My Zumba Addiction

My husband and my brother are always making fun of me and I'm pretty sure they think I've lost my mind but YES I am totally addicted to zumba!!!! I have never been great at the gym going routine, it's bored me to death which leads to me giving up on it really quickly. I have to thank my friend Jamie for getting me into it because it was her idea for us to look into it. I went once, sweated my butt off and felt great afterwards, I was hooked!! Of course who knew I was going to get pregnant just 2 months after starting, more on that later.

I have found the most incredible instructor, Alexis 'Zumba' Roe. She has started up her own thing that runs out of Station 55 Firehouse in Jackson NJ. I highly recommend you give her classes a try. The other instructors there are great as well!! I am a mom and wife first and always but I truly believe that everyone needs at least one thing that is all for themselves.... Zumba is my thing! I am so excited to be part of a group of really great women and Slinky too.... They are kind, strong and motivating. Zumba gives me a chance to step away from diapers, bottles and Yo Gabba Gabba for a bit... When that music is blasting my mind gets to focus on that moment and only that moment, not the long list of things that need to get done. It gets my heart pumping and though I may not look great doing it, it makes me feel strong and good about myself.

It's funny because I only gained 17 lbs when I was pregnant with Ryan. I actually did continue to do Zumba until I was around 8 months. After giving birth I dropped 13 of those lbs. Ryan is now 10 weeks old and I now weight a few lbs less then what I was before getting pregnant... This is great, I know that but still it's driving me nuts because I feel like it's not enough and I am in some big rush to drop more weight. I've also started taking a tushie and tummie class which is also great! I was sore for days after! I'm going to keep with it and hopefully I'll start seeing more results. I love that I am able to do this a few days a week thanks to my hubby supporting my addiction lol! I definitely think everyone should give it a try!

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Ryans Here!!

It's been four months since I last wrote and so much has happened! Here's an update...

On Saturday March 26th at 330 am I got up to pee for the 100th time and just like with Jack, my water broke (even funnier is that it's almost exactly the same time with Jack at 300 am). Yes, again I fall into the small percentage of people that have their water break before having any contractions. So we got everything ready to... I walked into Jacks room, woke him and said it was time to see the doctor to get baby Ryan out of mommys belly. Amazingly he did amazing! We had our family meet us there ASAP so Jack could hang out with them. After all the annoying paperwork I was admitted and prepped for the joys of labor... IVs hooked up, monitors on. At this point the contractions are coming several minutes apart and I was handling them very well. When I was checked I was only at 2 cm. Now I'm thinking wow it's going to be awhile! They start getting more intense but still I'm doing good and yes I refused an epidural just as planned. I had to have one for the c section with Jack and I knew i didn't want to feel numb during it all. Checked again, ive made it to 4 cm! Doing ok, Steve stepped out to get a bagel. No sooner did things flip a switch fast!!! Literally a few minutes after he left I got the most intense back pain, stabbing pain. I texted Steve to hurry back. From that point on the pain of the contractions was nothing compared to the back labor. My God, it was the worst pain I have ever felt and unlike a contraction, the pain is constant, no rest period what so ever. There was no position that gave me any comfort. So from going to handling everything amazingly well, I was at the point of standing leaning on Steve screaming and crying because the stabbing pain was so horrible. I remember the nurse saying "I think it's time to meet your baby, lay back in the bed".... The pain was so bad that at that moment I couldn't move so the nurse literally pushed me back in bed. I pushed for maybe 25 minutes, had an episiotomy and then the moment... The first sound from Ryan! I just broke down in tears. Ryan arrived at 940 am. Weighed in at 7lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long. I do have to stay that I didn't experience the whole thing that everyone told me, that the worst part would be the head and shoulders... Again the back pain was so bad that the delivery didn't feel so bad.

So there he was, though I only saw him for a few seconds before they brought him over to the warming table... After what felt like forever, they handed Ryan to Steve and I finally got to hold my beautiful baby boy. What an incredible feeling and such a different experience then having to have a c section with Jack. Once I was a stitched up, Steve was able to bring Jack into the room. My little trooper was up for hours! He came right up onto the bed with me and leaned on me while I was holding Ryan. There was no jealousy, just a bit of confusion on Jacks part.

Tomorrow Ryan turns 10 weeks old. I have to say that it has been an amazing experience. Jack has been so great! He wants to help with everything and has the power to get Ryan to stop crying just by talking to him. It's certainly not easy with two babies but it's amazing. I love watching the two of them together and I so look forward to watching them run around with eachother. Its still so crazy to me that Steve and I have two kids!! We are incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful family!

So, yes a lot of other thongs have gone on in the past few months but I'm pooped lol... Another day I will write about the amazing 2 year old Jack has become!!!

So Much Going On

I feel like the days, weeks and months are just flying by lately. I feel like I was just planning and setting up for Christmas dinner and that come and gone. I must say this year was special, and it is amazing the difference that a single year makes. Last year Jack was about 7 and a half months old and showed very little interest in the whole gift thing. Hey to him, it was just a bunch of people in the house. This year was fantastic! We took out the Elf on a Shelf, not that he really understood the point but we at least told him it was Santas helper and that he was watching to make sure he was a good listener. He definitely gets "Santa" now! We didn't actually take him to see Santa this year, though we intended to when we took him to Storybook Land, the line was crazy long and he would have been miserable, instead we went on all the rides! We did see pictures of Santa and we got to see him go by on the firetruck, which I must say Jack really got a kick out of! He is still asking for "ho ho" when he hears sirens, too cute! Christmas morning, just the three of us, Jack couldn't wait to tear into everything. This year he was definitely more interested in what was beyond the paper... he wanted to open up all the puzzles and toys, he tested out his super adorable chair (even said ahhh when he sat down). It was so great to the excitment on his face. If you were to ask him who got him a toy or book, etc... the response is now always "Ho Ho". We even had a special visit from Santa on Christmas Day, my dad (always dressed up for us too). Jack jumped at first but then just stared I think in amazment. Steve and I soaked it all up and still couldn't believe that next christmas there would be two little boys!

Jack is doing amazing! He just turned 20 months old (AH 4 months until the 2nd birthday party!). He amazes us everyday... he so quickly leanrs new words. He speaks so clearly, well at least we think so, but hey we are with him all the time. He is now using three word "sentences" all the time and pretty sure there has been one or tow times that there has been 4 words! He is so incredibly smart, the things he can do amazes me.... show him something once and I swear he is a pro! You should see him work an iPad... bizarre how good he is... I think he should definitely appear in an Apple commercial! Anyone know how to contact Steve Jobs, haha! Jack has learned to jumpwith both feet off the ground, he now enjoys swinging on the bars at the gym like a little monkey. He is climbing all over everything! He is getting to be a bit stubborn and very opinionated, like us I guess! He now says please and thank you too... its adorable!

Me, I'm now coming up on 29 weeks pregnant. Yea this pregnancy seems to be flying by, I think because I am always so busy with Jack that I don't really have time to keep track of everything going on. Baby Ryan is doing great! I started my twice weekly appointments this week... everything is good but its all just to make sure that my graves disease doesn't get passed along... better safe then sorry... though I am terribly dreading all the driving I will be doing and all the time I will be spending sitting in the doctors office. Its especially going to be tricky to arrange for someone to watch Jack but we'll figure it out!

Our next HUGE project is tackling the basement, well I will be doing more supervising then actual work :-) We live in a three bedroom so with the arrival of Ryan in just a few months, we are losing the guest room/ office. We decided that since the house feels likes its shrinking but we can't move that we better go ahead and finish the basement... we're making an office, playroom and storage area. How great will it be to have the majority of toys down there, especially since we will have newborn baby stuff plus a two years old stuff all over! Really looking forward to the finished product !

So thats basically whats been going on here.... busy busy as usual!

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AVON CALLING

Ok so this post is really for me but figured I'd try to get the word out there. I've been selling Avon for a little over a year now and its been great!! Avon is going on to celebrate its 125th anniversary!!!! Its a fantastic business and is so because of all of its representatives.

Being that I'm a stay at home mom with a very active little boy, this gives me the opportunity to bring in extra income every two weeks and doesn't take up too much of my time. It is basically your business... you put as much or as little into as you'd like to. There are countless women that have made a huge success out of their sales.

Right now if you sign up to become an Avon Independent Sales Rep through me the sign up fee will be waived. This would be especially perfect for any stay at home mom, teacher or just about anyone that has a lot of women friends that love great beauty products! Parents if you have kids in school or involved in sports or other activities, theres your in with a lot of potential costumers! Teachers you work with plenty of other women again all potential costumers..... Its as easy as handing out an awesome catalogue, maybe some samples.... letting the products and prices sell themselves.... you simply submit an order every two weeks, or once a month if you choose... the products get delivered directly to you... you give them to your costumers and collect your money. Of course if you want to just give it a try and decide later on that its not for you, you simply stop no questions asked.

Please check out my website www.youravon.com/slemoine
or email me at angelabeautysales@me.com

Seperation Anxiety?

Here we are yet again. I cannot believe that after 18 months sleeping is still an issue that we are trying to figure out. Jack was doing great for several months. After going on vacation he was completely thrown off and it took about a week to get him back on track. We thought we were good after that and yet here we are at a complete loss yet again.

For the past couple weeks getting Jack to sleep has been a horror. We used to be able to put him in his crib, he'd wimper for a minute or two and then be out cold for the night. Now he screams for what seems to be an eternity and is waking up in the middle of the night again screaming "MAMA" for what seems like forever. Even if we go into his room and try to rub his back he still fights. Several nights weve given in and just brought him into bed with us. We go back and forth... are we screwing up by bringing him in bed with us getting him used to that and creating some evil cycle and that is the reason he is waking during the night... is it a seperation anxiety thing which I've read peaks at 18 months... we are lost lost lost. I thought we had finally gotten past the craziness and here we are again... this time knowing that baby number two will be arriving in April... so not only will we have Jack who is sleeping very light, waking and screaming but we will have a newborn getting up every 2 hours... we are kind of dreading very sleepless nights. Our goal is obvious... get Jack back to sleeping wonderfully and praying that a new baby in the house doesn't throw him off. Problem is we have no idea what to do anymore.

So besides that Jack is great. He is so smart he amazes me though the word "no" doesn't seem to sink in with him... I'm thinking this is a normal thing for his age and he is testing me and Steve to see how much he can get away it... boy does the button pushing mak me nuts sometimes! He started making pee pee on the potty though the actual concept of potty training is not there yet but thats ok, no rush.

I'm feeling good. I go for my 20 week sonogram tomorrow to see how baby is growing and to see if their guess of another boy was correct. We've been keeping busy of course! We're trying to plan ahead a bit and thinking its time to finish the basement.... toys and things are taking over and soon baby baby stuff will be added to the chaos of our home. A pretty big project to take on but sooo soooo needed! Other then that taking one day at a time and trying to enjoy all the little things.

Finally Back At It....

Yes, yes I know I have been a huge slacker. Its not only on my blog though, I've barely touched the computer since getting pregnant again. I am very happy to report though that the nausea and vomitting has finally come to an end! YAY!!! The extreme exhaustion has also faded and I no longer require at least one nap a day to function properly. Oh yes, the joys of the first trimester. I am actually feeling pretty good now. I still have days where I feel like patience is non existence and sleeping all day sounds lovely but definitely sooooo much better now! This one has definitely been tougher then Jack, maybe that means this one will be mellow? One can hope haha. Oh and as of right now they are thinking it looks like we will be having another boy. I willbe very out number, even the cat is a boy.

So a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Jack has become a little chatter box, no surprise really, maybe he takes after me a bit... my nickname in 6th grade given to me by my teacher was gabby and i'm pretty sure that when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade that a letter went home to my mom about my talking a bit too much during class... oops :-) Anyhow his word list is growing all the time and he has even been putting 2 or 3 words together, my little genius! We also discovered that Jack loves the beach, yea go figure we waiting until after labor day to give it a try but at least we know for next summer. Its funny, the age and having no fear... he would have just jumped right into the water if we let him go. More recently he has developed a new LOVE, choo choos!! He is absolutely crazy about them. We got him a really cute Thomas set while we were on vacation (more on that to come) and then his Papa introduced him to the train set that has been around since we were kids. He now very much associated Papa with choo choos and yes I don't think a day has gone by since getting home from vacation that Jack has not uttered the words... Nana, Papa Choo choo... its pretty hysterical... now if only we could get him to wear the little hat to go with it.

So we just recently got back from our first family vacation. I think I mentioned it before.. we did a 9 night cruise that stopped in Portland and Bar Harbor Maine, Halifax, St Johns and Boston. I must say, vacationing with a little one in tow is definitely not the same as it just being the two of us, not that I actually expected it to be but it was an experience. I am definitely glad we decided to go for it. We are lucky because generally Jack is super easy going with a few meltdowns here and there. He really did do great. I guess it was a matter of just keeping him on somewhat of a schedule. He always got a nap in, otherwise forget it, my sweet little guy turns into a bit of a monster child. We always made sure to find a park or somewhere he could run around, stretch the legs and get the energy out. Amazingly he sat nearly perfectly everynight for dinner in the seated dining room. It was pretty funny because I would guess approx. 90% of the people on the cruise where 65+ and they all got a kick out of Jack. Pretty sure he somehow managed to become the mayor of the boat. Speaking of the boat, Steve was nervous about keeping Jack busy on the sea days... it worked out great... they had a fisher price room where we could bring him to play and color or hear a bedtime story. He also got a HUGE kick out of the arcade, so did Steve and I actually... he likes to sit at the racing games so he can pretend to drive and says beep beep while doing it. So while it was a lot more work and the nights ended very early (not that I really minded going to sleep early) it was so worth it and we did have a great time away together.

So Halloween is just around the corner and Jack got to pick his own costume and he decided to go with a COW! He actually looks very adorable in it! It is however quite a struggle to get him to wear it, we'll see I guess. Our community is doing a childrens Halloween party the day before so we're going to give that a try then on the actual day, I will be at the Giant Packer game with my dad and I think Steve is going to try to take Jack out for a little bit for some trick or treating... yup collecting candy for me and Steve to consume :-)

I'll try not to be such a slacker from now on and keep on updating.