one year

Happy Birthday Princess!
I am still baffled that she's ONE!

At one she:
*cruises along furniture like a champ, but won't walk unassisted, yet
*eats ANYTHING I put in front of her
*loves to make herself giggle
*is clingy to mommy when tired
*loves to sneak into Tanner's room to pull his books off the shelf
*will look at a book over and over again
*is starting to get some curls in the back of her head
*plays peek-a-boo
*loves bathtime
*thinks remote controls and cell phones are the BEST toys
*will entertain herself while I do simple chores

I love having this little girl. She has changed our lives in so many ways. The talk has been lately if we are going to have another, and for now, it's no. And really, I'm ok with that.

time is the enemy

It seems like only yesterday when I met her for the very first time.
And now, in a few days, she'll be one.
Time is such the enemy when it comes moms and their children.

paperwork

Because even Clone Troopers have homework to do from time to time...

pilates

It's been almost a year since Kara was born and I began to think about how I was going to shed all the baby weight. I didn't decide that I was going to run a half marathon until January, but I knew that I wanted to do Pilates. I had heard all the great things about how you can achieve a flatter tummy. And after having a baby, whose thoughts are not about having a flatter tummy again?

So, in January, I contacted the Pilates instructor, Charlie at Gold's Gym and got myself into a private session with her. Then it was semi-private classes and almost a year later, I am hooked and still loving it. I take some sort of Pilates class 5 days a week along with my regular cardio sessions.

Getting into the certification process was not an easy choice. Charlie approached me to be an instructor and at first I laughed. But after talking about it and thinking about it, I took the plunge. And Charlie, she has been the best mentor throughout the entire process. She really has gone above and beyond a trainer and become a great friend.

The process to be certified varies from place to place. There are places where you take your classes in a couple weekends, or over a longer period of time. All involve internship hours where you take classes, observe classes, self practice exercises and assist-teach and finally teach classes.














The program that I am going through involves two different courses. The first (and what I am almost done with) is the MAT PILATES portion. It involved two weekends, (12 hours each weekend) and 20 hours of internship. The classes went through Anatomy as it relates to Pilates, the Core Concepts of Pilates and finally, the exercises. We broke down each exercise and discussed WHY we were doing each exercise.
















The second course is a bit more intense and a much longer process. It is the EQUIPMENT PORTION. It involves 6 weekend courses (over 6 months) and 10 addtional hours (2 hours a night over 5 weeks) of Anatomy. This portion covers all the equipment with Pilates (the Cadillac, The Reformer, The Barrel and The Chair). This course also involves 500 hours of internship, 250 of which need to be completed before I can get my official certificate.

So, needless to say, it is a very involved process. BUT, I am learning while doing. I can still continue with my exercise routine, I'm just adding more Pilates classes in where I observe or assist.

Today, I will take my first stab at actually Teaching the exercises. I'll do a basic warm-up with a small class and cue them through 4 or 5 exercises. Then, I hand over the reins to the regular teacher so she can finish up the class.

I'm looking forward to it. It's the leap off the ledge that I have been needing to take.

a month....

It think this is the longest I have gone since updating my blog.
A month?

I have been busy, busy, busy. Seriously, if it weren't for my iPhone, I wouldn't have been able to keep up with emails and Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, I have found it to be a bit addicting, but, also a bit of a
way to fill up 5 minutes of time. Something about knowing what people are doing (some of whom I have not seen in years) is comforting. We are all living our lives and going about the day to day, and finding sometime to connect with others all at the same time.

When I look back at the past month it's a whirlwind of activity. Some highlights:


*I had great intentions of doing A Week in The Life, but after 3 or 4 days, the pictures just stopped. I was even doing it an simpler way and had a plan going, but I kept forgetting to grab my camera. So, that was a project just not completed.

*Kara is so darn close to walking it's ridiculous. Crazy. She is getting braver and braver with letting go of furniture and has been standing without support a couple of time recently. And, in NINE days, she will be ONE. ONE! Bittersweet considering she may be our last one

*Pilates. This is a whole seperate post which I plan on working on. I have had questions on what is all involved with becoming a Pilates instructor and basically if my lack of blogging is any sort of clue, then you will know it's intense.

*Scrapbooking. I started this blog because I was scrapbooking. Because I wanted to have a place to discuss a picture and go back and look at it at a later time so that I could make my layout. Well, since I haven't scrapped in months, I am beginning to wonder what the blog is for. But, I'm not quite ready to give it up yet. I MISS scrapbooking and so just want a day to devote to playing again. I need to give my kids up for an entire day. No gym or Pilates for the day. No laundry, cooking, cleaning. NONE of it. Hoping sooner rather than later I can get that day to get myself playing again. One thing that I have been good with is journaling stuff for Kara. I have her calendar and have been making notes on that, so at least I am not forgetting the milestones and such with her.















That's about it. I wish I had more to report. I am going to make it my goal to blog more. Because I know family checks this and they want to see pictures since they are all anti-Facebook.....