Mommy Makeover - Week 12

Wow, I can't believe I've been rocking my mommy makeover for 12 weeks now! I feel like that is such a long time, but it seems to have gone by very quickly (if not a little painfully!).

This past week was pretty cool. I started Power Plates and a Mommy & Me Fitness Class.

Power Plates was definitely not what I was expecting. I expected to do a variety of normal exercises, bicep curls, squats, leg lifts, etc. just on the vibrating plate. This, however, was totally incorrect. I don't even know if I can explain what I actually did...toe touches, holding a push up position with a ball between my legs, and like a crab maneuver were just a few of the things I did. It was about 20 minutes of random positions and maneuvers all done on a vibrating plate. And it hurt! One very cool part about Power Plates was that at the end you get a power plate massage! I thought that was pretty cool. Apparently that's how they cool down your muscles after the work out. I'm not so sure I'll be continuing with Power Plates. I gave it a try, but I'm just not sure it is for me.

The Mommy & Me Fitness Class was amazing! I am a big fat chicken, so I was basically hyperventilating as I was walking into Hummelhofbad, where the class was held. It was really cool to meet other moms with babies the same age as Alexa. It was even cooler to see Alexa interact with these babies. She immediately became BFF's with this 8 1/2 month old little girl. They shared toys and binkies, stole toys and smacked each other around a little bit...laughing all the while. It was seriously adorable. I was sweating within the first two minutes of class. 1. The fitness room was really warm, 2. we strapped the kids to our stomachs with this crazy fitness belt and 3. aerobics is hot and sweaty to begin with! Yeah, having a 16 pound mini furnace strapped to your stomach while doing all kinds of aerobic exercises is a work out and a half! I loved it. Muscles that I didn't even know I had were burning! I can't wait until our next class.

Now, down to some serious business...the weigh in!
This week I didn't gain or lose anything. I guess I'm going to have to bump up the action again. Maintaining weight is good, but losing weight is even better!

Cutest Baby Ever!

While in Germany last week, I caught a couple of really awesome shots of Alexa being, well, being ridiculously adorable! I thought I'd share them with all of you. I hope they make you smile!

 Big girl eating a cookie at the table in the hotel.

Lübeck, Germany

 Playing with her toys on the couch.

Hüttersdorf, Germany

 Playing on the rocking horse.

Hüttersdorf, Germany

Sitting on the tray table on the train.

Frankfurt,Germany

 

Separation Anxiety :(

Alexa has a pretty bad case of separation anxiety. It seems I can't get anything done these days unless she is sitting on my lap helping me do them. If I even so much as turn my back on her...not even leave the room, just turn around, she starts getting upset. God forbid I have to pee! I feel so bad for her because she is pretty much a very chill and happy baby all the time. Now, she's like a nervous wreck, always looking up from playing with her toys to make sure that I am close enough to her!

Night time is a hot mess. She goes to bed with a bit of coaxing (a.k.a. being sung to and rocked to sleep while holding my hand or with her hand on my face) and in her own bed. However, she cries in her sleep now, not awake and crying, but sleeping and crying and calms down as soon as I pick her up or I put my hand on her cheek. It's so bizarre! Between 2-4am she ends up in our bed and basically super glues herself to me. If I move away, or she suddenly rolls away from me and isn't touching me she freaks out!

I know that separation anxiety is just a phase and that all kids go through it, but how long is it going to last and is there anything I can do to make it easier on her (or us)?

Mommy Makeover - Weeks 10 & 11

I was on vacation last week and didn't get a chance to post my Mommy Makeover results for week 10 before I left. Week 10 was another great week. I kept up with my running and healthy eating. I did NOT start the 30 day shred. There was just too much other stuff going on. I dropped another .50kg (1.1 lb) which was great!

Week 11 was hard. I was on vacation. We went to a wedding with a TON of delicious desserts. I won't lie...I tried all of them. Every.single.one. I'm not ashamed though. I shared most of them. I don't think I'm going to lose weight and keep it off by starving myself or by not ever allowing myself snacks or desserts. I think I've been doing a great job (chocolate cake weekend is the exception) of eating in moderation - healthy and unhealthy food. Just because food is healthy doesn't mean you should eat four portions of it. Calories add up!

I was able to work out one day while we were away. The hotel we stayed in had an eliptical machine and I did just over 2 kilometers on it. The rest of the week the weather was horrendous; cold and rainy the entire time. I didn't run at all.

When I weighed in this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had dropped another .30kg (.66lb). Grand total weight loss - 7.2kg (15.84lb).

This week should be great. Not only are Alexa and I starting a mommy and me fitness class, but I've also signed up for Power Plates. Let's go fat busting activities!!

7 Months Old

Today, my baby girl is seven months old. How is that possible?! The time has just flown by. I looked at her yesterday while she was sitting in her stroller and she looked SO BIG! She can sit up on her own now. She scoots around on her butt, slower than molasses, but she's moving nonetheless. She hasn't quite gotten crawling down, but does like to move backwards and in circles when she's laying on her belly.

She loves food!

 She's super eggsited about eggs!

Loves to try new things. Likes to pick the crumbs up off of her highchair and is really investigating how all of her toys work. She is so amazing!

Happy 7 Months Old to my beautiful little bean! Mama loves you!

Ribbit, Ribbit

Oh my goodness, how cute is this?!?! I decided to get extra creative and made my little bean a froggy hat. She loves it!

To make the hat:
Cast on 50 stitches of green yarn (I used a heavier, thicker yarn)
Knit 2 rows
Purl 2 rows
Continue on in this way until you have knitted at least 6-8" of material
Cast off

Fold the material in half and sew the two opposite open edges using the same green yarn
Turn your hat inside out

For the eyes:
Cast on 10 stitches with green yarn, leaving a 3" tail
Knit 10 rows
Cast off leaving a 3" tail
This is ONE eye
Repeat for the second eye

Cast on 7 stitches with grey or white yarn, leaving a 3" tail
Knit 8 rows
Cast off leaving a 3" tail
This is for ONE eye
Repeat for the second eye

Cast on 5 stitches with black yarn, leaving a 3" tail
Knit 6 rows
Cast off leaving a 3" tail
This is for ONE eye
Repeat for the second eye

Place the black knit square/oval on top of the grey/white square oval and center it like an eyeball. Using the tails of black yarn, sew the black square onto the grey/white square. Then repeat the same on the green square. Make the second eye the same way. Once the eyes are assembled, use the tail from the green yarn to sew the eyes directly onto the top of your hat. TADA, Froggy hat!

I considered (after the fact) making a rim with a red tongue on it. Since I am not that skilled at knitting, the rim and tongue will have to wait!

Guten Morgan!

Hello my friends! We are currently on vacation in Germany. We had a wedding in northern Germany over the weekend, which was so gorgeous and now we've ventured to southern Germany to visit with a friend from the US and her family. I love the Germans. I love the way they enunciate and pronounce words. I love that I can understand 99.9% of what is said because of how they speak. The dialect in southern Germany is hilarious. They say things like "moyen" for Morgan (good morning) and call Karotten - "Möhre". Learning new vocab is always good...maybe it will help me on my upcoming German exam?!

Alexa has been awesome. She is quite the little traveler. She's 6 1/2 months old and has been in six countries (Austria, England, USA, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland)! She loves meeting new people and checking out her new surroundings. She's a bit rough on the vacation sleeping a.k.a she doesn't sleep at all. Girlfriend hung out until midnight the other night! She doesn't even get super cranky, she just isn't interested in missing out on anything.

I hope everyone is having a great week!