Special K® Red Berries on My Doorstep...

The post you're about to read is sponsored by Special K® Red Berries. All opinions are 100% my own.

A couple of weeks ago a mysterious box was delivered to my doorstep. "What did you order, babe?" I asked Eric as I carried it into our kitchen. He couldn't remember having ordered anything recently, and I definitely knew I hadn't. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found two perfectly good boxes of Special K Red Berries cereal wrapped in bubble wrap!

It took me just under two hours to figure out why: I had landed a spot in this amazing campaign featuring Special K Red Berries cereal! Needless to say, I was stoked.

I knew from the beginning that this cereal would be perfect for me. As a busy, active mom, wife, and teacher, I need delicious, filling breakfast options that are quick and healthy. Special K Red Berries is made with whole grains and now comes with more real strawberries! Not only is it delicious, but one bowl feeds my body with folic acid, vitamin D, and fiber--just what I'm looking for in a quick, delicious breakfast!

Special K Red Berries has been my go-to breakfast cereal for the past two weeks, and I mean it when I say I am obsessed! Just one bowl leaves me full and satisfied until my next snack or meal--did I mention it's delicious?! It can be difficult to find everything you need to start off your morning in a cereal, but I've truly found it with Special K Red Berries.

In addition to being my go-to breakfast, I've also incorporated it into my pre-workout and/or afternoon snack. It's quick and filling and is just what I need to hold me over until dinnertime. I've even caught Eric filling a bowl or two as his afternoon snack--husbands approve too!


Lola wanted to know if it was dog-friendly too!

To feel special, you have to eat special. To feel well, you have to eat well. I'm so glad to have discovered the perfect amount of nutrients in Special K Red Berries. It's the perfect breakfast or snack for active, on-the-go moms and individuals... just like me!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Special K® Red Berries.

Have you tried Special K Red Berries?
What's your go-to quick and healthy breakfast?

Vaught: 11 Months

This will be a pretty short update, as I'm a busy single mom this week! No, really--Eric is out of town, so Vaught and I are on our own until Sunday. So far it's not been too stressful... Just extremely busy!

It's hard to believe that in merely one month I'll have a ONE-year-old! The past eleven months have flown by, but they've been so much fun!

We're not sure on Vaught's length, but he still weighs about 23.5 pounds. He is crawling EVERYWHERE and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth. I cannot let him out of my sight!

We've had our first run-in with mommy's hot curling wand. He pulled it off the bathroom counter and it hit him on the cheek. He cried for about five seconds then was on to the next thing. In some of the pictures, that's the little red mark you see. It's almost healed!

It's hard for me to keep up with all of Vaught's new words, but I swear he said "You're welcome" plain as day the other day in the kitchen. He also says "Huh?" really high-pitched and squeaky. Eric and I both hard of hearing, so we say "huh" a lot. Vaught is picking up on things we say!

His birthday party is set for the last Sunday in September, and I can't thank my mom and mother-in-law enough for gathering up some party supplies for me. Next thing on my to-do list: invitations!

Just one more month until our little guy is ONE! 

Seven is my lucky number...

Wow... Okay, I promise to be a better blogger in the very near future! I am still adjusting to my new job as a sixth grade English teacher. I'm working on lesson plans and other things for class nearly every afternoon until I absolutely have to leave to go get Vaught; I've only been able to go to the gym twice in the past week! Even still...

I am SEVEN pounds down in the past two weeks!! (Cue happy dancing)!

In addition to that, I can wear a pair of Seven jeans. The real Seven jeans... The ones that have never in my life fit me before. The ones that would have caused me to break out in a hot sweat if I'd even attempted to pull them on two months ago. Yep. I found these babies for $25 at TJMaxx yesterday!

This style originally goes for anywhere between $125-$200, but I found them at a great price. I couldn't believe it! In addition to the price, they're a size 14, a size I haven't truly been a long time. Like, a really long time. I was in between a 14 and 16 for a while, but in the past few weeks I've noticed that anything size 16 looks and feels way big on me--like noticeably too big. I now sit between a size 12 and 14. These Seven jeans are great, but a few more pounds and there will definitely be extra room! It excites and motivates me to know that I'm not far off from having to size down again!

I was so excited when I stepped on the scale Monday morning to see a number I honestly don't know when I last saw. I am ten pounds from the lowest I can remember being my freshman year of college (after Eric broke up with me and I didn't eat for two months). I wasn't really working out then, just doing a bit of aimless cardio here and there, so I'm excited to see the difference of the me now versus my body back then. I'm eating well, but not eating nearly as much; some days I probably log around 1,000 calories. Yes, I know that's too little, but I stay so busy during the day... You wouldn't believe it!

I'm going to work on packing some higher calorie snacks in my lunch bag next week!

Sorry this update is a little short, but I am blogging as I wait on my tests to be printed out... I've worked on some stuff for the blog this week (SORRY to my fabulous companies who have asked me to do sponsored posts--I promise they're coming), so I've got to spend a good bit of time this weekend getting that all together!

Hope you all have an amazing Friday!!

Kate

Weekend Recap::: Darby's Birthday, My Jeans Fell Off

I'm sure I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if I recapped every single weekend on my blog, you'd eventually stop reading. While I think my life is grand, from the outside looking in, I seem pretty boring... That's why I only recap the truly great weekends. This weekend was one of them.

Keep reading for Darby's birthday!

There's not much to say about Friday night... I'd had a good but busy week at school, and I couldn't wait to crash! After dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, where Vaught discovered a new love of small plastic cups, we headed to the house to put on our pjs and get in bed! All of the Paces were conked out by nine!

 

When we got home from BWW, these were on my doorstep. It took me two hours to figure out why I was sent this cereal! More on that in a few days.

I overslept my 6:30 Saturday alarm for the gym, so I didn't go until eight. If I don't make it to the gym before seven on Saturday and Sunday mornings, I've basically lost all motivation. I just did a mile and a half on the treadmill and a little ab work. Hey-- a workout is a workout!

 Afterwards, I grabbed a few groceries and had my car washed. No time for breakfast when I finally got back home at ten; I had to get ready for a birthday party!

I picked my mom up in Potts Camp at noon, and we set out for Saltillo, MS.

I make friends easily, but you all already knew that. I am charismatic, curious, and friendly, and I've never met a stranger. Already friends on Instagram and kinda-sorta friends from several years prior, Sara and I instantly reconnected when we were both pregnant at the same time in 2014. Both riding the pregnancy train, of course we had a lot in common! She was due a few weeks before me, and her little girl, Darby, is about six weeks older than Vaught. Yesterday, Darby turned one year old, and we had the honor of celebrating her birthday with her on Saturday!

 

 

The party, which included a lot of pink of course, was a blast, and Vaught had so much fun!

We gave Darby this sweet t-shirt for her first trip to Disney World in November.

 

Vaught tried a cupcake again. He seemed to enjoy this one much better than our previous attempts at sugar.

 

Sweet Darby was picking up cake off the floor around her highchair. My mom said, "Here, let me get you a clean piece!" Bev is very serious about cake...

Us and our littles! I so wish we'd taken a picture together about a year ago right now so we could compare!

Darby & Vaught were instant friends!

Such a sweet family: The Davises

We left the party shortly after two, intending to go see my sister's new house. She called to let us know it'd be a little while before she was home, so we stopped by Kohl's to return something and look around.

My jeans fell off.

While getting dressed Saturday morning, I got really frustrated. I had a new pale pink top I wanted to wear that I knew would look great with sandals and skinny jeans. There's just one problem; none of my jeans fit me anymore.

I dug out a pair of size sixteen skinny jeans from Torrid and had absolutely no problem zipping them. As a matter of fact, I probably could have pulled them on without even unbuttoning them. "Maybe see if you can get a new pair today," Eric offered, as I cursed and grumbled at myself in the mirror. I knew as I was wiggling around at the birthday party, trying to keep them up, that it was bound to happen. And sure enough, as I got out of my car in the parking lot at Kohl's, I felt them slipping past my hips. I reached to pull them up and realized that they'd been so loose, the button had come undone. Screw. This.

Just right LCs!

My mom had noticed too that I'd lost even more weight since I've returned to teaching, so she gladly helped me find a new pair of jeans at Kohl's. It sucks being in between sizes. All of the fourteens I tried on fit, but the size twelves from the junior section were all too small. Seriously, ten more pounds and I'll be there, but I found these great Lauren Conrad jeggings that are perfect! I love her jeggings because they're not that cotton-y material; they're actual jeans with a little stretch to them. My sweet mom bought them for me, and it was all I could do to not wear them out of the store! Since it had begun pouring, I just decided to stick with my too-big Torrids... They are now in the trash bin :)

Too-big Torrid jeans :(

 

Also found this adorable top... because brunch is always a good idea.

After shopping at Kohl's, we grabbed a quick lunch at Five Guys. I'd never been, but we recently got one in Southaven, and I've heard great things about it. Mom and I both ordered a cheeseburger and fries, and we weren't at all disappointed. It was amazing! Vaught approved too!

After Five Guys, it was time for coffee! I ran (in the rain) into Barnes and Noble to get a small cup of the house roast for mom and an extra hot cappuccino for myself.

Finally, my sister was home from grocery shopping and we got to go see her new house. Is it bad that she's lived there for two months and we just now visited her new home?!

Vaught and Cherish played in the floor the whole time!

We left Lauren's house around six, and I dropped Mom off to meet my dad in New Albany. Vaught napped the whole way home and continued napping when I put him in his crib. He slept until seven Sunday morning... A day of birthday cake and shopping wore him out!

I went to the gym Saturday night, suddenly motivated all because of this cute ChinUp Apparel tank my mom got me! "Dancing is my cardio!"

Afterwards, I went to Starbucks and had every intention of working on next week's lesson plans until they closed, which I thought was at 10:30. Turns out they close at 9:30, so I only got about half an hour to work! I had a grande strawberry acai refresher with water... It was amazing!

I wasn't ready to go home yet, so where did I go?

Duh.
In my defense, I'd scored some awesome coupons for baby wipes and produce that I really needed to use. I'll just stop at that.

Sunday

Vaught slept until seven, and we had breakfast and got ready for the 9:30 church service at Life Fellowship in Olive Branch. This was our third time visiting this church, and we have really enjoyed it!

 

After church we got Starbucks for the ride to Potts Camp to see mom and dad.

Snapchat: kcpace12

We got home from my parents' around three, and I took a two hour nap. It was amazing! I owe an enormous THANK YOU to my sweet husband who entertained Vaught while I slept. When I woke up, I made this amazing peanut butter protein smoothie and worked on lesson plans for another two hours. Vaught got a bath at 7:30, and we were in bed before 8:30.

Overall, it's been yet another fun, relaxing weekend! We had such a great time celebrating Darby yesterday, spending the day with my mom, and catching up on a little sleep!

Hope you all had a pleasant weekend as well!