Staying Active During Pregnancy

Since Justin has been on block leave, there have been a handful of activities we have decided to do, that we wouldn't normally do. I'm not much of a nature girl, let alone hiker, but my husband is having some serious upper left USA wanderlust, so we are indulging. One of the places we visited this past week was Snoqualmie Falls. There is a 270 foot waterfall, and a pretty decent trail for hiking down to the base of the waterfall. I think it's pretty safe to say the most exercise I get in a day would be running after Ava bug, wether we are outside playing or indoors, occasionally going on family walks for a mile or two, or doing some prenatal yoga (which I have absolutely been horrible at doing lately). None of those activities require the level of exercise needed for hiking trails like the one at the falls. I will say, I did extremely well on the way down, it is always the incline that gets me. Being at the base of that waterfall was extremely worth all of it though.

It was so beautiful and peaceful down there. We did have to overcome a few hurdles on our journey, as we decided to brink our stroller for Ava. There were tons of stairs that weren't exactly toddler stroller friendly. Seeing the look on my toddler's face when she took in the scenic views was pretty amazing though. She kept pointing and asking about everything. She loved all the trees, the waterfall, the flow of the water moving past us, etc. Experiencing this with my sweet family gave me a sense of accomplishment for sure. Here we spent almost four hours of our day exploring a piece of Washington that millions of people visit each year.

Immediately after we left, Justin asked if I'd be willing to hike The Big Four Ice Caves, and I said yes. During my pregnancy with Ava bug, I never did anything like this. I never hiked, I never really "felt the burn" aside from walking around in the smoldering Georgia heat. My goal this pregnancy is to stay as fit as I can, to better prepare me for the labor I'm hoping for. I'm already down almost 15 lbs since I found out about our growing bean (thank you morning sickness), and I'd like to maintain a healthy weight, along with healthy exercise goals. The best part of this entire ordeal is that it's something that my family can do along side me. No one pushes me or motivates me like my husband or Ava bug.

Because Washington has so many hiking trails and hidden gems for us to explore, we plan on making hikes a weekly family affair. I can't wait to feel myself get stronger as we tackle each one. If you are a Washingtonian, and you have any suggestions as to where we should hike next, please feel free to leave me a comment below, or shoot me an email! We are definitely up for suggestions by some of our state natives. In the meantime, here are some of the photos I was able to get from our trip to the falls. I spent more time enjoying the experience of nature than actually taking photos (so rare for this mama).

Happy Monday all!

♥- Leilani