Plankin' and Stuff

Use Grammarly's grammar check, because if your blog has bad grammar, I will unfollow you on Pinterest - unless you pin lots of Ryan Gosling memes, in which case I will never unfollow you.

So, as you all know by now, I am a lackadaisical exerciser. I want to love exercise, I really do. But I just don't love it. I enjoyed running last Fall but then it got cold and miserable.

 I got a gym membership so that I could keep running on the treadmill. Let me tell you what...running on a treadmill, while easier on my legs, is B O R I N G. Even with 800 TVs in the gym, I find myself watching the miles I've run and feeling like they are taking forever!

To break up my obnoxious winter lull that I am in, I had a little fun and created a 30 Day Plank Challenge! WOOHOO. Not. I hate planks, but I notice that they seem to do more for me than most other strengthening exercises. I made it cute and pink to try and trick myself into being excited about it. 

Anyway, this challenge starts TOMORROW (March 8th) and ends on April 1st! Sooooo, who's in?

A Beach Day

Today we took a trip to the beach - Molly's first daytime trip to the beach, in fact! I say daytime because she has been to Assateague one time, but it was in the evening for a bonfire with friends - so not really your typical "beach" experience. :-)

I know, I know...Summer is almost over, and I live 25 minutes from the beach - so why is this her first trip? 

I hate tourist season. I loathe it. I hate the traffic, I hate the jacked-up prices of everything, I hate the stupid people who don't know where they are going and what they are doing. I hate the barely-dressed masses, and the less-than-sparkling water. And the trash in the sand. <--- That is why this was our first trip. And we didn't even go to Ocean City!

We went to a "secret" local beach. It's tiny and wonderful, and I'm not telling anyone where it is. Ever.

Molly LOVED it. We're talking - best mood ever, wanted to stay in the water forever, fell asleep on Amanda kind of loving it. It was blissful, minus the pretty awful sunburn that I came away with (my own fault).

Here are a few pictures from our beach day, courtesy of Molly's aunt Amanda.

The "Mom" Hair

I have never liked ponytails on myself. Sure, they look cute on other women...but not me. Nope, I just end up looking like a boy...or someone with no hair. 

 Even with bangs, I just can't rock the ponytail! Whenever I do just give in to the ease of a ponytail, I always end up seeing someone with fabulous hair, or getting my picture taken. Murphy's Law at its finest.

After having Molly, I fell into a pattern of "mom" hair - not that it looked bad, it just wasn't my normal way of doing my hair. I didn't have "time" to blow dry/straighten every day. 

But guess what? Your baby will be just fine if you spend 15-20 minutes doing your hair and makeup every day. She will not die from being strapped in the carseat with some toys while you shave your legs and use a little hair product.

Don't get me wrong - Molly doesn't like it when I divide my attention, but she has also (after a few weeks) gotten used to it. Now, my routine looks something like this:

Feed baby, put baby in the carseat with some favorite toys. Turn on Disney kid songs in the bathroom. Take a shower. Baby cries for a few minutes (she's thinking hey! mom! share some of the bathtime fun with me!). Baby (usually) falls asleep, lulled by the shower/music/toys combo. 

Once I get out of the shower, I get a few extra "getting ready" minutes by leaving the shower running! She stays asleep and I get to choose an activity: painting my toenails...plucking my eyebrows...the fun stuff. ;-)

After I turn the shower off, she usually wakes up in just a few minutes. I leave her in the carseat, though, while I blow dry and straighten my hair. Makeup can usually wait until her next naptime, unless I have somewhere to go.

As a new mom, it can be really hard to let your baby cry, even if it's just for a few minutes. But I'm realizing that this is how they learn! If they have been fed and changed, and given plenty of attention beforehand, I know that she is fine, and is just learning to self-soothe and self-entertain. This will be such a valuable trait when she is a little bit older...then maybe Mommy can pluck her eyebrows AND paint her toenails! ;-)