Currently... The Moving Edition

I always love reading other bloggers posts about what's currently going on in their lives, so I thought I'd do my own version here.

Currently...

Reading: I just finished up the 1st Game of Thrones book and Wild by Cheryl Strayed and I started the 2nd Game of Thrones book A Clash of Kings, mainly because it's one of the few books that isn't packed up. I was intending to read a shorter book before tackling this thousand-pager.

Watching: Chuggington! Badge Quest! And listening to Ez say "choo choo!" - pretty cute background noise, if you ask me. Other than that, the only regular show I'm currently watching is Bachelor. Judge me if you will.

Eating: McDonalds breakfast is the best! Egg McMuffin (no meat) and a hashbrown. The baby wanted it ;)

Drinking: McDonalds iced coffee. I still drink one cup of coffee today, and the McCafe drinks are so weak, I'm pretty sure it only counts as half a cup. They're tasty though!

Wearing: PJs! Other than that, my preggo uniform is basically leggings + long tanks from H&M + a comfy, baggy shirt. Owning a pair of black leggings for every day of the week is normal, right?

Thinking about: The move. We're picking up the keys this afternoon and then we'll start moving stuff I don't really trust the movers with (aka - anything breakable). The movers come tomorrow and then the real fun begins. 

Loving: That my parents are on their way down here this very moment and will be taking Ez to Disneyland today and tomorrow while we deal with the moving madness.

Looking forward to: Celebrating my baby bro's 21st birthday at Disneyland tomorrow! Happy birthday (uncle) Avery!

Wondering: Why it is my parents always manage to pick the three days a year it rains in So Cal to go to Disneyland. Are they bringing the rain with them??

Needing: a trip to the grocery store. Bad. We're down to about 6 eggs and a loaf of bread. No milk. No bananas. No yogurt. Basically no Ez staples whatsoever. Was hoping to make it through the move without buying more food, but that's looking pretty impossible at the moment.

Wishing: we could fast forward through the packing/unpacking of the next few days while somehow also pausing to enjoy the fun stuff, like Disneyland. Since that's impossible, I'll just wish for a smooth move with minimal broken things. And maybe a post-move massage or mani-pedi would also be nice! By the way, as a sidenote, that gel manicure I got three weeks ago is still going strong. No chips. Pretty amazing considering it usually only takes half a day for my nail polish to chip when I do it myself...

Grateful for: everything falling in place at the last minute in regards to selling our house and finding a new house that we love. Can't wait to get all settled in at the new place :)

It's the Little Things: a So Cal Winter

My little monkey. And Ez.  ;)

With a million things to pack and do before this weekend, it only made sense that I would sit down and look through pictures, reminiscing about the calm relaxing week we recently had, enjoying 80 degree weather in January. Any excuse to procrastinate, right??

I'm always pretty grateful for LA winters when I hear about snow in other parts of the country, but especially now with this crazy blizzard and all the pictures I'm seeing all over social media of people sledding down giant hills in their front yard - which are actually their cars covered in snow - do I feel really lucky to live here. I'm just not cut out for snow. It's slippery. And cold. Brrrr!

So instead of sledding, or cross country skiing to the grocery store, here's how we've been soaking up this sunshine: 

A little traipse through the jungle (aka - our backyard)

Climbing stairs always makes Ez giggle. Silly boy.

Same with going downstairs. This was after watching a baseball game at the park.

Obligatory park action shot.

Ez + a stick to dig/hit things with = all a little boy needs in life

drumming on a fallen tree trunk with his trusty stick

Hamming it up for mom and dad.

Peek a....

Boo!!

I hope all my East Coast friends and family are staying warm and cozy, and perhaps even enjoying all this snow. If not, you can always come visit us! ;)

Linking up with Jess for:

Boys Can Wear Hearts Too

wild thing raglan, tie shirt, hunk beanie, striped harem pants, shoes, xoxo bandana bib, plush, book

Ordinarily I love the fact that boy's clothes are low-fuss, no-frills, and made for getting dirty - since that's exactly what happens to them. But around the holidays I always get a little jealous that the girls have prominent displays of cute holiday outfits, and boys get maybe one or two boring, clearly obligatory options to choose from. That's where Google comes in handy ;) I did a little web scouring and found tons of cute boy Valentine's options - mostly from small shops and Etsy. I mean, how cute is this outfit? Now I just need to get my act together and actually order it in time for V-Day...

Are you embracing all the pink and red hearts this month? What special Valentine's traditions do you share with your little one? 

18 Weeks with Baby #2

I remember reading some comedian that said chocolate cravings during pregnancy aren't real, because who doesn't crave chocolate all the time? Normally I'd be inclined to agree. If you offer me See's when I'm not pregnant, I'd eat it in a heartbeat. But these last few days I seriously can't get chocolate out of my mind. I've already eaten a whole container of those smashing s'mores they sell at Trader Joe's. And if it's not chocolate that's consuming my thoughts, it's caramel corn. Also, I weirdly got a craving for blackberries, which I normally don't eat because I hate the seeds. So yeah, in case you couldn't tell from the beginning of this post, or from my instagram photos, we are squarely in the eat everything and lots of it phase of pregnancy. 

Melty cheesiness at it's finest.

As far as movement goes, just last night I felt some baby flutters as I was lying down to sleep. I'd felt a little movement here and there, but only if I was bent over or the baby felt squished in some way. 18 weeks is exactly when I started feeling Ez move, so it looks like this baby is right on track.

My symptoms are the same as always: super itchy skin. I love the second trimester - I'm post-nausea and pre-heartburn/feeling-so-big-I-can't-breathe. It's the best of both worlds :)

As far as the baby goes, I actually stopped slacking and looked up a few stats on Baby Center this week. Baby is the size of a bell pepper and is busy flexing his or her little arms and legs (which explains the flutters). Our next doctor's appointment is this Friday, but I have a feeling we won't find out the gender till closer to Valentine's Day when we visit the specialist.

In other news, it looks like we'll be moving again very shortly. We've decided this house just wasn't right for us for financial and other reasons, and have already found a new place. That means I'll be moving while pregnant again, yay! It should be much easier this time than when I was 7/8 months pregnant with Ez, and basically useless as far as lifting anything went. Also, not only did we move late pregnancy with Ez, but I had a ton of new furniture that had to be assembled for him, so I remember the last month and half of pregnancy as being really stressful and cluttered and chaotic. This time around baby #2 gets to share lots of already assembled furniture, so I'm anticipating a much more relaxed nesting phase. We'll see if that changes in another few months though. You never can tell with hormones.

And here's a snap of my cute little photo bomber:

A Day in our Life: Toddlerville

The last time I did a Day in our Life post, Ez was 1 month old! Obviously a lot has changed in the last 19 months, and a lot will change this summer when we add a newborn to the mix, so I wanted to capture what an ordinary day with an energetic, hilarious, opinionated, and slightly moody 20 month old looks like.

7:20 - Ez and I wake up. His newest thing is that he insists we hold hands as we walk down the hall. He used to go bounding off before me, running and giggling into the living room, so this is kinda strange but also very cute at the same time. I make Ez some toaster waffles and sit down to blog and drink my lemon water while he eats.

8:00 - I make myself breakfast and Ez whines as soon as I sit down to eat because he wants me to do puzzles with him. Needing my attention as soon as I try to eat is quickly becoming a daily tradition with this one.

8:30 - I get us both ready for the day (although my version of getting Ez ready is to change his diaper and leave him in his pjs).

9:00 - We're out the door. 1st stop is to pick up a package that my mom inexplicably had delivered to my old work. You're welcome, Mom ;)

9:30 - Ez screams bloody murder when it's time to get back in his car seat because he thought we were going to Gymboree. I tell him that's our next stop, but he doesn't seem impressed.

9:40 - Only 10 minutes late for Gymboree, woohoo! The class is crowded and Ez doesn't even bother trying to follow the "Stop & Go" instructions for the day. He's more interested in climbing things, and playing basketball. As long as he's worn out by naptime, I'm happy.

10:20 - We walk to Trader Joe's where Ez wolfs down a banana and larabar while I shop.

11:00 - Home just in time to watch the garbage truck pick up our trash! Highlight of Ez's day, by far.

11:15 - I put away the groceries and pack up some snacks for a walk.

11:30 - Ez and I walk the long way to the park so I can get some steps in and he can see the "big trucks".

12:15 - I manage to read about 3 pages of Game of Thrones at the park while Ez plays and snacks on blueberries. We make a pit stop at the skate park where Ez watches the skaters before we head home.

1:00 - We're back home and Ez gets a glass of milk before going down for a nap.

1:25 - I fix myself lunch and eat while answering emails and reading blogs.

2:25 - tabloids and treadmill time! Call it a guilty pleasure/incentive/reward or what you will, but I love my Us Weekly, and I only let myself read it on the treadmill, so Thursdays are my fave day to workout. I'm exactly 40 minutes in when I hear Ez. Perfect timing.

3:05 - Ez has been super clingy lately and requires a solid 5 minutes of cuddles before he'll even think about food or water. No complaints here. I fix Ez some food and simultaneously read while pushing a car back and forth with Ez. Mama multi-tasking at its finest.

4:20 - green smoothie time! Ez cries hysterically the entire time I'm putting ingredients in the blender because he knows it's about to get loud, but he's all smiles when I hand him his smoothie. Then it's serious business as he gulps that thing down like he's being timed. This.boy.

4:30 - I start prepping dinner cause Joe just texted that he'll be home early. I also empty the dishwasher and do a few other kitchen chores.

5:20 - Joe gets home and I start cooking dinner. 

6:00 - We eat while Ez mainly stacks and plays with his food. I think Ez ate one piece of tofu and a few tomatoes. I'm just happy when he actually samples what we're eating, even if he does make a completely disgusted face the entire time he's chewing.

6:45 - Bath time! As soon as I mention bath Ez hops off my lap yelling "BAaaa!"

7:00 - Lotion, pjs, and cute photo ops, of course ;)

7:15 - my favorite time of day: cuddles on the couch watching game shows or basketball and playing whatever the toy of the hour happens to be (usually cars, but this day it was a hammer whack-a-mole type toy my sisters got Ez for Christmas). This is also when I get some reading done. Normally Joe would just be getting home,  and we'd be eating dinner (Ez eats earlier most nights), but since he had a late afternoon doctor appointment we get extra family time tonight. Ez loves when both of us are home and usually goes back and forth between playing with us, climbing on the couch to snuggle and watch TV (he loves Family Feud), and running off to play by himself. He's usually at his silliest at this time of day, coming up with new ways to makes us laugh - like pretending a bowl is a telephone or creating a new dance.

8:30 - We all start getting ready for bed, Ez gets another glass of milk, and we're all in bed by 9:15. 

And that's our day to day life! Things I probably could've/should've done: straighten up the house before bed (I try to make it a daily habit - it happens about half the time), finally fold the clothes that have been sitting in the dryer for two days, shower. I am so close to finishing Game of Thrones, it is consuming my life. Down to the last 20 pages, and then things like showering will take priority again ;)

4 Easy Daily Health Habits

In theory I wasn't going to set any specific resolutions this year, other than to be mindful of how I spend my time. Then I came across Healthy Habits for the New Year, written by Food Babe, and decided #1, 3, and 4 seemed easy enough for me to actually stick to. And so far I've done all 4 of these habits (almost) every day since the new year. I know we're not that far into the year, but considering my track record with resolutions, that's a pretty big deal for me. 

#1 - Drink Warm Lemon Cayenne Water Every Morning

Seems like a lot of benefits for very little effort, doesn't it? These benefits are all listed in Food Babe's post, and I'm trusting her on this, because aside from Pinterest I haven't done a ton of research on the subject. As soon as I wake up in the morning I make myself a warm mug of water, squeeze in half a lemon, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Food babe didn't give measurements, so I just eyeball the pepper until there's a thin film on top of the water. Then I stir it all together, drink it up while I'm making Ez his breakfast, and wait 30 minutes before I eat anything. Simple! And it doesn't taste as awful as I thought it would. It also clears my sinuses, so maybe that should be listed as a benefit as well.

#2 - Fast at Least 12 Hours Every Day

Twelve hours sounds like a long time, but this one is actually pretty easy since you're already fasting for at least 8 hours while you're sleeping anyway. Being pregnant, I thought this one would be the hardest for me, but it's really no big deal at all. We usually finish eating dinner by 8 pm, I wake up around 7/7:30 when Ez does, drink my lemon cayenne water, wait 30 minutes, and it's already been 12 hours.

According to Food Babe, it takes at least 8 hours to fully digest a day's worth of food, and then only after all the food is digested does your body start getting rid of dead cells and regenerating news cells. As an added bonus you start burning stored up fat - which happens only after your body has used up all of it's stored glucose. Two pretty big benefits right there.

#3 - Drink a Green Drink Every Day

This habit is really just about getting an extra serving of veggies into your day. I'm not a juicer. Fresh pressed juice is expensive, and I don't want to buy a juicer because I hear it takes a ton of fruit/veggies to make a single glass of juice, and then you have all the leftover bits of the veggies to clean up. Smoothies, on the other hand, are delicious and relatively cheap to make at home. Plus, Ez loves them so much, so he and I are both benefiting from this habit. 

Here's our current fave smoothie recipe, which I'll call a Cold-Busting Tropical Smoothie:

- 2-3 large handfuls of spinach

- 1 banana

- 3-4 fresh pineapple spears

- 2 large spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt

- 1 tbsp of flaxseed

- enough Trop50 orange juice to blend it all up at your desired consistency

(can you tell I'm not big on measurements??)

This makes about two servings, and Ez usually gulps his down without pausing to breathe.

#4 - Walk 3 Miles Everyday

This isn't one of Food Babe's goals, but I think it's important to get some activity everyday, especially since I'm pregnant. The official goal for weight loss/maintenance is to walk 5 miles everyday, and I do often walk that far, but 3 is my easy minimum that I shoot for daily. A few times a week Ez and I will walk about 2.5 miles around our neighborhood, and most days I walk anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour on the treadmill while Ez is napping. I definitely have to make this a priority in order for it to get done, but now that it's become a habit it's really easy. I don't have a fancy pedometer or anything, I just use Map My Walk to keep track of outdoor walks. Ez needs to get outside and run around the park anyway, so it's not a big deal for me to walk him there instead of driving. 

So those are the 4 healthy goals I've actually stuck with since the New Year. An extra goal that I've been trying to remember to do (and slipping up a lot) is to drink my 8 glasses of water each day. I have the big, reusable water glasses that I fill up each day, but somehow I still often only get to 6 or 7. I'll keep working on that one!

Any easy health resolutions you've added to your routine this year?

Our Weekend: LA, Disney, and LOTS of Food!

Considering we didn't even realize it was a long weekend until Thursday, I think we did a pretty good job of packing in a lot of fun stuff. We kicked off the weekend on Friday (when Joe works from home) with breakfast with friends. Once again Joe got a little taste of being outnumbered by kids, and once again he did an amazing job at keeping all the kids happy and entertained. He'll be a pro by the time baby #2 gets here.

Saturday

Saturday we decided it was time for our bi-annual trip to Stan's Donuts, in LA. We saw them on the food network when I was pregnant with Ez, and of course we had to try them out. That's also where Ez had his first donut. (See here and here.) They do not disappoint, and this time Stan even personally came out to our table to bring us several more filled donut holes - because clearly we didn't have enough donuts already:

Since Stan's Donuts is right down the street from UCLA we decided to walk around the campus for a bit. We visited the same fountain that Ez loved splashing around in last time. It wasn't quite as warm, but we still let him dip his feet in. He also kicked his soccer ball around on the grass and we browsed the bookstore too. 

After all that Ez still wasn't in a napping mood, so we headed over to Joe's work, which also happened to be the scene of a pool party on the first episode of the Bachelor. Not sure if any of you are watching that show, but can they please bring Jimmy Kimmel back for every episode?? He makes the otherwise dull, generic conversations on the dates so much better! I was pro-Chris during Andi's season, but he's just coming across so boring this season. Anyway, here's the pool:

And here's Joe's view from the office:

Ez loved the bird's eye view of the freeways below.

This statue sure does make me want to run out and get an office job...

because Ez hadn't had enough sugar for the day ;)

Can you tell he's got a sweet tooth??

Sunday

On Sunday we decided to put our brand new Disney Annual Passports to use! Unfortunately they were doing the Star Wars marathon that day, so traffic was crazy. Then, once we finally got to the gates and were about to walk into the park, the attendant informs us that our passes expired last month. Exactly one week after we bought them. Huh?? We had to stand there for what felt like forever while they sorted it out. Definitely feels like Disney dropped the ball on their normally efficient ways lately. It took us 90 minutes last month to actually buy our passes, and then they only made them valid for a week? Not to mention they charged us for our expired passes this month... Needless to say we were a little annoyed by the time we finally made it into the park, but it's impossible to stay annoyed in Disneyland for long. Especially when the weather is perfect and cinnamon rolls are on the agenda!

Considering how often I go to Disneyland, it's surprising to me that there are still so many things I've never done. This trip we took a ride on the pirate ship, which Ez loved so much he cried when we had to get off. I'd also never been on the storybook boats or Flik's Flyers before. I think Ez got a teensy bit bored on the storybook boats, possibly because we had to wait for half an hour, which is a long time at that age, but he loved Flik's Flyers. He even loved watching them from the line, and then once we got on them and they started flying I think he was a little scared at first, but he got into it and was smiling by the end.

While we were over at Disney California we also got to meet Mickey! It was the shortest line I've ever waited in to meet a character. Ez was actually really excited to see Mickey...until we got to the front of the line and got/had to stand next to him. Then the picture couldn't be over fast enough. Now we're just missing Donald, and Daisy as far as the classic characters go. We also saw the genie, Aladdin, and Jasmine when we first got into the park, but then we had to wait forever for our passes to get sorted out so we didn't get a picture :(

Ez's standard get-me-outta-here pose

If you're keeping track, I basically ate some form of fried dough every meal this weekend.

Funny story bout that giant piece of toffee (bottom right): Joe was alone in line for the candy while I was next door getting us Starbucks, and apparently when he got to the front of the line the lady helping him yelled out, "Yay! I get to help the cute one!" Then she proceeded to tell him that he reminded her of a Puerto Rican lover she had when she was younger (she was about 70), and started speaking Spanish to Joe. To top it all off she said something along the lines of "the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice." We've been cracking up over that ever since.