Well, I Don't Feel Like a Bikini Body Mommy

Update: Today was Day 3 of dinner at the table in our home and the oldest immediately took his dinner from the kitchen and sat at the dining room table to eat without being reminded. It seems the little guy really enjoys his conversation time with Mommy! 

I do not feel like a bikini body mommy. Most of us mommies don't. I was able to lose all of the baby weight after the oldest was born. Sure, it may have taken two years, but it was gone. Not that I was terribly thin to begin with - years of relatively sedentary life habits had taken their toll on my 5'4" frame before I became pregnant. When you're as short as me, even a few pounds makes a difference. 

Enter baby number 2. I gained less weight the second time around, and breastfeeding was really successful. I figured the weight would come off, no problem. Nope. Not only did I not lose any weight after the youngest was born, I gained 4 pounds!!! This unexpected weight gain taught me what so many mothers of two-plus children already know - your metabolism slows WAY down after baby number 2. This was not helped by the fact that I turned 30 right before the youngest was conceived. It was time, I realized, for actual exercise. 

A friend of mine introduced me to the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge back in January through a post on Facebook. I started several days late, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try. Boasting quick workouts you can do at home from the comfort of your laptop, it seemed the perfect workout routine for our family's schedule. I actually charged my way through almost three weeks of the 90 day challenge, even though I was still battling a stubborn chest cold at the onset. And then, as often happens, life came around and decided I was too busy for exercise. Okay... maybe I decided I was too busy for exercise. We all know the deal - even the best intentions do not make us actually put our tennis shoes on and go work out. 

It seems even the Bikini Body Mommy herself had some setbacks during the 90 day challenge, and did not meet her goal for the challenge, so she started the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge 2.0, which began yesterday. And so I set off on another attempt to shed some pounds the sweaty way, beginning yesterday. Yesterday's workout was a little rocky because I kept forgetting the challenge was supposed to start and failed to hydrate myself appropriately. But today, I killed it. Well... I killed it as much as I could for being an overweight, out-of-shape, thirty-something mommy at the end of a long day that included work, dinner, cleaning, and bath time - all by myself. 

I have high hopes for this challenge. For one, I'm starting at the same time as everyone else, so I'll be right on track with all the other folks documenting their progress through the Bikini Body Mommy Facebook page. I admit, starting as late as I did really sucked because I felt like I was alone among a whole community of people that were not late to the party. Two, I've been in a bit of an energy kick here recently. Spring tends to refresh my will to do things, so why not add some cardio in the mix? 

Wish me luck guys! If any of you are interested in her program, follow one of the links above to learn more information. She also has a diet program that I do not subscribe to. It is not too late to start - and I do recommend starting on the same day everyone else is. I hope to post updates at intervals, so we'll see how this goes. 

Disclaimer: Bikini Body Mommy has no idea who I am other than I use their workout program. This post is not sponsored in the least; it is truly just me trying a workout challenge to see if I can whittle away this muffin top. 

Dinner with the Boys

Until my parents divorced when I was 12, my family always ate dinner at the dining room table. Every single night without fail, we would convene over dinner to talk about the day, the rest of the evening, future plans, whatever came up. I always imagined that my future family would also do this.

I'll admit, eating at the dining room table is actually somewhat of a rarity for my family.

My husband began working evenings when our oldest was about one years old. There are few things more dull (or even awkward) about eating dinner at the table with just your almost-toddler and yourself. Eventually, we stopped eating at the table completely. Over time, I began to see the dining room table as more of a staging ground and less of a place to eat, so even when I would think to myself that we should use the table, it was so covered in miscellaneous things that I never really pursued it.

This ends today.

It truly is important to me that my family eats together as a family every evening, with as many family members in attendance as possible. It's good for families to hit pause and spend even 30 minutes with each other to reconnect, especially during the hectic weekday bustle. Whole scientific studies confirm this. Now that the youngest is a year old, he is able to eat almost everything we serve for dinner. He's starting to try to talk, and the oldest can actually carry a decent conversation, so dinners together without Dad should be more enjoyable. It helps that the dining room is completely devoid of unrelated stuff since we hosted the youngest's first birthday yesterday. And so tonight, for the first time in well over a year (and the first time in the baby's life), my boys and I sat at the table and ate dinner.

It was nice to talk to my son without competing with the television or video games for attention, and I really think the baby enjoyed being part of it all. At the end of dinner, the oldest helped me clear the dishes, and I promptly cleaned up the kitchen so we could enjoy the rest of our evening.

Another bonus: Because the natural progression goes from clearing your plates to taking them into the kitchen, I was actually motivated to clean the kitchen right away, which is almost never the case. It's nice to have that chore done and now I can enjoy the rest of my evening without it hanging over my head.

An Introduction to Life at Home with Boys

Shortly after we brought our youngest son home from the hospital, we were all hanging out in the bedroom while I prepared for the day. The baby, as newborn babies do, let one rip and both my oldest son and husband started cracking up. That was the first day I had a taste of what life surrounded by boys would be like.