10.52

 Fat babies are happy babies.. 

A nursery

...well his side of the room.

9.52 // First Beach Day

I love it! We had a wonderful time. We weren't there very long but it was very wonderful. I put his feet in the water and it was freezing and he started screaming and then stopped and acted like he enjoyed it. He keeps life happy.

Fitbess Goals // Charity Miles

Charity Miles is an app that I have recently found that is provided both for Android and iPhone. It's an app that donates money to your charity of choice (out of these options) while you run, walk, bike, indoor run, or indoor walk. It's $0.25 for every mile you run and $0.10 for every mile you bike. It was a great motivator for me and I definitely think you should try it out.

What charity would you donate to?

Alexander // 2 months

I can't believe he is 2 months old today. Time is really flying. He is finally on some sort of schedule, which is one that I have kinda come to dig. It makes it easy for me to work out and do the things that I need to when he is ok to be put down, which isn't often. This Friday we go to the doctor to get his shots and get weighed and all checked out. I did a pre-weigh where I weigh myself and then weigh him with me and he weighs about 18 pounds.... whhhhhaaaaat? That's crazy to me. He is huge. We will know this Friday though, so excited. 

8.52

Shrimp Tacos

 This is definitely my go to taco meal. Yes, I love it with ground beef, ground turkey and even chicken, but it is no where near as light and filling than with shrimp. I can eat two small tacos and feel completely satisfied and know I didn't go insane on my calorie count, especially when I'm craving something Mexican.

What you need:

• 1 pound of shrimp (spices - some kind of cajun or red pepper - I don't use taco seasoning because it makes it to heavy, in my opinion)
• brown rice
• 1 can sweet corn
• cheese
• small tortilla shells (or hard taco shells)
• salsa
• light sour cream
• siracha

I make two that look just like this and I am an extremely happy camper. You can also add lettuce and really anything that your hearts desire. 

Also, what is great about this meal, you can use the leftovers tomorrow at lunch with lettuce wraps. It's absolutely perfect and one of my favorite dinners. It also keeps my man happy, he loves Mexican food.

Life According to Instagram

1. New hair-do. I love it. It's the perfect spring touch for me. Also, my hair has been getting so long, I love it. // 2. A fell asleep while I was changing him, so I quickly finished and left him there until he woke up (only 15 minutes later) // 3. He always looks so cute when he is sleeping. I also love those pants. He doesn't tend to like sleeping in his crib very much. He has been lately liking laying on me, nonstop. // 4. I'm obsessed with elephants and my baby, so duh. // 5. #fromwhereisit at the dog park in the back of our apartment complex. It was such a perfect day, with perfect weather that I had to take the dog out and put sweet A in his Moby wrap and go for a stroll. It put him right to sleep, which was much needed. 

Coffee Talk // Cold Coffee

Sometimes you pour yourself a cup of coffee expecting it to be hot, or at least warm, with your first sip but it ends up being frigid. That happens a lot around here lately. Taking care of sweet Xander is more important and always comes first. I've learned to live without coffee, but those mornings that I do get it are something special. This morning was a morning like no other, it was cold, but I appreciated it. When I had it, I got 15 minutes to myself. Those precious 15 minutes were everything I needed to motivate myself for the rest of the day. It was perfect.  

Fitness Goals // Healthy Choices

The hardest thing, for me, is going to the grocery store while I'm trying to eat healthy. All the endless unhealthy and junky snacks make me want to grab everything and just munch away. Therefore, I have to train my mind to avoid those aisles unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to go down them. 

But, it isn't just avoiding those aisles that is going to make you want to eat healthy. If it worked like that, I would never have a problem with my weight. EVER. The key is finding healthy foods that you like. Whether it be carrots, brussels sprouts, watermelon, apples or whatever; you have to take the time to figure out what you like and get it. 

I'm still trying to figure all that out, if it was easy, then I'd honestly probably be bored. 

I'm never one to just eat a carrot, especially raw and without ranch; so I let myself eat them with ranch or else I just wouldn't be able to do it. And what's a little ranch going to do? Kill you? No, I don't think so. Well, unless you're allergic to something in it. 

What are some of your favorite nutritional snacks?

I Spy..

Clean Living // Sugar Scrub

Have you ever gone to an organic store for natural and healthy things for your body and realized that the stuff is ridiculous expensive for the small amount that you're getting. So, I decided that I wanted to try clean living on a budget. Everything in this you either have on hand or can get easily from the store.

• Sugar
• Olive Oil (you can use almond oil, sunflower oil, or coconut oil)
• Lemon Juice (I squeezed it fresh out of the lemons so it isn't processed)
• Essential Oil of your choice (completely optional, I didn't use it)

In a bowl I put about two cups of sugar, half a cup of oil and a whole lemon squeezed and mixed it. Adjust the ingredients to how you want your scrub to be.

I use this about every two or three days and it makes my skin feel amazing. Exfoliating your skin helps repair damaged areas, like stretch marks; and I must say after two weeks of everyday use my stretch marks are a lot lighter. With that, I also moisturize at least 4 times a day and keep them out of the sun.

This also makes great gifts, you could decorate the jar however you want and even include a small spoon for scooping it out. I think I might go thrifting for some small old tea spoons and include them in the gifting of this. 

What kind of essential oils do you like?

Fitness Goals // Starting

Firstly, I don't really like it when people say that they have weight loss goals. No, obviously I wont judge you, but in my opinion, I believe saying that you are trying to be fit or that you have a fitness goal will help keep you motivated. I know that I always feel discouraged when I say I have a weight loss goal and I'm not losing weight for a few weeks, but Im still kicking butt. It's just a way for me to not lose hope, but don't worry, knowing I'm shedding pounds is always encouraging. 

(Side note: I couldn't get this photo to work out for me and to rotate. Sigh)

So, today was my first "official" day of getting myself fit. Xander and I walked up to the gym in our apartment complex and I eased myself into my first workout. The hardest thing is to get started and to stay motivated. So, the fact that I made it up there this morning and stayed for 45 minutes made me proud of myself. I have to go while Xander is taking a nap, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to get a few minutes on the elliptical, at this point. 
I started with 10 minutes on medium to high intensity on the elliptical and then I did some arm workouts and abdominal exercises. I didn't want to push myself to hard, especially since it was my first real workout after having Alexander and a c-section, no less. But, I have decided that everyday during the week, I am definitely going to make the effort to go to the gym.

With the lovely amount of exercise, I've also changed my eating regimen. I start with a light breakfast and my vitamins and then go to the gym. For lunch, I normally have a shake and then for dinner I make something healthy. That's been my biggest task, keeping dinner healthy without cooking the same thing all the time. I don't have a problem eating whatever, but Cody tends to be a bit pickier when it comes to certain things. So, the goal is to make healthy meals and start to introduce them to Cody as well. 

Have you ever noticed that when the whole house is eating healthy and working out, it is a lot easier to do so? Maybe it is just me, i don't know.

I'm very excited for this much needed journey. Obviously I'll be sharing more about my journey on here, about what I eat, what workouts are my favorite, what app I use to track what I eat and so on and so forth.

Here is to the first day of my fitness journey! Have you started a fitness journey recently, or are you wanting to? Tell me about it!

7.52

6.52

6 weeks of pure bliss, well almost. I've had my ups and downs emotionally and having to deal with the abrupt change in motherhood has definitely kept me on my sleepy toes. I love it so much. I love him so much. Our little family.