Good Morning!
I know recap posts are typically shared on Mondays, but I’ve learned not to promise anything about blogs anymore. Bugs controls a lot of my time, and although I’d like to stay up late writing a blog, it’s crucial for me to hit the pillow as soon as he does. And when he’s asleep during the day, I try to hurry up and get the laundry, a shower in, and put the house back in order. I’ve also been trying my best to share my time with the dogs since I don’t ever want them to feel like they are put on the backburner. The important thing is that I feel really good physically and mentally. I’m getting great sleep (rare with a newborn!), and I’ve been able to keep up with my walks, nutritious meals, and sneak in all the baby cuddles. Sometimes I know I should put him in his crib for a nap and get things done, but I choose to sit there for an hour with him on my chest. I know this time will fly by, and I want to soak up every minute of him being little.
Since he’s sound asleep in his little lounger in front of me, I thought I’d use this time to have a cup of coffee and put up a small recap blog.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but the days have flown by. I can’t believe it’s already Thursday. The next time I blink, I’m going to be one hundred years old. The one thing I look forward to in the morning is sitting out on the back porch with my coffee, a belly-filled baby, and watching the dogs wrestle as the sun rises. Getting him outside in the morning before it gets too hot is important because it helps his circadian rhythm. We try to sit out there for about an hour, and then when it starts to get humid, we head inside for a diaper change and a feeding. If it’s not too hot, we’ll go for a walk instead. Kyle has been watching Bugs during his mid-morning naps so I can get out with Leo on a long walk, which gives me my “me time.” I love being able to disconnect, bond with Leo, and get my daily dose of endorphins. We are finally back to walking our 3 miles, and when it gets cooler outside (hopefully by September!), I’ll be able to take Bugs with us, and we can do 3-6 miles.
Kyle and I have been splitting the dinner duties. He makes grilled meats for the week, and I make most of the sides. I have been eating many eggs and fruit for breakfast, wraps for lunch, and some protein with veggies at dinnertime. I’ve been trying to make up for the lack of vegetables I ate while pregnant. Eating healthier has made me feel so much better postpartum. I know it’s easy to get discouraged with postpartum weight gain and feel a lack of motivation, but I’m taking the baby steps to get back to feeling myself. My goal is to reach my pre-pregnancy weight by the end of the year, or at least be ablte to fit into my jeans again. That gives me a realistic amount of time to do it the “right way” instead of falling into a crash diet. After having a baby, hormones are out of whack, breastfeeding makes you so hungry, and the energy it takes to take care of a baby can play a huge part in managing weight. I’m making sure to stay gentle with myself and slowly get back to feeling myself again. I plan to eat healthy, walk, and do strength training style yoga when I have time.
Each night, instead of reaching for the desserts, I’ve been making healthy hot cocoa. I look forward to it every single night while we watch Jeopardy! I blend 1 1/2 cups of warm unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, one tablespoon of vanilla plant-based protein powder, and 1-2 drops of liquid stevia. It tastes amazing!
Wraps have been the staple of my diet this past week. I love having them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I’ve also been on a Kombucha kick.
I mentioned in the last recap post that I’m finally back to eating salmon. I love to cook it up in the air fryer and the Trader Joe salmon filets are a perfect size.
We didn’t feel like cooking on Wednesday night, so we ordered delicious cobb salads from a local restaurant, The Improper Pig. It’s one of the tastiest salads! It has chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, goat cheese, avocado, and a basil vinaigrette. The spicy green beans are also a hit. 
Friday morning, breakfast after my walk consisted of Greek yogurt, protein granola, a banana, and peanut butter.
My brother came down from D.C. this past weekend to visit his new nephew! It was so lovely seeing him since it had been over a year! I planned to visit him in January but didn’t want to risk getting sick on a plane while pregnant. Since they planned to come over for dinner on Friday night, I prepped the food earlier in the day.
I made two bowls of my broccoli salad! One had bacon, and one did not. This broccoli salad is one of my favorite sides, especially during the hot months! 
I had kebabs marinating for 24 hours to grill up for dinner. We are obsessed with this marinade combo. It’s Greek dressing, avocado oil, and mayonnaise. One of our neighbors gave us this recipe, which seriously makes chicken taste incredible!
The kebabs had peppers, zucchini, onions, shrimp, and chicken.
We all sat around having dinner, and then a massive storm rolled in, and we lost power for a while. I was nervous about it being out all night! It was a 100-degree day, and we rely so much on electricity with Bugs.
SO CUTE! ️ I can’t wait to take him up to D.C. when he’s a little older to all the muesums.
On Saturday morning, I did a quick low-impact strength training workout and a long walk with Leo. I showered off and had a protein shake with a matcha! It had a Trader Joe’s matcha packet, a frozen banana, unsweetened almond milk, and ice. 
Later in the afternoon, Kyle and I headed to Undwind Tea & Coffee for a little day date with Bugs. This is one of my favorite spots, and the dessert case looked extremely tempting. I had an iced coffee with almond milk and a watermelon Calm sparkling water.
We spent the evening relaxing and having leftover Kebabs for dinner. 
Kyle’s first father’s day! ️
After having a pancake breakast, we headed out for a 3-mile walk. It was only 65-degrees out, which is RARE for June in the south. After our walk, we packed up and headed out to my parent’s house to have a pool day barbque and celebrate fathers day with my brother.
My parent’s did a hibachi dish, and it was amazing! It was nice being able to relax outside and play yardgames with the amazing weather. Bugs LOVES to be outside, and is super alert watching everything around him. Sometimes when he’s super tired and is fussy, I’ll walk outside with him, and it’s like an instant fix. He immediatly stops crying and falls asleep.
I made one of the tastiest wraps for dinner on Monday night.
It had turkey, avocado, jalapeno cream cheese, homemade pesto, and lettuce wrapped up in a multigrain wrap. I can’t wait to have it again for dinner tonight! The pesto recipe had 1/4 cup of pinenuts (or you can use parmesan), 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup fresh basil, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste. We made the pesto again last night for dinner, and I even bought my own basil plant because we keep going through it so fast.
The best time of the day! I love the We are Amma wrap not only for breastfeeding, but also for a blanket because it has little holes for fresh air. 
Back on the wrap game! This multigrain wrap had eggs, everuthing but the bagel seasoning, cream cheese, avocado, and apple chicken sausage.
