It’s been nearly four months since Fiona joined our family. Four months that have passed at an impossibly fast rate. Having two girls keeps me on my toes, and off of my blog, unfortunately. I have a half dozen uncompleted posts sitting in my queue, and nothing finished up enough to post.
Things are great. Fiona sleeps and eats like a champ. We’ve cheated a bit, and she’s already tried yogurt, ice cream, whipped cream and she’s gnawed a bit on a banana. She’s more than ready for actual food, but we’re going to hold off until the official 4 month mark. Becca was the same way– she snuck a bite of my sandwich when she was Fiona’s age. I was holding it up, turned my head, and she was happily working through the bit of peanut butter and jelly she managed to get.
Work is a bit more of a challenge than it used to be. I need to stop waiting until the actual due date to get things done. Fiona and Becca both try extra hard to distract me on my busy work days… Last week, Fiona even went so far as to give up naps for the day. Fun!!
As a family, things are smoother now than they were with only one child. Fiona fits right into our lifestyle. She even loves all of the hiking we’ve been doing lately, which is great because Mark and I have decided to see how many State Parks we can get to this summer. We’re at two now, and our goal is 25-30. With all of this hiking, I’m hoping that this will help me drop some of these extra pounds…
Which is important because… VACATION!!!!
We had a few different ideas for vacation(s) this summer. Visit Mark’s family in Michigan? Spend a few days down visiting my sister (and going to the Bronx zoo)? Camping? Michigan was passed on because of the cost, but we still wanted a week’s vacation somewhere, so we looked more into camping. Lake George area? Maybe. And then I looked into campsites near my sister. Finally, while looking at the map, I realized that if we’re going to drive 3-4 hours to the downstate area (where the sister lives), we might as well add a couple more hours, and go somewhere really awesome. (Sorry, Shannon.)
In the middle of August, we’re packing up the girls and a week’s worth of supplies, and heading off to the beach! We found a campground right outside of Plymouth, MA, at $12 a night. We’ll be about 10 minutes from the beach, an hour from Boston (we’re spending a couple days there), and we’re really close to Cape Cod. I’m beyond excited.
Of course, this means I have about nine weeks to feel a bit more confident in a swimsuit. (YIKES!) That means extra hooping (hula hoops are awesome for toning your torso. I’m already seeing great results.), and a 31 day challenge.
There are 31 days in July. I’ll be posting before pictures on the day before, regardless of how scary they look. Starting on the first, I’ll be concentrating on kicking up my daily exercise. I’ve been doing 10 minutes or so a day, in addition to hooping, but I want to see if I can find time to do more. I’ll set weekly goals (and a monthly step goal– time to dig out the pedometer), and then try to keep up with regular updates here. This is going to be a challenge, but it’s only 31 days. I can do anything for 31 days. 
On the morning of August 1st, I’ll be posting my after pics (and reposting the before pics, for comparison). While I’m not expecting miracles (I won’t be sporting a bikini at the beach), I do want to see how far I can get. This will be a great way to get a little further on my overall goals. My goal is to hit my ideal weight by Thanksgiving, and that’s a lot closer than it sounds, especially when I can’t cut back on calories because I’m breastfeeding.
It’s going to be a busy summer. And I can’t wait!