Didn't sleep well last night

So I plan on working out later in the day...after a nap! I can't bear trying to work out when tired, and Jason has all the kids out right now, so I have to take advantage of this precious time. Besides, it always makes me feel recharged and just BETTER. No matter what is going on, I feel like I can better manage things emotionally if I get a good sweat and the endorphins rolling. Hmmm, I think it's time for a Max Cardio Conditioning day-over 1000 calories burned in 55 minutes. Just one of 'dem days..(remember that song, by Monica? Ol' school R&B!)

Time to get "INSANE"...right after this nap! :)

DB

No shower today

So I usually do my workout/shower during Isabel's first nap. She's usually down for at least 1.5 hours, but since the dang mowers are SO loud (can't complain too much, they do mow our grass!) she woke up a bit early, 30 minutes or so shorter than usual. So I had to do the fake "get ready for the day." Since I was all sweaty from my workout, I changed my clothes, washed my face, put my hair in a ponytail, and a dab of makeup and some deoderant. OH and some perfume to hide my BO from my workout. I know, I can hear all your "Ewwwww's" from here, but spare me, some days are just like that when you have a little one, and I'm the only one at home. So I just gotta wait for the hubby to come home until I can shower, at 5pm. ::sigh:: Time to feed the baby! :)

Naps on weekends...

Are totally acceptable. I sometimes feel that just because it's nice weather outside, I'm somewhat contractually obligated to go out and play. But, this is Charleston, and I know I'll have many more Sunny days this summer ahead of me. So, as the Bean household naps, I am writing you this blog, and then I'll probably take a nap afterwards myself. :)

My workout today is Kenpo Cardio Plus. KenPo on crack. Woohoo! I'm excited for it. After that workout, week 1 of P90X+ will be done.

That was a tough week!

One thing that I notice right away after 1 week of this though, is that pullups are just getting SO much easier for me, because they are incorporated in EVERY workout (except intervals and kenpo). My arms are definitely more muscular and my mid section is much more tight. I have not weighed myself, though I don't think I lost any, since my clothes fit somewhat the same; they don't feel "looser," they just hang differently on my hips, which probably means I lost an inch somewhere. I'm not a big scale person. I'll weigh myself occasionally if I see one around, but it's not a daily thing, which I think more people need to adopt. Especially if they are doing programs such as P90X. Daily weighers' will get frustrated because of the many fluctuations that occur, i.e. building muscle, losing fat, then building more muscle..you get the idea. I would recommend monthly weigh-ins, or weekly..if you just can't resist.

Off to take a much needed nap, then I'm going to rock some KenPo Cardio +!! :) Have a great, blessed Saturday!

Stinky Pacifiers and Naps

Well, lately it seems that my life revolves around Isabel's nap "schedule." I know, if she doesn't get 2 naps a day, for at least an hour..let's just say she won't be happy about it come 5 pm. It's generally something we need to, and we try to avoid. For some reason, she is fighting her naps, HARD. It used to be just putting her in the crib and that was it. Now, she has started to CRY. I've never been one to let her cry it out, I just try to follow her leads aka, when she's rubbing her eyes, I know soon she'll need a nap, so I'll start to rock her. When she's half asleep, I'll put her in the crib, and usually, that is it. Not so much lately. So, I've had to let her cry for a couple minutes at a time, until she finally falls asleep. Sometimes this takes an HOUR. Me and J have been pretty tired lately-as she has started to wake at 430 am. But we're a team and we'll make it through this little patch.

Now as for the paci pics above-they are MAMS. They are the only one she will use. Usually they are sold out everywhere, so today Jason saw that Riteaid had some, so, of course, he bought them ALL. He comes home, excited to show them to her. And you can tell she was-she was kicking her legs and just wooing at all her colorful paci choices. Well funny thing is, is that for her nap, she did not want ANYTHING to do with her new paci's. She wanted her old, stinky, paci back! I smelled that thing, and it is just AWEFUL! No matter how you wash it, it still has this smell. But LO and BEHOLD, as soon as I replace the new paci with her stinky old one, she passed out. New discoveries every day. Now to make the other paci's stinky..hmm. I'll have to let her yuck them up during the day, and keep her ultrastinky ones in her crib.

And hey, no judgement on paci's. I plan to use them for 1 year. We'll see how that goes!

Wowzers

Isabel FINALLY went down for her nap. Singular. This morning she decided that she did not want to take a nap. Oh, how I tried to encourage the nap this morning. But NO, she was not having it. I knew I would be paying for it later but I took her out and we played while she was bright eyed and bushy tailed. So weird. She does have a bit of a cold I think so maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe this current nap will extra long and I can finish my cleaning and laundry. That would be wonderful!

Cleaning and tidiness relaxes me. I love the feeling of going to bed at night, that the house is clean, dishes are in the dishwasher and being washed, laundry is always at a continual state, and the baseboards are clean. It makes me feel warm inside. I especially love sanitizing everything. Especially toys. I know the next time Isa puts one of her toys in her mouth that it is 99.9% germ free. That's good to know. I know I probably don't get everything, but again, it still makes me warm inside that I Lysol all the door knobs and light switches, and other "hand" popular spots. Hey, you can catch all kinds of nasties from places like that. OCD-no, trust me on that. I just really enjoy keeping house. Hey, it's my job! Why not be good at it?

Babywise

Ok, I just have to write this. It's about the Ezzo's. And about "Growing Kids Gods way" and it will probably piss you off if you are a follower of such. It will be quick and to the point, I promise.

First off, I have many friends that do this curriculum. And I still love them the same! I don't know if they scoff at me for my refusal of such, but even if they did, that's ok. Every parent has their right to do what they beleive is right for their child.

I strongly encourage you to read thouroughly www.ezzo.info. Read the stories of the families and their experiences with it. Some are good, but most are bad. My biggest problem is that it causes divisiveness in the church (and between friends, I personally have experienced that already, and it ain't pretty! It's huge when the church you attend, the actual authors attend as well, so everyone is advocating for these parenting practices). And the title of the book isn't the best: "Growing Kids Gods way" --Since when is it God's way only of raising children? Anyways I'll end there with that.

But the most important thing I wanted to get across is this: All the big milestones of sleeping through the night, dropping naps (what is that?? just let them sleep when they are tired!), feedings, etc..they happen on their own. I was reading through them out of sheer curiousity, and Isabel has done everything the book promises WITHOUT any strategy. My strategy as a parent is to feed her when she's hungry, and let her sleep when she's tired. She is 6 months old, goes to sleep at 7-wakes up at 6:30, drinks a bottle every 4 hours-with some solids thrown in there sporadically, and takes 2, 1.5 hour naps every day. She did this on her OWN, and by reading her ques. No crazy crying it out and no looking at the clock. I swear parents, it can be so much easier. Biologically, babies know more than we think they do, and they won't rebel on us or turn into crazy people, as the Ezzo's have said in their books.

There is a great article here, and thousands more if you google. This stuff is not made up, and there are facts to prove the "contraversy" surrounding the Ezzo's and all their "parenting" OPINIONS.

Another point I want to add: I strongly encourage you to read Dr. Sears' parenting material. I don't really need to say much about how amazing he is, because once you read through his website, and if you purchase one of his books, you will see that parenting can be a JOY, and not a constant struggle to get your baby to sleep 8 hours at 6 weeks of age. Don't buy the Babywise propoganda. Let's start a movement towards attachement parenting and against Babywise!