She Feels Pretty

Yup, it's true…I have a total girly girl on my hands.  I am seriously amazed by the fact that the more frilly, fluffy, sparkly things are that I dress her in, the more they seem to appeal to her.  After getting her dressed  she stood below her dresser pointing up, repeatedly saying "bow, bow!".  Once on, she ran into my room, stood in front of my floor length mirror and twirled around.  Yup. She shrugged her little shoulder, scrunched her nose & then proceeded to sway back and forth ruffling the bottom of her dress.  Oh dear…I think I am in trouble. I LOVE that she feels pretty.

I see a dress up box in her very near future.  I am going to start searching for all different types of items to put in it so she can have all the frilly, girly dress up items every little girl would want. God knew I needed a little girl, lol.

Healthy Home

Have you heard of Diapers.com? Well, they have launched a website dedicated to products that are either natural, organic or sustainable.  They sell everything from stuff for your pets, apparel & accessories for you & your kids to beauty products.

vine.com

To make it easier for all of us to have a healthier home, they have put together a natural home guide with room by room tips & product suggestions…genius! You'll find things like natural disinfecting wipes, products help reduce your water bill & tips to help distinguish what "organic" & "natural" really mean.

The best part is their baby & kid section. Toys, foods, laundry care items…every natural brand imaginable in one place.

This is not a sponsored post, just one of those "yippee" things that makes me happy so I am sharing with all of you! P.S. if you enter 20STROLLER when you check out through May 1st, you will get 20% off your order.

{Fitness Friday} 4 min Tabata Ab Routine

One of my absolute favorite types of HIIT (high intensity interval training) is tabata training. It's fast and furious & you can combine just about any movement possible.  

Tabata is a training method discovered by Japanese scientist, Dr. Izumi Tabata & a team of researchers. They studied 2 groups of athletes over a 6 week period. Group one trained at a moderate intensity level while the group 2 trained at a high intensity level. The moderate intensity group worked out for 1 hour five days a week. The high intensity group worked out four days a week for 4 min; each workout consisted of 20 seconds of work & 10 seconds of rest in between each set.

The result? Group two, the group that did HIIT (the group that worked out for a shorter period of time) saw a 28% improvement in their anaerobic (muscular) system & an improvement in their aerobic (cardiovascular) system. Group one improved their aerobic (cardiovascular) system but showed little to no result in their anaerobic (muscular) system. It then became the method used to train the Japanese Olympic speed skating team. Sprint/rest/sprint/rest/sprint/rest. It's genius!

So what does this mean for you?  The basic structure of Tabata is 4 minutes: 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest for 8 consecutive rounds. It's only 4 minutes so you need to go as hard/fast as you can, giving every ounce of your effort during the 20 second work periods. Examples) a. Push-up Tabata: 20 seconds of max effort push-ups, followed by 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds.  b. If you are riding your bicycle, 20 seconds of sprints, 10 seconds of rest for a 4 solid minutes. c. Tabata mashup: max effort sit ups, max effort body weight squats. Every other 20 sec you alternate the movement. You can do all body weight or if you have access to equipment you can do kettlebell swing tabatas, hangclean tabatas, pull-ups…the options are literally limitless. You can also stack tabatas; 4 minutes: 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds. Rest 1 min, then complete another 4 minute tabata. So on & so forth. 

Just adding a basic 4 min Tabata is perfect if you are short on time or just need a change of pace. Aside from being fast & effective, you don't really need any equipment except for a timer that can be set to intervals. Below I listed 2 examples:

Okay, so to kick off my very first Fitness Friday I am sharing an awesome Tabata ab routine. Why? Because I love core work & I love it even more when I can mix it up. This routine is demonstrated by Rebekah "Bex" Borucki, a yoga/fitness instructor & mother of 4. The routine consists of:

• High Knees
• Squat Jumps
• Mountain Climber/Burpee
• Knee Grab

Here is the workout:

Plant what…when?

It's no secret that I am terrible at gardening.  Last year it was a small feat to even have enough courage to plant tomatoes, cucumbers & squash.  Because of our surprised success we decided to take on quite a bit more this year (when I say we, I really mean Philip).  He built three 4 ft x 10 feet raised beds (I posted pics earlier in the week of Addison & her first dirt experience).  I've had a few people ask what we planted & how we knew when to plant what.  While I'd love to pretend that I am some super green thumb garden farmer extraordinaire, we all know that would be a stretch of the truth. 3 guesses where my source is from...

{Source}

Pinterest, duh!?! We'll see how it goes. We went with things we eat a ton of that way the reward is all that much tastier!

Spring Days & Planting

HORRAY, Spring is officially here…for now.  This weekend was glorious; 70 degree sunshine with no rain, no breeze, pure Springtime perfection!  I've been anticipating this weather since the beginning of March when we got the occasional warm day. I really hope it sticks around!  We literally spent the ENTIRE day outside Saturday.  While Philip built raised gardens, Addison & I planted flowers…well, she mostly played in the dirt.  I am super excited for our little gardens this year.  We planted blueberry bushes, strawberry plants, onions, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, lots of herbs (parsley, chives, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme) & turnips.  We planted a beautiful weeping cherry blossom tree, some butterfly bushes, hydrangeas, peonies & ranunculus. We're going to take a quick run to the farmer's market this afternoon & see what else we can find.  

{INTRODUCING} Fitness Friday

After much thought & numerous requests, questions & emails regarding it, I have decided to blog weekly about fitness.  I've had so many people ask why I don't blog about it when it's such an important part of my life & I honestly don't have a good reason why I haven't.  I'd like to introduce to you:

It will be something different every week that way I (and you) don't get bored with it.  One week I might focus on a specific workout.  Another week I may blog about a specific product: gym clothes, gear, etc.  I might blog about something fitness/nutrition related.  I have found a great way to balance life as a full time mom & part time RN part time while still keeping fitness a big priority in my life. Although I am a certified spin instructor with IFTA & CrossFit Level 1 trainer, the things I share will simply be my own opinions & may not reflect the views of either of the entities I represent.  I hope my readers will enjoy FITNESS FRIDAYS as much as I love fitness everyday.

Easter in a nutshell

I had a lot of fun with Addison's Easter outfit this year.  I didn't want to do anything traditional {shocker} but I wanted something girly…frilly.  I've been drooling over the Parisian chic oversized tulle skirts with button down shirts for myself…why not for Addison?!?! It started with the headband.  I  was introduced to babybirdieboutique by my friend Emilee & instantly fell in love! At first I was overwhelmed since I had no direction for her outfit & there are SO MANY styles of headbands in her shop.  When I found the denim, floral & lace mixed I knew that was the perfect direction to go.  From There I searched for the perfect, full & fluffly tulle skirt. I ended up ordering it from princessdoodlebeans.  I literally squealed when I took it out of the box! Okay, so I had a headband & skirt…what next? While looking for something for myself at Zara, I came cross the shoes. It was love at first sight & the perfect match for her outfit. Next I searched for a chambray button down shirt.  I ended up buying a little boys shirt from BabyGAP. Finding her tights was probably the most challenging, especially since I didn't want a solid color. I ended up ordering them from ForeverTots & couldn't be happier!

We had a nice Easter Sunday.  We went to Church then headed over Philip's Mom's house. We had dinner & an egg hunt with Philip's Mom, Stepdad, sister & her wife, our nephew Holden & Jack's (Philip's stepdad) daughter & her family.  

Saturday's egg hunt was a good practice run…she had a BLAST & totally got the hang of it.  It was precious to watch. 

I couldn't have asked for a better Easter Sunday.