New baby!

I left you and made another blog that was more private.  It  was a flop.  Not only did people not want to sign up with their emails to read it but I stopped posting.  It was a lose/lose situation.  So here I am again.  I am making a new effort to write and I am giving you another opportunity to stalk me in the privacy of your own homes!

What have I been up to?  Well, at least one thing.  Having a baby!  I am now the mother of two.  One boy and one girl.  Dean is a serious little boy that has been demanding things of me all day for the past three months.  Julia has been a great help to me.  She is such a little mommy and loves giving her little brother kisses.  It's so wonderful to see the two of them together.  It makes me feel like I've done something right in my life.

The above picture was taken the morning Dean was born.  That is why Julia's hair looks like something out of the 80's.  That crazy girl stayed up almost until three in the morning waiting for her little brother to arrive before she finally passed out.  Of course, he decided to come at 3:47 a.m.  She just missed it!  I gave birth at a birth center in Alexandria, VA, which I will fill you in on those details in another post.  In short, my pregnancy was pretty uneventful, for the most part the delivery was also, and in the end, I had a handsome little boy to take home.

I have attempted to get back into being active since he was born but it's been a struggle.  Shocking, I know.  At three weeks postpartum, I ran my first 5k.  I have also been going for walks with Dean, occasional runs by myself and have recently started doing Lindsay Brin's Post-Natal Boot Camp.

I am following the twelve week program and so far, I hurt!  I know it's been a long time since I have done a crunch but oh my!  I can't move at all without feeling my ab muscles scream.  I'll be posting later some beginning stats and pictures so I can keep track of whether the program worked for me or not.

That's it!  Just a quick check-in and teaser of blog posts to come!  Here's a couple pics of my little guy to truly make it worth your while:

I'm a baby

All right, folks.  The 10k training program is off to a rough start.  I got on the treadmill for three miles yesterday but it was not a fun.  The backs of my heels have open wounds on them and running just isn't enjoyable.  I started out with some lovely spiderman band aids over them but unfortunately they were small and came right off.  I stopped after a mile and switched over to the massive band aids but alas, I was already sweaty so they didn't stick at all.  I stopped again after the second mile and took my shoes off and decided to run the last mile in my bare feet. 

It's kind of funny how much louder it is to run on the treadmill in your bare feet rather than in shoes.  I could definitely feel different muscles being used and today my calves are pretty tight.  Not sure this is something that I am going to incorporate into my regular routine but it was definitely interesting.

After I completed my sad three miles, I did some weight training.  I have to admit that I have missed working out with weights like I did with Patrice.  Although it was enjoyable at the time, I am paying for it dearly today.  Not only are my calves tight from the barefoot running but my butt and thighs are hardly cooperating today.  I was scheduled for five miles this morning and I cried uncle and stopped after a slow two miles.  I will attempt the other three tonight!

In more successful news, I taught Julia how to use a vacuum cleaner!  What's even better is that she hasn't caught on to the fact that it is work. Yes, I will be exploiting this to the fullest ;)

I heart vacuuming

Are you a baby about sore muscles?

Are you successful in getting your kids to clean up around the house?

Because Obama Cares

I'm completely that person that leaps before thinking and bites off more than I can chew.  This weekend is the epitome of that.  I've been eyeing some cute things on Pinterest and on Friday I decided I was going to tackle one of them.

So my weekend went a little like this...I found an entertainment center on craigslist Friday night.  Alex and I picked up said entertainment center Saturday morning. 

On Sunday, my dad and I were wielding hammers and a jig saw.  My dad was less than enthused about the whole idea of creating a giant play kitchen for Julia.  He told me he was going to call President Obama and ask him to get rid of this P. Interest thing.  Oh, Dad.

I actually think he has enjoyed working with me on this project.  I know I have.  I totally think that I'm handy but my Dad totally blows my mind with someone of the common sense that he brings to the table.  Measuring things, pre-drilling holes, using saw horses....Plus he also brought some much needed power tools to the table too ;)

As you can tell, there is a long way to go before it's done but I'm soooo excited with the way it's turning out.  By the time we are done, Julia will have a refrigerator, sink, stove and a teeny-tiny table to feed her baby dolls.  Her kitchen just may be better than mine....

Do you look before you leap?

Do you love using cliches?

Way to go, Target.

I hate to admit it but I was cursing Target last night.  I took Julia to the doctor yesterday morning because she had complained of having pain in her ear .  With my upcoming trip to New York, I decided I should get it checked out and make sure it wasn't an ear infection. 

I have to admit that I was a little unsure about how she was feeling because the only time that she complained about her ear hurting was when I was trying to get her to take a nap.  I didn't want to chance it though so I decided to take her to the doctor.  Kids have a very special way of making you look like an idiot some times. 

Not only was she not running a fever but my child was doing cartwheels and acting like a crazy woman.  I'm pretty sure that no one believed a word that I said about her complaining about her ear hurting.  My ego was saved when the doctor confirmed that she did have an ear infection in both ears.

I'm not sure what genius thought it would be cool to make the medicine dropper look like a syringe but Julia was terrified.  You would have thought I was trying to kill her by the way she was acting when I gave her the medicine.  Geez.  I need to get her started on swallowing pills ASAP. 

Really, Target?

Anwyay, I got my butt out of bed this morning and actually worked out!  Hallelujah!  I might keep the weight gain to ten pounds instead of twenty...haha.  I did a very easy two miles on the treadmill and then finished up with some squat jumps on the bosu and weight lifting.  I have to admit that I have missed strength training since ending my sessions with Patrice.  I have asked Santa for weights this year so I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

I'm off to NY!  Any suggestions on what to do in NY at Christmas time?

Refocused

Good Saturday morning!  I hope everyone is enjoying this amazing weather :)  My morning got off to a wonderful start with some delicious veggie sausage and scrambled eggs with onions, peppers and topped with chipotle goat cheese.

Paper plates are a busy mom's best friend

After breakfast, I went to the gym and had an amazing workout with Patrice.  She attacked my legs pretty hard.  The last set I did on the leg press was 240lbs and of course, that was followed but four-step lunges with 15lb weights in each hand.  We shall see if I can walk tomorrow!

My mommy can lift more than your mommy ;)

Originally, I had a 7-mile run scheduled for today and 60-minutes of cross-training tomorrow but I am going to put off the run until tomorrow.  I'm going to try to catch up with the Lake Ridge Runners, which is always a lot of fun. 

So, I have been getting down about myself and my progress and I think that I have lost sight of the purpose of this blog and my real goal.  I want to be a better role model for my daughter and I want to show her how to be fit, strong, and happy.  I don't want to constantly worry about being a certain weight or dress size because that's not a healthy way to live.  I need to refocus on the right decisions that I am making, instead of beating myself up over the poor choices. 

Remember, positive affirmations?

I also think that I have  been focusing on my running more than I should be too.  Don't get me wrong, I love running and what it does for me mentally and physically.  It was just devastating when I had to stop running last year and then gained 35lbs.  Now, I am trying to cross-train more and discover more ways of being fit rather than just running.  This also reminds me of the goals that I set for myself when I began working out with Patrice.  I only have three sessions left with her!  It's probably a good idea to do a test-run of these to see how I am progressing before the second assessment.

How do you refocus on your goals?

Just peachy!

Happy Tuesday!  I had an exciting weekend with my daughter, Julia.  We finally got to meet her little brother Austin Michael :)  She is very excited and loves being an older sister.  (Now just for the record for those of you who might not know me, Austin is Julia's Dad's child and not mine....what do we call this?  A blended family?)

To celebrate after we got home from the hospital, we made some peach cobbler!  My mom bought a million peaches through her church so it was a waste not, want not situation. 

Julia has always loved helping in the kitchen.  Peach cobbler was the perfect thing for her to help with too.  It was my job to skin the peaches and cut them in half.  Julia's job was to cut them into slices.  Hold on folks, peaches are pretty soft and she was only using a butter knife.

This was a modified recipe that turned out to be quite delicious :)

Peach Cobbler

Filling:

• 4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon chia seed
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed

Cobbler Crust:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2/3 cup soy milk
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with coconut sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently and spread evenly again. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the coconut oil with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add soy milk and stir to form a soft dough.

Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of coconut sugar and return to oven. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

That's the worst picture ever...something must have gone wrong when I was loading it haha....maybe I will fix that later....maybe...

The cobbler was very good.  Of course, it was not the standard super-sweet cobbler but it was ooey, gooey and delicious all the same!  I really liked the topping.  It was very nutty and earthy tasting.  I would definitely make this again.

So in not-so-peachy things, I noticed as I was walking into work this morning that I had a slight twinge in my left calf.  Not legitimate pain but the feeling of some possibly brewing for the future.  As some of you may know, I was training for a half-marathon last summer and got a pain in my right leg.  Some said it was shin splints.  I went to an orthopedic surgeon that wanted to inject radioactive materials into me to determine if I had a stress fracture or not.  The end result would have been the same for shin splints:  stop running and rest.  I chose to go straight to the treatment without the radioactive diagnostics.

So anyway, I stopped training and have only recently started running again.  Is my mind playing tricks on me?  Or could something be happening that I need to address?  I have been warming up and focusing on stretching but maybe this isn't enough?

How do you run injury free?

~Andrea

Baking fun with Julia - Carrot Style!

After going through my fridge and trying to take an inventory of ingredients, I noticed I had a bag of carrots that were on their last leg.  It was a big bag of shredded carrots, more than I could stomach in a salad, so what did I decide to do??  Make Cinnamon Carrot Muffins!  This is a recipe that I found in my Whole Living magazine.

Cinnamon Carrot Muffins

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cups finely grated carrots (4-5 carrots)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper cups.  Whisk flours, soda and salt in a bowl.  Whisk remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Fold dry ingredients into wet and mix until just combined. 

Spoon batter into cups.  Bake until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 22 minutes.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

I only have mini-muffin tins at my house so that's what I used.  These are on the menu for tomorrow's breakfast!  YUM :)

Kid approved!

~Andrea