Howdy,

My sweet baby girl was 8 months old on March 9th, and I feel like this past month has been a big one. She's turning into such a tiny person, and I just love getting to know her personality more and more each day. Belle loves to laugh deep deep belly laughs and thinks Daddy's burps are purely for her entertainment. She hasn't started crawling yet, but she rocks so hard, it's only a matter of time before she tumbles forward onto her hands and knees. She just started pulling up on things this past weekend, even though that technically happened after her 8 month birthday, I just had to share! Every day is definitely a new (and sometimes sleepy) adventure with this little one!

Belle is still a huge fan of basketball, especially if she gets to watch it from her daddy's lap. The lights, all the people, and the interesting noises keep her very entertained. She of course loves the cute outfits she gets to wear as well (even if they are burnt orange)!


She is also still fascinated by her toes, and never ceases to amaze me with her flexibility! If you need to keep her entertained for a few minutes, simply rip of her socks and she's good to go!


Annabelle would still rather eat books than read them, but we are working on that! I like to think she's still soaking up the knowledge right?

On the other hand, baby girl DOES NOT like green peas. I've tried them a few times, and each time results in some version of this face or gagging. Looks like we are going to have to skip these for awhile! I know I shouldn't laugh, but the faces she makes when she doesn't like a food are just hilarious. She can be quite dramatic.


She is also not the biggest fan of sleeping these days. I'm not sure if she's going through a sleep regression or if her top teeth are about to pop through, but the past 4 nights have been pretty rough. Last night, she did a little bit better so hopefully we are on the upswing. Whenever she decides she is not tired, she turns her bumper into a jungle gym and goes to town. We have to pull it out of her crib so it doesn't distract her most days.


Belle may not like peas or naps, but she LOVES  puffs. It was amazing to watch her master picking up those little guys with her fingers in less than a day! Don't stand between this lady and her puffs or you might get spit up on!


She also still loves giving slobbery kisses. She'll often attack you when you're least expecting it, and I love it! I'll take a slobbery snotty kiss from this tiny human any time!


Although you might not guess from the picture on the left, Belle loves going shopping. So many cool things to look at and people to talk to. Plus, mommy usually caves and buys super cut things like pink baby aviators. Who could pass these up, seriously?


Lately, Annabelle has been a busy girl helping mommy with Pilates MatchMatness. It's hard work modeling for a new picture every day, but Belle handles it like a champ. She loves showing off all of her cute accessories like this beanie!


Most days with this one are lots of smiles and giggles, but she definitely has her rough days as well (just keeping it real). I think she's ready to be on the move, but hasn't quite mastered crawling yet so she gets bored and frustrated easily. I also think those top two teeth are going to pop through any day which can't be comfortable. You have to capture the good times and the bad right? Side note, Belle loves to try to eat the button off of this pillow which explains the massive drool mark to the right of her head.


Overall, baby girl has had an exciting month full of learning, new adventures, giggles, and lots of cuddles. She is absolutely the light of my world, and I feel so blessed to get to be her mommy!


I can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us! I hope you all have a great rest of your Tuesday!

Mommies, did your kiddos go through a sleep regression? If so, how long did it last?

In health,

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Howdy Friends,

As I grow another year older, I think back on all of the wonderful things that have happened in my life, the beautiful memories that are being made right now, and all of the hopes and dreams that I have for the future. As a constant planner, remembering to stay in the present is definitely something I have to work at constantly. So in honor of living in the present, and creating joyful memories, I am going to keep this post short and sweet so I can get a few things done around the house and then play with my tiny human when she wakes up!

Relish The Past:

I have many many happy memories that make me smile, but there are definitely two that stand out.

1) The moment they opened the doors at the back of the church and I saw Eric waiting at the end of the aisle for me on our wedding day is something I will never forget. It literally took my breath away and was the first step towards the rest of my life. I feel so incredibly blessed to be married to such an amazing, loving, and smart man!





2) The first time I ever held Annabelle in my arms had the be one of the most awe inspiring feelings in the world. There are literally no words to describe how much love I felt at that very moment. After I thought my heart couldn't handle much more, seeing E with Belle literally made my heart explode. She has completely changed our lives forever and taught us to love on a whole new level.


Live In The Present:

There are so many amazing things happening in my life right now, I could go on forever; however, I really want to focus on soaking up every moment I can with Annabelle. They really do grow and change so fast, and I can never get this time back. So for right now, it is ALL about her and I love it!



Dream Of The Future:

I have too many dreams for the future of my little family to write down in one post, but I'll just start with a few. I dream of all of the wonderful and exciting moments that are going to happen in Belle's life.... first steps, first words, going to school, her first crush, homecoming, sporting events, prom, family trips, graduating high school, going to college, getting married (officially tearing up as I type now), and one day babies. I am so excited to see her grow through all of these stages, but I hope she grows very very very very slowly. I truly wish there was a pause or rewind button on life so it didn't fly by so fast.

I also dream of continuing to improve as a fitness professional and hopefully positively impacting my students and future fitness professionals. My goal is that each person that walks into my class leaves feeling better than when they came in. Additionally, I feel so blessed to have found a career I am overly passionate about, I hope to be able to help other individuals looking to pursue a career in fitness.

Memories are beautiful, and the future is fun to dream about, but don't forget to enjoy the right here and now every single day!

Share with me your favorite memory, what you are thankful for right now, or something you are dreaming about for the future. 

Wishing you a beautiful Tuesday!

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Happy Monday Friends!

 It was actually a really fun game until the very end when Kansas started to run away with it for a bit. We even made it there before tip off this time so we got to see all of the pre-game festivities which included strobe lights, fireworks, and thousands of balloons. Belle was VERY impressed!


Last week, we talked a little bit about meal planning, and how I do a modified food prep for the week. I definitely believe in having a plan, but I don't always cook all of my meals on Sunday. However, this week, thanks to my wonderful hubby, I got pretty close.

After Belle was born, E started grilling a ton of meat on Sunday night, so at least the protein part of our meals were done for the week. All I had to do was throw together a side dish and salad, and presto, dinner was done.

Since Belle is older now, and I have more time to cook, we don't do this every week, but it's a great way to meal prep when you know you are going to have a busy week! Last night, E got his grill master on for sure! He cooked two gigantic pork chops, 4 chicken breasts (2 with fajita seasoning and 2 with BBQ seasoning), pork sausage for him, and turkey sausage for me.



Are you drooling yet? All of this will go into our dinners this week which lay out as follows:

Sunday: Grilled pork chops with a regular potato for E and a sweet potato for me

Monday: BBQ chicken with roasted carrots (I will make those Monday evening)

Tuesday: Fajitas with black beans (I like to use romaine lettuce for my tortilla)

Wednesday: Sausage wraps and baked beans for E and plain turkey sausage with a sweet potato for me (I will use the leftover turkey sausage in breakfast scrambles throughout the week).

Thursday: Balsamic chicken (not grilled) with green beans - We tried this recipe out a few weeks ago and it was melt in your mouth good!

Friday & Saturday - Out to eat (aka pick up dinner so we can eat while Belle plays with her toys)

I also planning on making some of these delicious chia power balls for snacks! I tried a new chocolate recipe out last week that did not go so well, so back to the original it is.



And that's what our dinners look like for the week! It's so nice to know that 90% of the work is already done. The grill is our secret weapon against take-out during the week.

Alrighty, it's time for Belle and I to get ready to head to the studio. I think she's about ready to teach class by herself. What do you think?


I made this collage over the weekend and realized two things..... 1) She is getting so big and 2) I may be a little obsessed with pink! I'll try to dress her in another color today.....maybe. Linking up with Katie on another Marvelous Monday!



What is you trick to avoid take-out during the week?

How was your weekend?

In health,

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Happy Friday Everyone!

Woohooo the weekend is almost here! For today's Friday Favorites, I wanted to share a few things that I am looking forward to this weekend and a few things that made me smile this past week.

First up, I am super pumped to run the Spicewood Vineyards half marathon this weekend! I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I just have to trust my training and be ok with the fact that I am probably going to be substantially slower than in past races. It's suppose to be a beautiful course so I am just going to focus on enjoying the race.  Any extra prayers that my hips hold up would be greatly appreciated! :)

source: givebar.com

Linking to the HOST

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Happy Monday!

How was you weekend? Wonderful, I hope! Mine was very eventful and a ton of fun!

This weekend, I hosted one of my best friends, Jenny's, bachelorette party here in Austin. She is marrying the love of her life, Garrett, in 3 weeks in Utah, so we had to send her off to marital bliss in style. Jenny and I first met when we were both teaching aerobics at Texas A&M and quickly became good friends. She is one of the most outgoing, caring, and fun people I know!

Party prep started a few weeks ago, but by Friday, I had a gazillion errands to run with a baby that hates the car seat. Luckily, my saint like mother-in-law came in to save the day and stay with Annabelle while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off getting everything for the party.

The festivities began at noon on Saturday with a little pool time at our hotel. At around 4:00 PM we all went back to our room to change and get ready for the shower part of the evening. We all gathered in one room for snacks, sangria, and presents!

After presents, we headed out for dinner and dancing! We ate dinner at Gloria's in downtown Austin and then walked down to West 6th Street to raise our glasses to Jenny.

Cheers to Jenny and Garrett!



A peddy cab was 100% necessary by the end of the night. All of our feet were killing us from walking around in heels.


After everyone was safely back to the hotel, I headed home for the night so I could give little bit her middle of the night feeding and get in some cuddles. I was only gone for a few hours, but I missed her so much! The next day, I met the crew at Olivia's for brunch. I was the photographer for this picture.


After brunch, it was back to the normal Sunday duties of grocery store and laundry. Overall, it was an amazing weekend celebrating an even more amazing friend!

This morning, I felt like I needed to detox from all the sugar I ate over the weekend (how can you turn down gluten free cupcakes?), so I started my morning off with a Chocolate Frappuccino Green Smoothie.


Ingredients:

• 1-2 large handfuls of spinach
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder of choice
• 1 packet instant coffee (I used decaf since I'm breastfeeding)
• 2 packets of stevia
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 cup almond milk or milk of choice
• handful of ice

Blend and enjoy. this smoothie reminds me of a frappuccino from Starbucks and keeps me full until lunch. Win and win! After my smoothie, Annabelle went down for a nap and it was time for me to hit the treadmill. I did 4.5 miles of intervals. Since I'm building my running back up I alternated 1 song of running with 1 song of power walking. Focusing on the music, rather than time, makes the workout fly by. Time to feed the tiny human again.  I hope you all have a great day!

What did you do this weekend?

How do you reset after a weekend of indulgences?

In health,

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