Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Another year has come and gone..

Well here we are New Years Eve, 2014 is quickly winding down and 2015 is slowly rolling in. 

First off I realize I haven't done a Christmas Post yet (sorry) Christmas really wasn't all that earth shattering. It was very low key. Madison was battling a nasty cold (still is) and I wasn't feeling like myself and that lovely lovely stomach bug decided it would make its self at home in our house. 

As for tonight we are planning a low key evening at home with the girls. If we make it to see the ball drop it will be a miracle. Chris and I both really need a good nights sleep. 

Last year I shared my goals for 2014, you can find the post here.
I am so happy I completed all my goals (except finishing my personal training cert. still working on that one).

This year I have a few goals again :)
1. Run 9+1 to qualify for the 2016 NYC Marathon
2. Run one race every month
3. Take a kid free vacation
4. Get to the beach more this summer
5. Finish our laundry room
6. Paint our 2 bathrooms
7. Paint the basement and decorate the spareroom
8. Blog MORE!
9. Learn to sew with my new sewing machine
10. Teach Madison how to write her name
11. Teach Elizabeth how to swim (with a life jacket of course)
12. Continue my fitness journey.
13. Monthly date nights with Chris doing something different and fun (bowling, go karts etc)
14. Read a new book every months
15. Be happy, worry less and complain less

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years!
I'll be back tomorrow with some pictures  :)

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Gigabody Review & Giveaway!


A few weeks ago you might remember mementioning Gigabody and a future giveaway for it. well the time is here :)
 Gigabody is a website that provides amazing workout videos.. anywhere! You can workout from any room in your house,  a hotel, outside wherever you want whenever you want as long as you can connect to the internet!

Gigabody was created is a small company started by Valerie Lanard, she fell in love with fitness after joining an office Biggest Loser contest in 2010. She quit the gym, was doing smaller more frequent workouts and found it tough to find workout dvds to keep her from getting bored. She wanted to find videos online without having to dig through amateur videos to find the best ones.. the Gigabody site was soon born!
Here's how it works. You sign up for a monthly membership ($8.99/month) with a 14 day trial period that you can cancel at anytime! After you register you are asked to create a short profile, you then browse the videos to find the ones you want to try! Hovering over the video will give you a brief description of the video, the equipment needed as well as the intensity, length and what others have rated the video. You have many search options as you can search by the length of the video, intensity, style or collection. There are 8 instructors (all women) that lead the videos. All the instructors are great and very motivating! 
Once you complete the workout you are encouraged to rate the video, it seems that Gigabody really values their customers opinions and takes it all into consideration to make the videos better! Gigabody also keeps track of the videos you have complete as well as any you favored. It is really nice to have that info stored because you can always go back and see if you've done the workout before and if so, if you liked it or not. 
I tend to go through stages when it comes to workout videos, some weeks I love them other weeks I can't stand the thought of watching someone on my iPad and working out in my basement while I see the hundreds of other things I could be doing. I do think that they are a great option for anyone who doesn't enjoy going to the gym, someone who travels alot or someone that is busy and can't find time to get a long workout in.
For this review I tried a few different videos the main video I used was the Plateau Breaker. It was a great workout to do on days that I wasn't able to make it to the gym. I found it really hard to get through same of the videos.. mainly because I don't enjoy working out at home. I enjoy being at the gym, seeing other people and being motivated by the others there. When I did the Gigabody workouts I felt great after, I got a great workout and I still had time to get other things done after, unlike going to the gym which also includes the 15 min drive each way.

Will I continue to use my Gigabody membership? Yes, because my husband works shift work and I can't always make it to the gym with our daughters. I would totally recommend this to people, especially moms! Moms are busy and most of the time can only fit a workout in when kids are sleeping, this site is perfect for that! I worked out at 5am and at 10pm and both times found exactly what I needed! 

Pro’s

  • Ability to workout whenever and where ever you want! Just sign on and go!
  • Low cost & 14 day trial period
  • Variety of videos to work different body parts
  • Ability to chose the length, intensity, rating and body part 

Con’s

  • If you accidently leave a page you can't start where you left off.
  • I found they sent way to many emails recommending videos. I already get 50+ emails a day between work, family, friends, bills and junk so this just added to that I honestly stopped reading them.
  • Geared towards women, my husband has no interest.
Giveaway time! Gigabody is offer one of my readers one month free membership. Just enter the rafflecopter below. Giveaway will be open through this weekend. I will select a winner and email them next week. 
enter this rafflecopter to win :) I will email the winner by Saturday Decemeber 20th.
Disclaimer – I received two months free membership for this review through my ambassadorship with SweatPink. All opinions stated in this post are my own

Our week

This past week had a rough start.. it all started with a sleepless sunday night followed by a visit to the doctors monday morning to find out Beth had croup, that she had gotten 3 more teeth over the weekend which brings the total to 7! The week got better as it went on and it ended with a nice visit with Santa :)
 The volunteer fire department's women's auxiliary hosts a children's christmas party every year and the girls loved it! Madison got to spend some time with her friends and we got to visit with some other parents. Beth slept for most of it but woke up just in time to get her gift from Santa!



 There were NO tears with Santa :)

 We decorated our christmas tree, Madison was so happy and proud to put her ornaments on the tree! Beth slept through this as well!
After we decorated the tree Santa showed up to the house with some of the guy from the local fire department, daddy was Santa's helper for the day. Beth didn't like when Santa held her .. I haven't heard her scream that much in a long time! 
Sunday I completed my 5th race of the year.. the Dobbs Ferry Holiday Hustle 5k. In May when I ran my first 5k I struggled, I walked more then I had planned, my time was slower then I had hoped BUT I finished it and I was in the love with the feeling that came with completing a race! My time was 38:50, since then I ran 3 more 5ks and one 10k. My race today went amazingly.. I ran almost all of the race and crossed the line in 32:32!!!! I had knocked over 6 min off my time. 
I am so in love with running and can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for me!

As you may already know I am running in the Glass Slipper Challenge at the Princess Half Marathon weekend at Disney World in February.. I am running for an amazing charity and am still looking for donations. 
Please take a moment and make a donation


Xo's 

Saturday, December 6, 2014

9 months

Elizabeth 

Weight: 14lbs 15oz 

Length: 25 2/4inches

Milestone: she has gone from army crawling to full on crawling and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING!!! She has also both of her top front teeth!

Sleep: Great. We had some tough nights while she was battling a nasty cold but we are back to 730-630 with only waking up once to get a bottle, which she doesn't even finish she just uses it to soother herself and she's back asleep in minutes 

Eating: Almost everything! She hates mangoes! We introduced "puffs" to her last week and she was a little confused but likes them! This weekend she will be trying pancakes and waffles for the first time!



Diapers: 2's, this won't be changing for a very long time!
Clothing: 6 months.. With a few 9 month pieces (vests) and onesies (because her 6 month ones were looking pretty ragged)
Mood: She has had a cold for the past week so she has been a little moody but other then that she's a normal happy baby!

Loves:
  • Pulling her sisters hair 
  • Opening drawers
  • Clapping 
  • Her daddy
Hates:
  • Sitting still 
  • Getting dressed because it means she has to sit still
  • Nap time