LONDON ROSE // THREE MONTHS

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Sweet girl, London, is now three months (well almost four months, ha.)

LONDON AT THREE MONTHS

WEIGHT: 13lbs 15oz
I weighed her just after we got back from Mexico and she was almost 14lbs! Baby girl is chunking up....so many delicious baby rolls!

HEIGHT: I haven't measured her height in awhile but I'll know in a few weeks when I take her to her 4 month appt!

WEARS: I still have her in some 0-3 month clothes but she's starting to fit into 3-6 and it's breaking my heart! Why do they have to grow so flipping fast! 

SLEEPS: She's been doing anywhere between 8-10 hours straight pretty consistently. I usually put her down between 7-8pm and she wakes up between 4-6am and then goes back down for a couple more hours. If you follow me on instagram, you'll know that I'm starting to transition her out of her swaddle with one arm out. It's going pretty well. Her naps have been mostly 1-2 hours but I know I'll have to start full on sleep training her soon as I'm still nursing her to sleep about 50% of the time. Not looking forward to that but I'm slowly getting there and knowing that 12 hour straight sleeps will happen soon after that definitely helps!
She's still on three naps a day and will probably be until about 5/6 months.

HIGHS: Dressing her in the cutest little sundresses in Mexico was soooo much fun! Summer baby girl clothes are 100% cuter than summer baby boy clothes, ha. She won so many hearts. Her giggle and sweet smiles are also one of the highlights of my day.

We recently started family reading time before bedtime and it has been so special. Luca is slowly getting used to having a sister. Sometimes he cuddles her and sometimes he tries to hit her. He calls her Lala and James and I have adopted that nickname too!

LOWS: Things have been really great with her this month aside from her refusing to take a bottle!!! Pleeeeease send me your tips on giving her a bottle. We have the comotomo and Luca took that one like a champ but London just refuses. We've tried fresh breastmilk, frozen breastmilk, and formula but no dice! We've tried the comotomo bottle and the avent one but she won't take either...please please please send your tips! We're trying everyday but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

The other low was we all got sick AGAIN right before Mexico. London had it pretty bad and then Luca got it and now he's sick for a third time. We're washing hands and using essential oils but man, it seems like we can't catch a break! Cannot wait for spring!

PARENTING: London is the easy peasy one right now, ha. She doesn't move or throw tantrums. Her brother on the other hand is "learning to communicate". Oh, toddlers.

But on a positive note, I started the study Intentional Parenting by Bill Johnson and it is so so so good. I highly reccomend it if you are a Christian parent!

POSTPARTUM: Well, I finally have started to get my butt in gear. I did three workouts last week, yay! It's a slow start but I'm finally feeling motivated again! 

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Her sweet personality coming out! She's seriously super sweet and I know that in the next few months it just gets better and better!

XOXO,
Laura

TIPS TO NOT LET SOCIAL MEDIA TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE

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This is a hard post for me to write. 

See I have a love/hate relationship with social media (as I'm sure 99% of people do!) 

I love, love, love being connected to people. I'm verrry extroverted...so much, that not being around people above the age of 1.5 has been the hardest part of both of my maternity leaves. Honestly, I think that's why I have become so obsessed with social media...I feel lonely so I go to instagram to see what people are up to. 

And don't get me wrong, I adore the community on instagram. I have encountered so many amazing people and have been inspired by so many people's lives. It's a beautiful mechanism to connect people.

But it's not so beautiful when it takes you away from what's in front of you...not to mention making yourself feel bad about yourself because you're comparing your life to someone's highlight reel (which is another post for another time!)

And that's exactly what I've been letting social media do the past few months...I've allowed it to take my attention away from my hubby, my children, my friends, my quiet time...my hubby has been noticing and calling me out on it. It's not ok.

So I decided to make some changes.

I polled people on my instagram (of course, using social media to combat social media lols) to find out what they're doing to protect themselves from letting social media take over their lives and you guys, they had the bessst advice.

So below I've summed up the advice I've been given along with what I've been doing to protect myself from letting social media take over.

TIPS ON NOT LETTING SOCIAL MEDIA TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE

• Use the moments app to track how much you use social media. 
  I haven't done this yet because honestly, I'm a little frightened to do but I know it will give me a scary reality.
• Have set times you use your phone for social media/set time you do not use your phone.
  I think this one is brilliant! I haven't figured out making set times for social media BUT we've attempted to make no phones from 5-8pm. It's been hard but it's been really good for our family.
• Take time off social media (a week, a day a week, whatever works for you.)
  If you're finding social media causing you more harm than good, I highly recommend taking a long break to refocus and enjoy your life! I took a week off when I was in Mexico and it was very refreshing. I found my son benefitted from me being completely present with him. 
  When I got back, I found myself consumed again, so I have decided to take all of Sundays off instagram, so we'll see how that goes!
• Plug your phone in another room overnight (or across the room if you need it for emergencies.) 
  James and I have been doing this for a few years now and it is so refreshing to not read a screen right before you go to sleep. We either chat or I read before bed and it has definitely helped us have better sleeps and be more connected.
• Put your phone away at meal times and while hanging with friends/social events. 
  We've been doing this at meal times and it has only been good for our family. I've also been trying really hard to keep my phone in my pocket on when I'm hanging with friends. I know that is probably very normal for you but I have been such a bad friend in the past and have found myself scrolling...or in social situations when I don't know who to talk to.
• Plug your phone in another room during the day.
  When James goes back to work and I'm with the kids all day, I know this will be hard for me but so so good. I want to be a mom who isn't always on her phone.

And if you're a mother, check out these tips from Old Joy. My friend sent me her rules on her story the other day and they are GOLD.

So those are my findings. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you're not letting social media take over your life!!

XO,
laura
 

POSTPARTUM FITNESS GUIDE PART 2 (WORKOUT PLAN)

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Hola! While I'm away, I am soooo stoked to have Emily from The Mom Grind share about getting your body back postpartum! This is something I plan on doing once I get back from Mexico!! Thank you so much Emily for sharing!

Hi I’m Emily from @themomgrind, and I’m so excited to be guest posting here for Laura’s blog! I’ve read her blog for a while now, and couldn’t be more thrilled to be talking about one of my favourite subjects- getting your body back after having a baby!

I’m excited to share with you all of my tips & tricks that helped me achieve and maintain a healthy relationship with food & exercise. I’m going to give you the literal guide book for how to lose that baby weight (healthily) while still finding balance in your life as a Mama.

CHECK OUT PART ONE (THE MEAL PLAN) HERE!

 

Working Out

This is where I’m also going to ask you to change your mindset, this time about exercise. Working out is meant to be hard, the reason we get stronger and leaner is because we’re putting our muscles under stress- making them rip and tear to form bigger ones, challenging our bodies to keep up to what we’re demanding from them.

Once I accepted that I was going to be uncomfortable in a workout- I kind of enjoyed it. I even noticed that my mindset changed in other situations of my life to being able to handle hard and stressful things outside of working out. So when you exercise, choose to make it a challenge (don’t hurt yourself, or puke) but make it difficult. How I know it’s a tough workout for example: when I get halfway or 3/4 of the way and my mind is telling me to shave down the number of reps, fudge the amount of reps I’ve actually done, or tell myself “ah, that’s good enough”. This is where the magic happens, where you prove to yourself how badass you are & this is where you will see results from- so push through to the end!

**unless you’re in actual physical pain, don’t do that! Know when it’s injury pain vs. tough mentally.**

Another thing I’ve noticed that as a Mom there’s no way to measure your success- so I take weekly pictures, weekly fitness tests, I see results (not always huge) but it’s nice to see my efforts rewarded. So remember to measure yourself in either capacity so you can see progress that isn’t a number on a scale.

I’ve gone ahead and actually given you two workouts to do at home below. However, I’m going to challenge you to find an activity, class, or workout that you love! Carve that time out of your schedule, get a sitter, coordinate daycare, get hubby to do kid duty. You time is incredibly important, and if you’re wanting to see results from working out you’re going to need to commit to a minimum of 2-3 times a  week of working up a really, really good sweat!

The Workouts

W/O 1 - Test Yourself
AMRAP 10 minutes
10 burpees
10 incline push ups (off couch or coffee table)
20 Jumping jacks
20 Russian twists

Count how many rounds + reps you can complete in ten minutes.

W/O 2 - Booty Burner

4 Rounds
20 good mornings
20 squats
20 glute bridges
20 step ups onto chair or sturdy coffee table

These workouts are ones you can re-do to see improvement. 

Putting it all Together

Meal Plan: Do this for at least 2 months, you will start to notice a big difference! Even better if you can do 3 or 4- but make it realistic for your life! I don’t meal plan so much anymore but I eat a diet that’s 80/20. When it starts to fall out of whack, I kickstart it with a strict meal prep cycle again!

Workout: find something you enjoy, commit to it. Make it your passion, your hobby, be consistent with it and most of all let it challenge you. Commit to doing this activity 2-3 a week!

Most importantly: find balance in your nutrition & exercise. It has to be realistic for your life- this is why so many New Years resolutions fail. They just aren’t maintainable year round, especially for us Mamas who have a pretty demanding lifestyle.

If you have any questions I’d love to answer them! Feel free to check out my Instagram @themomgrind for workout inspiration & Mom life!

Wishing you a successful, nutritious, and rewarding journey of weight loss.

You got this! 

XO

Emily

POSTPARTUM FITNESS GUIDE PART 1 (MEAL PLAN)

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Hola! While I'm away, I am soooo stoked to have Emily from The Mom Grind share about getting your body back postpartum! This is something I plan on doing once I get back from Mexico!! Thank you so much Emily for sharing! -Laura

Hi I’m Emily from @themomgrind, and I’m so excited to be guest posting here for Laura’s blog! I’ve read her blog for a while now, and couldn’t be more thrilled to be talking about one of my favourite subjects- getting your body back after having a baby!

Backstory

I didn’t have a fit pregnancy the first time around- I think I worked out mayyybe 4 times. I walked a lot, but with terrible morning sickness, and a massive belly causing back pain I really had no interest in working up a sweat. I didn’t watch what I ate- so I ended up gaining just over 40 pounds. I also wasn’t a lucky Mom that lost weight from breastfeeding either, I ended up putting more pounds on!

So weighing my heaviest in my life I was desperate to lose the weight and feel good in my body again. I was successful, and now even 3 months pregnant with number 2 I am the strongest I’ve ever been in my life!

BEFORE (roughly 4 months postpartum)

AFTER (Roughly a year and four months postpartum)

I’m excited to share with you all of my tips & tricks that helped me achieve and maintain a healthy relationship with food & exercise. I’m going to give you the literal guide book for how to lose that baby weight (healthily) while still finding balance in your life as a Mama.

Nutrition

I think there’s a lot of information out there for “dieting, cleansing, and detoxing” etc. But lets take a step back from that all for a minute. Your body just did the most amazing thing! It grew a human, it birthed a human, it may even still be feeding that human. The last thing we want to be doing is depleting this amazing machine of what it needs, so instead let’s think of rewarding it with the best fuel we can get our hands on. Delicious, satiating foods. Meat with some good fats, cruciferous vegetables, fruits, good carbs. Stuff that makes you feel awesome, and if you’re honest with yourself you’ll know what that is and isn’t.

A common mistake people make while trying to lose weight is upping their exercise and lowering their calorie intake. That’s unfortunately a recipe for disaster- they should be upping their calorie intake (just slightly, with nutritious foods) so that their body has fuel to match the extra energy output. If you’re not eating enough it will actually send your body into a panic state where it will hold onto fat- because it’s freaking out that you’re in a “famine.” That’s just something we don’t want to do, because lots of other nasty things can happen to our bodies when we do that.

Here’s what TO DO:

Step 1)

Meal Plan- Sunday afternoons sit down and pick two healthy meals and double or triple the recipe.

BONUS: Pick a yummy snack to make, healthy energy balls, nice cream etc. For those snacky or sweet craving times.

-Write down your ingredients then get hubby, grandma, or auntie to watch your baby (or babies!) and go grocery shopping.

-Come back home, do up your meals and put them in containers for the week!

This whole process usually takes me 3 ish hours to do from start to finish (the efficiency of a Mom without kids I tell you!) You now have healthy meals for the week. I’ve actually gone ahead and given you two recipes to use that I love to meal prep here

A day of eating for me usually looks like:

Breakfast- 2 eggs on 2 pieces of spelt bread, or an egg scramble with a whole bell pepper spinach and maybe some sausage or bacon or mushrooms, or you could also do a smoothie bowl with handful of granola & chopped fruit.

Lunch- Prepped Meal #1

(Maybe an apple with peanut butter, hard boiled egg, handful of nuts etc. between meals)

Dinner- Prepped Meal #2

After dinner treat- dark chocolate, nice cream etc.

You should be eating until you’re full! If you’re hungry then you probably need to be eating more. 

Step 2)

Cut out sugar. In a lot of cases most people lose 2-5lbs from doing this alone. But it’s easier said than done- cutting out sugar is hard, pay attention to what’s in your food & sauces.

-You’re still going to need “cheats” so allow yourself dark chocolate, smoothies, nice cream etc. Eventually your body won’t crave the refined sugars, and when you do have a “cheat” snack with refined sugar you won’t be able to have much without feeling sick.

Come back Wednesday to catch PART 2, the Workout Plan!

And in the meantime, be sure to follow Emily on instagram!
XO!

GOALS FOR 2018 + READER SURVEY

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I've always loved the New Year. New starts, blank calendar.... a whole new year before us! The past number of years I have prayed for a word for the year. I did that this year and can't wait to share it with you but before that I want to share some goals of mine.

Are you a goal setter? I am but I suck at follow through. This year I want to get waaaaay better at following through. I'm re-reading this post I wrote last year on goal setting tips and actually putting these tips into motion.

A huge thank you to everyone who gave me your tips on instagram!
Here were a few of them:

• write them down + keep them visible
• make a strategy for each goal
• be specific
• make them fun! (love that tip from my friend Jbakes)
• do a one month goal and check in half way
• set weekly goals

This year I went with the Day Designer and I LOVE it. There is a super thorough goals section which really helps you break down your goals and how you should achieve them (monthly actions, weekly routine, daily habit, what progress looks like).

Here are my 10 goals for the year...I'm telling them to you because you can help keep me accountable right? ;)

1. Grow in Prayer Life
2. Build a Stronger Marriage
3. Make Memories with the Kids
4. Get to 140lbs (my pre-Luca weight)
5. Build GT's Young Adult Female Small Groups
6. Take Better Care of Self
7. Blog consistently throughout the year
8. Grow in Social Media
9. Grow Beautycounter Biz
10. Further Educate + use Essential Oils

 So there are my 10 goals for the year! 10 seems a little insane so I have to see what is manageable. We're going to Mexico on Saturday so I'm excited to be unplugged and start planning/executing the first steps to some of these.

I'm also very excited to consistently blog this year! I would love to hear what you want to see on the blog this year...please take a minute to answer the survey below...it means a lot!

Happy 2018 everybody. Would love to hear what your goals for the year are so we can slay it together!
 

XO,
laura