Fitting in fitness can be especially challenging in these long, cold winter months. I'd like to share with you three of my favorite ideas to change the monotony of being inside. Here in Montana it can get very cold, often well below freezing and into the negatives. So on days when it's above freezing, we seize the opportunity to go outside!
One of the best things that I like to do to get my legs and lungs burning is a sled drag, in other words, pulling a sled. This is something that your children will also find to be really fun! Grab a traditional sled, you can even borrow one from your neighbors like I did, (So there's no excuse not to fit in this fun fitness), put your kid, or kids, on the sled, grab the rope, and run a few passes of about 20 or 25 yards. This will for sure get your heart rate up and make your legs feel great!
Now you can take a quick break from sled pulling, and cool off by lying down in the snow to make a few snow angels. This will not only be another fun activity for both you and your children, but will certainly activate the most important part of your midsection your deep core muscles. By lying down and stabilizing your trunk while your arms and legs are moving, your deep abdominal muscles fire to tighten up like a strong girdle, helping hold in and toning that dreaded mommy pooch.
Another surefire way to really burn up some extra calories is shoveling snow. Get your kids involved with this too by getting a snow shovel in their sizes well. It will help them feel like a productive member of the team, in addition to getting little extra work done for you! A few passes of shoveling snow and you will feel not only your arms, but your entire body working as a unit. Toss your big shovel of snow and you'll get another great ab workout.
There you have it, three quick, simple, surefire ways, to fit in fitness during the cold hard winter months: sled pulling, snow angles, and shoveling snow. I especially like that all three ways involve you working alongside your children. Seeing mom work hard while playing hard, Sets a lifetime standard In their developing minds and lives.
25 February 2013
13 December 2012
finding time, making it work
With two small ones, and a husband gone all but an hour of the day (other than sleeping), I really have had to find a way to make it work. First, it was my mindset. I had to get away from thinking that even when my husband was home, that I would get a break. Unfortunately, since I'm the primary care giver, my kids know that whether there's someone else here or not, including my husband. Plus, who wants to come home from a long tedious day at work, with overtime but no over time pay, and get a couple of cranky babies thrown at them?
This is all not to say that I'm some kind of hero. I do what needs to be done because, if I don't do it who else will? I know I am the very best influence and care provider for my babies. No one will take care of them like Mom.
I am extremely grateful to have a lifestyle that can warrant my staying home with them. We aren't living to the most extravagant lifestyle, but we certainly aren't living on Ramen, either. I can honestly say we want for nothing...mostly because we're grateful for what we do have and can afford. This is exactly what I dreamed to be when I was younger: two little someone's absolutely everything. It's a love like no other, and only something a fellow mom can understand.
I've been asked on several occasions how I make it work. Once I wrapped my mind around it being all up to me, things got easier... Once I accepted that I won't sleep for at least two more years, it got easier, still. If I get angry that I don't get a break, it only hurts my kids... If I can't stop obsessing about how much sleep I'm NOT getting, it only hurts my kids. Nap time does come. Some days they both go down at the same time, and stay asleep for the same length of time. But on most days, the baby only naps for a half-hour of the time my toddler is asleep.
Something I recently started doing, was making a to-do list for the day at the very start of the day. The sample day I previously wrote about has already changed. Now that the baby's colic is subsiding, I have more time in the evening after bath time, to get the house cleaned for the next day. So that frees up our mornings for plain ol' playing.
Our days run more like this:
0800: nurse the baby
0815: head to the play room for about an hour of play
0830/0900: change into our daytime clothes and have b'fast (oatmeal and oranges have been a favorite of late). both of them eat and I have my raw meal shake
0900-1000: Connor has independent play as I clean up b'fast and the baby
1030 or 1100: baby naps for half an hour. I focus my time on playing with Connor while she's sleeping
1100: we usually go somewhere like preschool exercise or to the stores. Something out of the house, but somewhere warm since it's been in the teens and it snowed last week.
1230: lunch for us all, clean-up
1330: naptime for both. I take them for a spin in the car and they both usually fall asleep. If the baby's not asleep, I nurse her and then she's out for a half-hour or hour if I'm lucky.
I use that time to get back to e-mails or do anything on the computer since I can't do that while they're awake.
*This is another thing I've come to accept that eliminates a lot of frustration on my part: I've stopped getting online or trying to look-up even little things while they are awake. It always ends up with one or both of them wanting to get up on the counter to see what I'm doing. And then of course my son wants to watch a movie on here. If I'm holding the baby, she wants to touch the screen and hit the keyboard. So, it has forced me to prioritize my screen time. I stay on until she wakes and needs nursing back down.
After nap time, they play while I get dinner ready. Then we go out to play, or invite a friend over to jump in the trampoline or play upstairs in the play room. At about 6 or 7 we take our bath and by then my husband is home. The baby has been going to bed at 7 or 8, but since my husband was gone last week on TDY, she stayed up with my son and me until about 8 or 9. Since her colic is better and she's becoming more curious about getting around on her own, the nights have settled down and become quite nice for our family.
We all pile into bed about 9 and crash until it's time to do it all over again. Something that also makes staying at home with the babies easier, is accepting that every day is pretty much the same.
I usually fit in some kind of movement other than wrangling kids during my day. Sometimes it's walking lunges while I push the baby in the stroller up and down the hallway for her morning nap. Sometimes I do push-us on the steps as she's climbing up them on our way to the play room. Sometimes I fit in a few sets of double presses or whatever else I feel like doing with them. I might put the pull-up bar in the bathroom doorway and do a few reps as I pass it throughout the day. It's usually something, but never a block of time to "workout." Those days will return, but for now this is what feels right and best for myself and the babies.
This is all not to say that I'm some kind of hero. I do what needs to be done because, if I don't do it who else will? I know I am the very best influence and care provider for my babies. No one will take care of them like Mom.
I am extremely grateful to have a lifestyle that can warrant my staying home with them. We aren't living to the most extravagant lifestyle, but we certainly aren't living on Ramen, either. I can honestly say we want for nothing...mostly because we're grateful for what we do have and can afford. This is exactly what I dreamed to be when I was younger: two little someone's absolutely everything. It's a love like no other, and only something a fellow mom can understand.
I've been asked on several occasions how I make it work. Once I wrapped my mind around it being all up to me, things got easier... Once I accepted that I won't sleep for at least two more years, it got easier, still. If I get angry that I don't get a break, it only hurts my kids... If I can't stop obsessing about how much sleep I'm NOT getting, it only hurts my kids. Nap time does come. Some days they both go down at the same time, and stay asleep for the same length of time. But on most days, the baby only naps for a half-hour of the time my toddler is asleep.
Something I recently started doing, was making a to-do list for the day at the very start of the day. The sample day I previously wrote about has already changed. Now that the baby's colic is subsiding, I have more time in the evening after bath time, to get the house cleaned for the next day. So that frees up our mornings for plain ol' playing.
Our days run more like this:
0800: nurse the baby
0815: head to the play room for about an hour of play
0830/0900: change into our daytime clothes and have b'fast (oatmeal and oranges have been a favorite of late). both of them eat and I have my raw meal shake
0900-1000: Connor has independent play as I clean up b'fast and the baby
1030 or 1100: baby naps for half an hour. I focus my time on playing with Connor while she's sleeping
1100: we usually go somewhere like preschool exercise or to the stores. Something out of the house, but somewhere warm since it's been in the teens and it snowed last week.
1230: lunch for us all, clean-up
1330: naptime for both. I take them for a spin in the car and they both usually fall asleep. If the baby's not asleep, I nurse her and then she's out for a half-hour or hour if I'm lucky.
I use that time to get back to e-mails or do anything on the computer since I can't do that while they're awake.
*This is another thing I've come to accept that eliminates a lot of frustration on my part: I've stopped getting online or trying to look-up even little things while they are awake. It always ends up with one or both of them wanting to get up on the counter to see what I'm doing. And then of course my son wants to watch a movie on here. If I'm holding the baby, she wants to touch the screen and hit the keyboard. So, it has forced me to prioritize my screen time. I stay on until she wakes and needs nursing back down.
After nap time, they play while I get dinner ready. Then we go out to play, or invite a friend over to jump in the trampoline or play upstairs in the play room. At about 6 or 7 we take our bath and by then my husband is home. The baby has been going to bed at 7 or 8, but since my husband was gone last week on TDY, she stayed up with my son and me until about 8 or 9. Since her colic is better and she's becoming more curious about getting around on her own, the nights have settled down and become quite nice for our family.
We all pile into bed about 9 and crash until it's time to do it all over again. Something that also makes staying at home with the babies easier, is accepting that every day is pretty much the same.
I usually fit in some kind of movement other than wrangling kids during my day. Sometimes it's walking lunges while I push the baby in the stroller up and down the hallway for her morning nap. Sometimes I do push-us on the steps as she's climbing up them on our way to the play room. Sometimes I fit in a few sets of double presses or whatever else I feel like doing with them. I might put the pull-up bar in the bathroom doorway and do a few reps as I pass it throughout the day. It's usually something, but never a block of time to "workout." Those days will return, but for now this is what feels right and best for myself and the babies.
31 October 2012
A major misconception about delivering a babe
I think one of the most frustrating realizations for me after having my babies was that even though they were born and no longer inside my belly, they still demanded to be a part of me. Meaning, the fairytale I had in my mind of nursing my baby and then lying him (my first was/is a boy) in his crib for a nice long nap while I got some things done around the house, was just that.
Babies, human babies, are born far too soon for them to survive on their own. If we had smaller brains, or fixed skulls, or were much taller and larger, or walked around on all fours, a human baby born when it was ready to live outside the womb would be much different. But, because we have awesomely huge brains and have a mobile skull to allow our large melons to be thrust through our mother's birth canal, we're relatively small in stature and structure, and walk upright, babes must be born a little sooner than when they're actually ripe. (I recently read some cool tid bits about what happens to our body when we birth babies, from how and where we store fat, to the scaring of our pelvis, to the reason why our sacroiliac joint is actually twisted instead of straight. Far too involved for this posting's scope.)
So, without my understanding that babies are in fact born before their time, continuing to carry my baby on me, despite him being outside of my body, was quite unnerving at times. Don't get me wrong, holding your own baby is bliss, holding a baby and them screaming when you're trying to shower, use the restroom, feed yourself...anything when they can't be a part of you, is rather demoralizing. After my second baby was born, it was even MORE imperative that I carry her literally EVERYWHERE, since I had a very active and mobile two-year-old. That, in addition to colic, made putting her down even for a moment without wailing, unlikely.
I've heard that acceptance is a large part of healing. Once I accepted that I had to carry my babies everywhere, I started to find easier ways to do get the job done. It's also said that there's a reason we forget all the painful stuff that comes along with pregnancy, labor, delivery and child rearing. Somehow, this carrying the baby everywhere had been erased from my memory when #2 came along.
Then I remembered, rather quickly, that I carried my son on me for most to all of his first year, and then for much of the time until he was about 18 months. I still wear him on occasion. Who doesn't love to be nestled up close and personal to their warm, soft mom???
Enter the baby carrier, or baby wearing. Here's how it broke down with my first, and is proving the same for round two:
Months 0-3: soft structure front carrier, facing in
I found the sling to be too big and awkward for my little limp newborn. They gain weight quickly, but not muscle control, so I found the ever popular Baby Bjorn quite taxing on my back and traps. The Moby is too much to handle with a screaming baby, and I also found it to be too involved for the baby at this age as well. My friend recommended the Lillebaby and I never looked back! It distributed the baby's weight evenly, so I could wear her for long stretches, but it had enough structure to it that it wrapped around the baby and kept her in place. It carried her on me much like she was IN me. She loved it and snoozed between nursings really well. It also comes with a sleeping hood, so when she did pass out, I could turn the lights off for her no matter where we were. It has a couple handy pockets in the front to hold diapers, wipes, clothes, and the like, but is low profile and not bulky even when the pockets are filled.
Months 3-6: the Sling
To spite not having sling experience with my first, and the big fat FAIL with trying it with my newborn baby girl, I decided to give the sling another go. Slings are made for one person to wear so they don't adjust like the Lillebaby or Bjorn do. I thought I ordered mine too small, because it was super tight with the baby in it. So I ordered the next size up. I still use both, now that we're almost at the 7 month mark. But the bigger one worked better when she was closer to 3 months and I was still holding more of my pregnancy weight. At about 4/5months I was able to use the smaller sizes sling, she stays in it more snugly to my body. I can still use the bigger sling, but I have to use a hand to hold her securely if I bend and twist. If we're out, I grab the bigger sling because it has more fabric to it and I can easily turn her and cover her face if she falls asleep. The sling was a lifesaver in the colic department as well. I carried her kangaroo/joey style, with her feet up in her face essentially, and her knees un her belly. In this position, it's far easier for her to rip 'em and push against the sling for a little extra "umph," if she' having a hard time getting gas out.
Month 6: hard structure back carrier
At 6 months babies start to get really handsy. So it's tough to do anything yourself with these extra limbs flailing and finding new things to feel and experience. (Like right now, the babe is in the sling, and typing isn't happening...) Anyway, at 6 months they get pretty darn active and interested. So I popped Baby #2 in the back carrier and we were both happy. She could see what I was doing and play with my hair and chewy toys.
Both babies are awake and active now....hopefully I can get back to this with an update. Baby wearing and finding the right carriers to wear them is HUGELY helpful for both baby and mommy to be happy!
Babies, human babies, are born far too soon for them to survive on their own. If we had smaller brains, or fixed skulls, or were much taller and larger, or walked around on all fours, a human baby born when it was ready to live outside the womb would be much different. But, because we have awesomely huge brains and have a mobile skull to allow our large melons to be thrust through our mother's birth canal, we're relatively small in stature and structure, and walk upright, babes must be born a little sooner than when they're actually ripe. (I recently read some cool tid bits about what happens to our body when we birth babies, from how and where we store fat, to the scaring of our pelvis, to the reason why our sacroiliac joint is actually twisted instead of straight. Far too involved for this posting's scope.)
So, without my understanding that babies are in fact born before their time, continuing to carry my baby on me, despite him being outside of my body, was quite unnerving at times. Don't get me wrong, holding your own baby is bliss, holding a baby and them screaming when you're trying to shower, use the restroom, feed yourself...anything when they can't be a part of you, is rather demoralizing. After my second baby was born, it was even MORE imperative that I carry her literally EVERYWHERE, since I had a very active and mobile two-year-old. That, in addition to colic, made putting her down even for a moment without wailing, unlikely.
I've heard that acceptance is a large part of healing. Once I accepted that I had to carry my babies everywhere, I started to find easier ways to do get the job done. It's also said that there's a reason we forget all the painful stuff that comes along with pregnancy, labor, delivery and child rearing. Somehow, this carrying the baby everywhere had been erased from my memory when #2 came along.
Then I remembered, rather quickly, that I carried my son on me for most to all of his first year, and then for much of the time until he was about 18 months. I still wear him on occasion. Who doesn't love to be nestled up close and personal to their warm, soft mom???
Enter the baby carrier, or baby wearing. Here's how it broke down with my first, and is proving the same for round two:
Months 0-3: soft structure front carrier, facing in
I found the sling to be too big and awkward for my little limp newborn. They gain weight quickly, but not muscle control, so I found the ever popular Baby Bjorn quite taxing on my back and traps. The Moby is too much to handle with a screaming baby, and I also found it to be too involved for the baby at this age as well. My friend recommended the Lillebaby and I never looked back! It distributed the baby's weight evenly, so I could wear her for long stretches, but it had enough structure to it that it wrapped around the baby and kept her in place. It carried her on me much like she was IN me. She loved it and snoozed between nursings really well. It also comes with a sleeping hood, so when she did pass out, I could turn the lights off for her no matter where we were. It has a couple handy pockets in the front to hold diapers, wipes, clothes, and the like, but is low profile and not bulky even when the pockets are filled.
Months 3-6: the Sling
To spite not having sling experience with my first, and the big fat FAIL with trying it with my newborn baby girl, I decided to give the sling another go. Slings are made for one person to wear so they don't adjust like the Lillebaby or Bjorn do. I thought I ordered mine too small, because it was super tight with the baby in it. So I ordered the next size up. I still use both, now that we're almost at the 7 month mark. But the bigger one worked better when she was closer to 3 months and I was still holding more of my pregnancy weight. At about 4/5months I was able to use the smaller sizes sling, she stays in it more snugly to my body. I can still use the bigger sling, but I have to use a hand to hold her securely if I bend and twist. If we're out, I grab the bigger sling because it has more fabric to it and I can easily turn her and cover her face if she falls asleep. The sling was a lifesaver in the colic department as well. I carried her kangaroo/joey style, with her feet up in her face essentially, and her knees un her belly. In this position, it's far easier for her to rip 'em and push against the sling for a little extra "umph," if she' having a hard time getting gas out.
Month 6: hard structure back carrier
At 6 months babies start to get really handsy. So it's tough to do anything yourself with these extra limbs flailing and finding new things to feel and experience. (Like right now, the babe is in the sling, and typing isn't happening...) Anyway, at 6 months they get pretty darn active and interested. So I popped Baby #2 in the back carrier and we were both happy. She could see what I was doing and play with my hair and chewy toys.
Both babies are awake and active now....hopefully I can get back to this with an update. Baby wearing and finding the right carriers to wear them is HUGELY helpful for both baby and mommy to be happy!
10 October 2012
Finding my A.M. "om"
I recently posted on my facebook that I have a pretty solid morning routine that makes me feel like I can start my day off well. I was surprised to find out, through talking with friends and facebook messages that many mommies don't have a routine. That rhythm is good for you and your babes. You may already have one, you just don't realize it.
I write everything down in my journal, on random days to see how things are going. It's also nice to refer back for ideas or just to see how things are evolving for myself and my family. I keep everything from my "day map" to workouts, to notes and ideas, to recipes and even magazine clippings of things I'd like to do, places to go, or goals to reach.
The babes are BOTH napping right now, so I'll let you in on my current morning routine before one or both awakens:
0630 nurse baby
0700 shower, brush teeth, dress and mascara for myself while the baby plays just outside the door on the floor and my son sleeps (if I'm lucky he's still asleep)
0730-0830 change the baby,
start laundry,
put away the dishes from the night before, wash any dirty dishes,
feed the fish,
drink my raw meal and almond milk shake,
pick up any toys or messes from the night before
wipe down the kitchen counters
dust the living room
sweep the hard floors
vacuum the carpet and rugs
0830 nurse the baby again
bathe my son
feed him breakfast after his bath (usually greek yogurt and berries)
outside play for everyone until about 10
1000 brunch for me and my son (usually eggs and toast)
1030 nurse the baby again
1030-1200 inside/upstairs play for everyone
1200-1230 my husband comes home for lunch
There you have it. That's our morning flow. Nearly every day is just like this. Lots of cleaning and playing and eating. Ah, the life of a mom ;) Avery still has fits with her gas and is now teething hard-core, so having her yell at me most of the time has become a part of it all. I carry her in the sling or moby most of the morning. Who am I kidding? The girl is like an extra appendage. She's wanting to touch EVERYTHING now, too. So having her grab at what I have and am trying to do is yet another challenge. Connor does well to keep himself entertained or have me pop over to "help" him with things every now and then. Often he helps me, too.
The afternoons are more of the same, usually. I run with them in the stroller during nap time. Then I'll read or do something on the computer when we get back to the house while they still sleep. Neither of them likes for me to be on the computer OR have a book or iPad in my hand when they're awake. Such is life when you have active kids and are an engaged mom...
I write everything down in my journal, on random days to see how things are going. It's also nice to refer back for ideas or just to see how things are evolving for myself and my family. I keep everything from my "day map" to workouts, to notes and ideas, to recipes and even magazine clippings of things I'd like to do, places to go, or goals to reach.
The babes are BOTH napping right now, so I'll let you in on my current morning routine before one or both awakens:
0630 nurse baby
0700 shower, brush teeth, dress and mascara for myself while the baby plays just outside the door on the floor and my son sleeps (if I'm lucky he's still asleep)
0730-0830 change the baby,
start laundry,
put away the dishes from the night before, wash any dirty dishes,
feed the fish,
drink my raw meal and almond milk shake,
pick up any toys or messes from the night before
wipe down the kitchen counters
dust the living room
sweep the hard floors
vacuum the carpet and rugs
0830 nurse the baby again
bathe my son
feed him breakfast after his bath (usually greek yogurt and berries)
outside play for everyone until about 10
1000 brunch for me and my son (usually eggs and toast)
1030 nurse the baby again
1030-1200 inside/upstairs play for everyone
1200-1230 my husband comes home for lunch
There you have it. That's our morning flow. Nearly every day is just like this. Lots of cleaning and playing and eating. Ah, the life of a mom ;) Avery still has fits with her gas and is now teething hard-core, so having her yell at me most of the time has become a part of it all. I carry her in the sling or moby most of the morning. Who am I kidding? The girl is like an extra appendage. She's wanting to touch EVERYTHING now, too. So having her grab at what I have and am trying to do is yet another challenge. Connor does well to keep himself entertained or have me pop over to "help" him with things every now and then. Often he helps me, too.
The afternoons are more of the same, usually. I run with them in the stroller during nap time. Then I'll read or do something on the computer when we get back to the house while they still sleep. Neither of them likes for me to be on the computer OR have a book or iPad in my hand when they're awake. Such is life when you have active kids and are an engaged mom...
27 June 2012
mommy training
This morning I wondered if I could do get-ups with Connor. Well, it didn't take a lot of convincing, and it didn't take much thought. He was up for it! Now, if I'm sitting down, he'll point to me- point to the floor- and then point up. I say, "You want mommy to do a get-up?" And he shakes his head like he does in this clip:
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