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Kenda Mullert









7/21/2013 1:18:32 PM

Getting Settled... Figuring it out!

We are figuring out how to be parents. There are so many authors with books out there telling you their theories on parenting. We are working on coming up with what works best for us and our child. I can tell you I am a big fan of getting sleep while you can.


Cherishing the special moments. It is amazing seeing the small changes in a baby from day to day. The new expressions, the changes in behavior, it is incredible.


On our way home! I feel like I want a Chevy Suburban. To have a big old car that the carseat fits better in and I can feel safer cruising down the highway in Texas.


Sometimes, I feel like we have three children with our needy dogs. Thor the Amazing Pooping everywhere and whining Boxador and Canaan the Sneaky Farty Pants Escape Artist Golden Retriever.

We are home!

This week we had a little nugget of joy come into our lives a few days early... Alexander James Mullert was born on a stormy Monday, September 26th at 6:45pm. He was 7lbs 7oz and 20in long. He has a beautiful full head of hair. He will surprise you with how alert he is. We had an all natural childbirth and I was there to hold my wife's hand the entire time. The whole process was amazing, you almost cannot believe it.




Kenda is doing well and recovering with as much rest as she can get between nursing and bouts of crying. She is thankful to not be pregnant any longer. She looks radiant too. It is amazing how we keep growing more in love. I have been trying to keep the house clean, make meals, and change diapers. It is tough with the lack of sleep, but worth every second. We are looking forward to our adventures in parenthood now. Alexander has a pretty strong grip, so we think he will be a rock climber or kung-fu master.
We have been blessed with family nearby to help and support us. Thanks MiMi and Poppi. Thor and Canaan don't like lightning and thunder much. So, an AC/DC concert is out of the question. Canaan keeps trying to escape the yard and Thor destroys everything in his path. Just what we need right now. The Mullerts will install an electric fence this afternoon. We'll keep you posted!

Pregnancy Brain and Cinnamon Rolls

So there is something called "Pregnancy Brain". From what I can tell it's the card I can pull when I do really weird things for no reason at all. I have noticed for the past month or so random things that I will do and not even realize what I am doing. This weekend, I have something that I will definitely blame on my pregnant mind. My mom and I were out shopping for clothes that will fit my ever growing body at a local consigment shop. Turns out that this shop was really cool with lots of clothes for me and for our baby. I had gathered quite a lot of tops and dresses to try on in the dressing room and was coming out of the room to model to my mom who was waiting for me. I was trying on a cute pair of shorts that ended up being too big for me but my mom wanted to see them anyways....so I stepped out and showed her, spun around and quickly realized that I did not have a shirt on. Just my bra. Oh my gosh! I was mortified!! I quickly scrambled back into the dressing room and got dressed.

This weekend has been full of adventure and rest. On Friday night, Mark woke me up to take him to the emergency room. Just how every wife wants to be woken up, right? He was taking the trash out and sliced the back of his foot open on a mug that I broke the day before. Saturday proved to be not too bad. I went to work for a few special events happening that day and Mark stayed home and worked on his Ebay business. We slept in on Sunday, went to church and Mark left for a training on campus. I went on a walk in Cameron Park and came home and made delicious cinnamon rolls (a very healthy version). Now I am just waiting for Mark to come home while I eat all the cinnamon rolls. Maybe I will have one left for Mark. Here's a link to the recipe that I used: really healthy cinnamon rolls

Tuesday we find out if our baby is a girl or boy. We can't wait! Don't worry! We'll post that day and let your anxious minds know too!

Until Tuesday...

Week 16 and Week 17

I've been hearing a lot of old wives tales about whether it's a boy or a girl. The most recent one I've heard is that if the heart beat is above 140 the baby is a girl and if the heart rate is below 140, the baby is a boy. What if the heart rate is 140? That's what we found out at our latest appointment with our midwife. Maybe our baby just wants a little more time to decide. Hopefully by May 3, when we have our sonogram, the baby will decide. We are hoping for a healthy baby - boy or girl. :)

Last week I ran in a 5K here in Waco at the Xterra Trail Run Series. It was AWESOME! I haven't been running lately, but I have been working out a lot lately. My job as a Fitness Director keeps me very active and I am learning to respect and listen to my body for limitations and abilities being pregnant. During my trail run last week I was able to process being active and pregnant while running in a race. It was motivating and emotional and inspiring at the same time. There is a blog that I read often - Athleta Chi. It's written by active women pursuing their passions ranging from triathlons to marathons to yoga to surfing and more. It's been encouraging to read this blog, run in my first 5K as a mom knowing that my life will filled with children and races. I don't want to be a mom that stays home and on the soccer game sidelines only. I want to be a mom that competes in triathlons and other adventures before the soccer games. 

The pregnancy journey so far hasn't been too bad. I've gotten over the hump of nausea and am now into the infamous second trimester full of energy. Some days I have more energy than others but overall, I am feeling really good. I've gained about 10lbs and had to buy my first pair of prego pants. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the foot wide elastic band that is supposed to cover the tummy, but I definitely like that ability to put non spandex clothing on and it fit comfortable. I think Canaan, our dog, knows something is up. He has been a lot more protective and often doesn't leave my side. Mark's been great too. Whenever I ask him if I look pregnant (knowing that what I am really asking is, "do I just look fat, or is it obvious that I am pregnant") he answers with the best answer - You're beautiful and yes, you look pregnant and not just fat. Thanks, babe! 

Here's a few pictures for your enjoyment! Week 16 and week 17. Can you see my innie of a belly button changing to an outie? So fun!

We will post again on May 4 after our sonogram! Check back to find out if we will have a baby girl or a baby boy!!! 

Love, 

Kenda & Mark, plus one.

A blog worth posting!!!

It's been a long time coming. We know that we haven't posted in a long time.....but really, we just had to wait until we had a post worth posting!

Get ready, Baby Mullert is on his/her way!!!  

That's right, we are pregnant! We couldn't be more excited about this new twist in our adventure called life. This week marks our 14th week and our baby is growing rapidly!  According to our new day-by-day calendar of our baby's growth status, our baby is 3.5 inches long and weighs almost 3 ounces. (too bad that's not the amount I've gained)

A few of our friends and family have asked if this was a planned pregnancy. Of course it was! We knew that we wanted to have babies when we said, "i do". We found on that we were pregnant on January 31, 2011. The day before, Kenda ran her first half marathon and didn't feel so "right". She knew that she was a week late on her period but thought with all the training and working out that it might account for a late period. We took two pregnancy tests actually. Who really takes only one? I (Kenda) sat in our bedroom while Mark went into the bathroom to read the pregnancy stick said. He looked at me. I looked at him. Then I ran into the bathroom and checked for myself. We looked at each other and said, "we pregnant". Then we decided to take the second test. Good thing that I had a lot of water to drink that night. After two positive tests, we realized that we were indeed pregnant. 

Mum was the word.

We kept pretty quiet about our new secret. It seemed like the very next day, (I) Kenda began feeling the symptoms of morning sickness. I would wake up and go to bed nausea, allthougth I never threw up.  I had a love-hate relationship with food. I loved eating because it would make my nausea temporarily go away and I hated it because the sight of food made me sick. We scheduled our first doctor's appointment on Feb. 24 (Kenda's birthday). What a birthday present to see the baby's heart beat!! The doctor's determined that we were 9 weeks and 1 day along as of Feb. 24 with a due date on September 28. We kept our little secret for three more weeks. It wasn't easy though. Kenda still had to teach her 10 group exercise classes a week - a feat in of itself when she was so exhausted and nauseas all the time. And really, there isn't too much room to hide the weight gain in spandex. On March 11, we broke the news to our parents and family members with a video.  Both sets of parents were estatic and everyone we have told so far has been really positive and proud of us. We had our 12 week appointment the next day - Mark got to come to see and hear our baby's heart beat. What love! 

We began telling our work and friends the next day. It's been such a fun adventure so far. I have definitely gained some weight and my belly is definitely showing signs of a baby inside. Supposedly, not many women show until their 14-15th week (according to some websites) but I have been showing since week 12. We wanted to wait until our first trimester was over to tell everyone. 

Mark and I are busy making plans for having our baby. We have registered the baby at Target and are busy scowering the garage sales and sales racks for baby furniture and items we might need. Since this is our first, we are starting from scratch. Do you have any recommendations on what baby item you would never trade? Tell us! We want to know!

Until our next post - in about a week or two after our next appointment, keep us posted with your ideas and baby item recommendations. 

Mark and Kenda

Christmas with the Mullerts

It's been a very exciting week at the Mullerts household. We hosted the Baylor Outdoor Adventure tacky Christmas sweater party on Tuesday night only to have our refrigerator quit working. Actually, we still don't have a new fridge and I am surrounded by four ice coolers filled with food that we are praying will make it till Saturday. Meanwhile, Mark and I are hosting our Christmas with the Mullerts holiday get-to-gether. Its actually a winter formal and its time to dress up!  We've asked a few friends to come over with a bottle of their favorite red wine and I am making some appetizers. 

So far, I have made a lot of new yummy recipes: coconut flour bread, coconut flour brownies, crackers, black bean hummus, traditional garlic hummus, french bread, and soon some bruschetta to put on top. I am super excited about my new found love for cooking healthy recipes.  So is Mark!  

I have been seeing a nutritionist the past two weeks and have found discovered some new information! I have an intolerance to fruit sugar, brown sugar, honey, milk and a permanent allergy to soy. I have taken a few whole food supplements plus a few supplements to decrease the levels of mercury and aluminum that was found in my body as well.  It is a very interesting technique - Nutritional Response Testing. You can read about it here. I think it's really interesting. I'm not sure how convinced I am that it does what it says it does, but I think it at least helps me listen to my body and respond better to it. I have actually been not eating any fruit, fruit juice, sugar, honey, or any other sweet things for the past two weeks. I have really seen a great response in my body but it is hard during the holiday season. I do my best but still eat a sweet or two at a Christmas party. 

Mark has been busy with work and trying to sell old stuff on eBay and making me fun meals, like my "love pizza".  At least that is what he calls it.  It was so tasty and a fun surprise after a long day of work.  He has been very sweet and helped me with getting my bootcamps set-up.  He even did one and was sore for a week!  We are doing our best to live in the moment and are really excited about spending time with family and friends over the holidays.  

One really awesome thing is that we got our first tree together.  We went to Home Depot, yes the big box store.  We had romantic ideas of going to cut down our own tree and realized we live in a city in a state with not a lot of pines.  So, we arrived there at 6:53pm and they had already started closing down.  Mark said, "it is not 7:00pm yet.  We know what kind we want."  The salesman was really nice and showed us a few, and said, "this one is on us since we already put away the credit card reader.  Merry Christmas!"  We felt so blessed.  We strapped it on the old Subaru and headed home.  I felt so inspired to decorate, I bought tons of decorations in preparations for all of our parties.  Canaan even got in the spirit.  The house is really starting to feel more like a home.  We are still very much in love and our hearts skip a beat when we see each other across the room.  

More holiday blogging to come...

~Kenda