2014 in Review.. What a year! ((Part 1))

 

2014 was the year our biggest prayer was answered.. actually, it was answered twice. Our struggle with infertility was something I opened up about a year ago, sharing this very personal journey with hundreds of friends, family members, and even strangers. Now, looking down at my 23 week pregnant belly and constantly feeling the kicks and movements of my two precious girls...
I can honestly say I have everything I've ever wanted in life.

 

I have an amazing husband who is perfect for me, a huge family and group of friends that support me during the highs and lows, and my two growing blessings in my belly.

I have a beautiful home with space to grow into as our family expands by four feet this May.
I have a crazy Weim, Smokey, who completes our family and loves us unconditionally.
I have my health.
I have my parents.
I am blessed.

I'm blessed beyond words can describe and can't believe this is how I'm beginning my 29th year. With such a great start to 2015, let's look back on my 2014 Goals.
 
Career Goals:
 1. Master my new position as a Health Fitness Specialist in Coverage with NIFS.
In August, I accepted a promotion with NIFS to become a Manager of my own corporate fitness center; NextGear Capital. I've loved the transition to corporate fitness from commercial fitness! Starting a fitness center from the ground up and getting it running has been great experience and I love coming to work everyday!

2. Build my Advocare business to the Gold level by February 2014. 
This is a definite failure. Our Advocare business has slowly decreased over 2014 with our focus being on starting our family. We continue to love the products and take them daily, but aren't actively recruiting new distributors. Advocare has been an amazing blessing of a Plan B income that we continue to generate today. Right now, we are enjoying our 40% discount and will see where it goes once the twins are a little older :)

Wifey Goals:

1. Prep all 10 of our lunches for the week every Sunday and plan out our week.

This goal has been a huge success over the year.  Some weeks are better than others...but for the most part, meal prepping is just apart of our Sunday routine.

2. Have a house cleaning schedule and perform 20-25 min of daily cleaning

FAIL! I need to recreate my cleaning schedule from our old house to adapt this to our new house. I do have a new routine that does work well (when I do it!) I will update on this soon.
 

3. Reduce our spending (ex. coupons, sales, etc)

Our focus has been on reducing spending a lot lately. With the thought of adding in two new family members this May and a hit in my salary for at least 3 months, we continue to look at new ways to cut costs in our budget. Our most recent success was switching from AT&T to Sprint, which will save us $30/month!

-$360 a year-
If we invested this little $30 difference over 10 years this will generate $5,697.15!

Next move...cutting cable?! Stay tuned

 

Fitness Goals: Maintain 125-128 lbs and 18% body fat

Looks like I'm going to have the same goal as last year! I'm currently tipping the scales at my heaviest weight with these girls growing by the day. I'm trying to keep my weight gain slow and steady by eating healthy (most of the time) and staying active at work. It's a huge mindset change to be happy about the scale increasing and isn't always easy to watch your body change, but I remind myself daily how blessed I am to be in this situation!

Before babies

 

 

22 weeks pregnant with twins

       

 

Part two of my 2014 Goals: Part II will be posted soon- Check back for that and more pregnancy updates.
-xoxo-
Sarah

 

 

 

 

20 week pregnancy update!

20 Week Bump Date

 

Thanks for the cute top Aunt Tammy and maternity jeans Aunt Kater! :)

 

My age: 29
 

How far along: 20 weeks
 

How big are the babies: The size of mango's. A week ago Baby A weighed 11 oz and Baby B was 10 oz. They are at least 6.5 inches in length.
 

Exercise/Activity Level: At 10 weeks, I was told I can no longer workout from my OB, therefore I've only been teaching 10 min quick fit classes at work 4 times a week along with a 30 minute yoga/stretching class. No cardio besides just walking at work.
 

Maternity clothes:  Mostly all my attire is maternity. At work I can still get away with my original workout pants/jackets, but on the weekends it's 90% maternity wear. All pants must be stretchy (leggings are my best friends!)
 

Stretch marks: None. (Fingers crossed it stays that way!)
 

Belly button: Trying to work it's way out.. It's kinda just disappeared!
 

Sleep: Sleep is going fairly well. For the first time this week, I think it was Baby A woke me up by kicking me in the side! I placed my hand there and felt it 3 more times before grabbing Barry's hand and placing it right where she was kicking. He felt it too! That was the first time he felt an actual kick and not just the "butterflies." Pretty awesome experience!
 

Best moment of the week:  This is the first week I can "interact" with the babies. I can feel their movements a lot more consistently. When I feel them kick, I can push back and they will kick again! It's amazing :)
 

Food cravings: The girls are definitely wanting sweets! Ice cream cones or Oreo McFlurries from McDonald's are their favorite. I will also settle for chocolate, but try to eat plain Greek yogurt with granola, cinnamon, and honey in the evenings... when the cravings strike. I'm not craving as many carbs or junk food as I was in the first trimester. Since exercise is only allowed to be minimal, I'm focusing on getting a lot of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, greek yogurt, etc.  

Food aversions: All my aversions are gone :)
 

Symptoms:

1. Dizziness: This happens if I'm teaching a class sometimes when I'm mixing in exercise with speaking loudly. I think I run out of air!
2. Pelvic pressure: After a long day at work, I can feel a lot of pressure, especially on my right side. Not sure if it's round ligament pain or what...
3. Out of breath: I'm easily winded which I'm not use to! After teaching a quick 10 minute "Quick Fit" I'm breathing harder and ready to rest. Same goes for walking long distances...just can't do it like I use to. These girls are getting bigger by the day and I'm getting slower by the day!

Movement: Tons of wiggling, butterfly movements, and a couple occasional kicks! I love feeling the girls dance around =)
 

Gender:  Two girls!
 

What I’m looking forward to:  We had two doctors appointments on Monday, January 19th. I think we will have an ultrasound and then head over to my regular doctor for my 2 week check up!
 

What I’m nervous about: Going on bed rest. I have an internal battle everyday between what I want to do and what I'm reading/being told to do. I've always wanted to have a super fit pregnancy- to be the girl jogging on the treadmill and lifting weights with her baby bump proudly out for all to see. Since week 10 of my pregnancy, this dream has no longer been a reality. I'm supposed to do "very light" activity and rest often with my feet up to avoid bed rest or preterm labor. My girls are my #1 priority right now, so as much as it kills me, I am sticking to doctor's orders.
  

What I miss: Being able to easily get out of bed or off the couch. I tend to feel and look like a turtle on my back which makes my husband laugh at least!
 

Next appointment: Monday, January 19th at 8am and 9:30am