Guest Post: Postpartum Workout

hello! today i'm having Katie, a mommy and health blogger, from "Moore from Katie" share a bit about postpartum workouts for all you mommies out there. hope you find it helpful!

Postpartum Workout Timeline

Many women are eager to get back into shape after the birth of their baby—I wanted to slim down immediately! It's important to note that you shouldn't be jumping right back into a vigorous routine until your baby is several months old. Pregnancy and birth affect women's bodies in more ways than weight gain. Your hormones are surging, your breasts are full of milk, and a new baby is sitting in your lap. You will get back into shape over time, so don't rush it. Start with a few easy exercises then gradually work up to a more intense workout.

Day 3
A few days after giving birth you can begin to tighten your pelvic floor muscles with specific exercises. These exercises are easy to perform, and you can do them anywhere, anytime. Do them every time you feed the baby, or before you drift off to sleep at night.

You can also begin pelvic tilts quite soon after birth. Pelvic tilts will help tighten the abdominal muscles that got stretched and possibly separated during pregnancy. Lie on your back to perform a pelvic tilt. Raise your knees up, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Squeeze all of your lower ab muscles as you slowly pull your pelvis up and in. Hold the muscles tight for a few seconds, then release and repeat. I liked to do this exercise while my daughter was napping or lying on the floor beside me.

Week 1
The first week of being a new mom has most likely been a blur of nappies, breastfeeding, bottles and no sleep. Many women feel content loving on their babies 24/7. After the first week, I started to feel a bit stir crazy since I had no semblance of my former routine. If you're itching to get out of the house, try a leisurely walk. I loved to bring my daughter out in her pram or front carrier, and take in the fresh air. Just remember to take it slow and easy. If your post natal bleeding becomes heavier or painful, you've probably pushed it too far.

Week 3
Many women are ready to get into a more physical routine three weeks after birth. However, it depends on your unique birthing circumstances. Women who had c-sections will need to wait longer. The best thing to do is to talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise routine. Just as your doctor advised you on delivery decisions, like pain medication, cord blood banking, and immunizations, your doctor can help you develop a good routine to work exercise back into your life safely. I had a great relationship with my doctor throughout my whole term and felt very comfortable asking all of my health and diet questions.

It's important to treat your body well by eating healthy and not overdoing it. If you are breastfeeding, your body still needs extra calories to produce enough milk for the baby. Breastfeeding moms often find the pounds melting away, even though they are still "eating for two". If you exercise too much, your body might be burning too many calories to produce an adequate milk supply.

Week 8 and Beyond
When your bleeding stops, and you aren't feeling any soreness or irritation anymore, you can begin a more rigorous exercise routine. Getting back to my yoga and running routine was a great release physically and emotionally, Now that your body is ready, the hardest part will be finding the time to squeeze in those workouts on a regular basis.

“Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.”

my friend mary & her yellow short memories

hey-o!
i want to introduce you to a friend of mine.
her name is mary.
there once was a time that mary and i shared a house together along with three other lovely ladies.
"The Charles House Ladies"-we called ourselves.
we shared life with each other in that house.
we laughed, we cried, we danced, and we grew.
kindred spirits were found in one another.
some of my most favorite college memories.

well now mary is an uh-MAZING photographer!
check out her site here.
i asked mary to share a little about herself and her love for photography.

Life passes by so very quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was picking out my outfit for the first day of 2^nd grade. I remember what I wore. Yellow shorts. Yep, yellow shorts with a blue belt to match the blue on my shirt. My hair was pulled into a bun on the top of my head because that was the cool thing to do. I even had matching navy blue Keds. You remember those. Boy, was I awesome. 

That was a long time ago but yet the image is burned in my memory. While I certainly remember that moment, the image in my head is made clearer by the picture I have in my scrapbook at home…documenting that day. That is why I love photographs. I love them because they strengthen memories. Memories I never want to lose. Never want to forget. 

I have countless ‘yellow short’ memories that are made more vivid in my mind because of photographs. Some are far more significant than my second grade outfit and some are just simple memories that tell the story of my life. Believing that we are made for another world, but also that this life can be blessed, I love the art of photography. I love it because it tells the story of our lives and each story is important. 

Baby Baker Love definitely takes this philosophy to heart, both in the celebrating of life’s stories and documenting them! When ‘Mrs. Baker’ asked me to guest blog, I was thrilled for this very reason! Though our blogs are different in some ways, the principles are the same. Celebrate life and those that we love. So with that, I hope that today you will be inspired to celebrate YOUR story! After all, you only get one to live, so love and live it well…and don’t forget to stop and take some ‘yellow short’ pictures along the way!

avoiding melt-age

hey guys!
hope you all are enjoying this swelt-abulously hot weekend!
i'm just here, you know, trying not to melt.
it.is.so.hot.outside.
seriously people. it's hot EVERYWHERE. even inside. ;)
but, for real, i'm not joking.

so i just wanted to stop by and make sure you all were alive. no heat strokes right?
oh, and also to let you know that i'm guest posting over at Little Homemade Housewife.
-i'm sharing my moss coaster DIY, but there are also some new pics of Ry in it too. and it's always fun seeing what he's up to. :) check it out here.

hope there's no melting going on your way!
ta-ta for now (thanks for that one Tigger ;)

Anniversary + Birthday + Guest Post

Happy 30th Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

Thank you for fighting for your marriage and staying true all these years.

Love you!

and Happy Birthday Dad :)

also, I'm sharing Ry's birth story over at The Grant Life.
Check it out here.

Guest Post: The Mrs. & The Momma

Hi Baby Baker Love readers!  I'm Kristen from The Mrs. & The Momma, and I'm so glad Mrs. Baker was kind to have me here today.  My blog is a mix of my life as a momma to four, my personal style, and all the workings of a crazy life.  I do a little series on my blog called "High 5" where I have a list of five things pertaining whichever subject I'm talking about that day.

I thought I'd carry that over here to do a little "High 5" of Motherhood...being just a few little tidbits I've learned over the past several years of I've had the privilege of being a mother.  Here we go....

1.  Not only take as many pictures you can of your children, but actually print them out.
I can't count how many times I wanted to give a gift to a relative or just change out pictures in frames at home, but hadn't ordered any current ones.  There are deals all the time with various photograph hosts (Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc.) where you can get hundreds of prints for under $10.

2.  When you find your children growing out of their clothes, it may be really hard to part with them, but do it.
Even if you plan to have more children, only keep the clothes that are sentimental (holiday, memorable, special occasion) or ones that are in excellent condition.  Those spit up stains have a knack for reappearing once they've been in storage for a while.  Trust me on this one....you'll thank me later, especially if you end up having a large family.

3.  Nurse (or bottle-feed) your baby at bedtime if you can.
I know this is not recommended by pediatricians, but I think it's mainly discouraged if feeding is used as a sleep tool, which is not what I'm suggesting.  With all four of my children, in whom I did my best to instill healthy and strict sleep practices (meaning they could put themselves to sleep at as early as 3 months), I always kept the bedtime feeding.  This was (and is) precious time spent together.  We look at each other and just have an "us" moment.  I wouldn't give this up for anything and I will cherish it forever.  It's times like this you can't ever get back.

4.  Babywearing is a win for everyone!
There are so many babywearing products out there these days...obviously, it's beneficial to both momma and baby.  You can read more about the emotional, psychological, and intellectual benefits here.  My favorite is the Moby Wrap.  It's one long piece of fabric wrapped around your body, and then you can wear your baby several different ways depending on their age, size, etc.  I wish I had worn my older children more...even if it were just around the house.

5.  When contemplating having a baby (or another child), there is never "the perfect time".
Deciding to have a baby should be a thoughtful and prayerful decision.  However, if thinking the "right time" will come...I assure it most probably won't.  There will always be a spouse needing to graduate first, a house to buy, money that needs to be saved, more "us" time that needs to be had.  Our first child was born when my husband was in law school and we lived off student loans so that I could stay home.  While living with my in-laws and my husband was studying for the bar exam (no job), we decided to try for another baby.  I've never regretted our decisions.  I don't tell this story to suggest going into debt to support a family or being cavalier about having babies....but to simply say that when a couple is emotionally and spiritually ready for children, they can always find external reasons to wait.  I argue not to wait.

Guest Post: Ashley from Pencilled Daydream

Hi! I'm Ashley, the wife and mama behind the blog Pencilled Daydream.

I love writing and sharing our life through my blog...where you can expect to find my perspective on life as a wife, the ups and downs of mommy- hood, the Christian life, and my fun daydreams. I started a blog after having my first son Elias and have had so much fun sharing our journey. Now that I've had my second son Owen, I'm in full fledged mommy mode.

Recently, at my house, it looked like a grenade went off in the middle of Owen’s nursery floor. Baby clothes somehow managed to explode- which by the way seems to be a weekly occurence. And what's worse is that most of the clothes don’t even fit him anymore. I was left cramming baby clothes into an overstuffed drawer when I contemplated throwing them all out the window in hopes that I would never have to see them again. All that to say, I usually don’t have a lot of time to think about decorating the nursery. But the unthinkable happened, I actually found time to gear towards decorating Owen's nursery.

Here is a fun little DIY project that I did.

 

I found the idea to frame the letters in Owen's name on Pinterest. It was really easy to do. It was as simple as buying wooden letters, and an open frame at Hobby Lobby. All I had to do after that was paint them. 

After everything was painted, I hung it on Owen's baby blue wall.

 

When it comes to decorating, I've found that it is great to choose something that is easy to do but that makes a big impact on the room. That is why I loved putting a frame around the letters of my son's name. It was easy, cute, and made a big difference in the room.

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you around!

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