Enjoying your Sunday? I love Sundays even when they involve chores, which make me feel very organized for the week to come: laundry, sheets/towels laundry, some cleaning. Great way to kick off the week neat.

Matt and I went for a walk (me) / run (him) for an hour this morning. I took this book, which I am totally loving –

And slathered myself in this:

I recently set out on a quest to find a sunscreen that was both safe for my body and relatively inexpensive. My goal was the find the sunscreen with the cheapest price per ounce choosing from only the Environmental Working Group’s list of top-rated, broad spectrum, chemical-free lotion sunscreens. I used to always use sprays, but I have read that they are not the best for the environment, skin or lungs, so I’m moving back to basics with lotions (bonus: lotions smell better!) I also consulted Consumer Reports, but only as a cross-check, since they didn’t review too many of the more natural ones.

I wasn’t looking for the greenest product out there, but rather one that I could apply by the shotglass while at the beach (that’s how much “they” say you need!) and not be spending the equivalent of $15/day to protect my skin, but also one I could feel good about. I also wanted the biggest bottle possible so I wouldn’t be going through a bottle a day, so 8 ounces and up was preferred.

I came up with this list in order of cost:

Coppertone Water Babies Pure and Simple SPF 50 = $9.87/8 ounces or $1.23/ounce*

CVS Sunblock with Zinc SPF 45 = $5.24/4 ounces or $1.31/ounce [I couldn’t find this one]

Coppertone Sensitive Skin SPF 50 = $8.99/6 ounces or $1.50/ounce

Alba Botanica SPF 45 = $6.88/4 ounces or $1.72/ounce

All Terrain Aquasport SPF 30 = $10.96/3 ounces or  $3.65/ounce

Badger Sunscreen SPF 30 = $13.60/3 ounces or $4.53/ounce

*I used Amazon or CVS.com to get my prices. Since I have Amazon Prime, the shipping wouldn’t be a factor, but it would for CVS.com. I went to my local CVS to scout them out and found prices to be much higher in person than on their website so take your math with you or look for sales!

Therefore, the Coppertone Waterbabies one for the max SPF for the lowest price and getting a thumbs up by the EWG. I saw that it was as low as $1/ounce at CVS.com, but when I went to my local store, it was higher than the Amazon price for a two pack, so that’s where I got it. I’ll be on the lookout for sales too!

It applied nice and smoothly this morning, and if I have any drawback it’s that it didn’t all seem to come off in my shower – but perhaps that’s a good thing for water resistance factor!

Matt and I made a wonderful lunch afterwards!

He sliced up our leftover (chilled and conformed) grits and seared them in a pan of butter!

Plus eggs and garden greens!

I added olive oil, honey, salt and nutritional yeast plus some leftover roasted tofu and zucchini.

On the side – the last of last week’s strawberries

And a Bud Light sparkling apple cider diluted with water on ice!

Yum!!

Our doula is coming over shortly, and I have more chores to do!

Wrapped up childbirth class at noon today! I really enjoyed the class a lot and am glad we went. Most of all because it was at OUR hospital so I could ask questions about procedures there. When you read books, it’s all kind of hypothetical, but this was very relevant to where we will be birthing. We have a hospital tour later in the summer – looking forward to seeing it all for the first time too.

Matt was the dad volunteer to try on 25 pounds of weight – broken down into baby, placenta, uterus, amniotic fluid, blood volume, water weight, fat stores…am I missing anything!? He said it made his back hurt!

Today we practiced pushing. HUGE lesson for me that you push down with your abs and not so much your lower parts, which you want to remain more relaxed to stretch and allow the baby to come out! I felt like I was a better pusher squatting and on all fours than I was on my back, but hard to tell how things might really happen when there’s a pumpkin on its way down…

We also role played a c-section team. It was scary just to practice! So was epidural administration lesson. I know both of these might be out of my control, but I am scared of both way more than I’m scared of contractions, pushing, tearing, fatigue and the other hardships of labor.

We ended with an ideal birth exercise (on the other side of these cards were the opposite situations – which is often all chance what you end up with). Although hopefully the BOY one is right!

I snacked on some string cheese and strawberries around noon and we headed over to Great Harvest after class before we went out to lunch for a debriefing. Location of choice: Beer Run!

Matt and I split a [local] bison burger – delicious!! I think I was craving red meat.

And we both enjoyed salads on the side.

Plus beer for the dad for being such a good sport in class : ) He said he enjoyed it too. Tomorrow – coincidence it’s the same weekend – we have a one-on-one session with our doula, Jen. And then later this summer: classes in baby care and breastfeeding!

What was in your lunchbox?

Mine included some farm-fresh sugar snap peas (surprisingly sweet!), plus leftover tostada from dinner this week, including another version of our avocado crema – this time 50% avocado and greek yogurt mixed with southwest seasoning and lemon juice.

H2O melon on the side! {Both of these are on salad-size plates for scale!}

I’m off to run a bunch of errands, including the task of having our bakery loan docs renewed by signing 1,000 pages with my John Hancock! Good thing I like signing my name : )

Just got back from a speaking engagement and luncheon at Karen’s Albemarle Rotary Club! She has talked about how much she loves going to rotary for years now, so it was fun to see what it was all about.

Before my talk, everyone enjoyed a nice buffet at the Boar’s Head Inn.

I filled up on salad, cottage cheese (can’t get enough!), fruit (ditto!) and some cheese slivers, plus tomato-y fish and rice.

Plus half a cup of cream of asparagus to warm me up!

Karen raves about the Boar’s Head bread pudding, so I had to give that a taste as well. It was quite good!

I presented an abbreviated version of my Real Food Talk to the group. I think it was well received because I got quite a few laughs out of them!

Back at home, blogging from the porch, with a belly rolling around as somebody wakes up from what must have been a nap!

Cycle class was tough this morning because I think I started it on the tired end of the spectrum. I chugged lots of water before class, which meant that I had to leave class in the middle to use the bathroom! I came home and sipped some coconut water. And then ate water in melon form!!

Mmmm.

Served alongside a lovely egg + avocado + jalapeno sandwich on High 5 bread

Feeling more hydrated now……and of course I have to go to the bathroom again!

Guess who FINALLY got her fins in the pool!?!

After the extra 15 minutes it took me to locate and pack up my swim gear/shower stuff and ensure my sport suit still fit (it did!), I was happy I went to swim. I made a deal with myself that I only had to swim for 26 minutes, and so it went by fast enough.

Here are some tidbits about me + swimming:

• It was weird swimming pregnant. I felt kind of like I was suffocating the baby because he wasn’t coming up for breaths like I was!
• I didn’t feel that much lighter. I’m 11-13 pounds heavier than I used to be so that’s probably why!
• It was hard to stretch out my abs so much (and probably all the ligaments too), but I got used to it
• I am sore from Pump chest/back for the first time in a while!
• I want swimming headphones to pass the time with music, but I don’t want to buy them unless I go regularly once a week. A catch 22!
• I’d much rather watch a clock than count laps.
• I will only swim when the weather is warm – unless you give me a heated pool.
• I used to swim 3x a week after my foot surgery and really liked it then. Davidson’s pool was the best pool I’ve ever swam in thanks to long lengths.
• People have asked me my whole life if I’m a swimmer because I have broad shoulders.
• I can do flip turns, but I don’t do them because of the mental preparation it takes to not hit my head on the bottom of the shallow end floor. Too much thinking. Another catch 22…
• I breathe every 3-5 strokes – never on an even number!
• I was so worried blowing nose bubbles would give me a nosebleed in the pool. Luckily that didn’t happen.
• I hate sharing lanes. But it wasn’t too bad today.
• I once beat a bunch of boys in a lifeguard training time trial. Matt is still faster than me though (but we’re pretty close!).
• I swim more with my arms than my legs
• Swimming makes me really thirsty!
• 5 minutes of legs in the hot tub is the best way to end the session
• I want to do a triathlon at least once in my life. It’s the swim holding me back because I’m scared of lake murk.
• Swimming makes me feel like a real athlete, mostly because of all the locker room shower time
• Hope I can keep this up once a week till the baby comes!

When I came out of the gym, I decided to treat myself to lunch out! I never have my wallet when I go to the gym (a trick to keep me from picking up lunch as I walk by all the great places) but today I had it from running an errand, so the lunch spots sucked me in! AND just happened to run into Lynsie in the locker room, so she joined me for an al fresco lunch at the Pavilion.

I got to hang around with D some more!

I picked up a salad from Blue Ridge Country Store, which is kind of like a Whole Foods Salad bar on the Downtown Mall. I little bit of everything in there!

After lunch and lots of mom talk, we rode the horsies and then headed home!

The day just swam away from me!

Excellent Pump Challenge class today! It went by fast, and it was packed. All of my friends were there! I still haven’t been able to get Matt to shift his Monday errand-running schedule to come with me, but someday soon!

I was hungry for lunch earlier than normal today and raced through my shower so I could EAT!

I made a burrito out of leftover black beans, cheese and some sun-dried tomato pesto Karen brought over.

Plus a romaine salad. It started as a pile of romaine, which made me think of a creamy dressing. I brought out the first-trimester Caesar as well as some honey-roasted sunflower seeds Hillary made. The Caesar was good at first, but I’m so over it now.

A sweet pear for dessert, plus a bite of dark chocolate to get the Caesar out of my mouth!

Can you tell how cloudy/shadowy it is here today? I walked to the gym and back with my raincoat on and umbrella in my pocket, and I was really lucky there was no downpour either way.

Enjoy your afternoon!

Havin’ a chilled out Mother’s Day so far – just a lovely bike ride + walk with Faith at the park and a house tour with our new neighbors! By 2pm I was ready for some more nourishment:

Deviled eggs!!!! Gotta make some more hard-boileds soon!

Watermelon (also need to replenish!)

And what I’m going to call a crepe – only because this tortilla folded in the shape of a crepe contained strawberry jam and sunflower butter and was no cheesy quesadilla!

Lemonade, coconut water + water cocktail in my jar

I have a blog post or two to write for BERF (this has turned into a Sunday task that hangs over me on a day I just want to relax – need to reschedule writing for another day!) and then I hope to read all afternoon while laundry cleans itself!

There was lots going on at the City Market today!!

Crowds of people (and a poking out hot sun!)

Refreshments

Mint Limeade!

Lil’s Lite Bytes Morning Glory Muffin + Local Mushrooms in my purse + Hibiscus Tea sweetened with stevia and mint

Handmade breads served from this cute guy, plus muffins that spoke to children

There’s sumptin’ ‘bout a truck

A Locavore Expo as part of the Tom Tom Festival

Where vegetables were celebrated and consumed in Faith’s “Lettuce Turnip and Dance” video

Who needs birthday cake when you can celebrate with lettuce!?

The No Bull Burger ladies gave me a sandwich for lunch (and one for Matt – thanks!!)

And I concluded the day at a panel on local food in Cville

The best part of it all? Seeing about 25 friends and faces I knew!

A hard Body Pump class requires protein replenishment from eggs.

I just happen to LOOOOVE deviled eggs, but I’ve never made them! I just toss them down at picnics every summer and wish it were summer the other 9 months of the year. So today I decided to make my own summer picnic spread (even though it feels more like October outside today!)

First: hard boil your eggs. Put eggs in a pot of cold water and bring to just below a rolling boil. Cover and set timer for 13 minutes. Then dunk into ice water. New step I learned today: LET THEM COOL FOR A LONG TIME!

I took a shower while they cooled completely (I’m always in a rush to peel + eat them!) and today they were soooo much easier to peel having had the chance to turn my ice water to just cold water.

Slice in half with a sharp serrated knife

I was afraid the eggs would fall apart when I tried to get out the yolks, but I just squeezed them a little  on the sides and the the yolk plopped right out!

I mashed the yolks with 1 heaping tsp of mayo, 1 tiny dollop of dijon mustard plus salt, pepper and about 2 drops of apple cider vinegar. I like my deviled eggs very simple. The worst kind are those with relish in them – gross crunch reminds me of onions!

The mash went back in nicely with the help of a spoon (no need to dirty up my icing piping set, but that would be fun if this were for a crowd)

Smoked paprika for the final punch!

And they were ready to gobble up!

I surrounded them with watermelon for the ultimate summer fiesta.

And added a side salad made up of garden-fresh romaine, goat cheese, p-nuts, tomatoes and raisins all drizzled in olive oil, honey and smoked salt (from Whole Foods)

Lemonade water on the side!

The eggs were absolutely delicious. I have 2 more in the fridge just hard-boiled, so I might have to make these again soon!