“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite posts from today. I’m still learning and growing every day. Thankful for the voices across the country that speak up to make this country an amazing, wonderful, diverse place to live.
7 women who influenced Martin Luther King Jr.
Karamo Brown’s IG post from today. It’s a video. Go check it out.
Donate here to the #BreatheWithMe Revolution
Happy Saturday! Checking in today to tell y’all about another hiking adventure I had last weekend.
If you’re close to western Kentucky I highly recommended checking out Jefferys Cliffs Conservation and Recreation Area. It’s 230 acres of sandstone plateau formation with cliffs, rock shelters and forest. And fall in Kentucky right now?! GORGEOUS. My pictures don’t even capture all the beauty there is to see.
It felt so good to get out of the house and get some exercise and fresh air. While I have a long way to go before I’m back in great hiking/running shape, this was a great motivator to build up my endurance again! I can’t wait until EJ is a little older and we can bring her along to hike with us!
Have you found any new hiking spots near you? Let me know in the comments below your favorite local/off-the-beaten-path trails.
Let me start off this post with the most important (at least to me!) news — I RAN HALF A MILE.
While I don’t officially get cleared to workout until next week, I couldn’t help but hop on the treadmill to see work up a quick sweat. It was a sloooow half mile (13:57 pace I think?) but I am so dang proud!
I cannot wait to get back to running and to share with you all everything I learn about postpartum fitness/running along the way.
Well since it’s been forever and a day since I’ve done one of these, so lets get started!
1. Emery Jane turned one month on Monday! I can’t believe our baby has been here for more than a month. Parenthood has been a wild adventure and I can’t wait to see grow and learn.
2. Can I still sing the praises of the Oiselle rogas?! I loved them before I got pregnant, wore them all 40 weeks of pregnancy (including to the hospital to be induced — see the picture of my brother and I before I left for the hospital below!) and now I’m wearing them postpartum (and all the same size).
3. Chick-fil-A’s mocha cold brew. UHM YES PLEASE. Give me all the caffeine.
4. Among Us. My husband always plays games on his phone but I’m not one to usually join in. Well he convinced be to download Among Us and now I’m hooked we play against each and my brother (and lots of strangers) and it’s addicting. I love it!
5. Tried a new-to-me restaurant on Wednesday — Chicken Salas Chick. 10/10 I had the Sassy Scotty (chicken salad with ranch, bacon and cheese) and the spicy pimento cheese. SO GOOD. I can’t wait to go back and try all their other flavors.
6. Ryan and Rose pacifiers and cutie clips. I was gifted a set at my baby shower and EJ loves them. & I love all the cute styles and colors.
7. Harry Potter Clue. Ryan and I love to play board games with family and friends so he recently snagged Harry Potter Clue. It’s so much more than the regular Clue and the Harry Potter theme is a plus.
8. I let Murphy out to play in the backyard and the next thing I know he is sunbathing on the patio furniture. 
What are some of your favorite things from the week?
Hi friends! Coming at you through the fog of new parenthood. We’re 3.5 weeks into life with our sweet Emery Jane and while she is super cute – I think she has her days and nights mixed up – so I am exhausted from basically never sleeping.
While we are slowly getting into a routine and learning what works best for baby and for our little family, one thing I am excited about adding to the mix is being able to run/workout again!
While I’m trying to wait until I’m cleared at my six week postpartum appointment to do anything too crazy, I’ve been slowly adding in some uphill walks on the treadmill and light upper body strength training into my days whenever I have time (ha! which is usually never but I’m working on it)
So much of my identity before becoming a mom was tied to being a runner and I don’t want to lose that now that I’ve added motherhood to the mix. I’m excited to see how I can balance everything in the future and I can’t wait until EJ gets old enough where she can join me on stroller runs!
Did you wait until your six week appointment to start running or did you get back to it earlier?
Emery Jane was born August 28 at 2:26 a.m. 7lbs 10oz and 21 inches.
We are so in love with this little girl!
Last week a friend of mine graciously gifted us a free maternity photo session. We got the gallery back over the weekend and I love them all! Below are some of my favorites.
I was a little on the fence about getting pictures but I knew I would regret it if I went through this entire pregnancy and didn’t have any photos to show from it. I didn’t take the weekly bumpdate pictures, so I knew this would be a great way to get some nice photos of our little family before we add a new member!
My face and feet are a little swollen from this Kentucky heat (and ya know, being 8 months pregnant) but I am trying to focus on the crazy awesome things my body is currently doing and not on the extra pounds I’m carrying.
I had my 33 week appointment today and things are getting real FAST. I have one more appointment in July and then I see my doctor every week in August. We picked a pediatrician today and we have the car seat and stroller out of their boxes and assembled.
THE COUNTDOWN IS ON. Less than 50 days until baby girl is here!
Did you get maternity pictures taken?
Were you early, on time or late with your first? Trying to guess when the baby will actually be here is driving me crazy!
Even though my running has come to a screeching halt during pregnancy, I am still trying to get out and active every day. Early on in my pregnancy when I looking at other blogs to see what women were wearing during pregnancy + working out all I found were ladies who were several sizes smaller than me. While I’m not quite plus size, I am usually a size 10-12. So hopefully this will help anyone who isn’t a size 4 (no shame at all to those who are smaller! Yall are rocking it. I just want to put my experience out there and hopefully help other women who are a different body type)
My trusty Oiselle long rogas are literally the first thing I change into when I get home from work and I live in them during the weekends. I own five pairs and four of them are size 12 and one of them is a size 14. They are still fit great (though the 12s are almost snug, they are still comfortable!) I never found any true maternity athletic shorts that I liked so I’m hoping my rogas can hold out for another 7 weeks.
This maternity tank from Amazon. Loved it so much I ordered a second the day after one came in the mail.
My ProCompression socks! Swollen feet really started to affect me this week and I have been wearing my ProCompression socks nightly around the house. Thankfully I had five pairs from marathon training, but I’m thinking of buying one or two more pairs (the puppy love design and the marathon navys) to add to my rotation.
For my daily walks and on the weekends when I am about and about more, I always wear my Hoka One One Clifton 5s. So much support and they are wide enough that my swollen feet still fit comfortably.
For work, I usually wear some black Crocs sandals I snagged on a whim one day when looking for shoes. I sized up but they are still getting a little snug – this Kentucky heat and humidity is not doing me any favors.
What are some of your maternity workout apparel must-haves?
Holy moly I can’t believe I’ve reached 30 weeks in my pregnancy! And there is still so much left to do!
*Below is the latest bump photo I have in my phone. Haha! I texted this to my bestie because holy smokes I swear this bump grew so much overnight!
With the pandemic, I’ve just started to venture out into actual stores and I finally bought a stroller (and car seat combo for my vehicle) and a car seat (for Ryan’s car) last week! Honestly, I still can’t believe it’s real and after every doctor’s appointment, I tell my husband, “okay, this week we really need to get our $h!t together.”
My goal is to get some stuff for the nursery and finish up some other around-the-house projects. In July, Kentucky is allowing groups of 50 to gather, so I’m hoping to have a baby shower in the next month or so!
I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday and everything went great! Had an ultrasound, got to hear the heartbeat and I passed my glucose test! Thank the Lord!
I debated on whether or not I should get maternity pictures done, but figured I would regret it if I didn’t take a few. So hoping to knock that out after the holiday weekend. A friend of mine is a photographer and generously offered a free session as a gift! So now I’m on the hunt for a simple, flowy maxi dress (that’s not covered in some awful pattern!)
Running is out of the picture, but I have been going on LOTS of walks with Murphy. He is loving the extra time outside and I feel great being somewhat active.
This baby girl is already so loved and I can’t believe 2.5 months she will be here with us! So thankful for this blessing.
Holy smokes, yall — time is flying! It’s been almost two months since I posted our pregnancy announcement and since then — the world went crazy and I’ve been trying to keep my head above water. With COVID-19 we’ve been stuck in house and haven’t been able to do much of anything (like shop for cute baby girl clothes!) Obviously I know this will pass, but it’s such a strange time to be pregnant. I worked from home for almost 8 weeks and just started coming back to the office (there are only 7 of us on my floor). So things have been all kinds of crazy.
But, on that note, let’s jump right into what I’m experiencing at 24 weeks of pregnancy. I can’t believe I’m already 6 months in! So wild.
Current Pregnancy Symptoms
I swear I find something new every day. Random body parts hurt or I find a new blemish. I haven’t been sick since the beginning of April — thank the Lord. I was puking 5-10 times a day and I thought it was never going to end.
Exhaustion: Some days I am dog tired by 6 p.m. and some days I am up and going until midnight. The second trimester has been a lot better than the first in terms of how much energy I have.
Bump: You can definitely tell I’m pregnant. It always grows over the course of the day though, so at night, it’s larger than when I woke up.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still days where I feel like a giant balloon walking down the street, but now that I truly look 24-weeks pregnant, and not just bloated, I’m starting to love it.
Cravings: These come and go and are so random. Some of my recent cravings have been corndogs with lots of mustard (SO random, I hate hotdogs), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and milk.
Aversions: Like my cravings, my aversions come and go.
As of now, exercise is hit or miss. I take daily walks but sometimes I’ll throw in a pregnancy yoga video from YouTube or do some strength training — anything to help break a sweat and get the endorphins flowing!
I do miss running though … A LOT. I’ve tried some light jogs on the treadmill but I feel like bounce too much and it’s just not comfortable.
The possibility of having a baby shower in the next month or two. With all the pandemic craziness, who knows if we’ll be able to, but it’s fun to think about all the gifts for baby R and getting to be all my friends and family.
Baby Kicks: Baby girl is a kicker at night! After dinner, while I’m on the couch watching tv or catching up on work, she goes crazy rolling, kicking and punching me. I love it! It’s weird but in a good way and it makes me feel so connected to her.
Nursery: We have a crib, dresser and changing tray … and that’s it! We still haven’t decided on a theme and it’s so hard shopping for what we want online (since all the retail stores are closed)
Who knows when I’ll pop in for the next update — but until then thanks for all the well wishes and prayers for me and baby R. Ryan and I are so excited for her to be here in August!
