THE GYM RING...

Oh yes. You read that title right. Finally, after 6 months of doing minimal workouts, I decided to to get a gym pass...again. I nursed our little chubster baby for that long (for personal reasons, I stopped...no shame in formula) and I didn't want my supply to disappear by working out all my calorie intake to make more milk. Yadayadayada....

So, back to the title of this post, now back to my saggy post nursing breasts, now back to the title of the post again. I felt it was time to really hit the gym. To build up my cardio, make my weak joints from 9 months of "joyful" pregnancy strong, get my iron man stomach back, slim down my thunderful thighs, and try to even out my biceps (moms you know what I mean by this...only thing that makes wish I had multiple children).

I've been pretty good at working out regularly. I started out 3 days a week and now work out 5 to 6 days a week.  I can't leave the husband out, he has been running like a champ. My body is already getting toned and THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM AT THE GYM. I'm starting to look good.

I do not like wearing my wedding ring at the gym. I do free weights and I don't want that precious, beautiful, sparkly, symbol of our love to get damaged. I had a roommate in college who damaged her ring at the gym...yeah, don't want that to happen.

So, this last week, I'm at the gym. And some older man, probably in his 50s, starts talking to me.

Older man: "Haven't seen you around here much?"

Me: "I just started coming to the gym again to get in shape."

Older man: "You're looking good!"

Me: "I just had a baby 6 months ago, thanks!"

When the guy told me I was looking good, I was creeped and knew I needed to give some kind of inclination that I was married...so the "just had a baby" came up. He seemed to get the idea, said a condolence, and went back to his workout.

I felt so awkward with this happening. So I ordered a fake wedding ring to wear to the gym. This way, when those 50 year old creeps want to initiate a flirtation, they will see my flashy ring and know that I AM MARRIED, YOU FOOL!

My predicament of going to the gym to workout and not be hit on is solved. I can workout in peace. Oh and my real wedding ring doesn't get damaged in the process.

The gym ring. If you are a married woman and haven't bought one, do so now.

*A note for men in this situation, we got Derek's ring off of Amazon for like 20 bucks, and it's tungsten. So he is fine to wear his at the gym...if it gets damaged, or lost, we will just order a new one. You can never go wrong with Amazon.*

NAMASTE.

MOMents. . .

I watched a movie the other day and a word kept being said on repeat, "moment".  There are so many cliche phrases having to do with this word that it really has never been my favorite.  Hence, (drumroll please) "aannnd now, for the MOMENT of truth!"  Or the cheesy, "life isnt a matter of milestones, it is a matter of moments".  You get the point.  I used to think that the word is a bit overused.  Moment...blah blah blah. 

So, I had this epiphany when I heard this word.  And its probably because God knows I have quite a few hard days being a mom.  I'm probably the most emotional mother there is.  I told my husband I don't want anymore children because it is too hard watching the little one get a shot.  The exhaustion.  Right now we are going through 4 month sleep regression.  My traumatic C-Section of a birth.  And to be honest, I am faced with boredom...you can only talk so much to a baby.

Anyways, back to this blessing of an epiphany...the word moment has a another word in it...mom. When I discovered this profound realization, this boring word became something else.  It sparked something in my mind.  It is not just a boring moment, now it is a MOMent.  I like this word now.  No, I don't just like it.  I LOVE it.  I REALLY REALLY LOVE IT.  You know that quote, "some of life's greatest treasures call me mom?"  I now like to think of it as, "my greatest treasure gives me MOMents."

So, I started a MOMent journal. Every month, I type up the MOMents I have experienced.  Like how the babe had his first smile, when he started discovering that crying makes it so he gets picked up from tummy time, his first laugh, how it is a blessing he doesn't suck a Binky and just sucks his fingers (he never looses them), I changed 10 poopy diapers in one day and I'm grateful they don't smell yet, etc.

Sometimes these MOMents consist of things I learn about myself.  For instance, "motherhood is a beautiful trial of patience." Or "I need to learn to still think I am beautiful when I don't shower for 3 days straight."  I am even learning that with having a baby, I have to remind my husband to ask me out on dates...there are things that he needs to remind me about, like to shower.  (Call me gross, but that is what motherhood does you).  When you have a baby, you are both so preoccupied with this tiny human life, that you sometimes forget about your spouse.  

Other MOMents are when I call my own mother and tell her how amazing she is for putting up with my siblings and me.  Yeah, I still don't know how all you mothers of multiple children do it.  Literally, I would go insane.  I feel like I'm going insane with just one baby.  But, one thing I do know is when I take the time to write down all the MOMents I go through each day, it helps me look at the positive side of motherhood.  It's a gift.  I have traveled on my own pirate map and this is my treasure right now.  My little man is the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow.  OK, I'm getting sappy.  But below are some of my MOMents.

 ^^Hanging out with my boyfriend at Fisherman's Warf in San Fran.  It was cold and it didn't seem to bother him.  He loved it.^^

^^First plane ride.  I was one happy mama.  He slept on the plane ride to California and on the plane ride home.  He is a perfect baby teaching his imperfect mama how to be better.^^

^^Why go to church at 1:00PM?  It is so hard.  The babe will not nap when I'm walking the halls with him.  He does nap when you lay him down in his crib and leave him be.  So, church consisted of hanging out in the foyer while he slept.^^

^^Love my family.  We go through some trials, but our little boy is our greatest blessing.  He is our best friend and has brought quite a bit of healing from past scars.  He gives us the strength to be the best version of ourselves.^^

-M

$80 OF CLOTHES FOR FREE...

Okay.  Huge shout out to my friend Merilee who introduced me to this great deal.  She has a cute blog, check it out here.

This is the best deal ever.  I'm a shopper.  I love to spend money.  Though getting married, having a baby, the husband finishing the undergrad, and our poor grad school future, shopping is not the same anymore.  Instead of getting clothes, we get groceries.  Though, with this deal, getting clothes is a bit more affordable!  :)

So, head on over to my invite to Like Twice.  Like Twice is an outlet/secondhand store with brand name clothes.  The prices are already ridiculously great on there.  But here is what happens with the most amazing deal ever:

1.  When you sign up, you immediately get $10 in credit.

2.  Download the Like Twice app on apple 3 devices...it's only compatible with an iPhone or iPad.    (I did my iPhone, my dad's iPhone, and my mom's iPhone).  For each download app you use your email/password to sign in on, you get $10 credit.

 So far, that is $40 in credit.

4.  Pick out $80 worth of clothes.

5.  Then, when you have your purchase ready, click this link: https://www.liketwice.com/shop/?utm_source=blogger and you will get a coupon code for 50% off your order.  But, you must hurry because after you click the link, you only have 12 HOURS to use the code!

6.  No need to pay shipping/handling because on orders over $49 it is FREE!

*If you pick out more than $80 of clothes, you will have to pay the difference.*

Here are just a couple of the things I got below:  (I'll look good for date night.  I have 2 boys to impress now-the hubs and the babe!)

BEEN ALIVE FOR TWO MONTHS...

Dex has been alive for 2 months now.  We are feeling pretty awesome that we are doing things right for him to last long so far.  :) We are starting to get in the groove of things as parents.  I guess that means we are getting used to doing everything exhausted.  It's been hard to find a balance between marriage and having a baby. . .it's hard. . .though we keep persevering no matter what.

Dex Man is quite the child.  He now weighs almost 12 pounds and is in the 37th percentile for height and weight.  He is catching up to his chunky cousins (Calvin and Nash).  He has really been starting to smile lately.  He knows our voices and will respond.  He is also starting to push his head up during the dreaded tummy time.  About a week ago, Derek blessed Dexter!  It was the sweetest blessing!  As you can tell from the pictures, Dex was really enjoying being the star of the show.

We also celebrated Dexters first halloween. . .it consisted of Grandma Monson taking him to the door every time the doorbell rang to show him off to the trick or treaters.  Dex also continues to sport the bottom pouty lip when he gets sad.  We finally got a picture!  We can't wait for the big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas to get here, it will be so much fun to celebrate with our little guy!

*BTW, check out Rockabye Baby on iTunes and/or Spotify.  It's classic rock tunes made to sound like baby lullabies.  We love them!  Dexter loves them too!

SPICE UP YOUR DATE WITH NEW SHOES...

I'm sure everyone has heard of "Just Fab".  It's that online store where you join a membership and they automatically take cash out of your account to go towards a pair of shoes each month.  I did this, AND I didn't realize they were taking money out every month.  I felt a little jipped when I talked to customer service to cancel my membership.

I found a new place, it does the same thing as Just Fab, called Shoe Mint.  Though, this place is straight forward with you on how their membership works...check it out below:  (you can skip your shoe credit or use it, you just need to know by the 5th of every month)

When you first join, you get $40 credit of your first pair of shoes.  Here is the catch, I have another promo code to make the price go down a little bit more:

Designer looking shoes for half the cost!  With winter coming up, buy some boots and look sexy for your husband for date night!  

WE ARE GREAT PARENTS...

Parenthood has been one hell of a roller coaster ride:

• Nursing the "monster" (literally) every 3 hours; when he is hungry he moves his head viciously and then latches on either momma or the bottle, making a snorting "aargh" sound.
• Changing the diapers every couple hours.
• Getting sprayed with urine; you think it's over and then more comes out...Niagra Falls.
• The quite often baths from those extreme diaper blowouts.
• The laundry-OH THE LAUNDRY.
• Rocking him to sleep every night.  We like to think we are getting a work out when we do this.
• Reassurance hand touches on his tummy when he is fidgeting in his sleep.  We just want him to sleep longer.
• The paranoid parent doctor visits; are we really doing things right?
• Spit up is the new perfume.
• Lanolin is the new chap-stick.
• The minute husband and wife start to have alone time, the little one wails.
• Car seat strapping in crying.
• You know that commercial where the baby cries every time the Dad stops at a light?  That commercial is based on true insight and real experiences.  The babe is the new backseat driver.
• Both Grandmas are already the little one's best friend, he likes "Grandma kisses" more than "Mommy or Daddy kisses".
• Exhaustion...need I say more about this?
• 15 diapers a day, give or take a few.  Thank the heavens for inspiring the human being whom created the diaper genie.
• It's really cute when he smiles and laughs in his sleep.
• You can never have too many pacifiers.
• When all else fails, put him in the bouncer or the swing.
• Keeping the room temperature to a strict 72 degrees.
• All the "Is he breathing?" thoughts.
• And, last but not least, we like taking pictures when he cries and creating memes out of them:

(He gets that bottom lip curl from his mother)

We also like taking other pictures of him as well that are a little more positive:

  

I'm sure there will be more positive affirmations than up above that we will experience.  The question we are facing, is how do people have more than one kid when it for reals takes a village to raise just one?  (We want to thank our wonderful moms who let us come home on the weekends to visit so they can get quality 1:00 AM snuggles with the little one and we can catch up on sleep.  We couldn't raise Junior without you guys!  Oh and for spoiling him, which our poor college student selves can't really do right now.)

THE FIRST MONTH OF PARENTHOOD...

We can not believe how fast time flies.  Everyone says that statement and while it's overused, it's true.    Our little man is already one month old.  I'm getting sappy and teary eyed writing this.  He is to the point where when we kiss his cheek, he looks at us and wants to smile, he just hasn't quite figured it out now.  Or, when we make clicking noises with our tongue, he looks at us in amazement by the sound.  The funniest, are his noises he makes when he is relieving his bowels. . .We love him!

Parenthood has been tough, it's a trial in its own way, but it's the kind that keeps you motivated to be the best person you can be.  Dexter had a little trial to overcome.  With him being early, he was considered as a late pre-term baby.  This means his suck was not the best and he was very very sleepy.  We would have to wake him up every 3 hours to feed him and the feedings were lengthy because he was so sleepy.

Most newborns are sleepy BUT premies are even more sleepy.  The nurses told us at the hospital that he wouldn't be a good eater until he reached his due date-he came on August 28th and his due date was supposed to be September 22.  But, we prevailed through the hour and a half long feedings those first couple weeks and now he is a successful eater.  He is becoming quite chunky now.

We were both surprised with the different sides of each other we are seeing.  Sometimes, I (Michelle), get a little bit frustrated at night time feedings if Derek is awake helping me out.  Dexter will spit up, and Derek, bless his heart, is so tired he just sits there looking, until I say firmly, "Get me a burp cloth!"  We are exhausted.

But, it's so much fun everyday to look everyday at our little human being, that we created, and to feel an enormous amount of love for each other.  The dynamic of our relationship has changed, but it's a good change.  We have both made a sacrifice in part of our lives to give this child the best things possible.

Happy One Month Little Fella'!