"I CAN cook dad!"

Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well. A lot has happened since I last blogged but I am back and hoping it is for good.

I recently decided to quit my job to stay home with Mateo for a few months. His personality started to change and he needed his momma around more. I didn’t want to regret not spending time with him right now that he is at such a young age. Having the privilege to stay home with my son has allowed me to work on other things I enjoy doing like fitness and nutrition.

A lot of you who follow my blog, instagram and/or face book know that I love to work out. I truly enjoy it. I love it actually. I laugh whenever someone asks me why I work out so much if I am not overweight. People don’t only work out because they need to lose weight. Some people actually enjoy working out and staying active. I’m one of those people. I enjoy how it makes me feel about myself after I’m done with a killer work out. I don’t do it because I want to lose weight. I do it because I want to be fit.

Staying home has also allowed me to COOK! Yes, I can cook. The day my husband asked my dad if he could marry me, my dad told him “It’s fine with me but she can’t cook”. haha! My husband loves me so much it didn’t matter. He married me anyway. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I am REALLY enjoy cooking. I’ve been making things up as well as following healthy recipes I come across online. I don’t follow complicated recipes because I am not a chef. So don’t expect any of that on my blog. LOL! I try to keep it as simple as possible. I am in the process of going back to work very soon so I hope I could continue the healthy eating-on-the go.

Tonight I made healthy CHICKEN SALAD LETTUCE WRAPS. I pretty much followed a recipe I found online and then put my own twist to it. If you decide to make any of the recipes I share on my blog, please tag me. I'd love to hear all about it. Same goes with your fitness journey. Please share and keep me updated! I LOVE to hear it all.

CHICKEN SALAD LETTUCE WRAPS

Boil 4 chicken breasts

8oz plain greek yogurt

Mustard (I didn’t measure it. Go by the taste)

2 diced celery

2 diced cooked carrots

½ cup of corn

Diced Almonds (optional)

Seasoned salt (I used Lawry's 25% less sodium)

Pepper

Romaine lettuce leafds

Jalapenos (add the juice for more flavor)

 

 

 

EAT CLEAN, TRAIN MEAN, STAY LEAN.

 

 

 

 

 

Dani <3

 

 

 

Valentines day is EVERYDAY!

This year my husband & I didn’t do much for Valentine’s Day. I’ve been really cranky lately and not in the mood to do much. Now that I’m 39 weeks pregnant, I hardly have any energy to do anything. I'm really uncomfortable. I feel like this little one is gonna slide out any min (literally, lol). I only have energy to eat, school/hw, walk (to induce my labor) && watch a good show on the ID channel with my husband.

Biggest surprise this Valentine’s Day was seeing my husband still laying in bed next to me when I woke up in the morning. He didn’t tell me the night before he was working the second shift so he got the chance to come with me to my doctor’s appointment. YAY! We went to my 39 week appointment and to our surprise, I was told I have not dilated. I was pretty bummed but I didn’t want that to ruin our day.  The doctor did an ultrasound to check if I had enough fluid and everything was fine. We left the doctor’s office with two ultrasound pictures (one for him & one for me) that said “Happy Valentines Day Mommy & Daddy). Mateo remains covering his face so we weren’t able to see much L.. already giving us a hard time. lol. After the appointment my husband took me out to for brunch. We ate and headed home so he can get ready for work.

While my hubby was at work, I was cleaning one of my drawers and I came across a little card that Tony gave me on our one year anniversary. It said

This year has been amazing!

“Thank you for everything baby!

Can’t wait to see how our lives turnout”

I love you,

Tony.

It brought so many old memories. I remember exactly where I was when I read that card. I was sitting at my parent’s dining table studying for finals =/.. Our dating anniversary is in December and its always a few days away from finals, so we usually celebrate it once finals are done and over with (double the celebration, I say) Anyway, I hear a knock on the door and I see the HOTTEST delivery guy (TONY, hahahahahah) standing there, holding a dozen red roses and one BIG yellow sunflower in the middle of all the roses. For those who don’t know, sun flowers are my absolute favorite! && he put only one to represent the one year we had spent together.

Who knew our lives a year after that would be getting married && having a baby. I didn’t! And I know he didn’t either. I love everything about our love story. I wouldn’t change anything if I could.

I love my husband && I love what we have. My grandpa always said we need three things to make a relationship work out; LOVE, TRUST & RESPECT! & that’s exactly what Tony & I have.  He’s my protector, my best friend, my everything. He makes me feel safe. There isn’t a day I don’t thank god for putting him in my path. The love he has for me and Mateo makes me fall more and more in love with him. He’s soo awesome, he’s gained weight with me throughout the pregnancy. Haha. He even watches American Idol with me because he knows that’s the show my parents & siblings would watch every year back when I lived at home. He’s made the transition to my new married life a smooth one.

Being married to Tony means celebrating Valentines day & our love 365 days a year!

Every day is Valentines Day for us <3

love && babies,

Dani

UPDATE on everything..

I’m such a bad blogger. I’ve completely forgot about my blog. A LOT has happened since I last blogged.  Here are just a few things…

OATMEAL: I’ve become ADDICTED to the new oatmeal they have at MC. DONALDS. I’m a HUGE fan of Jamba Juice && their oatmeal (sooo goooooood).  But when you’re pregnant && not always looking your best, you settle for Mc. Donald’s oatmeal.  Jamba Juice should really consider getting a drive thru. Haha. Anyway, the new oatmeal + freshly squeezed orange juice have been my breakfast for two weeks straight. I la la la loveeeeeeeee it!

STOLLER JOGGER: Last weekend, my mom & I went to babies r us && I purchased a jogger stroller/stroller jogger (whichever comes first, lol) && I am SUPER excited to use it when my little one gets here. As soon as Mateo is old enough to go for a stroll, I plan on power walking/running to get back into shape. My husband & I put it together (I supervised, hahah) && we discovered it came with speakers! How cool is that?! I can connect my ipod/iphone to it.

SUMMER TRIP: My family invited Tony & I out for dinner on Sunday. While we were there, we finally had time to discuss our plans for this summer. My grandparents (dad’s parents) will be celebrating their 50^th year anniversary in June && we are all planning to go to Mazatlan. Just thinking about this trip gets me super excited. Two summers ago Tony wasn’t allowed to go with us because my dad said “we weren’t MARRIED”..wa wa wa. Well, now we are =)..&& with a baby too. Mateo will be about four months old. My family out there will get to meet both of them. We plan on purchasing our tickets & booking our hotel once our little one arrives. We need to make sure our little one is healthy before making any traveling arrangements. Mateo is our first priority. And if everything goes as planned, we will be leaving June 23^rd.   YAY!!!

Mateo’s great grandpa: Last Monday, god decided to take a good man. My husband’s grandfather passed away just a week after being hospitalized. Even though it was very hard for my husband & his family to let go, they were extremely blessed to have had him in their lives as long as they did. Papa Jose was 90 years old && he was the sweetest little old man. He wasn’t little by the way, he was 6’2. I got the privilege to meet him and have many conversations with him. Just two months ago, he told me “I really hope I get to meet the baby”.  I told him he was silly for saying that and of course he was going to meet him.  Only god knows why he decided to take him before Mateo’s arrival. The night of his death, my husband and  were laying in bed and I told him how weird life can be sometimes. My great grandma died TEN days before I was born && now Mateo’s great grandfather dies days before he is born.

FALSE ALARM: I really hate false alarms. I get super excited && I start picturing the moment I’ve been anxiously waiting for. On our drive to the cemetery on Friday, I started getting contractions. At first they were 7-8 minutes apart. Once we got off and the ceremony started, they started getting really strong, and were only 5-6 minutes apart. I held my husband’s hand and every time I would get one, I would squeeze it really hard. Haha. Once the contractions went on for 25 minutes, we finally decided to head home since we were about a 30 minutes away from Downey. We planned it all out, get home, change to comfy cloths, grab Mateo’s car seat, hospital bags, stop by Jamba juice (haha, that was my idea) & head straight to Kaiser. BUT....once we got in the car, the contractions started coming every 10-15 minutes. By the time we got home, they were GONE. Wa wa waaaaaaaaaaaa! Since everyone has been telling me to WALK && that will do it, my husband had the brilliant idea to buy me new running shoes (my other running shoes don’t fit) and hit the park. So, we did. We walked UPHILL, DOWNHILL, and even went up and down some stairs && NOTHING, NADA!!!  I’ve come to accept that Mateo will come when he is ready. Mama & Papa might be ready but he isn’t. Not just yet. We’ll have to wait && see when this little one decides to make his appearance. But till then, I’ll be eating my butt off. Hahaha, I only gained ONE pound in two weeks. & yes, that’s a good thing when you’re 28 weeks pregnant.

&& last but not least, today's one of my BEST FRINEDS birthday. Miss SILVIA MORENO<3.. Don't know what i'd do without this crazy little diva. She was the first person I met when I started St. Matthias. If you don't already know the story of how we met, here youuu go.

It was the first day of summer school. I was put in private school because I was "BAD" according to my parents. I didn't want anything to do with this "ALL GIRLS school". I refused to put their uniform on the first day of class. As I'm waiting for the teacher to open the door, this SUPER BUBBLY, curly hair girl comes towards me. She stands right in front of me and says "HI, I'M SILVIA, DO YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND"?. hahaha. && from that day on, we've been friends. 

Happy 23rd birthday Silvia.

I love youuu <3

Soo good! Try it if you haven't.

Mateo's stroller.

Mazatlan :)

Love && Babies,

Dani <3

HUGE.

I never thought I’d dislike a word this much. If you don’t already know how much I dislike the word HUGE, well now you know. The other day I briefly mentioned (on fb) about these two girls who I ran into at subway. One of the girls said “Damnnnnnnn, you’re big”. I thought adding the world “damn” was pretty rude but at least they didn’t use the word HUGE.  The day before my baby shower, I went to forever 21. I had no idea the baby shower would be the next day (my sister wanted it to be a surprise) but I knew It would be soon so I wanted to have a cute top ready whenever the day would come.  Little did I know I would have a BAD shopping experience thanks to “Miss. I love the word HUGE”.  When I arrived at the fitting room, the first thing the employee said was “omg, you’re so huge”. I smiled and said, “thanks”.  I tried on the first top and came out to see how it looked.  

Girl: “You look so cute but omg, you’re so HUGE!”

Me: “ Yeah, I know”

Girl: “Omg, is it a boy or girl”?

Me: “It’s a boy”

Girl: “Omg, he’s going to be a HUGE baby”.

She made me feel like I didn’t belong at forever 21. I might be “HUGE” but excuse me, I still fit into a medium (a little tight, but I fit into it). As much as I say pregnancy is beautiful, it is also not that pretty once you hit 33 weeks. Towards the end of pregnancy, we don’t feel that pretty. I’ll talk for myself because every woman is different.  "I" don’t feel as pretty. I’m BIG, tired && I wobble like a penguin when I walk.  So what I’m trying to say is, whenever you come across a pregnant woman DON’T use the word HUGE because they might not appreciate it.

Me && my BIG belly.

Love && Babies,

Dani <3

Top 5 MUST HAVE!

A few friends weren’t kidding when they said blogging can become addicting. I love it already!  I figured I’d blog about my pregnancy  & everything related to that as much as I can since I’m NINE MONTHS PREGNANT TODAY =).. wooo hooo! Won’t be pregnant for too long, so I have to take advantage.  I Thought I’d share the TOP FIVE “MUST HAVE” while being prego! These items have helped me A LOT throughout this pregnancy.

Numero UNO: Palmer lotion for stretch marks. Not to brag but I don’t have a SINGLE stretch mark (not yet, & I really hope I don’t jinx it). I use this lotion after every shower & before bed every night.  I’m not kidding when I say this lotion is THE BEST! I plan on using it after I deliver as well. The best part is…. it’s about $6 bucks & you can find it at target, CVS, Walmart, etc.

#2: Pregnancy body pillow, also known as my best friend & my husband’s worst enemy.  This body pillow is AMAZING! When I first bought it, I thought it was ENORMOUS! But the bigger you get, the smaller the pillow becomes. It supports your back & allows you to curl your legs around it. The only downside about the pillow is how much your husband/boyfriend will hate it! Tony complains about it every night & hates the big gap it divides between us. But don’t pay attention to them. They’re not the ones carrying the baby for ten months.

#3: Moccasins! I was lucky I was not very pregnant during the summer (thank god) so I was able to wear flip flops. Every time I attempt to pull up any of my high winter boots, my baby bump would get in the way.  Around October, I started gaining a lot of weight & I just HAD to buy comfortable shoes.  I bought moccasins. I literally wear them EVERYDAY; I’m wearing them as I type. They’re comfy & support my BIG swollen feet. Plus I think they’re adorable. I refused to wear crops (no offense to anyone who has them), but they’re UGLY.  You can find moccasins at Nordstrom’s for $60.

#4: “What to expect when expecting”.  When my aunt found out she was pregnant, she bought a book called “What to expect when expecting” and read it throughout her pregnancy.  She always mentioned how much she was learning from this book. She decided to pass it on to other women in the family whenever they/we were pregnant.  So far, two aunts, two cousins && myself have read the book. We all put our names & due date on the inside cover. She made it a pregnancy tradition. The book is practically falling apart but I love it.  Anyway, BUY THE BOOK! I think every woman should learn every single developmental stage their baby is going through. Mondays are not only my favorite day because Gossip Girl is on but because I’m one more week pregnant every Monday. I remember one Monday I read about how it feels when babies get the hiccups. It said my baby was big enough to get the hiccups. Sure enough, about four days later, Mateo got the hiccups for the first time. It was a beautiful feeling. You won't go wrong with this book. I call it the "pregnancy bible".  I love it!

#5: is more of an advice. Cravings. Whatever they are, HAVE IT! Expect if it’s a margarita of course! In the beginning of the pregnancy I wouldn’t have every single craving because most of my cravings have been fatty food :(..I was scared to gain TOO much weight because prior to my pregnancy, I worked out four/five times a week & I didn’t want to throw all that hard work away. BUT, after MANY people advice me on how important it is to satisfy the baby and his/her cravings (blame the baby, of course) I learned to let that go. Every pregnant woman gains weight. There’s no way out of it, we have a little life growing inside us & it’s bound to happen. Even though I complain about my weight gain sometimes, I can honestly say I enjoy having an excuse to be BIG (never use the term HUGE please) & eat whatever I want. Yes, I still have fruit & veggies but if I’m craving a cheeseburger, I’m going to have it. I’ll have to deal with losing weight once I have baby Mateo. I know I’ll regret it the first day I step foot on that treadmill but I am enjoying well it lasts.

Palmer Lotion for stretch marks.

Pregnancy pillow.

Moccasins.

What to expect when expecting.

 

                                                                      36 weeks.

&& Since I am 9 months pregnant today, thought i'd share a picture I took of my belly this morning.



&& there you have it, the top FIVE MUST HAVE while being pregnant.

love && babies,

Dani <3

a lil something about mee..

I haven't really figured out what this blog is really going to be about but thought i'd start with a few things about myself. If ANYONE is even reading this, you probably know some stuff already but here youu go...

• I hate when people call me Danielle. Call me Daniela or Dani but NOT Danielle.
• I'm a wife, daughter, sister, friend & soon to be mother.
• I married my best friend on 7/17/10 & we are expecting out first baby, Mateo.
• I talk to my son every day. I tell him how much I love him & how excited we are to meet him.
• I'm very family oriented.
• I gag every time I see a "Chipotle" sign. Blame morning sickness.
• I love headbands, especially the ones with bows.
• I'm allergic to pineapple & bees.
• I am addicted to the ID channel, Investigation Discovery.
• I have the ugliest voice & i'm probably the only person who DOESN'T sing in the shower. 
• I love my rainbows, cardigans & rainy days. 
• I want to run a marathon one day.