Every Pregnancy Is Different & So Is The Weight Gain

So I am a firm believer that by sharing your story, you can make someone out there some where feel better about what they are going through. This is probably one of my not so fantastic memory/life moment ever but its a good comparison point.

When I found out I was pregnant with Eva, I was 21 years old and roughly 115lbs. Did I mention I was 6ft tall?! Healthy wasn't even a word I understood and if it wasn't an energy drink I probably didn't have it for a meal.

I was complete skin and bones! Let me tell you was I in for a real pregnancy treat! Morning Sickness so bad it required me to be put on a pump that I had to carry around with me, 3 or 4 (I can't remember) hospitalizations due to dehydration, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and pre-term labor. Then my most favorite of all......100+ pound weight gain.

How do you gain that much weight when you can't eat hardly anything? That is the wonderful world of pregnancy when you are extremely unhealthy. 

I went from a size 4 to a size 12/14. I had horrible PPD and wouldn't admit it. My face was so swollen I was unrecognizable. I stayed like that for probably the first two years after she was born.


Now my pre-pregnancy self with Grayson on the other hand, I was 27 at a normal weight working out occasionally. Watching what I ate but still enjoying social drinking. I worked out when I had time and it was mostly weights or walking at work.

Completely different experience!!!!

I might have gotten nausea once or twice, lost probably 18 lbs right off the bat by just cutting out drinking and soda/coffee. Gained right at around 20 lbs total for the whole 9 months, which is what my Doctor was hoping for and I stayed active my entire pregnancy! No problems, no emergencies, and an amazing delivery! My health made a huge difference!!! This pregnancy was purely staying active and eating the right things!

Check out the difference!

Tell the difference? I know I did! Now what baby three has in store for us no one knows! 

What is your pregnancy story? 

Meat at The Grocery Store vs. SAM's Club

Since the amazing husband has been home our grocery shopping has changed quite a bit. We both have things we like, he buys junk food, I buy the same staples the kids need every week and chicken/beef. Now that we are a growing family of five we decided to be adults and get us a SAM's membership!

They had an amazing deal online for active military and their families! For $45 dollars we received our 1 year membership, a free rotisserie chicken, a 12 inch apple pie, 20 count croissant, and a $10 off egift card.

I have slowly learned to compare price per pound. Just because it looks like more or its under $5 doesn't actually mean it is a good deal. So when you look at Harris Teeter vs Sam's Club there isn't much of a comparison.

Yes, I actually have to physically go in SAM's which I am not a big fan of but the click list kids have been messing up a lot lately which is just as much hassle as taking the kids inside.

Chicken based on this week sales ad:
Harris Teeter Family Pack Chicken Breast - $1.99 per pound with a 6LB average.
SAM's Club Chicken Breast - $1.88 per pound with a 8lb average.

When we cook we typically use 3-4 chicken breast per meal. Justin, myself, the kids split one, and then one (sometimes) for us to take to work. Now that we are doing meal prepping for lunches that chicken can go super quick! So the more the better! That one pack of chicken gave us 4 freezer bags with 2-3 large chicken breasts! So that covers one for meal prep and three dinners for the week with chicken! (Without me having to make a trip back to the grocery store!)

80/20 Ground Chuck on this week sales ad:
Harris Teeter- $5.00 per LB but on sale for $3.48 per pound for 2LB avg.
SAM's Club - $2.99 per LB with 5-6 LB avg.

THAT IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE! That I never knew existed! I took that home and split it up into 5 individual freezer bags!

Next time we are going to do ground turkey & fish and switch it up a bit! See that price comparison to come! Is there anything you love or have to buy in bulk?! I need all the help we can get!

Huge shout out to my Mom and my friend Nicole for pointing me in the right direction of price comparison & hopefully soon I can learn couponing hahaha!

Russell Sprout #3 16 Week Update

Good news: Nothing worrisome showed up on the prescreening labs for any sort of birth defects. (Makes me super happy because I have been having nightmares about it.)

Bad news: My glucose levels were still pretty off, my thyroid levels were high & my blood pressure was higher than they were comfortable with.

Comparison time: Grayson was a super easy pregnancy! I had minimal morning sickness and gained just the perfect healthy amount of weight. I had no issues with my glucose levels and I think I only had high BP one time. (Pretty sure it was right after Justin left to go back overseas so it was explained)

My sweet little diva girl on the other hand......I gained over 100lbs, had awful morning sickness from day one to day end which required me to be hooked up to a pump. I had gestational diabetes and had to watch my diet and sugar intake. (yes that meant I had to stop eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and basically ate chicken for the rest of the pregnancy)

So now I really do have to start watching what I eat and get back to my 30 minute a day workouts! I have a new thyroid medication I get to try and I of course has to do the three hour test! This is going to be a super fun pregnancy no matter what I have to do!

P.S. We have to stain our deck this weekend so that counts as exercise right?

Also this drink is the worst thing ever its the pregnant girl equivalent to a jager bomb! They taste equally bad!

Our New Family Member! The Murphy!

So after weeks of looking and going through shelter after shelter & realizing VA is very much different on their pet adoptions than Bama we have found our 2nd dog!

Everyone meet Murphy! He is a 4 year old Mastiff mix even though to me he looks like a Great Dane mix.

So far Murphy is a perfect match for Captain. They play without Captain being bullied. They are both pretty submissive so they don't fight over the kids, toys or food.

He came from a household with kids and I must say he is absolutely amazing with them! He is careful walking around Grayson and he is Eva's big cuddle bug! He actually hopped up in bed and cuddled with Eva last night until she fell asleep. My heart melted.

We have a few things to work out like the extremely loud bark and the drool. (Watching Justin's head spin around like the exorcist when he shakes drool on a wall is pretty hilarious)

I have always supported adopt don't shop and even more so to support the big dog! It is all about their personality! We are super lucky and I think the kids are super excited!

We love our Murphy! Follow me on Instagram @caitlinnicolerussell to see updates on Murphy and his hilarious adventures.

Kids and Youtube

Does anyone else have kids that are obsessed with watching other kids play with toys on YouTube? 

Miss Eva (age 7) has had an obsession for years with a few different kids channels. She loves HobbyKidsTV, Ryan's Toy Mobile & Crafty Kitchen. Like she knows their entire life story! 

Just recently she has started asking about what subscribing means and having interest in her own channel. How do you know when it is safe? Like I am by no means a extremely strict parent and obviously she has access to YouTube on her Ipad. She is so responsible that I don't really have to worry about what she is watching because I now know their voices on the different shows. 

She has such an amazing imagination and can literally make a five star restaurant in her mind with her Minnie mouse kitchen. I honestly think it will also help with her self confidence and not to mention it will give us some one on one time with just me and her and something that can be "our thing." 

I would love to hear from anyone whose kids have a channel/show and how do you control it? How do you know that what you are doing is okay? 

P.s. if your kids haven't watched Hobbykidstv, they are absolutely amazing!!!! Go check them out! https://www.youtube.com/user/HobbyKidsTV

Military Wife Life: The Things You Don't Realize You Will Miss When You Move

For those who don't know this is my first PCS with my Husband. We found out we were more than likely going to VA almost a full year before we moved. I was so excited, I would finally get to spend every night with my Husband, I wouldn't be alone with two kids, no more long distance marriage, and I could kiss him any time I want! (enter favorite romantic comedy here)

I knew I would miss the big things.....like family, friends, and my comfort zone but somethings didn't even cross my mind until now. So I want to mention the things you don't realize you are going to miss and I don't want to be a sad Debby Downer but you just don't know until you KNOW!

1. (My worst experience so far) The favorite Doctor! - You quickly realize that not all Doctors & Hospitals are made equal! For instance OBGYN, yea I am learning this one the hard way that the amazing experiences I had with my first two are not going to happen here. Over crowed waiting rooms and Doctors that cant even remember what you are there for. ( I was mistaken for a patient pregnant with twins today and I literally almost fell off the table when she started telling me about them) They also don't do the "fit you in asap" with sick children. I was used to being able to call the morning of and go "Hey Eva is running a fever can she be seen?" and I would get "Sure thing what time can you be here?" Here in VA they have a Emergency care that opens at 4pm and next day appointments with Pediatrics. (Luckily my Husband's base can get them into the clinic a little bit better) Yes I finally gave in and switched to Prime just to have my kids seen in a timely manner!

2. Your Favorite Grocery Store - Now this might be my southern showing but I have always been a creature of habit and went to the same Grocery store over and over and over. I even drove out of my way to go to the good one on the other side of town. Here, I think I have tried three not counting Target (because lets face it nothing beats Target) and none of them compare. Nothing bad has happened but it does make you miss home.

3. Children's Boutique - I would kill to be able to walk into a purple peanut right now and go for the first thing with ruffles and a big matching bow I can find! There are zero to none Children Boutique's, and that means no boutique consignment stores! I have been on the look out for a Snickerdoodle or a Purple Peanut for MONTHS! FYI Please go check them out if you are in the Huntsville, Alabama area!

The Purple Peanut
Snickerpoodles Consignment Shoppe


What are some of the things you miss the most when you move?

YI Home Camera as a Baby Monitor

For anyone that feels my pain, I have had both children co-sleep with me. My daughter slept with me until she was five mainly because it was always just me and her and I felt more comfortable knowing exactly where she was and what she was doing. She moved to her own room around six when my Husband started coming home on leave and now has "her space."

My Son has slept with us from day one and in all honesty it was just me being selfish and wanting more control. (Both times I set up a full nursery and never used it!) We are now starting to transition him to his own room with Russell Sprout #3 on the way.

I started looking into purchasing a baby monitor and those things are expensive!!!!! Like just to have one with an app is like $160. Yes I probably could have waited and asked for one as a shower present but still that is way to much money for a monitor! I remember when I had Eva they were like $60 and I remember thinking that was too expensive.

I found these guys on Amazon and I figured for $50 lets give it a try! The reviews are good and you just cant beat two cameras for $50. They can be used indoors or outside and also have a microphone on the camera for two way communication!




All you have to do it download the YI Home app and you can either use it in real time (like I plan on) or record/store video surveillance with a micro SD card or Icloud account! How cool is that?!

One camera will be used in Grayson's room and the second in our sun room which now holds the Russell Family's second gruesome twosome bunch! Y'all will find out what we did on Sunday tomorrow!

Please comment below if you have ever purchased these cameras and what you thought! You can also click on the link to purchase directly from Amazon!

Instagram & Beachbody!

So I have been looking into these fun and amazing ways to get my Beachbody business out there. By the way my coach mentor Holly Hillyer is absolutely amazing and our team offers some of the best training I have ever had in any position!

The part I love most about Beachbody is that they don't push the sales, it is not sale, sale, sale! Everything I have learned is preach YOUR story, YOUR progress, and YOUR life! Not sale, sale, sale!

That to me is completely doable. I would rather be a life influencer than a Beachbody influencer. Yes, I want to be more healthy and I want my family to be healthy but I don't just want to push the products I want to get the lifestyle out there. That is the core of being a Beachbody Coach!!

Beachbody makes me happy and that's why I stay a Beachbody Coach! I still have a full time career & I have a growing family but I do this for me!

Instagram has been one of the easiest ways to find more followers and get YOUR story out there! I am using for my property as well as my Beachbody/Personal Life. You can now use your Instagram story and ask questions.

Want to know more?
Want to make a lifestyle change?

I would suggest to anyone looking to start on social media to check out Instagram and get starting! Look up hashtags!

Water Challenge Update

Main Gate Anxiety

So this may be a new military wife thing but does anyone else have super gate ID check anxiety?! 

My first time ever going on to a Military base was with my Husband in Italy. I remember every time we left the house he would go through a check list of everything I needed to make sure we could go on base. So by god by the time I left I was a pro, I knew where everything was and handed it to them in the order they were going to look at it. 

It just made me super nervous! You play out the worst case scenario in your mind...What if I drop my ID and it goes into the missing sock abyss? What if I hold up all of these people? What happens if they for some reason they won't let me in? I just have this fear of them making me hold up traffic or heaven forbid turn around. 

Any time my family is in town they laugh at me because I ask like five times if everyone has their ID before we leave the house. I have this fear my Mother will be the person whose ID is partially melted in their wallet and gets completely stuck. My Dad on the other hand, always has his wallet in whatever bag is located in the trunk, no matter how many times you remind him that he needs it. 

Does the anxiety ever go away? Will I ever just be one of those people that it doesn't bother? Who knows! 

I completely blame my Husband for installing this fear of being stuck at the gate into my mind! He dies laughing when he is in the car with me because not very many things make me nervous but this is one of them! 

Hopefully I am not the only one that checks to make sure they know where their ID is 8 times on the slow roll up to the gate! 

2nd Generation Family Favorite - Rotel Chicken

There weren't many meals growing up that my Brother & I could agree on. I of course was a picky eater and he was not. Now dealing with my own family I understand my Mother's pain. Grayson will eat anything and everything you put in front of him...Eva not so much!

This recipe is super easy, doesn't take a great deal of time, and is also good as left overs!

The quantities I use can always be adjusted to preference I tend to like mine to be a little bit more creamy and my Mother likes to use more chicken.

Ingredients:

1-3 chicken breasts
1-2 cans of Rotel Tomatoes (Mild or spicy)
1 Block of Velveeta
1 can of cream of chicken soup (or two if you like it creamy)
1 bag of egg noodles

This is also fantastic for a family meal on a budget!

First you want to boil your chicken breasts, I normally boil mine 30 mins+ because I am super weird about undercooked chicken. Then once it is done & cooled off just shred it up and lay to the side.

Use the same water that you boiled the chicken in and add more to it so you can cook your eggs noodles.

Egg noodles are super easy to over cook and you don't want them to be all mushy so once the water is boiling dumb in the whole bag and boil for around 10 minutes.

Once your noodles are cooked, drain and I always spritz them with cold water so they do not stick together.

I normally use a half block of Velveeta for this recipe but again personal preference and how much you are making will change this. Cut it up into very small chunks so it will melt easier. (FYI the individual mini blocks are absolutely amazing!)

Put the noodles back in the pot on Medium heat. Pour in your cream of chicken soup, the entire can or cans of Rotel tomatoes, and your Velveeta chunks. Get to stirring!!! You will stir and stir until its all mixed up and the cheese is starting to melt then dumb in your shredded chicken.

Make sure everything is melted and mixed together and there ya go! Easy one pot meal that the whole family will love! We have to cut Grayson off after his second helping!

Let me know if your family likes this dish as much as mine does! 

Drink More Water Challenge!

So today after lots of reading and thought I have decided to do a drink more water challenge with myself....well maybe my Husband because he has a PRT coming up!

There are so many great side effects of drinking more water. Some say that you need to drink a gallon of water a day! Now to me that seems a lot but I want to be able to say I came pretty close!

I know for a fact my skin greatly improves the more water I drink and it helps with digestive issues as well! If anyone has ever been pregnant you know that those are found in abundance!!!! (TMI major digestive issues with all three pregnancies, you are not alone!)

Lets take a look at my redneck math for a moment!

I have my handy dandy tiffany blue yeti, that my amazing husband gave me for my birthday one year. It is 30oz and there are 128oz in a gallon.

If I can drink four of these a day full of tasty ice cold water I will be pretty dang close! Now others might prefer to carry around a gallon of water and that works too! I am extremely clumsy and would just end up dropping it or wearing it so I will stick to something that in my mind is easy and 100% doable!

I have also noticed that the more water I drink helps with my awful morning sickness. I have basically been drowning the nausea away. Sounds completely nuts but hey it works!

It also seems to help with those pesky pregnancy headaches, I am not sure what causes them or where they come from but I know that if I have one I can go and chug a bottled water and grab another one to sip and it starts to ease up.

Now by no means will this 100% work for everyone but I am going to give it a whirl and see if it works for me! If anyone has tried this or has any good advice I would love to hear it!!

Why I started my blog

Russell Sprout #3 Update

So as we round up week 14 of 40, I just wanted to give a little baby Russell Sprout # 3 update.

We tried to cheat and find out early was the sex of baby #3 is but baby had completely different plans. We found a local ultrasound studio that offered $60 sneak peeks. Even though they did call to adjust our time a few times, our experience overall was great. I was extremely spoiled by the "newness" of Nashville so I am having to cope here in Virginia Beach.

The Russell Sprout had both arms and hands over his/her face and had those little legs crossed up so tight! We tried for 30 minutes to get a better look but no luck.

The Daddy person left disappointed and pouting.

The morning sickness has yet to ease up and the energy levels still leave me dragging behind the family but they are being patient with me and allowing me to cut in on Grayson's nap times.

I feel the difference in my level of fitness with this one. I had a ton of energy when I was pregnant with Grayson and I was able to stay active. This one the morning sickness has really kicked butt but we are going to start Beachbody's Maternity friendly workouts this week and see if that helps.

Italian Chicken Bake - Easy Dinner!

So my darling Husband has brought to my attention that I cook the same recipes over and over. Which I have to admit is completely true! I am a creature of habit so once I find something I like I will eat it over and over and over. Well, I guess my Husband isn't so he asked to switch it up. Now I won't really say this one is healthy because it does use a 1/2 stick of butter but its a vegetable, a starch, and a protein so for my picky family its pretty dang healthy!

It is a one pan, 5 ingredient, throw together recipe that was loved by all!

1. 3-4 Potatoes
2. 2 Handfuls of green beans
3. Italian seasoning packet
4. 1/2 Stick of butter
5. 2-3 Chicken breasts

Start out preheating the oven to 350.

Peel 3-4 potatoes, we used just normal ones (russet not sure why that's normal to me) but I am sure red, yellow, or brown would all work. Cut them up into quarters & line along one side of the pan.

We used fresh green beans and I am gonna throw this country bumpkin measurement at ya and say we purchased two handfuls. Rinsed them under cold water and cut the tips off. We probably didn't have to but it just seemed right to me. Place these on the other side of the pan.

We only had two adults eating, one very picky little girl, and a baby that eats everything so I had two HUGE oversized chicken breasts that I cut in half and placed them in the center.

I used a little over a 1/2 a stick of butter. Cut it into little pieces and spread evenly over everything. You can use more or less based on how you like it. I will say that next time I will use a little less.

Now take the Italian seasoning and shake over everything evenly.

Now wrap in Reynolds wrap and place in the oven for 1 hour. ( I wasn't quick enough to catch my timer haha) I would say it maybe took me 10-15 minutes of prep work and most of it was just peeling potatoes and chasing a one year old crazy baby around. The final product was amazing! Both kids loved the potatoes and the Husband got the clean plate award for the night! 

If you try this recipe please let me know how it goes and if it was a family favorite for yours like it was mine!