GoSportID Vlog Review

I did my first Vlog today just so I could show you my new GoSportID.  I know, it's pretty amateur but that's what I am.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

If you're looking for some super cute pictures of babies, and family then you've come to the right place.
My fitness objectives this week were to just do what I could.  Luckily with all the family around, I got a run in on Turkey Day and Spinning the day after. 

Ok, now on to the cuteness..

As you can see, it took a few takes to get the shot.  Keeping 3 under 3 is not all that easy to do.

 What a sweet little face she has. 

Just so you know, we didn't just hijack some one's wheel chair.  This is my grandmothers and she was more than willing to let the kids go for a stroll (numerous times).

 The family shot.  That's our nephew on S's side in the corner. He's a doll too!  I wish I would've remembered to get one of just he and E together. 

This is S's family.  What a good looking group!

All Aboard The Fitness Bandwagon NOW

I might be jumping the gun a little on the New Year's Resolution Speech but there's good reason...I think you should start now.  If your resolution has anything to do with fitness, my recommendation is to find your rhythm now.  Here's why:

1. Avoid the Gym Madness - Because everyone is joining the gym in January, the place is cramped and can be overwhelming.  By signing up now or at least making it a priority to get back in there before the new year, it gives you time to get reacquainted with your favorite exercises without having someone breathing down your neck.  Then when the all come scurrying back, you'll be the seasoned vet.  (I love that feeling) and don't worry, they'll be done in a month and you'll still be going strong.

2. Adding Structure to Chaos - I know, I get it...life is crazy right now but even more of a reason to challenge yourself to squeeze it in.  I don't care if it's a 20 minute walk or 1 hour sweat session teaching yourself to make the time during the holidays will give you the confidence needed to be successful all year.  If you can do it during the holidays you can do it anytime. 

3. Provides a Boost To the Metabolism - Don't lie, most of us indulge a little more during this time of year.  I'm not telling you change.  What I am telling you is why not burn a few extra calories?  My general rule of thumb is 10 of jogging burns 100 calories.  Now that's not an exact science but it's enough to help you figure out how much you'll have to do to burn off that extra piece of cheesecake.

Hopefully, that's motivating you enough to give it a try.  I'll be doing the same.  Just to be completely honest, I'm working with a lot of constraints too...a VERY demanding job, graduate school, holiday prep activities, shopping, planning a charity 10k and all the other things that have to be done.  It will be challenging for me too but I promise if you do it, I will too.

See you at the gym!!

My Love Hate Relationship with Pinterest

Hi everyone, my name is Katie and I'm addicted to Pintrest.

Ok, this is where you say... "Hi Katie"

I started pinning as a way of keeping track of all the great inspirational sites that I was looking at while planning for E's birthday party.  It helped me tremendously and I was able to look back after it was over and pat myself on the back for following through on most of what I pinned. 

Source: momslittlerunningbuddy.com via Katie on Pinterest

As I was doing that, I also started coming across all these awesome outfits people put together on polyvore and post.  The great thing about this is that I've always needed someone to help me put my outfits together.  If I'm not at work or the gym, I'm pretty much patheticlly dressed all the time.  So I pinned outfit after outfit and got excited about the idea of actually looking "put together".  Well, turns out that's where the frustration has come into play.  I tried clicking through these outfits, to polyvore to the places these pieces can be bought and they are almost ALWAYS sold out.  Then I thought I'll print out the outfit and go to the mall and shop.  Somehow I never remember to print the outfit or document the notes about where to possibly find some of the pieces.  I keep thinking I'll shop online and have all these delivered nice and neat to my house but I'm just not that sophisticated yet.  Guess I'm sticking to t-shirts and pullovers which isn't bad either.

Source: polyvore.com via Katie on Pinterest

THEN there's the food.  Holy cow!  The food and desserts are amazing on here.  I can't tell you how many things I've pinned that I would LOVE to have time to make.  I guess that's just an excuse though because for the right cause I'll squeeze it in, no matter how tired.  Take, for example, the company bake sale to help 100 Neediest. I traveled all week but I planned ahead, I made the dough, froze it then pulled them back out on Thursday night after my flight and baked them in time for the sale on Friday.  Turns out they in fact looked exactly like what I pinned and were a big hit at the sale. 

Source: recipegirl.com via Katie on Pinterest

Pintrest helped me find ideas of improvements to make in our master bath.
Pintrest has also given me some anxiety though that my house isn't perfectly decorated for the fall already. 
I have a PILE of projects on there that I'm dying to get to and maybe between, work, going to school,exercising,planning a charity 10k, managing the household finances, Christmas shopping, and caring for my son, husband and dog, jus to name a few, I'll do them but for now I'm just giong to have to deal with the fact that it's just a large repository of Awesomeness just waiting to be tapped into. 
I'd love to see your boards.  want to see mine?  Follow me on Pintrest and happy pinning!!

Caps For Sale

I don't know about you but there are days, strike that, months where I feel like the little guy in book.  walking around all day just trying desperately to not drop the hats. 

I've realized that there are days when 24 hours is barely enough time to just get the bare necessities done. 

I shouldn't complain, really I shouldn't but sometimes you just need to vent.  I have done this to myself.  I don't think I would change any of it but OYE!  I'm tired just and sometimes stressed.



I need a breather.  Something to take my mind off it all.  Remember those calgon commercials from our youth?  I get it now except for  me it's not a bath I want.  I'd like a vacation but because it's not convenient for me to get on a plane and go spend 2 days at a ranch/spa in the Arizona Moutains or Colorado, I run. 

I turn my music on and I try to forget that I'm anything more than a runner.  One foot in front of the other, breathing and taking in the scenery.  Some days it's easier to do than others.  Hopefully you're remembering to take time for yourself too.  Might I suggest running?  If that's not your thing, find what is and do it. 

5 Tips To Post Baby Weight Loss

One of the biggest things I was concerned about before E was born was wether or not I'd be able to bounce back both physically and mentally. Call me vain, that's ok.  But honestly, that was a concern. 

When I was pregnant I ended up gaining around 55 lbs.  It stings to say it, even now. Everything I heard and read talked about 25-30 lbs being a realistic weight gain.  I'm here to tell you, it doesn't always work that way.  No matter how well you eat, or work out during.  Your body will do what it wants to do.  You can help it but I DEFINITELY couldn't control it.

Once E did finally make his appearance, my mind started the clock...how long would it take for me to get back to prebaby weight?  When would I be able to work out the way I use to?

I'll give you the ending to the story first...I WAS in fact able to get back to prebaby weight.  In fact, I'm 5-10 lbs under (depending on the day) and holding steady.

Here's my top 5 easy tips for getting back to your desired shape:

1. Breastfeed - The benefits for the baby and you are amazing!  I did it for 9 months and wouldn't trade that time for anything.  I feel like I have a stronger bond with E because of it and I benefited from the additional calorie burn.  Another tip, if you do decide to breastfeed, make sure you are drinking LOTS of water.  Dehydration can present itself as hunger and staying hydrated will make sure you don't over eat.

2. Walk (Start small) - I had a typical pregnancy which resulted in some discomfort.  That in turn delayed my getting back into a routine so I did what the doctor told me I could do.  I walked.  I strapped E into the Bjorn and we went outside.  Even walking down a couple house and kept me motivated and reminded me of the healthy habits I was trying to re-implement.  Then when I was ready, I added on. 

3. Dance - I know sounds sort of silly but when I had the option of sitting and rocking E to sleep or standing and swaying to some spa music, for example, I always chose to dance.  E was happier and I got the benefit of burning a couple extra calories here and there.  PLUS, now E loves music.  Not that it is a direct correlation but when I'm not around, he can still go to sleep to the music.

4. Have LOTS of Healthy Foods prepped and ready to eat - My husband helped me keep the fridge and cabinets stocked with things that were healthy and easy to eat, hummus and wheat thins or carrots, apples, bananas, etc.  You don't always have the luxury of sitting down to a meal so when you don't, opt for something healthy. 

5. Don't get frustrated, take it day by day - That scale will move.  It will go down, but there will be days when it goes back up too and that's ok.  Remember that this will not happen overnight.  Celebrate the little victories.  I  was so excited when I got to put my "big jeans" on. You have to learn to be your own cheerleader, not your own worst enemy.  And when you need help/support, don't be afraid to ask.  I can be there for you virtually but don't be afraid to ask for motivation from your spouse, family or friends.  They're there to help.

Ok, those are my top 5.  Moms, what are you tips and tricks?

E's Rookie Season Birthday Party

As you know, my little one turned 1 last month and we had an amazing baseball themed birthday party.  What  made it so amazing you ask?  Well let me start by saying the timing of it was impeccable. 

1. Timing - Turns out our very own St. Louis Cardinals were playing in the World Series which meant the entertainment was a done deal. 
2. Weather - For STL, the weather was unusually warm so everyone was able to come and go outside as they wished.
3. Decor - I had the help of two VERY TALENTED people that helped me set the mood. A woman a work with did the banners, food labels, E'sBaseball Cards,the Center of the Wreath and backdrop for E's Pictures and MadLucy did the invitations, the circle backdrops and the water bottles.

4. Food - The party themed leaned itself well to an easy menu.  We had all concession stand food and TONS of sweets and snacks including Cake Pops, Cake, Cookies and Gus's Pretzels.  I promise no one went home hungry.

5.The Birthday Boy -  E also played the great host.  He visited with most everyone and enjoyed his cake.  I even got him to wear his ball cap for a while.  HOW CUTE IS HE!?  And at the end of the day, we even got in a little cuddle time with the cousins. 

All in all, we had an absolutely fabulous day.  I wouldn't change a thing.  Can't wait for next year!

Before and After Living Room: The Old and New

Now that we're in the new house our list of "projects" is long.  One of the things we wanted to do before E's party was spruce up the Front Living Room.  We've got a long way to go but we did get it repainted, added some side tables and lamps and hung a very special accessory. 

One of the first things I did to my first house was replace the doors.  They were original to the house about 55 years old and drafty.  I managed to save the back door for the past 6 years.  It's been hidden in my basement.  Someday I knew I would want to do something with it and someday has come. 

I LOVE the way it looks in it's place of honor.  It will always remind me of where I started and captures the essence of what I have now. 

I LOVE that the pictures in there are my family (that I took).  Obviously I'm missing one.  It's on it's way from Shutterfly.  I have more to do to this room but at this point I do love what we've done.

What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday: Halloween & The World Series

World Series...

The night of the world Series Game 7 also happened to be the Saturday before Halloween.  S and I were at a Halloween Party Downtown.  After the win, we headed out to celebrate with the masses.  Turns out we were quite the hit seeing as that most of our group was in costume.  You're looking at "The Big Puma" (aka Lance Berkman) and "Eddie" from Christmas Vacation.

On Sunday, Cardinals hosted a Celebration Parade and Rally at the Stadium.  We took E with us so he could be part of the festivities.  It was awesome to watch Daddy and Son experience this together.  It was a wonderful moment as a mom and a Cardinal Fan.



 Every player came in on a Ford Truck, families in tow.  It was awesome to see how close some of these big burly ball players were with their kids.  Matt Holiday couldn't let go of his little girl.  ADORABLE!!

After all this excitement, E had had enough and did something he has only done twice in his young life....Fallen asleep in public (both times at Busch Stadium). I like to think he's so comfortable there he just falls asleep.

Monday was Halloween and we did try to get E in costume.  It did at times feel like a fight but he thought it was hilarious.  Once it was on he thought it was so cool.  We even got to show him off to a few neighbors. 



GoSportID Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to our GO SportID giveawa winners.  Email  me your info and I'll get your gift card out to you.  momslittlerunningbuddy @ gmail.com

Carrie

 Suz and Allan

 Melissa