New tip for moms

So, I realized recently some fascinating things about my kids. I have always been under the impression (because this has always been what I've read in everybody book, in every blog, in every Mother help line) that if your child is too tired, he/she won't sleep any better than if they are just 'normally' tired. Now, I kind of learned this early on with my first daughter, if she was sooo tired, she wouldn't sleep as long or as well. However, I have realized recently that now that she is almost 2.5 years old that is no longer the case.

I have been having trouble with her waking up too early in the morning lately (I believed I wrote about this in my last 'tip' blog); like 4:30-5 am. And I thought I had a handle on it for a day or two, but then she reverted right back to waking up at crack of dawn. So, yesterday she only got a 45 minute nap (circumstances) and believe it or not, she slept until almost 7 am this morning. So, maybe that whole "If their too tired, they won't sleep" thing is only for the very young, because usually she naps for 2 hours during the day; however, with only a 45 minute nap she slept in until almost 7! I'd say that's a victory.

Now the truth will be in the next coming nights, or mornings, to see if she sleeps in until a normal hour in the morning even with the shorter nap time or if she reverts right back to waking up early again. So we will see.

But I wanted to bring this new little tip I discovered to light in case any of my other mother's out there were having trouble with their toddlers. Now when it comes to my 1 year old, she sleeps until 7 am regardless of how long her nap is, so for her it doesn't matter yet. But hopefully I've found the solution to this problem, so we both can get a few more good hours of sleep in the mornings.

So, I hope this tip will help, at the very least, and at the most, it will get your little one to sleep longer in the morning, which in turn will give you either more sleep, or more workout time, or more time for just about anything you want. I hope this helps, please let me know and tune back in soon for some more tips. Until next time, stay happy, healthy and strong!

Weekly tips for moms!

So, I thought it would be helpful to start talking about weekly tips to help with the little ones, not only for when you (moms) want to work out, but also just tips with other every day issues our children can have. I'm no expert by any means, but I have two young children that we had back to back, which was difficult; almost like having twins... Arizona had just turned 1 and less than two months later we had Savannah, so I have a lot of experience and hopefully some of those experiences will help other moms out there! 

For starters, my two girls have been having issues with sleep, pretty much ever since we moved down here to Arizona. They are also having two separate issues, Savannah has been waking up a few hours into the night, hysterical and crying the whole nine yards and Ari has been waking up super early in the morning around 4:45-5 am and is awake to start the day.

So I tried a couple of different things initially; however, they were all unsuccessful. I then decided to start feeding them dinner later in the evening. I use to feed them around 5:30pm and I moved that back to about 6:30 and then moved their bedtime from 7-7:15 to almost 8 pm. I also switched up their nighttime snack. Ari use to have a cup of milk and some gold fish crackers or some dry cereal and Savannah would get a bottle of milk.

Well, they still both get the milk, but I switched up the snack to include more complex carbohydrates and protein. This switch is not only healthier but the protein and complex carbs should keep them fuller for longer, which in theory would keep them asleep longer. So, what I feed them is a slice of whole wheat bread each and a couple teaspoons of peanut butter. This has worked, for the most part, with both girls! Savannah has been sleeping through the night again and Arizona, while still waking up pretty early, is staying asleep until about 5:30 - 6 now.

I must add that I consider myself an expert in getting kids to sleep through the night ... I had both girls sleeping through the night from about 3.5-4 months old. So, for them to not sleep through the night any more is a big deal. I also wonder if now that they have their own room, if that isn't a contributing factor. Which I might still try putting them back together if Arizona keeps waking up so early. It's so funny to me that my husband and I have worked so hard to move our family, our children, to Arizona to give them a better life, like ... a bedroom of there own ... and now possibly they can't sleep in a room of their own! It's just kind of funny!

Anyway, moving on ...  I want to try and provide as many tips and ideas as possible to help other moms out there with their little ones and keep their sanity. So, we just talked about a couple of tips to help the little ones sleep through the night, so I'll go into one tip that will help during workout times to get every mom off the sofa and on the treadmill.

So if you are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where you can walk outside, I always recommend that just because of the fresh air, meeting and talking to people, getting some vitamin D from the sun (which will also improve your mood), exposing your children to the outdoors, the list goes on... but if you cannot walk outside and must use a treadmill then you need a safe way to contain your kids but still keep them happy.

I use to bring the girls' playpen out to the garage with their absolute favorite toys and then put them in it. It keeps them safe from all the yuckiness of the garage, they can hang out with me in the same room (which for my kids with 'mommy separation anxiety' is a big deal), keeps them happy and then I can do my workout.

I really hope some of these tips help, as I really love helping other moms. I can't even count how many times I've given advice to my friends; it just makes me feel so awesome when my tips are successful. I remember helping one of my best friends with getting her son to sleep through the night, he was 8 months old and she hadn't had a good night sleep in as long of time ... I remember crying when my techniques helped her and her son started sleeping through the night. So, I hope you too can have some success with these tips and have one less reason to put off that workout until tomorrow! So, until next time, stay happy, healthy and strong!

Tough day and tips!

Today was a rough day. It's only 10:40 in the morning, but wow it's been a rough day so far. I haven't been sleeping to well lately (for numerous reasons) and my back pain has been through the roof! It's been really intense lately, hard to walk with a stabbing feeling in the lower left side of my back. I haven't wanted to do my workouts at all. I woke up this morning and didn't feel like doing anything, in fact, I wished I could just take a day off, put my feet up, and do nothing! I eventually remembered I was a mom and can't do that, but it was a cute thought! And then I remembered I had to do my workout today...

Trust me, I know how hard it is to find the dedication and motivation to work out every single day, especially when you're in pain, or tired, or any other excuse under the sun. You just have to dig deep, dig way down deep and find it somewhere in your heart. It sometimes takes people a while, years sometimes, to hit that 'point' where you've had enough with the way your life is. For me, it took a few years ... My husband and I had both of our children, back to back, and it has taken me a year to find the right motivation to make a change. That motivation was I wanted to make sure I could pick up and play with my kids and I was starting to get to the point where I was having trouble picking them up. That broke my heart, so I decided to make a change.

It's also important to remember that this doesn't happen overnight. You didn't, for example, gain all the weight overnight, so you won't be able to lose it all overnight. It takes time, hard work and dedication. You have to really want it and for me not being able to pick up my kids or chase them around the house, or walk down to the park, teach them to ride a bike, etc., was my motivating factor.

So, what did I do? I got up, got dressed into my workout clothes and went out to my treadmill and turned it on! I turned it on! and I walked! I made a promise to myself that I would lose this weight and work hard to be healthier so I can enjoy my children as they get older and so my husband and I can walk along the beach when we're 60 holding holds. But it's not easy ... I wish I had less pain or better pain control or something to make it easier but then again they say, something worth having never comes easy.

Well, I think I've rambled enough today! I do want to say that I will post later about some tips to help the moms out there with little ones and working out. I know how hard it is to find the time and means to work out with little ones, but if I can find the time, so can you. So, from now on I'm going to write a weekly thread on tips to help you deal with the little ones and hopefully increase your motivation!!! So, be sure to tune in later and every Monday for tips that have helped me! Until next time, stay happy, healthy and strong!

A quick update!

I really thought by now my blog would be in full swing, talking in depth about my workouts, health, weight, back, etc.; however, with the big move across state lines, I have been so busy that not only have I failed to write about the topics promises, but I haven't even been able to keep you up-to-date ... so this is going to be a quick post updating where we are and then I will get back into the swing of actually blogging about the important topics! 

So, two weeks ago today we made the move to Arizona. It is absolutely wonderful here and we couldn't be happier; everything seems perfect. I mean the move itself was a little rough and did not go exactly as planned, but does anything really go as planned? It felt like we had one disaster after another getting down here. BUT, that's all over now and focusing on how wonderful it is down here is far more enjoyable. Other than the freakishly warm weather (which you'll come to know, I don't really like the heat - it's the only downfall to moving to the hottest state in the country) it is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous down here. 

 We are pretty much settled into our new home ... putting away the final boxes, hanging the finishing touches, etc. The girls are settling in okay - they still are having some issues in the middle of the night, but otherwise, they seem to be doing well! And Goodwin (the Cat) is settling in well also, losing weight quickly which is good for him - those stairs are really seeming to kick everybody's butt. 

I started full swing into my workouts again this past Monday and everything has been going pretty well until this morning... which I'm not going to go into too much detail, as I will really go into this later in another post! But, it's been going okay so far, we got another bottle of the Hydroxycut Elite, which has helped with the weight loss and when I weighted myself yesterday for the first time since leaving Sacramento, I was far lighter than I thought I'd be. 

Furthermore, Bill and I have been working hard on some of our entrepreneurial endeavors ... making videos of field stripping firearms, his football YouTube channel is going well, and I'm finally finding the time to work on some of my crochet and crafting ideas/videos. 

So, now that I have given a little update for you my next post will surely dive right into my workouts, my weight, my back (and the VA), how the girls are playing a role in all of this and how successful I've been so far only four days into it. I hope you've enjoyed reading, because I've surely enjoyed writing. Until next time ... Be happy, healthy and strong!