PHAB Lifestyle A blog dedicated to a healthy balance

June 21, 2003 was the day we were married…8 years ago already!!  Were does the time go?

It really does not seem that long ago already.  Usually for our Anniversary we go out for a nice supper and a little private time together.  This year I chose a new restaurant called NOtaBLE.  I had heard good things about it and really wanted to see what all the hype was for myself.

It has been really hard to get a reservation as it has become that popular in the city.  I made our reservations 3 weeks in advance to make sure we could get a table.

The restaurant is not very big but it is cozy, warm, inviting with a rustic charm.  I really liked the open kitchen and the fact that I could see what they were doing and watch meals being prepared.  What really impressed me was that the Chef/owner Michael Noble was plating the food and inspecting it as it went out.  It is not very often that you see the Chef/owner working as hard as the other staff in the kitchen.

When we were seated I started with a Handcrafted Ginger Beer made right in Alberta from Canmore called Grizzly Paw.

This was an all natural soda pop made with spring water and real ginger.  It was wonderfully bubbly and tasted great.  I wanted to have something other than water while waiting for my meal since I am pregnant and cannot have any wine at the moment Boo!  They had a huge selection of wine that I will have to go back and try some day after the babe is born.

I had inspected the menu online before we went to the restaurant and kind of knew what I wanted to try.

We started with two appetizers to share.

Dungeness crab & shrimp bake, wilted spinach, aged-cheddar & toasts

This dip was outstanding!  I loved everything about it.  The seafood, cheese and creaminess of it.  It was wonderful with the crispy toasts.  We polished this off with no problem.

Wood fire-grilled bread, garlic confit  with Black olive, sundried tomato & basil tapenade

This was so darn good!  The wood fire-grilled bread was warm, soft and chewy it went perfect with the tapenade.  We almost fought over this one! HA!  We both LOVE salty Olive tapenades and bread!

On my plate waiting to be gobbled up!  Mmmmm…my mouth is watering right now just looking at this picture!

For my main course I ordered the:

Wood-grilled organic Spring salmon BC side-stripe shrimp spicy tomato Boursin risotto

Now that my appetite has come back I have been loving my salmon once again and this dish just jumped out at me from the menu.  Plus it was on a bed or risotto which I also love.  This dish was delish!  The salmon was cooked just right and the risotto was perfect!  I enjoyed every morsel!  The picture is not the best but it also looked so appetizing.  This portion was quite large and filling so I did leave a little bit on my plate so I could have room for dessert later.

They hubby ordered:

Wood grilled lamb sirloin smoked olive & sundried tomato relish

It also came with roasted veggies of potatoes, squash and broccoli.  I had a bite and it was cooked perfectly and tasted great with a little of the tomato relish.  This was a pretty big portion so the hubs made sure to polish off his meat and only ate some of the veggies.  Mind you he is not a big fan of veggies to begin with especially squash which he did not touch.

Even though we had already had a lot of food I just had to try a little dessert.  I decided that I better not have anything too rich since most of my meal was already pretty much that way.  So I had a nice cup of raspberry herbal tea and hummed and hawed over the dessert menu… everything looked so darn good!

In the end I chose the:

NOtaBLE “lemon meringue” pie with berry compote

It was just enough to “fill in the cracks” which with my pregnant belly is not much these days.  I love lemon anything dessert like and this was light, creamy and perfectly tart!  The cookie crust was also very yummy!

The hubs however did not go light and ordered the:

Milk chocolate & hazelnut crème brûlée with hazelnut biscotti

He also had a glass of Port aged 30 years.  Which he said was pretty darn good.  I had a bite of his crème brulee and it was everything a creamy brulee should be.  It was delish! I love crème brulee but there is no way I could have had eaten one myself and the the hubs was not into sharing a dessert that night.

All in all our Anniversary supper was very good and I would go back to this restaurant again as there were other things that I would love to try on the menu and of course there is that large wine list to paroose too!

Another Anniversary is on the books!  Onto year number 9……

I have lots of great Fathers in my Life and today is a great day to say to all of them….we LOVE you for all you do and hope you had the best day!

My Dad is the best Father and Grandpa ever!  He always is more than happy to help us out when needed and I know that I can always count on him.  He enjoys even the small things like putting together a little Tool Centre for his Grandson at Christmas.

My father in-law is a wealth of information, a great card player and horseman as well as a patient and caring Grandfather.  I hit the jackpot getting such a great Father in-law!

The best Father of all in my books is the Hubby!  He is a great Dad and is going to make a great Dad for the second time!  He loves his little man and is so great with him.

They are the best of buddies and enjoy the quiet times and also enjoy the fun times.

To celebrate today the hubby wanted to cook a special supper on his new grill!

For Father’s Day this year and our Anniversary we got him the grill that he has been coveting for a while now as his gift.  A MAK Grill 2 Star General.  This is no ordinary grill.  It is a smoking grill that runs off of wood pellets for a great smoky taste. He is also very proud to be the very first official owner of a MAK Grill in Canada.

For tonight I purchased two very special and expensive steaks to christen his new grill with.

Organic Rib Eye steaks.

Which were seasoned with Big Poppa’s Double Secret Steak Rub.

We chose the hickory pellets for the steak.

Once the grill was ready we put them on and hoped for the best outcome.  After all this was our very first try.

After smoking for an hour it was time to sear them.  I won’t get into the specific’s as you have to play around with temperatures and stuff.

Searing on the special grill grates.

The end result was two perfectly cooked steaks.  They turned out awesome!  They were perfectly cooked with a mild smoky taste that was not overpowering.

We had our steak with salad and garlic bread as per the hubby’s request.

Now of course I did not eat that HUGE steak.  I cut a Sheri size piece off for my portion.

Enjoying Daddy’s yummy supper!  It was a fantastic meal and a great way to end Father’s Day.  The hubby did a great job at grilling up the steaks!  I am sure over he summer he will continue to perfect his grilling skills with his new BBQ.  He has all kinds of ideas of what to cook next.

Happy Father’s Day!!

Today was a great success for Street Meet!  We got ourselves up early, got ready and gathered all our gear and headed out in the not so great windy and cold weather to walk at Street Meet.  The turn out this year was awesome A LOT more people attended which intern means Ups and Downs raised a lot more money this year.  Great!

This year Team Jaxin was the top fundraisers!

As a Team we raised $10,000.00 so a very BIG THANK YOU to everyone that sponsored us!!

The hubby raised a whopping $8,875.00 on his own!

I raised $1,125.00.

The hubs was also the top fund raiser for an individual and got himself a shiny metal for all his hard work!  Plus some great gift cards that I stole! Tee..hee!

Way to go dear!

J was a busy little man today!  He just wanted to Go..go..go!!  Now that he is independently walking he wants to do what he wants!!  Plus he was a little grouchy today…must have been the weather and the fact we woke him up early.

No sitting in the chariot for this guy!

On a mission to the TOY tent….

Once we started the walk he was determined he was going to walk the first little bit.

We also had to show off our Team Jaxin shirts despite the cold!

I unzipped my jacket just long enough to let the hubby snap a pic to show that yes I did actually wear my shirt below the layers of jackets to keep me warm!

Daddy and J showing off there shirts..or Daddy showing off his but J is too busy looking everywhere else but at the camera! HA!

Showing off the back and all our wonderful sponsors!

After the walk we stayed and enjoyed a bbq lunch, raffle draw and 50/50 draw.  We unfortunately did not win anything from the raffle or 50/50 but we still had a great time and it was nice to see some people that we have not seen in a while.

After the draws were over we were more than ready to head home.  I was pretty darn tired and so was J.  He was so busy that he totally zonked out in the car on the way home.

OH I almost forgot the unofficial total amount raised today for Ups and Downs was about $77,000 dollars!  How awesome is that!  It was worth the cold, cloudy and windy day to go out and take part in such a worthy cause.

Now I think I am going to head to my warm and cozy bed early tonight…Night!

Another week has gone by and now I am onto week 21 of my pregnancy.  Time is just ticking away fast and furious!

This week I am now getting into full nursery planning mode.  I got the bedding so now I can choose how I want to decorate the room.  Plus I am taking stock of what I already have of J’s to figure out what I have that I can use (mostly cloths) and make a list of stuff that I will need.  I have been spending a lot of time online looking at the Babies R’ Us website.

Now on to my weekly update…

How Big is the Baby?

This week the baby is about the size of a banana.  He has been doing some growing since last week and on some days it feels like it!  I have be more tired this week for sure.

How I’m Changing

Of course the belly is getting bigger!  When I eat a big meal man do I pay for it.  My belly gets tight and I feel pretty darn uncomfortable afterwards.  Normally I would take a walk after supper to help me digest better but our weather is cold, windy and rainy this whole week so far! 

I am still feeling the little guy sometimes more sometimes a little less.  I think it depends on his position how much I feel the little pokes and kicks he gives.  This week I have not been sleeping very well and it is frustrating!   I fall asleep fine but then I wake up in the middle of night and have one heck of a time falling back to sleep!  Last night I woke up at 2:30 am and did not fall back to sleep till almost 4am!  Plus the little man decided to be pretty active at that time too so I just laid there and enjoyed the poking and jumping around he was doing. Ha!  I also find that my hips get pretty sore at night as well. 

I am also now starting to find it hard to bend over as my belly is starting to get in the way.  Plus when I stand straight up my feet have now disappeared and all I see is my belly.

Yup no feet!

I am also feeling a little clumsy these days.  Nothing seems to want to stay in my hands sometimes!  So I am trying to slow down and be a little more careful.

How I’m Feeling

Mmmm…one word a little tired!  Not sleeping well and having to run around after J on a daily basis is making me feel well darn tired.  Unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of taking an afternoon nap if I need since J no longer naps in the afternoons anymore.  So that means I have to stay awake and keep an eye on my very active little boy.  So in the evenings after supper I am more than ready to relax and sometimes get into bed extra early.  But really for the most part I feel pretty normal and have not had too many issues. 

This last week I have brushed the dust of my juicer and have had fresh juice every morning with breakfast.  It tastes great plus it is good for me.  This morning I made J and I a combination of oranges, apples, carrots, ginger and lemon.  Mmmm..so yummy!  J has another cold and I am determined not to get sick.  I get sick and I cannot take anything so I would be miserable.  Not fun.  Also I am still enjoying all the wonderful fruits of summer on a daily basis and cannot get enough of watermelon, strawberries and blueberries.

I have also discovered the deliciousness that is Farro Porridge!  Mmmmm…so good!  On our colder mornings and when I have time I make a big bowl of it.  So darn good!

I love the texture of it and it fills me up pretty darn good too without making me feel like I have a pit in my stomach.  Plus I always top it with some yummy stuff like bananas, raisins, nuts and nut butter.  The recipe I use I got from Ashley’s blog…thanks Ashley for sharing this awesome breakfast meal!

Odd and Ends

As I mentioned above I received the crib bedding and it is so cute!

I love the dots.  The hubs is ok with it but I really like it a lot.  I just wanted something basic and simple this time around.

So now I can pick out the paint colours for the walls.  I think I may just do one accent wall and leave the rest of the walls as is.  The colour in the room right now is a warm light brown color very neutral and matches the bedding actually.  So I will decided after I paint the accent wall if I want to change the colors on the other walls or not.

We will start on the room after we get back from holidays.  We leave in about 2 weeks for a 1 week holiday in B.C. so when we get home it will be time to get in gear and start putting the nursery together.  I don’t want to wait to long because as I get bigger it will be harder to move around and do stuff.  I don’t want to leave stuff to the last minute.

On Monday is my 4th prenatal check up with my doctor.  I have not stepped on the scale lately so I will just wait until I go to my appointment to find out.  I am sure I have gained since the last time but how much?  Not sure I want to know!

I had plans to post this update yesterday but our weather was anything but nice outside to take pictures!  However this evening it is lovely and was the perfect time for a little photo shoot!

Well I am half way through my pregnancy already!  Time seems to be flying by now.  The first trimester seemed to drag a little but I think that might have had something to do with the way I was feeling!  Which was just pretty much awful all the time. 

You know that from my 20 Week Ultrasound post that we are expecting a boy and are very happy to give J a baby brother.

How Big is the Baby?

According to my online sources they say the baby is now about the size of 3 limes put together or about 10 1/2 ounces and 6 1/2 inches long.  Grow baby grow!

Although he still has a long way to go yet!  But he is pretty much done developing now he just needs to hang out get fatter and grow.

How I’m Changing

Of course my belly is getting bigger.

I am now filling out my maternity cloths and there is no question that I am pregnant.  I am still experiencing the round ligament pain and still have to be careful how I get up from sitting and making sure I don’t stretch the wrong way.

I am now also starting to feel the baby move!  It is still small movements and I feel them mostly in the evening when I am relaxing with my feet up.  However, last night in bed the hubs had his hand on my belly and the little man gave him two good kicks!  It was so cute.  I almost forgot what it felt like since I had J over 4 years ago but it is all starting to come back to me now.

How I’m Feeling

I feel pretty darn amazing most of the time.  However, I still have my nights and sometimes days that I feel exhausted!  I think that mostly has to do with my busy schedule with J and plus he keeps me going all day!  He is a bundle of energy pretty much always as was evident tonight!  He was running around in the grass when we were taking pictures.

He loved running barefoot through the grass!  Too funny!

I am trying my best to work exercise into my schedule everyday.  Like today I got up early and walked on my treadmill.  Tomorrow morning I am going to do a Prenatal Yoga DVD that I have.  I am trying to keep everything I do low impact and nothing to intense.

I have been feeling a little more hungry lately and another craving has creped up on me.  I have be craving eggs and tall cold glasses of milk!  Plus I have been going through fruit like crazy as well, watermelon, strawberries, oranges, cherries and blueberries just to name a few.  I am so happy for the abundance of summer fruits right now.  I am also still drinking a TON of water.  I feel like my mouth is always dry.  So of course I drink more water which means I visit the bathroom constantly!  I think the baby is tapping dancing on my bladder most of the time! Which does not help matters.

Odds and Ends

I started cleaning out our guest bedroom which will become the baby’s room.  I did not realize home much stuff I had stored in that room.  I managed to get the small closet cleaned out.  Next up is getting the furniture out. 

The crib bedding has been shipped and should be arriving very soon!  I can’t wait.  Once I have that I can start planning a little more on how I will want to decorate.  I know that I want to paint so next up will be picking a paint color.

I also finally decided on the dresser/change table combo that I want to get as well.  It is from Sears and matches J’s crib which we will be using for the new baby.

The room is pretty small so I wanted a dresser/changer combo to utilize the space.  I have been online looking at how to decorate a small nursery and getting some good ideas so far.  Some of the nurseries designs I have looked at are so cute and have inspired me!

This weekend I am off to the spa at the Banff Springs Hotel with one of my best friends for a little me time and relaxing.  I can’t wait I love going to the spa it rejuvenates me!  I am going to get a much needed facial and a pedicure.  This is a girls trip that we do every year and always have a great time.  We also have a dinner planned at the fondue restaurant in the town of Banff called the Grizzly House.  They have the best fondue what more could a pregnant woman ask for

Finally we got beautiful weather today.  I was so darn happy to see some sun!  It was a warm 20 degrees and the sun felt great!

I started my morning off by hopping on the treadmill at around 6:30am and walked for about 45 minutes while watching a Baby Story.  I would have walked outside but the hubs rode his bike into work today and he leaves by 6am so I would have had to been out the door by 5:30am ummm…no thanks!  I sipped on a green smoothie as I walked.

When I was done J was already waking up.  I got him up and dressed and then had a yummy breakfast of two fried eggs topped with diced tomatoes, pc of sprouted grain toast with jam and a decaf coffee. 

For lunch today I walked on the wild side and had tofu!  I have not had any tofu since becoming pregnant because well it just did not sound good at all.  But it did today!

My lunch was a shining picture of health.  I had some baked tofu marinated in Caroline Treet, a baked sweet potato and a little bed of steam black Kale. 

It was delicious!

I also had some fresh cherries!  I am loving the summer fruit.

After lunch J and I took a little drive to one of my favourite health food stores Blush Lane to pick up some essentials.  Those being farm fresh eggs, Organic Milk and more Kale.  I am craving eggs lately so I have to make sure I have them on hand.

Tomorrow morning I have some plans to try something new for breakfast.

A warm Farro porridge!  I let you know how it goes.

I have been looking forward to this ultrasound for a while now.  Because we got to find out the gender of our little one!!

So without further ado…….

We are having………..

a BOY!!

I did not get a photo of the infamous potty shot but he is FOR SURE a boy!  No doubt about it!  J will have a baby brother this October.  The ultrasound itself went well and everything looks good and he is growing and healthy.  I am still measuring exactly as I should be and my due date remains October 26th!

He has grown so much since that last ultrasound.  It took a little poking and prodding to get the little guy to move to get the right measurements she needed but she did manage to get them all.  He is already a pretty laid back little dude.  He liked to keep putting his hands in front of his face as to say stop trying to take my picture.  A little drama king already!

This may look like a bit of a blob but it is his perfect nose and lips!  So cute!

His cute little feet, right and left.

and his hands.

A shot of his face.  Skelator baby…these shots are always so freaky!

Ahhh…that is better his profile is much cuter!

So there you have it another boy to make a family of four.  Hah…that was a little cheezy!  I still can’t believe that we are going to have another child!  I am still trying to get used to the fact that I will have two to look after.  But it is happening as I can actually feel little mister moving around right now as I type my post!  Ha! 

We definitely have a name for this little guy but that will remain a secret until he makes his grand appearance!  We really love what we chose and I hope everyone else will like it too.

Of course the first thing I did was order his bedding!

This is the Mod Dot pattern from Skip Hop and I love it.  This time I did not want to do a theme bedding in the nursery.  I wanted to keep it simple and clean.  I ordered the 4 pc crib set, an extra fitted sheet, the blanket and organizer.

When I get it I will then pick a paint color and start clearing out the room.  Right now the nursery is a guest bedroom and we need to move everything out.  One problem we have is we only have three bedrooms so we will be without a guest bedroom once we set up the nursery.  Our basement is unfinished and would not make a very nice place to put a bed for  a guest to sleep.  So we think the only other alternative we may have is to buy a sofa bed for our bonus room and our guests will have to bunk there.  It won’t be too bad it is still upstairs but just not as much privacy.

I will post about my 20th week of pregnancy tomorrow. 

I am now one week shy of reaching the half way mark through my pregnancy.  Monday is also the big day….I will be going for the Anatomy scan and will hopefully find out if it is a boy or girl but most important to make sure the little guy or gal is developing properly.  So I am excited and nervous all at the same time.

How Big is the Baby?

This week the little peanut is the size of a mango and weighs about 9 ounces.  Mmm…not a peanut anymore!

How I’m Changing

The belly is getting a bit bigger.  I also got on the scale this morning and I am up 12 pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy.  So I am doing pretty good I think.  I am trying to keep my meals and snacks as healthy as possible with little indulgences here and there. 

I am definitely growing into my maternity shirts now.  I also raided the sale rack at Thyme Maternity the other day and got a few more cute shirts to add to my wardrobe.

Shopping for maternity cloths on sale is the only way to go since they are so darn expensive otherwise!  I got all this for 50 bucks.  I love the way maternity cloths fit now they are way more stylish than when I was pregnant with J over 4 years ago.

(Excuse the poufy hair…it was a windy day today!)

How I’m Feeling

This week I have really tried to work exercise back into my life I managed to get about 4 good walks in despite our not so great weather.  This morning I got up and hit my treadmill for 30 minutes.  I am also going to try and work some yoga and weights into my week from now on as well.  If I plan it out I am more likely to do it!  Last night I was pretty tired and fell asleep on the couch for about a hour before I woke up and went to bed.

Last week I had mentioned that I really not have felt the baby yet but last night I felt two good little movements while I was sitting on the couch!  I love that feeling.  But the movements that I have felt are just very few since the placenta is acting as a cushion at the front of my belly.  But at least I do feel the odd one which is so cool!

What I’m Eating

Mmmm…no major cravings this week.  But I am still eating the big green salads for lunch and they are so yummy too!  Today I did have a bit of a craving for a bowl of Vietnamese Vermicelli Noodles so instead of going to a restaurant I decided to take it upon myself to make what I desired and it worked out perfect.

I scoured the internet and came up with a few of the recipes to make the sauce and for the bbq shrimp.  It tasted great with fresh and wonderful flavours!

I enjoyed every bite and knew exactly what went into my meal plus my craving was satisfied.  Just a side note, the spring rolls were bought at the grocery store but were also pretty darn tasty.

Odds and Ends

My mind is still reeling with ideas for the nursery but of course I cannot act on it yet since we still need to find out the gender first.  But be it girl or boy I have it all planned out.  I know that I will be painting, changing the light fixture and putting in a closest organizer like we did in J’s room.  It was the best money we every spent since we needed to utilize all the space in the room as it is not that big.

This is J’s closet after they put in the insert.  I had got it from California Closets.

Also just because here is a picture of J’s nursery once we were finished.  It looks a little different now as he has gotten older we have changed a few things.  But it looked so cute back then!

I have made a few purchases already.  One is I bought a Ego Baby Carrier in Cranberry with the infant insert.  I loved baby carrying J when he was little and it will probably work the best for this little one since I will need my hands to be free to wrangle J when I need too.  I did a lot of research on this subject and this carrier had rave reviews so I guess we will see.  Everything has changed so much since I have had J.

Random Facts from this Week:

• Oranges consumed: a dozen at least
• Water intake: My goodness lots I have lost count!  I am always thirsty!
• Favourite food this week: Big green salads for lunch.
• Minutes spent online planning a nursery: Too many to count!
• Time spent in Babies R’ Us: 45 Minutes with a very patient J in tow.

So now I will leave you with a bare it all picture of my belly! 

For the last two years our family has participated in an event called Street Meet.  This event is to raise much needed funds for an organization called Ups and Downs.  We have been members of this organization since J was born.  It is a great resource for the parents and children that have Down Syndrome.

Ups and Downs is:

A registered, non-profit, volunteer-run organization for parents, families and friends of people with Down syndrome. Founded in 1984 by a group of concerned parents, Ups and Downs now provides a wide variety of services and personal involvement opportunities to the Calgary area and Southern Alberta.

Last year Team Jaxin raised over 6,000.00 dollars for Ups and Downs and was the top fundraising team!

This year we wanted to be at the top again and do it in style!

We decided to get some t-shirts printed up with all our major sponsors recognized on the back.

The front:

The back:

We think they turned out pretty darn good.  I can’t wait to wear mine on June 18th during the walk.

So far this year Team Jaxin has raised $5,958.00!  But we still have more time and all donations are greatly appreciated.  If you would like to make a donation please click on the below link to our donation page

Team Jaxin

Then either click on my name or Devin’s to sponsor our team.  Thank you so much!

Now I really hope that the weather will be as beautiful as it was last year…fingers crossed!

Since veggies have come back into my meals and I am actually craving them!  Most of my lunches have included them in some form or another mostly salads or sandwiches.  I was doing my grocery shopping on the weekend and I was paroosing the deli when I came across hummus.  This is a food that I once loved and adored but since becoming pregnant could not stomach!  Until now…..

I thought to myself while looking at all the different flavours that I was actually in the mood for some!  So I bought a container and made a delicious lunch with it today!

I actually got the inspiration for this sandwich from reading a blog called the Yuppie Yogini that I look at from time to time.  I love reading Healthy Living blogs they always give me such great ideas.

Open Faced Hummus Sandwich

Ingredients

• brown rice cakes
• old aged cheddar
• hummus (homemade or store bought)
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• avocado
• mustard
• kosher sea salt

Instructions

1.  Lightly toast the rice cakes in a toaster over or toaster.  Melt thin slices of the cheddar on the rice cakes.

2.  Spread rice cakes with a thin layer of mustard and hummus.

3.  Layer on sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado. Sprinkle with kosher sea salt. 

My avocado looks a little sad because when I cut into it I was disappointed to find it was brown and yucky in some parts.  I had to do a little surgery to save some of it for my sandwich.

Make sure you have a big napkin on hand as this sandwich is pretty messy!  But oh so yummy

Tonight for supper I also have another blog inspiration on the menu!