Hi friends! Popping in with some randomness for you today, so let’s do this in list format, shall we?
1) Our 5 year wedding anniversary is tomorrow! WOW. How does time go by so quickly?! Normally Matt and I would have some fun weekend trip/big adventure planned to celebrate, but we’re kind of counting our babymoon (recap 1 + recap 2) from a few weeks ago as our anniversary celebration since we weren’t sure if this would be cutting it too close with travel (I’m 34 weeks today – new pregnancy update coming tomorrow). Hopefully we can enjoy a nice dinner out or something this weekend to celebrate, too. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years – it feels like yesterday in some ways. (If you’re new to the blog and want to read all my wedding-related recaps, you can find them all here: our wedding.) This picture below is one of my favorites from our big day because it’s so fun and candid – it was taken right at the moment when our announcer pronounced our last name wrong, so we were both cracking up about it before entering the dinner tent. <3
Want to save this post? Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I'll send you great content every week!
2) Mediterranean food and I seem to be having a moment – especially hummus. But weirdly I only want hummus with pita bread, not with crackers, because, pregnancy. The bump is so picky! Also, if you’re local, Lebanese Taverna has excellent hummus (and fluffy, hot pita bread). Mmmmm.
3) Still loving the workouts! I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to keep up with my boot camp dates with the ladies, especially since I haven’t been able to run while pregnant (I mean, I probably COULD have, but it just doesn’t feel good, so what’s the point right?). Here’s a picture from a fun workout at Bodymass Gym via ClassPass (<- affiliate link for $40 off) earlier this week. I’m modifying anything I need to, and also just going more slowly, using lighter weights or doing less reps so I don’t get behind, etc., but still feeling good.
4) There’s a really fun debate going on on my Facebook page about what ripe-ness level of bananas you prefer! It seems all of us have very specific opinions about how ripe a banana should be for eating or baking… go share your thoughts, too! 🙂
5) Maternity Leave Plan: I’ve had some questions lately about what I’m planning to do in terms of a maternity leave, so I wanted to share my current plan (I was going to save this for my 34 week pregnancy update tomorrow, but that post is already like 500 pages long, so I figured I’d share here instead)!
In terms of my AnneTheRD nutrition private practice, I just stopped taking new clients as of this week, and won’t take any new ones on again until February (at the earliest – maybe March depending how things are going). For current clients who I’m meeting with weekly/who are working more intensely on things, I’m referring them on permanently to new dietitians to continue their care, and am starting to have final sessions with them over the next couple weeks so we can allow for some overlap with their new care team. For the 7 or 8 current clients who I meet with monthly on an ongoing/long term/continual basis, I’m planning to meet with them until shortly before the due date. I will take December off from calls/in person meetings, but will continue to check in with these clients via email. I’m hoping in January I should be able to slowly start back up the calls/meetings for just these clients, but we will have to see how things go.
In terms of the blog, I’m planning to take a short breather right when the baby comes (maybe a few days, maybe a week? we’ll see how I feel), and then will hopefully get back into regular posting as things settle, but I’m not going to put pressure on myself to stick to my normal posting schedule. If I need to post less often, that’s fine, but I’m planning to try to pop in a few times a week still with mostly lifestyle posts and the occasional pre-written recipe or tips post. I expect to get back to posting 5 times a week again at some point but I’ll just have to play it by ear.
A huge help in all of this will be the fact that Matt is able to get 2 full months of paid paternity leave from his company. I know, completely amazing and we are SO lucky. It’s normally 2 weeks, but his company has a thing where if your spouse is self employed and gets no leave and you’ll need to really pitch in as a primary caregiver in the early days, then you can take 2 months. This will be a HUGE help having him totally off so I can keep the blog going and check in with long term clients via email in December, and then hopefully do a few in-person meetings and calls in January. So really the main thing will be figuring out February, when Matt will be back at work and our baby will be too young for daycare. This is when I think a lot of my phone calls are going to start with “mom, help?!” (So grateful to have her nearby!!)
Regarding childcare, I know I at least want to do part time, potentially full time daycare (or a nanny share). One of the things that has driven me crazy is people saying things like: “Oh, you work for yourself, so you can just work during nap time and won’t even need childcare, right?!” Ummm… no. I have a full time job, and while I’m grateful to work for myself because it means my work hours (and official “return to work date”) are much more flexible and that is a big luxury, I know I won’t be able to fit a full time business into random nap time spurts of productivity. That’s just a recipe for being extremely stressed out. I work hard and make good money and I know it will be worth it to invest in some actual childcare to help balance everything – I don’t need to try to do it all. That said, we’ll see if I want to do part time childcare for awhile before transitioning to full time… I’m keeping things open so I can wait and see how I feel. I may want to get right back to my full time work schedule, and I may want to decrease work responsibilities a bit so I have more time with the baby. We’ll see! Too hard to tell until I’m in it. 🙂 Official daycares in our area are reeeeeeally expensive and super competitive, so I think an in-home daycare or nanny share (but not at our house, because our house is tiny and it would make working from home challenging) will likely be more feasible. but we’ll see. You basically have to (pay to) be on the formal daycare waiting lists before you are even trying to get pregnant if you want a chance to get a spot when the baby arrives – it’s crazy here. And I definitely did not plan ahead that much!
Basically, the bottom line is I have a loose plan but I’m going to mostly just wait and see how things go, and I’m grateful to have the luxury of doing that since I do work for myself AND since we have family nearby to pitch in in a pinch. I have no idea how I’m going to feel, how our baby will be, etc. So, I think it’s best to plan a little but be flexible in the case those plans go out the window!
And now, I will leave you with some links I enjoyed recently from around the web. See you guys back here tomorrow for a 34 week pregnancy update!
- A double amputee marine is running 31 marathons in 31 days – wow. So inspiring!
- Why “Feeling Fat” Has Nothing to Do with Size – absolutely love this guest post from fellow intuitive eating dietitian Rachael over on our friend Alex’s blog.
- Healthy Make-Ahead Breakfast Options – another guest post on Alex’s blog, but this one is from me. 🙂
- Because tacos and I are still having a pregnancy moment (although, I love tacos whether pregnant or not), I want to try this ASAP: Turkey Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.
- Two desserts I’m crushing on hard: Paleo Pumpkin Pie Brownies + these adorable Halloween Spider Cupcakes. Yum!!
