Struggle

Happy New Year!

Do you remember the last time you felt completely relieved of stress? A time where there was absolutely nothing weighing you down? No matter what life threw at you, you felt fantastic and ready to tackle the world?

I do. It was in February & March of 2014. We went on our honeymoon for two weeks of wedded bliss on the beautiful island of St. Maarten. We got a free trip courtesy of Westjet when I won a raffle at a Mother's Day fundraiser for Wings of Providence which offers help & shelter to women who have suffered from family violence. I literally picked one of the farthest places that Westjet traveled at the time. We didn't really have a budget after the wedding for a honeymoon, so this was definitely an unexpected bonus trip. I hadn't really heard much about the island so going there was a surprise for both of us, and it was nothing short of amazing. Clear white sand, crystal clear blue water, two different countries on one little island, a spot to watch planes literally fly right over your head, and two weeks of pure relaxation. Although we booked some excursions, we had a lot of days where we flew by the seat of our pants and spent the day on the beach or in the pool. We didn't party like crazy and got a good night's sleep every night and besides excursion days we slept in every morning. I came back to work after two and a half weeks off feeling refreshed, clear headed and ready to tackle anything.

As you can see by that date, that was almost three years ago. This isn't to say I've been a stress case for almost three years, but I certainly haven't felt that that feeling of complete freedom and clearheadedness in a very long time.

I knew being a working Mom would be tough. But I guess I never realized how tough! I give props to all of the Moms in my life who've been doing this for years and to those I've met since I've had Kendrick! I always appreciated that it was a challenge but I definitely have a new found respect.

I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday and came across an article called "This is What Every Working Mom Needs To Hear From Her Partner". I admit I was intrigued, so I clicked on it and read the article. Although I get a ton of support from my husband and didn't agree with the entire article, there were a few sentences that really stood out at me.

"I have too much on my plate and feel like a failure. Every area of my life gets 60% of my best. That's a D. I'm failing. Wouldn't you look ragged and old if you were coasting through life with a D?"

"That's all I can muster and I know it sucks, but I will gregariously tackle tomorrow and shoot for an A. Maybe I'll fall short (again), but could you please tell me I'm doing a good job?" 

- Melanie Okana, "This Is What Every Working Mom Needs To Hear From Her Partner"

Bingo.

This pretty much nailed exactly how I was feeling for especially the last few months, but I was unable to put it into words. I've known myself for almost 35 years now and have a pretty good idea of what makes me tick, how I work, and what I can handle. I suffer from major Mommy Guilt - which is essentially every time I miss out on a moment with my son or feel like I need a little time to myself, I feel guilty. I've been a multi-tasker all my life and never had an issue juggling my schedule until I had my son. Neither my husband or I work 9-5 jobs and although we like that type of atmosphere it certainly got a little more complicated to organize when Kendrick came into the world.

Don't get me wrong, having Kendrick was one of the best things that ever happened to me! And I am so, so happy that I became a Mom. But I'm starting to realize that having a family, a full time job, a part time side gig, completing my degree, running, working out, blogging and organizing multiple events can be a little much for one person. I'm a terrible delegator. I like to do everything myself because I have an expectation on how I want things done. I have a prioritizing problem. I like to make To Do lists but never know where to start! I'm one of those people who doesn't like the little number bubbles beside apps on her iPhone, so I'm sure you can imagine how I feel when I look at my iPhone looking like this:

This number was at 0 before I went on maternity leave. Because I wasn't on my computer as often once I had my little guy, I started getting behind on reading my personal inboxes. Note that 95% of these emails are likely from companies that I've signed up for their mailing lists, but this little red number bubble bugs me EVERY DAY! It's just another box on my never ending To Do list that I need to check off. Because of this, I also have problems sleeping and staying asleep at night which leads to being very tired during the day.

One of my goals for 2017 is to simplify my life. I'm still the same sparkly, bubbly, positive person I've always been, but unfortunately it's only about 60-70% of the time. I'm looking to improve that number to about 80%. I am very lucky I have a great husband, a great family, great friends and an overall great support system so I know I can get through this! I started to use some of my Moksha Yoga passes on my week off at Christmas, and felt amazing afterward! I need to get back to going in the mornings and starting the day off right. I still have some time before my girls trip to Vegas, so I want to get back on track and start eating better, doing yoga & maybe even doing some treadmill running to get back into shape and improve my well being.

Do me a favour, will you? If you see another Mom that looks flustered, whether she's with her kids her or not, tell her she's doing a good job. I am 100% sure she'll appreciate it. I know, I would! We'll never get tired of hearing it and you just never know - at that moment she may be suffering from mom guilt, been a victim of mom shaming or may be having an "I'm a terrible Mom" moment. Something small like that could make her day!

xo
-Dianne

PS: I didn't write this post to get pity and I certainly have no regrets. I thought it was good timing to be real about my feelings as it coincides with #BellLetsTalk day. Our mental health is important, and talking about it is the first step!

PPS: Winter is my favourite season. I have an amazing spot in my new office where my desk is right beside floor to ceiling windows that overlook downtown and I love all the sunshine that beams down on my desk. As much as I love the winter and the snow, my workouts also tend to slow down. I love running but I hate the treadmill and I'm too much of a wimp to run in the cold (not to mention I'm worried about injuring my klutzy self by tripping on the ice & snow). It's about this time of year that I start to get antsy and want to start running again. I came across the Jasper Canadian Rockies Half Marathon which takes place on April 8th & I think I might sign up.  This leaves me with just over two months to get training (usually I start three months prior, give or take a few days) and to be quite honest I haven't run since September. But maybe it's time to take a plunge and have something to look forward to! I plan to make the decision in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned!

.Hello

Oh hey blog, it's me Dianne. Do you remember me?

The last time there was a long pause between blog posts I announced I was pregnant...

I'm not pregnant.

I don't really have any other explanation than life happened. In the last six months I ran a half marathon, moved houses, moved offices, helped open Rogers Place, watched my baby really turn into a toddler, got two viral infections and one bad cold in a 2.5 month span and had a cough that lasted over three months, stopped working out, unpacked a lot of boxes, ramped up my Stella & Dot business, left Kendrick for the very first time for over 24 hours, planned a trip to Vegas with my girlfriends to see the Backstreet Boys in March 2017, had minor surgery, and raised money for the Mazankowski Heart Institute - in no particular order. Needless to say, it's been a little busy.

Let's rewind back to August. I didn't feel as prepared as I wanted to be for the Edmonton Half, however I was feeling pretty good. I ended up investing in some new runners a little over a month before the race (Nike Air Zoom Pegasus), and so far they have been very comfy! While I was at the start line I was still trying to decide whether I use the run/walk method or just run it out, and I ended up deciding to run it out. I was feeling ok for most of the race but started to get tired during the last 5K. At 18.5KM the 2:30 pace bunny ran by me and I decided that that I was way too close to hitting my goal to give up now...so I blew by them and almost sprinted the last 2.5KM. I ended up beating my personal best time and have a new PB of 2:28:33. 

Although I was happy, I KNOW I can do better and look forward to next year! I'm still not 100% sure when I'll be ready for baby #2, but for now I'm going to plan to run the Edmonton Half again, and possibly do some of the MEC races again although I was disappointed with their 15K's (aka they didn't have enough race marshals and I got lost on a couple of the routes) so hopefully they do get better in that department.

September and October were a bit of a blur! It was very busy at work and I admit that I let myself fall off the work out wagon. I ate out more, was lazy at night and didn't cook as often, and didn't have the energy to get up in the mornings to work out. I wanted to get back on track in November however that's when I started to get sick. It was viral infection after viral infection, and many trips to the doctor for them to tell me that there was nothing they could really do and it was very frustrating! Thankfully all that Kendrick ended up with was a runny nose for a few days. I did end up going to see my Naturopath who gave me some tips and now that I'm finished the meds for my cough I look forward to getting back on track and feeling better really soon! I also found out that I have 29 leftover passes at Moksha Yoga! 29!!!! It's been...oh I don't know...four or so years since I've been? I think I'm going to try and go this week and see if I can get it back into my routine again. 

We hosted Christmas dinner for the very first time ever at our new home! We moved at the end of August and I absolutely love it. Better neighbourhood, bigger and better house, and we couldn't be happier. We have an awesome bonus room now that is used as Kendrick's playroom and it's fantastic. Not to mention I swear our bedroom is twice the size and has an ensuite bathroom! It was so nice to be able to host Christmas dinner for our immediate families at our place, and we are pumped that the turkey and stuffing turned out and we didn't have to order pizza! :) 

Saw this quote on Facebook today and felt like it really spoke to me. 

I admit, I've been having a lot more "nothing" days lately simply because I've been so exhausted, mostly I think from being sick. Sometimes this working Mom thing is hard! But now that I'm starting to feel better and have a week off after Christmas to recharge, I'm looking forward to getting back into it and starting my New Year's resolutions early this year! My goal is to tone up and lose a bit around the belly before I head to Vegas in March, and I want to accomplish that by doing Yoga, going back to Blitz HIIT training (which I think is what helped me lose the last bit of baby weight at the beginning of 2016), doing stairs and running on some of my lunch breaks and doing some home work outs as well. I'm feeling good about 2017, are you?

It will not be six months before I write again! I promise!

xo

-Dianne

PS: After taking a bit of a break, I really ramped up my Stella & Dot business in November and it reminded me of how much fun it was (and how easy it was to make a little extra cash on the side!) If you are interested in beating the after Christmas blues and want to earn yourself some free jewelry to start the new year off right, email me at DianneCK39@gmail.com or tweet me @StyleByDianne and we'll set up a date! The new spring collection launches really soon and I'm looking for debut hostesses to show off the new line!

PPS: I went Boxing Day shopping today and it was awesome. I know some people don't understand why - but honestly, if you suck it up and go when the mall first opens first thing in the morning, it's not so bad! Maybe I saw that because all the stores I went to had no crazy lines, and I found a parking spot close to the door so I didn't have to bring in my jacket. All the clothes I bought today were 50-70% off! You can't go wrong with that! :)

.Confusing

Let's talk about bowels.

Yup, it's uncomfortable. Even discussing this in this blog gives me the heebie geebies, but maybe more people should be talking about it because I bet I'm not the only one with issues.

Back on May 21, I blogged about how good I was feeling. I keep thinking about this post because that doesn't seem that long ago yet I felt so different. I was feeling confident with my weight, feeling good about my work out routine, and happy with my training for the Edmonton half. Then, something happened.

Every time I ate I felt gross, I ended up gaining 7-8 pounds and some of my pants started feeling tight. I felt myself getting bloated and crampy a lot. For some reason my training started suffering because I would cramp up and be too fatigued. I was feeling tired (to be clear, I always feel tired but this seemed a little more than normal). I had a serious lack of motivation for everything. Then I would get random symptoms that would resemble a urinary tract infection, or random pains that resembled what you could feel with a kidney stone, that were to the point where we debated getting someone to come over and be with Kendrick so that Brian could take me to the hospital. I saw my doctor a couple of times and in the last couple months I've done two urine tests, two blood tests, two ultrasounds, an x-ray and three pregnancy tests. No urinary tract infection, no kidney stones (which is what they thought the night I almost went to the hospital) and the pregnancy tests were negative. So WHAT was going on?

This started to feel eerily familiar to about four years ago when I went to my doctor with stomach issues. I had been suffering for almost a year and they had done every test they could think of and they all came out negative. I insisted that something was still off, which is when my doctor sent me to a naturopath. After doing an elimination diet (no gluten, dairy, eggs, corn and soy) for a month I slowly added each item back in and found out that it was soy that was the problem. When I didn't eat soy I felt a million times better! It was a long journey because even eliminating all those things I didn't actually start to feel better for about two and a half weeks, but when I did it was amazing how much of a difference it made! I was vigilant for quite awhile when going out to eat but when I got pregnant I fell off the bandwagon. I was already feeling gross so I figured it didn't really matter. My home has been soy-free for quite awhile but I stopped asking at restaurants and when I went out for dinner. I really hate being "that annoying person" at restaurants too that's asking to alter or change certain dishes, so that really bugged me. 

They ended up finding something on the x-ray and told me that it looked like I had a severe case of constipation. I found this very odd because I didn't feel constipated? Turns out my body just isn't processing things properly and it makes me sad because Kendrick goes through major constipation every few weeks and I feel like he may have inherited that from me. I also started to think that maybe the soy was starting to bother me again and it was all just combining to make up one big mess. 

So I made a change. My doctor recommended some stuff that's not a laxative that I can mix with water 1-2 times a day to help things move along. I decided to give up soy completely for a month and completely cleanse my system. So far I'm on day six and although I still feel bloated and gross I'm trying to be patient because I know it will likely take 2-2.5 weeks to get it completely out of my system. My training this week has felt slightly better and I even conquered 19K on Sunday with no cramping! I've started emailing some of my favourite restaurants to find out what items have soy in them, so I can be prepared and know what to order if we end up going out for lunch or dinner.

Only time will tell! I hope that before the half I start to feel a lot better and that I'll run strong. The plan is still to try and get a personal best and beat 2:33. I'm hoping once I completely eliminate soy from my diet again (and actually do my best to stay on track) and continue following the doctor's orders that I'll get back to my May 21 confidence in no time. Those 7-8 pounds can also disappear anytime now!

Wish me luck!

xo

-Dianne

PS: I found an old picture of me in a bikini from 2008. WOW that was 8 years ago! Is it wrong to want to go back to looking like that? 

Yes, I know my body has changed since having Kendrick and I have embraced it BUT I don't think anyone should have to settle if they are not completely satisfied. I proved earlier this year that you can get back to your pre-baby weight with hard work, even if it takes awhile! Once my half is over I'm going to take a bit of time off, then continue running and head back to HIIT training at Blitz so that I can get stronger! I aim to look like this again!

PPS: Random story time. Yesterday while doing the River Valley Stairs I passed by a father and his young old son. His son wanted to go down the stairs and the father was like "no way, I don't want to climb back up". I was really turned off and thought to myself WHY wouldn't he be encouraging his son to do the stairs and get some exercise. I admit, I went through a judgemental moment. Personally, I want to be active and be able to chase after my own son and if he wants to walk up 203 stairs one day then I'm going to let him! One round of stairs later I passed by them again and they were going back up the stairs. The father was urging his son on and telling him what a good job he was doing and encouraging him to keep going. This just goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover! It was actually really sweet. 

.Assumptions

So a few weeks ago Brian & I took Kendrick swimming at a local pool. I was sitting in the hot tub watching them go down the waterslide and when they were done they came to see me. This man who was sitting in the hot tub next to me and I'd guess was in his 50's looked at us and said "Looks like he's ready for a little brother or sister!"

Excuse me?

I'd never met this guy before and I'd never seen him before in my life. I was not speaking to anyone while I was in the hot tub, and just sitting on my own watching my son and my husband in the water. What would possess a stranger to say that to someone? Now I'm sure he meant no harm but it was such an inappropriate question that I didn't even know how to respond except for nervous laughter and "haha, maybe one day" as we picked up and walked away. I was super uncomfortable. He didn't know our situation. What if we had been trying for a long time and couldn't get pregnant? What if we had fertility issues? What if we just didn't want another baby and thought our family was complete as three?

This being said, it doesn't really bother me when friends or family bring up a second child. I hope for it happen one day and as I discussed a few blogs ago I'm just not sure I'm 100% ready yet. That's nobody's business but I'm ok discussing it. I guess what bugged me about this situation is that this person didn't know me and asked such a personal question.  I admit that I have asked friends if they are having more children, not thinking about how I might be making them feel if they have suffered a loss or a tough time. I can tell you now that I will think twice before I ask that questions again.

Last week I came across a post by Jennifer Aniston who wrote a long letter through the Huffington Post pretty much saying how ridiculous it was that she had to explain to everyone that she was not pregnant. If you haven't read it - you can find it here, and I definitely recommend it as it's a really good read. I remember when the pictures of her first surfaced that showed her stomach a little bloated, and immediately hoping that she actually WAS pregnant after reading all of the headlines. Finding out that she's not breaks my heart a little because I can't imagine how it must feel to be out enjoying your vacation and having people take pictures of you and plaster all over the tabloids that you must be pregnant because you felt a little bloated. I admit, this is a constant worry for myself. I find that since I've gotten back (mostly) to my pre-pregnancy weight if I gain anything back it seems to be all in stomach. And then I get paranoid that people will start thinking I'm pregnant just because my shirt is a little tight, which makes me rethink what I wear almost every day. I can't imagine having cameras following me around while I'm having self confidence issues!

This line in the article really stuck out at me:

"We don't need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own 'happily ever after' for ourselves".

Amen, sister. Just my two cents.

PS: I've said it multiple times in the past couple months but starting Monday I truly AM going to try very hard to go soy free for a month. My body is feeling pretty meh and it really shouldn't be because I've been keeping up with my training for the Edmonton Half. My back pain peaked after my last 15K two weeks ago so I took a week off and it's feeling a lot better. My body though still feels off. I got tested for kidney stones and everything under the sun and thankfully those came out negative. So it's time to start eating better and doing things that are still in my control. It's going to be hard considering we are moving in less than a month but I'm going to try and prepare a ton of freezer meals so that we don't have to eat out all the time.

PPS: This blog is going to go through a major makeover in the next few months! Same great content (I hope), but different site host, name, and branding. There will be more sections including a place for all my recipes, and hopefully an easier way to find blog posts that are relevant to what you want to read. It's a work in progress and I can't wait to reveal it all, so stay tuned! :) I don't have a final date yet but will keep you posted as it's coming along.

.Delicious

I felt I needed to blog strictly because I wanted to share an amazing recipe that I tried tonight. Italian sausage stroganoff. OMG. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was because it wouldn't do it justice. More on that later...

I had to head to physio last week because my back was bothering me. In all honesty it's been bothering me for awhile but it hasn't been bad enough for me to actually stop training - until two weeks ago. I actually had to cut a run short because I was in so much pain, which was incredibly frustrating. After going to physio it seems like I had this same muscle injury last year (which I honestly didn't remember at all - baby brain IS still kicking 16 months later), but this time he decided to treat it a little differently. He actually did some acupuncture which I admit, scared me a little. I'm not a very big fan of needles so I guess it was a good thing that I couldn't see them getting inserted in my back. Turns out the treatment worked pretty well as I felt really good for the next three days! I ran my second 15K last weekend and although my back flared up a little bit I managed to get a new personal best of 1:41:45. The best part is that I know I can do better. I wasn't feeling 100% so the fact that I got a new personal best despite that makes me feel really good. I have one more 15K training run this weekend with MEC so we'll see how it goes. I went back to physio today to get some more acupuncture done, so I'm hoping that I'm in really good shape for the weekend. 

The Edmonton Half is fast approaching and I'm still undecided on how I'm going to run the race. I'm either going to run it like normal and go for a new personal best, or I'm going to try the run/walk method and follow the 2:15 pace bunny. I just don't know what I should do! It also happens that leading up to that day we'll be moving out of our house and into a new house AND moving offices. August is going to be slightly busy! This will make lunch time runs all that more important as I feel like it's going to be hard to get up early and I'm not going to have the energy when I get home from work (not to mention that I really enjoy spending evenings with Kendrick!) Bootcamp runs out in the next two weeks so after that I'm going to try heading back to Blitz for morning HIIT training at least once a week. I'm finding that my extra strength training is helping me feel less sore after races so I definitely want to keep it up. I'm going to continue with running 2-3 times a week with a longer run on Friday or Saturday, and also continue with stairs on Wednesdays. I feel like my training is paying off because I've done a few personal bests already this year so I'm really hoping it continues!

I ordered new SHOES! I also ordered new shoes for Kendrick - but in fairness he's gotten just over seven months out of his last pair of baby Nikes so I'm pretty impressed. I had bought Kendrick baby Nikes in the next size up awhile ago but they have been packed away for a few months as we were anticipating moving sooner, so I ordered him a pair of baby Pumas and a pair of baby Asics. I may have a baby shoe problem. For myself, I decided to go with the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus. After my last 15K it was clear to me that my shoes were close to being done, so it was time to bite the bullet and try something new. I thought I noticed my shin splints creeping back up on me the last few months on occasion, so I'm hoping a change of shoe will do the trick. Nike has a great return policy where you can return them within 30 days for any reason, so if they aren't perfect I'll send them back and try a new pair. I'm hoping they will be great and they arrive soon so I have time to break them in before the big race.

I've lost a couple pounds so I'm starting to feel a little bit better. I'm still struggling a bit with work/life balance and getting organized in the few hours I have before Kendrick goes to bed, but it's going not too badly. I'm very thankful! My baby is also 16 months old in a few days. He got his first hair cut last weekend and is truly starting to really look like a little boy. It's a bittersweet time for this mama.

xo

-Dianne

PS: The more running I do the more I wish there was some sort of app that I could have on my phone to alert someone if I was ever involved in an emergency. Not to say that I'm super paranoid as I usually run in very populated areas but if something did happen and someone tried to grab me or steal from me while I was running, it would be nice to be able to press a button and alert someone of my whereabouts. Or, if I say I'm going to be an hour and it's been an hour and 10 minutes, someone would be able to check the app to find out where I am. Is there such a thing? If not, I feel like someone should invent one! It's better to be safe than sorry.

PPS: Ok, I need to share this amazing recipe I tried tonight. Bonus points that it's a one pot recipe, as that makes clean up oh-so-easy! I love beef stroganoff so when I came across this on Pinterest I knew I had to try it. The original recipe is here, however here my adapted recipe with Italian sausage:

1 teaspoon of olive oil

3 cups of fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of sliced onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 package of ground Italian sausage

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

4 cups organic mushroom broth

2 cups of rotini pasta

3 pickles, diced

1/2 a cup of low fat sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a big pot on medium high heat and cook the mushrooms until soft and tender. Remove and place in a small bowl. Cook the onions and the garlic in the same pot for a few minutes until translucent and fragrant. Add the Italian sausage and cook until tender and browned, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Add the paprika and stir. Then add the mushroom broth and pasta and bring to soft boil. Continue to cook until the pasta is soft. Add in the diced pickles and stir. Remove from heat and add the mushrooms back in along with the sour cream. Serve, and enjoy! Seriously, I feel like I could eat the whole four servings it's THAT good!

.Confident

I'm not sure what it is, but this past little while my body confidence has gone up quite a bit. I think it's a mixture of people being so kind and telling me that I look great and it doesn't look like I had a baby, and that when I look in the mirror I can see sorta my abs again.

It also seems so mind blowing that almost 15 months ago they cut me open to get my baby out...

I think back over the last 15 months and feel good about the fact that I have worked really hard to get where I'm at. Even though my eating habits aren't really where I want them to be, the amount that I'm working out and doing physical activity is definitely paying off. I know I blogged quite a few months back about feeling a little bit jealous of the ladies who were able to lose the weight really fast after birth, however I'm pleased to say that I'm not feeling that way anymore for the most part!

That being said, the question that seems to be on everyone's minds is...when is #2 coming? I have to admit I'm not there yet. Kendrick is such an awesome baby, but now that he's walking he's a lot of work! I can't imagine chasing him around and having a newborn at the same time. Just the thought of it stresses me out a bit. Some of the moms that I have talked to with two have told me that you just do it, and it's not so bad but it still makes me so nervous! The thought of moving Kendrick to a toddler bed also is nerve wracking because right now he's all over the place in his crib. I can't imagine him actually sleeping in a bed and not getting out the second we put him down. On top of all this, the fact that I'm feeling good is also a reason why I'm not quite ready. It took so long to get back to a place where I'm happy and comfortable with my body, so I'm not quite ready to gain 50+ pounds again! Is that selfish? I don't mean to be. But I know the older you get the harder it is to bounce back from pregnancy so it's constantly weighing on my mind.

I've also made the decision that I'm going to start marathon training sometime after baby #2 comes. I don't think there's a point in starting now when my half marathon time is not where I'd like it to be (I'd like to get close to a time of two hours before I start marathon training, and currently my personal best is 2:33). I've still got quite a few races left this year leading up to the big Edmonton Half Marathon in August, and I'm still debating on whether I'm going to attempt to follow the 2:15 pace bunny or not. I've got a 10K in June and 2 15K's in July to start prepping, so I'm excited! My running this week was unfortunately put on a bit of a hold because of the horrible smoke in and around the Edmonton area that blew in, so I look forward to getting back at it next week. The air quality was only a 4/10 last weekend when I ran my first 10K of the season, and I during the race I didn't think it was that bad. However afterward I could feel it in my throat as it was sore, I lost my voice and my asthma started acting up. I'm still feeling the effects a week later!

I am guilty and fell off the meal planning wagon again! I need to make an effort to take the time to plan each week otherwise dinner seems to contain more calories (fast food) or eaten too late. I did however make a killer meatloaf tonight! This recipe was adapted from a recipe I found off pinterest by Inspired Taste, however here is my adapted recipe including hidden veggies for the toddler.

2 packages of lean ground turkey

2 eggs
2 tablespoons of Epicure Paris Spice
1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 cup of breton crackers, crushed

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

7 tablespoons of tomato sauce + extra for the top

1 cup of applesauce

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 a cup of flaxseed

1-1 1/2 cups of finely chopped veggies (I used California mix frozen veggies which included carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, steamed them, and put them in the food processor)

1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Put mixture into a loaf pan, preferably one that drains the fat at the bottom (as there will be excess moisture from the cheese)  and add tomato sauce on top. Bake for about 50 minutes. The internal temperature should be around 160-170 when done. It was delicious!

Enjoy!

xo

-Dianne

PS: I ordered a ton of stuff from Epicure this week! I am so excited to get everything! I will be doing another large order in June, however in the mean time if you want to order something you can do so by clicking here. I recommend the Paris spice and the Pico salsa mix! SO GOOD!

PPS: Although I'm overall feeling good, I still want to get back to the flat stomach I used to have and seem to have hit a bit of a plateau. I'm having trouble losing that last pound or two around my stomach! I'm not sure if that's just exercises or just eating better that will drop the last couple pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions?

.Clarity

So much for wanting to blog three times a month! If there were 26-27 hours in a day, I'm pretty sure I could fill them all!

Ever wake up one day and all of a sudden see clarity? It's amazing how sometimes something unexpected can happen and completely change your perspective on a situation. I know I'm being vague, but I can truly say I woke up yesterday morning feeling refreshed not from a good night's sleep (what's a good night's sleep?), but because I realized that some things are just meant to be.

It's been three and a half weeks since I went back to work and I'm finally starting to get into a bit of a groove. When we get home Kendrick gets a light dinner, and then we play until bed time. The time between us getting home and him going to bed is only between one to two hours on average, which doesn't leave a lot of time for much else! For the first three weeks I can count on one hand how many times I was able to cook dinner, and most of those times we didn't eat until after 7:30-8PM when Kendrick was in bed. Also, forget about making lunches! There was just no time in the morning (and nothing ready in the fridge) so we were eating out at lunch a lot. The last couple days though I'm happy to report that I'm starting to get the hang of it. I've been able to make dinner and prepare lunches the night before so we can just grab them in the morning. It's healthier, it's quick, and I'm feeling really good that I'm starting to find some balance.

The last couple weeks I've also been leading up a group at work to jog and do stairs at lunch time once a week. One of my co-workers had the idea and I've gone twice now and it's been awesome! It's been a little chilly (which is odd, because before that the weather had been gorgeous for a few weeks) and I anticipate there will be more of us when it becomes nicer. I actually love lunch time work outs almost as much as I love my early mornings (and when I say I love early mornings I mean usually after the work out, not so much when I'm attempting to get out of bed). I'm loving that I can be active in the early morning and at lunch and it doesn't take away the time I spend with my little guy in the evenings. When I weighed myself this morning I was two pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight, which means that I'm three pounds away from my original goal. I have to say that I feel great! All the pants I bought for work on Boxing Day are now a little too big!

While jogging up and down the stairs at lunch yesterday, I found myself thinking about my next half marathon in August. At the beginning of my running season, I always can't believe that I can actually run a half marathon because I'm pretty much starting from scratch every spring as I don't run much in the winter. I was telling my co-worker that I wanted to run a marathon one day, but not until I could run a sub two hour half marathon - which right now for me is shaving 33 minutes off my time. That's a lot! However, every year since I started running in 2009 I've been able to shed a few more minutes off of that personal best (with this year shaving 10 minutes off my personal best). My mind started wandering and I thought about following a pace bunny. For those of you who don't know what that is, people train to run a half marathon in a specific time (some using the run/walk method) and run the race carrying a big sign with the estimated finish time. People fall them to pace themselves and finish around that time. My strategy has always been to run until I'm tired, power walk a bit and drink some water, and then keep going. It's worked for me so far, but I still have a lot of time to make up to hit my goal. I've never really done the run 10 minutes walk one minute plan either, but I'm thinking I might try it with the pace bunny next race. We'll see how it goes!

As good as I'm feeling, meal planning has gone out the window this past month. As I'm starting to feel more settled with everything, I'm going to go back and try it again hopefully after Easter this weekend.

xo
-Dianne

PS: Confession: I am addicted to Justin Beiber's new song, "Love Yourself". I don't know why but I could seriously listen to the song on repeat. Side note: I don't usually listen to Beebs so this is really odd for me!

PPS: After a bit of a stressful day this week, I got home and my hubby presented me with a gift. I think every woman needs one of these because we all have these days!

.Guilty

2. More. Weeks.

I'm finding that the closer I get to going back to work, the more my "mommy guilt" is starting to set in because I'm looking forward to it. I still very much feel mixed emotions as maternity leave has been a blast, but I'm finding myself really starting to get excited about going back to the office and seeing my co-workers again. As much as I love flying by the seat of my pants during maternity leave, we are still fairly structured as I have things planned almost every day this week! I'm having so much fun but I'm definitely feeling guilty about going back to work and leaving him at daycare. This is normal, right?

Even though I'm looking forward to going back, I will miss all of Kendrick's play dates! I never really visualized myself being a "mom's group" type of person, but I am so thankful for the group I found and the people I've met over the past year! For someone who never really had a lot of close female friends, I am so grateful for this network of new moms to be able to bounce ideas off of, vent to, and learn together as our little ones grow up. Although I have found some great friends that I've become close with, I've also found that I don't agree with some people's parenting styles. There are lots of memes and blogs about how we shouldn't be judge-y of other mom's choices as we are all doing what's best for our children and I think that's absolutely true! However...sometimes it's very difficult NOT to judge when someone talks about something that you feel is very wrong or unsafe.  However, I keep it to myself. I've learned to start to take things with a grain of salt and just go with the flow. I felt very judged a few weeks ago when I felt like a woman at Sobey's was judging me for buying Kendrick organic milk. I didn't like that feeling and because I'm not usually very confrontational I chose not to make a big deal of the situation, but I thought it was slightly rude and my reasons for choosing organic milk for my son is none of her business.

On another note, I finally took some time during nap time yesterday to plan my dinners for the rest of the week. Here's what I have planned:

Yesterday: Pasta with tomato sauce and turkey & apple meatballs - a WIN!

Today: Tacos with lean ground beef

Tomorrow: We're eating out so no dinner planned

Thursday: Coconut chicken salad

Friday: Slo-cooker mongolian beef over coconut rice

Saturday: Chicken fingers & fries

I've included links to the recipes that I plan to try. I'm also trying to incorporate some meals that I can share with Kendrick! He's starting to eat more finger foods and less purees, so I've been trying to brainstorm some meals that he can easily eat that can double as dinner for us. The turkey & apple meatballs turned out fantastic and Kendrick loved them! If you haven't already, check out my board on Pinterest specifically for recipes that I've tried and that have worked really well! I usually put in the comments if I've changed anything in the recipe - which is almost all the time because one of my quirks is not being able to follow a recipe. I always have to add something of my own! I also started a board for kids food recipes that Kendrick & I have tried and loved which will hopefully get bigger as the weeks go on!

I've been continuing to work out at Blitz Conditioning twice a week for the past month. I'm feeling pretty good! I'm hoping to continue when I go back to work, I'm just debating on whether I go super early or go right after work. "Mommy guilt" creeps in again here because if I go I won't see Kendrick either in the morning or much before he goes to bed, but I know that I'll schedule to make sure that I won't be missing him for an entire day. I'm going to also take the plunge and buy the monthly pass instead of the 10 pass punch card, which means I'll have to go at least nine times to make it worthwhile so that will help me keep motivated!

xo
-Dianne

PS: I also found a recipe for no bake banana bread bites that I'm attempting to alter a bit to become little pieces of heaven. They are also pretty healthy, and don't take long to prepare which is even better! As soon as I figure out the perfect blend, I'll post it!

PPS: I gave up pop for lent (four days late because I missed the start date). For some reason since I was pregnant with Kendrick I've been craving it and drinking it way more often, and it didn't stop when I had him! I felt like something sweet so I picked up some banana milk instead. I knew it had some sugar in it, but it turns out it actually has a very similar amount of sugar to pop (although some pop has slightly more). How depressing! Oh well. Time to go to Planet Organic and pick up some sugar-free sparkling juice! 

.Productive

Due to the unseasonably warm weather and the snow melting, the spring running bug has caught me a little earlier than normal this year. It's still too icy for my wimpy self to get out there quite yet, but every time I'm driving I think about getting back into it. I need to pick myself up a membership to a gym with an indoor track in the next week so I can start prepping for my first MEC race on March 6th! It's only 5K but it will be nice to get the legs in gear!

Kendrick starts daycare in three weeks and I head back to work! Like I mentioned last blog, I'm feeling very mixed about everything. One thing that I'm trying to figure out is balance. I'm quite enjoying working out twice a week at Blitz Conditioning as a "Morning Warrior," and it allows me to get my work out in before the little dude wakes up. However, when Kendrick starts daycare if I go work out in the morning it means that my hubby will be the one taking him to daycare and I'll miss seeing him in the morning. If I work out after work, there's a chance I may not make it home to see him before I go to bed. This bothers me! But at the same time, since I've started working out regularly I've been feeling really good and don't want to stop. I'm hoping this will get easier once I settle into working 9-5 again and Kendrick has spent some time at daycare. It's just hard for me to imagine going from seeing him pretty much 24/7 to only seeing him for an hour some days!

I'm also quite proud to say I've almost got nap time down to a science! For the first 10 months of Kendrick's life we didn't really have a scheduled nap time. We'd be out and about and he'd nap in the car or sometimes at home and life was good! Then at 10 months I decided to see if I could try and get him down to one nap a day so that he could start to prep for daycare. It took almost the whole month (as he did NOT like going down for naps in the crib), but for the last little while he's been going down like a champ and sleeping for two to three hours! This being said if he has a busy morning and falls asleep in the car at some point, I usually drive around for a bit to let him get at least an hour of steady nap, but for the most part I've just been planning my activities in the morning and late afternoon so we can be home around lunch time and he can go down for his nap. I know this type of thing might not work for everyone, but it's really worked for us! I wouldn't change the first 10 months for the world, as we were able to do a lot of things and I definitely made the most of my maternity leave! I'm very thankful we live in a country that gives us moms a year off after the baby comes!

There's a lot happening this month! In the next 31 days Kendrick turns 11 months, I turn 34, hubby and I celebrate our second wedding anniversary, we're going on a small mini family vacation before I go back to work, and then Kendrick turns 1. ONE! We decided to do a cake smash photo shoot with him in a few weeks and I am uber excited for it! We also decided we didn't want to rent a big space for Kendrick's birthday but had a lot of people special to him we wanted to invite! So he's having 3 three mini parties instead - one for family, one for friends, and one playdate with his baby friends before most of us go back to work. I bought some AMAZING decorations from a shop on Etsy so it just means that I get to use them three times! I know he won't remember his first birthday but we all will, so I'm hoping we can videotape some memories (like Ross & Rachel did on Friends) to show him on his 18th birthday.

xo,

-Dianne

PS: This week I'm going to start prepping for meal planning! I'm going to look at the week ahead, make a grocery list of what we need, and try to go shopping on Sunday. While I'm still home, I'm going to also try utilizing my slow cooker more often so it's less prep work later on in the day. I'm looking forward to this! Hubby and I are both making an effort to work out more so it will be great to compliment that with healthy eating.

PPS: So I'll share with you a little secret... I may be opening up an Etsy shop! I found a decoration I wanted to use for Kendrick's cake smash that was going to cost me $100+ to get it here, so I decided I may try making them myself. I'm going to keep the details sparse for now as I'm not 100% sure how this new adventure is going to go, but I'm excited nonetheless! The picture below is a hint. :)

.Gratitude

"When sunlight is fading

the world will be waiting for you.

Just show 'em what you're made of."

- Backstreet Boys, "Show 'Em (What You're Made Of)"

I realize it's been a long time since I've blogged. Life happens! It's been a month of ups and downs and my running has been taking a back seat unfortunately. That being said, my body is holding on pretty well and I'm keeping my pace up! I ran 10K on Thanksgiving Monday before getting a turkey cramp (which was pretty impressive that it took that long considering all of the food I've eaten in the past two days) and am feeling pretty good about the Vancouver Rock N Roll Half coming up in less than a week! My goal is going to be 2:30. I haven't been able to train as much as I want but when I have been running my times have been good. As long as I can make it through without cramping up I'm thinking very positive. This will be the end of running season for me so I want to finish with a bang! :)

I've made a decision that I have to go back to running in the morning. In my last two night runs even though I thought I gave myself enough time between meals, I cramped up and had to cut my run short and that's a real pain when you're on a runners high! I actually ran a 32 minute 5K yesterday which was pretty good for me, but had to walk and stretch it out afterward because the cramp was so bad. I never get cramps running in the morning! It's just so hard to get up! I have been taking 1/2 a dose of melatonin before I head to bed and it's been helping me fall asleep which is good, however I'm still waking up more often than not during the night. Kendrick seems to be going into a little bit of a sleep regression as he's waking up 1-2 times a night for his soother, so hopefully that ends soon and I can start getting a little more sleep!

I'm starting to create a list of things to pack for our big trip! The packing is giving me a bit of anxiety, which is why I'm making a list. We've been getting such beautiful weather here in Edmonton, but the bonus of this time of year is that I can start packing all of my summer clothes! Our Australia trip will be the longest I've ever been away, with the second longest being when I went to London in 2012 and was gone for 25 days. 

The good news of the week, I'm only three pounds away from the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant! This means that I'm nine pounds away from my goal weight! The bad news is, none of my old jeans fit! Pants in general are my nemesis right now as I only have a few pairs that actually fit me. When I look in the mirror I feel like I look close to the same as I did before, but my clothes say otherwise. My little dude is worth it though, and it means I get to do some shopping before I go back to work in the new year!

Kendrick has been growing like crazy! He's so close to crawling and he's been working on sitting up for awhile now. He pretty much mastered it on Thanksgiving weekend! He's also eating like a champ! I've become an expert baby food maker too! We are lucky that Kendrick will eat pretty much anything. On thanksgiving he tried little pieces of turkey! He got more on the floor, in his hair and on his face than he did in his mouth but it was a pretty fun experience anyways.  I've been doing a mixture of my own baby food concoctions along with some packaged Baby Gourmet organic food to make sure he likes it. Although I love feeding him home made food because I know exactly what's going in it, while we travel it will be a lot more difficult to make baby food! So I did some research and checked a lot of labels and settled on Baby Gourmet. I'm already impressed that Kendrick likes things like pumpkin! So far, it doesn't seem like he has any allergies so fingers crossed it stays that way.

I'm gonna try to blog on the road when I'm gone if I can get wifi access! So excited for this trip of a lifetime as it will be our first time down under! :)

xo
-Dianne

PS: I made some pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving and had a ton of leftover pumpkin, so I added some to my oatmeal lactation muffins recipe! I also added two bananas instead of one which made them much more moist. I still have pumpkin left so I'm thinking of making some banana pumpkin bread or something before I go. I can always freeze it so it's a treat when we get back!

PPS: I'm thinking of doing a gratitude challenge. I did #365DaysOfHappy last year and into this year and coincidentally it timed out almost perfectly with Kendrick being born. I'm thinking of doing #100DaysOfGratitude. I think it's important to be thankful for the good things we have because some people aren't so lucky. Stay tuned to my twitter page in the next few days if you'd like to follow along!

.Toughie

Last week I had a bit of a tough week.

Did you ever know that kid in school who never studied for exams but yet still managed to pass them all with flying colours? I knew that kid, and it drove me nuts because I was the type that really had to study hard or things just wouldn't stick in my mind. Even as an adult student I still have to study my butt off for exams, even if I go to every class and take notes.

I feel similar about losing my baby weight. I know some people who were back to normal within a couple months and yet, I'm still 25lbs from where I want to be. It's slightly frustrating, especially because I've been working really hard to get active again! Note that I'm not frustrated at the lucky people who managed to lose weight without doing anything, I'm just more bummed that it's taking so long for me and I feel like I'm working hard! That being said, I try to keep things in perspective as much as possible. I really only got the OK to work out seven weeks ago, and it took nine months for my beautiful baby to be born and for the majority of it I wasn't really able to be active. And if I'm ever sad about it, I just take one look at Kendrick and think WOW - my body truly is amazing! I'm going to treat myself to a new running shirt when it gets closer to race day that flatters the new me!

Last Monday (Exactly 12 weeks postpartum) I started the Nike+ half marathon training program for the second time. The first time I only got a month in before I had to stop because I was pregnant, so this time I'm looking forward to taking it all the way through. The first time I was also doing the intermediate program because I had been running regularly and this time I'm doing beginner. I'm also training in KM's this time instead of miles. I originally trained in miles because the number was smaller (which I know is a mind game, but we runners do that sometimes) but this does get to be confusing when the markers for Canadian races are in KMs. Since my next couple halfs are in Canada I'm going to continue training in KMs I think and see how that goes. It also makes me feel like I'm doing longer distances! :)

Week one went ok but I struggled getting back into things. My times were quite slow, but I completed all of my runs.

I did my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday because we had a busy day on Saturday and I didn't have a chance to run. I find that is usually my biggest struggle, time management and finding the time to run while someone watches Kendrick. It was tough, but I made it through yet I ended the week a little bummed out because I'm so far off my old pace. However, I made up for it yesterday when I did my 8km run so I started the week feeling very positive. 

My back started to act up again so I booked another physio appointment to see if I could get things worked out. In the mornings and if I sit or stand for long periods of time essentially I feel like an old woman until I get moving. Since I can't avoid sleeping I need to find a way to fix my back so I feel better in the mornings, as that is my favourite time to run! Once it hits the +20s in temperature I find that too hot. Keeping my fingers crossed for a cool August day on August 23 for the Edmonton Half! :)

xo,

Dianne

PS: Last week I also accidentally invented a recipe for peach banana oatmeal mini muffins. Accidentally, you say? So those who know me know that I am terrible at following recipes because I like to add my own flare to everything. Sometimes it works and sometimes...not so much. I tried out these apple cinnamon cookies here a few months ago as some of the ingredients were supposed to help with milk production, and they were delicious (I added strawberries too). Since I didn't have any apples but had canned peaches and an overly ripe banana, I thought I would try to experiment. The batter turned out to be not as firm as cookie dough so I put them in mini muffin cups and voila - a new amazing recipe was formed! Thank God these are fairly healthy (they are refined sugar free, soy free & clean eating approved) because I swear I eat 5-6 a day. I am going to double the recipe next time. Perfect for breakfast or a little snack, and even more perfect for those who breastfeed (don't worry men, you can eat these cookies without lactating I promise). 

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups of whole oats

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup palm sugar

3 tbsp Brewer's yeast

3 tbsp flaxmeal

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 a cup of melted butter

3 tbsp water

1 ripe banana

1/3 a can of no syrup added peaches

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl, and mix wet ingredients together in another bowl. Chop the peaches into tiny peaches and smash up the banana in a bowl with the rest of the wet ingredients. Add peaches to wet ingredients, and mix well. Then add slowly to the dry ingredients and mix well until consistent. Put liners into mini muffin tins and fill each one to the top. Bake for 13 minutes or until tops are slightly browned. Makes approximately 36 mini muffins.

PPS: Kendrick turned three months old yesterday! Oh, how the time flies! Here's one of the outtakes from our mini three month photo shoot yesterday. My dog always wants to get in on the pictures!

.Action

May 14, 2015 - I RAN!

I was going to give myself another week or so before I started running again, but when I headed to bootcamp for the first time since last summer it happened to be a running day! I think I may have been the only one excited about this. :)

The concept was simple: run a lap around the soccer field as fast as you can, and then take a minute rest. Repeat another seven times. My goal was to run them all, even if it was incredibly slow I wanted to try really hard not to walk. I was able to accomplish my goal and ran around 2.24 KM (this is a little off because I was late in starting the GPS) with no walk breaks. I felt beyond awesome! Of course today (48 hours later) I'm feeling the effects of the run. Everything hurts! It reminds me of how many muscles you use running that you don't realize. 9.5 weeks after baby and 305 days since my last run, I conquered it. YAY.

These past couple weeks I've been taking Kendrick and going on lots of walks. I've done over 28 KM this month and we're only half way through! 

You can tell which walks I've taken the dog as they are a lot slower! I am so lucky to live in a city with lots of great walking paths and places to explore, as it makes walking that much more interesting! I always run with music but since I've been walking I've been going without headphones and enjoying the scenery and interacting with Kendrick when he's awake.

This past week I also tried out Mommy & Baby yoga at Purity Health & Wellness and it was fantastic! There is a mixture of yoga for mommy and baby massage and songs for baby. Kendrick made it about 45 minutes before he had enough and had a melt down, but overall it was fantastic. I met some new people and spent time with a friend and her little one while getting some exercise! I can't wait to go again next week.

These last couple weeks I've been pretty good when it comes to eating! I'm making/having smoothies 4-5 times a week and I'm trying my best to eat better. I still snack here and there (I love chips, and hubby brought home a mini cheesecake last week) but I've been starting to master multi-tasking with the little one and am able to cook more meals. We got a playpen as a shower gift and it's currently set up in the kitchen, so while I'm prepping a meal or cooking he can hang out next to me. Our friends Adam & Melanie bought us a couple of meals from Simply Supper that we are going to try out this week! It's a very cool concept - everything you need for dinner is in a large freezer bag and there are instructions on how to make it! It's healthy too! Tonight we had honey baked chicken & potatoes and they were delicious!

I'm trying not to weigh myself every day, but I did weigh myself yesterday and noticed I'm down a couple pounds and now 27.8 lbs away from my goal weight. I'm definitely noticing a difference in how I feel and how I look (with the exception of being tired, but I don't think you can ever really get rid of that when you have a baby.) Now that I've gone for my first run I'm starting to think about when I'm going to be able to squeeze in running on a weekly basis. I'm debating on going back to running in the early morning. Currently Kendrick gets hungry between 4:30-5:30 AM and I figure I can go for a quick run after I feed & change him and still have time to shower before hubby goes to work. It usually takes me awhile to get back to sleep anyways when I'm up for over an hour in the middle of the night, so this way I'll be able to get some exercise in and still hopefully be able to sneak in some more sleep before he gets up for the day. Considering the fact that it's 48 hours after my run and I'm still uber sore, I don't anticipate running for more than 20-30 minutes for the first little while so that I can slowly work my way back into it. According to the Nike 1/2 marathon training program I'm starting on June 1st (to train for the Edmonton 1/2 Marathon) I should be running around 8 KM a week before I start so I have to get moving. I'm starting to get a little nervous, however I just keep reminding myself that the goal is to finish and not to overthink it as it will only be five months after the baby and that itself will be an accomplishment!

Action Plan

Run 2-3 times a week

Bootcamp 1-2 times a week

Mommy & baby yoga once a week

Stroller walks 4-5 times a week

I know this may seem like a lot, but I'm taking advantage of the fact that right I'm home most of the day. Running in the morning will be an experiment to see how tired I am at the end of the day, and of course dependant on the weather. I'll provide an update next blog post as to how it's going! Being outside and absorbing vitamin D is obviously doing wonders for my system as I'm feeling fantastic and very happy! Yesterday I rearranged a couple kitchen drawers and shelves and all of my spices so everything is organized and easy to view when I'm cooking! It was a proud moment.

xo

-Dianne

PS: Stella & Dot is having a mega sale this long weekend, so please check it out! There are some items that are 50-60% off and once they're gone, they're gone for good! You'll also earn Dot Dollars so you can treat yourself to a wicked discount at the end of June. Check it out here! I'm starting to do trunk shows again as of June 8, so let me know if you're interested in getting some bling for free! 

PPS: I upgraded to a new gold MacBook and I absolutely love it! The keyboard is so smooth and the computer is really light. I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a new laptop!

.Freedom

This past Monday I was exactly seven weeks postpartum. I can't believe Kendrick was born seven weeks ago! Time is really flying and he's changing so much every day! Next time I upgrade my iPhone I'm going to have to go with a 64GB, as I take multiple pictures of him a day and am running out of space. He's just so darn cute!

A week and a half ago I went to the doctor to go for my six week check up and after I got checked out the doctor gave me the go ahead to not only lift the carseat, but to slowly get moving and start working out again. I was over the MOON! I've been feeling so trapped at home and so bored of TV so I'm so glad that Kendrick and I can start going out and about during the day! I haven't watched Netflix in over a week! She told me the most important thing was to listen to my body and don't start off too crazy, and recommended no ab-specific exercises (crunches, etc) for another month. I was definitely feeling a lot better but still feeling a little bit of pain and had some difficulty getting out of bed or off the couch so I took it easy the rest of the week.

This week however I've felt very good. I've decided that my fitness journey to get back to pre-baby weight (or a few pounds lighter) is going to start now. These pictures were taken on Monday (I'm not a fan of selfies so these shots are headless):

If I don't leave with the baby, I fear people will still think I'm pregnant. Then again, I just keep telling myself that I haven't been able to do much of anything for over 10 months, so to get here at this point is probably pretty good. Essentially I know now what was baby weight and what was just extra weight (from maybe a few two many cherry candies) from the pregnancy. I'm about 30 pounds away from my goal weight (which is about five pounds lighter than what I was when I found out I was pregnant) and I hope to accomplish that by the end of 2015 if not sooner!

I've had smoothies for breakfast every day this week which has been pretty refreshing. Monday afternoon I went grocery shopping and bought some greek yogurt and frozen fruit for smoothies and dug out my Magic Bullet so I could make single portions. Here's what I bought:

Frozen mango, strawberries and blueberries

Greek Yogurt (banana, coconut and key lime)

Almond Coconut Milk

Spinach

I already had flaxseed at home, so this has provided me with enough to try different combinations until I run out of groceries! I admit it is cheaper to buy the frozen fruit at Costco, but the sliced ones at Sobey's I find work better in my Magic Bullet as it doesn't take well to full sized fruit. My goal is to have smoothies every day this week. They are quick to prepare and I can take them on the run if I decide to go out and about in the morning! So far so good! I've been finding it difficult to prepare healthy meals three times a day since the baby has come, but as he gets older I'm finding that my time management has been slowly getting better and I'm able to start to get things done some days (the key word here is SOME). I also am not a fan of almond milk on it's own or in cereal, but in smoothies it tastes delicious!

I went for a walk on Monday and it was awesome! Made it just over 3KM and felt a little tired but very motivated. I need to find a way to get some sort of sun shield for the stroller, as when I was walking back I had to keep the cover over him because the sun was shining right in his eyes! I felt a little bit crampy which definitely let me know that I'm not ready to run just yet, but walking was definitely a start! We didn't have a chance to go Tuesday or Wednesday but we did go for a short walk today and it felt even better! 

I also signed up for Mommy & Baby yoga this week at Purity Health and Wellness! I haven't done yoga in at least three years so this should be fun for Kendrick & I! I'm thinking of starting bootcamp with my co-workers next week too, so slowly but surely this mama is getting back into it!

With that, I will leave you with this photo as when I saw this onesie I actually laughed out loud in the store and couldn't say no... :) You'll also see my dog's paw in the bottom right hand corner - I think he loves baby photo time just as much as I do! He wants to be in all the pictures!

xo
-Dianne

PS: I went to get Kendrick & I's passport pictures done so we can apply for new passports in May. Getting a passport picture for a baby is a lot trickier than I thought! Essentially I had to kneel on the ground and try to hold his head up with two fingers, while using my other hand to hold down his hands (as he really likes to raise his hands in the air in the "touchdown" pose) and all while not having any part of me in the picture. Somehow, it we managed to get one in less than five minutes - hopefully Passport Canada likes it because I really don't want to go back and try it again! It's pretty darn cute though - now the little bugger is stuck with that photo until he's 5! :)

PPS: After buying this onesie yesterday I searched "hashtag" and "onesie" on Etsy and oh man, I'm in trouble! There are so many cute ones just calling Kendrick's name...