No Sweat… wait, actually a lot of sweat

I found my new favorite group exercise class!  It’s called “Accumulator” and it stacks exercises up one after the other so that it just grows and grows.

For example:

Burpees

Burpees + Jump Squats

Burpees + Jump Squats + Clean/Press

Burpees + Jump Squats + Clean/Press + Single Arm Lifts

They kept adding up until we were doing burpees, jump squats, clean/press, single arm lifts, reverse flies, high knees, and bent over rows.  THEN! They had an ab-specific portion where they started with plank and added one after the other until we were doing plank, overhead lift, flutter kicks, crunches, reverse crunches, donkey kicks, and Russian twists.

It was INTENSE and I worked up SUCH a good sweat.  The awesome thing, though, is that there were sufficient modifications that I could complete the class at my own level.  For burpees, I had a riser to add an incline. For the plank step-outs I just held a plank or used the riser. For high-knees, I marched when I got too fatigued.  I did 6″ leg raises instead of flutter kicks…. My shirt was soaked, my face was red, I was completely out of breath and I *LOVED* it.

I’m definitely going to carve time out of my schedule for that class.

When I’m not working out at class, I’m working out with Little Elfkin.  We go for walks and she leads me on a merry chase.  It’s probably good for my back if I remember to keep good form 🙂

I’m still working on getting my diet cleaned up.  I have a sugar fiend that keeps sabotaging my efforts.  Slowly but surely I’ll wean off of that.  Caffeine too.  Eventually.  It’s quite difficult to go from so much sugar and monster + daily to nothing–and I’m not great at quitting cold turkey.  Yesterday I had a doughnut for breakfast, today I had cookies for a snack…. The stuff is entirely too accessible either on my commute or at work.

Little Elfkin had her check up recently and she’s my little chunky monkey.  She’s proportionate, but she’s proportionately *big*.  The pediatrician basically said that genetically she’ll have a double chin and a little belly because she was shaped that way from the start.  She even had a little double chin when she was a hungry baby before we figured out how to breastfeed or use formula.  Still, though, I want her to have a healthy relationship to food and fitness, so we’re still having our meals together 🙂 she eats what I eat when we’re together and I won’t give her junk, so that cuts down on the junk I have! 🙂 It helps that we got rid of so much of the junk from the pantry.

She loves spinach, eggs, sweet potato, strawberries, cherries, peaches, pears, carrots, peas, beans, etc. 🙂 She’s an adventurous eater and not picky at all. As more veggies come into season, I’m excited to share more of the flavors with her.

New Mom Injury – What a Pain In The Neck

Parenthood is filled with all sorts of new movements that were definitely not in my repertoire before having our little girl.  Daily lunges, for example, and trying to make sure I’m alternating legs when I go to change her diaper at the coffee table.  Don’t judge–it’s a 2 story house and I don’t always want to lug a soiled baby up the stairs.  Then there’s the lifting and twisting to get her out of her cradle and comfort her when I’m lying in bed more asleep than awake but willing my sluggish limbs to just move.  Then there’s the bouncing, cradling, constant hand washing, limbs-falling-asleep-snuggling, and must-sleep-on-your-back-because-otherwise-the-baby-won’t-sleep type moves.

I’m good with all of them.  I’ve been doing really well at this whole “stay-at-home-mom” thing.  Until this morning..

It’s been usual and customary for me to hold our little Elfkin against my shoulder while I carry her around.  She’s not quite big enough to sit on my ample, child-bearing, hips–and she seems heavier when I cradle her with my whole arm, so I let her perch on my forearm and look at the world over my shoulder while I get things set and we go about our day.  This is how she sits when I’m getting things started for the day, when I’m consoling her in the afternoon, and when we’re heading up to bed.  Basically–I’ve had 11 weeks of holding her in this position and thought I had it down pat. So it’s not unusual that I was holding her that way this morning.  I had her clothes picked out and clutched in the hand that held her, her pacifier in my teeth, and was just about to go downstairs to get her bottle ready when I remembered my cell phone.  It was under my pillow because we had one of those nights where she slept on my chest… [Sidebar: she slept there for half the night because she fell asleep in a cloth diaper that completely failed to keep her wetness contained and I need to wash her cradle.]

MOVING ON.

I leaned over the bed, holding the Elfkin with my chin/cheek–as I had learned to do–when suddenly CRACK! ooooohhhhhh something was wrong.  Something was very very wrong.  Apparently the small, rather delicate vertebrae that hold up my head are not meant to also support this growing girl now that she’s 12+ lbs!  Thankfully, it was the pain of acute injury and not the burning pain of broken bones. 😉

Now, I haven’t been to the chiropractor in over a year.  There’s nothing, though, more motivating in finding a doctor or chiropractor than your body screaming at you “you done f****d up.”  After giving Evelyn her bottle, and realizing just how badly it hurt to look down, left, right, or really anywhere but straight ahead, I started seeking a new chiropractor.

This brought back all sorts of nostalgia for my old chiropractor.  I miss him all the time and wish he were around.  I could just imagine him admonishing me for being so careless with myself.  This is a completely avoidable injury.

The new Chiropractor seems effective.  He saw me right away this morning and the girls at the reception desk took care of my little girl.  She rewarded them with all sorts of smiles and I came back to find her asleep in the woman’s arms. Meanwhile, I got an x-ray and scans, had an adjustment–my bones were all too ready to move! They were cracking just by breathing–then they did even MORE.  I was treated to a massage, electromuscular stimulation, and vibration therapy.

The DC had another adjustment and some home exercises that he wanted to recommend, but I was in too much pain and he didn’t want to do too much too soon.  I’ll be going back on Friday, so hopefully, fingers crossed, I start feeling better.

Lesson learned, though: when moving with the little one, have a care and move with intent! I’ll be keeping my core engaged and using my legs to lift her.  I’ll be using proper squatting form/technique to lift her car seat in and out of the vehicle, and I’ll be downing much more water…

We found our village

While I’m not familiar with the origin of the proverb, I’m wholly in agreement that it certainly does take a village to raise a child.  In this day and age of internet-connectedness where our closes friends could be hundreds of miles away, I feared that our village would be rather small indeed.  I have been pleasantly surprised, though, at just how large our village can be.  My close friends and family know who they are and so I’ve taken away a few paragraphs where I named names and deeds from our friends and family who have helped us with our little elfkin. The appreciation still blossoms when I think of how they’ve helped and the lessons they’ve taught us. I was most interested, though, in writing about finding unexpected people in the village that helps us to raise our child.

I was surprised the most to find that we had a village even in the strangers in our neighborhood.  Little old ladies smile with eyes twinkling and offer helpful information–where the restrooms are at the grocery store.  Other moms come congratulate me on my little one, tell me how beautiful she is, and reassure me that I’m the only one bothered by her wails of dismay in the middle of Toys R Us.  The librarian at our local branch showed me how I can put the entire stack of books on the check out all at once instead of having to scan each bar code–a real lifesaver when you’re on the count down to a melt down because it’s almost meal time.  The woman at the coffee shop who admired us as a tag-team, out on the town running errands–and who kept an eye on her while I got cream for my coffee just 5 feet away.  Yes–gasp–I let a stranger keep an eye on her for just a moment.  When I returned with my cup of coffee, we talked, the woman and I, about babies, schooling, and the variances in different Montessori schools.

It was then that I sort of realized that these strangers are the village that it takes to raise a child.  Without these people I’d be, for example, running out of a store at top speed the moment our little one’s face crumples.  I’d be stuck going no further than 5 miles from home so that I knew I could be home to change her diaper or give her more food when the time ticked down.  I’d be unable to take the time to run the errands necessary to keep the household running smoothly…

At first, the attention made me shrink.  I like attention, yes, but on my terms, not someone else’s.  But then, as the hints proved helpful, and the smiles proved warm and genuine, I began to enjoy being a part of this village and taking the opportunity to make life easier by listening.

There’s more to be said about this, but she’s calling me now.  In summary–I’m thankful for our neighborhood, our neighbors, and the kind smiles from strangers in the world.  When given the opportunity, be that kind person who lends a helping hand or understanding smile.  I think it makes the world a much better place. ❤

Happy Thanksgiving.

Things I’ve learned in 1 Month as a New Parent

“Sleep when the baby sleeps” is easier said than done.  Old habits die hard.

“Blowouts” are just as much fun as they sound… Bonus–did you know that infant outfits are designed to be able to pull down over the child’s body instead of over their head? It really helps..https://youtu.be/rrISmbf8LBM

Swaddles are a miracle invention.  Nothing says ‘calm down and go to sleep’ to my BabyGirl quite like being confined 😛

Formula is a God-Send.  My girl wasn’t getting enough food to thrive, so we’ve been supplementing–now she’s healthy, alert, curious, and gaining weight on target with recommendations from the pediatrician.

Daddies do things differently–and that’s okay.  Jeff swaddles, changes, dresses, plays, snuggles, and burps BabyGirl differently than I do.

There are more hours in the day than ever before–and yet fewer of them can be used for house work.  The house work will wait.  Baby snuggles are important.

A month flies by faster than ever possible.

8pm is a really reasonable bed time.

Waking a sleeping baby is actually really adorable.  If you get them before they get you, you get to feed them, change them, and snuggle them before they realize they need it.  If they wake up before you? Hoo boy.. hope you like your ear drums.

It’s worth it. Everything that “it” represents–from the pain of birth, injury, changes to bodily functions, exhaustion, mood-swings, fear, worry, the lot of it.  It all pales in comparison with the gratitude felt at being able to be a parent.

Well, mom was right

There are two people that I doubted, who turned out to be completely right–my mom, and my friend Amber.

Kick off to grilling season

When the in-laws were in town, one of the things we accomplished was to assemble the awesome grill that my parents had bought us as a house warming gift.  Kudos to Jeff and his dad for figuring THAT out!

Sunday had amazing weather. It was warm, sunny, and I guess the wind was a little strong, but alright!  Since the weather was what it was, we decided to break in the grill and cook some steaks!

Mother nature had other ideas and started spitting as soon as Jeff was back with the propane.  That’s okay, though! Mother Nature has got nothing on MY mom… So off to the garage we went.

Mother Nature picked up the pace and brought roiling thunder and some lightening.  Jeff brought an umbrella and an extra place setting.

Jeff manned the grill while I set up an impromptu dining room out of canvas chairs and a coffee table that I wanted to refinish.

When the steaks were done, the meal was served, and the thunder rolled.

Consider grilling season officially started!

An ode to Gloria: the kindest friend

A while back, when I took a trip to Montana, I posted on Facebook how important it is to tell your family that you love them.  My friend Eli turned it into a speech and convinced me to tell my friends, too.  Usually it goes unspoken, or said in passing, but I take one of my friends for granted, and I had a very hard conversation with her earlier this week that could’ve changed the course of our friendship.  But, you see, Glo is better than that, and so this post is dedicated to her.

This is my friend, Gloria. She’s going to be a mom soon, and her life is probably flipping up side down. She’s so very excited, and I can’t be happier for her and her husband.

Me and Gloria have been friends since high school. Back then, I was friends with her now-husband, Mike, and so Gloria and I were in the same circles.  Mike and I were dirty minded dorks, but I always just remember Glo being sweet and funny. She was never the type to get into any trouble.

She’s still not.  We used to be roommates, and at the time, I think I underestimated how good of a friend she was. It took a few impromptu parties, many walks to the gas station, getting snowed in, and watching lots of “So You Think You Can Dance” before I understood that she’s a keeper.  I made a lot of happy memories when me and Jeff lived with Gloria and Mike.

Somewhere along the line, she decided that I was a keeper too.  She shares her life with me, the good news and the bad. She comes over for game nights and invites us out to her place, too. She’s kind, generous, loyal, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her angry.  We don’t always see eye to eye, but she puts up with me and my over-the-top-ness without ever making me feel bad.  I don’t know if I can say the same for her.

I’m judgmental sometimes, and opinionated, and I think Gloria has suffered through those qualities of mine.  She must see something more to me than my flaws, and I can’t thank her enough for it.  When I didn’t have any friends in the world, I still had her.

I’ve been trying to be a better friend over the past few years, and I hope she knows that I don’t mean to take her for granted, and that I won’t any more.

Gloria, you’re a great friend, with so much patience. I am lucky to know you, and I hope that never changes.   Thank you for being you.

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The day was hectic. By the time I sat down for lunch, I had only 5 minutes to eat. (thanks for the tortellini, Mom!!) I took 8 minutes anyway, then dashed off to my next meeting. The rest of the afternoon flew by until it was time to clock out and head to training.

I met with Jody. We started with resistance bands and really targeted the scapular muscles. I was collapsing my frame by the end of the sets and didn’t realize it, so I’m glad she was there.We also used the bands to do a rotating like motion to target the muscles between my shoulders.

We moved into the studio, and did some floor exercises. Trunk twists, guided crunches, pelvic rotations, pelvic rotations with marching motion, bridge, calf raises/flex and point, adductor and abductor exercises with a resistance bands, and kick backs.

I felt the burn, but I feel good, now. Jody said that I’ve got a better foundation than I give myself credit for, and a greater range of motion than she was expecting. I credit iaido for that.

At this point, I’m glad to be getting started.

Happy Monday!!

I meant to write more over the weekend, but the days just got away from me.

So much so, in fact, that I woke up this morning thinking (hoping?) That today was Sunday.

For Valentine’s, not to beat a dead horse, but, I was one if those people in line at the last minute picking out a card. I know it’s contrived, but I like celebrating love. We don’t make a big   fuss, but just a little something.

I ended up buying him a saucy birthday card, abd crossing out “biryhday” and writing “Valentine’s” hehe. I also snagged him a new mug since his favorite one recently shattered.

What’s cute, is that he actually does give up his coffee for me some days. And he’s the one to be a pot 90% of the time.

Love is not something I’ve ever been without, because my mom is a total sweet heart. I got her the same mug as Jeff, and she bought us chocolates and a sweet-as-honey card.

Anyway.. that brings us to today: Snow Drama, Monday edition.

I woke up to big fat snow flakes falling heavily this morning, blanketing the road like thick butter cream icing.  My commute was really good, considering the conditions. I know the plows were out, but they couldn’t keep up with the snow. My car was pulled to the side every time my wheels came again the resistance of packed snow that didn’t go in the direction I was going (think intersections, merging on the highway, changing lanes..).  What doubles the frustration is that I was supposed to have the day off.

The good news is that the bosses sprung for breakfast and lunch, AND, it was healthy. Thank goodness!  What’s even better, is these same bosses cleared off everyone’s cars when the snow stopped so that when we went home, we wouldn’t have to.

I should mention, I don’t work for a small company. There were a lot of cats to clear! It was their way of saying “thank you” and they did it with a smile:

After work, I was able to get the grocery shopping done. I keep seeing it all over the place, so I actually picked up some Brussels sprouts to roast tonight. I also nabbed some fruit that week be quick and easy for grab-n-go snacking this week.  Plus: it’s a super nice splash of color in an otherwise blah landscape. Can winter be done now? ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Busy bonus day!

I had today off of work, but it ended up being busier than a normal day, even a weekend day.

It started at 5am when I took to the internet to waste time and debate social issues.

From there, I stopped at the chiro with Jeff, chatted with Brittany, said hi to Holly, then of to the coffee shop I went.  I read the paper and studied for a bit, then took my car to get fixed. While I was there, I priced out some pretty sweet wheels for the car.

They’re a bit spendy, so we’ll be saving up before that splurge.  I loved the shop I found, though.  They had a five-star rating on yelp, and from the looks of it, it was well-earned. They were neat, tidy, professional, and fair priced. There was some swearing that I didn’t appreciate, but it wasn’t AT anyone or about anyone, so I’m alright about it. Everyone swears, lol, he probably just didn’t realize I could hear him.

Along the way, I found a Crossfit studio–what!!

They were closed, so I couldn’t check it out.

When my car was fixed, I drove across town (30 minutes northeast) to pick my Mom up. We grabbed lunch, picked up her new glasses, and drove across town (30 minutes south) to pick up the keys to her desk. We traded seats and I let her drive so I could help my brother with an email response to an interview invitation via text and Facebook.  She drove us to the office (25 minutes west) to get her laptop, then we headed back to her house (25 minutes east). We stopped off for some grocery shopping and to off my gas tank ($132 later…), Then I dropped her off at Grandma’s work so they could run more errands.

From there, I drove back to the chiro (25 minutes west) to pick some things up, then went home (15 minutes northwest).

Once home, I played butcher for about an hour cutting the bulk meat down to reasonable sizes and organizing the freezer. I cooked dinner, and now I’m ready to eat. Phew!! I’m tired!