welcome.  i'm pretty sure i have a name... i just don't know how to go about the rest.

my child is growing up.  i'm going to start crying in the corner any minute now.  let's rewind back a little and see how this process started- i mean, besides the obvious. 

late summer we decided that it was time to say goodbye to the crib.  it had a good run- and while it was still working successfully (ie: there were never any escape attempts) we were ready to move ian into his big boy bed.  dave found this incredible bed online- and i was sure that we could at least attempt to recreate it. 

 painting the bed.  we picked this bed up off of freecycle!  what a deal.

 

 i let dave do the difficult stuff...

 more painting...

 hold me...

 the finished project!  i think we did pretty well... although the back part fell off.  :(

enjoying his new bed!

we've been pretty darn lucky with the bed- we've yet to have any real issues- he's rolled off the side once- but we kept the crib mattress on the floor for several months, and he's only rolled into the other side a few times, so my friend made a body pillow to fit between the bed and the wall.  other than that, sleeping in there has been a breeze.  i'm glad we waited for the right time- i think he was ready!  he loves his hockey bed!!

there was a lot that went on after that- dave's best friend got married, i hosted 40 people at our house for a house party, we traveled to atlanta and i stood in the wedding of a very good friend, we celebrated one year in our house... and finally.. halloween.  

we continued our annual tradition of going to the pumpkin farm!

and we carved a pumpkin!

 

then we dressed up for halloween and some of us looked ridiculous...

 ian wanted to be woody for halloween and pretty much never changed his mind once he had decided.  i thought he was pretty cute!

 woody and his best buddy, hello kitty!

 (i told you some of us looked ridiculous- it was me)...

and with all that nonsense, i'm basically almost all caught up!  so i promise i won't wait another month before posting again!  we got big news coming!!  ;)

Serious Case of Cabin Fever

it's been so cold here lately- i have tried to avoid leaving the house if at all possible.  this morning when i woke up, it was a frosty -4... i didn't even bother checking the windchill..  so today i had to leave the house for work, and it was so cold my poor ancient car wouldn't even start.  it's always an adventure...

unfortunately (or fortunately), i like to shop when i'm bored- and my favorite sale of the season is modcloth's cabin fever sale!  70% off selected items- and they usually have about 2000 things to choose from- and they go fast.  i hit the sale up yesterday moments after it went live and snagged a few dresses and sweaters off my wishlist- including a tracey reese top that had been $148!!  all told i got about $700 worth of stuff for $100- and really i didn't even spend that because I used Christmas money.  Wahoo.

so if you love cute clothes and crazy deals- check out modcloth's cabin fever sale- the sale is going until everything is gone!  you can use the link above to get directly to mc's site, or if you want $15 off your purchase of $50 or more and you're a 1st time customer, you can use click the box on the sidebar that says to get $10 off your first order (it's really $15!!).

happy shopping!!

this year's races

after doing a couple of triathlons and a 5k last year, dave & i wanted to keep up the good work.  we enjoyed the races we did last year, and decided to stick with those... unfortunately, we missed the cut for the first race... BUT we did make it in on the very last day of the 2nd race... which is better than nothing at all... 

overall, i did decently.  my bike time and my run time were better than the previous year, while my swim time was worse- funny b\c swimming was the only thing i was doing consistently since we rarely get to bike and i hate running.  i think the issue with swimming is that last year i was in the very front of the slow pool (maybe 6 swimmers in) and this time i was about 20 swimmers in- when you get all those people swimming at once, it is VERY hard to stay swimming consistently b\c you are being tossed around like a rag doll.  i got a little worried that dave was going to catch me towards the end- i had already seen him while biking and while running- i kicked my run into high gear- and made it to the finish line- but didn't even make it back to my station to get the camera before he was crossing the finish line.  i think he did way better this year....

i also did a 5k this fall- without dave.  some ladies from my mom group all decided we would do the hot chocolate 5k in grant park downtown.  it was quite a debacle for me to get signed up, but i did, and i was pretty worried about the race b\c i hate the cold... a lot.  the day of i layered up in running tights, socks, a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a jacket, a running hat, and just about anything else i could get my hands on in my house.... boy, i'm glad i did.  if you're running this race in atlanta in a few days- take notes... we got downtown very easily and parked in one of the many lots available.   i drove with my friend rachel, who was in corral e to my corral q.  i knew it was going to take a while for me to start, so once she went to her spot- i knew i was going to sit and freeze for a while.  they had a guy with a megaphone announcing corrals as they left, so i knew how long it would be until i was racing, etc.  i stood there for for-ev-er.  about 20 minutes before my race even STARTED, rachel sent me a text to let me know she was FINISHED... boy, she was going to have to wait for a long time...  while i had done everything i could think of to stay warm, by the time it was my time to start- i was FREEZING... and the only way i knew to combat that was to run- and to keep running- without stopping- which i don't do b\c i hate running.  the good thing about that is that i finished with my best 5k time ever- which wasn't even very good.  and b\c i ran with a freezing cold body, i couldn't walk for the next week or 2.  lovely. 

so that's my triathlon/5k fun for 2012... we'll see what next year holds.  if you want to see pictures from any of our races, you can look here (it includes last year's races too)! 

staying fit!

it's 2 days in a row here... could i be back in blogging?! yesterday i talked a bit about diet- but i wanted to hit a little on something i think is even more important than dieting- exercise. when i was pregnant, and even before... and sadly for a year or more after- i wasn't very active. dave & i would go on walks from time to time, but nothing major. when dave suggested we do a triathlon to celebrate our 30th birthdays, i thought he was crazy- but then i started working out, and you know what? it wasn't hard- it was actually kind of... fun. now working out isn't always an adventure, but it certainly feels good most of the time, and even better- it makes it a little more satisfying when you want to indulge every now and then. i've posted before on keeping your children active- but what better example can you set for them than the example of you yourself being active. i want ian to see that i tried, and that i worked hard. i love when we pick him up from the gym nursery and he says "momma's 'esser-sizin!'" i love being that example for him! i wanted to share this infographic because i think physical activity is so important, not only for children, but adults as well... just see what only a few minutes extra a day can do for you!!  lack of proper nutrition and activity is a serious deal for people everywhere- it's really scary stuff.  so please, take a look!

Infographic courtesy of here!

still strugglin' aka. worst diet ever.

i'm talkin' about mah fitness this week because that's pretty much all i thought about in august... and that's where i've skipped ahead to in my catch-ups...

if you have been reading my blog for a while, you might know that i ate myself to a 45 lb pregnancy weight gain.  not fun.  and, if you've been reading my blog for a little bit of time, you might know that i. can't. lose. that. weight.  ian is almost 3, and I still have 5-10 lbs of that weight depending on what day it is (and how much i pretended to weigh pre-baby).  here is me losing weight- i gain 5 lbs, i lose 5 lbs.  i never weight more than 143... i never weigh less than 137 (there, i said it).  frustrating.  i had been kicking ass in the gym, watching my calories consistently, and still... nothing.  i tried several different calorie intakes- 1200, 1600, 2000 (all recommended by the computer or people) and still... nothing. 

finally, i decided to have my blood work done.  maybe something crazy was going on there- i have been praying for a long time that i have a thyroid condition (not b\c i want one, b\c i want answers).  it showed up normal on the test too- and even a follow-up from my dr. with the 2nd thyroid test showed up ok as well.  boo. 

so i decided to go see a naturopath.  she is a friend of dave's parents, and they had been seeing her for a while, and i thought maybe it would work for me.  we went over my blood work, lifestyle, etc to see what i needed- and that was a whole bunch of vitamins.  low iron, low this, low that.  it's a wonder i was still alive... ;)  plus, i couldn't lose weight.  yikes.  so i got my recommendations and here is what it looked like...

welcome to vitamin world.  in  my kitchen.  5 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon.  plus my other recommendations:

breakfast- protein shake w\ water, enough orange juice to take vitamins.
lunch-  protein shake w\ water, afternoon vitamins, celery with peanut butter
dinner- meat (preferably red for the iron), veggies.

i was allowed to have 1 piece of dark chocolate a day and beef or turkey jerky as a snack.  no pasta, no rice, no beans, no fruit, no dairy.  i also needed to drink half my weight in water per day.

for 4-6 weeks.  yikes!

i actually stuck to this for the first 4 weeks easily.  my weight still went up and down, but it did get lower than before- and i even lost a couple of inches.  around the 5th or 6th week, we modified my diet to complete my triathlon... and once i got real food back into my system- it was all over.  I actually somewhat stuck to it for the next 2-3 weeks, but still not as good as I was doing before.  Just like usual though- I wasn't losing, but i wasn't gaining. 

plus, when you eat so much of the same thing over and over- you get a little sick of it... i can't even look at red meat these days... or protein shakes for that matter- just the smell makes me gag!  ugh!

so now it's been 3 months and i'm in the same exact spot.  looks like i'm doomed to carry an extra 10 lbs for the time being.  for now i'm going to just go back to my regular healthy eating patterns and working out...

have you ever tried an unusual diet, or had a recommended diet?  did it work?