"Reunited and it feels so good..."

Everyone needs incentives in life. I want to offer an incentive for you to visit my blog and for you to leave comments - so that I don't feel like I'm talking to myself, (although, I've been known to do exactly that and not care - sometimes the best conversations happen between yourself and yourself...) so here it is. I will title blog entries with either lyrics from songs or titles of songs, and you need to comment with: the title of the song if it is lyrics, and the band or group that sings the song if it's a title. The person who first guesses correctly 5 times, will win a prize. This contest is born out of inspiration that I received from Meredith (a long-time friend and fellow blogger who loves comments as much as me), who held a caption contest for a photo of her son Wyatt at Disney on a ride who had a hilarious look on his face. Anyway, the winner received a box of bacon and eggs shaped band-aids - also a hilarious and random prize - but a prize nonetheless. The prize to the winner of this contest will be music related - a mix CD of some of my favorite bands/songs right now. I have good taste in music, so you will like it, promise. :) Fair enough? I'll try to make the music titles/lyrics universal enough so that the contest is fair, and not just tailored to music fanatics like myself. Let the contest begin!


The title today refers to the fact that I will be re-engaging in my training program with my esteemed personal trainer, Becky Henderson. I'll be honest with you, I've been slacking with my diet for the past, oh, 12 weeks. I've been giving myself a break of sorts, because I worked really hard on getting healthy for the past year and successfully managed, with determination and help from Weight Watchers and training with Becky, to lose over 35 lbs. from September '07 to May '08. I'm really proud of that accomplishment because it was a huge hill to climb - pun intended. My training with Becky started in early Feb. of this year, and she was just what I needed to keep my head in the game and kick it up a notch. I felt really strong after just a few weeks with her, and she has trained pregnant women before, so I trust her and feel confident that she will train me safely and help me stay strong and confident - two virtues that I really need especially right now. Nutrition and exercise are a really important part of pregnancy and I need to get back on track. I want to be in the best physical shape possible when the kids get here - both to help in the delivery and also to help get me through the exhausting first few months... Exercise, for me, works wonders in my emotional attitude - working out is something you do for the health of yourself and the body that you've been given, which in turn helps you be the person you want to be for your family and friends and world. And you don't have to be a tri-athlete to benefit from it, I find that even a half-hour walk a day on my light days was beneficial - even if just to get out and feel the air and see the neighborhood.... Cycling is my favorite way to get exercise (I'm no Lance like KK, but I can hold my own - twice I've ridden a 30-mile route on the Missouri Riverfront Trail), but I've been restricted from it... Although I might cheat because I'm jonesin' for a bike ride, especially during this nice weather...... Anyhow I've managed to gain only 10 pounds in the 14 weeks (today!) that I've been pregnant - which is okay, average and tolerable, but now and increasingly in the 3rd trimester is where the real weight gain will start happening. I want to stay within a healthy range of weight gain and ensure that I'm doing everything nutritionally and physically that I can to help these babies get here safely. The good news is: my main craving for the past few weeks has been fruit - all of it, but especially peaches and watermelon. Sure fruit has sugar, but it's the best kind of sugar you can intake, and it's a sure-fire way to curb a sweets-attack. So, cross your fingers for me that everything stays on a healthy course. My biggest fear is that the babies will get here too early, so I'm going to try to do everything I can for myself and them in the meantime.

Lastly, I hope everyone's weekend was as good as mine, going out on our pontoon boat yesterday was certainly a highlight. (Disclaimer: the below photos are not from this weekend, they're all random from the past 2 years...) Although it was hot and humid yesterday, it didn't matter because we decided to spend the afternoon taking a long cruise up the Illinois river which was a beautiful, breezy ride. The sun was out, but we had the "white boy canopy" out for a shady escape from the rays and heat. It was just Kristian, myself, Andy and Lindsay (our good friends and co-owners of the boat), which was nice because it's rarely just the four of us. Lindsay is expecting their first child, a baby girl, in early December, so we got to talk "shop" so to speak for a lot of the day - it's helpful to have someone close to me that's just 3 months ahead of me in their pregnancy - to compare notes. It was just an incredibly peaceful, gorgeous day and the icing was definitely watching the season premiere of Prison Break last night!! I'm so glad it's back on!! Sunday was great too - seeing Annie and Kris was everything I could hope for, although our time together is always too short. They loved the framed photos and slide show of the wedding pictures - Annie even cried, which was so fulfilling for me both as her friend and her photographer. Having family over was great too that evening, Gretchen stole the show of course engaging everyone in a game of hide-n-seek and just being her general cute self. The wedding on Saturday with Jon went really well - I love working with him and look forward to doing so a lot more over the coming wedding seasons......

Lastly, we get to see the babies in TWO WEEKS!!!! AND PS: THE POLLS ARE ONCE AGAIN OPEN - PLEASE VOTE ON WHAT YOU THINK THE GENDERS OF THE BABIES ARE - POLL CLOSES 9.24.