11 week bump update!

Today is the beginning of the bump pictures! I am definitely showing and a lot earlier than I was with Rowen. I hear that you show earlier and earlier with each baby. That is definitely true this time around. 

How Far Along:  11 weeks

Size of baby: Baby Easley is the size of a lime.  She/He is 1.6" long and weighs .25 ounces.

Maternity Clothes: No.

Gender: ???

Movement: Not yet.

Sleep: I'm sleeping great! I already have to get up at least once during the night to use the restroom. It's always around 2AM!

What I miss: Only 2 things. Venti iced coffees! I had one of these almost everyday prior to getting pregnant so I pretty much still miss them! And Barry's Bootcamp!! I miss Barry's so much but those workouts are WAY too intense for a pregnant gal. 

Cravings: pasta salad, fruit, and veggie subs @ Subway! 

Symptoms: Nothing right now.

Best Moment this week: Going to the zoo with Rowen and not feeling out of breath and exhausted when we left! I have my energy back! 

A trip to Arkansas and Mother's Day.

On Friday morning my mom, Rowen, and I set off to Searcy, AR. My cousin, Rebekah graduated from Harding University on Saturday and we were so excited to be going to AR to be there for her big day. My dad and Brent weren't able to go b/c they had to work on Friday. It only took 5 1/2 hours to get there. That's definitely not too long of a trip!

{road trip time}

 Now we will be going to Destin. Fl this summer with Brent's family and I am already dreading the drive. 9+ hours in the car....ugh! So the drive from Memphis to Searcy was so boring. If you have ever been on that stretch of road, you know what I'm talking about. Nothing but fields and fields and more fields. Every now and then we would pass a gas station or a country store. I'm such a city girl and don't see how people live out there! But whatever suits you, right?! 

{passing the time by coloring}

{and watching Thomas the Train while holding my hand!}

 We arrived that afternoon, checked in to the hotel, and found our family. It was SO good to see them. We ate dinner that night at one of like 3 sit down restaurants in the town, the Rib Crib! haha. It was actually really tasty. After dinner, we went to see Rebekah's dorm room and take a little tour around campus. I had never been to Harding before. It is such a beautiful campus! And huge! After touring we went out for fro-yo and by this time it was way past Rowen's bed time so we quickly hit the sack after our frozen yogurt trip. 

Graduation didn't start till 1pm on Saturday so we just too our time that morning eating breakfast. visiting, and hanging around. 

{Rowen's a big eater. For breakfast he ate half a Belgium waffle, a cup of yogurt, and a banana}

{hanging around before getting ready}

We got ready and left to head to campus which was right down the road at about 11:30pm. Once we got there, we took some pictures and then looked around the bookstore. My mom bought 2 new books for Rowen to keep him occupied for at east part of the graduation ceremony.

{Me, Rowen, Rebekah, and my mom}

{The whole group at the top &  individual pics on the bottom}

{What Rowen thought of graduation! haha. Rebekah graduated with a Fashion Merchandising degree}

After eating a late lunch with everyone, we headed home around 4:00 and got back into Nashville around 9:30pm. Rowen didn't nap well on Friday or Saturday so we let him sleep in on Sunday morning and I got to sleep in too! I slept till 11:30am and felt great when I woke up.

{me and my little one that made me a mama!}

Brent fixed pancakes for a late breakfast. Chocolate chip for me and blueberry for him...can't forget a yummy cup of decaf either( a bit of sarcasm there! ). 

Brent and Rowen gave me a Keurig coffee maker, Nike shirts and headbands, and really pretty flowers for Mother's Day! It was a lovely day just being lazy and enjoying each others company.

5 things in your house to jazz up w/washi tape!

Here's my crafty post for the week! Since I have a few rolls of washi tape lying around, I put it to use on a few household items that I'm pretty sure everyone has at their house. The tape is fun to play around with and comes off of whatever you have it stuck to real easily. It doesn't leave a sticky residue either. I bought my washi tape at Michael's craft store but I'm pretty sure any kind of crafting store would carry it. Here are the 5 things I have washi taped lately...

I made our boring planters out on our patio a little more fun and happy looking!

I had peeled the label off of my water bottle yesterday and thought it would look pretty with some washi tape on it. I think it looks cute! You definitely wouldn't get your bottle confused with someone else's, right?!

There's so much you can do with a mason jar. I already had the heart on this jar with twine wrapped around it. I replaced the twine with a thin strip of tape and voila! A new look! 

They look like totally different candles. Washi tape candles would be cute for an outdoor party! You could probably find a tape design that would match your party colors or theme. 

A simple little way to change the look of magnets on your fridge. 

Hope you enjoyed these. Give them a try if you have some washi tape! 

Co-hosting a Facebook link-up! Come join!

I'm so excited to be co-hosting with DeDe today! She has some really fun link ups on Thursdays so make sure to check back every Thursday for a different link up. This week is all about Facebook! Follow any of these ladies blogs and Facebook if you'd like and make sure to do the same with me! Have fun getting to know other bloggers today! 

Fresh off my trip from the Snap Creative Conference, I’ve teamed up with some awesome bloggers (5 to be exact!) Six different hosts mean there are 6 sets of readers linking up. Greater exposure and a lot more link ups!

Meet the Hosts!

The Craft Nest //Designed Decor //Swish Printables //Creative Juice // Just Us Four // La Belle Parties

To add to the fun, we have a featured co-host. This week, the co-host is:

The Easley Family

Each week, we’ll have a new social media platform as the main theme of our link party.

This week, we’re linking up our Facebook pages!

I’m sure you already know that Facebook is an awesome way to engage and get your content in front of readers!

So, growing your Facebook following = growing your blog following!

Join the party and link up your Facebook page {NOT your blog homepage or a post link, please}

Your link will automatically appear on all 6 blogs!

Remember: Follow your Hosts and visit the others!

** The BEST way to grow is to spread the love.**

You will automatically be entered into our email reminder list by entering a link. You can remove yourself from the list at anytime.

The Truth About...link up!

I'm so excited to be co-hosting this weeks link up with Kate! The topic for this week is the truth about...your job!  Grab the button below and join in!!

<div align="center"><a href="http://some-eloquentgraffiti.blogspot.com" title="Eloquent Graffiti"><img src="http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag104/scrapcakes/thetruthabout_myjob_zps99620ee4.png" alt="Eloquent Graffiti" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I have 2 jobs! One is part time and one is very much FULL time! I'll start with the part time job...I'm a personal trainer and have been for 8 years. I did my internship my senior year of collage at this private personal training gym called S.T.E.P.S. and have been there ever since. I graduated with an Exercise Science & Nutrition degree. I have been part time there for a few years which actually works out perfectly since I stay home with my little man during the day. I love personal training. It's so much fun and there is never a dull session! I have 3 awesome clients. A lady and a husband & wife. I train Tuesday and Thursday evenings. 

Whenever I tell someone that I'm a personal trainer, the response is almost always "Oh cool. I bet that's a fun job".  And it is. It's so much fun! I have been sporty all my life. I started running track in 7th grade and played sports( track, volleyball, or soccer ) through my sophomore year of college. I have been involved in numerous state sporting events, held school records, and I even split a girls head open going for a header in soccer. It of course was an accident. I was fine. She was not. 

Sometimes I work out with my clients but not usually. I usually just tell them what to do! haha. There's not one session that's the same. There are soooooo many exercises to do. I like doing circuit training and working cardio in with the weights. This way their heart rates stay up the entire workout( it also burns more calories this way ). If you have any questions about working out, feel free to email me! I get asked all kinds of questions all the time.

My second job is definitely not a 9-5 job. It's more like a 24/7 job! I'm a stay at home mom( I hate that term though...it sounds like I stay at home and watch tv and eat popcorn all day....not the case people! ).

  I'll be honest, before I had Rowen and I would here women say that their job was a stay at home mom and it was a lot of work... I would secretly roll my eyes and think "it can't be that much work, you get to stay at home....?"! I never said anything negative to those moms so I don't owe any apologies BUT I would like to take all those negative thoughts about it "not being a job" back! If you aren't a mom then you might be thinking what I use to and that's ok. You will never know the hard( but fun )work of staying home with your child until you do it.

 I LOVE  it and am so fortunate that I am able to stay at home with Rowen! A true blessing really. Being a stay at home mom, your child is depending on YOU the whole day. You are there to feed them breakfast and lunch, read them stories, play games, play with toys, go to the park, take picnics in the park, put them down for naps....etc....etc....I wouldn't change this JOB for any other job. I want to be the one to raise Rowen till he goes off to school. This job isn't for everyone and that's ok too but I knew that once he entered this world, it was for me and luckily that dream job came true. I guess you can make your stay at home position as easy or minimal as you like but I like to max out everyday with fun activities. I never want Rowen to be bored during the day or just sit in front of the tv for hours( something he wouldn't do anyways! ). I like to take him and do things like go to the zoo, go to the park, or even go see some ducks swimming around in a pond down the street. He loves being outside so I try and take him out to do something as much as I can. 

So there are my 2 jobs! 2 jobs I love and wouldn't trade for the world!! 2 jobs that are very rewarding! 2 jobs that teach me a lot about life! 
What is your job like?...remember tell the TRUTH :)

Weekend Update!

We had a pretty exciting weekend...got to share some BIG NEWS. It was pretty much yucky/rainy on Saturday and pretty much on Sunday too so we stayed inside most of the weekend. Here was our weekend...

{Friday}

Rowen and I headed to the Zoo Friday afternoon. He loves that place and I love taking him!

***
We mailed out an announcement to our grandparents, parents, and siblings Wednesday morning and most of them got their special picture Thursday. We texted our aunts and uncles Friday morning and shared with the social world Friday afternoon...So if you are following me on Facebook or Instagram you already know but for those of you that don't...

{The card we mailed to family and friends}
I was pretty proud of this creative way of sharing our news! I think it's adorable :)
So yes, we will be welcoming our second child the first week of December!! 

So much love on social media! Thanks friends and family! I'll have more info for you on my first pregnancy post...prob coming in two weeks @ 11 weeks. 

{SATURDAY}
It rained the whole day! Boo! The morning started off great though with a mega huge donut and breakfast sandwiches from Bread & Co. I wanted both so I enjoyed half a donut and half of a  bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel! And of course, Brent picked us up iced coffees from Dunkin Donuts. I gave up all coffee last time around even though I was allowed to have a cup a day. This time when she told me I could have a cup a day, I chose not to give it up! I mean, let's be honest...I LOVE coffee! I always get a small( instead of my usual venti ) and I don't drink it everyday. 

We went dinner dinner with 2 of our friends Saturday night. We went to our favorite sushi place, Wild Wasabi! I got a sushi roll and fried rice. Yumm-o. And yes, my sushi was cooked not raw! 

{Not all mine!}
Our favorite roll is the maui roll. It's the one with pink soy paper. Tempura shrimp, cream cheese, coconut, and banana on top. 

{Sunday}
The usual...church, lunch, resting! While Rowen and I took a nap, Brent went and hit golf balls.  And later that afternoon I went for a run. I hadn't run in a few weeks. I did this last time I was pregnant, I didn't do any long running till after the first ultrasound. I know it's perfectly fine to do since I have worked out my whole life but something inside me just wanted to wait. Anyways, I ran 3.2 miles and it felt great AND was surprisingly super easy.

( 1.6 miles to the red pin, 1.6 miles back to the green pin = 3.2 )
 I almost ran the course a second time but I was so hungry and my stomach was growling! Here's to a sunny week with no rain!
Happy Monday!

The easiest and quickest lasagna recipe!

I got the inspiration for this recipe from my mom's lasagna recipe. Mine is much simpler and takes about half the time to make. Hers is better but this one is pretty yummy. Y'all it takes about 20 minutes to put together. Not even kidding! I got to thinking we always have half a pan left over and eat it for one or 2 days after and never finish it. So, I had a genius thought...make it in a bread pan! It's half to a third of the size of a 9x11 pan and we wouldn't waste any! Now if you need more than 4 servings, double the recipe below and make it in a regular pan but this size worked perfectly for the 3 of us. You could easily get 4 servings from the bread pan with no leftovers. 

{* the lasagna noodles are cooked and drained before layering }

{ I added a little salt and pepper to the cottage cheese mixture }

It was delicious!! We paired it with breadsticks and a salad.