My Balancing Act

Let's face it mom's! IT IS HARD to do the dishes, the laundry, work, take the kids on play dates, teach, workout, and find time for ourselves. IT IS HARD! It is a total balancing act. That is why we are often called SUPER MOMS! And the sad truth, all those things have to be done, not always on a daily basis but they eventually have to be done.

Here is my new strategy to keeping myself and house in tip top shape without killing myself: 

1) Laundry. No more single laundry day for me. I have vowed that it is ok to spread laundry day out to 2 or even 3 days a week if I have to. I just can't handle doing a huge amount of laundry. Little piles work for me. 

2) 30 min workouts are KEY! Sometimes I can't make it to the gym. If Mason or Collin show signs of sickness they turn us away. And this week is one of them. Mace is snotting all over the place and frankly I threw my back out on Monday coming back from vacation and I need to see my chiropractor to put me back together again. I have been hurting like crazy. So this week has been in home 30 min workouts. Thank you 21 day fix! You are my new best friend! 

3) Little bit here and a little bit there. Can't clean the whole house in one day, no problem. Do 1 room at a time. Maybe 2. That way it gets done. Daily is the kitchen and I try to add another room on to that to clean. It needs it anyways. 

4) Take time for me. Without the kiddos! This is a daily task that if I don't do, I go crazy. And this is separate from working out. Or around the same time. But I HAVE TO HAVE MOMMY QUIET TIME or I am a witch by the end of the day! 

5) Reality. The reality is, that somedays none of this will happen. Kids won't sleep. Your house could look like a pigsty why someone comes over. Laundry piles up, dishes are overflowing and there are crumbs on the counter and table from last nights dinner and it is already 6pm time to make dinner again. IT IS OK! Life happens. Poop happens. Great thing about the day is that there is always another one the next day. 

DO NOT COMPARE yourself to someone else. Because often we see other people and think that they just have it all together but seriously, they have bad days too. Like right now, Collin is screaming his head off at me because he wants me to pick him up, but I made it a goal to get a blog post in. This is my me time. And it is ok, because in about 2 minutes I will pick him up, tell him I love him and he will be ever so happy! And Mason is cuddling with him anyhow right now. It is super cute! 

You are doing a great job mom! Biggest advice I can give any mom out there. TAKE TIME FOR YOU! Seriously! You will thank me later. If you need a 30 min workout let me know and I will hook you up. Need advice on how to do Mommy quiet time. Send me an email! Let's chat! I might not have it all together everyday but I sure do try! 

November Week 3 & 4 Recaps

November has come and gone and I feel like I was gone for most of November. I love being able to work from home. My studio takes a week off for Thanksgiving so we went on a BIG trip!

We first went to PHX to visit with some family. My dad took Mason and Matt to the Walking with Dinosaurs Live Show and Mason loved it! He came home and told me all about the triceratops breaking his horn. Which we have turned into a lesson about not pushing others. So overtime Mason pushed someone we would talk about how the two triceratops were pushing each other and then one of the horns broke. Mason likes to add in that the one with the broken horn needs to go to the horn doctor. Very cute! We ate plenty of Mexican food, had 2 awesome Thanksgivings and I got to run in PHX! I haven't done that since I was a kid!

Then we went to Utah for a family reunion on Matt's side of the family. We were celebrating his grandfathers 91st birthday and the 65th wedding anniversary of his grandma and grandpa. 7 of the 8 children were there with their spouses, 25 grandkids with their spouses and 40+ great grandkids. It was quite the gathering. We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and on Friday I premiered my 3rd composition I just recently completed.

Saturday we visited my grandma and grandpa and a ton of my cousins on my mom's side showed up too! I haven't seen them in so long, but thanks to Facebook we have been able to keep in touch and watch each others families grow!

Sunday we visited my other grandma and she got Mason some more dinosaur toys which he is carrying around with him everywhere, even sleeping with them. The flights there, there and back weren't too bad. Just one major meltdown because I had to wake Mason up but that was it. I am so thankful that we were able to see as many of the family as we could. Such a blessing.

As far as workouts, yeah not as good as it should have been. We had scheduling conflicts. It really turned out to be, either I ran or Matt worked out. Which kinda sucks because I got the short end of the stick but oh well. Time to get back on it!

Workout Recap:
11/16: rest
11/17: 1.86 miles- 30 min total. 1.25 timed.
11/18: rest
11/19: 2.76 miles- 45 min total. 1.5 timed.
11/20: rest
11/21: rest
11/22: flight
11/23: 2.08 miles- Run in PHX- 32:18 min. 15:32 min/mile- make up run for long run the day before.
11/24: rest
11/25: PHX Zoo. Walked around
11/26: rest
11/27: rest
11/28: rest
11/29: 2.58 miles - Run in UT- 40:39 min. 15:45 min/mile. Uphill the first 1.25 miles. Then downhill for the rest.

Week 3 Milage: 4.62 miles
Week 4 Mileage: 4.66 miles

Too many rest days for sure. But it is what it is. And it was a holiday so now I am back into it!

Insane!

Wanted to let you guys know about the newest release and I know you will love it! Ever heard of Insanity??? I know you have! Everyone has! How would you like to meet it's evil sibling! Just kidding, it's not evil but it will push you to the MAX! It is Insanity to the next level.

What is Maxing out?  To Max Out means to stop or fail for the first time in the workout.  It's really truly not about getting through all 30 minutes.  It's about going as hard as you can for as long as you can, until you MAX OUT.  Write down the time take a break, and then you want to jump back into the workout.  If you stay committed and push to your max you will add more time each week with the workouts!  

MAXING OUT IS A GOOD THING!!!

Awesome points of interest! 

~ONLY 30 MIN LONG! Each workout is only 30 minutes. The point is to push yourself during the 30 minutes to your MAX point and you need to take a break!

~Modifier viewable on EVERY SINGLE MOVE! Need help with a move, or hit your max and need to rest a bit, follow the modifier!

~Do not have to be a graduate of Insanity to do Insanity Max: 30.

~150 NEW MOVES.

~No equipment needed. Just using your body weight!

If you are interested in Insanity Max:30 or joining my Fit Christmas Private Support group fill out the form below and I will contact you within 24 hours!

Finally Home

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for the past week. We have been traveling all over the country for Thanksgiving and we have finally made it back home TONIGHT! I will have 2 weeks worth of recaps up on Wednesday. I just need a day to get everything written up and all!

I am back on eating well starting tomorrow. No more excuses with being on vacation and yummy holiday treats. I am part of a diet bet group this month and I AM GOING TO WIN! (be one of the winners!) So here we go. Hope you are ready for the wild ride that is going to be taking place over the next month!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

QOTD: Have you ever been part of a competition to lose weight that involved money??? and What ware you doing this month to stay motivated to lose weight and not have I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT as your first item on your New Year's resolution list? 

Friday's Five

What a week it has been! I love Thanksgiving! I have had limited internet connection/time at the hotel that has the internet so I haven't been writing as much as I have wanted. We have been out enjoying a TON of family time. Leaving early and staying out super late! And let me say that the kiddos have been such great sports and AMAZING!

~How Mason slept on the plane!~

Today I wanted to let you know what my favorite 5 things are from this week! Why not, it is Thanksgiving!

1. FAMILY- How can this not be first?!? We have had so much family time. It has been amazing! I am so thankful that my kids have this chance, especially Mason now since he is old enough to really have fun and start remembering. I love seeing my kids with their Grandparents. How Mason loves his Guppy! And loves to talk to his Gummy! Going to the Zoo, seeing Dinosaurs and so on! It has just been so much fun playing and spending time with everyone we saw!

~Mason went to the Walking with Dinosaurs show with Guppy and Matt the day we got in and found this AWESOME poster with his FAV super hero, Captain America!~

2. Mexican Food- I miss real Mexican Food! Charlottesville is great and has amazing different food choices to pick from but Mexican food is not one of them. Enjoyed going to our favorite Mexican restaurant while in town. (and my fav cafe too! but it isn't Mexican food at all!)

3. Mountains- I forgot how beautiful real mountains are! They are seriously majestic. Love them!

4. Thanksgiving- I love Turkey Day! The food, feast, would actually be more correct. Had quite the gathering yesterday with Matt's family for a potluck Thanksgiving. And the food was great! Tried super hard to eat right, filled half my plate with salad but man the sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows) was AMAZING!

5. Arizona and Utah- I finally admitted to Matt how I do actually miss living in the valley of the sun. It is beautiful. The different types of flowers and some that are the same as in VA. I had fun on my run last Saturday naming the plants that I know. And of course the weather was AMAZING! Utah- I forgot how beautiful this place is. The mountains are all snow capped and it is quite beautiful. And the roads are so WIDE! It's the little things people!

The Road Not Taken

You guys! YOU HAVE TO READ this blog post by my friend and fellow Blogger Jen! She is amazing and I kid you not I was balling my eyes out reading her amazing race recap! She is an elite runner and someone I look up to and admire so much because of her hard work and dedication. She ran the New York City Marathon at 6 months postpartum and it didn't go quite as planned and 2 week later she decided THE NIGHT BEFORE to run a local marathon and KICKED IT'S BUTT!

Such an amazing story about not giving up and listening to your body. Please read this! Don't forget to give her a shout out in the comments too!

http://www.runnerstrials.com/2014/11/16/charlotte-thunder-road-marathon-2014-race-recap/

Collin is 6 MONTHS

I can't get over how fast the past 6 months have gone. They literally just flew by. And I keep thinking that Collin really isn't as old as he is. Maybe it is because with Mason, he was only 4 months old at Thanksgiving and such and I am not on the timeline quite yet of Collin, but intact he is 6 months old at Thanksgiving.

I have so much to be thankful for with him. He is such a good baby. Even when he is crying at night, I still love him. He is such an efficient nurser. He gets the job done fast and is over and done with. When he is happy, he is really happy and he often doesn't get mad. Except for 2 am sometimes. He will be transition to his room for good I think this month because we are at the point where we are just keeping each other up at night and that just isn't cool!

He is mobile! He is crawling. And it is the weirdest thing to watch. He isn't old enough I keep thinking about it. All the sudden I see his little head bob back and forth and off he goes. He can't really sit up on his own yet, doesn't like to roll over and mostly it is not of his own free will and he can't get into a sitting position on his own. He is just crawling to get to the toys his brother has or to keep up with brother.

This past month we saw how much he and Mason really do love each other and understand each other. Mason makes it a point every night to give Collin a hug and muah, as he calls it. Mason has also started saying, Hi Brother. Or he will inform me that Collin is his brother. And also tells him that he loves him while patting his head like a dog. It really is so cute and melts my heart. Collin celebrated his first Halloween and passed out in the middle of it. The life of a baby!

We are so thankful that this little guy is part of our family! Everyone comments how much he and Mason look alike and it really is unreal how much they are corbon copies of each other, except for the hair. Mason was quite dark and had a lot more hair and Collin is quite blond.

Life Happenings

I am at that point in my life where I totally relate with other mothers. My house is no longer spotless as it once was. Yes maybe the main living room is very clean 3 days a week, but that is because I teach and it has to be clean! But the rest of my house, nope. It was a disaster. Piles of clean laundry waiting to be put away. Piles of dirty laundry, the never ending laundry as I am calling it now, waiting to be cleaned. Toys, toys and more toys all over the floor. Kitchen gets cleaned regularly only because of health reasons, but somedays the dishes pile high waiting for me to get busy.

This past weekend, Matt and I tackled the house and did a nice "fall cleaning." Thanks in part to having so many guests over for various activities. That's good motivation to get the house clean. People coming over! When the hubs helps out, and helps out A LOT then you know you are due for a good cleaning! I am now sitting in a pretty darn clean house now and it just feels SO GOOD! i have been making my bed, and trying to put things back where they are supposed to go and such. Finally sorted through all the clothing that was given to us for Collin and Mason too, so now we can see the floor in the nursery again and it is ready for Collin to move in there full time!

Few tricks I have learned this past weekend. Laundry is overwhelming to me. I hate doing it. I was just letting it pile up, which would mean laundry day turns into days and that is why we had clean clothing waiting to be put away. I finally realized that we no longer have just 1 laundry day a week. And that's ok. And I have to do smaller loads otherwise it just is too much for me to do with a 3 year old climbing all over the clothes as I am folding and a 6 month old screaming at me. Smaller is better.

Goals now are to keep the house more tip top shape. Doing more small things to help with the big picture. But you know what? Cleaning shouldn't take forever to do because that is just time I am missing being with my kids. So doing a little everyday is the key for me right now.

Any other mother's out there have any advice for me?

November Week 2 Recap

So glad that this week is over and done with. I hate being sick. I don't want to push my body too much so that I stay sick forever but I also don't want to miss my exercise runs or anything and yep, I missed a run. It is the additional run day but I still missed a run and that makes me frustrated! But I did get Monday and Wednesday's run so at least I did that. I am at the beginning of my training and already having to miss my run is so not a cool way to start out.

I did get an early birthday present from the hubs. I have been asking for over a year to get a Garmin running watch and I finally got one and I LOVE IT! I went with the Forerunner 15 because of the battery life, and step counter. Debating on getting the foot pod to wear when on the treadmill. I have been using it at the gym during the week and I got to use it for the first time with GPS on Saturday. I have a lovely little map of a circle since I was running around on the track. But pretty soon I will be out and about and having cool looking maps!

I have been super jealous of all the races going on this past week that I haven't been apart of. I definitely have that "race fever!" I miss running in a race, but I am not prepared in anyway to be running a race quite yet. Still have training to go but thankful that I am missing not running. I have been looking at training plans for future races that I would love to run. (I looked at the Dopey race training plan by Jeff Galloway and wow! SCARY! Then I moved over to the WDW Marathon plan and that looks about right!) A girl can dream right! But I am planning on running which is the amazing part. Now to lose some of this giggle on my hips, but and tummy!

Collin Update: Collin is full on crawling now. Before 6 months old and he can make his way  around the house. It is so weird to look up and see him crawling to toys he wants to his brother. He has crawled to me once. I ask him, " Why you crawling away from me!" all the time and he just gives me the cutest little toothless grin showing me that he is super proud of what he is doing. And he isn't as frustrated anymore with the fact that he couldn't get around. He is so happy, and he is sleeping a little better now since he is exerting himself more.

Mason Update: Oh Mason! My pill of a boy 3 year old. He is doing so well in the gym daycare. He loves going. Gives me a hug and a kiss then pushes me away to go play. He has been interacting with his brother a ton more lately too. Saying "Hi Car-r" (can't quite say his L and so it sounds like he is saying car with 2 syllables.) He then pats Collin's head. It is cute. He has this thing now that he has to give all of us, including the dog, Archer a hug and kiss before he goes to bed. I did have Mason run 2 laps with me around the small track at the gym. He loved it and was trying to race me. (This was after my run already!) All the older folks at the gym sure got a kick out of it too!

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: Yoga
Monday: 2.25 miles- 35 min total. 1.25 mile timed: 15:12 min/mile
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 3.65 miles- 60 min total. 1.25 mile timed: 15:21 min/mile
Thursday: sick
Friday: sick (should have done something. felt better. got lazy)
Saturday: 1.80 miles. 30 min total. Run/ walk intervals. Running intervals we at a 12 min/mile avg. Just need to learn how to take shorter walking intervals.

Total Mileage: 7.7 miles total

Starting Over

Can I just tell you that starting over with running, and yes I am starting from square 0, is really, really, REALLY hard to do! It just isn't fun. I am going through the same pains now that I did last year when I first started running with the 4 miler training program. I have shin splints again. And they really suck! I have noticed though since I have been trying to do more mileage than is required, even though it is just walking, that after the first mile and a half my legs are finally warmed up and fine.

This is the frustrating part. The first mile sucks and it takes me 1.5 miles for my legs to cooperate and to deal with what is going on with them. But at this point my required mileage is just over a mile.

But here is the cool part. I have a goal. I want to do this. I want to get back in running shape. And this is a great reminder to not stop running again. Even when I do get pregnant again, I will continue to run just as I did before. As long as my body will let me. This is also good motivation to eat better too because I am carrying more weight on my body and that is another reason why my body hurts while running. All I have to do is just keep on running. That's it. Just keep doing it.

Oh and another cool thing, hubs knew I have been wanting the Garmin Forerunner 15 for awhile now and he got it to help me with my training! Can't wait to use it on Saturday morning!

QOTD: Have you ever had to restart your running? How long did it take for you to feel normal again?