Pearly Wisdom: In a Mommy Minute

Today’s Pearly Wisdom topic is:

In a Mommy Minute!

What does that mean exactly? Well, let me explain. Today I’m thrilled to welcome Danielle who is here to teach us some exercises that focus on the abdominals and can be done in a matter of minutes! A little more about Danielle. She is a personal trainer, Pilates instructor and group exercise teacher at CORE in Providence, Rhode Island.

I’ll let her take over from  here…

 

Fitting in time to workout seems nearly impossible when you have a baby to take care of or a toddler running around. Exercise for moms needs to be quick, effective, and convenient to do at home. Set aside 10 minutes at least twice a week to help strengthen your core and trim your waistline. I’ve put together a 5-part ab circuit that can be done in a mommy minute.

Side Plank with Rotation

{12-15 reps}

*Rotate your trunk while trying to maintain your hips stacked and aligned. Think about rotating your ribs toward the back wall. You should be feeling deep work in your obliques.

*You can also omit the rotation and just work on building endurance in your abs by holding a side plank for 45 seconds or longer.

A modification to this exercise:

Abs with Leg Presses

{20 reps}

*Legs should be at a 45 degree angle. If your lower back feels uncomfortable raise the angle of your legs.

*You can try and keep your head and neck flexed throughout the exercise or leave it down on the floor with your arms by your sides if your neck feels strained. As you get stronger try and do half the reps with your head up until you build core strength.

Abs with Scissor Kicks

{20 reps}

*Keep the toes pointed throughout to help lengthen your hamstrings.

*You can also do scissor kicks with your head down until your core strengthens and you are able to maintain neck flexion throughout the exercise.

Bridge with Single Leg Lifts

{10-12 reps}

*Keep the pelvis lifted throughout your leg lifts. Lower the leg from 45 degrees to 90 degrees. You can rest your pelvis when you are ready to switch sides.

Peel Up

{10-12 reps}

*Think about peeling your spine off the floor when you rise up and then melting your spine on the floor when you roll down.

 

Repeat the Mommy Minute circuit 2-3 times through for best results.

For all exercises, listen to your body. Should you feel any neck or back strain lower the amount of repetitions for the exercise until you build core strength and endurance.

 

Besides being a personal trainer and Pilates instructor, Danielle is also a Mommy herself. Her daughter, Grace, is 6 months old.

Photo courtesy of Mandy Mayberry Photography

 

Thank you for your expertise, Danielle!

Oscar Faves!

A day late but still worth it!

These are my top 3!

Cameron Diaz



Gwyneth Paltrow (minus the cape)


Maria Menounos


Who was your top 3??

Pinterest-Inspired Project!

So I saw this project on Pinterest (Check me out here) and knew that a rendition of it was in my future...

Since our schedules are not AS busy as the one above (yet!) and I didn't want to buy 8 frames haha, I chose to re-create it with one large frame that I already owned.

I used scrapbook paper and stickers to create the blocks and write the day names. Then I picked up some dry erase markers and an eraser at Staples and that's it! Our little weekly family schedule.
It's hung up in a "busy" hallway that connects the stairwell to the kitchen... i.e. We see it about 1,000 times a day!

Batman Sundays (Brothers!)

40 Weeks

Just a little fun fact to share... Today as of 6:30 am, Jack has officially spent more time on the outside than on the inside!

That's all :)

Pearly Wisdom: Favorite Products

Today’s Pearly Wisdom topic is:

Favorite Products

Personally, our favorites were:

Nap Nanny (Seen above). Jack had to sleep at an incline for the first couple months so he ended up sleeping in here instead of his bassinet. It was perfect.

The Sleep Sheep. Many Mama’s mention this or just a noise machine in general; it was also brought up in last week’s “Sleeping/Napping Tips”.

The Boppy. This was great to have especially at the beginning when holding and feeding the baby all the time. Also, when others came to visit, they liked using the Boppy as arm support (we did NOT have a small baby ). We still use it now for support while he has his bottle and for him to sit up in. It also seems to be popular with a few other Mama’s!

Now onto the other Mama’s advice!

Melissa

My Brest Friend nursing pillow. I love that thing! Landon was a big baby (9lbs 10 oz at birth, 24ish lbs now at 7 months) and I found it to be much sturdier than a Boppy. I can nurse L without it now, but I still use it at night because it makes life much easier. I also love the back support it has.

When we swaddled, we loved the Woombie. It was the only thing Landon couldn't break out of.

Baby Einstein Aquarium Soother: We just stopped using this, but for months it was a lifesaver. It put Landon to sleep 9 times out of 10.

White noise machine. We still use this and probably will for a very long time.

Halo sleep sacks. I won't give Landon a blanket, so these are awesome at keeping him warm and I don't worry about suffocation.

Ergo or Beco carrier! It's the only was I was able to grocery shop or get things done around the house. For awhile when he was little, Landon would only nap strapped to me in the Ergo, and wearing him calmed him down during his witching hour most days. Such a sanity saver

Emily

-Any type of wearable baby carrier. Our daughter loved/loves hers!

-The Medela brand pumps although we did not care for their bottles and neither did our baby we eventually switched to Playtex Aire Vent bottles and really like them.

-We use a lot of sectioned plates for her meals now. There is not one specific brand but we really like them.

-We only use Pampers diapers but we use Huggies wipes.

Megan

{for the baby}

· Bottle labels. I also put these labels on the formula dispenser and eventually on sippy cups. Great for sitters, church nursery, etc. I wrote a post on lots of different baby labels, but went with these cuties in the end!

· Le Bibble. A bottle bib. It helps with the leakage not getting all over the baby or her clothes. It's also organic so its safe to use to wipe the excess milk from your baby's mouth. Way cuter when you're out than a burp cloth up under her mouth!

· Car Seat Cushion:I know I wrote about this while preggo. Well, it works people and is so, so nice to have a padding!

· Purell dispenser: You are going to have these everywhere. Might as well be cute!

{for the diaper bag}

· Disposable changing pads: When you are out and you have to use those gross Koala changing stations, put this down first and then the nice thick pad from your diaper bag so your pad doesn't get dirty. You know they never clean those!

· Small purell dispenser: You need this handy, at all times!

· Paci Wipes: Pacis will drop and you won't always be near water!

Andrea

• cloud 9 sound giraffe {the travel size}

Shelley

- We loved having a Boppy during Emily's newborn stages!

- Infantino baby playmat

- We carry Emily around in an Infantino pack that she faces us in. She loves it!

- A baby swing! It plays music and nature sounds, has different speed settings, and can swing front to back or side to side.

- The First Years Sure Comfort Deluxe Tub

Samantha

Loved the Rock N Play sleeper, he slept in it for way too long.

Cara

• NOSE FRIDA! I promise promise promise it's not as gross as it looks. And when your baby is sick and miserable, you'll thank me for recommending it!
• CJ's Butter. It's a fabulous diaper cream/lotion. It smells lovely and works so well! Also, it's safe for cloth diapers so that's a plus.
• Wub A Nubs. If your kid is addicted to Soothie Pacifiers like mine, they will love these! It's a stuffed animal attached to a soothie pacifier. It's easy for them to grab in the middle of the night and they're super cute. :)

Shanna

Fisher Price Rock N Play, hands down - best investment of $50 ever, Dr. Brown's bottles, Chicco hook on caddy seat, and for home, Luv U Zoo baby booster seat.

McKeever

We love our Boppy. It was great for when Grayson was a newborn and especially now that she can feed herself, we lay her in the Boppy-makes it so easy for her. Another one of my favorites is the swaddle.

 

Thank you to this week’s contributors!!

Melissa, Mama to Landon, 7 Months, Author of Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage!

Emily, Mama to Georgia, 8 months, Author of Live a Charmed Life

Megan, Mama to Harper, 3 months, Author of Blissfully Burton

Andrea, Mama to Avrie, 7 months, Author of Keeping Up With the Sonneks

Shelley, Mama to Emily, 4 months, Author of Life Hand in Hand

Samantha, Mama to Xavier, 6 months, Author of Three Beasts One Baby

Cara, Mama to Amelia (Millie), 1 year

Shanna, Mama to Samuel, 1 year (corrected age: 8 months), Author of The Life and Times of Lubey

McKeever, Mama to Grayson, 10 Months, Author of The Cobia Family

Winner, Holiday Prints & Target Tuesdays!

First off, I want to announce the winner of the sneakpeeq giveaway...

Congrats to Brandi from Pigtails and Pacifiers on your $25 credit!

Next up, I wanted to announce these new holiday prints I made recently for my Etsy shop!

They are a set of 5 holiday prints that you can buy the PDF of and use/print anywhere you want! (Just not to sell of course!) I have mine printed and framed in 8x10 style on my dining room table with my holiday decor. I love these! And the best part; only $3 for 5 holidays!

Finally, I'm linking up with the lovely Tara at Fabulous but Evil for Target Tuesday!

I just bought these for Jack and for my niece... adorbs

And then a few dresses I have my eye on for the summertime...