I'm BAAAACK!

In my two month hiatus from FitMeBlogging, a whole heck-of-a-lot has happened. I'm ready to start blogging again, mostly because I'm dying to start working out again. Exercising, and blogging about fitness seem to go hand-in-hand. So before I figure out how I'm going to fit fitness into the chaos of motherhood once again, I'll start with a quick recap of the past two months!

First, I bid farewell to my husband as he left for the Wasatch Back Ragnar race a few days before I was due, and prayed that the motorcycle ride my cousin took me on that morning wouldn't send me into labor! It didn't! (NOTHING sent me into labor--not my spin class, not walking 3 miles, not painting new shelves in every closet of the house, not lift class, not reorganizing closets, not cleaning--NOTHING until the day I actually did NOTHING. I finally went into labor in the middle of the night on the day I was scheduled to be induced...5 days after my actual due-date! Hooray!)

A week after the race, I gave birth to this angel baby. I can't believe she's already a month old!

Everything life-changing always happens in sets of 3. Having a new baby was no different! A few weeks before she was born, we found out that my husband could possibly be losing his job. He was encouraged to apply for a new position that could either keep us where we are, or could move us to Colorado Springs. A few days before she was born, he was offered a new position/promotion RIGHT HERE. No big move with a new baby...phew! I am SO GRATEFUL for the blessing of a good job in this economy, but those first few weeks of my husband working LONG hours to adjust, I was sort of wishing we'd just taken the severance package so he could be home with me! Oddly, though, having both of us adjusting to hard things at the same time has really strengthened our marriage.

The third big change happened this week: I turned 30! On Sunday, August 1, 2010, I officially entered the 30's club! I was kind of sad to say good-bye to my fun 20's, but hopefully it just gets better! My husband threw me a "surprise" luau-party that would have actually been a surprise if my 4-year old hadn't told me how much I was going to love the cakes they bought me! Oh well...I had a blast anyway!

With all my life-changes and post-baby-feeling-not-so-cute stage, I was having sort of a mid-life crisis. What does one do in such a situation? Chop off 8 inches of hair, that's what!

It's short, it's sassy, it's blonde again (I dyed it for the first time in 4 years), and I'm hoping I don't regret it! Hair always grows, right?

Now that I've gotten the first post-baby blog post over with, I hope to be back much more regularly! And speaking of "regular," I have to say that there REALLY is something to a whole food/plant-based diet. Hemorrhoids? Gone in a week. Baby weight gain? Only 4 pounds left to lose...I haven't done ANY exercise yet. My body definitely still looks frumpy, but the weight is falling off quicker than ever before! All I'm doing is eating TONS of fruit and veggies. Check out a few recipes I've tried here! It feels good to be back. I'm going to start working out on Monday with an early morning spin class. Can't wait! I also let my sis-n-law talk me into running this crazy race in September. Life does continue after a new baby...phew! I'll see you soon!

It's All About The Poop

With small children around, it's hard not to get excited about the little things in life. Whenever I'm on a kid-free outing, I have to seriously fight back urges to point out every choo-choo train I see, every airplane in the sky, every bug on the ground, every dog with his owner, every motorcycle, truck, tractor, you name it. This has probably been the best part of being a mom for me. Taking pleasure in the little things. Stopping to smell the roses, instead of rushing past the beauties of this world without taking notice.

I love the excitement little ones experience when they see, or try new things for the first time. My two-year old thinks I'm the luckiest person in the world just because I get to push the buttons to turn the dishwasher on every day. And I get to pour the laundry detergent into the washer. I get to spread the peanut butter on the bread. When I hand these small tasks over to her, she is literally on top of the world. This is what being a "big girl" is all about. That, of course, and pooping in the potty.

Remember when I shared some of my potty-training woes with you? After a year-and-a-half of unsuccessful potty training, we put "P" back in diapers. A few glorious weeks ago, however, he finally decided on his own that he was ready to be a big boy. He'll turn four in May, and I am thrilled that I don't have to send him to college in diapers. And my two-year old? She jumped right on board, and decided on her own that she is out of diapers. I was too emotionally scarred from our first round of potty training to even consider her requests to use the potty, but she decided on her own, and is doing amazing. So within weeks, both children are out of diapers. I'm not holding my breath, but I am thrilled that I will actually only have ONE baby in diapers come June.

So added to the list of excitement over airplanes and bugs: poop! You know it...we all poop–and how horrible would life be if we didn't?!?! Trust me--I've had my own fair share of painful troubles in the poop department (I'm talking painful hemorrhoids that made pooping worse than childbirth), so good poops are a big deal for this mama! If you're like me, you analyze your eliminations on a daily basis. If you're like my sister's husband, you want to throw up just reading this post. But wherever you land on the poop scale--let’s be honest--the satisfaction of a great poop cannot be underestimated!

When my kids poop in the potty, they get terribly upset if I flush the toilet before they can admire their work. And my two-year old is so proud of me when I poop. Good job, mommy...that was a big one! Honestly, one of the main motivations for me to eat a healthy diet is just that...the very thought of hemorrhoids makes my spine tingle. I have to eat healthy. I need fiber. I freaked out during my last pregnancy when my husband brought home the wrong kind of bread. I literally can't handle unhealthy poops. In my mind, I am just one hard poop away from a bloody, feels-like-you're-pooping-glass, ouchy bum.

If you're not getting enough fiber, chances are, you're not having healthy BM's. So where do we get the fiber we need for a good poop? We get it from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains. It's the indigestible (cellulose) part of these. Fiber is VITAL for not only a healthy poop, but a healthy body. The colon needs enough fiber to automatically contract and push the poop down the colon and out of the body (and into the POTTY! Not the diaper! Woo hoo!) Fiber IS the thigh master for the colon!

One last thing...if poop is ANY indication of whether I'm really on the right track with my new plant-based diet? Let me just say...hallelujah, and yes! In my little world where I take pleasure in the little things, pooping on a FLEXITARIAN diet is fabulously satisfying! (And I'm calling myself a flexitarian to take the pressure off...I'm mostly Vegan, and haven't had meat for a few weeks, but I won't beat myself up if I happen to take a bite of a nice, juicy burger...say after giving birth!)

How about you? Where do you fall on the poop scale? If you're still reading at this point, I'm guessing you're not totally embarrassed by the mere mention! As my husband likes to say, NEWSFLASH: EVERYONE POOPS! And thank goodness!