13 Weeks?

Oh, Hey there, April! Welcome, what with your 99 degree Friday! I do so love:

Your bright, sunshiney mornings that now start well before I leave the house for work
Your orange blossoms that smell so delicious I want to pluck them from bright green limbs and pop them into my mouth for a taste
Your cool mornings and shady afternoons
Your piercing blue skies

I also love that you are the 4th month of the year, and that this is the 13th week of the year. And I love that my Blackberry figured that out for me without my having to use any brain power. Always a bonus when the technology we pay too much for does a simple task on our behalf, thus making us ridiculously dependent upon it. The great news here, though - and the real reason I'm tickled to see we're 13 weeks into the year - is that it means my first trimester is over and I can now share with you all:

I'm PREGNANT!!!!!!

Yup.

That's a positive pregnancy test.


Um.


I am also full of shit.

But: Hahahahahahahahaaaaa!

(Is an April Fool's joke supposed to make me a little sad when I remember it's just a joke?)

...carrying on...

No, the REAL reason I am happy we are 13 weeks into the year is that it means I've officially spent 3 months keeping my New Year's Resolutions! OH, I know....it's not a 3rd baby. But it's maybe a step toward someday being able to have a 3rd baby, so suck it up!

Not only have I curbed spending so that we're only going out to eat maybe twice per week (1 restaurant for a sit-down and 1 fast food kid-crazy place), I've also been cooking more at home which means spending less money AND eating better. It also means I've lost somewhere around 10-ish pounds since January. The exact number is in flux, as I was down 13 pounds until I went to D.C. in early March and followed that alcohol-and-room-service fest with spring break and Rohan's birthday. And suddenly? OOPS! I've piled 4 of those pounds back on. And it's taking time to lose them because as it turns out 2 weeks odfdebauchery can get you fat, but 2 weeks of trying to be good to fix said debauchery isn't enough. SO NOT FAIR.

Either way, whenever I get discouraged I remember that I made myself some promises this year, and I intend to keep them. And I also call upon some good friends (you know who you are, THANK YOU) for support, guidance and a little verbal lashing to get me back on track.

It helps, too, that there are so many delicious and cheap foods out there and in season right now. Just for fun, here is a small sampling of what I've been eating:

Cous cous with grilled chicken (cubed) and brocolli, seasoned with garlic salt.

Salad of spinach, cous cous, feta, sliced strawberries,  craisins, and chicken.

Yogurt and berry slices.

Cous cous has become somewhat of a staple. I buy the 5 minute boxed stuff, which is every bit delicious and easy, and make the whole box. It lasts for several meals, so I end up adding it to salads and mixing it with chicken and cooked veggies for an extra kick of protein, fiber, and B vitamins. The box I made this week was plain, which makes it easy to add a scoop into all sorts of dishes.

Lowfat yogurt and berries are always a favorite as well. It's breakfast. Snack. Dessert. It's tasty, high in fiber and vitamins and calcium, and easy. And deeeeeelicious.

I buy a big bin of baby spinach almost every time we go grocery shopping, and mostly use it for salads like the one above. I prefer raw spinach over cooked, and sometimes I also throw it into sandwiches instead of lettuce. I'm working up the energy to try green smoothies, which I think could replace breakfasts if only I wasn't too lazy to go through the steps to make them every morning. For now, a simple piece of fruit or cup of yogurt and coffee suffices as breakfast in my world.

My other cheap/lazy purchase at the store most weeks is a rotisserie chicken. I cut it up and use it in salads quite a bit. I also use it on quesadillas or roll it up with some vegetarin refried beans in a tortilla or with cheese in a lettuce wrap. It's probably more expensive than buying and cooking chicken breast, but it's easier and for that reason it's a regular in my house.

Another favorite I haven't photographed is celery and apple slices dipped in natural peanut butter. I like the kind you grind at the store best, and if it needs a little something I just add a squirt of honey.

By having go-to snacks and meals on hand in the house we're spending more at the grocery store, but much less on going out to eat (I went out to lunch just 4 times in March, when I used to average 2 times a week), and the added bonus is the painfully-slow-but-at-least-it's-something weight loss.

It's not a baby, sure. But keeping on track with my resolutions is leading me to my long-term goals, and THAT makes me happy.