What I did last week:

Thursday-30 minute run on the treadmill

Saturday-30 minute run pushing my 25 lb baby in a stroller on a trail. It was such a nice day that I couldn’t pass running outside in December. However pushing George was a struggle since the trail was this gravel sand. Ridiculous.

Sunday-30 minutes of yoga.

Monday-2 hours of volleyball. I am so happy to be playing again! The last few games were a workout. We played a really stellar team where we had to bring our A game. I skinned my elbows, and I have a huge bruise from some diving.

Tuesday-I didn’t have time to go to the gym due to some timely errands. Instead I did my training run by running in place in my kitchen at 8:45. You do what you gotta do.

Impressed by:

This is the first time in months where I had FIVE days of workouts. Ending this year strong.

Struggled with:

Running in place is surprisingly a really good workout when you do it for 30 minutes. It hit my calves really hard!

Did I meet my goal from last week?

I apparently want to avoid a core workout because I didn’t do it again. No excuse this time. I was just being lazy. I did get at least 4 workouts in!

What is my goal for next week?

CORE.

Fitness Thoughts:

I have been watching Glee while I run. Watching TV on the treadmill is the greatest thing for me. I am totally distracted by the plot line to count the times. Plus watching Glee is like I am listening to music too so I can jam out at the same time.

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Do you have any good ab workouts?

There is also a give away with this review people! Who doesn’t love to win something?

I did receive this book complimentary from Litfuse Publicity Group for my review. These thoughts are my own.

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 As you know, I love historical fiction. And my favorite time period is the Civil War. So naturally when this review presented itself, I hopped on that band wagon right away!

I am going to give this book a 4/5 rating.

At first, I will be honest I was not into this book. I had just come off of reading I Shall Be Near to You, which is about a woman impersonating a man in the war. This book, started very similarly with another woman impersonating a man during the war. The motives were different, but the similarities had me going really slowly at the beginning.

About 9 chapters in though I was hooked. I read from there to the end in 3 days. People when you have a toddler, reading an entire book in a week is a really big deal!

The book follows a spirited young woman, Carrie Ann, on her quest to find her sister who had run away. In order to do so Carrie Ann left her southern home to infiltrate Northern territory (and troops) during the Civil War. After being captured, she befriends her captor, who is a Yankee Colonel.

I don’t want to give to much more away because beyond that information is where I got hooked.

There were definitely parts that I thought were predictable, but Andrea put in twists that had me guessing. Is Carrie Ann going to help her childhood friend who is a Rebel fighter, or her new confidant in the Yankee Colonel? This is the underlying struggle during the whole book. You also get to see how each character has evolved from the war and how they have to develop new relationships with old acquaintances because so much has changed from the war.

What I enjoyed most about this book was that it was funny. I don’t know how many times I caught myself laughing out loud with the reaction of the characters. The humor was refreshing for this period piece. A lot of historical fiction has that old time romantic “Gone With the Wind” feel to it. While it had the romantic element, it was a little more down to earth so that was nice.

So why not a 5 rating? That slow start really got me good, so it may be a five if I hadn’t just read another Civil War historical fiction.

There are plans for this to be a series, but I am bummed that the next book doesn’t come out until next fall. Way to tease!

This is definitely a good read my friends.

Andrea is celebrating the release of A Thousand Shall Fall with a Kindle Fire giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of A Thousand Shall Fall
• A Kindle Fire HD 6

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on December 10th. The winner will be announced December 11th on Andrea’s blog.

Have a good weekend! On to the next book!

What I did last week:

Sunday-30 minutes of yoga. I wish I could have videotaped this because George was trying to do it with me. He thought cobra pose and downward dog where the best. I became a moving jungle gym.

Monday-2 hours of volleyball. We won both matches. 6 games is a lot to play on a Monday night too!

Tuesday-I have started a Couch To 5K program just to have some type of plan. I did my first walk run yesterday for 30 minutes. I found a plan that was geared towards treadmill runs since this will all be done in the winter months where running isn’t an option.

Impressed by:

I was impressed with how easy it was to run yesterday after not being on the treadmill for a long time. Granted, I only ran for a minute before I walked again, but you gotta start somewhere!

Struggled with:

Holiday traveling. I just can’t get into working out when we are on the road.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

I did do yoga, but I didn’t do a core workout. I had high hopes but I started catching up on Scandal both Monday and Tuesday and my abs were the farthest thing from my mind.

What is my goal for next week?

I want to do at least four workouts and one of them to be a core workout.

Fitness Thoughts:

Not sure where I found this but I saved it ages ago because I am a really slow runner. This is a really good reminder that it doesn’t matter how fast I go, I am still going the same distance.

Are you able to keep your workouts up during the holidays?

No way would I ever claim that I know everything about being a parent. I know that we have barely scratched the surface of this whole parenting thing.

But what I do know is when to ask for help.

So here I am with a few of our current issues, hoping that someone out there can give us some sage advice.

Issue One: We are in the midst of utensil training. First of all, is it normal to use an entire box of wipes for each meal, or to have the urge to just have dinner in the bathtub? We have some really good toddler utensils (we think) but what I really want to know is what are some good foods to actually get this learning process moving. George gets the idea of stuff goes on the fork, but he gets as impatient as his parents and ends up just using his hands after a couple scoop/stab attempts. Any advice on how to handle this process is welcomed by this sauce and oatmeal covered mama.

Issue Two: This may be my biggest dilemma. The days are very rare that Tom is around to help in the morning with George. The shifts he is on are all the worst timing for me to have backup during morning time. What I have been doing up to this point to actually get a shower is to put George in the bouncer while he drinks his morning milk. This allows me the 10 minutes I need to shower and not worry that he is getting into any danger while I am unavailable. But I think my time with the bouncer as my saving grace is soon ending. What do people do to be able to shower when they are solo? George is still to young to be left without some eyes and quick response, especially if I want all my cabinets in tact when I get done. I don’t think I have ever seen him sit still without being strapped down so just hoping he would just watch some TV quietly is out of the question. My son likes to play hard from sun up to sun down. I know those little gates/baby jails wont work for Gdubs. He could either climb them or knock them down. Other ideas? Or should I just keep using the bouncer until he can climb out of that thing? Seriously, I have nightmares of him finding his way through the basement door and falling down the stairs. Someone help! And yes I know there is the option of showering at night, but I need the shower to wake me up and my hair doesn’t do well with night showers. Showering after Gdubs is in bed is an option if none other are presented, but seriously there have to be some other ideas right?

Issue Three:  George is a teething biter. Whenever he has multiple teeth coming in at one time, he thinks biting people is ok to test out those new teeth. He has bit multiple people in our family, the babysitter, and another girl at the sitter’s. He has even bit himself. I don’t believe that it is out of attention since most of the time it happens when we are playing (for me at least). I believe it is purely because he has to have something in his mouth because of those teeth breaking through. Everything goes in his mouth. But how do I make him realize that it is not an ok option for teething pain to become a walker? And what kid bites themselves?

Issue Five: How do people brush their kids teeth? George hates it. Like he screams like we are torturing him, and then refuses to open his mouth if we even come near it with the tooth brush. We are able to somewhat brush with the finger brush, but that is equally scary because see issue three. I am surprised we aren’t missing digits from his biting during our brushing attempts. He has his first dentist appointment coming up which I will definitely consult with the expert, but I wold love to know your tricks if you have them! I am a little worried because we cannot get in there to adequately brush. I also don’t want him to grow up thinking this is a torture device. Is this a phase? What do you do?

Issue Five:  One issue that has been solved is him wetting the bed. About a month ago, George started peeing through his diaper causing him to wake up at an ungodly hour. We had gotten this far without using overnight diapers, and I didn’t really know where to start with experimenting with diapers. This Influenster box could not have come a better time! We were able to review the Babies R Us brand of diapers.

I put these diapers through the wringer. He slept in them for 12 hours (which was the time limit written on the packaging). He wore them playing, a car trip to KC, and every day goodness.

And surprisingly, they rose up to the test. I would never have thought the Babies R Us brand to be anything worth bragging about if I were to be honest. We only had one incident of leakage, which I honestly think could have been parent error in not making them tight enough. It has been so nice not to have to strip the bed and bring him into our bed  to get some precious sleep. He also had no diaper rash while in these, which is another bonus for my teething little monster.

If I am to be completely honest, I don’t know if I will go out of my way to get this brand. We didn’t even register at Babies R Us, I can probably count on one hand how many times I have been in that store in my entire life. Plus this 28 pack is their jumbo pack. I feel that this is really misleading. A jumbo pack should give me a lot more than 28 diapers. But this pack was only $7.99 which is close to the Target brand price. (My calculation though is that I am saving 6 cents per diaper though with Target.)

So did they do the job? Yes, and I would recommend them to anyone. However, I am still on the lookout for a more convenient option of overnight diapers since we never go there. I don’t like making extra trips to places since I normally have Gdubs with me. We like one and done types of shopping trips.

I did receive these diapers complimentary for the review from Influenster, and these thoughts are my own.

If you are interested in getting an Influenster box (you don’t have to be a blogger), just let me know, and I can send you an invite. They are a fun surprise! The community is also really easy to navigate. The more you interact, the more they will be able to find boxes that fit your style and needs. It is really versatile, and you can use it a lot or hardly at all. I have really enjoyed it so far!

Can anyone help a parent out with these issues? Do you have any issues you need advice with or problems I am not even aware of? Can we all be in this together?

What I did last week:

Thursday-30 minutes on elliptical.

Monday-We had our first volleyball match. Definitely hit parts of my booty and legs that haven’t been worked in awhile. We won two out of the three sets. It was so great to be on the court again.

Tuesday-I did a 20 minute workout with my SWORK app. It was pylometrics specifically. I probably won’t do this option again because there is a lot of jumping which is really hard on my already less than stellar knees.

Impressed by:

I was impressed that even after 2 years of not playing volleyball, I was able to be competitive. I am glad to have these as an alternative to my normal routine.

Struggled with:

I caught the lazy bug this weekend and did nothing but walk from the living room to the kitchen.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

I did not do four workouts, but I came close.

What is my goal for next week?

My back had really started killing me lately, so I want to incorporate a yoga routine and a core workout in the next week.

Fitness Thoughts:

Am I right?

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