Category: Mama’s Thoughts

Did I brush my teeth?

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You know those days where you look at the clock and it says 12:30…you’re still in your pajamas, the baby still hasn’t taken a nap (he’s been up since 6:30 mind you), and it’s a miracle you’ve eaten anything? And then it hits you, the teeth have not been brushed since the night before, or you think?  This, my friends, is what a baby growth spurt/teething episode looks like in our life. On the bright side, this phase only lasted one day (hallelujah)!  Today is a new day, it’s now 10:30, Max is asleep, my hair is done, my teeth are for sure brushed, and I’m dressed.  I think I’m so put together already because I have been SO excited to share our surprise with y’all!

But first…here is the quick Bailey/Daddy/Max cuddle session that happened last night…

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^^These cheese faces are partly the result of the camera flash that is SO funny!  I had to share these to keep the suspense going…and because these are too dang cute not to share!

Ok…now for the surprise.

This has been a long time coming. I’m not pregnant, sorry to disappoint. Ha!  Since my precious niece was born two years ago (how is that possible?) I have been following mama and baby clothing shops on instagram. And somewhat obsessing over them. I knew that this is something I would love to do. Hip, graphic tees and onesies for littles and mamas.. How much fun is that?  I finally got the confidence to just do it.  The hubby plays a big role in this confidence, “the only way to fail is to never try”. I can’t give all the credit to my hubby for helping me get this going, my good friend, Rhiannon (you’ll see lots of pics of her and her baby soon), came up with the name to the shop! Guys….Little Nugget Apparel is now open for business!! You can find us on Instagram and Etsy. Please take a look! Give suggestions! We’re in the very beginning phases of this venture, I’ve never done anything like this before and seriously welcome any advice y’all have!  Here are some pics of the first designs we have available for purchase now! You’ll also find the link to our little shop at the end of this post!  Thanks for reading this lengthy post and being loyal readers!  Love ALL of you!

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So much more is to come, but I thought it was only fair to share with you guys first! Here is the link

https://www.etsy.com/shop/littlenuggetapparel

The First Hair Cut

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Baby Max had his first hair cut this weekend. Yep. It was quite the ordeal, we had grandparents, aunts and an uncle present for the event. As we walked into the cutesie little kids salon, the hair stylist asked me if I wanted to save his hair from this monumental cut..I quickly replied with, “of course not, I have no idea what I would do with it”.  And that was that. As she started snipping away and his little hairs fell to the ground, I understood why she asked me if I wanted to keep those first hair cut hairs. It’s like the last bit of that itty bitty baby phase you can hold onto (crap,I’m turning into a sap). And just like that my baby turned into a big boy. Not kidding. It aged the guy by at least 4 months. Take a look!

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Try not to get too teary eyed guys, the little guy is growing up! Every new little phase is so much fun, I can’t wait to see what short-haired baby Max has in store for us.

 

P.S. The surprise will be revealed this week! It’s still a work in progress. 😉

The Nap Time Hustle

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I’m sure all you moms out there know what I’m talking about. The baby is finally down, I have loads of laundry, a house that looks like a tornado just blew through, and a desperate need to workout.  This is what we call the nap time hustle, approximately an hour and a half (if I’m lucky) to complete all of these tasks. First up….the work out. If I don’t do that first, it won’t get done and my booty will be so sad about it later!

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^^I mean, how does one kid make such a mess??

 

 

Here is my quick little butt kicking workout!

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^That’s how excited I get about working out by myself! Ha!

Legs, and a little cardio:

Round 1: 

2 minutes on the treadmill (incline 6, speed 6)

20 stationary body weight lunges on each leg

15 squats on the smith machine

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Repeat 3x through

Round 2:

15 Glute kick-backs on each leg with the Smith Machine

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20 sumo squats

15 jump squats

Repeat 3x through

Round 3:

15 stiff legged deadlifts

1 minute wall sit (these bring me back to my middle school days! ha!)

5 minutes walking lunges on the treadmill

Cool Down and STRETCH! 

 

Y’all DO this workout..I promise your legs and butts will be screaming and you will love every second!! Feel free to comment if you don’t know what something is!

 

The workout took 40 minutes, toy picking up took 5 (maybe I exaggerated the mess), and the laundry took 30…..and baby Max is still asleep! Now….to eat in peace!!

 

Happy Tuesday y’all!!

 

 

 

 

A New Type of Valentine’s Day

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This last Valentine’s Day marked the 12th year that my hubby has been my Valentine. He has always been my only one, until now. This year I had two special Valentines and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We spent the day walking (it was 80 degrees here), making some amazing Big Green Egg chicken tacos (scroll for recipe), hanging by Mimi and Papa’s pool, and an early bedtime….for the little guy. The day couldn’t have been any more perfect.

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^^Max only wanted to eat feed Bailey his puffs.

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Recipe: Big Green Egg Tacos 

What You’ll Need: 

4 Chicken Breasts

2 tbs lime juice

1 container Sky Valley taco sauce

1 package organic yellow crunchy taco shells

1/2 cup monterrey jack cheese

2 yellow onions (diced for topping)

 

What You’ll Do: 

If you have a Big Green Egg, pre heat it to 350 degrees. If you do not have a Big Green Egg, pre-heat your oven to 350.

Marinate the chicken breasts in tbs lime juice and 1 cup Sky Valley taco sauce for 1 hour (or more if you can).

Grill the chicken breasts for 8-10 minutes per side or until meat thermometer reaches 170-180 degrees. Or bake chicken breasts for 35 minutes (or until internal temp reaches 170-180) in your oven.

Shred chicken breasts.  I used our Kitchen Aide mixer with the paddle attachment at setting 4 to do this.

Fill taco shells with desired amount of shredded chicken. Top with your cheese and green onions. Place back in the oven or the Big Green Egg for 8-10 minutes (or until cheese is melted).

 

Let me know what you guys think! This is for sure one of our new favorite recipes!

 

 

What’s On Our Menu

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Mondays do not have the greatest reputation, they mean getting up earlier, actually being productive, and in our case, getting organized for the week ahead! Today was filled with laundry, cleaning, meal planning, and grocery shopping. We usually try to get our grocery shopping done on Sundays, but that wasn’t happening during the Super Bowl! So here we are, on a Monday, trying to get our week ahead organized.  Here is what we have planned for our dinners (which turn into lunches the next day)  so far:

Monday: Chicken pot pie, the healthy version! I will post the recipe for all you pot pie lovers later.

Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs

Thursday: Leftovers (I know..so boring)

Friday: Baked Tacos

Saturday and Sunday are always random so I don’t plan meals for the weekend.

Grocery List:  (I already have some ingredients for the meals I am making so my grocery list is not too crazy)

Almond milk, cheese, Kerrygold butter (the hubby is obsessed with his bulletproof coffee..we’ll talk more about that later) bananas, blueberries, mixed green salad, salsa, tortillas, green bell pepper, onion, avocado (for Max), baby food, marinara sauce

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Please let me know which meal you guys would like the recipe for! All of the meals I do throughout the week are super easy and healthy. The best kind of meals, right?!

 

Have a great week everyone!

Workin’ Out with the Babies

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Today is an exciting day! I had two good friends that came over (one has a baby) and we got our lift on in my garage! Who knew that events like these would be the highlight of my week day?!  We put the babies in their jumpers and turned our beast mode on.

Here is what we did:

Round 1: 

Lat pulldowns: 1st set 8 reps heavy

2nd set 12 reps one plate lighter

3rd set 20 reps one plate lighter than the second set

Round 2: 

Bent over cable rows: 15 reps (a weight that is challenging but one that you can keep good form)

Dumbbell rows: 15 reps

Repeat 4x

Round 3:

Deadlifts (you heard, the real kind): 15 reps

Hyperextensions (back extensions) 20-25 reps

Round 4:

Or not…Max had enough and was ready to take a nap! Ha!  He did have a great time watching all the ladies get their lift on…and it was a major bonus that he got to hang out with his little buddy!
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^^Our new garage gym! Lots of my workouts will be happening here!

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^^My friends are good motivators. That back is amazeballs.

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Do any of you guys have to workout with your babes? How do you keep them entertained?

Happy hump day y’all!

Family Workout

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Sunday was another beautiful day in Texas. The hubby and I decided to load baby Max into the stroller and walk to our community gym to get a “pump” in. Working out together used to be part of our everyday routine back in the college days, but now it is such a rare occurrence we try to make the very best of every minute! Max, of course, doesn’t object to a good stroller ride and some entertaining workout moves from his mommy and daddy. Here is what we did.

Warm Up: Half mile walk to the gym 🙂

Round 1: 

Shoulder side laterals: 20 reps

Seated shoulder press: 10 reps (heavy)

Reverse flyes: 20 reps

Repeat 4x through. Remember to increase your weight if you are flying through your reps!

Round 2: 

Barbell upright row: 20 reps

Front raise with a plate (I used the 25lb plate): 12 reps

Push-ups: 15

Repeat 3x through

Round 3:

Seated machine shoulder press: 20 reps (last set is a drop set, get as many reps as you can, drop the weight, and repeat until you can’t do anymore!)

Squat press with Max as the weight: 20 reps (he was getting antsy at this point, he loves squat press! 🙂 )

Repeat 4x through

This concluded our fast and furious shoulder workout! Our workouts together have changed a little since baby Max was born. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I hope y’all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did over here!

Traveling With Baby

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Over the holiday Baby Max and I hit a major milestone. We traveled by airplane! I had heard so many horror stories about how this could all go down. I was so nervous. I made lists (an embarrassing number of lists actually) beforehand in hopes of being prepared for whatever could be thrown our way! Fortunately, we were prepared for everything that we encountered! Here are my tips for traveling by plane with an infant!

1. Wear the baby.  I cannot tell you how amazing it was to have my Ergo on our trip. I strapped him on the second we got out of our car and wore him through everything! It gave me both of my hands for lugging the diaper bag and Max’s bag that was going to be checked.

2. Bring chew toys. Max is teething which means I have to be prepared for him to have something to chew on at all times. We absolutely love our Chompy Chic Chewlery.  We have a piece that straps onto our Ergo and I have a necklace that I wear when little Maxer is not in the Ergo. These pieces are fun to chew on and fun to play with!

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3. Wear clothes that are easy to travel with. If you are nursing make sure you wear clothes you are comfortable nursing in. I wore a nursing tank, long sleeve shirt, vest, and scarf. Max refuses to be covered while he nurses so I have to layer up to keep everything contained! We were not going to have any escaping boobies on this trip. Ha! Make sure you wear shoes that are easy to slip on and off, this makes the security line so much easier.

4. Bring at least 2 extra outfits for the baby and an extra shirt for yourself.  There is nothing worse than an explosion when you don’t have any back-up outfits. Enough said.

5. Pack as many diapers that you can possibly fit in your diaper bag.  I have a fear of running out of diapers when there are no back-ups! I also brought disposable changing pads to help keep germs off the babe during our airport bathroom changing sessions.

6. Schedule flights around naps. Traveling will mess with your baby’s sleep schedule no matter what, but trying to keep a little bit of normalcy through the chaos of traveling is easier on everyone.

7. Check car-seats and strollers at the gate.  You always have the option of checking your car-seats and strollers with your bags at the ticket counter, but checking them at the gate eliminates the chance that they get lost!

8.Bring your paci. Or two. Or Ten. We don’t leave our house without our monkey Wubba-Nub and all of his friends. If your baby does not take a pacifier, bring whatever makes them comfortable!

9. Nurse during take-off and landing. I worried so much about little Max’s ears during take-off and landing. We nursed during both to (hopefully) eliminate any pain! It seemed to work because he did not make a peep!

10. Bring a blanket. Airplanes can be uncomfortable, brink a blanket or anything that will help comfort your baby while hanging in the plane! We used our muslin swaddles to keep us warm and comfortable so that he could nap! It worked! 

Here is a picture of exactly what I had in my diaper bag.

 

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1. Extra Outfit

2. Disposable changing pads

3. Anti-bacterial wipes

4.Honest diapers (as many as you can fit!)

5. Honest soothing bottom wash (for those nasty poopy diapers)

6. Burp clothes.

7. Muslin Swaddle

8. Bourdeauxs butt paste just incase we have a diaper rash situation.

9. The infamous Wubba-Nubs

10. Changing pad (that is included in the diaper bag)

11. A bib! Bibs save so many of our outfits with all of our drool going on!

 

If you have any tips that have worked for you and your little one please leave them in the comments!

Happy traveling!!

 

Getting My Body Back

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39 weeks

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5 days postpartum

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2 months postpartum

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8 months postpartum

 

These pictures are my progress pics from 39 weeks pregnant all the way until now! 8 months postpartum.

I get asked a lot about how I lost my baby weight. There are two major factors…nutrition and lifting weights! My focus is never on lots of cardio. Here’s why and it’s fairly simple; muscle burns fat the most efficiently, period. The only way to gain muscle is to lift weights. I promise you will not get bulky by lifting weights! Unless you are eating a huge surplus in calories lifting weights will not make you big. I’m not saying ditch the cardio all together…try to get cardio twice a week for 30 minute sessions. If you are consistent with your weight room sessions, that is all the cardio you will need!

Here are some quick work-outs to get you started in the weight room!

Total Body: 

Warm-up: 10-15 minutes on a cardio equipment of choice..it’s just important to get that blood flowing!

Dumbbell Squat Press: Grab a pair of weights you are comfortable with that are challenging and complete 15 reps

Shoulder Side Lateral Raises: 20 Reps of these bad boys.

Walking Lunges: My all time favorite. Add weights if you can!  I like to do these timed. Try 30 seconds of walking lunges, increase your time if this is to easy.

Step-up with Bicep Curl: Step-up on a bench or a step if your gym has one, and complete 20 reps per leg with a bicep curl at the top!

Complete this whole work-out 4x through. Your heart will be pumping and your muscles will be talking to you (Ok, maybe YELLING at you) and you will love every minute! 🙂

 

Legs: 

Warm-Up: 10-15 minutes on cardio equipment (I prefer the elliptical)

Squats: 20 full range of motion squats (add dumbbells or use a barbell) I use the 20’s

Lying Hamstring Curls: 15-20 reps with a weight that is burning like crazy by rep 8!

Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts: 15 reps

Leg Extension: 25-30 reps

Walking Lunges: Use dumbbells and time yourself! Go for a minute!

Repeat this workout 3x through!

 

Upper Body:

Warm-Up: 10-15 minutes on a cardio machine

Lat Pull-downs: 12-15 reps with a weight that is challenging

Incline Chest Press: 15-20 reps

One-Armed Rows: I love rows. And I love to go super heavy on rows. Reps of 12-15

Tricep Extensions: 15-20 reps

Bicep Curls: There are so many variations to bicep curls, choose a different one every workout! My favorite are hammer curls with a heavy weight super set with a lighter barbell palms up curl. Get 12-15 reps with the hammer curls immediately follower by 20 reps with the lighter barbell.

Abs:  I don’t make ab exercises a focus of mine because abs really are made in the kitchen! But with that said, who doesn’t love a good belly burner?!  Choose your favorite ab exercise; crunches, v-ups, leg lifts, bicycle crunches, etc.  Whenever I do abs I think high reps! I always complete no less than 20 reps!

 

These workouts are just a few examples that should help you get going in the weight room. Don’t be afraid to try new things! YouTube is full of fun examples that you can put to use in the gym!