Clever Title Not Found

Yeah. It's been a long day, I've got nothing clever!

We went to a babywearing meeting on the other side of our 'hood this morning. 10am meeting + 2 mile walk= early wake up time!

I woke up extra early so I could try on a million outfits before leaving. Yeah, those green khaki shorts and black tank and shrug were as good as it gets.

I got a huge blister on my foot! I want to cry. I'm still planning on running though.

I have to walk to the other side of our 'hood again tomorrow to pick up tickets to the renaissance faire this weekend! I'm excited. Last year was our first time, and I was pregnant and hot.

I did remember to take pics of lunch and dinner, but not snacks or breakfast. Opps.

Wordless Wednesday

Accountability

I'm positive that along with blogging, the 21 Day Fitness Challenge was a huge part of keeping me motivated these last three weeks.

Knowing that I needed to make a post saying I failed was a great motivator for me. I really do NOT want someone to be able to call me out for sucking.

So here's the deal. I'm going to pot everything I eat here. If it bores you, sorry.

But the fun part is you can yell at me if I'm eating poorly! Give me tips and ideas. What do you say? Please?

Lunch time:

Baby Carrots
Edamame
Cucumber "sub" (aka hollowed cucumber with 2 slices deli turkey and laughing cow cheese)

Dinner:

Portobello Pizza
Orange

Duh.

I'm dumb sometimes.

Day 21 aka The Grand Finale

Day 21, the very last day is upon us! Would you pretty please shower me with accolades? Cause I did it, y'all!

Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaw, itchbays.

I sincerely started and finished something health related. I didn't miss a challenge. I completed every single one.

Today's challenge is to reflect and review our Day One Goals.

So far I have accomplished:

Week One- No cheese danish when visiting my family. You can totally laugh! I went easy on purpose, didn't want to set myself up for failure from the get!

One Month-I actually had two, both are in progress.

I'm on week 2 of C25k. And I have a pretty solid list of healthy dinners and their corresponding grocery shopping list. Both are a work in progress, and I'll continue to share along the way.

I just want to say a huge thanks to Fitness Jenn for hosting the challenge. If you live in Central Jersey near the Shore, (coincidentally my hometown where Snooki and Jwoww are living and filming) go check out one of her Zumba classes or hire her for some personal training.

Then come tell me so I can live vicariously through you, cool?

Day 20

Day 20 was made for my day yesterday. 10,000 steps is about 5 miles.

We went to a La Leche League meeting 2.2 miles away. Then we walked down the main shopping street in our 'hood, which was another 2 miles.

And that's not counting all the incidental steps, like pacing the library for an hour and a half while we were stuck the previously mentioned two plus miles from home in a rain storm.

Thank goodness for baby wearing though! Aubrey was able to eat and sleep in the carrier, and I just read books about games to play with infants.

(Hint: You already know them all. It's just songs, variations of peekaboo, and fetch for parents. Seriously.)

This made me lol, for real:

Days 18 and 19

I'm catching up here! Ever have those days weeks where it seems everything has gotten away from you? I need to vacuum, do the dishes, laundry, and put away the folded clothes. How does it just pile up so fast?

Day 18

Anyone else happy she wasn't watching 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea? One thing I've been surprised about with these physical fitness challenges are how daunting they seem at first, but how doable they actually are. Except burpees. You can take those and shove them up your

Moving on...

Day 19

And this is one that seems easy, but I think will be pretty hard. Cutting out sugar for a week? I don't drink anything but water and coffee with Splenda. Wait, do I have to cut out Splenda too? Crap. I'll let you know how this one goes in a week. Yikes!

Edit: Click here for a list of added sugars. This will be tough!

------
C25K update

I'm on week 2! Wanna hear something hysterical?

The app I'm using stops after week 2 and you have to buy the full version. How smart are they?! Giving me just enough to like it and bam, "May we have your wallet, please?"

Same thing happened to me when I was in labor. I was using a free app for timing of my contractions, when it said the trial was over. I called the app maker every name in the book, and plenty that aren't!

I get it though, I do! I hate it, but I get it.

I'm looking for a 5k that allows strollers, hopefully after late October/November, in NYC or NJ. It's a bit intimidating, but totally exciting!

I guess it's intimidating because a few years ago I talked a big game about running a 5k and never did. No one called me out on it, either.

I don't want that to happen. I want to do this. And I want, no, need for you to call me out if not.

Pinkie promise? Please?

 

Jogging is hard work!

Day 17

Day 17. Again, this came at a perfect time!

We just started the 10 day pledge at 100 Days of Real Food. So I had to get rid of any processed garbage anyway. But seriously, shh...don't tell my husband! He hates wasting money.

He also isn't aware that we've taken the pledge. (Hey babe, if you're reading this!)

I'm a big, fat liar.

I totally am! In my last post I said I'd be back the next day. Which was technically yesterday. Whoops.

Wanna know how else I'm a liar? I didn't really complete Day 15. Nope, not even close. I did 10, said I'd do more later and didn't.

I feel pretty bad about it, I really do. Lying to yourself sucks. There's this little nagging voice that says "No, you won't. You won't do it. You're full of crap and you know it."

I also didn't do my C25k stuff today due to the Air Quality report. I thought it was a wise decision, but now I'm questioning if it was just an excuse.

All I know is tomorrow is a new day, and I want to shut up that annoying nagging voice, and not lie to myself any more.

(Is your nagging voice also super high pitched? Or am I just a total looney tune?)

Days 13, 14, 15

I'm a little behind, huh? It's been a little crazy here!

Husband has a crazy time at work coming up, so we've been spending the last 3 days soaking up all the time we can together as a family.

We're back to normal tomorrow and I'll be back to blogging like normal.

I have completed all the challenges, I can't believe it's less than a week until it's over! Crazytown.

Hey, gorgeous!

I say that to Bree like 62 times a day. When I was in Jersey I said "Hey gorgeous!" and this adorable, chubby 10 year old turned around, looked me dead in the face and winked.

It took every ounce of self-restraint not to crack up.

I've got a feeling that is exactly how people were viewing me as I went clomping and jiggling down the block today during day 2 of C25k.

At least I hope they have the same reaction. Because to be really real,I was a little jealous, and a ton impressed with his confidence.

<3

Shopping is hard work!

Day 11...and Day 1

Day 11's challenge is perfect for me, yet again. See, when I was in NJ, I got an awesome new-to-me jogging stroller. It's a Baby Jogger Q Series and it's a beast!

If you think back to a far away time, eleven whole days ago my one month goal was to start a Couch 2 5k program.

And I did that today! I dressed Bree up in a pink super girl outfit, loaded her into the stroller and left before I could talk myself out of it.

I'm considering it a success! Not only did I finish, but I did so without anyone stopping me to ask if I needed an ambulance or coming home to reports of seismic activity. Woot!

Super Girl had fun too. We stopped at my favorite park on the way home to relax and cool off. She had fun one armed spasming waving at all the kids. Love her!

I've still got to burn about 200 more calories to complete the challenge, but I'm confident I for got it.

City Living

My family is obsessed with Aubrey. They literally can not go into a store without buying her an outfit and a toy. It doesn't matter if the store sells clothes or toys, they'll find something.

Every time I visit, we come home with cute new outfits. After we came home from our visit last week, Aubrey and I were out and about. A lady complimented her shirt, and asked who made it.

I told her Carter's and she said "Huh, I haven't seen that one before."

Then it hit me...Carter's makes different lines for different big box stores, and this one is from Walmart.

We don't have Walmart in NYC. So in the city, clothes from Walmart are cool.(er than back in the country where I'm from!)

Tonight we're headed to Target, we're taking the car and everything. Back home heading to Target was an every other day thing. Bored? Go to Target. Looking for something? Go to Target. Need a gift? Go to Target.

Here it's a luxury. Sure it's easy enough to get to on the subway, but carrying the 13,927 bags one always leaves target with? Not so easy.

Taking the car means finding a parking spot when we return. That's a total pain. It takes planning.

I love Astoria, my neighborhood. I love that it's walkable. I love that there are people but not times square amount of people. I love that there are hundreds of stores, restaurants, produce stands and food stores.

I also love going "back home" to NJ, driving all over, shopping at big box stores and not being constantly surrounded by people. I love that there's no honking, I hate the dark and thoughts of wild animals lurking.

I have no idea where we'll end up with Husband's next promotion, I don't know if we'd prefer a city or a suburb or the country.

All I know is I freaking love Astoria, but I'd really like a gosh dang Walmart.

Random Mommy Thoughts

A few weeks ago we transitioned Aubrey into her crib...which is right next to my side of the bed.

I'm the most quiet person ever (I'm 88.33% ninja) but she always wakes up when I come in the room.

And I just realized why.

You know how you can be awakened by a smell? Like bacon wafting into your room on a Sunday morning?

Girl smells her milk.

Welcome to the random thoughts in my brain.

Day 10

Not gonna lie, Day 10 scares me. 100 lunges? I hate lunges. Everyone hates lunges, don't they?

Suck it up, buttercup, right? Right.

I'll be picking up my new baby carriers this weekend. I'm super excited!

Day 9

♫All by myself....I don't wanna be...all by myself.♫

I'm not sure if it was an oversight or a really clever lesson in self motivation, but there wasn't a fitness challenge posted today.

So what's a girl to do? Exercise on her own, of course!

See, I'm not totally at all the type of person who sticks with a diet and exercise program. I hate to not do anything, when I've done the last 8. It would make it easy for me to just skip today, and then make an excuse for tomorrow and then totally forget about this whole crazy idea within four days.

But I can't do that. Not this time. Have you seen Ms. Blue Eyes? Girl is crazy cute and needs her Mama.

Shall we make our own Day 9 challenge?

Already did, thanks for asking!

Husband took a half day today since he didn't have a day off this week and we took a 2 mile walk. But that doesn't count, because really, it doesn't.

So I did three sets of the following:

Plank for 1 minute (owww)
Cobra for 1 minute
Bridge (20)
Opposite arm and leg reach for 1 minute
Press out (20)
Crunches (20)

I pulled out my handy dandy Biggest Loser book and looked up some of the exercises.

Reach over and pat me on the back, would ya? I deserve it.

Update:

Apparently I went to bed too early! Which, ironically, was the daily challenge. Get 6-8 hours of sleep a night for the next week. I can't promise it'll be uninterrupted, but I'll be able to do that no prob!

Wordless Wednesday

(Opps. A day late seems to be my running theme this week!)

Day 8

Day 8's challenge was just posted a bit ago.

Since it was a little late I had to do it while my husband was home. Picture me on the floor hysterically laughing while grunting in pain trying to hold a plank.

Husband is on the couch holding Bree trying to be supportive. Or taking pictures, I'm honestly not sure which one.

I made it past the 30 second goal.

Day 7 (a day late)

How freaking excited was I when I got home last night and saw Day 7 was 30 minutes of stretching before bed, something that I could easily do, and did, albeit it lazily.

We're a officially a week in, which means I also met my one week goal avoiding cheese danishes. More importantly, I've done all the challenges!

I'm finding myself looking forward to the emails that the newest blog entry is up over on Fitness Jenn.

Day 6

Have you jumped rope recently? Like,
since you were older than 13? It's not as easy as I remembered!

I kept hitting my hair at first and messing up. Then I broke the jump rope, because I'm awesome like that and I was using a cheap jump rope off the shelf at my parents camp store.

If that ain't a fine "how fat are you" stepping on and breaking a jump rope.

Day 6 in the books! Heading back to NYC tomorrow, so hopefully it'll be something doable on short time!

Days 4 and 5

As I mentioned, I'm at my parent's campground for the annual benefit carnival and as expected, Saturday was crazy!

We did raise $12,914 for two very deserving campers and their families!
There wasn't a dry eye in the place when the money was being presented.

So I was SO excited to see Day 5 was a rest day and I could do Day 4 without being a day behind....

...until I saw Day 4.

Holy sheet. Really?

I'm no math whiz, but I do love numbers. So quick calculation, that's over 350 reps.

(It's actually 364, as my jello arms can attest!)

It was like a bazillion degrees outside, so I broke it in 3 parts but did it! Unfortunately, I did not time it as stated. I forgot, but I was pretty proud I finished.

I will absolutely do this part again, as I secretly loved the torture! I'm sore as heck, but really like it a lot.

Update: I am leaving today and proud to say I did not have any cheese danishes! So I'm feeling fairly confident I will meet my totally realistic one week goal.

Day 3

Walk for one mile, with five 30 second intervals.

I thought there was no way I'd get to do this one! I'm traveling to NJ today, and it's miserable outside.

Then it hit me...Penn Station is huge and underground. Plus no one would look at me weird if I suddenly sped up.

So, I did it! I think.

2 laps on each floor, I'm pretty sure that's gotta be close. Plus, I was wearing a 18 pound baby, and pulling a 5 pound suitcase. That's gotta count for something, right?

Gotta say, I'm pretty proud of myself here!

The key to a man's heart.

Bree and I are headed to NJ for the weekend, and I wanted to be sure that my husband didn't starve while we're gone.  The man is actually a really good cook, even better than I am, but he forgets to eat. No idea how a person does that, but he can eat on a Tuesday and on Friday be all "Did I eat anything yesterday?" and I'm like "Uh, the last thing you ate was the talapia on Tuesday."

Meanwhile, if it's been more than 3 hours and 5 minutes, I'm about to tear the head off anyone in my path and the wrapper off everything in sight. 

Yup that's the plan so he doesn't starve.  (And my goal list!)

We've got a baggie for each day with his quiche cups, and veggies for snacks.  There's also a container of cottage cheese, and a huge bowl of salad. 

For dinner 2 of the nights I made Buffalo Turkey and quinoa.  You wrap the ground turkey in boston lettuce leafs, and put them in your mouth and chew. 

Oh, I don't need to be so specific?  You should have told me before this:

I might be getting good at this whole "taking care of my family' thing, after all!


P.S. I managed to do all 100 push ups!

Day 2

First, I did meet yesterday's goal! Husband was off so he came too, it was fun. Humid, but fun. Bree and I do that walk (plus more!) most days, since it's about a mile to our favorite popular park.

Y'all ready for Day 2?

Hopefully you're reading this bright and early, because if you're sleeping in, well you're screwwwwwed. Pardon my (not even close to being) french, that's a lot!

I'll be back to let you know how I did! Will you do the same?

Serendipity.

Serendipity.  Not the overpriced overcrowded ice cream shop or surprisingly decent movie, but the actual happy accident of finding exactly what you need when you're not even looking for it.  That's the best way I can explain this.
Fitness Jenn posted today about her 21 Day Fitness Challenge.  It really could not have come at a better time!

You see, yesterday I'm sitting in Central Park with Little Miss Bree and my Husband, and I'm watching this woman do an awesome urban workout. 

I should do that.

I could do that.

I can do that.

I'm totally gonna do that!

I realized I'm doing everything I can do to make sure that Bree is healthy right now.  Breastfeeding so I can lower her future risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, making her food instead of buying cans or jars (well, will be...girl still isn't interested in solids!) We work on milestones and do baby exercises.

But honestly, what good does any of that do if I'm not a positive role model?  If I'm not living it, how can she?

 Looking at that toothy grin, I knew right then and there I had to make some changes.

So blah, blah, blah...changes, yeah, gonna make them.

Starting now with the challenge.  Wanna play along?  Please do! 

Challenge Day 1:  Six Goals

1. Something I can accomplish today

     Take Bree on a 2 mile walk. 

2.  Something I can accomplish this time next week

      I'll be visiting my family in NJ this week at their annual benefit carnival.  I don't want to set a
      huge goal, because I don't want to set myself up for failure.  So we'll stick with a simple, doable
      goal...let's avoid cheese danishes.  You don't understand, I must eat 6 every time I visit, they're so
      good.  We'll also make sure to get at least 30 minutes of walking in.  Perhaps my sis will join us!

3.  Something I can accomplish a month from now

     A little birdie told me that I may get a jogging stroller.  I'm so excited about this! So excited!
     So, a month from now I'd like to have started a C25K program, but I'm not sure when/if I'll
     actually get the jogger, so we'll find another goal just in case.

     I want to have a list of healthy AND cheap meals, along with the shopping lists.  As a SAHM, it's
     also important that I save as much money as possible, but not at the expense of our health.

4.  Something I can accomplish 3 months from now

      Three months from now I want to be able to run 1 mile without stopping.  That would be huge for
       me!  I wasn't even able to do that in high school, so to be able to do it as a 30 year old married
       mom- awesome!

5.  Something I can accomplish 6 months from now

      I will have lost 30 pounds. That's totally healthy and reasonable!  That's just 5 a month, but a
      huge amount overall.  I have to continue eating extra calories to produce milk for Bree, and I've
      been holding onto the baby weight, (plus what I started out with!) so I think that's a good goal.

6.  Something I can accomplish 1 year from now

     A year from now Aubrey will be 18 months old.  I want to run in a race with her!  How much
     fun would that be? Her cruising in her jogging stroller, watching a bunch of other runners. We
     could have matching outfits!  Oh man, I'm totally doing that!  YES! 



I'm excited to see what Day 2 has in store!  This was fun, and super motivating!  I'm going to put these goals on our family command center so I see them every day. 

     

What are your goals? I see there are a ton of you reading this blog, so please comment!

Wordless Wednesday

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

I love ya Tomorrow! My dear, sweet awesome husband is off from work and we're heading to Brooklyn and Caribou Baby, the most awesome babywearing store in NYC.

We're going so I can try out the Boba Air...and the OnyaBaby Outback! I have been obsessed with the OnyaBaby for months. I've had dreams, yes plural, about this carrier. It is awesome. It turns into a freaking high chair. How badass is that?!

We won't be buying anything just yet, I have to sell other carriers first.

Anyone want to buy an Ergo, Maya Wrap or Ring Sling? ;)

World Breastfeeding Week Part 3

When will I ever learn?

I stayed up late working on a project until my eyelids were drooping and I couldn't see straight.

I just walked in the bedroom and guess who was looking up at me all bright eyed and bushy tailed?!

When will I ever listen?

It's Mommy Advice 101:

Sleep when the baby sleeps.

Uh-oh. It may be a long night.

S(uck) At Home Mom

I swear sometimes I think that's what I should be called.  My husband works incredibly hard for our family and for me to be able to stay home with our daughter.  He works long hours, at least 45-50 a week, plus logs extra hours even when he's home with us.  He never complains, even when he's stressed and having a bad day. 

I never really thought I would be a stay at home mom.  I mean, I kind of always had that dream, but didn't think it would ever be a reality, so I never took the time to focus on exactly what being a stay at home mom entails.

I'm wondering if any of you might have some input, because I could really use some advice! 

What do you think makes a good SAHM?

I feel like I have to do it all! All the childcare, including all over nights and feedings. Then there's cooking, keeping a very clean house, laundry, ironing, shopping, managing schedules and appointments, paying bills.

Then there's the wifely "duties" where I am totally slacking. I want to work out and look good for my husband and make sure his needs are met. He deserves that, I think.

Here's the thing, I really think its just an organization/time management issue on my part. I really think it can be done.

At least better than it is being done.

So let's consider this the great SAHM experiment.

I need your help! Please share your best tips. How do you manage your household? Help me, please!

World Breastfeeding Week Part 2

We're working on crawling this morning. It goes a little something like this:

Get up on hands and knees. Rock. Move one leg. Face plant. Get up on hands and knees. Rock. Move one leg. Move same side arm. Roll over. Get angry. Repeat.

Apparently all that hard work makes a baby hungry, because she climbed up and helped herself with a drink. My heart melted, it was so sweet!

Ready for more mommy boob juice related photos? Well, I'm posting them either way!

There's a party in my tummy...

...so yummy, so yummy.

Yes, I did just quote "Yo Gabba Gabba," don't hate. I'm sure it's the first of many to come.

You may not know this about me, but I'm a genius. A genius who is obsessed with frozen yogurt bites. A genius who is obsessed with frozen yogurt bites and is still paying off hospital bills.

So $3.50 a bag is a little too much for me to be spending every other day.
(Did you think I was joking when I said I love them and am obsessed? I totally was not!)

So I made my own. Easy peasy and oh so good!

World Breastfeeding Week

In celebration, here are some funnies for your viewing pleasure! Check back tomorrow for more.