Dear Jillian Michaels, I hate you.

OK. Not really but my arms and thighs do!

Today is day 1 of my 30 day shred! I'm not super excited to do it as I've not REALLY worked out consistently since college BUT the time has come. I still have 5 pounds of baby weight to "shred" but more than anything, I need to TONE UP!

At first, Parker was down for a nap and Avie was WIDE awake! So I started with doing some leg work on the floor with Avery on my legs. She loved and giggled up a storm! THEN, I flipped over and did push ups with her on the floor. I'd lower myself, kiss her, then do it again on the other side. Once again, she thought it was hilarious which was precious but counter productive to my "Avery needs a nap so mommy can work out" plan. Eventually, I laid her on her mat and kept putting her paci in until she sucked herself to sleep. SCORE.

But MOM... I was enjoying our play/exercise floor time!

Meet Jillian, body. She'll be kicking you into shape.

 

Jillian is super boring, mom. I'm O-U-T!

First day review: It was hard but not un-doable. (I made that word up). There was never a time that I wanted to turn it off and I only modified the push ups so I'll consider day 1, better than I was expecting. I'll do level 1 a few more days then up to level 2! WOO HOO!

So.... 30 days (29 to go) Goal: 5 pounds that should be totally obtainable. BUT if I don't loose actual weight but I fit back in my size 4 clothes which is what I was before Avie, I'll consider it a great success! Wish me luck!

Pools, Play dates and Pilates

We had a play date today at our house. I just love getting Parker and my buddies together for casual, care-free play dates. By September, Avery will have 3 new play buddies that we are thrilled to welcome to the group! We started out with the kids in the backyard playing in the pools and ended with lunch and complete destruction of the house. I think every one of Parker's toys got played with today which is great because when we put them back in his bins, they were rotated and its like having a whole bunch of new toys! I love my friends. They held Avery so I could accomplish things, cleaned up toys, helped make lunch, dressed Parker.... they're pretty much awesome and it makes having these big play dates doable. I took a whooping 8 pictures today and didn't even manage to get all of the kids in them nor a single mom.... picture failure. I need to be better about taking pictures of the grown ups too! They just aren't as cute (no offense!) haha. Here's what I got:

Parker and Logan moved the water from one pool to the other...so helpful!

Don't feel too sorry for Avery... I think she only sat in here for 5 minutes! There were plenty of people willing to love on her!

Precious Parker

"The Parker"... its hi's signature move

Brooklyn & Logan

Today while my friends were here, I got these super cute, jcrew shorts in the mail. (I would copy the picture but it isn't saving it as a jpeg... and if it isn't a jpeg... I don't know how to do it!) Basically, they're navy blue and white seersucker shorts with pink anchors embroidered on them. Very Taylor. WELL... I opened them up in front of my friends and we all declared how large they looked and how they'd never fit (flattering, friends!). So, of course, they fit. Major bummer. Of course, I love them and I want them to fit but I want the tag to say the same number is said before getting pregnant with Avery. I've officially hit a plateau on the weight loss and it seems like these last 4 lbs, I'm going to have to actually work off. Bummer, I know. With Parker, 2 weeks and I was back into my clothes. Not so much with baby girl! So now I've officially decided it's time to be active again, eat bunny food (salads), and stop buying Dr. Pepper even though I feel like I NEED it to function. Maybe I'll take up pilates. I hear good things about that in the toning department which is really what I need. Who am I kidding... I'll never stick to that. I basically just need to get off the couch and Baby Bjorn Avery during her "I must be held 24/7 phase" she's currently in. Hopefully, that'll do it. Goal: 1 month from today... I want these shorts to be too big!!!

Quick Catch Up

I promise I'm not a blog abandoner. This little lady:

nurses what feels like 23 out of the 24 hours in a day. She's bound and determined to fit into her summer clothes sooner than later which is just fine with me! These "up to 7lb" and newborn sleepers are driving me nuts! Why can't newborns have cute clothes too? She's an amazing baby. She only cries when she's hungry (which is frequently) but stops the second you pick her up and get her in "position." The mamaroo is a lifesaver. She's not a fan of laying on her back flat so the mamaroo is AWESOME! She loves it. The nap nanny is great but it's a bit big for her right now since she can't hold her head up yet and slumps to the side. Such a peanut! She'll grow and I think she'll like it then. I love to sleep with her on my chest and I get giddy picking out her headbands everyday (fingers crossed her hair grows fast.... her fingernails sure do!). I'm loving having this second (and final) baby and it makes it even better that I've got my boy and girl... just perfect!

This little fella:

is an amazing big brother! He's not really shown any signs of jealousy (yet) and loves his baby sister! He calls her "baby" and will get her blanket or paci for her when she cries. It's adorable. Lately he's been VERY into jumping and counting. He climbs on something and yells "2, go!" He usually looks at me to fill in the "1 and 3." He talks constantly, although I don't catch the majority of it. Parker seems so big to me now. Laying the kids side by side makes Parker look like a giant. Changing his clothes and diapers are so different now. It's like he grew into a big boy overnight! I'm so smitten with my little family!

Obviously, blogging has taken a bit of a back seat to snuggles, family naps, laundry, diaper changing and nursing but we'll figure it all out soon enough! The good news, I've managed to get a shower every morning since Avery was born. This is a huge accomplishment for those of you who don't have kids! I've got one week to figure this whole mom of 2 thing out before Daniel heads back full time to work where he can't rescue me from his office upstairs. I know I can do it. My only setback is my own healing. I ripped open part of my c-section scar and am on some pain meds and antibiotics for that. I really need to get off the pain meds to parent/drive full time without the need for naps (these drugs make me SLEEPY). Hopefully, this week I can slowly work my way off of them and onto Tylenol or something like that. My only post pregnancy complaint is these crazy hormonal temperature changes. I got from hot to cold in seconds and S-U-F-F-E-R from night sweats! Holy Cow! I weigh myself in the morning and at night to see how much water weight I'm loosing and on average it's 3-4lbs per night. It's gross and the minute I'm done nursing 1st thing in the morning, I'm in the shower! The only good thing about these crazy night sweats is that I only have 4 more lbs to drop before being at my pre-pregnancy weight. The pre-pregnancy body; however, is nowhere to be seen! Looks like I may actually have to work to get that back.

Off to nurse... again!!!!