Workouts and Chocolate Pretzels

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to post a quick update on my workout yesterday...

Monday -

30 x Squats
20 x Push Ups (Modified on Knees)
10 x Pull Ups (Jumping)

3 Rounds

This workout took me about 8 minutes. It was a simple workout but since I took the weekend easy it was the perfect kind of workout to get me back into the swing of things.


Tuesday -

Feel like I could use some relaxation and stretching time today so I'm going to do my yoga DVD and work on my HypnoBirthing... yay relaxation time!


Also - I have been reintroduced to one of my favorite things... chocolate covered pretzels :) And I got to thinking about how awesome it would be to make a dessert with chocolate and pretzels in it. As I was searching I came upon this recipe for chocolate chip and pretzel cookie bars - YUM!



I'm thinking of making these along with my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars to take up to Maryland for Thanksgiving... can't wait! Just thought I would share. Hope you all are having a great Tuesday and if you're in NC that you get a chance to enjoy this beautiful fall weather!

<3 Ash

Week 22 Belly Picture

Week 22 - Me and Ava <3

Still amazed that we're in the 22nd week already... time is flying by but I'm learning to slow down and enjoy each moment. Ava will be here before we know it :)

Day Trip to Raleigh

Hey Everyone!

On Saturday Dan and I decided that it would be good for us to get out Fayetteville and go have some fun so we decided to take a day trip to Raleigh. We had SO much fun! We got there around lunch time so we went to this place called Hi 5 which I had heard of a while ago and was interested in trying... everything on the menu is 5 dollars which I thought was awesome! Dan got a southwest style burger and I got a BBQ bacon burger... YUM! Oh and how can I forget the onion rings... they were literally the best onion rings I have ever had... yes I am quite the onion ring connoisseur in case you didn't know :) They also had a bunch of the football games on which Dan liked. On the way to the restaurant we saw a place called the cupcake shoppe so we decided to walk down there for dessert. This place was so cute! I love the colors they used to decorate and for their packaging etc. They had some great cupcake flavors too. I ended up getting a "Big Red" which was a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting and Dan got a "Mint Condition" cupcake which was a chocolate cupcake with mint flavored cutter cream (his frosting was so good!).



As we were sitting outside about to enjoy our cupcakes I commented to Dan how big and table like my belly gets when I sit down - to show him how much like a table it's become and to share my cupcake experience with Ava I decided to set my cupcake on top of it.

Luckily he caught this image right before my cupcake fell into my lap hehe I'm sure we were quite the sight - don't worry though the cupcake survived the fall! Then from there we went to the Museum Natural Science to wander around for a little bit - my favorite part of the museum were the live animals they had out for the kids event they were putting on for Halloween. We got to see a Hedgehog - it's little face was soo cute! They also had a partial skeleton set up of Acrocanthosaurus. Being at the museum and seeing all of the families made me very excited to be able to do those kinds of things with Ava one day soon :) From the museum we went to Trader Joe's just for fun and we ended up getting some pumpkin butter, peanut butter, chocolate and soup... they had some amazing flowers there too but we didn't get any since we had to drive home still. Note: Last night I tried out the peanut butter and the apple butter... I put them together on a piece of toast and it was DELICIOUS! After that we went to Old Navy where I got to pick up a pair of maternity jeans, a REALLY comfy jacket that I've been eying online for a while and a long sleeve t-shirt.


I could seriously live in this jacket - it's just that comfy :) And our last stops for the day were Target to buy Ava's crib (and they had it in stock yayyy!) and Chipotle for dinner (this is one of Dan's favorite places to eat). Since it was Halloween Chipotle had this deal that if you come dressed up as a burrito you get one for free. We saw some pretty sad looking burrito costumes which consisted mostly of tin foil wrapped around people's fore arms but there were a couple who actually went all out - it was pretty funny to watch! And that's how our day in Raleigh went! It was by far one of the funnest days that we've gotten to spend together in a while and I am one lucky girl to have such a sweet and thoughtful man as my husband :) Thanks for such a fun day!

Week 22 Update

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I got a little thrown off during our friends visit but I'm back now :) Their visit was a lot of fun - we did a bunch of CrossFit workouts, yoga, went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze and spent time catching up at home! It was so great to see old friends - especially ones that I am as close with as Meg, Chelsa and Yost and it reminded me of how blessed I have always been to have such amazing people in my life! I am one lucky girl... that's for sure!

I have been feeling so great lately... just a little tired now and then but that's about it. Ava moves all the time now and has been giving me really big kicks which I love :) She likes to move the most in the morning around 10 am - 11 am and then at night after dinner or when I'm going to sleep. Her favorite time to wiggle around seems to be when I'm very relaxed and when I'm doing my deep breathing that I learned at hypnobirthing. She was all over the place during yoga yesterday which made me laugh. We had our 21/22 week appointment the other day and everything is looking great! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by and how soon Ava will be here with us :) We are so excited though and getting anxious to meet her face to face! I would also like to tell you all how sweet Dan has been lately. The other day after all of our friends left for home he lit my smell good candle and offered to paint my toenails for me :) Of course I jumped all over that opportunity.. it's getting a little tough to reach down there these days! He always helps me to make dinner and breakfast and works with me on our hypnobirthing. He has just been so great! We're getting excited to go on our "babymoon" next weekend - we're going to stay in Wilmington and we're taking the pups with us. No plans except to relax, eat some yummy food and take walks to the beach :) Our trip up to Maryland for Thanksgiving is fast approaching too and I am getting so excited to see my family and to eat a bunch of tasty pumpkin treats with my Mama! A little less than a month left.

That's all the update I have for now. I will be back on track this week with my usual posts and will hopefully get a video update in soon - I truthfully don't really like seeing myself on video and that's why I've been putting it off but I know that it's much easier for you guys to watch a video then to sit and read my ramblings :) So I will make an effort to make one this week. Love you all and I hope everyone has a Happy (and safe) Halloween!!

p.s. I am 22 weeks right now, I weight 156 lbs according to the doctor's office and my waist is at 39 1/2 " (I started at 34 1/4 " and about 3 weeks ago I was at 38 1/2 "). She's growing so fast... I can't believe it sometimes! I read somewhere that this week she is going to gain 6 ounces - and she only currently weighs about 11 ounces... she's going to gain half her body weight in one week. Blows my mind. Alright, that's really all for now :)

Love <3

Ash

Updating Our Bathroom

One of the major projects that Dan and I have wanted to do for a while now is to update our bathroom. It was by far our least favorite room in the house but now after giving it some love it is our favorite room in the house :) With a bunch of our friends coming into town to visit we wanted the house to look nice... it gave us the perfect excuse to get going! Here are some pictures -


All we did to fix the bathroom up was add a new coat of paint, rip out the old nasty laminate tiles and put in new ones, replace the old mirror with our new $20 one from Roses and install some new towel racks along with new towels. Overall it only took us about 2 days or so to complete and not very much money at all. So happy that we finally can check this project off of our list :) Nesting is in full swing at the Collinsworth household!

Oh Baby... We're Half Way There!

Hey Everyone!

Today is the half way point in our pregnancy... 20 weeks :) I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by and can't imagine how fast the second half will most likely go by as well. Ava is growing and moving as much as ever and I am so thankful to have had such a healthy pregnancy so far and hopefully continue to have for the rest as well - God willing.



Nesting

Dan and I both have had a major urge to "nest" or get the house ready for when Ava gets here the last week or so. So we have been doing all kinds of projects including picking out her bedding, painting the bathroom, replacing our front porch light, making craft projects, rearranging furniture and many many more little projects. It has been a lot of fun so far and I'm glad to have a nesting partner in crime :) The newest project that we're working on aside from painting the bathroom is creating a mobile for above Ava's crib. We went to Michael's yesterday and just wandered around thinking of fun ways to make our own. So we ended up buying a round cardboard disc that is used to make wreaths for the base, a bunch of colorful ribbon (pink, cream, brown and a blue/green color - all different patterns including stripes, polka dots and zig zags) that we will hot glue all the way around the edge of the disc so that they hang down like a chandelier and some really pretty pieces of jewelry that we're going to cut into individual pieces and tie to the ends of the ribbon.




So excited to work on this project with Dan... hopefully it turns out how we have it pictured.

HypnoBirthing

Dan and I have our very first HypnoBirthing class tomorrow with Teva - our awesome instructor! This methos is so perfect for Dan and I. This method helps the husband to be directly involved in the birthing process by helping me to stay calm, relaxed and focused which is one thing that we were looking for. It also works by using positive affirmations (spoken by Dan) to help me get myself into a deeply relaxed state and to stay that way throughout labor. This method reminds me a lot of the type of mental preparation that I would use in high school when I ran Cross Country and Track. Having used similar methods for so many huge events in my life (without really realizing I was doing so) it only makes sense to use it for the biggest event of all - child birth. The idea behind staying relaxed and positive is that without fear childbirth should for the most part be relatively pain free. It is because of fear and tension during labor that most women experience the bulk of their pain. The fear and tension cause the body to close up and in turn the baby is forced to press against a tight wall of muscle (causing pain) instead of a relaxed wall of muscle which is much easier to pass through. Other factors play into the success of HypnoBirthing which include - having only people you trust in the room with you at the time of labor and delivery, how the mom holds her body, positioning, etc. All of these things if considered before hand can help the mother to have a relatively quick and pain free birthing. I love the science behind all of this (as you can probably tell) and am so excited to learn as much as I can about my body and the entire process of labor and delivery during our classes. Outside of the classes I have been reading the HyonoBirthing book as well as Ina May's book on Childbirth - both of which are about natural childbirth. I have really enjoyed reading both of these books and I feel like they compliment each other very well.

That's all the exciting news for week 20 :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Workouts

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to do a quick update on my workouts so far for this week.

Monday

Dan and I went for a run on base on a really pretty trail... I think it was called Champion Trail. We ran for about 30 minutes and probably ran between 3 and 3 1/2 miles. It felt to be outside in the cool weather, it even sprinkled a little bit while we were raining which was nice! Dan spotted a deer while we were running too which was cool. The trail had a lot of rolling hills and a lot of sand. This made it a slightly more difficult run so I made sure that at the top of each hill or after a sandy spot that I slow down to let my breathing get under control again. This was my first longer run since becoming pregnant and it felt great! We're going to Maryland most likely for Thanksgiving to see my family and we'll all do a 5 miler on Thanksgiving morning which has become quite the tradition now... very excited to not only participate in a race but to also get to run with my family :) So cool that Ava will be along for the ride this year! It'll be fun someday to tell her about all of the things I did while I was pregnant with her.

Tuesday

Jason's Going Away Workout - Cross Fit Cape Fear

5 Rounds

6 x Thrusters (65 #)
9 x Box Jumps
12 x KB Swings (12 kg)

10:06

Our friend Jason from CrossFit is leaving soon to go to Texas so we had a going away workout and potluck for him. It was a great workout and some yummy food afterward! We're going to miss him though!

Wednesday

Rest Day :)


Hope you all are having a great day and enjoying this fall weather!

p.s. My Mom was really bad today and told me about this Pumpkin Ice Cream that Eddy's is selling right now and while we were talking I just so happened to be on my way to the store hehe so of course I had to buy some :) And I just have to tell you guys this is the most delicious ice cream I have EVER had! I'm not even that crazy about ice cream but I love anything pumpkin and this is at the top of my list right now of my favorite pumpkin things. Just thought I would share! Thanks for this Mom :)