Happy 2nd Birthday!!

We celebrated our little one turning 2 a few weeks ago and in true fashion I am now just getting around to uploading pictures and catching up on all the details. She had a Winnie the Pooh party because she has been fixated on that movie and all things Pooh for months. Go figure as soon as the party was over she seemed to get some closure with Pooh and now we are on to the next thing…

Owl Cupcakes

The Backson from the new Pooh movie.

Same smile here..so cute!

Quick family photo

Playdough station

Her Birthday cake that turned into a community cake with kids. So fun! All the kids seemed to love the idea they could just dig in with a fork and have fun!

So much blue frosting= blue poop the next day

This little girl is so much fun to be around but this age is very challenging as well. As more of her personality emerges it becomes encouraging to see her likes and what she is willing to try to do but it also brings more independence and defiance as well. I can't get to upset about it because what kid is perfectly behaved? She is so sweet and here are a few things she does that just makes me smile:

1. When she sees another kid fall down or someone coughing, she will go up to them and bend down to look them straight in the eye and ask them if they are ok. It's so sweet that she shows concern.

2. Sometimes when we are about to get out of the car, she holds onto whatever item she is playing with and says, "Take it with us? Pleaaaase mama." When I reply, "Sure we can take it baby" she just lights up and is so excited I am letting her take it with us.

3. We only have to show her something once and from then out she wants to do it herself and says her name "do it do it". Lately, she wants to float on her back by herself with no assistance.

4. Anytime we eat a popsicle she proceeds to lift my shirt and rub her popsicle on my belly saying, "baby have some." Then she will smile and look at me and say, "baby likes it." It's so cute and so cold!

5. If she sees that Daddy or I have a boo boo, she then shows us that she has one as well in the same spot on her body.

6. She loves to dance and anytime music is on TV, the radio, etc she stands up extends her hand and says, "Mama dance?!" meaning I must get up and dance with her. We have frequent dance parties in her room. She turns on her radio and we spin around or do dancing lunges (her favorite). She likes to tell me to "Watch this! Watch this!" Then she does a trick, or flip or whatever.

7. Her new favorite movie is Lilo & Stitch. While at Ikea the other day, as we were nearing our 3rd hour in the store I decided to pull out the kindle and let her watch it. Well it got to the part where Stitch almost dies (Stitch has a Glitch movie) and they think he is dead so everyone in the movie is crying. She started crying as well and got really sad about it which caused me (preggo hormonal mama) to cry with her and hug her. I was just so amazed with how much she understood about emotion and how it caused her to feel sad. Crying party is aisle 7!

8. Her new thing is to tell the dogs, some stuffed animals,her favorite blanket and on occasion her parents that she "I wuv you".  It's the cutest thing and so nice to hear her express her love!

Currently 30lbs, sleeps in a toddler bed, and haven't attempted potty training yet.

Eat, Sleep, Move

Once you get pregnant there are so many questions and concerns and what ifs that just cross your mind all the time. Now that this is my second baby I know the gist of how things go but this go around I have been much more interested in exactly how much exercise I can do, at what intensity level and a few other things. I am by no means looking to spend hours in the gym or even attempt to get there daily. All I want is to keep active as long as this kiddo and this body let me. It really helps my day! Before I got pregnant this time I was working out regularly. I love to lift heavy weights and do a bit of cardio here and there. Heck, I burned the same amount of calories from weights as a cardio session so I loved it. I have an active bug in me and I love to push myself. I have found that the midwifes I see tend to give me very blanket answers when it comes to how much I can do activity wise while pregnant. They say to keep my heart rate at 140 or lower and make sure I can carry on a conversation. They said to do a lot of walking as well. For my first pregnancy I did a lot of walking and was scared to do anything more than light cardio and a stroll. I think with the 45lb weight gain I had with kid #1 my body could have greatly benefited along the way from more lower body workouts to support my legs with all that weight to carry. I had many back problems and although walking and swimming helped a bit I just don't think my muscles were strong enough to handle the constant change and weight gain of pregnancy.With that said, for this pregnancy walking and light cardio just didn't seem like it fit me because I had been doing so much before and now I was suppose to drop to just walking for exercise?! Hmm, nope. So this led me to look online a lot and do my own research as to what our bodies can really do while pregnant. In my opinion I feel like my midwifes are fantastic in many ways in the baby/mother department. But when it comes to advising someone who likes to workout and has done it basically all her life, they seem to be ancient on what to advise. I know they mean well but each person is different and as big as my pregnancies get, I needed some more answers. So here is what I have been doing:

EXERCISE:

I am making it a goal to get at least 3-5 workouts in a week. If I do any cardio or even weights I wear my polar watch. I do like to see my heart rate and know I don't need to be in a full on dripping sweat kind of workout or get my heart rate to high. No need to overheat or exhaust myself. Not good for baby or I. I use more of how I am feeling as a guide. Am I dizzy? Am I feeling tired or exhausted? Am I panting? Most of the time my heart rate seems to stay between 140-160 and I think that is okay because I can still talk and I feel good. I don't keep my heart rate high for long periods and the heart rate monitor helps me along the way. I am not lifting as heavy of weights but I haven't dropped to 5lb dumbbells for bicep curls either. I am finding my balance as time goes on as to what works and what doesn't.

SLEEP:

In my first pregnancy I was so fearful to sleep on my belly as soon as I got pregnant. I thought it would harm the baby so I gave it up quick..and have I mentioned I am a belly sleeper! Then, once I heard laying on your back to long can interfere with blood flow to the placenta I was gave up laying on my back as well. Well, being the second pregnancy I dug deeper and I am still sleeping on my belly and laying on my back so far. The midwife said I would know when I could no longer sleep on my belly because it would affect me long before it affected the baby. As for my back, I know to not lay there forever but know unless I feel dizzy or am further along, it's totally okay now. Not that I am sleeping great but getting to lay on my belly here and there during the night as needed is wonderful!!

EATING:

The eating for two thing is old news and I am pretty sure a lot of us say that when we scarf down a huge meal but really it's not necessary to consume that many calories. Yes, I have received the guide as to how many extra calories I need per trimester but again I am going by how I feel. I don't want to be stressed out by calories or numbers a day and frankly I don't have the time right now. I tend to eat every few hours anyways so this has been especially important while pregnant and if I don't keep fuel in my body, my body tells me ASAP! I am making healthy eating choices but I am not concerned with having some sweets or treats or whatever looks good that day. Currently, I consume at least one soft pretzel a day with cheese and it makes my day so much better so I am not giving it up. I don't think pregnancy is a time to down pints of ice cream each night and blame it on "baby wanted it". But I also don't think you need to eat so healthy you are depriving yourself of the yummy things in life that have no nutritional value but just taste so darn good. Why live life on one extreme or the other?! I want it all! I am going to enjoy this pregnancy as much as I can.

SCALES:

I think we focus to much on the scale a lot of time to measure our progress. While this is one indicator there are many others like how our clothes fit, how we feel energy wise, and even measuring inches. This picture from my pregnancy now and my pregnancy in 2011 show just how deceiving a scale can be. At 15 weeks now, I weigh 133lbs and the photo from 2011 is 140 lbs. To me, I look bigger now at a lesser weight than in 2011!

** For more pregnancy reads check out my new blog: habitmom.com

Introducing my NEW blog and more...

Like many moms out there, I have many great habits and a list of not so great habits. This new blog habitmom.com is all about my journey as a mom and the habits I create through fitness, nutrition, and family along the way. I hope to encourage and inspire others but mostly set a great example for my own little family.

With that short introduction, I am excited to announce I have a new workout partner!! This person is going to keep me motivated, determined, and exhaust me all along the way but I am up for the challenge! Together we are going to be forming a Healthy, Active, Balanced lifestyle or what I like to call, HABits. This is the whole premiss behind my new blog; HABits. We all have them and we all have the power to change them. Through motivation, determination, and repetition we can create a habit. My idea is to share my journey specifically my goals and what motivates me to keep or strive for maintaining better habits. If you know me, you know I love fitness and like everyone have my ups and downs with achieving those goals. Over the next 6 months I have an amazing motivator that will allow me to share my fitness journey as I watch the scale go up, slowly lose sight of my toes, and become more rounder than usual. I am happy to share….

Little Spoon #2 due November 2014!! Stay tuned to my new blog HERE for my pregnancy workouts, nutrition, and more. I will be keeping this blog but it will become more about family updates here and there and more private.

Easter 2014

This was the first year that our little girl was old enough to hunt eggs and understand the concept of Easter a tad more than last year. The night before Easter we dyed eggs which was the quickest event ever! She kept tossing every white egg she could grab in a color as fast as she could. It was entertaining but left no time to even take a photo. I let her play with the plastic eggs before bed and she was hooked. She carried her little pink basket everywhere and wanted to take it to bed. I told her she could have one egg in bed but the basket needed to stay next to her bed. After I tucked her in, I went to shower. When I looked at the monitor again this is what I saw…

When she woke up on Easter she grabbed her basket, which I had moved out of her bed later on during the night, and went to the living room. She was really excited to look for eggs and when she saw her Easter basket she started calling for Mama. I went out and must have scared her because this is the photo I got when she turned around.

I let her eat whatever goodies she wanted and later we did an egg hunt in our yard. She loved to find an egg, open it, eat the jelly bean, and toss the egg. She had a TON of jelly beans that day.

We went to an Easter party later that day with her friends and had a blast. I am convinced we need fake grass in our yard. That deep green color is amazing! 

Stealing bites of Daddy's ice cream

The Negative Chin Up & Pull Up

Two weeks ago I had this epic dream that I walked up to my pull up bar and started doing pull ups, like tons and tons of them and doing them with ease! In my dream they felt so natural and easy and simple. So upon waking I was pretty excited about attempting one and no doubt in my mind I knew it would feel like the dream I had. HA, not even close! Whew, let's just say I was lucky enough to struggle to get up to the bar for one. But that dream made me realize that I do miss being able to do pull ups with ease and able do many at one time.

Back in 5th grade during PE class we had a pull up contest amongst all the boys and girls to see who could do the most and I won it! I beat the girls and all the boys too. I was so excited and thrilled that I beat EVERYONE and knew I was going to be the talk of the 5th grade due to my showcased strength. I was excited to brag about my new talent and looked forward to being noticed. Well, the follow recess some crazy boy decided to do a "skin the cat" trick off the monkey bars and fell and broke his arm. My pull up champ news was quickly forgotten and the talk around school was all about the wild kid. Short lived fame..boo.

I want to regain some of that strength I had back when I was 10 years old. I have been working on my pull ups and chin ups. More so my chin ups because they are easier since your palms face inwards when you pull yourself up. But, in order to gain more strength and be able to do more than one at a time I have been practicing sets of the negative pull up and negative chin up. My goal is to be able to do ten in a row. Right now I am at one. If you can't do one then practicing negative pull ups can help you build your strength to get there. They really aren't that bad to practice. We frequent parks and playgrounds several times a week so I never have an excuse not to try a couple and get my some practice.

How To Do a Negative Chin Up:

1. Start with your chin at or over the bar. You can climb on something or jump up to the bar to get in this position.

2. Now slowly lower yourself down. Keep your movement slow and steady and take your time to really work your muscles! The slower you go, the harder it is! Try counting to 30 while lowering yourself.

3. Finish in a full hang position. Done! Basically, its like a reverse pull up or chin up. Do a few of these a few times a week to work on your strength!

Polar Watch and Training Zones

I, like many people, am motivated and fufilled in many areas of my life by seeing results. Whether it's trying out a new recipe and tasting how delicious and yummy it turned out, or hearing my daughter count from 1 to 5 all on her own from all those bath nights of practicing with her. With fitness, results seems to take awhile and they aren't always noticeable. I think you start to feel better, stronger, and more energetic before you see physical changes. I am all for the slow and steady race for results and not a two week fix or some 1 week starvation detox for weight loss. However, during my workouts I am always checking in with myself on my intensity level. Am I pushing hard enough? Am I pushing to hard and compromising my form? Well, I have to say I LOVE my heart rate monitor for this very reason. It allows me to see where my intensity level is during my workout so I know the answers to those above questions. I have the Polar FT7 watch with the heart rate monitor that I got here. I use it for weight workouts, cardio, walks to the park, workouts at the park. It kinda serves as a gym partner. We all know that when we workout with someone we are more prone to push ourselves harder vs. working out alone and stopping to soon. This watch will allow you to program your fat burning zone min and max as well as your fitness zone min and max. But, my opinion on these zones is a little less traditional and here is why. I am 30 yrs old and according to the max heart rate formula (220-your age=max heart rate), my max heart rate is 190. Well, I consider myself to be in shape and I continually workout out so is it really that accurate to assume my max heart rate is the same as another 30 yr old woman who never workouts out? I don't think so. I think in comparison both of our resting heart rates would differ as well. The best way for me to find my max would be to perform an all out sprint to really find my limit. For me, my body would tell me when I hit my limit and the watch would serve as a guide as to determining that number once I hit that point. Now, regarding zones, the most popular one…the one you are eyeing…the one most of us think will provide the best benefits and get us back into those skinny jeans... is the fat burning zone. Am I right?!

Training Zones:
50-60%: low intensity
60-70%: fat burning zone
70-80%: aerobic zone
80-90%: anaerobic zone
90-100%: max zone

I think 'fat burning zone' is pretty catchy and inticing. I mean no one would gravitate towards it if it was called fat gaining zone. Nope, fat burning sounds like we are going to torture it right out of our body and bid it goodbye! I think this zone and its benefits above other zone's is a misconception. Do your research and decide for yourself. Yes, you do burn more fat calories in the fat burning zone however you burn more overall calories in the aerobic zone. In the aerobic zone you burn more calories per minute due to your elevated heart rate. Since your intensity is higher you are not burning the majority of your calories from fat, however you are burning more calories overall.  Why burn more calories overall when targeting those specific fat ones seems like nipping it in the butt?  Well, fat loss is accomplished by expending more calories than you consume. Your fat can't hide from a calorie deficit! So you WILL lose fat from burning more overall calories and reap more benefits from an aerobic workout than a easy peasy fat burning workout. A benefit to aerobic training zones is the after workout effect in which your body continues to burn calories post workout because you are recovering from an elevated heart rate. This means you can plop your butt on the couch once you completed your workout, not lift a finger, and you are still burning calories and reaping those rewards towards RESULTS!

With this said, I don't like to pay to much attention to my zones on my watch, but I do look at my total calorie count post workout and I do monitor my heart rate to see if I am pushing hard enough. My body will always be my ultimate judge but the watch is a great guide to helping me reach my goals and push myself a little harder each time.

Adventures in the Toddler Bed Transition

Two weeks ago we converted our little girls crib into a modified toddler bed (or whatever they are calling it). She has a small rail that still keeps her in the bed but a small opening that she can get in and out of. We were prolonging her crib life as long as possible and enjoy her being contained in one safe spot however, she started trying to get out of her crib by balancing on the rail on her belly. This was happening each time she woke up and she even started stacking her blankets and animals to get a step up. So, we bit the bullet and made the conversion. I was so anxious about this transition because my toddler would be free to roam whenever she wanted and I was not ready for this! I did my best to read up on as much material and advice that I could find on tips to keeping your kiddo in their new bed. I hate going into any new situation unprepared and without a game plan.

We started with the "Nanny" method in which we put her to bed and each time she got out and came out of her room we walked her back to bed in silence until she stayed and fell asleep. Some nights this took 45 minutes, some nights it took 10 minutes. Lots of tears and dedicating our entire evening to bedtime was rough. As it turns out, putting her to bed at night was much easier and less painful then putting her down for a nap during the day. Getting her to nap is currently still a struggle for me. Last week she was tired and all signs pointed towards her sleeping but she pushed through being tired to play or to keep coming out. There were three days where she woke up at 6am and finally fell asleep for a nap at 4pm (noon is her normal nap time), pushing bedtime way back! I would try to get her down for several hours with no luck like we had at bedtime. I would have loved to kept her awake beyond the skipped nap and then put her to bed early but no nap with an early bedtime leads to a 4am wake up. I couldn't handle that! After a few hours of no luck, I caved on our nanny method and rocked her to sleep. She hasn't wanted to be rocked to sleep since she was 1! She was beyond tired, restless, and super cranky because she needed sleep so the rocking and hugs from mama worked. This is not a long term solution but I will take it for now and use it when I have to because I need that nap time for me time!

I think the big difference between bedtime and nap time is the light factor. During nap time, her room is dim but she can still see all of her toys and is distracted by them. At bedtime, its pure darkness. No temptation of toys! Also, we have discovered that if Daddy puts her to bed she is more likely to listen to  him telling her to stay in bed and she must lay down. She comes out WAY less with him on bed patrol than with me. Yup, I am a softie here and have found this is better for Daddy to handle. I have no problem turning over bedtime to Daddy because it's another 30 minutes of me time I get to have. Yay!

I can't say I haven't been tempted to put that big crib rail back up with all the lack of sleep that went down last week. Since she has this new freedom, she is also waking up about an hour earlier (6am now) in the mornings. On several occasions, she has gotten up in the middle of the night (due to 2nd yr molars making their way) and come to my bedside, lightly whispering "hi" causing me to jump out of bed in confusion. It's these times that I am thankful for a Kindle that I can play her favorite Winnie The Pooh movie and let her snuggle next to me for a little bit. I can't be to upset with the 6am wake up because she greats me with a smile and says, "morning". It's great to wake up to that happy face. Plus, when she awakes from her naps she runs to me with open arms saying, "Mommy!!" and seems so excited to see me and hug me. I love that. Guess it's not all that bad right?

Needless to say, there is no going back to the crib days so just gotta keep pushing forward and staying consistent! From what I hear, everyone has this struggle so it's bound to happen at whatever age we had chosen for the new bed. Any tips? I suppose our next transition will be potty training. How long between new bed and no diapers should I wait??