Top 5 Working Mom Fitness Tips

I know I said I was going away for a while, but sometimes I can't help myself especially when it's spring and everyone's trying to get in shape for summer. Quite some time ago, I posted my tips for staying in shape while home with the kids and promised I'd do a similar post once I went back to work after maternity leave. Almost six months later, here I am. (So timely, I know!)

1. I converted to a stand-up desk shortly after I got back to work. There are some drawbacks to standing at your desk all day, especially when it comes to picking out footwear in the m0rning. Needless to say, my cute heels have been all but retired in favor of flats. I have also been known to kick my shoes off and stand in bare feet for quite a bit of the day because there's a big difference between shoes that are comfortable and shoes that are comfortable ALL DAY for 9 hours. I've heard that standing all day vs. sitting burns an additional 300-400 calories per day, though, so it's worth it. AND I don't feel like my hips are conforming to the shape of the chair, either.

2. Get up in the AM. I am a BIG believer in morning exercise. I'm lucky to be a morning person who doesn't require caffeine or even an alarm clock to get me out of bed, but I believe in morning exercise anyway because it affects how you think the rest of the day. When I've already invested 1/2 hour or more in exercise, do I really want to sabotage any weight loss by raiding that candy jar that's just 10 feet away from me all day? Well, I'll admit it's still hard but at least the morning exercise makes me think twice about it.

My new morning fitness routine?

Yes, I broke down and got an Ergo carrier. It was fairly pricey but I really felt I'd use it and after just one week, I realize I WILL! I grab Luke every morning at 6am and we go walking and talking for about 30 minutes. True, walking isn't the most strenuous exercise out there but I can run later - right now I just want to have some alone time with my precious baby boy! Anyway, with any luck by the end of the summer I'll look as thin as this lady in the above picture. :)

3. Don't eat after 5pm. This one is tough for me, since I don't leave work until 5:30pm so it requires me to basically pack my entire day's worth of food in the morning but when I adhere to this rule, the scale REALLY moves! I try to remember this when I get home just in time to see the kids eating dessert and I'm sooo tempted to partake!

4. Have a goal, not just a goal weight. Mine is our 9 year wedding anniversary coming up at the end of May. We're having pictures taken of us as a family. Here's a preview of me....

Ok, clearly that's not me but if I could look like that just this ONE time for this ONE picture, I would be THRILLED!

5. Confront the scale every day. I don't always like it, but it tells me the truth. Sometimes before I even step on it, I know. I take off every stitch of clothing and even remove any hair clips/rubberbands before I get on that thing and sometimes even THAT doesn't help! But I do it and will continue to do it EVERY DAY even after I make my goal weight. I know it will take some diligence to keep at the weight I haven't been at since sophomore year of high school, but I will get there and I will STAY there.

Just 15 lbs to go! (That's a lot, huh? Well I'm closer now than I've been in 10 years so that's still something to celebrate, right?)

Time Out!

Sorry to both my readers out there (ha ha!) but I have had to focus more on my work blog than on this personal/family blog lately, hence the lack of posts and pictures. And we cancelled our internet at home - BOO! - due to really bad service from our new provider. Once we figure out how to get it back up and running, you will see new pictures of the kids driving, going to prom and getting married. Just kidding! It won't be that long - I promise!

Take care of yourselves out there and if you get a chance, check out my new favorite blogger, Kelle at www.kellehampton.com. A friend of mine posted Nella's Birth Story on Facebook last week and I must have read it 5 times and BAWLED (in a good way!) every time. I'm probably going to lose both my followers (man, that joke just never gets old to me, does it?) to her blog since it's so well written and with GORGEOUS pictures but it's ok. It's too good to keep to myself. ENJOY!

YAY for Owen!

I haven't been really good about posting these days and part of the reason is I've actually started a blog for work as well, so that needs to be my focus right now. But my heart is filled with pride as I found out today that Owen was the first place winner of his class's spelling bee today. HOORAY! We studied the words with him and he's a great speller anyway, but I worried he would rush and not THINK before he spoke and that would have him make a silly error. Part of that worry stems from my 2nd place finish in my school spelling bee in the 4th grade. I was ROBBED! The word was "their" and I spelled it T-H-E-R-E because I had forgotten to ask for it in a sentence. This has haunted me ever since. I could have won a BRAND NEW BIBLE but instead I went home with NOTHING! :(

Anyway, just wanted to share that awesome news. I'll be back with some pictures soon!

Definitions

My mom sent me this cute email today. Thought y'all would like it, too!

Definitions


(These fit so well they should be in a dictionary.)


ADULT

A person who has stopped growing at both ends

and is now growing in the middle.


BEAUTY PARLOR

A place where women curl up and dye.


CHICKENS

The only animal you eat before they are born

and after they are dead.


COMMITTEE

A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.


DUST

Mud with the juice squeezed out.



EGOTIST

Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.



HANDKERCHIEF

Cold Storage.


INFLATION

Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.


MOSQUITO

An insect that makes you like flies better.


POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

A doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority,

and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,

which holds forth the proposition that it is

entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.


RAISIN

Grape with a sunburn.


SECRET

Something you tell to one person at a time.


SKELETON

A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.


TOOTHACHE

The pain that drives you to extraction.


TOMORROW

One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.


YAWN

An honest opinion openly expressed.


WRINKLES

Something other people have....similar to my character lines.


OLD

I very quietly confided to my friend that I was having an Affair.


She turned to me and asked, "Are you having it catered?"


And that, my friend, is the definition of 'OLD'!!!

My Birthday Weekend

We (and by "we" I mean mostly ME) celebrated my birthday this weekend. Here's a recap of some of the highlights:

My actual birthday was Saturday, but I started the festivities with a mani/pedi after work on Thursday.

The cards from family and friends started arriving on Wednesday and by Saturday I had a mantle full of them. Thanks, everybody!

Since Chris had to work all day Saturday, we planned a nice dinner out alone for Friday night and he gave me his presents when we got home. There were these beautiful pink roses...

And a bottle of his favorite perfume, Eternity. (Aren't you so impressed with this artsy picture of it on the ladder? That's because there's nothing else in that room to set it on since we're still painting in there.)

With the money that came in cards from my mom and my MIL, I did a little shopping for myself at the Nine West Outlet. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I got both. They had a 30% off sale, so they were really good deals and I didn't get a new spring purse last year so I figured I was due.

What mother of four boys doesn't deserve a little pink in her life? And I am loving mustard as my new favorite neutral color these days. I have mustard flats that go perfectly with this bag...

On Saturday I spent the day at home with the boys and my wonderful friend, Darcy, came over. It was great to catch up with her and the boys enjoy her, as well, especially William. They have a special bond and have since he was a tiny baby the first time she met him. Darcy was kind enough to cut my hair and I sure needed it since the last time was before Christmas. YIKES!

Chris had Sunday off so we went to the Children's Museum in Glenview, IL and met my friend Nikki and her family there. She just has one son, Jackson, to watch so I immediately enlisted her to be my "mother's helper" for the day. I felt bad, but the place was so crowded and we really needed the help to keep track of all of mine! Nikki was very gracious about it, of course. After a couple hours there, we all went back to her house for a most delicious dinner of pulled pork sandwiches. YUM!!! She also made a banana split cake to torture me, but I'm not going to dwell on it. I have just 5 more days until I can go on my 3 day sweets bender.

It was a long ride home last night because we were so tired but I had a few things that made the trip very enjoyable. My sister sent me this CD

I love the whole CD but Track #12 is my favorite, "What Can I Say?" It's going to be a huge hit, mark my words!

The best thing about Illinois could be the plentitude of 7-11's. The kids have gotten to be champion 7-11 spotters because they know we are suckers for Slurpees. Is there anything better on a road trip? I prefer almost all cherry but with a splash of Coke. (Salivating right now, just thinking about it.)

The Slurpee-induced comas hit quickly so Chris and I got to talk quietly, laugh and remember what life was like when we had a smaller car and less to talk about. Overall it was one of my better birthdays, especially because I got to spend it with good friends and, of course, my family.

Spring has sprung!

We're hitting the mid-60's this week in Wisconsin and loving every sunny, warm minute of it! Funny how it's nearly impossible to have a bad day when the weather is this nice, at least that's true for me anyway. I heard we will be getting a bit of snow on Saturday (BOO!) but we definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel now and are excited for spring.

Check out Mr. Kisses...he loves to grab faces and pull them in for sloppy, drooly kisses.

Luke is just about 6 months old now so he's loving his baby food. His favorite seems to be bananas. Yum! He is also starting to "combat crawl" so we have to be careful he doesn't get a hold of anything small he might choke on. Rubber snakes make the perfect teethers - who knew?
In other news...

I gave up all sweets for Lent and am having a bit of a rough time with it. The first couple of weeks were ok, but it's starting to really wear on me. I haven't given up ALL sweet things - I drink soda and put syrup on my waffles - but I gave up cookies, cake, pie, candy, etc. I knew it would be difficult since I would rather eat a plateful of sweets than anything else.

I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school for many years but don't consider myself Catholic. I do, however, still believe in the Lenten tradition of giving up something. I find myself thinking of Jesus every time I want a sweet (which is a LOT!!!) and all that He gave up for me and my sacrifice seems so small. As I said, it's wearing on me in these last couple weeks of Lent but it's also keeping me focused on Him.

I will be especially focused on Him on my birthday which, sadly, is next week. No birthday cake for me this year! I am hoping to figure out a good birthday outing for us instead. Chris has to work all day on my birthday, but has the next day off so we could have a family day or I could get a sitter and go out with Chris alone. I haven't yet decided what I want to do, but am leaning toward taking the kids somewhere fun.

We're starting in on a big project here at the house involving painting and re-arranging all 3 bedrooms. Chris and I are giving up our master bedroom so we can bunk all 4 boys together. I will be sad to not have our own bathroom but the thing I'll miss most is that beautiful walk-in closet. We don't spend much time in our bedroom, though, so the kids need the space more than we do. It's always hard to do work around the house when there are kids around, especially a 2 year old and an infant. Wish us luck with this one! I'll be sure to post pictures of our progress.

Regarding my recent book reviews, I did finish "My Sister's Keeper" and loved it. It was so very sad, especially the parts written from the point of view of the mother. For anyone who doesn't know the basic premise, it's about a family whose 2 year old daughter gets leukemia (a rare form) and they genetically engineer a sister for her who is a "match" so they can use the baby's cord blood for a transplant. I have heard that the ending in the book is completely different from the ending in the book and am now very curious to see the movie. The problem is, the book was so heartwrenching and I don't think I can go through the story again. Anyone out there want to shed some light on how the movie ends?

NOOOO!!! NOT YET!!!

I have to start taking more pictures, but I guess that's what happens when you get to the 4th kid, huh? Anyway, the photo-op I missed last night was Luke getting up on his knees with his tummy completely off the floor. SERIOUSLY! He's not even 6 months old and just mastered the rolling over thing about two weeks ago! I can't believe how quickly he's growing up and with him being my last baby, I am so sad about it. I would love to freeze our family right now, despite the sleep deprivation.

Luke is also making sounds like "da da" and I swear we heard him say "guys." He's going to be chasing after them before they know it!