It costs $30 a month for my gym.

$30. A. Month. Yep, I pay $30 EVERY month for a 24 Hour Fitness membership. I haven’t been since Jackson was born and I didn’t go that much while I was pregnant. It kills to know I have wasted so much money. Dang, that is a nice bag or a few pairs of Gap jeans. Eh, I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have bought those things. All our money is going to diapers!

I haven’t canceled the membership because I would like to go back. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy. I have this four month old sidekick that makes it impossible. Yes, they have daycare, but there is no way I’m leaving my baby with a stranger at this point. I’m sure I could find someone to watch Jackson for an hour a couple times a week, but that could be difficult to always figure out. I could go at night, but doing anything on weeknights is difficult. Also, Tim works late most nights. I don’t want to miss out on family time or make bedtime difficult for Jackson. Anyway, I have this decision to make. Cancel or continuing paying for the membership (and actually GO).

I decided to try to work out at home and see how it goes. Jackson and I have been taking walks regularly, but today we ran. I love running. Before I had a membership I would go running around my parents house. It was hard at first, but eventually it got easier. I would listen to Alicia Keys and run up and down the hilly neighborhood. Running on a treadmill is my favorite way to run. When I first got my membership it only took a couple weeks to go from running 5 minutes to running 3 miles each visit, so I know I can do it! I just gotta DO IT!

Jackson enjoys walks. He cried until I started running today. It took a couple minutes of running to calm him down and then he slept until we got home. I have no excuse to not exercise at home. It is much easier to do it here than get to my gym. Ugh, I should just cancel it. If I want to join a gym later I can. For now this is easier and we will save money. Money I can spend on work out things! Just kidding Tim! I guess I just made up my mind. I will cancel it.

I learned a few things on my walk/run:

1. I am out of shape, but I knew that already. Carrying around a 17 lb. baby ain’t doin’ nothin’.

2. I need a better sports bra. That or layer a couple on! It’s not pretty, or comfortable!

3. My knees are still “weak” (that’s what my physical therapist told me a few years ago). I need to work up to running. I need to let them rest. Going up and down stairs the last couple years didn’t make them stronger.

4. Jewel doesn’t get me excited to run. Lady Gaga and Madonna do.

5. I should get the iphone holder for the Bugaboo, I dropped my phone 3 times!

6. I need a running app to keep track of everything.

7. I need a hat. I already have trouble keeping my headphones in my ears, sunglasses would be annoying to deal with too.

8. I need to explore the neighborhood outside our community. Or go try a park.

9. The exercise pants I bought a few days ago are cute and comfortable to run in.

This is why I’m loving blogging. I figure things out while I type! Sorry, to all my two readers for these boring posts!

Here is Jackson on our walk yesterday.

Ahhhhhh, sleep.

I remember when I was pregnant and….couldn’t sleep. Oh, wait, before that, when I wasn’t pregnant and…had a hard time sleeping… I have always had a hard time sleeping. I wake up in the middle of the night and have the worst time falling back asleep!

Not that I make it easy for myself with the tv. It started when I was in high school. I bought my own tv for my bedroom. I would watch movies to fall asleep, wake up to the (Matrix, Serendipity, Ever After) menu song and replay it….and then stay up a while to watch. Years later, I still can’t fall asleep without it on. We have tried a sleep setting. I always wake up and search for the remote to turn it on so I can fall back asleep. Sometimes I even end up on my computer or phone. It is always hard to peel away from something interesting just to sleep.

Since having Jackson I have learned the importance of sleep. The first couple months I was sleep deprived. Jackson was waking up every 1-2 hours to eat, so I never got more than 1 1/2 hours of sleep at a time. I started napping during the day (something I hate!) when he would nap. Having little sleep makes me grumpy and easily frustrated. Not good with a newborn. Slowly Jackson started sleeping longer. One night, after sleeping for four hours, I wasn’t sure if I should wake him to eat or not!

Around two months was the first time Jackson slept 5 hours straight. Since then he has been sleeping better. On a good night he wakes only once to eat, sometimes twice, but luckily he goes right back to sleep. The other night he slept 10 hours straight! I think the trick is to put him down at 9 instead of 10-11pm. He gets a little more sleep that way because he always wakes up from 6:30-7:30am. Also, getting in good naps during the day helps.

So, finally, I am starting to get some much needed (and deserved ) sleep! I wake up once or twice still, even when he doesn’t, but I’m working on not letting myself get distracted. I have learned that a well rested baby and Momma makes for better days. Also, I know that there will be bad nights, weeks, months in my future. I focus too much on the negative sometimes, so this is me just trying to stay positive!

Here is the little stinker. Sleeping while I blog.

The little dude is 4 months old today! He started grabbing his toes and rolling over this month! He is laughing everyday and is getting more and more ticklish. He is wearing 3 and some 3-6 month clothes. This last week he has been a good sleeper…I hope he keeps it up . Tomorrow is his 4 month check up. We will see what he weighs and how much he has grown. More shots, too. His 2 month shots made him very fussy and upset, so I’m preparing myself in case these do too.

A sweet little moment from today: After feeding him I changed his diaper and he laid on the couch for like 30 minutes with me. He grabbed his toes and looked around at everything. When he started to rub his eyes, I picked him up and danced around with him. Instead of holding himself (like he always does) he just put his head against me and looked up at my face. He ended up falling asleep while I held him close dancing around the living room. He has been such a sweetheart today.

Five (non-baby) things I’m totally loving right now…

Succulents. Oh, succulents, thank you. You bring beauty into my home and you never die…even when I forget to water you for months.

OPI nail polish. I have an obsession with nail polish all the sudden. I used to be a dark red (revlon’s Vixen to be exact) kind of girl, but now I love color! Errr…color within pale pink to deep plum. And, yes, like a dork I lined them all up! :p

Dwell Studio’s yellow rosette pillow. I love the pop of color it adds to my previously drab colored brown/tan/green living room. I’m obsessed with Dwell Studio and I love just about everything they have to offer. Especially the baby stuff! Jackson’s crib set, a few of his blankets and some of his outfits are by them.

A map of Paris wrapping paper sheet. I bought it from Paper Source a couple years ago. I couldn’t figure out what to do with it – until I got a new Bare Essentials set. I didn’t want to throw the nice box away, so I covered it! I thought it came out pretty neat.

Flowers. Jackson and I take walks in our community and I just can’t help but pick some flowers for my home. I love having flowers around, but I can’t keep anything (other than succulents) alive and I can’t bring myself to buy them for myself at the market. So, stealing them works. What? We pay our association fees – that includes landscaping.

I pulled out the black fleece I borrowed from a friend and did a little mini photo shoot a couple weeks ago. Jackson, of course, was the model. We have an open concept living room/dining area with lots of windows, it makes for a great impromptu studio. I messed his napping schedule that day, but it is totally worth the few great shots I got…

Our blog got a face lift!

It was looking a little dull for a family blog. I gave Tim some ideas and this is what he created. I think he did an awesome job, I’m really happy with the way it turned out!

Well…I don’t have the actual recipe. I started making it for Tim when we were dating and after we got married – I’ve made it almost every week since. I can’t even remember where I got the recipe from. I know it was more involved than how I make it now. Basically it is pasta (usually penne), pasta sauce, Italian cheese blend or mozzarella, broccoli, zucchini and chicken. I used to make everything separate and time it all right. I just don’t care to do it perfect anymore. I cook a chicken breast then cut it into pieces, cook some pasta, throw in the veggies halfway until tender, mix everything together with the sauce, toss it in a dish, top it with cheese and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Nothing special, but we love it!