Time to get fit and healthy...

Ok... its time to get fit and healthy. Yesterday was the first day of spring and I've been carrying the baby weight for long enough now. I happen to be one of the unlucky people whose weight does not automatically drop off with breastfeeding so I have to take matters into my own hands and get tough on myself. To start I need to:

• Say it out loud;
• Get rid of the excuses; and
  
• Set my goals.

Say it out loud
So this is the hardest bit for me... I usually keep things to myself. This is all about making a commitment to myself, my family and my friends.

So here it is... I want to lose weight and get fit again (my specific goals are outlined below).

Excuses
First up I need to get rid of all my excuses for still carrying the baby weight... here I go.

1. I am too tired to think about eating well
   
2. I am too tired to exercise
3. I am too busy to fit exercise in
4. I can't lose weight while breastfeeding
5. I can't start on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday... I'll start Monday
6. I'll never be as fit and as strong as I once was
   

These are all just silly excuses which are holding me back. I am sure there are more, but these thoughts need to be banished!

Goals
So my specific goals for the next three months are to lose 10kg and get fit enough to be able to run 20-25km easily in a session!

So please support me in my quest to get fit and healthy again!

Actions
To help achieve these goals I:

1. Joined weightwatchers
2. Do a weekly post natal yoga class (my core strength is severly impaired right now)
3. Am joining a fellow mothers group friend and will go to a boxing for mums fitness class twice a week (we can take our babies along as well)
4. Have started running with Ethan in the pram (boy that is hard work)
5. Have started tracking everything I eat
   

The bumbo...

In my last post I mentioned that we got Ethan the bumbo... he loves it and it means he can sit up to his hearts content without me or Jason holding him there. He still gets tired in it as his little abs need to work hard but it was a good purchase.
Our back yard gets quite sunny in the summer, so Jason got a couple of new umbrellas on the weekend, can't wait until Ethan can use his little table!
The weather has been getting really nice, so Ethan and I play outside a lot more these days... Here he is during tummy time... as you can see from the bottom right photo he sometimes get plain tired and just face plants the mat!
After losing most of his hair in the weeks after the birth Ethan finally has enough hair to style haha... here is his little mohawk.
There's not much more news from here. Till next time.

3 months on...

Sorry for the late post on this but on Tuesday Ethan passed the three month milestone! Wow where has the time gone!!!! What a three months it has been. Ethan is an adorable, delightful little boy and we really could not imagine life without him now. He is starting to play with all his toys, he giggles with us (and at us), smiles and 'talks' to us all the time. He always looks so serious in his photos though but he really is not like that.However, with all the good there is a few tough bits...in the last couple of weeks Ethan has changed his sleeping patterns again, well changed is not the right word really, he has regressed somewhat and is now waking 2 - 3 times a night and being a bit harder to settle. It may be a growth spurt (not that he needs it at all) so if so, it should settle down in a couple of days (I hope because I am one tired mumma right now with no day or night sleeping). The great thing is no matter how little sleep Ethan has he is still very cheerful, and still very rarely cries. The only time he cries is when he is really hungry and I am unable to feed him... i.e. on the way home from the supermarket!

Ethan and I went to the Pregnancy, Baby and Toddler expo recently and apart from it being like bumper cars with baby prams we picked up a few essentials for summer... including his sunnies! See below, he is one cool dude!
All Ethan wants to do these days is sit up... check him out!
As he is not able to hold himself up in the sitting position yet I find I am spending HOURS helping him sit up because its his preferred position right now... so because I need some of that time we have bought him a Bumbo seat... (from the website):

"The Bumbo Baby Seat is an original, award winning baby seat. Its unique design allows your baby to sit unassisted, supported safely and comfortably. It enables your child to confidently observe its surroundings, whilst also acting as an ‘extra set of hands' for parents. Designed for infants from three months to one year, the Bumbo seat is uniquely designed according to the baby's posture."

We pick it up tomorrow, so I will post some pictures soon for you to get an idea of how it works!

7 years!

So yesterday, 22 August, was Jason and my 7 year wedding anniversary! Wow, how time flies!!!
We had decided to not do anniversary presents, so Jason came home from his week away trip with work with a gold locket as a "non-anniversary" present! Its lovely and I am still trying to pick my favourite photo of my boys to put inside it!!!

Our wedding day was such a lovely day and I love looking through our photos remembering how special it was. To see a couple of these awesome photos head to last year's blog post: 2010 6 year anniversary

Happy Anniversary Jason, my love for you grows stronger every day!

I leave you with one of Jason's favourite photos of our day!

A week in the life of the Papps...

Now that Ethan is 11 weeks we have settled into some good routines I thought it would be useful to outline our week so you all have an idea of how things are for us.

Usually we wake up anywhere between 5.30am and 7.30am. This is the beautiful sight that awaits me:
Ethan sleeps in a "wrap me up" suit. Which we call the little baby straightjacket. Essentially it acts like a swaddle but allows their arms to be up by the side of their faces, which is a natural position for babies. He sleeps really well in it as well. Not sure what we will do when he hits 11kg (the largest size for the suit).

Depending on how hungry Ethan is we either feed first then he and Jason cuddle in bed, or Ethan comes straight into our bed for a cuddle with Jason and then feeds later. Three to four times a week I head out for a jog while Ethan and Jason have cuddles, talk to each other and laugh in bed.

Jason then has a shower and Ethan and I make Jason's breakfast and lunch. While doing this, Ethan sits on the bench in his bouncer.
Once Jason has left for work for the day Ethan and I choose his clothes for the day, and have a little play. Then its time for his first sleep of the day. This sleep is only ever 30 minutes, if I have run that morning, I use the time for a shower, if I haven't run then I jump on my wind trainer for a quick spin.

Once Ethan wakes up, its play mat time. We do tummy time, baby aerobics, sing songs, and dance together. Ethan is now getting very strong during tummy time:
After play mat time I try to catch up on a few emails, photos and blogs with Ethan in the bouncer. I also try to send Jason a POTD (photo of the day) so that he doesn't miss Ethan too much. Here is a recent example:

Ethan then has another feed and then its back down for another nap. During this nap I try to get dinner ready, do some washing or housework.

When Ethan wakes the cycle of play/feed/play starts over again. Its usually around this time of day that I take Ethan for a walk. This will also send him off for his third sleep of the day.

At this stage we have 4 * thirty minute sleeps during the day. I would love more, but that's what Ethan does! Its hard fitting all my jobs into those 30 minutes at times!

Jason gets home around 5pm and he has a chance to play with Ethan for 30 minutes or so. Its usually straight into the jolly jumper.

"What's these things on my feet mum?"

Here are a couple of short videos of Ethan in the Jolly Jumper:





After playtime with Dad, Ethan is back in his bouncer while Jason and I eat dinner. After dinner, Ethan has a bath or shower with Jason. Then I give Ethan one last feed before bedtime and anytime between 6 - 7pm Ethan is down for the night. Sometimes we get one wake up about 40 min after we put him down, but it is quick and he is back to sleep in no time.

Ethan then has two nighttime sleep patterns:

1. The first is my preferred, its a 3 or 3.30am wakeup for a quick feed (20 minutes to change, feed, burp and settle) then back to sleep until anytime between 5.30-7.30am.
   
2. The second sleep pattern (probably 1-2 times a week) is not as "friendly". Ethan wakes anytime from midnight to 1.30am, and then again at 5am.
   

So that is a "normal" day for us. There are of course variations to this, on Monday's Ethan and I go supermarket shopping. Here he is in the trolley:
Some Tuesdays Ethan and I walk to the local community health centre and get him weighed and measured.

Thursday is our busy day of the week, in the morning we head off to Mothers Group. Ethan's friends (with their mothers names in brackets) are Zoe (Chelsea), Jacob (Natalee), Jake (Lisa), Amelie (Alyssa), Emily (Karen), Matheus (Lindsay) and Stella (Sarah). We usually sit and chat for a couple of hours, with each of us taking turns bringing snacks and treats. In the afternoon Ethan and I; and Zoe and Chelsea head off the Gymbaroo. Gymbaroo is all about early childhood development.

On Friday mornings Ethan and I head off to post natal/mums and bubs yoga for 75 minutes with a number of our mother's group friends. After yoga we all have a coffee or tea and chat about our babies.

On Saturdays and Sundays Jason, Ethan and I tend to take long walks, whether its at the beach, at Trigg bushland reserve, around the local streets or at the Mall (if it is raining haha).

Raspberries in training

Ethan has started to mimic us recently and Jason has been teaching him how to blow raspberries. Sorry about the video being on the side, but check out Ethan's raspberries in training:

For those chocolate cravings...

So there are some days that you just get a chocolate craving and you really cannot be bothered going ALL the way to the shops to satisfy the craving (it may have something to do with sleep deprivation for us at the moment haha)... anyway, here's a recipe for a 5 min chocolate mug cake and chocolate sauce (perfect for two). Its not particularly healthy with the amount of oil in it and its incredibly rich, but hey, cravings aren't meant to be healthy right!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

• 4 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
  
• 1 egg
  
• 3 tablespoons milk
  
• 3 tablespoons oil
  
• A small splash of vanilla extract/essence/paste
• 1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

1. Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
2. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour in the milk, oil and vanilla and mix well.
4. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 2.5 - 3 minutes.
   

Please note, the cake will rise over the top of the mug, so don't be alarmed.

Chocolate Sauce

• 50g Butter
• 1/3 C brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tblsp cocoa powder
• Cream (optional - good with or without)
  

1. Melt butter in microwave
   
2. Add brown sugar and cocoa powder and mix thoroughly
   
3. Cook in microwave until brown sugar is dissolved
4. Add cream if desired and stir well.
   

8 weeks old

8 weeks ago little Ethan came into our lives and how things have changed. Ethan is really starting to get a great personality now and we get lots of smiles and talking.

Since we got the all clear from the 6 week check up Ethan and I have started attending a post natal fitness class, we had our first one last week. When we arrived Ethan was wide awake, but we did the warm up (aerobics style) together and then I did the first circuit exercise (squats) with him and the movement lulled him to sleep. He slept through the rest of the class while I continued with the exercises.On the weekend just been Jason and I went for some great long walks, taking the stroller off-road for the first time. It was great to be out and about in the fresh air.

As Ethan is 8 weeks old it means that we have to get his immunisations tomorrow, I am not looking forward to that at all, I hope that he doesn't scream too much! We also have mother's group tomorrow where we are talking about play and development.

That's about all for this week. Till next time.

Me and Dad...

Milestones

Ethan is now 6 weeks old and we have both "graduated" from maternity/obstetrics health care to normal healthcare. At our 6 week checkup we found out that Ethan is the size of an average 4 month old (6.48kg and 63cm long)... our doctor also said that due to his size Ethan's motor skills development may be a bit slower. Time will tell, although from the previous post (video) you can see Ethan can lift his head off the ground and push up on his forearms.

This week we have been getting some lovely smiles, its a bit hard to capture them on camera though, but here are some:

Our darling wee boy has some FABULOUS expresions... here are a few I caught in just 2 minutes!!! They melt my heart sometimes.
Up to now Ethan's sleep patterns have been very mixed, some days he sleeps really well, others he doesn't. The days that he doesn't sleep well Ethan gets quite cranky and its hard to do anyting at all. But while Jason's parents were here we managed two lunch outings in a row which I was really pleased with... we are getting into a good rhythm now. Here we are at Wagamama.
Ethan and I go to mothers group on Tuesdays and a post natal exercise class on Wednesdays so we are staring to get into a few more activities which is good.

Thats all the news for now. Till next time!