Saturday Staycation

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Saturday morning started out bright and early with our Natural Baby Care Class taught by our doula Sarah.  In this class we discussed a variety of topics including attachment theory parenting, breastfeeding basics (we’ll learn more about this in our breastfeeding class in a few weeks), newborn hygiene, baby cues, newborn sleep, cloth diapering, car seat safety and babywearing.  We learned so much and I can’t wait to share this on our new family blog Naturally Family launching in 2 weeks.

It was such a beautiful day that we decided to head downtown to the Burlington Farmer’s Market after our Natural Baby Care Class We walked around and decided to share a raspberry lime popsicle at the Adam’s Berry Farm stand while we decided what we wanted for lunch.  We checked out a few food stands but in the end left disappointed that our favorite Tibetan stand was all out of the veggie options, that’s what we get for arriving too late in the day!

We ended up heading over to the new Himalayan restaurant to give it a try and because it had similar options to our favorite Tibetan stand.  We ordered off the lunch menu which came with a drink, an appetizer and an entree.  I ordered a housemade lemonade, pakora and chana masala, Neil decided to go with the spiced ice tea, dal and vegetable momos.   The lemonade was good, not too sweet and not too tart but the real star was Neil’s spiced iced tea, it was amazing.  Once our food came we decided to share everything and both the dal and the parkoras were really tasty.  We waited awhile for our entrees to finally come out but when they did we really enjoyed both the momos and the chana.  Overall we enjoyed the food although it took a bit longer than we would have liked for us to get our food (we were there over an hour, most of it waiting) and we both would have liked a little more spice (but we just love spicier food).

After lunch we decided to really take advantage of the beautiful weather and spent a few hours wandering around downtown enjoying the day.  It had been weeks since we really had a Saturday to spend together and so we decided to treat our Saturday afternoon/evening like a mini-staycation.  We did a little window shopping and then decided to pop into El Cortijo for an afternoon snack since we our lunch was fairly light and we had plans for a late dinner with friends.

At El Cortijo we enjoyed a ginger beer and a basket of chips, salsa and guacamole- a perfect hot afternoon snack.

After our snack we headed home for an afternoon nap and then we were off to dinner with friends.  I decided not to take any photos but there was good food, good conversation and lots of laughs.

How did you spend your Saturday?

 

 

{Pregnancy Update} 32 Weeks

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How far along are you: 32 Weeks

How big is the baby: By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You’re gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she’ll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth. (source)

Baby’s Gender: We both think it’s a boy err or a girl err boy?

Baby’s Name: We have a name for a boy or a girl

Weight Gained: 21.5 lbs

Clothes: They are getting shorter and snugger. Thank goodness for maxi dresses!

How are you feeling: As I type this I am exhausted but otherwise feeling well.

What do you miss: I still miss running and I miss my pre-pregnancy clothes and being able to lounge around on my back.

Symptoms: Heart burn. Frequent urination.

Cravings: Beans. Veggies. Water. Tempeh Sandwiches.

How are you sleeping:  It changes daily- some days I sleep really well and others just awful.

Workouts: This week I have done walks, yoga and Summer Sanders Pre-natal Workout.

Things I’m looking forward to: Meeting our baby! Finishing the nursery.  Shopping for baby post-baby shower.

In other news:

We bought a glider!

Our family blog is launching in 3 weeks! Until then follow us on twitter and like us on facebook.

Recipe of The Week: Arugula Pesto Chickpea Spread

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This past weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day at Shelburne Museum. Since the food choices are limited at the cafe there I made us a picnic lunch which included delicious veggie sandwiches with arugula pesto chickpea spread. I love how it turned out so I am sharing it with you!

  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup raw walnuts
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 cups lightly packed baby arugula
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 heaping tablespoons vegenaise (or you could use more olive oil if you would like)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Place the garlic, walnut and nutritional yeast in the base of a food processor and process until crumbly, about 20-30 seconds.  Add the arugula and process for 30 seconds and then slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until smooth. Add the chickpeas, vegenaise, salt and pepper to the processor and process just until combined.  If you would like it smoother feel free to process longer, I preferred to make mine a little chunky. 

Serve: spread onto your favorite veggie sandwich (I made ours with roasted mushrooms, zucchini, fresh arugula and slices of tomato), stuff this spread into tomatoes <– amazing, enjoy with veggies, on top of a salad or in a wrap.

Weekend Wrap Up: Weekends Are Exhausting!

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Neil and I decided to start our weekend off with breakfast out on Friday morning at Penny Cluse Cafe, there is just something that we both love about week day breakfast dates. I was thirsty so I downed a variety of beverages while I waited for our meals to arrive (tofu scramble and toast-yum!)

Friday night was a pretty low key- we enjoyed dinner, a nice 2 mile walk and then settled on the couch to with popsicles. We also did a little light cleaning since we had our second birthing class Saturday morning.

Saturday started out with bagels, coffee and birthing class. After our four hour birthing class Neil and I decided to get out of the house and have a late lunch at Magnolia Bistro and then we took a short stroll through the farmers market before I headed off to a work concert (for work not play). After I finished working the afternoon concert Neil picked me up and presented me with a beautiful bouquet of local flower.

We then headed home where I proceeded to relax on the couch and get some work done and Neil went on a nice long bike ride with a friend. After his ride we enjoyed a quick dinner before heading out the door to work concert #2 (this time I dragged Neil along with me). It was crazy busy downtown on Saturday night so we had to park a bit of away from the concert site which allowed us to get a nice walk in to and from our car. After the evening concert we decided to enjoy the nice weather and go out for a cone of sorbet before heading home.

Sunday: Happy Mother’s (Be-lated) Day to all you mom’s, mom’s-to-be and fur mama’s! Neil headed out Sunday morning for a 9 mile training run and I worked on making a picnic lunch for us and my parents.  Once he arrived home we both rushed to get ready and headed out the door to Shelburne Museum for Mother’s Day.  We met up with my parents and spent the day touring around the museum.

 

We enjoyed a picnic lunch:

 

After lunch we completed our tour and then we said our good-byes and headed home.

After too busy days and lots of walking both Neil and I were exhausted so we made some dinner, put our feet up and relaxed with the cat for the remainder of the evening.

Fitness Friday: Summer Sanders’ Prenatal Workout

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Happy Friday Everyone! What are you doing to stay fit this week? I went to prenatal yoga and have been out for a few walks.  Today I am planning on doing my first third trimester workout from Summer Sanders’ Prenatal Workout DVD.

I am finally getting around to write the review of the second trimester workouts from Summer Sanders’ Prenatal Workout DVD, I unfortunately didn’t start using her workout DVD until I was already in my second trimester so I am not going to do a first trimester workout review (since I didn’t do any).

I purchased this DVD along with two other prenatal dvd’s when I was around 10 weeks pregnant.  I knew that since we had canceled our gym membership, got rid of our faulty elliptical and my running had become non-existent that I was going to need  some workout videos to help me stay active during my pregnancy. Out of the three videos this has been my favorite and the most used, although since the weather has been nicer out I have been using it less and trying to get outside for walks with my husband more but I am still loving the workouts.

Summer Sanders, an Olympic gold medalist, and her personal trainer, Keri Crockett (also her sister-in-law) lead you through the workouts. I love the Summer is actually pregnant in the videos, it gives me more motivation to keep pushing through the workout because if she can do it so can I! The DVD features both a full length and express workout and to be honest I have only done the full length workout once, I usually do the express workout which is about 35 minutes in length.  I find that it is the perfect amount of time for me and I usually end up going for a walk with the husband as well so I get two workouts in.

The workouts feature a lot of strength training and toning for the whole body including a nice balance of legs, arms and pregnancy friendly ab workouts. I always finish my workouts feeling energized and so glad I did it.  Summer and Keri really are great to watch and listen to as well, they are informative, motivating and entertaining.

I will say that the one downfall of this video is that it is mostly a strength workout, there is very little cardio.  Since I don’t do any other strength specific workouts and I find time to get light cardio in on other days it has been fine for me but I know that for others that has been one con regarding the workouts.  I loved  the second trimester workouts and I am looking forward to trying out the third trimester workouts and seeing how they different from the second trimester.

Have you done this workout DVD? What do you think? What are your favorite workouts (prenatal or not)?