Dear Husband... watch well!

My dear Husband,
please watch this video very well, if you can even several times..
and if after five months you are desperate of how you can help me feel better, than remember this video and the slow dance.. PLEASEEEE

Fit and Food - 30.January

Food:
Breakfast: bread with butter and nutella, green tea, jogurt, one grapefruit.
Lunch: Omelette with leek, zuccini and tomato
Dinner: Garlic bread (oven)

Workout:
Pilates - standing pilates
Pilates - core workout
Pilates - whole body workout
Pilates - for flexibility
That makes 40 minutes of excercise!

Fit and Food - 29.January

Food:
Breakfast: Toast with nutella and butter, green tea.
Lunch: Spaghetti with Pesto and cream cheese.
Dinner: Oranges

Workout:
I didn't do any of my videos but i walked 4km while going grocery shopping.

Fit and Food - 28.January

Food:
Breakfast: toast with nutella and butter, green tea and one activia jogurt.
Lunch: Spaghetti with tomato sauce, an apple.
Dinner: green salad and one steak.

Workout break

skincare during pregnancy

Except for the first two months of my pregnancy or so my skin has been doing really great but to keep it like that i have been using some very basic and gentle products to keep my skin as calm as possible.

one of my skincare staples is the clarisonic mia which i (try to) use once a day.
It keeps my skin looking clean and fresh while being very gentle.

 

As for actual skincare i have been using only two products on a daily bases:
The Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser

and the Avene Skin Recovery Cream

For weekly treatments i am loving the Avene Gentle Purifying Scrub

together with the Avene Instant Soothing Moisture Mask

the Weleda Iris Moisture Mask

and the Dermalogica Skin Refining Mask

Those products have helped a lot in keeping my skin in very good condition during my pregnancy so far.

Since everything you put in and on your body can effect your baby, there are some products i had to stop using :

The Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant for example contains beta hydroxy acid which is better be avoided during pregnancy

Also Retinol and Retina are better avoided during pregnancy. Thats why i haved stopped using my beloved Avene Ystheal+ Moisturizer and Avene Ystheal+ Eyecream.

The sad news are that i cannot take these products while breastfeeding either. So i guess ill be some years without these products...
But as long as the baby is safe and happy everything is just fine..

Fit and Food - 27.January

Food:
Breakfast: Toast with butter and nutella, green tea, one grapefruit.
Lunch: cauliflower, potato and sauce hollandaise. one apple.
Dinner: herbal butter bread (oven)

Workout:
pilates - standing pilates
pilates - whole body workout
pilates - stretching
makes 30 minutes of workout.

Fit and Food - 26.January

Food:
Breakfast: Toast with butter and nutella, green tea and one grapefruit.
Lunch: coffe with milk, cookies and two apples.
Dinner: herbal butter bread (from the oven), tomato salad and a banana peanut butter milkshake.

Workout:
Pilates - standing pilates
Pilates - core workout
Pilates - whole body workout
Pilates - stretching
Prenatal Yoga

That makes 40 minutes of workout and 25 minutes relaxation!

Abaya - during pregnancy?

Since most of abayas are cut to cover a ladies body and curves, most abaya models can be worn during pregnancy as well.
But there are some styles which are specially suited for maternity as they are very wide cut or ajustable.
Here are some of the styles which are extra suitable and which i have in my closet already:

The first and most "common" front closed style. These might be a bit revealing and curve-hugging in the last trimester, but that depends on the model.

A second, more flexible option is the shoulder-closed style. The sides are open and therefore adapt perfectly to the growing belly. In the last months it might be advisable to wear this style only with maxi dresses or skirts for optimal coverage. The same goes for the front-open abayas.
Both of these styles are also perfect for nursing mothers as they allow direct access.

Another very concealing style is the butterfly abaya. They come in a sleeved butterfly and in the full butterfly version.
Both versions have lots of fabric on the sides to provide room for a growing belly. If extre fabric is needed, the seems can be very easily adjusted.
Both models are also suited for breastfeeding since they provide a 9 inch front closure that allows easy access.

I love all my abayas and cannot wait to see them grow with my belly!

The ultimate diaper bag?

Well... there i go talking about how a hero i want to be doing my diaper bag and many other things by myself...
well.. maybe i just changed my mind?

Because these bags will be sooooo cute as diaper bags!!!

the baby boy option:

and the baby girl option:

Sure these bags (available at H&M) are not so sweety baby-ish but they are sooo cool!!!!
I really really love those!
Ill waite until we find out the gender of the baby and than i might think about buying one of these... let's see :)

Fit and Food - 25.January

Food:
Breakfast: Toast with butter and nutella, green tea.
Lunch: smashed potatoes with brown onions and fish filet (Fischstäbchen)
Dinner: one orange and water

Workout:
aerobic warm-up
new pilates video which i didn't like
pregnancy yoga
that makes 30 minutes workout and 25 minutes relaxation.

Maternity Fashion

For quite some time I thought that i don't need to buy extra maternity wear. And for the most part i still think like that. I plan to wear leggings which i can roll down so they don't sqeeze my belly, long t-shirts and to go out ill wear my abayas or one of my maxi dresses.

But at the same time there are so many wonderful maternity clothes available that i can't resist to show them at least.

Specially nice and inexpensive pieces are available at asos.com

Very nice and inexpensive basics can be found at H&M:

and nice blouses...

as well as pants and jeans:

I am so in love with all these things that ill totaly go to H&M next time i go to germany!!!!
love love love those clothes!

Fit and Food - 24.January

Food:

Breakfast: Toast with butter, nutella, jam and honey. Green tea.
Lunch: Spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese again.
Dinner: salad, two eggs, 2 oranges, one banana-peanut butter milkshake.


Workout:
aerobic warm up
pilates core workout
pilates total body workout
pilates stretching

that makes 36 minutes of workout.

Fit and Food - 23.January

Food:

Breakfast: Toast with nutella, honey, butter and jam. Green tea.
Lunch: Spaghetti with tomato sauca and cheese.
Dinner: three oranges and one banana.

Because i sleep so long these days, my breakfast and my luch are really late too. Therefore when it comes to dinner i don't feel really hungry..


Excercise:

aerobic warm up,
pilates (standing pilates),
pilates (stretching),
in the evening pregnancy yoga.

That makes all in all 26 minutes work out and 25 minutes relaxation.

How to carry your baby around...

When it comes to bringing your baby from A to B, there are several methods to do so.
The two biggest alternatives might be to put the baby in a stroller

or to carry it around with yourself using a formm of baby carrier.
Babies are all different, so my brother for example only wanted to lay in a stroller were he had lots of space to move around whereas i wouldn't lay for one minute in a stroller but wanted to be as close to my mom as i could.
I personally prefer the baby carrier for several reasons:
- it is less expensive
- it is healthy for the physical development of the baby
- it keeps the baby calm as it feels always close to the parent and therefor safe.

Baby carriers come in different styles and variations. Most common are the carrier that has a more stable structure

and the blanket which can be folded very very small.

The carrying blankets are more healthy for the physical development of the baby and can be used from the first day up to about 3 years.
It allows for many different carrying positions and is the most cost effective carrying option.

Fit and Food - 22.January

Food:

Breakfast: Toast with butter and avocado, green tea
Lunch: broccoli, potato and sauce hollandaise

Dinner: tomato salad, two boiled eggs and a banana milkshake

Excercise:
aerobic warmup, pilates stretching, yoga relax (before sleeping)
thats 16 minutes workout and 25 minutes relaxing.

Fit and Food - 21.January

Exercising during pregnancy is extremely benefitial for the mothers health, for the baby's health, to make labor easier and to enable a natural and fast birth.
Knowing that i surfed the internet and found some youtube videos with exercise routines specially for pregnant ladies.
I have 3 routines:
- aerobic: warm up, different strenght workouts, stretching
- pilates: four different workouts, last being a stretching one
- yoga: relaxing and breathing techniques to relax mother and baby and prepare for labor

My big pregnancy-plan is to take time to eat healthy and to exercise every day.
To see how successful i am in realising that plan ill write it down day by day, hopefully.

Saturday, 21. January:

Food:
Breakfast: Toast with butter, honey and jam. Green Tea.
Lunch: Spaghetti with a sauce of pesto and cream cheese.
Dinner: Vietnamese raw springrolls:

take rice paper

Make a sauce from fish sauce, water, garlic, spring onions, carrot and a hint of sugar.

Cut salad, spring onions, cucumber, carrots and grilled beef.

Fill the rice paper, roll it into a roll, dip it in the sauce and ENJOY!

I really loved it soo much!!!


Excercise:

It seems i am really unfit at the moment which made me actually quite sad.
I did my aerobic warm up which lasts only 6 minutes and that was really hard hehehehe! So hard that after that I went directly to aerobic stretching and that was it for the day.
But before going to bed i did the Yoga excercise which is really nice and relaxing, loved it!

So that was the day, lets see how the other days will go...

Movie: I don't know how she does it

I just watched Sara Jesicca Parkers new movie "I don't know how she does it"

It's about a working mom who tries to combine her family life with her career and by doing so she almost looses her family until she realises that she need to cut back on her career to save her family and marriage.



It's actually a quite basic story and probably a bit too dramatic.

Personally I would never want to live a life like that and I am more than happy to have a husband who totaly supports me in that!
I want to be a stay at home mom and i strongly believe that's my responsibility in this life.
My own mom didn't have the choice after my father became sick. So if we will be one day in financial need sure I will work to support my family. But inshallah that will never happen and all of us stay inshallah healthy and ok so that i can fulfill what I see as my responsibility. To be a woman, a wife and a mom.

And once again, my dear wonderful husband, thank you so so much for beeing with me and supporting me always!

fabric options for a baby girl

If the baby is going to be a girl, here are my fabric options for my DIY projects:

And again first the options for diaper bag, nursing cover, "plush pad" and car seat cover:

For the baby blanket i have again a cotton flanell and a satin. for the flanell i have one plain option and one with roses.

As with the fabrics for a boy i will order fabric examples to see which fabrics are best.

fabric options for a baby boy

If the baby is going to be a boy, these are my fabric options for the DIY projects:

The following 4 fabrics are options for the diaper bag and if there will be extra time also for the nursing cover, "plush pad" and the car seat cover.
If i'am going to use only one fabric or a mix of several of these is not clear yet.

The following 2 fabrics are options for a baby blanket. On one side cotton flanell and on the other side satin.

I am going to order fabric examples of all of these fabrics to see them in real life and to see how they match.