Once Christmas Is Over...

Once Christmas is over and the gifts are unwrapped, boxes broken down, and food put away, what do you do? Well, if you're my kids, you ask to make YouTube videos with your gifts. While the older two are waiting to make their own, Monks was excited to record himself making his own surprise chocolate eggs right away. I'm not exactly sure what's up with this child-YouTube phenomenon. Why would you want to watch another kid sit and play with toys? Why wouldn't you just play with your own toys? But at least now I can say my kid(s) are creators instead of consumers!

Lessons from Pregnancy #4

Photo from Noss Photography & Designs

I had a realization today in a brief break from the mommy fog that has taken over my life - you know the one, where you don't know what day it is and you're not sure of the last time you spoke to an adult about something other than diapers or sleep patterns or feeding time. Anyway, I realized I never formally introduced Evelyn! Shon and I, along with three SUPER excited siblings, welcomed Miss Evelyn to the family exactly two months ago today! We couldn't be more in love.

A few things I learned during this pregnancy that I thought I would share with you.
1. I've only ever been induced with my babies. With #4, I went on my own, and it is so much faster! We got to the hospital at 6:15am and Evelyn was born at 7:43. Which brings me to...
2. If your contractions feel different than normal, and you're not sure if you should go to the hospital because you don't want to wake up the kids and you don't want to be "that girl" who gets sent home because it's not real labor? GO ANYWAY! I was seriously only one "let's just wait and see through one more contraction" away from a) my water breaking in the car, and b) not getting any drugs. Neither of those would have been a happy scenario. If you're questioning it, just go.
3. If you are offered an extra day in the hospital, and you don't medically need it, tell them no thanks. I thought the rest would be nice, but I wanted my own bed, my own TV (hello, no Netflix to binge on?!), and to be able to move from one room to another. Our hospital staff was awesome, but I would definitely do that part differently.
4. Apparently hospital food is no longer terrible. For the record, I had the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich of my life. Twice. I'd have another baby just so I could have some more of that grilled cheese! I have no idea what the secret was, either. Real butter? Somebody else made it and I didn't have to? They didn't burn the first three pieces of bread? The world may never know...
5. It's nearly impossible to find cold weather clothing (think October in Iowa) in baby Florida Gators design. So if you're thinking of being unique with that coming home outfit? Start planning ahead of time! And definitely make it your own. You are totally allowed to go grossly overboard on your baby's first outfits. I give you permission. You'll have those pictures saved forever.
6. Having a baby at 31 vs 21 (or 19 or 25) definitely has its advantages: maturity, stability, other -ty words... but it is a LOT harder on your body. I fully support each person's right to choose the family planning path for them, and I know some rockstar moms having babies at 40+! But holy cow, I'm not as young as I used to be!

To My Family

There are two types of family in this world. The family you are born into, and the family you create. The family you are born into is one of chance. You learn together, grow together, and hopefully, as has been my experience, you stand together no matter what. I have been blessed with an incredible family, and even though sometimes they do things to make you mad like steal your birthday cornflake chicken (*cough*ANGELA*cough*), and they sometimes have to tell me the hard truth, I know they always, always have my best interest at heart. I wouldn't trade them for the world. But tonight I want to talk about the families we create.

Two years and three summers (football seasons) ago, you may remember that our family became part of the semi-pro football world. You may also remember that I was less than enthused at first. We drove up to the first game to play the Tri-State Buffalos. I heard that one phrase that changed it all, "Welcome to the family." And from then on, the world was different. Dramatic much? Not really. Sure, it would be easy to say that my summers were different, or football was different, but I honestly mean my whole world was different. My family and I had become a part of something bigger than I'd realized. We were part of a family that had been created.

What is a "created family?"

It's a family who chooses to be beside you when you're down, call you when you're sick, pick you up when things haven't seemed darker.
It's a family who chooses to include you in holiday dinners and christening the new baby and stands beside you on your wedding day.
It's a family who chooses to accept your faults and your flaws even though they don't have to and who celebrates your achievements.
It's a family who has absolutely zero obligation to do any of those things, and chooses to do them anyway because they care and they want to.

As my family heads into the 2017 SPFL Championship game this weekend, I want to thank each of you who have been a part of the journey, because it's important to appreciate your family.

Thank you for the highs of winning and the lessons learned in loss.
Thank you for the carpools and road trips.
Thank you for the meals shared.
Thank you for being there when I needed a shoulder to cry on.
Thank you for being my mentor.
Thank you for helping me with my projects at work.
Thank you for saving my life (on more than one occasion).
Thank you for always making me feel like my small contributions to the bigger picture matter.
Thank you for making my children feel loved and included.
Thank you for becoming crazy "uncles" to my babies, but also for being incredible role models.
Thank you for watching my kids.
Thank you for the invitations to be part of some of the biggest events in your lives.
Thank you for the inside jokes.
Thank you for fixing my flat tire, carrying my cooler, grabbing my kid a Gatorade.
Thank you for having my back when things got tough.
Most of all, thank you for the memories that will be cherished for a lifetime.

I don't know what next summer will bring, and I don't know what Saturday will bring (yes I do, and obviously it's a W), but I do know that I couldn't have asked for a better family to experience it with.

How Do You Like Your Sweet Potatoes?

Sweet potatoes. For many, it's another gross baby food. For others, it's a Thanksgiving staple. It took me until I was 21 years old to figure out that you could have sweet potatoes in months other than November. Nope, not even lying. It seems as though in recent years it's become a popular menu item in many restaurants and households. Lucky for me!

At my last OB appointment my doctor asked me about additional testing, which I declined. I've never done it, and I figure my baby is my baby either way. Because I have a history of miscarriage, she recommended that I change my diet just in case, since I didn't want the testing, and gave me an order to eat sweet potatoes every. Single. Day. The first thing I did was drag Shon to Hy-Vee and buy fresh sweet potatoes, canned sweet potatoes, and sweet potato fries. I'm going to be honest, I like sweet potatoes, but I've struggled with this task. Right now I'm trying to get them in a few times a week. Next I reached out to my North Iowa Blogger friends for recipes. Kristen, of Make The Best of Everything, shared these sweet potato brownies and sweet potato fries! Val of Corn, Beans, Pigs, and Kids shared her favorite Pinterest recipe for sweet potato noodles. Thank God for good blogger friends!

I started doing a little research of my own when I realized that I wasn't going to be able to bring myself to eat sweet potatoes every single day, even with the great new recipes. Knowing that the desired goal was to increase my body's levels of progesterone, I found a great blog that shared more foods than just sweet potatoes for promoting the body's natural process of producing the hormone. While no foods are an actual natural source of progesterone, there are many foods that help your body produce more on its own. After discovering that foods I eat on a regular basis including whole grains, spinach, oranges, and olive oil all made the list, I feel confident that I can maintain a healthy diet with plenty of exercise for my little Flash!

Do you have other sweet potato recipes to share? Have you had to get creative with your diet for pregnancy health reasons? I'd love to hear about it!

Peace of Mind with Ultrasound1

I have been extremely paranoid about this pregnancy. It may be number four, but that hasn't made it any less unnerving during any ache or pain or headache. Part of that comes with pregnancy after a loss, and I think, honestly, part of that comes from just being older now. I know 30 isn't the "end of times" in terms of child birth, but I do know that as you get older risks can increase, and I also know that my body in general doesn't bounce back from things as easily as it used to. On top of everything else, while my head told me it was still early, I started to get nervous that I wasn't really feeling the baby move much yet.

Our little zombie looking baby

After spending weeks worrying from appointment to appointment (and we all know that stress isn't good for me or the baby) to hear the heartbeat, I did some research online, and came across a service that I actually used once long ago when I was pregnant for the very first time. I connected with Joyce from Ultrasound1 in Mason City. Joyce has been doing ultrasounds in and out of hospitals for decades, and was SO easy to work with for scheduling. I made my appointment when I was at 18.5 weeks and while yes, we did find out the gender, it was really important to me just to see that my baby was okay, had the basics like two arms and two legs, and hear a heartbeat again. We got to take home a DVD of our session, several pictures, and an offer to come back at a discounted rate (I did the $119.50 internet special) for a second ultrasound if we choose to do another one for ourselves or with the kids.

I love this sweet, snuggled in pose

Ultrasound1 is a really cozy space located on the backside of Willowbrook Mall. I sat in a recliner chair with Shon next to me holding my hand, and we watched as Joyce talked us through the different things we were seeing on the screen. She was *awesome* at keeping a secret when we said that Shon wasn't going to find out what the baby's gender is (of course that lasted about 5 minutes after we walked out the door), and showed us all the comparison pictures of the 3D/4D images and baby pictures that former clients had shared with her. She made it an incredibly special experience for both of us, and I hope we do get the chance to go back later in the pregnancy.

While Ultrasound1 is a non-medical ultrasound, Joyce was able to help me see that the reason I probably hadn't felt a ton of movement was because of an anterior placenta. Basically there is a giant pillow between me and the baby. In fact, "Baby O53orn" was pretty content to just snuggle into that "pillow" the entire time we were there - yet another indicator that it is my child (Shon hates my pregnancy pillow ;).That was pretty much all the reassurance I needed. If you're looking for some peace of mind like me, a way to bond with your baby during pregnancy, or a special experience to share with loved ones, I highly recommend visiting Joyce at Ultrasound1!

Stay tuned for the details of the gender reveal party that the princess is planning for us!

Summer STEM at Home

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to explore new facets of education. One of the BEST things I've seen come to education lately is the emphasis on student creativity, making, and STEM.

One of the biggest complaints parents seem to have about summer is that they don't want their kids sitting inside on electronic devices all day. However, it's not always easy or feasible to keep kids entertained on your own. Especially kids who can't drive somewhere.

This year as part of my personal professional development I worked with one of my kids' teachers to create opportunities for families to learn more about how easily household items can become fun, educational learning experiences. As part of that work, I wanted to share with you a few resources from my "Making at Home" Pinterest board!


You can check out the projects, books, and resources for parents to use at home, or you can try connecting with your local extension office or 4H group. I found a lot of Hamilton County summer 4H opportunities on their Facebook page!

And Baby Makes 4 (or 6?)

I wanted to show the front and back, but Shon quickly
pointed out that I should clarify we are *not* having twins!!

I promised you new adventures from The Gym Mom in 2017... We're going to be a family of 6! Four kids will be quite an adventure, but we think we're up to it, and I'm sure I'll have some fun "first time dad" stories to share on the blog as Shon adds "dad of newborn" to his new "step-dad" role. ;) For our "Facebook official" announcement we wanted to include our love of football and the Midwest Rampage in our excitement, so I had Alyssa Noss of Noss Photography and Designs make up an AWESOME replica onesie for our new little one! I know I'll be following fellow North Iowa Blogger, Val of Corn, Beans, Pigs, and Kids to get some pointers on being a mom of four, but I'd love to hear from you as well! Share your best advice in the comments!