A Year Later...

This week marked the one year anniversary of me ending maternity leave and being back at work. I have been working for as long as I was at home….working with a baby.

I am often asked if I like working, and I don’t lie: I do like it. I feel like being at work is time I can focus on my work without little hands grabbing at my pants saying “up”, or “mama! Toons!” (cartoons). I have made quite a lot of progress in the past year at my job, including an opportunity to go back to school part time to pursue an education in marketing. I may be crazy for taking this on. It will definitely be a challenge, but I think I’m up for it.

Every day, especially mornings and evenings are hectic; even more so in the summer time when my husband, who is a golf professional, is required to work long hours and we can go an entire week without having him at the dinner table. Some days I find myself thinking that I've mastered this whole working mom thing and then there are other days when I know that I’ll have to do the whole mundane routine over again tomorrow, and it has brought me to tears.

I’ve made a huge effort to get back to working out and eating ‘clean’, and have actually gotten myself down to my wedding weight. I have 2 windows of opportunity to exercise each work day; either at 5 am at home, or during my lunch hour at the gym. I have learned some great lessons in organization and preparedness as well as making my workouts as efficient as possible. I have two great resources to thank for this: the Nike Training Club app on my iPhone, and the girls of Tone It Up who offer nutritional advice and workouts.

Working out and being healthy benefits me and my family in so many ways. I find I have so much more engergy to get through the day. Mostly, it helps with my depression. If I go a few days where I’m eating like crap and not exercising, I really feel a difference in my attitude and outlook, and in the way I treat people, especially my family. I can have an explosive temper, and there have been a few times where I have regretted lashing out at, or in front of, Nikolas. I don’t want him to ever be scared of mommy getting mad. I have come a long way in controlling my temper, but still have to work on it. Working out definitely helps me have a positive state of mind and I’m better able to control my reaction to stressful situations.

I often wish I had more time to write, because I really love looking back at my stories and seeing how far I’ve come. One of the things that bother me is the name of my blog. “Is That Baby Puke On Your Shirt” isn’t really applicable to my life anymore, so I’ve been brainstorming some new names that would be a better fit to my crazy life. Anyway, I hope to increase the amount I write, and if you have any suggestions for names, pass them along!

Work It...

 Last week, I finally got myself a membership to a gym that is super close to my office so that I can use my lunch hour to work out. I’m planning to start with 3 days a week, and see where that leads. Once summer hits, I plan to do a lot of walking at lunch in the nearby ravine, but still will hit the gym for resistance training. I also have an elliptical machine at home, which needs to be put to use more often!

It’s definitely time to lose this “baby weight”. I’m at a weight that I was at long before I got pregnant and struggled then to get rid of, but now, it’s a different kind of weight. Things have shifted and even though the scale shows the same number, my body is certainly different. Either way, I’m not happy with my fitness level, and it’s time to get serious about improving it.

Over an hour-long lunch break, between driving and changing, I end up with 40 minutes of actual exercise time; 10 minutes are dedicated to a warm up, which leaves me with 30 minutes of resistance training. I need to find a good routine that can be done in that amount of time, and hit all the body parts in 3 workouts.

Soon, it will be time to start shopping around for a chariot so that I can go for bike rides again and bring Nikolas along with me! I’m so looking forward to winter being over and spending lots of time outside!

Want It

After being stuck in the house all winter with a newborn baby, I was so looking forward to summer, and the warm weather activities that we could do with Nikolas. One of these activities included taking him on bike rides. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love being on my bike. I'm the type of girl who looks forward to that first ride in the spring; the ride where the ultimate goal is to find puddles and mud and dirt and get as dirty as possible, and have as much fun as I can while doing it.

In 2 years, I've been on my bike a total of 1 time. That was last summer, and by then I was so pregnant, my legs were hitting my belly as I peddled.

Much to my disapointment, I discovered that kids cannot ride on bicycles, or any bicycle accessory (carriers, mounted seats) until they are at least 1 year old. The reason for this is that the child needs to be able to sit well and carry the weight of a helmet on his or her head. I guess bike-riding with Nikolas will have to wait until next summer.

I came across this product, and it looks really cool! The iBert safe-T-seat was designed by a Mom for kids ages one to four, it allows for better interaction than trailers and other seats.