100 Push Up Challenge

Mommy-Momo turned me on to this 100 Push Ups in 6 weeks Challenge going around the blogging world.

At first I thought, "yeah, right." But then I was curious to see how many I could do. I was able to complete 15 regular style. I was bummed. 15? How would I ever be able to do 100? When I read the challenge from onehundredpushups.com more completely, I discovered that using a variety of push-up methods still counted. I found that if I did them with the knees down and using fists instead of palms (I have a wrist injury from awhile back), I could do 30! That's twice as many as the regular style. From that point on, I was hooked. I can do this! I think.

I've noticed that quite a few people have been videotaping their push-ups, so I thought it'd be fun to do the same...



(OK, not really. This is Parker, of course, aiming for 100 push-ups as well). ;)

Doing more reading on the website, I discovered there were also programs for two-hundred sit-ups and two-hundred squats. Whoa boy, you'd better believe I'm trying those as well!

My initial squat testing surprised me. I did 70 and only stopped because my knees hurt a little. I suspected I might be doing them incorrectly, but I double-checked my form and I'm pretty sure I was doing them right? Not too shabby, I think (for me anyway).

My initial sit-up testing also surprised me, but in the respect that I could only do 25 in a row! Yikes! I thought with all my pilates work that my stomach muscles would be pretty strong. Looks like I have some more work to do!

This work out program couldn't have come around at a better time. It's much easier to do than work out videos when Parker's awake (although I'm still trying to do those as well). Parker's sleep schedule has changed and he's been going to bed later so it hasn't been feasible for me to do my night walk/runs. I don't have a jogging stroller so I can't run with Parker during the day, and really, it's usually been way too hot to even just walk during the day. So I've mostly been doing videos in the morning before the true heat hits, but even that's difficult with Parker around. He usually wants to do them too, which would be fine if he weren't always right where I needed to be. If I'm doing any type of cardio requiring me to move around, he's always right there. If I take out a mat to do pilates floor work/yoga, forget it! He wants to be on it, too. He's so cute though; how could I be upset? Watch him do his own work-out below!



But after yesterday and realizing that exercising first thing in the morning messes up my day, I'm going to have to try moving my exercise to a different time of day again. Too bad I'm usually pooped and just want to veg out by the time P's nap comes around. Oh well, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't - well it's better to be happy and a little out of shape than thin and cranky!

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"Be happy and shout to God who makes us strong!" - Psalm 81:1

Thankful Thursday

Ah, I can feel it. Today is going to be a MUCH better day! I've been trying to exercise in the morning before the heat hits and it's always a rush to get everything in so I can finally eat and get on with the day and the rest of the chores. Today I decided to let my body rest. I ate breakfast at a reasonable hour, drank my tea, Bible study and prayer, and put on my calming girly music. Some Joni, some Mazzy, some Norah, some Fiona... yes! It's going to be a much better day, and for that, I'm thankful. I think that perhaps exercising in the morning just doesn't suit me. It messes up my whole aura for the day. I need to start with calm and food and time with Jesus and ease into everything at a slower pace. My soul needs its nourishment first, I guess!

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"I offer you my heart, Lord God, and I trust you." Psalm 25:1

"Show my your paths and teach me to follow; guide me by your truth and instruct me. You keep me safe, and I always trust you." Psalm 25:4-5

Updates and Reflections

We have been busy bees since Thursday and I haven't had much time to sit at the computer (I promise ya'll I will read and return your emails soon!). I'm making a little time here and there today to work on this blog since I have to ice my back periodically anyway. I've been doing pilates again and have had no problem with my lower back ligament until today when Parker and I were reading Mother Goose Rhymes and doing "This is the Way the Ladies Ride" amongst other active songs/rhymes. I wasn't as careful as I should have been bouncing him around on my knees and lifting him up and down. Oops.

Parker Likes Pilates, Too!

This past week has been mixed with blessings and trials. Parker has pretty much decided that he's done napping (I'm still hoping it's just a phase, I mean, he's not even two yet). So I've been trying to implement quiet time at least so I can get a "lunch" break. He has been very good about it and will play and sing in his crib but rarely will actually fall asleep. If he never falls asleep and starts getting antsy before an hour is up, I go in there and set up a timer with the remaining time left so he has a reference, but today, for example, he played in there for an hour and 15 minutes and never cried once. It is nice that when he doesn't fall asleep he doesn't go through the weird afternoon moodiness and tantrums, plus he falls asleep much easier at night and usually sleeps a little longer to make up for it.

Friday morning Parker and I spent a few hours in Dana Point (blog with pics on that to come later). Friday night and Saturday were fun family time...

For Example:

Playing "Drums" With Dada

... along with getting some chores done. I had to get an oil change for my car, so we put the car seat in Jake's truck so that he could take us home and not have to sit there for a couple of hours. The only way it would fit properly was facing forward with the base off, so after all that work rearranging the thing, we decided to just go ahead and keep Parker facing forward now even in my car. He loves it. He sits in the middle and gets to watch everything going on. He likes to say "green light go!" "yellow light slow..." "red light, stop!"

Sunday we dropped Parker off at Grandma and Grandpa Munns' house for a sleep over and Jake and I went to Jenny and Steve's house for dinner and adult conversation! Jenny is an old co-worker and friend of mine. We are thinking of taking a big leap into home ownership within the next year and Steve has agreed to help us out with our search, all while doing his regular job and working on Pepperdine's MBA program! Jenny is also working and completing her nursing degree. What a busy couple!

Monday I met up with a couple of old friends from high school (Christine and Sara) while Jake got the condo to himself and finally got to spend some quality time working on recording more music. I had so much fun catching up with Sara and Christine. I hadn't seen Sara in probably ten years! Fortunately Christine and I have had the opportunity to get together a few times since then, but it's never enough. It's interesting to see the different paths we've taken in life and how much we've grown up (but not aged - no never that), yet each of us still seems to have the same personality/roles we had in high school. It's good to see some things never change and we love each other for who we are, through thick and thin, good and bad, and all that mushy stuff. I can't wait to meet up with them again!

Today Parker and I watched a good portion of the inauguration ceremony. I can't believe how emotional it was for me. Now that I'm older, I appreciate more what kind of history I'm living in today and I am hopeful that President Obama will make some positive changes to this wonderful country. I'm not sure Parker will remember this day, but I enjoyed celebrating the moment with him. He held his hand over his heart while the soldiers sang the National Anthem and I was so proud of him and our country.

There's a First for Everything!

We've had quite a few firsts this week. Parker went to his first concert on Tuesday, which happened to also be Dada's first show with Noon on Sunday. Parker was thrilled and sang and danced the whole time. He only got annoyed when Mama wouldn't let him on the stage.

Later on Tuesday, Parker went pee-pee in the potty for the first time! We haven't started the full potty learning process yet, but since he has been asking to sit on the toilet for a few months, we finally bought him a little Elmo seat that goes on the toilet so he could sit comfortably. Parker loves it. We only pull it out when he asks. He sits on it and reads his guitar magazines. Tuesday night he sat there for over 10 minutes and had 4 tinkles! He has gone two more times on the potty over the last few days... Mama still isn't convinced he's ready to be fully potty trained though.

Parker has also decided this week to start doing somersaults. We're not sure where he picked it up, but we kinda caught one on video. What a silly boy!




The last thing to note is that Mama has picked up running again to de-stress after a long day with Parker (let's see if she can keep this up). The first two times she went out she couldn't get up the big hill in their neighborhood without walking, but the third time, on Tuesday, she was able to jog up the whole thing for the first time and was quite proud of herself. She was able to do it again on Thursday night so maybe she's getting stronger! Let's just hope she doesn't injure herself doing all this. *knock on wood*