Helping Hands

Fit Friday

Recently, I have been thinking about what it means to be fit. I tend to focus on physical fitness. I enjoy exercising and eating healthy. The exercise is great stress relief, allows me to get out of the house on my own, and helps me feel better about myself in addition to helping me stay physically fit. I work hard and am fairly content with my body, although I would love to look like a swimsuit model (who wouldn't), despite the minor evidence/damage left behind from having 2 kids and aging. I think I have gotten less concerned about physical "perfection" as I have "aged" which is great -- one day I hope to find that perfect balance of being totally content with my body without sacrificing my health (aka becoming overweight).

What else is required to maintain a fit life? Healthy eating is important of course but what about emotional fitness? spiritual fitness? medical fitness/health?

Lainey has had a lot of ear infections recently. After three courses of antibiotics in the past two months I have been trying to figure out how to help her stay healthy/fit. I altered her diet by cutting out all dairy/eggs/nuts from my diet (she is nursing). It seemed to make a huge difference. Then she caught a cold which led to another ear infection. She is already on Prevacid and her reflux seems well controlled so I don't that is leading to the ear infections. So, I took her to a chiropractor. I have never been to one myself and frankly, as a PA who used to work in the GI clinic, feel somewhat skeptical about chiropractic medicine for non-musculoskeletal issues. But, I don't think it can hurt anything so we tried it. So far she has been adjusted twice. She did have a bad cold/borderline ear infection when I took her the first time and was able to fight it off without antibiotics. Was that due to the adjustments or just coincidence? I don't know. She goes back for another adjustment next week. I am going to get adjusted too -- hopefully the Dr. can get the kink out of my neck so I can look over both of my shoulders.

So, that is another area of "fitness/health" that I have been exploring recently. I think I will touch on spiritual/emotional health next week as those areas of health are likely just as important as physical health.

How do you stay fit?

Biker Babe

Erik may need a different trike this summer as Lainey was thrilled to take a spin on his old one.


The bike Lainey is riding is really hard to pedal but comes with a pushbar for parents. I think it works better for kids not trying to pedal independently.

I took Erik to an open gym a couple of weeks ago and he was able to ride this trike on his own.

Cool Schwinn Bike

It has great big tires and is very easy to drive. I have been secretly coveting it since he took it for a test drive. Now that Lainey likes the "old" bike I feel a little less guilty about considering buying a second trike.


It has been a little warmer outside this week. I can not wait until it is sunny and 60 so we can go outside without getting bundled up. I can't wait until the snow melts so we can go on long walks, play at the park, etc. Even though it isn't super nice out we still get out to play everyday for at least 30-45 minutes. Here is a short video of the kids playing outside today....

Lainey says Dada

Fit Friday

I was going to write an meaningful post for this week's Fit Friday but I am too tired. Still working on p90x. Life has restarted after the big blizzards so I was able to get to the gym a few times this week. Going on a decent walk is going to be quite challenging until all the snow has melted because the sidewalks on our walking path are not shoveled. I hope you have had a good week!

Erik Wayne

Today is my Grandpa Baker's (Wayne L) birthday. My grandpa was a wonderful kind and gentle man. He was near and dear to me. I am sure he loved all his grandchildren equally but since I was his only granddaughter for 10 years (it was me and nine grandsons until Melanie finally arrived) I always thought I held a special place in his heart. Erik never met my grandpa but I think that he would have been proud to have my little boy as his namesake.

Erik you are a cherished little boy.

Here are some things I love about you...

Kind and sweet even at the turbulent age of 2.
Gentle, with a tender heart
Loving
Playful and fun
Generous
Proud big brother
Super snuggler

Most of these characteristics remind me of your great grandpa! I look forward to watching you grow and develop. I hope it doesn't go by too quickly!

Erik, you make being a mommy fun!

Below is a link to a video of Erik and Lainey playing today....
Lainey and Erik

Chinese New Year/Happy Valentine's Day

Aren't my Chinese kids cute?
Thanks Grandpa Miin and Irene for our new costumes.

Handmade cards for daddy

Pink oatmeal with whip cream and strawberries

Pink milk

8 months

Happy 8 month birthday baby girl!

What a busy month you have had. You have gone from army crawling to full force speed crawling. In addition to crawling you have also learned how to pull up on everything. You are so cute. So interested in everything around you. Where did my tiny baby go?

You are still nursing 7 times in 24 hours. I offer you three meals a day. You like to feed yourself -- cheerios/peas/avacado/bananas. You will usually only eat 5-10 bites of cereal/pureed foods before starting to cry.

You are still on Prevacid solutabs 7.5 mg twice a day. Your reflux seems to be well controlled on that. Since November you have had 3 ear infections and are currently fighting your fourth one (it is borderline -- no antibiotics yet). This is so frustrating for me because I wish I could make you feel better. Sometimes babies get ear infections/stuffiness from food allergies so I cut all dairy, eggs, and nuts out of my diet. When I first did this you seemed MUCH better but now you have been sick for 3-4 weeks again despite my dietary changes. When you get an ear infection you are pretty happy during the day but miserable at night. You have not been able to sleep unless we are holding you for the past 4 nights. Poor baby girl.

You are growing fast. At your doctor's appointment today you were 17 pounds 12 ounces (45%).

You are such a fun little baby -- a joy to be around. I really love this stage and wish I could just stop time for a little bit.

Grandma Kay and Grandpa Byron visited us for a couple days this month. They love spending time with you.

We also went to meet your sweet cousin baby Jamison. I am so excited to have a nephew and for you to have cousin so close in age (and size)!

You are loved so much baby girl!

Fit Friday

Another week down. This was a strange week. Due to the snow we were pretty housebound all week. Thankfully, since Virginian's are quite wussy when it comes to clearing snow, Victor was home from work almost all week so I didn't go too stir crazy. It was actually a really wonderful week as we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family.

Since we got around 3 feet of snow staying fit was pretty much limited to the p90x this week. The gym was often closed and going on a walk was impossible. I did get out and go sledding three times which was a fun way to stay fit. I shoveled a little as well, although Victor can take credit for 90% of that (thanks honey).

As mentioned before, I dropped my camera in the snow. I did get a new camera but still need to buy a memory card so I don't have any new pictures for you.

What have you done to stay fit this week?

My Big Mouth

Remember this post? I won't be making that request again for a LONG time! It is still snowing here -- since Saturday I think we have gotten 30+ inches of snow. It has actually been a lot of fun. Victor has been home since Friday at noon (the federal government has been closed since then). So we have had an unplanned stay-cation. There are two nice sledding hills in the neighborhood so I have gotten my sledding fill. We have build a castle in the backyard and shoveled a lot. The kids love having their dad home, as do I. The weather today is not nice -- very windy and it is still snowing. I am guessing no one will be back at work before Friday but we will see.

Unfortunately, I lost my camera out in the 30+ inches of snow the other day. I did order a new cheap camera (I seem to break or lose all technology I am in charge of) but I don't have it yet so here are some cute photos I just hadn't posted yet.
Sweet Baby Girl
10 days old

My 2 year old helper -- he has always loved vacuums.

Cute Lainey drinking out of a straw cup when only 7 months old.

I hope you are all staying warm!

Mr. Photogenic

My husband is kind, strong, hard-working and handsome. It is a good thing I didn't place being photogenic high on the list of important characteristics I wanted in a husband.

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

I finally gave up on getting a picture with his eyes open but will post the best of the batch so you can see the huge pile of snow he shoveled.

Take 4

It's a good thing he has a sense of humor!

Too cute for Words (In my slightly biased opinion)

2010 Blizzard

The amount of snow we have gotten this year is really amazing! We have gotten over 2 feet of snow during the past 24 hours. I would guess the total snowfall for the year is close to 50 inches. I am ready for spring but here are some photos of the fun we had in the snow today.

Failed attempt at making snow ice cream without an ice cream machine or rock salt. Gross!

Fun snow fort -- Erik was a good helper!

Fit Friday

One more week down. This week seemed to be very quick! I am in the second week of phase two. Not much too add. Erik knows that I exercise and tells me all the time that we need to exercise to keep our bodies strong. I hope that Victor and I can be good examples for our kids in maintaining healthy lifestyles -- in more than just physical fitness.

Erik joined me for a few minutes of the yoga video this week. Enjoy!

Daddy Daycare

Meet our newest family member

We made it through the transition from 1-2 kids and have been starting to get a little more sleep. We were getting a little bored with nothing new or exciting. Erik has been asking for a kitty cat for the past 2-3 months. He is allergic to them though so no cats for us at the moment. On a whim, I decided to take Erik to visit the animal shelter last weekend. We had no intentions of adopting a pet but when we got there we found the cutest little dog ever.

Here are some of it's great features...

House trained
Friendly demeanor but not overbearing
Loves to snuggle/be pet
Likes long walks and playing outside
Gets along well with kids and other animals
Does tricks like rolling over, begging, fetch
Biggest, most beautiful brown eyes

So, after some negotiating I convinced Victor that we should let the puppy come home with us. We sure think we found the cutest dog ever. What do you think?