Gettin' Our Stroller Strides On

Everyday Grace and I try to get out of the house at least once, so I'm constantly on the lookout for baby friendly things to do. (I can only go grocery shopping so many times a week...) I've been looking to join some sort of Baby Bootcamp. Something where I can work out with the baby and meet some other moms. I hadn't found anything until I started looking on Meetup.com. Eureka! It's called Stroller Strides. Have you heard of it? I guess it is a franchise all over the country. It's a stroller fitness class for moms and moms to be. Hmm... that sounds like a pretty fun business to me! I contacted the owner, Becca, who has a little boy who is a few weeks older than Grace (and 2 older kids), and she invited me to try out a class.

The verdict? It was fun! And hard! I was definitely the girl with the red face struggling to do a push-up or plank, but it was energizing and the hour actually went by really fast. While I sweated and struggled to do a star leap, Grace slept. While I did lunges and bicycle crunches, Grace opened one eye, yawed and went back to sleep. Becca, the instructor, made it fun for the older babies by singing songs while we did reps, "the ants go marching one by one hoo raw hoo raw..." "5 little monkeys jumpin' on the bed, 1 fell off and bumped his head..." She made sure we kept moving the whole time and found ways to incorporate the stroller and babies in with the work out. I think that I am going to have to sign up for some more classes... as soon as my burning quads recover.

Chalk Block DIY

Here is our little Grace at 2 months old! I can't believe how much she's changed in such a short time. We love you sweet girl!

Here are the instructions again:

-Clean off the blocks and apply the first coat of paint. Let the blocks dry at least one hour. Apply the second coat of paint. (I ended up doing 3 coats on my blocks because I wanted to make sure the painted letters on the blocks were sufficiently covered up.) Let cure overnight.

-Lightly rub chalk over all of the surfaces of the blocks to condition. Clean off with a wet wash cloth and soapy water.

-Grab your chalk and design away!

-Pose blocks with your baby each month as a milestone!

Spend Freeze Challenge Confessions

I'm 9 days into the January Spend Freeze Challenge so here's an update:

I'm trying hard to stick to the challenge, but I'll admit I've had a few tiny missteps. If you're trying not to spend money, don't go into Tarjay! Somehow I always leave there with $100 worth of fabulous things I DON'T NEED! Agh! This time I reigned it in, and only bought what I needed plus some hair bows for Baby Grace... and some cute Valentine's Day decor... and eye makeup remover... a small victory!

I also fell off the wagon a tiny bit when I decided to set foot in JoAnn's Craft Store. I bought a couple yards of fabric to attempt pillow covers with the new sewing machine and some chalkboard paint for baby month chalk blocks. All in all the total damage was a tad over $20. I'll take it.

I'm feeling good after confessing my spending sins.

I can do this!

(How many days are there in January???)

A Weekend For The Girls

Well, this is the first weekend with the hubs away, so it's just us girls (and Griffin). Luckily Grace is pretty content no matter what we do. We slept in late, caught up on our reality tv, had an impromptu photo shoot, read a couple magazines, went out to lunch, did some shopping and went for an evening walk. While Grace rested after dinner, I started in on a project I've been wanting to attempt- blocks to photograph with the baby each month.

Initially, I got this idea from Eden Rose Photography:

(She is a fantastic Reno photographer I follow on Facebook. Isn't her little boy adorable!? And his name is Lincoln, which I LOVE! Maybe one day I'll get the chance to work with her...)

I thought I would try to make a variation of these blocks to photograph with Grace each month. I've been dying to do something with the chalkboard paint that I see posted everywhere on Pinterest, and with chalk I can easily erase and draw whatever I want on the blocks. I'm working on finishing this today (just in time for Grace's 2 month birthday). If they turn out somewhat decent, I'll post pictures! Fingers crossed!

In other news: I'm pretty sure Grace smiled (a real "I Love You, Mom smile) for the first time yesterday! She was kicking around on the ground, cooing and kept smiling up at me. So precious and so worth the wait!

She also slept for 5 hours last night! However, Griffin did not, and needed to go out at 2am! What can you do? Happy Sunday!

New Years Challenge

Happy 2012 to all! It's that time of year that everyone is making resolutions and planning ways for self improvement in the coming year. I'm no different! I already know that this year is going to be like none other, but I genuinely like the idea of making goals, so I wrote down a couple of resolutions for 2012:

1. Take care of my skin (SUNSCREEN people!)
2. Be active with my baby (complete 3 half marathons...aaannnd beat my last time of 2 hrs. 13 mins.!)
3. Start a blog (this is a good start, don't you think!?)
4. Create and follow a budget (and save some money!)

We're only a couple days into January, but I'm feeling good about my resolutions.

I'm stocked up on my skin care products and sunscreen. Now the hard part is actually using them EVERY DAY!

I've scouted out the first half marathon I want to attempt and even went on a couple of runs post baby! Woot woot! I have an awesome stroller, too, so Grace and I will be hitting the pavement together soon!

I'm working on getting the "Math In My Head" blog up and running, and I'm super excited to use it to stay in touch with friends and family! Hopefully I can find a little bit of time between feedings and diaper changes to post at least a couple times a week... we shall see... I'm making goals not promises!

To keep my money straight, I've signed up for mint.com (more on that later), but it's an awesome way to manage a budget. I've also decided to start the January Spend Freeze Challenge. Basically this means no unnecessary purchases during the month January. I can buy groceries, gas, and baby things and pay my utilities and bills. That's it. No clothes, home accessories, manicures or starbucks. I think January is the perfect time to attempt this challenge because I'm coming off a Christmas high. I got tons of great gifts for Christmas, and I can fit into my normal clothes (read: no more maternity clothes). I'll let you know how it goes. Feel free to join me!

Eat Cake and Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Jennifer

Happy birthday to you!

May this next year bring you closer to all your dreams

May you see yourself as beautiful, generous and inspiring as I do

May you celebrate the special person you are

You will always be my twin, my sister and my best friend

Moving Right Along

WOW! Days are flying by faster than the dark chocolate disappears out of my freezer! I can not believe that it's already half way through October! In the past month we had a baby shower, drove across the country, Cole started work again at Fort Bragg and WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! If everything goes as planned (fingers crossed) we will be moved in by the end of the month! Aside from the big move and buying a house, we've reached the 2 month countdown until our baby's due date. Eeek! With everything in boxes, I'm starting to feel pretty antsy about getting unpacked, setting up the nursery and buying the last few things we'll need before she gets here... it will all get done, though, right?! At least my mom and sister will be coming out for Thanksgiving! I can't wait for our first turkey day in our new place!

Current craving: gold fish crackers