Summer life in pictures

Making baby food that I loved and she hated (sad day: a daughter of mine does not like avocados).

Kota Bear in the morning.

Carter flaunting his "I did it!" candy after successfully slaying the potty.

Boomerlicious.

Daddy. My love. 

Carts being serious.

I love them. It's Saturday. Chad will be home shortly. He is not going golfing this weekend, even though I do love when he gets his man time. Kota's first two teeth broke through on the bottom, right in the center (cutest place of all). Cheers to life, my friend, cheers to life.

Findings in Fitness

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Ahh, more findings!

Okay, so here's what I learned today on my weekly Sprouts outing:

MUSCLE BURNS FAT!

Did you hear that?! Building muscle burns the fat right off your body! My thoughts on muscle building while trying to lose weight has always been that of this:

If you're trying to lose weight, say, around your stomach, you wouldn't want to build abdominal muscle until you completely get rid of the fat so as not to add even more girth.
...Because...you know...it made sense in my head.

But I was wrong!

Back in the day, a friend of mine who was a kinesiology major would always mention how ridiculous it was that girls spent a good 3 hours on the treadmill, but no time lifting weights. In my head, I would always think, Well, yeah. Who wants to build muscle as a woman? But if you're just doing cardio, you're actually doing yourself a major disservice because you're not creating a strong foundation for your new, hot, sexy-time body.

Anyway, such is what Suzie told me today in the section which used to scare me: the au-naturalle isles.

I told her that my husband and I had been eating healthy and working out lately yada yada yada, so she gave me a little tutorial in what we should be doing to avoid a plateau. It was quite interesting. She said we should include a protein supplement to our daily routine and referred me to her favorite: Dutch Chocolate.

Dutch Chocolate, man.

A more appropriate title would have been:

Chocolatey Chocolatey Chocolatey Chocolatey McChocolatester.

Too sweet, I tell you, too sweet!

But that's what we get for mixing it with just water.

Next time there will most definitely be a blender present, along with a banana and some sort of liquid, but not milk because dairy will make us gain weight at night (another thing Suz told me today!).

Anyway, cheers to the other protein supplement drinkers out there! 

We have now joined your ranks!

Potty training

So the big boy of the house has become a man. Yep, that's right, Chad is now potty trained and I'm one gosh darn proud wife.

Just kidding!

Ho-ho-ho-ho-ha-ha-ha-ha I'm such a hoot!

No, but seriously, our first born has flown the coup-o-diapers! Yes! He really is on his way to kid-dom, as his crib is now a distant memory and the dude has no need for those cumbersome things we like to call "diaps" anymore. It sort of makes me sad... But not really ;)

Anyway, here is how that child went from a little toddler to a BIG toddler:

(Warning: this probably will only be interesting to...um...me.)

About seven or eight weeks ago, I got it into my head that it would be a great time to start potty training my almost two-and-a-half year old since he was showing a fair amount of signs that he was ready, so off we went to Target to get the goods. I let him pick out his precious big boy underwear (Cars, of course), the type of seat which would sit gloriously upon the porcelain god (I just wanted to go straight for the big potty in order to avoid cleaning out a small one; that and I also didn't want him to be scared of going in a public restroom, which is what I thought a small potty would do to him), and what sort of stool he wanted to step up upon. It was quite the outing, just me, him and the babe, so we were off and running on a positive foot!

As soon as we got home, I talked to him about diapers, all while he was rolling around and pointing to his own while shouting, "MY diaper, mom! MY diaper!," which made me feel good, like I was getting through to him. So from then on out, it was big boy undies during the day, then a diaper during sleep time, and so it was for the next four days. 

There were 5 accidents the first day, 3 the second, 1 the third, then none on the fourth, but here was the thing:

The kid's bladder control was out of this world. 

He would wait the ENTIRE morning, then as soon as I strapped him back into a diaper, it was like the flood gates had broken!

At that point, when he was wearing his big boy underwear, if I tried to sit him on the potty he would just cry, so in an attempt to not scare the hooligans out of him (scar him for life), I didn't push it. I was just happy that he apparently had mastered bladder control, even though that was sort of already know because he was waking up dry in the mornings. 

Anyway, the fifth day came and we were clear out of big boy underwear AND I had work later that day. Uh-oh. That's alright, I thought, I'll just put him in a diaper while I run the laundry, then on the car ride down to my parents' do the same thing. Well, that was not such a good idea. It totally screwed with his mind! Should he pee, or shouldn't he? Was this okay, or wasn't it?! 

But thank goodness he had a diaper on, because that day saw lots of #2's... and not solid, easy-to-clean-up #2's, but rather on the liquidy side. Oh, and my original plan of running the laundry? Yeah, it didn't happen. I had hit a day of complete laziness. 

So he wore diapers for the next few days to a) contain the poop situation, and b) because there were no clean options for him since our laundry basket was not full enough to warrant an entire day of work. There! It's out there! I got lazy and blamed it on the poop situation!
 (Even though it really was quite the "situation," lasting no less than 5 straight days.)

Anyway, since then, Chad would ask me every once in awhile when we were going to get back in the saddle, so when I bought a small package of size six diapers last week, I decided that as soon as I run out of them it was go time. While charging through those bad boys, I went on a walk with one of my lady friends and she told me about how she had just potty trained her little man and how it worked like CRAZY. So I thought, alright cool, as soon as I'm out of these diapers, I'm going to swing by pinterest and find exactly which technique she had used.

Well, the next evening, I ran out. Totally unexpectedly. As in, there was not one gosh darn diaper in my baby bag, under the bed, under his bed, in the car, no where. NO. WHERE.

And the worst part was that I realized this around 4:00 in the afternoon, but thankfully after his #2 for the day, so I guiltily just said to myself that after his bath, I'll just put this same one back on him as long as there's no pee involved. 

Well, he pooped. AGAIN.

So the only thing we could do was to put him in big boy underwear for the night (que freakish laughter, because that just sounds stupid now). So, obviously, he woke up soaking wet, despite his long stretch of dry mornings. I sort of went into panic mode, especially when I realized that I had not yet gotten him a small potty (which came highly recommended as soon as I told anyone I had just started him off on the big potty). After changing his wet underwear, I packed the kids up, rushed out the door and jammed over to Target, all while knowing Carter had peed once again into his new dry pair. Once we were in Disneyland through the automatic doors, we sprinted over to swoop up the little froggy potty, a new set of big boy underwear and a box of pull-ups (which were completely unnecessary).

Anyway, after a monsoon-level pee incident in the parking lot (be jealous), it was time to go home and start the madness. Off came his clothes, commencing the day of insanity.
First of all, he hated the froggy potty. Those buns never made contact, except for the one time I literally was forcing him down, WHILE he was screaming AND peeing AND trying to sock the side of my head. It was lovely.
Second of all, he now hated the Cars seat from the last time which sits on top of the big potty. Great.
Thirdly, I had forgotten the candy I was supposed to reward him with at Target, so I had to bribe him with his gummy bear vitamins.
IT. WAS. AWESOME.

(Did I mention the poor chap's room has turned into our transitional-living-situation landing pad for all things unsightly? Like cardboard boxes full of wires?)

So the whole first day seemed like one big accident to me. By the time Chad got home from work, I was in such a horrible mood that tears were threatening. It felt like someone had forced potty training upon me, but I knew that was absolutely ludicrous. I should have kept a closer eye on my diaper count! Above all of that, though, I knew that if I just didn't get through it this time, the THIRD go around would be even worse.

So that was the first day. The second was significantly better, with the only accident being that of #2. The third day saw no accidents except for a small #2 in the morning, but then later in the day HE POOPED IN THE POTTY! HE POOPED IN THE POTTY! It was probably the closest we've ever felt to hitting it big in Vegas.
(Hi, we have kids, and we are boring.)

So anyway, this was the technique I used which was referred to me by my friend, but here's the gist of it:
- Day 1: lots of sweets and salty treats to perpetuate thirst. Set the timer for every 15 minutes to have them sit on the potty, but if they don't go, set the timer for every 5 minutes. 
- It doesn't say to have the babe run around naked, but I had heard about the three day potty training technique where you just let the kid run around like a wild animal in the nude, so I just combined the two and presto! Potty trained in a weekend!
- No diapers, NO pull ups. That was my downfall the first time around, and when I put Carts in a pull up during nap time the first day (this last time), he totally soaked it. What's the difference between a diaper and a pull up, anyway? They're the same thing! The kid, I'm sure, would have no clue that he/she had had an accident.

There is way, way, way, way, way, WAY more information that I found very useful on that link, but those are just a few things I can think of.

Anyway, today is the fifth day and all has been wonderful. Of course there will be a few slip ups, like this morning when he woke up completely soaked, but hey! The majority of the hard work was done during that first day of hell, and we are not looking back!
Now I just can't wait to potty train Kota Bear. Man, she is going to be easy peasy!

(Knock on wood.)

A beyond obvious statement

It's funny how sometimes parents can become completely enraptured with phrases like won't it be so awesome when Babe #1 will be playing football and Babe #2 will be cheering from the sidelines in her precious little cheerleader outfit? Or I can't wait for our baby girl to totally own the stage when she starts to compete in the categories of jazz, ballet, tap, modern, etc. etc. etc. Right? Right?!

But really, that might never, ever happen. Carter may hate the sport of football. He might loathe the process of fishing. Kota might want to dig deeper into the world of BMX instead of go shopping for pointe shoes with me. Chad and I might actually have to argue with either or both children about the importance of doing well in school. 

You just never-gosh-darn know!

But here's what we do know, 

{obvious statement ahead}:

once we figure out that thing for both Carter and Kota and for any of our possible future babes, helping to foster the growth and spark further passions within those realms will be beyond rewarding for all of us, even if their interests lie beyond Chad and my outrageously stereotypical won't that be awesome when day dreams, even though we know we're just being silly.

{Did I mention "run-on" as well?}

Anyway, I don't know why that struck me so strongly today, I was just thinking about what a blessing it is to be able to hang out with these two bambinos. We get to see them grow and change at such a rapid pace, it's truly a miracle to just have them around, ready and willing to "help mom with dishes!" Or "feed the baby with THIS spoon!" Or roll completely underneath the piano for optimal viewpoints of mom while she lazily sips on her coffee in the morning! 

The joys, the joys!

{For real, though: the joys!}

The evolution of the youngest C's sleeping patterns

Despite that winded title, there really has been no "evolution," but you know? It feels good to put it like that. Almost as if we are moving forward on that wild journey toward sleeping through the night, even if just in my imagination. 

So when we were in the hospital, I basically nursed Kota for the entire first night she was with us. I was just so scared to go to sleep because of her teensy-tiny-ness! Who knew what could happen to babies under 7 pounds throughout an entire night! It was like the wild wild West in that there room, what with all the uncharted territory we were navigating through! Carter only woke up twice during his first night, Kota cried the entire time. It was nuts!

Anyway, for the first six weeks, of course she woke up two or three times a night, but then {I will never forget}, she slept a consecutive 10 hours right on her six-week-old birthday night! Yes! That happened! It was so awesome. I chalked it up to the my-goodness-there-has-yet-to-be-an-unruly-sleeper-in-this-household board and gave myself a big, fat, cocky slap on the back. Lending to my we-so-have-this-two-kid-thing-under-control 'tude, she stayed sleeping through the night for a blessed six more weeks from that day, and then sickness hit.

Yes, poor baby contracted bronchiolitis, so when she started waking up during those nights, it was quite welcomed. At least her airways were open, you know? But those previous six weeks was the last time this lady has slept through the night. Oh, the under-appreciation! The cockiness! Come on, Nicole! You should know by now that any time you're feeling pompous, the subject of said pomposity always comes around and slaps you in the face!

So at that point, baby girl was 3 months old, and now at 6.5 months, it's actually become more and more frequent. First it was once a night, then around 4 months it turned into twice, both of which were totally doable thanks to a nifty caffeine boost I added to my afternoons. People {well, Chadly} started to ask if I shouldn't just start formula so we can all get some gosh darn rest, but because of my upping the coffee dose, I felt like we should just keep trekking on. No need to fix something if it ain't broke, was what I was thinking. 

But THEN, this last Sunday hit. During the day we took this long excursion down to San Diego for some shopping, so we {I} sort of just threw her solid foods schedule to the wind, thinking that one day of just breast feeding should be fine, because after all, she's only been on solids for a few weeks now, anyway. Holy moly. 

I. WAS. WRONG.

That night, that wretched night, we woke up every HOUR AND A HALF!

Every hour and a half!

Can you believe it?!

I couldn't! 

At 5 AM I figured out it was because I was too lackadaisical with her eating that day, so of course she was going to wake up like a madwoman! At work on Monday passing out right there in the middle of class sounded pretty darn awesome, as long as I would be able to lie down on the eventual stretcher they would provide for me so I could get some sleep.

Then the next night she woke up three times! THREE TIMES! What the heck?! 

Anyway, bottom line is this: I'm ready to start incorporating formula. I'll still be nursing, but if we go somewhere I'm now fine with using it. I want her to pack on some weight for the sake of a better night's sleep and {did I mention?} my pump broke. Yeah, it broke. And I didn't get the warranty this time around because I bought it at Target instead of Babies-R-Us.

I know all the plusses and minus's to breast feeding most the time but adding a formula bottle here and there, but you know what? I'm just going to see how it goes and make decisions from there. I know it can affect the fat content of the milk and whatnot, but hey! It will all be fine, and we will all be happy in the end.

I think the real bottom line to this entire post was how disjointed it was. First we were talking about sleeping through the night, then it turned into a breast feeding manifesto and now it's about my pump breaking, therefore conveniently making me feel good about formula, even though I truly feel 100% fine with it. I hit my goal and I'm not stopping completely so cheers all around. In fact, I'll still be nursing her 99% of the time, it's just that when I go to work she'll be taking formula. Okay, now I'm just rambling.

But really quick, yesterday was her first official formula bottle which my mom gave her while I got my hair done, and it honestly freed me. I felt good because I knew that there was absolutely no chance of her running out of the goods, even though there was no way she would need more than one bottle while I was away. 

So that's my deal. If you made it to the bottom of this post then you are one awesome person. 

Oh, just speeding on through

So my last few posts have consisted of nothing but lists, but you know what? That's the easiest way to talk about life with two teensy babes! Well, not so "teensy" anymore, but you get the idea. Here's what's going on around here as of this week:

{1}

My precious baby baby Kota bear is significantly past the six month mark! Here are her tiny little stats: head, 50th percentile; height, 25th percentile; and weight, 8th percentile! 8TH PERCENTILE! So, so, so beyond special :)

{2}

Carter is now a maniac. The kid has gone insane in the membrane. Bed time? What's that?! He would rather lie down next to the banister and stare and Chad and I as we sit unsuspectingly eating dinner "alone." Car toys? MINE! Baby sister? MINE! Bath time? TIDAL WAVES! Listening to mommy? HECK TO THE NO! Harassing my lap top? OF COURSE! Sheesh kapeesh! Good thing he's cute. Seriously. Good thing he's cute.

{3}

Chad and I are pretty much desperate for a weekend away since everyone we know seems to have taken off to either Hawaii, San Francisco or Vegas. How come everyone is jet setting away and we are not? I don't know, man, but all these pictures on Instagram of far off places are making me mighty antsy!

{4}

Chadly has BOTH Saturday AND Sunday off this weekend, and we are attending a wedding on the first of those blessed two days! Woohoo! This means DRESS SHOPPING! 

{5}

Speaking of shopping, we took off to the Carlsbad Outlets yesterday {Sunday} and went on a much, much, much, much, MUCH needed closet rejuvenation mission just for me! Here is the back story: Last week I went out to see Rock of Ages with one of my favorite pals in the whole wide world, and on the drive down south, I got to thinkin', see. I was taking stock of my there outfit and here is what I noted: my jeans were purchased over two years ago for $7 at TJ Maxx {proud buy!}, my shirt was given to me by my sister from when I was PREGNANT WITH CARTER {!!!}, and the shirt I was wearing on top of that one was purchased two-and-a-half years ago only because I got it for 40% off! Now listen, I'm all about getting as much bang for your buck out of belongings as possible, but that's just ridiculous. Especially the shirt that I wore when I was pregnant with Carts! So after telling Chad this in an "Isn't-it-just-ridiculous-how-hard-it-is-to-spend-some-dough-on-yourself-once-you-have-kids" sort of way, he surprised me with a family outing to celebrate the wonderfulness that is shopping! It was fab! Pictures of my awesome, bright colored denim and pretty, pretty white shirts to come!

Anyway, cheers to quick lists about the family while watching your toddler give you angry looks for staring at your lap top! 

Challenge check in + Random fitness facts

Okay, so before I forget them, here they are:

- It takes more calories to burn cold water, and it will quench your thirst, but warm water is what makes you feel full, so if you're trying to fill up your stomach before a big meal then drink lukewarm water!

- The dude from Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit taught me this: it doesn't take much to look horrible. The guy just stopped working out, added one meal of fast food per week, ate a few carbs and man, did he explode. Seriously, go check him out. NOW! Talk about dedication and awesomeness.

- THIS WAS THE BIGGIE: People are always so concerned about eating too many carbs, but really, you should be making sure you're eating enough to support an active lifestyle! The psychology of working out is to always lose, lose, lose, but if you're not supporting yourself correctly then it can become counterproductive. Anyway, out of curiosity I made a Calorie Counter account, put in my information like my weight, height, the fact that I'm nursing and how much exercise I do daily, then they gave me a calorie count to maintain my current weight. After installing the app on the ole' iPhone, I tracked what I ate, and guess what?! I totally thought I would be way over, but just naturally I seem to eat exactly what they told me: 1700 calories {well, with activities comes points, so I was able to eat a little bit more than that in order to support whatever workout I was doing to for the day, but it always hit the amount they told me}! I thought that was so awesome for some reason!

Anyway, here is where I'm at with our current 10 day challenge, having not done anything yet today:

16.66/27 miles

1,100/3,500 sit-ups

275/500 push-ups

And in the spirit of my perpetual need to list, here are some other cool side effects to these here challenges:

- Between the sit-ups and the push-ups, I can really see a difference in my core. When people used to talk to me about their gosh darn "core," I honestly was sort of like, "Yeah, yeah, okay whatever," but seriously, it makes a HUGE difference! I took a Purebarre class on Sunday, and getting through the various exercises was not such a humongous deal, allowing me to focus on other body parts! It was so cool!

- I feel like during our next 10 day challenge I can add some weights into the mix. After a bajillion push-ups, these babies can handle it. Maybe in one year when these guns are rubbing elbows with the P90X crowd, I'll get a tribal tattoo around my bicep? Just a thought.

- Hubster is being a total BA in the fitness realm. He is awesome, awesome I tell you!