Body Back- 1st Week Done!

My first full week of "Body Back" is in the books. How did it go? Well...

I started out strong. I made it to the gym on Tuesday and did a 45 minutes of cardio!

Then Wednesday happen- which is the day I went out to lunch with a coworker to a pizza buffet. Now, if we want to talk about small victories- at least while I was at the buffet I ordered a water instead of the Pepsi that I normally get. Got to look at the glass half full - of water!

Then came the weekend- on Saturday I had to work, so I missed my normal Stroller Stride class which meant I didn't get that workout in. Then come Saturday night, we had friends over where we ate pizza and lots of cookies. So a bit of a fail for Saturday all around.

On Sunday, I went to a baby shower where I ate SO MUCH FOOD!! By the end of the shower I thought I could be the one having a baby with how full I was.

However, to get back on track, Sunday night I worked on packing healthy lunches for the start of the week (for the hubby, lil man, and me). So I'm just trying to make this week better than last. All you can do is take it one day at a time, and some time a small victory is still worth celebrating! Below is my weight from last Tuesday to today-

Hey- I'll take a 1/2 pound! Plus, I already started working on this week's plank challenge and got 2 minutes complete! My goal is just to keep working on doing a little better every day and every week.

Finding the Motivation Again!

Hey Everyone! Believe or not my blog still exists even though it's been months since I last touch it- sorry about that. I've been trying to find the motivation to check off some of the harder things on my "30 Things While I'm 30" list, and I hoping my workout group I joined will be the boost I need to get a few of those things done!

I joined a "Body Back" class which is part of the Fit4Mom program. Basically it is a kick-your-butt hour long workout, that comes with meal planning, weekly weight-ins, and tons of accountability built in for any mom at any stage of motherhood! I'm very excited, but I'm also nervous because nothing so far has really got me back on my weight-loss/ fitness goals like I was hoping. However, I have faith I can make this work as long as I really give it my all and try!

Below is what I'm calling my "motivation picture" which was taken in March 2014 during my vacation in Cancun!

  

This was taken at my lowest weight since high school. It was also taken right before I found out I was pregnant with Sammy, so this was a very short lived weight/ body shape. 

As another thing to check off my "30 while 30" list, Sam and I have booked another trip to Cancun in October of this year for our 5th wedding (15th dating/together) anniversary! So I really have some hard work ahead of me for the next 6 months so I can be back to this point. 

The plan is start logging my food again (I'll probably do MyFitnessPal because I already have it all set up) and try to keep up with the workouts/ challenges the program has built in. If I'm paying for a class I'm going to try to get the most out of it that I can. So wish me luck everyone, and I hope you'll join me again on this journey that life is taking me on this year!

30 Things While I'm 30

The blog is being neglected because other things in life are just more important; however I've been thinking a lot about things I want to accomplish during the next 10 months or so. I figured if I made an actual list I might be more likely to complete them because they are out here for everyone to see, so here we go...

1. Buy new work clothes. (I've had most of the same clothes since grad school.)

2. Start and continue using MyFitnessPal.

3. Get back into 150's (which is where I was at before getting pregnant).

4. Take Sammy to the park more (now that he can walk).

5. Go to the zoo with the family.

6. Go to the beach (even if it's in Indiana).

7. Visit baby Liam in Michigan (planned already!)

8. Girls night downtown Chicago

9.  Go to a Jimmy Buffet concert (assuming he is coming to Chicago this year)

10. Camping with the hubby 

11. Treat myself to some self pampering (getting nails done, massage, etc.)

12. Apply for a new job that interests me.

13. Clean and organize our guest bedroom.

14. Take some nice family pictures.

15. Go to the movies

16. Try a new food 

17. Visit Bloomington/Normal friends 

18. Go to a White Sox game

19. Have friends over for a bonfire 

20. Open up an extra retirement saving account 

21. Get a new cat

22. Go to all my friend's baby showers (1 down - 2 to go!)

23. Attend/ be in Cathy's wedding 

24. Go to a comedy club/ show
25. Take my grandma to see her sister. (Also planned already)
26. Go to my family reunion
27. Go to Galena for a mini vacation
28. Do something nice for my mom. (She deserves it and she never treats her herself!)
29. Do something special for our 5th anniversary!
30. Just enjoy life/ try to stress less.

Now many of these things are planned/ going to happen, but the other I will have to make an effort to do! However, see all these things in list form just helps remind me of all the fun to be had this year! 

My Last Day in My 20s

Today marks the last day that I will be 29 years old. Come tomorrow I hit the big 3–0! I'm not sure how I feel about turning 30, but when you hit these milestone birthdays I always pause and try to reflect on all the things that got me to this point in my life.

During my 20's I hit many of the major milestones in ones life. This includes earning three college degrees, finding my first full time job, getting married, buying a house and having a baby! And as a bonus- this blog has many of the milestones documented!

However, this year will be will be a little different without my dad around. Even if he was alive, I probably wouldn't have seen him on my birthday but I know I would have at least got a "Happy Birthday" text or call.
The other night I was thinking about my upcoming birthday, and I remembered that my dad's 30th was also documented- on home video! So this morning I dug out the old VHS tape  and popped it in so Sammy and I could see his grandpa's 30th birthday!

Yeah- I still think Sammy still looks a lot like his mommy with a mix of his daddy's face expressions thrown in!

I hope everyone has a great weekend (mine is starting tonight) and I'll report back on how my 30th birthday treated me!

Sammy's Snow Adventure

 If you live in or around Chicago, you know we were hit with our first snow of the season. Also, you probably saw a lot of people's pictures of the snow. And if you have friends with young kids, you probably saw pictures of your friends kids in the snow. Well- I'm no different than those other parents- I just put my pictures in a blog post.

This is my favorite picture. He just seems amazed by the snow, which is so cute. 

 My boys just hung out in the front yard for a little while, but now that we have a real snowsuit and boots for little man (Thanks Mom A!) I have a feeling the next adventure will be a little more exciting. But here is a short video I took while keep nice and warm inside. 

Photo Blog: Sammy Jay's First Year!

I realized that I have been taking all these monthly pictures, but I wanted to have all of them in one post so you can really see how much he has changed over this first year- so here you go!

 

Sam (and I agree) the biggest change came between his 6 month & 7 month picture.

Also, being this is a "photo blog" I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of lil man from this first year! The pictures aren't "ranked" but just in timeline order.

He is such a ham! He loves being the center of attention, and with those big brown eyes and his happy/ goofy smile- he normally is! Looking through all my photos it makes me realize how far we have come in just this first year, and I'm look very forward to all the years we have ahead of us!

Sammy Jay: 11 & 12 Month Update

Again, I know this is late but better late than never! These last two months have been pretty fun and exciting because Sammy has changed quite a bit- so I knew it was important to make sure I got this final post in. But first here are his 11 month and 12 month/ 1 year pictures:

(Sammy wouldn't sit still for the first time we tried to take the picture, so Sam holding him upside-down was the best we could do!) 

(Here the "official". It's a little weird/ fitting that the monkey hoodie Sammy is wear is the only clothing my dad ever bought him and this picture was taken just days before his passing.) 

(Not counting months anymore. He's 1 year old!)

I have to say getting the pictures and has become quite a major undertaking. It usually involves both Sam and I coordinating efforts- one of us distracting him from touching the chalkboard, and the other trying to get him to look at the camera while trying to take the picture all at the same time.

Clothes- He still fits into all his 12 month clothes, but being that he has very few 12 month size most of the clothes he wears is 18 month size. Actually seeing him wear pants that are a little too big for him is pretty darn cute. Well- until he slips because he's walking on the back of the pants- then that's not so cute. Also, we're still really bad about having him wearing shoes on a regular basis. Anytime we put them on him - they are off and thrown across the room/ car within the first 3 minutes of him having them on. I think I've created a "no shoes" monster.

(He loves to play in the cabinets! - And grandma lets him.)

Movement & Talking: He is a walking champ! He really started walking at 10 months but it took him about a whole month to get it down pat. But he has been walking strong for the past few weeks, and you only see him clawing if he's extremely tired.

As for talking he has his own language he loves to express himself in- but nobody else knows what he's talking about. However, we've been working on teaching him some baby sign language to help him better communicate with us. What we have been work on is "All done." when he's eating. Before starting the sign language the only way we know he was done with his food is when he started throwing it all over the floor and just screamed at us. We are really liking the "all done" sign a lot better- plus our kitchen floor is staying a little bit cleaner.

Sleeping: In the past two months we have found that he has a favorite "blue blankey" that comforts him and helps him go to sleep a lot easier at night. He still will wake up typically once a night, but I'm hoping that will change in the next few months as he eats more before he goes to bed.

Also, we have pretty much worked him down to one nap a day. Sometimes it's as short as 45 minute nap and other days it's as long as 2 1/2 hours. However, his average is closer to an hour.

Eating: He's eating machine! You pretty much name it he'll eat it- except for beats. His great grandma tried to give him some beats and that is one food he was not having. Additionally, he normally does really well if we go out to eat- as long as he get food right away and you keep it coming!

Also, I am happy to report that I was able to reach my goal of nursing him for year! However this kid coming off the "juice" by Thanksgiving! I have already started putting in motion a "detox plan" where I am slowly starting to mix in whole milk with his pumped bottled. So if everything goes according to plan, he should be on whole milk only by Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to the holidays this year and not having to worry about nursing. I wish me luck!

Teething- From his 10 month update, he has doubled the number of teeth from 3 to 6. He has four on the top and two on the bottom. Currently I don't think any more are coming in right now but they seem to come in pretty quickly, so who knows when the next set will show up.

Other highlights for the past two months:

Farmer Sammy!

Between visiting my grandpa Jay who is a farmer, Sammy getting to sit/play on grandpa's tractor, and going the pumpkin farm (and petting the goats)- Sammy got to channel his in farmer this fall. I'm exciting for next year when he'll get to enjoy it even more!

Halloween!

Even though we didn't "trick or treat" or really do too much for Halloween- it was still fun seeing Sammy in his monkey costume  and letting the leaves in our front yard.

This year has gone by quick. It has had many highlights and memories that will last a lifetime. I don't think I'm going to try to keep up the "monthly" updates- but I know there will be many many more Sammy Jay posts to come!