My bite-sized little bundle is about five and a half months old now, which means blaming my bulging midsection on “just having a baby” is getting a liiiittle bit old.

It’s time to do something about this post-baby bod of mine instead of just hoping time will suck it all back in.

During my bout with technical difficulties I found myself with a lot more time on my hands than normal. Samantha (my five-year old) was in that dangerous camp-school limbo zone which meant we needed things to do.

I borrowed Wii Zumba Fitness from my friend Meg (who is currently prego and unable to do it herself) and decided to try it out with my muffin while the wee baby napped.

We had so much fun! Samantha loves the music and the dancing and it’s great to have something like this that I can do with her– even if we’re both terrible at.Once we got a little frustrated with our lack of rhythm, we decided to try a kickboxing video that I added to our Netflix instant queue. It’s called 10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp and it’s awesome!

It’s a 50-minute workout broken into 10-minute sections, which is perfect for a mom (especially when doing it with a 5-year old who gets bored easily). Better yet, the instructor does the steps slowly and rhythmically enough so even this spazz can get it.

So far I did Basic Training one day and Ultimate Buns and Thighs the next and had to take two days off before I move on to the third section (Arm and Shoulder Sculptor) because my thighs/butt/calves were so sore.

I’ve also been planning on trying out the (free!) Nike Training Club app because of heard such good things about it.

What do you do to stay in shape? I need ideas!

My little muffin is officially a kindergartener!

I drove her into school when her bus was super late, assuming they’d never fixed the clerical mistake that had her off the bus schedule– apparently the bus came right after we left.

To be perfectly honest, driving her in on her first day was way easier on me. I got to walk her in and hand her over to the principal myself instead of worrying about her unnecessarily.

My girl marched right into that school without looking back. She’s going to have a great year.

Here she is refusing to show off the huge smile she had been wearing all morning. What a diva!

And here she is eagerly anticipating the arrival of the school bus. She was too excited to remember to hide her smile!

I miss my little muffin and the constant flapping of her mouth (seriously, I don’t think she ever stops talking during her waking hours). It’s awfully quiet around here. Can’t wait to hear how the day went!

t-shirt: Target
boyfriend jeans: Gap (last year)
cardigan: Old Navy (spring 2011)
shoes: Faded Glory (they were $3!)

Hello lovelies,

Please excuse the radio silence this week. I’m having major technical difficulties over here, which are making it near impossible to put together blog posts that I can stand behind.

By next week, all should be back to normal.

In the meantime, explore the blogosphere and let me know of any great blogs you discover!

Don’t get me wrong. I love my feisty little five-year old. She’s one of the funniest people I know, a lovable little mushball and smart as a whip (whatever that means).

She is also the ultimate drama queen (we’re talking about the stomping off to her room and composing songs about how no one loves her because I told her she couldn’t have an Oreo at eight thirty in the morning kind of drama queen).

Because of the drama and the fact that I had another little girl at the end of March, this summer has felt incredibly loooooong. We can’t do as much as Sam is used to and my attention is a bit diverted. This is the perfect recipe for drama soup, which just so happens to be my sweet pea’s specialty.

Samantha is totally fine if she has some sort of project to work on, which is why I was thrilled to come across a helpful article in this month’s Disney Family Fun magazine. The story was about a family who had this special jar that they filled with scraps of paper that had fun activities written on them. From baking cookies to berry picking, it sounded right up my little lady’s alley.

So we decided to do our own version…

We grabbed an old oats container and scraps of paper Sam had cut up the day before. She meticulously colored all of the scraps (it was so tiring she had to “take a bweak” when she was done), glued them to the container and added jewels (all while mommy magically got some writing done!).

We then added things we like to do: from spa day (where I give her a mani-pedi while she has a homemade facial) to garage sales (which she also happens to call antique or thrift shops).

So far it’s worked out great. She feels like whatever she picks is her idea and not something I came up with, which is always a bonus (hmm. sounds a little like her father…). She also likes that it comes from a pretty container, which automatically makes it cool.

Now I just have to remember to think up new activities before the next vacation…