Donut Grow Up – Gio’s 1st Birthday

December 6, 2017December 11, 2017 mrskfit2 Comments

Well, here we are. ONE year old!

As I write this, I remember at this time last year, I was in the hospital waiting for my contractions to start. I was admitted to the hospital on December 5, because my water broke at home, but Gio wasn’t born until 7:45 pm on December 6. You can read more about Gio’s birth story here.

I intentionally planned to celebrate Gio’s birthday early because we chose to have him dedicated at our church the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Both of our parents were planning to be in town, so I thought why not lump the celebrations together and do one, BIG joint celebration!

Donuts have always had a loving place in both my husband and I’s heart. After moving to the west coast, it became a silly obsession of ours to always get Dunkin Donuts when we traveled back east (they don’t have any where we live!). Especially when my sister and brother in law were living in Boston, there was practically a Dunkin Donuts every corner! Kendrick and I are able to buy the French vanilla coffee (our favorite) at our local grocery store, but as for donuts, we had to drive to Half Moon Bay (40+ minutes away) to satisfy our craving.

That is until we discovered an amazing donut shop within walking distance from our house (dangerous!) called Donut Delite. I feel like I’m cheating on DD by saying this, but their glaze donuts are seriously heavenly. (And better than DD in my humble opinion). SO, all that to say, when I came across the donut 1st birthday theme on Pinterest, I knew I had found a winner.

A lot of my inspiration came from a fellow blogger who executed the same birthday party theme for her son earlier this year. Unlike many other donut party pictures I saw, where there was a lot of pink, purple, inflatable donuts, and other brightly colored tableware and decor; the way Julie did it was simple, not overdone, age appropriate, with just the right pop of color. Take a look at her party here.

The donut printables and favor tags were available for FREE on Julie’s site. She had also linked to the donut balloons on Amazon, and other party decor she used.

I ended up making a lot of the decor myself, since I had the time and wanted to save money. I bought a 1 inch round paper punch, and punched out confetti for the tables, and also used it to punch holes in the paper donuts I made. I made Gio’s “ONE” banner for his highchair, and bought the white tassel banner at Target. I’ll link to all the decor throughout this post.

It was a lot of work pulling everything together, and I couldn’t have done it without my amazing family – my mother and sister in law have impeccable taste and stellar decorating skills, so they really helped pull my vision together. My mom and sister did a lot of the work behind the scenes with all the food prep and plating, and clean up after the event. It takes a village, right??

We served fruit skewers with strawberries, pineapple, and donut holes on the ends. OF course I had to serve bagels too since they went with the “donut shaped” food theme. And the beloved glaze donuts.

DONUT GROW UP gold banner: Etsy

White donut balloons: Amazon

I also made homemade “donuts” that were egg-free since I have a friend with an egg allergy. Also, I knew not everyone likes donuts so I wanted there to be something for everyone.

I bought Pumpkin Bread mix from Trader Joe’s, and subbed flax seed for the egg, and baked them in my donut pan. I rolled them in cinnamon sugar after they cooled and they were the perfect treat! I also made banana bread “donuts” and just followed a banana bread recipe and baked them in the donut pan, and topped with powdered sugar.

Favors for the kids were:

“Donut Dough” (Play Doh) & “Donut seeds” aka fruity Cheerios.

“Donut Forget Me” tags

Guest Book: “If You Give a Dog a Donut”. I had family and friends sign this book to have as a sweet momento.

A friend let me borrow her IKEA highchair and Happy Birthday banner.

White tassel garland: Target

Baby entertainment area 😉

This donut smash was the best idea ever! SO much easier (and cleaner) than a smash cake but just as fun!

Gio’s Donut Smash

Gio at One Year:

I have 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom)
I weigh 24 lbs 1.6 oz; and I am 2 feet 8 inches tall.
My favorite foods are: avocado, eggs, strawberries, oranges, pasta with pesto, bagels and cream cheese; but I’ll pretty much eat anything that’s put in front of me.
My favorite book is: The Five Little Monkeys
I love swinging and playing at the playground; especially crawling through the tunnel and holding onto the big wheel
I love cats and dogs (especially my dog cousin Chico and my friend Michael’s cat Sammie)
I also love big stuffed animals, like Michael’s stuffed animal whale and penguin- I like to crawl on top of them and tackle them
I do this ‘happy dance’ with my hands and open my mouth wide when I’m excited about something
I love to hang out with mommy and play peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek with her
I also love to crawl on top of her and grab her hair and “wrestle”
I like pulling all my books off my bookshelf
I love anything that has buttons…especially my sound machine, the laz-e-boy recliner couch, my humidifier, and the remote control
I love being outside
I get really excited looking at fans
I laugh really hard when Mommy crawls on the ground
I laugh when I hear the sounds, “zoom”; “boom”; “boo”; “moo”; and the word “fire”
I like to laugh at mommy when she does push-ups, burpees, or the “cat-cow” yoga pose

I love my new ride-on Mercedes and can’t wait to take it for a spin 😉

Thanks Mommy and Daddy, I love you!

We love you too sweet GIO! HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!

❤

Giovanni: 10 Months

October 6, 2017October 6, 2017 mrskfit1 Comment

Hi friends,

Wow my little baby is 10 months! My last monthly update was when he was 4 months…and I don’t nearly have the time to catch you up on everything since then; but, I would like to share what’s been happening recently.

Gio learned to crawl! It started out as a scoot/belly crawl at the beginning of September, and moved in to a full on crawl on all fours. Now it seems like he can get across our little apartment in under a minute (CUE: SHOCK FACE). Heaven help me when the boy starts walking…thank goodness we live in California where the weather is pretty much perfect everyday; I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of time outside!

Gio also learned to pull up this month. It just happened in the past week actually, and all he wants to do is grab things at a height and pull them down, especially the remote control. If he eyes that thing, he is SO determined to get it that he’ll risk being thrown off balance; resulting in some bumps to the head.

We had to put up a baby gate/superyard, and the same day I was going to order one from Amazon, a mom in one of my Facebook groups posted one for FREE. ((I had no idea that baby gates can cost over $100!!)) Not really a fun purchase to make, so I was stoked I could get it second hand.

Some of the highlights this month also included a trip to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles mid-september. The last time we were in Southern California was in April (right after Gio turned 4 months), so I was excited to go back and make new memories in our favorite place … more on that in another post. 😉

Although some things have gotten easier when traveling, like not having to stop as much to breastfeed or change his diaper, it has also gotten harder because he’s now growing and moving and doesn’t like to sit STILL! He really doesn’t like his car seat and 50% of the time will make a fuss when I put him in it. We lucked out on the drive down and I was able to sit up front with Kendrick while Gio napped a bit and entertained himself for the most part. We also broke out “The Wiggles” Nursery Rhymes video on YouTube when we needed to…on vacation anything goes!

Another fun part of Gio growing up is having him join us at the table when we go out to eat. He looks so cute and grown up sitting there in the high chair. Let me tell you, the kid LOVES to eat. Like father, like son. He pretty much will eat anything I give him; correction, he WILL eat anything I give him. We ordered him a side of broccoli when we went to lunch in Santa Barbara, and he gobbled it up. He also had his first taste of pao de queijo (gluten free Brazilian cheese bread). If you’ve been a loyal follower, one of my very first posts I shared with you that I made Kendrick a homemade Brazilian dinner – complete with pao de queijo! Read more here) .

I want to write a separate post on our trip to Santa Barbara, but in case I forget, I HAVE to share with you our most favorite restaurant we discovered. It’s called the Brasil Arts Cafe, and of course, the menu offers a variety of authentic, Brazilian food AND smoothies, acai bowls, salads, and some typical American fare. We loved it so much we ended up going THREE times while we were there.

Anyway, this past month has been so much fun and each week with Gio is a blessing that I never take for granted.

Some other highlights:

He transitioned from 3 naps, to 2 naps. On a good day, he’ll take an hour and 15 minute nap in the morning, and an hour and a half nap in the afternoon. (HALLELUJAH!)
He loves to play peek-a-boo with me and always laughs when I hide and ask him, “where’s Mommy??” and then pop out and exclaim, “There she IS!” …haha gets him every time 🙂
He started saying, “dada” and it’s his only recognizable word…although he doesn’t say it exclusively to Kendrick, so he has no concept of the meaning yet
He signed “milk” for the first time while we were on vacation. Every evening I give him a bath before bed, put on his pajamas and sleep sack, and then breastfeed him before bed. As I was putting on his sleep sack he signed “milk” because that’s always what he gets before bed. (YAY GIO!)
He laughs at the words “BOO” and “MOO”. A sure way to get him to laugh is when I demonstrate the “cat/cow” move like you do in yoga. He ALWAYS laughs when I add the sound effects while doing this.
He has always loved swinging at the park and is now able to play on the rest of the play structures…like crawling through the tunnel! We try to walk to the park/playground down the street every evening if we can. I like to get him tired out before bed 😉

Oh Gio, I love you so much!!

That smile can brighten any day!

This is a picture of my husband Kendrick around Gio’s age…what a resemblance!!

Out to eat in Santa Barbara…eating pao de queijo and broccoli

We stopped in a toy stop while in SB…and let Gio test drive this car 😉 maybe he’ll get it for his 1st birthday…

Gio’s first trip to the zoo!

Daddy’s mini me ❤

Giovanni: 4 Months

April 6, 2017April 6, 2017 mrskfit3 Comments

This past month with Giovanni has been my favorite so far! Each month he grows, I love him more and more. Weighing in at 16 lbs, 14.7 oz; his days as a newborn seem long behind us! He’s already in 6 and 9 month clothing, and size 4 diapers!

He started sleeping in his crib this past month, retired the Rock-n-Play, and graduated to the jumperoo…which he LOVES! He likes to bear weight on his feet when we hold him, so I knew he would be thrilled to exercise a little independence and jump on his own..I’ve already taken so many videos of him in it! He’s so darn cute 😉

He has his own little personality now and this may sound weird but I forget sometimes that he can’t talk (haha)…he expresses his love for me in so many other ways that just melt my heart. Like when I wake him up in the morning, and as soon as I pop my head over his crib his face lights up. Or when he’s sleepy and I scoop him up in my arms and he nuzzles on my chest.

He took his first vacation this past month, and this weekend we’ll be heading down to Southern California for spring break.

Yesterday marked one year since finding out I was pregnant (read how we found out here), and looking back now I smile because though we were SO happy in that moment, we had yet to find out how much more joy Gio would bring to our lives. And as each month passes, I know that there is something even better that lies ahead.

Here’s what happened this month:

Gio discovered his hands…and now they are in his mouth ALL.THE.TIME.
He has become much more expressive and talkative…I know he’s happy as a clam when he just sits and babbles to himself.
Sleeps 8-10 hours at night
Likes to look at himself in the mirror- when I hold him in front of it and smile, he’ll smile back 🙂
Has such strong neck and leg muscles …he always wants to stand on our laps.
He is now able to grip things..and just started holding onto his rattles and toys.
Hasn’t rolled over yet, but he’ll roll on his side so I think he’s almost there!
Is stretching out- he’s now 2 feet, 3 inches long (99% percentile), definitely gets his height from dad!
Is becoming more of a Momma’s boy which I secretly love… 😉 if he meets someone new now, he’ll look away toward me.
Loves listening to his Portuguese children’s songs…since I’m home with him during the day and I speak English to him, I try to play more Brazilian music so he’s exposed to that.
Is looking more like mommy now..his eyes aren’t as almond shaped as they were at birth (which made him look a lot like Kendrick).

My how this little one has grown!

Happy 4 Months Giovanni!

Outtakes…

❤

Our First Trip with Baby

March 23, 2017March 27, 2017 mrskfit1 Comment

I’m so sorry for my absence this past month! As baby Gio gets bigger, he requires more play time with mommy and less sleep during the day…which I’m not complaining about 😉

He’s been sleeping through the night for over a month now. In the beginning, I was doing a late evening feed around 9 or 9:30pm, and then he would sleep until 7:30am or 8! Recently he’s been wanting his last feed earlier around 7:30pm or 8, in which case he’ll wake up earlier around 6 or 6:30am. We’re not on any sort of set schedule, but depending when his last feed is, he’s pretty consistent in sleeping 8-10 hours after that.

We transitioned him to his own room when he turned 3 months. We had my in-laws in town the beginning of March, so I figured it would be the opportune time to do it. Kendrick and I slept in his room on an air mattress (he was in the bassinet), and after they left, we put him in his crib and he slept through! His room is caddy corner to ours and we share a vent, so I knew I would hear him if he woke up.

In other news, this past weekend was our first family getaway!

Kendrick and I have been going up to Lake Tahoe every winter for the past 3 years. Now that baby Gio is here, we were even more excited to share our love for this place with him. It has become a special place for us because it was one of the few places Kendrick hadn’t been to in California before I moved here. We went for the first time a month before our wedding, and have been back almost a dozen times since.

A friend asked me what it was like packing for him, and I told her it was more fun than packing for myself! Naturally I overpacked for him, and under packed for myself, classic mom move! We decided to forgo bringing his bassinet (mainly just to save space), and let him sleep in the bed with us. The only other item I brought besides his stroller was this Fisher Price seat, which was foldable!

What I packed for Gio: (3 night trip)

5 long-sleeve pajamas
4 long-sleeve onesies
3 pairs of pants
2 short sleeve onesies
3 pairs of socks
1 hat
3 bibs
2 Aden and Anais swaddle blankets
3 burp cloths
1 lightweight thermal blanket
2 fleece blankets
1 fleece bear suit( didn’t use because it was so warm!)
1 washcloth
Baby shampoo
Bath squirt bottle (instead of bringing his bathtub we just brought a squirt bottle to rinse him off in the sink)
1 fleece hooded jacket
40 diapers
1 package of wipes
Baby Einstein music box
2 rattles
Infantino teething rings
2 changing table liners
Diaper bag
Skip-Hop Changing station
1 bottle
Pump
Breast milk storage bags
2 pacifiers
Gas relief drops
Baby tylenol
nasal aspirator

..I think that’s it!

He was super fussy our last night there and kept crying which is unusual for him (the last time we saw him that upset was after his shots), so we decided to give him a little Tylenol assuming that the altitude may have been bothering his ears.

Other than that last night, Gio was a perfect angel! We hit the slopes on Friday, and even though it was St. Patty’s Day, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t crowded. Diamond Peak has an interchangeable parent pass ($74 all day) which was so convenient for us! Kendrick and I both got a chance to ski twice.

We rented a house in Incline Village (north Lake Tahoe), which gave us plenty of space to spread out. My sister came with us and was a HUGE help – she sat in the back of the car with Gio on the way up and entertained him (thanks sis!). We only had to stop once on the way up to feed him, and opted for a Starbucks. When I went to change him in the restroom I couldn’t believe they didn’t have a changing table! The sinks were too close together to change him on the counter, so thank goodness for my Skip-Hop station, because we had to change him on the floor! So not ideal.

A life-saver on the trip was my UnderCover baby breast cover! Initially I tried the Bebe au Lait cover after Gio was born, but didn’t like how bulky it was and that it didn’t have full coverage around my sides. I decided to return it and instead bought this cover online. Another mom I follow on Instagram recommended it and I’m so glad she did! It’s lightweight, has 360 degree coverage, and also doubles as a scarf, carseat cover and shopping cart cover. I feel way more comfortable nursing now in public, which is good because we have more trips ahead 🙂

Here are some photos from our weekend!

We made it just in time for sunset at Kings Beach

We stopped by The Ritz at Northstar for some s’mores

My little bear cub

Practicing tummy time

Until next time…<3

Back to Body: Postpartum Series

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 mrskfit3 Comments

Last Friday I had my 6 week checkup post-baby. I tried not to psych myself out for that fateful moment when I would step on the scale. Over the course of my pregnancy I gained 42 pounds. More than I had expected, but since this was my first pregnancy, I wasn’t as worried about weight gain as I was about staying healthy and doing what was best for my body. I was very active for most of my pregnancy and my OB wasn’t at all concerned about my weight, so that reassured me that everything was going smoothly.

Truth be told, when I saw that number on the scale, I panicked a little. I’ve never had to intentionally try to lose weight. I’ve maintained a healthy balance between exercise and nutrition so that I can eat what I want without feeling guilty.

The first 22 pounds have come off seemingly easy. I’ve been exclusively breastfeeding and walking daily. After week 3, when I started finally feeling like myself again, I hit the gym for some higher intensity cardio. My favorite machines have been the water rower, the ski erg, and the Airdyne bike. I like to rotate between all three during my workouts and add strength training in between. Then, I usually finish with a core set.

(NOTE FOR NURSING MOMS: Be wary when feeding your baby after a high-intensity workout! I learned this the hard way. I had no idea that the lactic acid could affect the composition of my breast milk. Recent studies claim that moderate exercise has no effect on breastmilk, only “exhaustive” exercise…this may be the case, but I can only account for my own experience. I spent an hour working out, rotating high intensity cardio with strength training; and when I fed my baby a half hour after, he ended up spitting it all back up. I must also note that my milk smelled sour, something that has never happened before. Since he showed no other signs of sickness, and didn’t have a fever, it made sense that the reason he spit up was due to the composition of the breastmilk. Every body is different and what happened to me might just be a fluke, but I don’t want to risk putting my poor babe through that again so I will be sure to feed him BEFORE working out next time.)

Anyway, I still have 18 pounds to lose to return to my pre-baby weight…however, I can’t deny that having a baby changes your body, and chances are my body is never going to look the same as it did before…and that’s OK. It took over 9 months to grow a baby, so it may just take another 9 months for my body to return to its NEW normal. I am not going to stress over the scale. I am going to give myself a 5 pound buffer to account for the changes my body’s been through (these new boobs weigh at least a couple pounds each) 😉

I’ve set a goal for myself to lose between 13-18 lbs by April 6, 2017…a little more than 3 months from today. Since this is a first time journey for me, I’ll be documenting my progress along the way. If I don’t reach my goal by this specified period, I will not give up. This process is about the journey, not the destination; my number one priority is my new baby and taking care of his needs first. If that means I carry around some extra weight for a little while, then so be it!

I’ll be posting on Instagram (@mrskfit), Facebook (Mrs K-Fit page), and Snapchat (@acn1228), in addition to my blog…so be sure to follow along on these social media outlets as well.

I’ll also be releasing a newsletter twice a month filled with exclusive content; such as workout videos, delicious (and easy!) recipes, monthly challenges, tips and inspiration, and of course – baby photos! 🙂

To receive the newsletter, be sure to subscribe to my blog!

Here’s a quickie core set to start your week off strong:

20 crunches

15 butt lifts

15 toe touches

10 sit-ups (* I only did one set of sit-ups, but if you feel good, go for two!)

1 minute plank

REPEAT

Let’s do this!!

Giovanni: One Month

January 6, 2017February 8, 2017 mrskfit2 Comments

We’ve made it to the one month mark! I think with all the holiday celebrations, it made time go by even faster.

The past month has been nothing short of amazing. Gio’s been such a great baby, and even when I moan about getting up in the middle of the night, I take one look at that face and can’t help but smile.

He is eating like a champ (takes after his father) and now weighs 10 lb. 12 oz, and is 22 1/2 inches long. His hair is lighter than what I thought it would be, and I’m curious what the coloring will be as he gets older. So far here’s what we’ve learned about our little guy.

He sleeps with his mouth open (like me)
He purses his lips when he poops (and also will turn red)
He has started grabbing onto things (especially shiny things like my necklace)
He has started to track with his eyes (if Kendrick puts him down and walks away, he’ll follow him)
He doesn’t like baths
He likes being carried in the Ergobaby
He loves his Rock-n-Play (and has slept mostly in this)
He smiles right after he’s had his milk (aka when he’s in a milk coma!)
His lips and nose resemble mine and Kendrick’s
His eyes are like Kendrick’s
He loves the camera! 😉

Here’s some pictures from his newborn shoot when he was nine days old. Thank you to the talented Jessie Salas Photography. I absolutely loved doing an in-home shoot!

model status…he was totally posing for the camera!

These next few are my absolute favorite!! It makes my heart melt seeing my handsome husband hold our beautiful boy ❤

Sneak peek of the little man’s room…we spend lots of time changing diapers in here 😉

Happy 1 Month Giovanni!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

My Baby Must-Haves + 3 Week Recap

December 27, 2016December 27, 2016 mrskfit2 Comments

So, I must preface this post by saying I had started writing a 2 week update last week, but never got around to finishing it; SO…this will now be a 3 week update. The beginning is what I meant to post last week, and even though Christmas is over, I want to share my reflections on my first Christmas as a mother 🙂

It’s been 2 (now 3) weeks since Giovanni came into the World and as we get ready to celebrate Christmas, it’s been so special to have him here with us. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and you may remember me saying that before we got pregnant, I was secretly hoping his birthday would fall around this time of year. My own birthday is just three days after Christmas, and it’s been beautiful to reflect on my own mother carrying me almost 27 years ago, and also Mary carrying the baby Jesus.

After giving birth, I am amazed at what Mary had to go through over 2,000 years ago. Even with modern medicine, giving birth is dangerous, and it is a complete miracle to give birth to a healthy baby and also have a healthy mommy. I can’t imagine not having the team of nurses and midwives by my side, and having to labor and give birth in a cold, damp, smelly and unsanitary stable like Mary. Not to mention what her recovery process was like; giving birth is messy! Remember…she was only 12 or 13 years old!! What a scary thing to go through at such a young age. It makes me appreciate the cost of my salvation so much more.

A beautiful song that reflects the humble birth of Christ is Michael W. Smith’s “Welcome to our World”. I look at my own son, and can’t believe that our Savior came into the world in the same way…a helpless little baby. He had tiny fingers and toes, and was dependent on his mother, just like Giovanni is dependent on me.

Kendrick and I have learned a lot these past 3 weeks, and have settled into a schedule (somewhat), and have gotten a lot more comfortable changing diapers (Kendrick has done most of the brunt work in this department). For some reason Gio has the messiest diapers in the early morning hours when Kendrick changes him. (He’s already gotten peed on numerous times.)

Our love for him grows each day, as we find ourselves laughing at his funny faces or admiring his beautiful features. As he slept in our bed yesterday, I found myself telling my sister, “I just can’t believe he’s my child.”

Up until you have children your whole life is centered around yourself. Then, you have a child and this new human becomes the center of your world…it still amazes me that my body was able to grow and give birth to such a perfect being. Kendrick has been saying it is a true miracle when a baby comes out healthy. So much has to go right to have a healthy baby, and the fact that Gio came into this world with 10 fingers and 10 toes, a heart that beats and eyes that can see is a complete miracle.

Here’s a little update on what’s been happening these past few weeks:

My milk coming in. This happened 2 days after coming home and let me tell you…no one warned me how painful it would be!! I took a nap that afternoon, and when I woke up, my boobs had turned to two rocks on my chest!! I’ve had small boobs my entire life, so this new change has been very uncomfortable for me. I qualified for a free breast pump through my insurance, and thank the LORD it arrived the very same day! I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise. I am very thankful that I’ve been able to breastfeed successfully, and know there are many other mothers who struggle with this. In those late night hours, when I struggle with whether to sleep or pump, I’m reminded that it’s a blessing to be able to feed this boy on my own.
Night sweats. They started the night after I gave birth, but I didn’t realize it was normal. When we got home, Kendrick was concerned I was running a fever, but after a friend came over to visit, she told me these were normal and it’s your body trying to get rid of the excess water you stored up during pregnancy. Whew! I was glad to hear that.

5 Baby Must-Haves:

Fisher Price Rock-n-Play. This thing has been a life saver! We ended up registering for this instead of a bulky swing, and I’m so glad we did!! Gio has actually been sleeping in this instead of his bassinet. It’s small, cozy, and foldable which makes it easy to move and transport. It also plays music, rocks, and vibrates. The rocking and vibrating is really soothing for him especially if he’s a little fussy. I HIGHLY recommend this to any mom.
Kiinde Twist Bags. When my milk came in and I had to start pumping, I was SO glad that I had bought a box of these. I love the twist top for easy pouring, and the measurements on the bag.
Dr. Brown’s Preemie Nipples. My sister-in-law recommended I buy the smallest size nipple so that when I started bottle feeding, Gio wouldn’t get lazy and stop taking the breast. Since my milk came in quickly and I had to start feeding some milk from the bottle, I’m glad I had these on hand.
Pampers diapers with the color changing line! I didn’t know the diapers had this until I read a blog post late in my pregnancy and the blogger mentioned that Pampers (and also Huggies) have a yellow line down the middle that changes to blue when the baby wets himself. What a genius invention! Although The Honest Co. diapers are cute, I’d rather have practical!
Nursing tank. This is technically for momma but I count it as something for baby too because it helps you nurse so much easier! I’ve lived in these Pea in the Pod tank tops for the past 3 weeks..I even wear them to bed! I have a couple nursing bras, but these are much more practical because you don’t have to worry about wearing another shirt. These are another item my sister-in-law recommended and I stocked up and bought four before Gio was born.

Mommas out there- what are your must-haves?? Feel free to comment and link your favorites down below!

To my readers– thank you for your loyalty this year and for sharing my posts with your family and friends. My hope for the new year is to get back to posting regularly…and also to share my postpartum fitness journey!

Family photo by: Jessie Salas

Welcoming Giovanni!

December 14, 2016December 14, 2016 mrskfit12 Comments

As I write this, my little babe is fast asleep and I can’t believe he is here! A week ago today I was laboring at the hospital, a few hours away from meeting my little boy.

This past week has flown by, and I’ve quickly learned that life with a newborn is very busy! Between the feedings, changings, and pumping…the hours in the day seem to disappear. I’ve been lucky to have my mom in town from the east coast, and thanks to her I actually get a chance to eat. I’ve also been able to shower and nap, which are huge accomplishments in and of themselves.

It’s funny how quickly you adapt to ‘mom life’ when your newborn arrives. My focus has shifted completely and I’m 100% devoted to my child and his needs. Breastfeeding has been going well for me, and Gio certainly takes after his dad in the eating department. He has no problem latching on, although he does prefer the right breast. (To compensate, I’ve been pumping my left often.) He is healthy and happy, and even tempered. He slept straight through his circumcision without crying (what baby does that??) and slept through getting his blood taken a few days later. Kendrick joked with the nurse that he is better at getting his blood taken than his momma.

Well, before the little one wakes up I want to try and share what I can from his birth story.

So, here goes!

I was laying in bed on Monday morning, December 5 when my water broke. At first, I wasn’t totally sure that’s what it was. When they portray your water breaking in the movies they make it seem like it’s this big event when everything comes gushing out of you. Well, that wasn’t the case. It was more like a slow trickle that I couldn’t control. Kendrick had just left for work, and so I called him to tell him the news. “Call the hospital!” he said. “I’m coming straight home.”

I called and they told me it sounded like all the signs were there, but they wanted to come in and check me to make sure. They said if my water did break, I would be admitted, so to come prepared. My heart started racing hearing this, and I quickly got changed and cleaned myself up. All our bags had already been packed, so we were ready to go! I wasn’t sure if I would experience this big rush of waters on the way to the hospital so I put a towel down on the front seat just in case.

The drive to the hospital was surreal; I kept looking over at Kendrick and he would turn and smile back at me. We couldn’t believe it was happening! Kendrick called his parents to let them know the news; they had flown in over the weekend from South Carolina and were staying close by. We arrived at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City at 10:19 am. My midwife confirmed that my water had indeed broken, and so I was admitted. Because my blood type is 0-, I had to have a RhoGam shot during my pregnancy and after getting admitted, they had to give me antibiotics (penicillin through my IV) so that I wouldn’t infect the baby when our blood mixed. I’ve never been good with needles, and after getting my IV put in my blood pressure started to drop. I could feel myself getting faint and losing consciousness. Kendrick said the baby’s heartbeat dropped significantly and all of a sudden 5 other nurses were in the room. They put an oxygen mask over me and told me to lay on my side to help increase blood flow. I kept taking deep breaths and tried to stay calm so that his heart rate would come back up. It started to come back up, and after a couple minutes the nurses said that he was doing better. They left the oxygen mask on me though and continued to monitor for a little longer.

After that extravaganza, I continued a slow labor process into the afternoon. By 2:30 pm the nurses wanted to give me citotec to help move the contractions along. Citotec is a more mild form of pitocin, that I was able to take orally. It only took half a pill to get the contractions started. However, they were still not close enough together so four hours later they gave me a full dose. That made the contractions really strong, so much so that by 10 pm I decided to get an epidural. This time I did not pass out…thank goodness!

My contractions slowed and I was able to sleep for a few hours. Then, I woke up and started feeling them again. The anesthesiologist came in the morning to give me a stronger dose and I ended up throwing up all over myself. From then on, it was hard to keep fluids down- I was nauseous and dehydrated. I was also taking a bag of penicillin every few hours through my IV.

My mom arrived around 11 am. (She flew in straight from Pennsylvania!) She wasn’t supposed to arrive until the 10th, but I had called her late Sunday night (the day before my water broke) and told her I wanted her to come out earlier. Who knew I would start laboring the next day!? It all worked out perfectly.

I continued laboring through the morning and still felt strong contractions; my epidural wasn’t giving me any relief. Finally, by the afternoon, they decided to give me pitocin to speed up contractions so I would have the “urge to push”. By this point, I was in lots of pain, dehydrated and exhausted. I had been throwing up liquids and juices I was trying to keep down.

Kendrick was so worried I wasn’t going to make it through the pushing phase, and even called my midwife aside asking if I should have a C-section…I could barely open my mouth to suck on ice chips.

But then..something strange happened. After they gave me pitocin and decreased my epidural (they decided to do this because an epidural often slows down the labor and dilation progress and I wasn’t progressing as quickly as they wanted me too) so… after they did this, instead of being in more pain I just fell asleep! I passed out but they were monitoring my contractions on the screen and saw that I was having really strong contractions but not waking up. It was very strange!

However, the nurses said not to wake me, because I would need my strength for the last and final phase. I slept for an hour or so and after waking up I felt much better. When my midwife Terri came in she said they weren’t going to give me more epidural; instead they just wanted me to push! It was time to get this baby out. I started pushing at 5:10 pm and had Kendrick, his mom, my sister, and my mom with me in the room. Kendrick was holding my left leg, a nurse was holding my right leg, and I was instructed to grab behind my knees and pull both legs back. While pushing, there were always two people holding my head up (my sister, Kendrick’s mom and my mom rotated).

At 7:45 pm, on Tuesday, December 6th Giovanni Natiello Ribeiro made his entrance into the world!

My midwife Terri immediately handed him to me and I watched while Kendrick cut the cord. They let me hold him until Terri finished stitching me up and cleaning me and then after that the nurses took Gio to clean him up. (I’m glad they let me hold him during that time it was a nice distraction from what she was doing!) They weighed and measured him (8 lbs, 12.9 oz. and 21 inches long) and then gave him back to me to nurse. He latched on at 8:45 pm- an hour after coming out, and nursed until 9:30 pm- 45 minutes!!

After that my sister and mom left and Kendrick’s parents helped move our bags over to the other room we’d be staying in post delivery. My legs were still numb from the epidural so the nurse helped transfer me onto the other bed. They wheeled me and baby over to the other room. That night there were a bunch of nurses in and out checking on me and baby. By that point I was so exhausted and just wanted to sleep through the night, but I knew I had this little thing to take care of and that it would be a long time before I was able to get an 8 hour stretch of sleep again. It’s such a strange feeling after giving birth; you wait 9+ months to meet your babe, and then they come and it’s like meeting a stranger. I did not recognize his face, his features, his expressions, or his sounds yet. Now, a week later, when I look back at his birth photos I see HIM- Gio. But at the time, it was all so foreign to me.

***This post has been interrupted by a projectile pooping incident…OH the joys of parenthood!!

Well, before something else interrupts me I will end this post here. This past week has been a wonderful, crazy ride that I wouldn’t trade for anything. Each day brings a new adventure and a new laugh.

Happy 1 Week birthday little man!!

Here are some photos for you to enjoy 😉

Last belly shot before leaving for the hospital!

After getting admitted at the hospital

Carbo-loading! 😉

Putting on a brave face before I started pushing

Gio is born!

Our precious little nugget 🙂

Heading home 🙂

No longer two…but three ❤

Week 34 Reflections…or should I say ramblings ;)

October 28, 2016 mrskfit1 Comment

Here we are…week 34! Only 6 short weeks until this little one arrives. I’ve been thinking a lot about how our lives are going to change, and it hit me that November will be the last month we are just Kendrick and Angela. By December, we’ll be mom and dad…how crazy!

I know that technically I’m a mother now, because I’m carrying a baby inside me…but once he’s out in the world, I’ll transition from just Angela…to Angela, aka Mommy. I brought it up to Kendrick this week and said, “Babe, I’m forever going to be Mom. Like, it’s going to be on my epitaph now.”

“How morbid,” he replied.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally thrilled about becoming a mother…and I feel so blessed to even be able to go through this process. I have loved every minute of being pregnant and will miss carrying him because it’s been so amazing to feel his every move. I smile when I look down at my belly because I know he’s safe and protected.

This week he’s the size of a pineapple…and about 5 pounds! He’s between 19-22 inches long, which I still can’t imagine but explains why my belly pulls itself in opposite directions when he stretches.

It’s been 2 weeks since I went on maternity leave and it feels like the days go by a little slower now. Without a regular schedule, it feels like I have so much freedom. I’ve been sleeping in as late as I want, trying to convince myself not to feel guilty since once he’s here I won’t be getting any sleep!

People have been asking me if I’m ‘nesting’, and I tell them I’ve been doing that since July. Once we found out we were having a boy, I started browsing furniture and gender specific nurseries on Pinterest. I knew I wanted a calming, neutral palette- no bold colors or crazy patterns. I fell in love with a design I saw here and used it as inspiration moving forward. I actually ordered the same exact crib pictured here, and also the same blue paint color. Once the room is complete (just waiting on the chair to arrive!) I will write a separate blog post with details as to where we got everything. 🙂

We moved into a new apartment at the end of May, which jump-started my obsession with getting rid of our junk. Anything we hadn’t been using, I tossed. I knew that we would be accumulating a whole lot more stuff once baby came, and that thought was enough to scare me into major closet purging. After my parents came to visit in August, I started tackling the guest room closet, which would now be the baby’s closet. We had been storing Kendrick’s clothes there temporarily, so I now faced the challenge of combining our wardrobes. I found myself at The Container Store more than once that week, crazily organizing every bit of space I could. The less we had, the better; if I noticed a shirt or pair of pants Kendrick never wore, I tossed it in the donation pile.

Well, after all my crazy antics, his room was finally ready to be decorated. Since we’re in a rental, Kendrick initially opposed to painting his room. It took some convincing, but in the end I played the pregnant wife card to my advantage. 😉

As I mentioned above, today is a new week of development for Baby K-Fit. Since the day I found out I was pregnant, I’ve been keeping a journal that I plan to make into a book as a keepsake. I’ve been writing it in every week, sometimes two or three times a week depending on life events. It’s been so special to look back on what I wrote the day we heard his heartbeat, and when we found out the gender. Another ritual has been reading a weekly pregnancy guide called, “Praying through your Pregnancy“. My mother-in-law read through the book last year with my sister-in-law and when I told her I was pregnant, she suggested doing the same thing. I loved the idea so much that I shared it with my mom as well. Because I live so far away from both of them, this is something that has kept us linked through this process. The author shares little bits from her own pregnancy journal each week, information on baby’s development and related scripture and prayers.

Back in Week 16, I chose two verses that I would continue to pray during my pregnancy. The first was from Matthew 6:21 which says,

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I chose this because it is also a quote in Kendrick and I’s favorite book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. We want our son to always trust his heart, because it is the most powerful thing he possesses.

The second verse I chose was based on the character quality I desire most for my son:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

Kendrick and I believe kindness will get you farther in life than any other trait. We also believe in the law of reciprocity. What you put out in the world comes back to you, not necessarily in the same form or right away, but in other ways you may not expect. Therefore, if you continue to be kind and do good onto others, that goodness will come back to you.

If you’re a Mommy, I’d love to hear about any special rituals you did/do during pregnancy.

Thanks for reading!

❤ Angie & Baby

Entering Maternity Leave & Hiring a New Trainer

October 14, 2016 mrskfit1 Comment

This week I trained my last client before becoming a momma. I’ve been reluctant to admit how hard training has become on my body, because I’ve had a wonderful pregnancy thus far. I like staying active, and the thought of going on maternity leave made me fear that I would be sitting on the couch watching reruns of Friends all day.

Being a business owner, I knew the implications of taking a maternity leave…it didn’t mean paid vacation, it meant paying someone else to take over my job. In the past, it’s been difficult for us to find trainers that we feel are 1) Qualified; and 2) a good match for our Studio. We’ve received plenty of resumes with pictures attached of candidates flexing or even worse, sending a video of themselves grunting and posing in front of a mirror. To say we were nervous about diving back into the candidate pool is an understatement. The fitness field can be full of egotistical trainers, and we wanted to stay far away from those people as we could.

My favorite thing about our Studio is that we are community driven. We want everyone who steps in the door to feel welcome and accepted, and not intimated. We expect our members to greet their fellow classmates by name, and come in with a positive attitude. We live in the Silicon Valley, so we know the pressure and stress our members face every day in the workplace. We want the Studio to be a haven or “happy place” for people to come and de-stress; not just physically, but mentally as well.

Another “rule” we have in the Studio is for people to make friends. We encourage people to not only learn each other’s name, but to learn about them. If you’re gone for a week, you better believe there will be someone in your class asking where you’ve been. It creates accountability that you otherwise might not have had if you were attending a class with 30 people, who never said Hi or Bye to you. That’s why we keep our classes small, not only for accountability reasons, but so that we can correct people’s form and make sure they’re doing the exercises correctly. My biggest pet peeve is when I try an exercise class and see that people are doing things incorrectly. I can’t help but cringe and think, “How come no one is correcting them??”

The most common mistakes are with lunges and squats. Too often I see someone do a squat where they drop their hips too low, or do a lunge with their knee over their ankle. I’ve always told my clients to remember the magic number…which is “90” for 90 degrees. Your knee in a lunge should be at a 90 degree angle, and same with your squat- you should always keep your butt out to protect the lower back. The minute you drop those hips, say hello to serious back pain.

Proper lunge form

Proper Squat form

Now that I’ve gone off on a tangent about proper form, I’ll get back to our hiring process. Thankfully enough, this time around we had much better luck with the trainer pool. We interviewed some great candidates, even some that we felt were over-qualified for the job. In the end, we found our perfect match! She couldn’t have come at a more perfect time as well. I’ve been struggling with serious back pain these last couple weeks, and feared how much longer I’d be able to train if we didn’t find someone. The universe works in mysterious ways, and it was like God knew exactly what we needed, at the time we needed it. I feel totally confident that our new trainer will do an excellent job taking over for me. In the meantime, you’ll find me blogging and writing more, and also doing lots of back end stuff for the business like marketing and advertising.

I feel so blessed to be in a position where I can take the time off I need to prepare for this new life coming soon. I’m also incredibly thankful to have such a supportive husband who has encouraged me in this new phase, and understands how important rest and relaxation is for both me and baby. It’s only been 3 days, but I think this new adjustment is working well so far…( I haven’t even watched one episode of Friends) 😉

Thanks for reading and encouraging me to keep this blog going.

Sending good vibes your way on this Friday 🙂

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