Balance

The first time I became a mom, I was fairly young..really young..16 yrs old to be exact. Without the love & support of my family, I would never have learned how to balance life as a highschool varsity cheerleader and my growing role from teenage mom statistic to just "mom."
College wasn't any easier especially when boy #2 came along. WOW. I had to live life as a single parent to now 2 boys...2. Full class load, preschool, daycare, night job. Where did all the time go?
But I would never have changed any of that for anything in the world. My days of single parenthood to 2 has morphed into happily married life to 4 of the most beautiful boys ever! I never thought that I would ever be able to balance my roles as mom, wife, and co-bread winner. But day after day it just gets easier and easier.
Balance is what its all about. But what happens when there's never enough "me time?" Is it selfish to want time to yourself? HELL NO! My balancing act still tilts to one side more than the other. But I'm lucky to have a loving husband that helps me pick up the side thats weighing me down (when he takes notice that is).
So here's the low down....
You are never too busy. I know it sounds ridiculous, but its the truth. Life is a gift. Motherhood is a gift. Remember, your spouse chose YOU. We all get lost in day to day stuff. I always do. Remember the key to "balancing" it all, is this: take 2 minutes...close your eyes and breathe deep...because here comes your one year old trying to run around the corner to see why you're so quiet! LOL!

Friday Fitness Tip - CORE

So its been about a month since my last fitness post. If anyone tried doing any of the suggestions I made, let me know your story so I can feature you in my next friday fitness post!

Still can't find the time to do any sort of workout? Well I have some suggestions that you can do ANY time!

Stand in front of a mirror, and lift up your shirt so you can see your belly. Yes, just lift it up. Now tighten up your stomach and flex your abs. Hold it for 5 seconds and then release. If you're tightening it and holiding it in you should feel it tighten not in just your stomach area but around your waist and in your lower back. That my friends is your core. Your core is the center of every movement you make day in and day out. Stand in front of the mirror at least once a day and work from holding it in 5 seconds to 10 seconds and then to 15 seconds. Do about 3 "sets" of these. Don't have the time to just look in the mirror, don't worry, I got more. LOL!

Have to vaccum today? Tighten your core every other room you have to vaccum. Cooking dinner? Tighten your core for 5 seconds every 5 minutes. Washing dishes? Do the same thing as if you were cooking. Grocery shopping? Tighten your core as you push your cart. And here's a good one: sitting at the computer? Yes! Sit up straight and tighten your core for 10 seconds every 10 minutes. You can work your core do ANYTHING! Now if you are able to get to a gym or workout at your home, keep your core engaged during your entire workout. The benefits are endless. Building a stronger core will even help you carry that sleeping child from the car to the bed!

Another thing to try...get on the floor in a push up position. Make sure your body is straight as a board, no booty in the air. LOL. Now engage your core and lower yourself onto your forearms, slowly. You may have to slide your feet back the first time to get the perfect position. Breathing deep and slowly, hold for 10 seconds. This is the infamous plank position. Then raise yourself back up to the push up position slowly. Do 3 sets. As you get stronger you can cross your legs and put one foot on top of the other. Remeber do to both sides. Now another thing you can add...when you are down on your forearms, after 10 seconds take your booty up to the sky. Remember to keep your core engaged and your forearms on the ground. Just hold for 3 seconds and come back to plank.

Remember your core controls all your movements. The stronger it is, the better your body will feel. Not to mention you will see those abs again.

I have been inspired!

So every morning this entire week, I have seen the same infomercial: Your baby can read. And when I say I've seen it every morning, I really do mean that...every morning. Babies...yes babies...are learning to read. They even showed a 3 year old girl reading out of Charlotte's web. I mean wow. So I decided to venture onto their website. So here's how it works...the child sees the word>child sees the word and hears the word>the child sees the word, hears the word, and sees the action at the same time>the child says the word. The program is designed for children from 3 months old to 5 years old. The all around message is that you do not have to wait for your child to be in kindergarten before beginning to learn how to read. Sounds simple enough. The program consists of interactive DVDs that your child watches. It also comes with flash cards. They even make it sweeter by giving you a 30 day risk free trial for 30 days and includes free gifts!

Ok so of course I want this system. But no fancy DVDs and flash cards for us. I've actually been working on a picture ABC book for him that includes real pictures of things that he takes himself. Now i'm also making my own flash cards.
I'll keep y'all updated on our progress and even post some pictures of what i've done so far.
I hope more of you will get inspired too. Please comment and share your ideas too!

My day in a nutshell

So I had a pretty interesting day today. First off, I got to experience probably one of the stupidest court preceedings ever! Like big daddy tweeted..It was better than t.v. Anyways..big daddy and I don't get many days off together anymore, so we decided after lunch to go and work out together. Now y'all know how passionate my darling husband is about working out, well, he NEVER works out with a partner..NEVER! So when he agreed to workout with me I was completely shocked. It was his "free" day (whatever that means) so he said he would show me his core workout that he does. Now when I say my husband does not do a single crunch, you'd probably think I was lying. Especially since he's got amazing abs! He just always works on his core. Its amazing I tell you! LOL! But anyways long story short, we had an amazing workout and I learned a lot from him. I didn't do a single crunch or ab focused exercise, but my abdominal section and lower back are screaming right now. They don't hurt, but I know I'll feel it in the morning. Absolute craziness I tell you!
So I know this going completely to the left but...is anyone out there as excited as I am about the palm pre making its debut in a couple days? I am a self proclaimed palm treo junkie! I don't know how I ever owned a phone that wasn't a palm. Funny thing is, I only just got my first palm phone like at the end of last year...well I actually think it was the beginning of this year. But needless to say, I am hooked..I'm a believer lol! I have asked big daddy for the pre, and am hoping to get it for christmas. You know you can't get the first generation of ANY new cel phone. Gotta give it some time for all the kinks to be worked out. But I do plan to make a trip out to my sprint store that I always go to, to get a "hands on", love at first sight, real live, obsessed based "feel" of the phone.
But it is almost midnight here and I think I've rambled on enough for the day/night. I'll be back with y'all tomorrow.
Later gators!