fitness, cribs, and cameras, oh my!

my little football playas!

tucker was yelling "IM RIDING MY BIKE!!!" : )

the boys love playing outside! especially since i let them more often since its not DEATHLY hot out!!! football, soccer, digging "ponds" in the dirt, bike riding, baseball, chalk, running races, being ninjas, driving cars, killing ants, and a few more things are the typical outdoor activities my babies love to do.



i do realize tucker is not wearing a helmet, we need to get him one. we borrowed one from ryans mom for a little while, but somehow that helmet vanished. also, my children are playing in a road, i know, but we live on a very quiet culdesac, plus, ryan and i were within 10 feet at almost all times. tucker is so excited though, because he finally just got big enough to ride the bike! he wants to ride it all the time now. cole was so cute because even though he wanted to get on that bike soooo bad and he couldn't, he would run behind tucker on his bike, and help tucker whenever he would get stuck in a crack or little hill from driveways. so stinkin adorable. i love them.

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i want to try to log my fitness journey on here, so i will feel like i have to exercise otherwise i will let my thousands of followers down. but really, i feel like if i have to report to someone, i will try harder to get even a little bit of exercise in. as i pondered how i was planning on documenting my fitness journey post baby #3, i decided that i am going to do one weekly post on what my exercise schedule looked like that week. just cause i do have 3 kids, one husband, and a messy house... so i might not feel like blogging every day. so... lets plan on having sunday nights being my designated fitness blog post day. i will go over what i did that week and if i lost any weight. and if i feel like throwing anything else in there, i just might!


just since i am already online and talking about it...




today i did-

-20 minutes of light aerobics from a "the FIRM" dvd i have at home

-approx. 45 minutes of weight lifting. it was technically like an hour and a half of adhd weight lifting because i was watching svu and some other random show. i dont even remember what the other show was even about anymore... definately was life changing though.


weight loss goal-

-10 more pounds (to get back to prepregnancy weight)





*side note- cole figured out how to climb out of his crib about a week ago. he would neatly place one of his chubby little legs over the side, swing the other one over, then drop to the ground, happily escaping his cage and either A. attacking tucker, B. playing with tucker on the top bunk, or C. trying to stay up later with me and ryan. trying to get him to sleep for bed or naptime was IMPOSSIBLE! it was quite frustrating. but i realized, it was quite a safety concern for him to jump off his crib a million times a day and climb to the top bunk (being able to climb down) and then wrestling with tucker up ther. so we separated tucker and coles bunk bed, and now cole is sleeping in a twin bed! i can't believe that! it happened so fast and unexpectedly. i actually teared up after ryan took apart the crib, put it in the garage, and left cole's crib sheet sadly wadded up in a pile on the hallway floor. when i saw that precious little football teddy bear sheet laying there knowing cole would never use it again...the wind was knocked out of me! so sad. but i am excited he is in his "big boy bed." he actually is doing SO well with staying in that bed. figures! and he loves having his own big boy bed, especially since he idolizes tucker like crazy. they are little bedtime twinners now! : ) im proud of you cole! what a great transition!


** side note #2- as of yesterday, my camera is officially not working anymore... im going to try to take it somewhere to fix it. i feel so paralyzed without it!! i have a few more pics to put on here, but after that, it might be a little while before i have anymore. dag nab it!

better than a restaurant!

so i know ive told you about the blog, melskitchencafe.com. i follow her blog, so can see her in my blog feed on the right. well, she has some awesome recipes, im tellin ya! i just made her red chile sauce chicken enchilada the other night. this recipe... sheesh, im telling ya, is the BOMB! it totally tasted way better than a restaurant's enchilada! im pretty sure i said it like 10 times during dinner. anyway, in case u haven't had time to look at her recipes, ill just give u her recipe right here. make it. tonight! or even right now! sooo good. u won't regret it! and it is totally not spicy at all, in case you were wondering.

*picture from melskitchencafe.com

Red Chile Sauce Chicken Enchiladas
-from melskitchencafe.com

**makes 12 enchiladas

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium onion, chopped fine

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine

1 teaspoon canola oil

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

3 teaspoons sugar

2 (8-oz) cans tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large chicken breasts)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

12 (6-inch) soft corn or flour tortillas (fajita-size for flour tortillas)

cooking spray

salt and ground black pepper


DIRECTIONS:

In a large saucepan, combine the onion, jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and oil. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar, and cook until fragrant, less than 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a simmer.


Nestle the chicken into the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 12-20 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the chicken breasts you are using. Transfer the chicken to a plate, and set aside to cool. Continue to simmer the sauce over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.


Strain the sauce through a strainer into a medium bowl, pressing the onion mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. Season sauce with additional salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the leftover onion mixture from the strainer to a large bowl and set aside.


Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to the onion mixture in the large bowl. Also stir in 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese and the cilantro. Toss to combine.


Stack the tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap; Microwave on high until warm and pliable, 40-60 seconds. Spread the tortillas on a clean work surface, and spoon 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each. Tightly roll each tortilla and lay seam-side down in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.


Heat oven to 400 F. Pour the enchilada sauce evenly over the top of the enchiladas. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes, or until heated through.

Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes, until cheese browns. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.


Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, additional cilantro, if desired.


*** now, when i made this recipe, i added one anaheim pepper to the jalepeno and onion mixture. seriously so good. we had corn on the side, as well as a black bean and rice mixture on the side. tucker also agreed with us that it was fabulous and asked me to make it every day. sadly, i told him no way...the only drawback of this recipe is it does take probably 1 and a half to 2 hours to make. i thought i would be able to do it in an hour, but it definately took longer than that. but it was worth it! love love love these enchiladas!

wack-o

i had my 6 week post-partum check up yesterday, even though it was technically 5 weeks. so, the doctor said i am free to do whatever i want! my first thoughts were... "im going to go out to a fancy dinner, im going to buy a new car, and im going to go on a cruise"...but i actually think the doc was saying exercise-wise : ) ...which to me is equally exciting! yay! i did do a few EASY exercise videos in these past 5 weeks because honestly, i was going stir-CRAZAY! i think the 6 weeks post-partum is so hard. especially if you have kids that are used to getting out of the house almost everyday. the boys were going nuts, and thus... so was i. i also can't be lazy for long periods of time or i get crabby! our house isn't that big, so i felt super lazy all the time, which i know i am entitled to feel after i have a baby. but i had a really good recovery, so i was going wacko. i did an indoor walk one a few times, and i went to the local ymca where i have a membership and did some walking. going to the y during these last few weeks has been awesome. i just dropped the boys off at the kids-zone babysitting area, and i just walked a mile or two with mackenzie in my baby bjorn, just to get the blood flowing! oh, and if u were wondering, we dont have a working travel system for a stroller, and my umbrella stroller is a little to big for her right now, so that is why i use my baby bjorn like 24-7. and its not bad for the extra calorie burn either ; )

i am soo happy i am ready to exercise again. the doctor said to take it slow, so i will try to do that, but i am really just going to listen to my body and do what i feel like i can do. my goal is to run a race by thanksgiving.

here's what i did today at the gym:
-walked 3 miles on the indoor track with mackenzie in the baby bjorn (which is starting to get old- 23 and 1/4 laps on the indoor track is pretty monotonous!)
-while holding her in my lap still in the baby bjorn, i did a reclined stationary bike for 2 miles. she did pretty good, but she ended up spitting up all over me, most likely from the wee bit of bouncing from my legs pedaling.

it felt so good to work out! it truly is a blessing to have a body that works properly! i am grateful!

what did u do for a work out today?