my life: it's been awhile

I know, I know, I've been MIA for ages - but life got busy all of a sudden! This is what I've been up to and into since I've been gone... 

home renovations: We're in the middle of some more home reno's which are taking up quite a bit of my time, but it's worth it. I've been waiting so long to finally get our house finished! Plus these days I'm also dealing with major sleep deprivation due to a certain toddler who now thinks that 5am is a reasonable time to start the day. Lets just say that I cannot wait for daylight saving to start!

Day one of renovations

making kefir: This stuff is ridiculously good for you - think of it as Yakult on steroids. It has heaps of good bacteria (which we could all use a good dose of - one serve has way more than your standard probiotic) and is a great internal cleanser. Its super easy to make too - mix the grains with your beverage of choice (I use raw milk but am also keen to try it with coconut milk) and leave it at room temp for about three days. My new favourite breakfast is this mixed with almond milk and homemade muesli, topped with fruit and raw honey. It's surprisingly tasty (once you add a bit of sweetener)!

Homemade Kefir

online shopping: My new iPad has helped me rediscover online shopping - I have a feeling that things are about to get cray-cray! Perhaps I should start my Christmas shopping early this year?!

smoothies and juices: Finally! My love of cold drinks has been reignited with all of this warmer weather. Our Vitamix is getting a workout again and I'm already feeling better because of it. I've still been getting bouts of morning sickness even though I'm over 22 weeks pregnant now, so hopefully these will help me stay on the healthy bandwagon for the next few months.

Apple, carrot and strawberry gelato

blog hopping: A new season means I'm in the mood to be inspired by some super-stylish peeps. Here are a few of the blogs that I'm kinda addicted to at the moment:

http://www.sincerelyjules.com/

http://www.manrepeller.com/

http://allthingstyles.blogspot.com.au/

The Man Repeller

And that's it from me today. I promised myself an early night after today's 4.45am wake-up! 

hello from my soapbox

I love Miranda Kerr. Not just for the obvious reasons, mind you, although I definitely see why she's kind of a big deal. It's more because of her frankness in interviews and the fact that she isn't afraid to speak her mind and say what she believes in. She's a great health advocate and I totally dig her vibe.

@mirandakerrverified/Instagram

So she received some "backlash" this week (don't they all?) for having an informed opinion on epidural anesthesia. While discussing her son's birth, she commented that she had seen videos comparing newborn babies whose mothers had had an epidural to those who hadn't. Miranda described how the babies of mothers without pain-relief often went straight for the breast. "Then they showed ones right after the epidural and that didn't happen", she said. "The baby was a little bit drugged up, and I was like, 'Well I don't want that'...  I had made a decision I wanted to do it naturally... I wanted to give him the best possible start in life I could".

What I find most frustrating about this "backlash" is not only that her comments were clearly on something she had educated herself about, but also because of the fact that her opinion isn't necessarily the mainstream way of thinking. It seems like many people were offended by her comments, perhaps taking it as a personal attack, but there's no denying the fact that when you do some research, Miranda isn't making it all up. As is often the case with many health-related issues, sometimes we need to dig a little deeper than the "truths" the mainstream media and health professionals give us, to find out what exactly we are exposing ourselves to.

While I was pregnant with Noah, I did a whole lot of reading on all aspects of pregnancy and birth (as most expectant mothers do!). This book changed my life:

It really opened my eyes to a lot of things, but what I remember most is that when I finished it I was convinced that I was going to have a natural birth. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a time and a place for an epidural - and I'm not one to judge - but I do think that we as mothers should at the very least take control and be educated about every decision we make in regards to our bodies and that of our families. No one else will.

Miranda has merit in saying what she truly believes was the best for her situation. I ended up having the natural birth that I wanted and that was the best for my situation. Who knows what will happen with my next one, as much as I hope for the same outcome. But at least I'll know what I'm getting myself and my baby into when the time comes. And I really encourage all expectant mothers to do the same.

making changes

Wow, what a week! It's been another busy one and the highlight was most definitely this:

Baby Guinevere

My gorgeous little niece who finally made her way into the world on Wednesday morning after a few false alarms. She kept us all on our toes but was definitely worth the wait. And let me tell you, it's lucky I'm already pregnant because there's nothing that will make you want a baby more than holding a newborn!

In other news, my week of hydration has been a huge success. The weather has been ridiculously warm which works well when you're downing smoothies and coconut water like they're going out of fashion. It's just so hard to keep fluid levels up when its cold!

If anything I definitely feel much more mindful about not only how much I drink but also how dehydrating certain foods can be. The obvious one being anything overly salty, but also meat and caffeinated drinks. I'm planning to focus on this a lot more now, and hopefully it will only get easier if this weather keeps up!

hydration motivation

I was browsing one of my favourite sites today and was completely inspired by this post on hydration. It was a timely reminder for me because recently I've been guilty of some major dehydration. Part of it is because I'm always rushing around and simply forget to have a drink, and part of it is due to being pregnant and the fact that I feel like I need to pee the second I drink anything - not fun!

But I've decided that I'm totally going to give this a go - a week of serious hydration. I want to focus on drinking more juices and smoothies (which is super hard for me in Winter - the last thing I feel like on an ice-cold day is an ice-cold drink), herbal teas and, of course, coconut water! Plus I'll aim to eat more hydrating foods, and less caffeine, salt and meat. Taking on a challenge like this is often exactly what I need to get out of a rut and back into trying some new things in the kitchen again. Wish me luck!

P.S. There are also a few follow-up posts on their site if you're interested in the idea. Just have a looksie here and here.

my food: going coco for cacao

So I just tried out a new recipe for cacao balls and I had to share - they're that good. I'd even go as far as to say that they're as tasty as these. Yep, you need to try them. If you have half as much love for chocolate and coconut as I do then you'll be glad you did.

You can thank me later.