Getting Things Done With A Baby

As we all know, I am continually working very hard to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have been working out 5-6 days a week, but Lincoln's mood really dictates what activity I will be doing that day. This is how it just goes with a 9 week old. I have found that trying to get Lincoln on a schedule at night is imperative to sleeping at night, but during the day I tend to let him figure it out, and he really has. He tends to get up at 6am for about an hour then sleeps again from 7-8am. He will usually fall asleep again from 10ish to 12. Then he is up all afternoon until bed time at 8:30. On some days he will take a little cat nap from 3-4, but not always. I have found that forcing him into doing things at this age is just not worth it and just stresses us both out.

I have concluded that from his 10am-12pm nap is when I try to get all my stuff done for the day. I will sleep with him until 8am, then I'm up and ready to go.

To make things easier I always have at least one load of laundry ready to go, so that each day I can get some laundry done. That is the first thing I do once Lincoln passes out in his swing. I then vacuum every other day, and the other days I wipe down all surfaces and get to the bathrooms. The major things like dusting, cleaning base boards, and major detail work I leave to the weekends where Nate is there to help. I then will water the plants inside and outside. Once all that is complete, I give Sheila some attention and then I work out. I never sacrifice my work out time. If I don't get to a chore I wanted to do so be it, it will be there tomorrow. I have also found that cleaning while you go makes things much easier. Don't let dishes, laundry and other shit just pile up. If you clean while you go it makes getting other chores done so much quicker.

In order to get my baby weight off, I have implemented several things to help. The one thing that I love to do is run. Since I started coaching again at night at 5:15pm-9pm I have had to do away with my night jogging with Nate. I will be picking it up again in about 3 more weeks when Lincoln is 3 months old and is large enough to use the fantastic baby jogging stroller I am planning on buying! This will make things much easier because then I can work out at any point during the morning and even Shelia can get some exercise too!

When I do run though I use the Nike plus running app. I think it is great for those of us who like to run 10 miles or less each run and it keeps track of your route using a GPS off of your phone. The app shows how fast you were running during the route and it keeps track of your miles and time per mile. You can also program it before you start your run to how many miles you want to run. It then keeps track and will tell you in your head phones when you hit each mile and how fast you are running. Oh and on top of it, it takes all the music on your iphone and plays it while you run. It also creates a playlist of certain music that plays fast beats so when you need a pick me up during your run, you just tap your phone for a 'powersong'. Seriously some cool shit.

In the meantime, I have began using You Tube as my source for all things fitness. I did not realize, but there are so many great work out videos on there! My favorite would be the BeFit station by Lionsgate. They take a bunch of their workout DVD's and post certain full segments of each one. It is fantastic. You can also rent other work out DVD's from their station too. It's truly amazing. It's so nice to be able to clear out the living room, have Lincoln in his swing and work up a sweat.

Working out is also not a lot of fun unless you have music motivation. I use Pandora and they have actual workout music from hip-hop to dance to top hits. This is great.

I have begun coaching again but it is actually nice because it gives Lincoln and Nate time together, gives me a break, and I love bringing home a paycheck. It really helps with me mentally to not just feel like I am living in baby land all the time.

One thing that is starting to scare me, in a good way, with Lincoln is how strong he is. Man he is small but mighty. He's so strong that I can no longer leave the room if he is not strapped into something because he can roll him self out. He also knows how to push himself around the floor on his stomach using his knees and grabbing with his hands. I used to have him do tummy time in his pack n' play, but in the last couple of days he has started scooting himself so quickly across the pack n' play that he ends up just smashing his head into the walls. Now, I just lay a huge blanket out and let him go to town on his belly in the living room and that gives him ample space to wiggle and move. He also can scoot him self around on his back using his legs and just pushing his head around. I like that he is developing and its really awesome to see, but I didn't think at 9 weeks we would be at the point where I would have a pseudo-mobile baby. At his last doctor's appointment our doctor was even surprised how strong he is and said, "Yeah I would watch out for crawling/rolling baby sooner that you think." Great...  Hopefully I can get a video up here next time of him in action.

Ahhh...this face means time to get stuff done.

~Julia